The little girl had been raised with every indulgence since she was small and was deeply cherished by Yan Yunning and Xuan Yanyu. How could she possibly have no temper at all?

Everyone throughout Xuanzhao knew that His Majesty the Prince Xuan and Her Highness the Princess Consort of Xuan adored the little commandery princess — that is, the little girl. She was still young; once she reached the age of courtship and marriage, suitors would be lining up at the gates of the General’s Residence.

Little Tuanzi blinked hard and craned his little neck to look up at Xuan Yanyu. “Imperial Father, this son is upset.”

Xuan Yanyu lifted his eyelid and raised a brow. “And then?”

“Put Nuonuo Older Sister down and hold only this son.” Little Tuanzi wrapped his arms around Xuan Yanyu’s neck, still puffing with indignation but not forgetting to take another bite of his candied skewer.

“Uncle, put Ruirui on the ground and hold only Nuonuo.” The little girl was not about to be outdone.

Little Tuanzi grew agitated. “This is This Son’s Imperial Father!”

“This is This Commandery Princess’s Uncle!!” The little girl glared right back at him.

Xuan Yanyu decisively set them both down on the ground.

Little Tuanzi and the little girl’s eyes met. They each let out a cold huff and turned their heads away from each other at the same time.

Xuan Yanyu: “……”

Yan Yunning: “……”

“Ruirui.” Yan Yunning crouched down, steadied Little Tuanzi by the shoulders, and said gently, “Did you do something wrong here? Nuonuo Older Sister was invited into the palace by Imperial Mother. What you just said — were you trying to send Nuonuo Older Sister home? If Nuonuo Older Sister heard that, wouldn’t she be very sad?”

Little Tuanzi blinked slowly, munching steadily on his candied skewer, unmoved.

“Ruirui, Imperial Mother is very disappointed in you.” Yan Yunning straightened up and took a step back.

“Imperial Mother.” Little Tuanzi’s small brow furrowed, and he tugged at Yan Yunning’s sleeve.

Yan Yunning did not look at him.

Little Tuanzi let go of Yan Yunning’s sleeve, turned to face Nuonuo, and said stiffly and reluctantly, “I’m sorry, Nuonuo Older Sister.”

The little girl pressed her lips together and returned a dry, “I forgive you.”

“There — wasn’t that easy?” Yan Yunning took each of them by the hand, her smile back in place. “All right, let’s head back to the palace.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

The two little ones answered in unison.

“Lingning.” As they reached a turning in the road, they came upon Mu Shiqing and A’Ci, who was following behind him. Yan Yunning hadn’t yet said a word before Little Tuanzi launched himself into Mu Shiqing’s arms and called out, soft and sweet, “Uncle.”

“Ruirui, my little treasure.” Mu Shiqing pressed a kiss to Little Tuanzi’s forehead, his eyes crinkling upward at the corners. “Have you been thinking about Uncle?”

“Of course — Ruirui finds time every day to think about Uncle.” Little Tuanzi’s voice was very sweet, and his words went straight to Mu Shiqing’s heart.

“Uncle thinks about Ruirui every single day too.”

He quietly glossed over the words finds time.

Little Tuanzi blinked. “How much do you think about me?”

Mu Shiqing’s brow arched slightly, and he teased, “How much? About as much as Ruirui takes a bite of his candied skewer in the middle of talking to Uncle.”

Little Tuanzi: “……”

Mu Shiqing teased Little Tuanzi for a little while before respectfully bowing to Xuan Yanyu.

“Uncle, there’s no need for such ceremony.” Little Tuanzi jumped in before Xuan Yanyu could say a word.

The words Xuan Yanyu had been about to say were swallowed back down again.

“Auntie, what should Nuonuo call him?” The little girl held Yan Yunning’s hand and murmured softly.

Yan Yunning thought for a moment but couldn’t settle on what would be most fitting, so she said, “The same as Ruirui — just call him Uncle.”

“Uncle.” The little girl stepped forward and called out politely.

Mu Shiqing, who had by now been fed two pieces of candied hawthorn by Little Tuanzi, gave a nod.

The little girl’s gaze then drifted to A’Ci, who had been staring at her steadily all this while. She smiled back at him lightly.

A’Ci’s pupils contracted sharply. A memory sealed deep in his heart stirred and trembled. That smile — it looked far too much like someone…

“All right, Ruirui — say goodbye to Uncle. It’s time for us to go back to the palace.” Yan Yunning reminded Little Tuanzi.

“Goodbye, Uncle.” Xuan Yuncheng obediently gave a little wave of his hand.

Mu Shiqing sniffled. “Goodbye. Uncle will miss you.”

“Uncle!” Little Tuanzi wiped at his tears with theatrical flair. “Ruirui will miss you too!”

“Uncle too.” Mu Shiqing wiped at his own nonexistent tears, completely matching the boy’s energy.

Xuan Yanyu and Yan Yunning looked at each other, seeing in each other’s eyes the exact same speechless exasperation.

“Uncle!!” Little Tuanzi’s performance had fully carried him away.

“Ruirui!!!” Mu Shiqing played along without missing a beat.

Xuan Yanyu glanced at Little Tuanzi and Mu Shiqing clinging to each other, and said flatly, “Very well then — Xuan Yuncheng can go back with you. This Emperor and Lingning won’t force you two apart.”

There were many moments when he wondered — why was this embarrassing child his?

“That won’t be necessary.” Little Tuanzi stepped back to Yan Yunning’s side, took her hand, and said, “Let’s go, Imperial Mother.”

Mu Shiqing: “……”

That little ingrate — he wasn’t even going to pretend anymore!

Xuan Yanyu: “……”

Yan Yunning: “……”

“Let’s go too.” Mu Shiqing patted A’Ci on the shoulder.

“Ah… right.” A’Ci’s mouth curved into a gentle smile. He took one last look at Nuonuo, then turned and followed after Mu Shiqing.

The little girl watched A’Ci’s retreating figure in puzzlement, scrunching her small nose. What a strange man.

Back at the Prince Xuan’s Palace, Little Tuanzi ran straight to the Imperial Study.

He pushed open the door and held out the candied skewer to Xuan Yuncheng like a proud little treasure-bearer.

Xuan Yuncheng’s gaze slid over to him. “Just got back?”

“Mm-hm.” Little Tuanzi’s small head bobbed in a nod.

“How much of today’s coursework have you finished?” Xuan Yuncheng set down his vermilion brush and reclined lazily against the imperial throne.

“Not much.” Little Tuanzi indicated a small amount with his little hand.

Xuan Yuncheng squinted at him, studying him with measured eyes. “How much is ‘not much’?”

Seeing Xuan Yuncheng’s gaze grow slightly cool, Little Tuanzi crumbled under the pressure and blurted it out. “Two characters.”

“Truly not much.” Xuan Yuncheng laughed despite his irritation.

“Right? I didn’t lie.” Little Tuanzi was rather proud of himself.

“Ha.” Xuan Yuncheng gave his vermilion brush a lazy twirl. “Have Ye’an bring your coursework here to the Imperial Study. This Crown Prince will supervise you until you finish.”

“Crown Prince Brother, I’ll be a disturbance to you.”

“It’s fine — this Crown Prince has nothing left to attend to today.” Xuan Yuncheng watched him with a pleasant smile.

Little Tuanzi shuddered. “I… well, actually, I have something to do!”

Xuan Yuncheng let out a derisive snort. “What could you possibly have to do?”

“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come to bring you the candied skewer.” Little Tuanzi stared longingly at the sugar-coated hawthorn berries and couldn’t hold himself back from taking another bite.

Xuan Yuncheng: “……”

He came to give it to him, and now he was eating it himself?

“Here — you eat it.” Little Tuanzi held out what remained of the candied skewer to Xuan Yuncheng with reluctance.

Xuan Yuncheng raised a brow. He didn’t particularly care for sweets, but looking at Ruirui’s expression, it was obvious he had already eaten quite a bit. If he didn’t take it, Ruirui would certainly finish the whole thing — and too much sugar coating was bad for the teeth.

With that in mind, he accepted it and set it to one side. “This Crown Prince will eat it before sleeping.”

“Okay.”

“Still not going to have Ye’an bring your coursework to the Imperial Study?”

“I know, I know~” Little Tuanzi didn’t dare argue back, sighed, and turned to shuffle slowly toward the hall doors.

If it were Imperial Father, he could still argue back a little. But when it came to Crown Prince Brother, he didn’t dare try any tricks.