The princes remained dumbfounded even after those people had left. Had they encountered some strange occurrence today?

Under the varied gazes of his brothers, Yu Jin impassively took a sip of tea.

Could a fight have such benefits? His initial intention was mainly to vent anger for A Si, seeing the Emperor being just incidental. Of course, meeting the Emperor was within his expectations. One could say that when this prince had been forgotten by others, this was a case of finding life in the depths of death. However, being conferred a royal title was something he never anticipated.

As Yu Jin pondered these thoughts, his face remained expressionless, appearing quite composed.

The other princes’ gazes towards Yu Jin suddenly changed. Could it be that Seventh Brother had known all along he would be granted a royal title? Was all of this within his expectations?

Hiss— Seventh Brother’s scheming ran deep!

Among them, the Eighth Prince was the most embarrassed. He had just been mocking Yu Jin for being a prince without status, unworthy of mingling with them. Now the man had been granted a royal title—his face must be stinging from the slap.

The Fifth Prince’s mood was even worse than the Eighth Prince’s.

Engulfed in silence, the Fifth Prince was questioning his entire existence. He had been beaten, his head cracked open by Seventh Brother. Then not only did they both escape punishment, but Father Emperor even granted Seventh Brother a royal title!

Was he adopted? Or perhaps the one raised outside the palace all these years wasn’t Seventh Brother, but him?

“I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it!” After the silence, the Fifth Prince finally exploded. He leaped up, ready to rush out.

The Eighth Prince quickly grabbed hold of him. “Fifth Brother, where are you going?”

“I’m going to find Father Emperor to seek justice!”

The Sixth Prince’s mouth twitched. “Fifth Brother, you’d better not go. I just learned from that official that it was Consort Ning who went to the Imperial Study. Only after that was the decree to grant Seventh Brother a royal title issued.”

The Fifth Prince froze, his lips trembling. “I… I’ll go seek justice from Mother Consort!”

The Crown Prince walked over and patted the Fifth Prince’s shoulder. “Fifth Brother, calm down. It’s not good for us brothers to be at such odds.”

Hearing this, the Fifth Prince nearly exploded with anger. He shrugged off the Crown Prince’s hand and raged, “Am I the one who wants conflict? I’ve always been very calm!”

Who was the one who very calmly smashed him with a wine jar?

Yu Jin set down his teacup and closed his eyes to rest.

He had been very calm too, especially when smashing someone with the wine jar. His control of force and angle had been quite precise.

The only regret was that he couldn’t go home now. He wondered if A Si had gone looking for him…

In a house with a crooked jujube tree in front of its gate on Quezi Lane, Jiang Si’s eyelid inexplicably kept twitching, filling her heart with unease.

“Erniu, where has your master gone?” Jiang Si sighed, absentmindedly petting Erniu’s head.

Hearing this, Erniu, who had been lying beside Jiang Si, immediately stood up. He shook his sleek, shiny coat and skillfully picked up the hem of Jiang Si’s skirt with his teeth, ready to lead her out.

Jiang Si hurriedly grabbed her skirt, laughing helplessly. “Oh Erniu, you’re always tugging at my skirt. I don’t have money to make new clothes.”

Hearing this, Erniu released the skirt. He wagged his tail and ran into the side room, returning shortly with a money pouch in his mouth, which he placed in Jiang Si’s hand.

Jiang Si didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Quick, take it back.”

Where had this money pouch come from? Even the strings tying it were moldy—who knows how long it had been buried at the bottom of some chest.

Seeing Jiang Si refusing to take it, Erniu tilted his head, looking puzzled.

Jiang Si pointed at the money pouch, then at the side room.

Erniu turned and ran towards the side room. Using his mouth and paws, he closed the door, then ran back to take the money pouch from Jiang Si’s hand and stuffed it into A Man’s hands.

“For me?” A Man’s face lit up with surprise.

“Woof woof.” Erniu barked twice, urging her.

He had seen this before. Every time he gave a money pouch to the mistress, she would give it to this person.

A Man looked towards Jiang Si.

“Give it back to Erniu to put away.”

With Yu Seven not here, if she came once and left with a money pouch, what kind of person would that make her?

A Man reluctantly handed it back to Erniu. “Here, the young miss won’t take it.”

“Woof!” Erniu bared his teeth, putting on a fierce expression.

A Man blinked.

This big dog could even threaten people!

Old Wang, the doorkeeper, finally couldn’t help but speak up. “Young Miss, you’d better keep it. Erniu has quite a temper. If you don’t accept what he gives you, he’s bound to tear it to shreds.”

Jiang Si had no choice but to gesture for A Man to keep it for now. She said to the doorkeeper, “If that’s the case, I’ll keep it for now and return it to Young Master Yu later.”

Seeing A Man tuck away the money pouch, Erniu happily circled her.

“Erniu, I have to go now.” Jiang Si patted Erniu, preparing to leave.

Coming here had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. She couldn’t possibly wait forever. At least she had come, fulfilling her promise.

Erniu darted over, blocking Jiang Si’s path.

“Erniu, don’t misbehave!”

Erniu tilted his head, studying Jiang Si. Seeing her frown slightly with determination to leave, he flopped down and rolled onto his back, legs in the air.

Jiang Si: “…” Was Erniu throwing a tantrum? Indeed, one takes on the colors of one’s company.

“Pfft.” A Man couldn’t help but giggle, laughing so hard tears came to her eyes. “Young Miss, why don’t you wait a bit longer? Hehe, this servant has never seen such a clever dog—”

At this point, A Man’s laughter ceased. She lowered her voice and said, “Young Miss, I’ve heard of fox spirits and jade rabbit spirits. Could Erniu be a dog spirit?”

“Woof!” Erniu barked disapprovingly.

He could understand, alright? He wasn’t a dog spirit!

“Don’t talk nonsense. It’s time to go.” Jiang Si silently reminded herself not to soften.

Erniu was both endearing and good at acting cute. If she softened now, she wouldn’t be able to leave.

At that moment, the courtyard gate was suddenly pushed open. Long Dan rushed in, his face pale. “Something terrible has happened!”

Jiang Si halted her steps, her heart suddenly sinking. “What’s wrong?”

She knew something wasn’t right.

Today was Yu Seven’s birthday. With his thick skin, he must have been thinking she would come. Even if he had gone out on business, he wouldn’t stay away for so long.

Hearing Jiang Si’s question, Long Dan didn’t know how to respond. “Master—”

How should he put this? The master had always concealed his identity from Miss Jiang. He couldn’t very well tell her that the master had been taken away by palace guards for fighting with princes, could he?

“What exactly happened?” Seeing Long Dan’s expression, Jiang Si felt the situation was even more dire.

Long Dan heaved a deep sigh. “The master got into an argument with someone and was thrown into prison!”

He wasn’t lying. With the master causing such a big disturbance, the consequences were bound to be severe.

“Thrown into prison?” Jiang Si’s brows furrowed deeply as she carefully recalled events from her past life.

Back then, she had never heard of Yu Seven being imprisoned.

Ah, she remembered now. In her past life, Yu Seven had attended her wedding to Ji Chong Yi and then returned south shortly after, not lingering in the capital for so long.

Could it be that because she had changed some things, Yu Seven now faced a stint in prison?

Jiang Si caught the urgency in Long Dan’s eyes and had a sudden realization.

No, that wasn’t right. Long Dan knew Yu Seven’s true identity better than anyone. If it were just a simple case of being thrown in prison for getting into an argument, there would be no need for such panic.

Thinking this through, Jiang Si’s mood plummeted.