Tang Zhuojun had gone red with rage. Who cared about his status? Even if he were the Son of Heaven himself, it wouldn’t matter!
Linlin stared blankly at her frantic behavior. He hadn’t cried even when he was being beaten, but now his eyes brimmed with tears.
He scrambled up and wrapped his arms around Tang Zhuojun’s waist. “Auntie, Auntie, stop hitting him. I’m fine— I’m really fine.”
Only then did Tang Zhuojun stop. She panted heavily, then stroked his head, her eyes red with anger. “Are you stupid? Why did you just let him beat you like that!”
Linlin’s tears streamed down at once. In her arms, he cried uncontrollably.
The little prince who had beaten him was Prince Rong’s late-in-life son—two years younger than even his eldest grandson—and so spoiled that he was completely lawless.
Linlin didn’t dare fight back, because he was afraid of being expelled from the private academy at Prince Rong’s residence.
He was stubborn and could endure. He didn’t cry.
But today, in his aunt’s embrace, he couldn’t control himself anymore, and he broke down completely.
Tang Zhuojun quickly understood this as well. Listening to the crow-like clamor around her—accusations and threats mixed with ingratiating, childish voices trying to placate the little prince— she bent down with effort, lifted Linlin into her arms, and looked down arrogantly at the group of half-grown children.
She sneered, “So it’s just a lousy private academy? Fine—then we won’t attend it! I’m the one who hit him. I’ll admit it even before the Emperor! Since every one of you has such capable adults backing you, then have them come argue before His Majesty tomorrow! I’d like to see whether, when the Emperor learns that you rely on power to bully the weak— using size to beat the small— he’ll give you a commemorative plaque or reward you with a beating!”
Linlin felt that her embrace was slender, yet warmer than anything he had ever known.
Sniffling, he said, “Auntie… Grandfather and Father… they’ll be angry.”
He didn’t say that he wanted to stay— he was only worried about his family being upset.
“If you’re bullied like this, that’s when Grandfather and Father will truly be angry!” Tang Zhuojun cast a contemptuous glance at the group of bratty children who had been cowed into silence by her presence. “Linlin, remember this— even if you’re not here, one day you’ll be better than all of them! We’re not attending this trash academy anymore! If Grandfather and Father punish you, your aunt is here!”
Linlin suddenly shouted, “Let Father hit me— it’s me who doesn’t want to come anymore!”
“Good child. Let’s go.”
Linlin struggled out of Tang Zhuyun’s arms and said, “Auntie, I’ll go back with you. I’ll never come here again!”
“Alright.”
Tang Zhuyun picked up the peachwood hairpin that had fallen to the ground, casually twisted her hair up and pinned it in place. With one hand she lifted the food box, and with the other she held Linlin’s hand, walking away without looking back.
Prince Rong, standing not far away, wore an awkward expression as he said to the tall, cold-looking man beside him, “These children— how did things get so out of hand today? It wasn’t like this before… I said I wanted Yanran to come study, but not with them— it would be in the household’s girls’ academy…”
That man was none other than Prince Jin, the very one whose bed Tang Zhuojun had recently failed to climb.
Although Prince Rong was his imperial uncle, Prince Jin was the Emperor’s own son. And since the Emperor spared no effort in making amends to him, Prince Rong also had to curry favor with Prince Jin.
Prince Jin replied coolly and distantly, “Thank you for your kindness, Imperial Uncle. There’s no need.”
There was absolutely no need.
His daughter would never be placed in such a chaotic, filthy environment.
Prince Rong smiled awkwardly and said sheepishly, “Then let it be so. If you change your mind in the future, you’re welcome to send her over anytime.”
Prince Jin did, in fact, want to find some peers for his daughter to interact with.
Aside from her worrying physical condition, his daughter also had some… difficulty socializing.
He had previously arranged for young maids to keep her company, but the disparity in status meant they couldn’t truly play together, and his daughter’s condition hadn’t improved at all.
That was why Prince Jin had considered that noble girls of similar standing might be better. He had planned to visit Prince Rong’s residence first—the private academy here was famous in the capital.
He hadn’t expected that upon arriving, he would witness such a scene, leaving him utterly disappointed.
A pack of spoiled young wastrels, with crooked family values to boot— he looked down on them.
He hadn’t expected that woman to be so fierce and formidable, so completely different from the one who had tried to climb into his bed that day—like two entirely different people.
Though she had utterly lost all decorum, her ferocity still left a deep impression on Prince Jin.
What was her name again?
Prince Jin frowned slightly—Tang Zhu… something? Tang Bamboo…? sounding like Sugar Pearl? In any case, he couldn’t remember.
Before, he had even felt sorry for Tang Mingfan, for having such a daughter; but now it seemed she wasn’t entirely without merit.
After taking Linlin home, Tang Zhuojun’s anger gradually subsided, replaced by unease.
After applying medicine to Linlin’s wounds, the two of them sat staring at each other.
“Linlin, do you think Grandfather and your father will be angry?” she asked.
She was already “under a cloud of guilt,” and now she’d made things even worse—would she be kicked out of the house?
“Yes,” Linlin said. “But I’ll take responsibility myself. It has nothing to do with Auntie. If you’re really scared or regret it, then… then I’ll think of a way.”
Tang Zhuojun said, “Regret? What would I regret?”
Regret was impossible— she would never regret a decision like this in her life.
If a good child grew up in that kind of environment, even if he became the top scholar, his heart would be twisted into knots.
What was the use of an unhappy top scholar? Even the Emperor wouldn’t care!
“If there’s anything I regret,” Tang Zhuojun said, “it’s that I didn’t hit him a few more times— since I’d already started anyway. But I am a little scared. I… I’m afraid of your father. Your father is super fierce, you know?”
As she spoke, she mimicked Tang Boxin’s frowning expression. “Does it look like him? Does it?”
Linlin laughed. “A bit.”
“Forget it. Whatever. Worst case, your father yells at me. It’s not like he can hit me,” Tang Zhuojun decided to go all in. If Tang Boxin lectured her, she’d just count sheep!
“Come, come, eat. The food’s getting cold,” Tang Zhuojun said as she stood up, taking the dishes out of the food boxes and setting them on the table. “Try it— see if you like it.”
Linlin took the chopsticks she handed him and suddenly said, “Auntie, I kind of regret it now.”
“Regret what?” Tang Zhuojun froze.
“We should’ve eaten before leaving— so they could envy me for once. Let them watch me eat but not get any.”
Tang Zhuojun laughed. Seeing his serious face with laughter hidden in his eyes, she knew he was teasing her. She reached out and pinched his nose. “As long as you can laugh, that’s good. Heaven is big, earth is big, but eating is the biggest thing of all. Let’s fill our bellies and then face the storm from your father!”
“Okay!” Linlin replied loudly.
Watching the little fellow eat with such relish, looking up now and then to smile at her, Tang Zhuojun thought: what bad intentions could a child possibly have?
As long as you treat him well, he will repay you with the purest trust.
The three men in the household— weren’t they all the same? Give them a bit of sunshine and they’d bloom.
After Linlin finished eating, Tang Zhuojun urged him to take a nap.
She pulled the blanket up for him and sat by the bed, looking into his obsidian-like eyes. “Linlin, don’t worry about the future. I’ve thought it through— your grandfather and your father are both top scholars. Could they really be inferior to those snobbish ‘great scholars’ of Prince Rong’s residence?”
It wasn’t that they didn’t know Linlin was being bullied— they were just playing dumb while covering things up from above and below.
“In the future, at home, Grandfather and Father will teach you literature. I’ll teach you martial arts— and you can even learn medicine. Our prospects are boundless!”
“Eldest Young Master— Eldest Young Master, why are you back already?” Xiuer’s flustered voice came from outside.
Tang Zhuojun thought: Useless—what’s there to feel guilty about? Let him come!
…Wait. Stand up. Why are my legs soft?
the original owner’s fear of this eldest brother had already turned into muscle memory…