3. The Crown Prince

On the second day, at dawn, the four individuals from Gan Zhi Palace rose early to head to the Academy. Gan Zhi Palace is quite far from the Academy, almost requiring them to traverse a significant portion of the imperial palace. Wang Chongrong prepared the writing materials that Yao Youde had sent the previous day for Qing Tong, and made sure her new clothes, which she had hurriedly finished overnight, were ready. After giving her numerous reminders, she sent her off. Since Qing Tong was familiar with the route to the Academy and Wang Chongrong was not in a position to move around much, she did not accompany her.

With his hand not yet withdrawn, the Crown Prince looked down at Qing Tong and asked, "You insolent girl, have you submitted to me yet?" Qing Tong turned her head with a snort and replied, "What do you have that would make me submit?" The Crown Prince felt a bit hesitant, but he also found it embarrassing, so he called out, "If you call out 'spare me,' I will let you go"

Because the Ninth Prince is actually the eldest son of the emperor, he is older than the other princes and has a rather aloof personality, making him difficult to approach. His mother, Situ Hui, was elevated to the rank of De Fei after giving birth to him, enjoying a position of high honor. The Empress Ning gave birth shortly after but passed away, and although Emperor Jing was constrained by the Ning family to designate her son as the crown prince early on, he did not particularly favor this son. As a result, all the princes feared the "Ninth Brother" but did not fear the crown prince.

Qing Tong stepped out, unwilling to stray far, merely circling around the university. At times, she gazed at the surrounding walls, and at other times, she looked at the trees nearby. She had long wished to come and study here, and at this moment, her heart was filled with immense excitement. After wandering for a little over half an hour, she finally leaned her face against the window and let out a satisfied sigh.

The blue-eyed girl jumped aside and said: "Hey! I'm getting angry with you like this!"

Qing Tong felt an overwhelming sense of suffocation, nearly unable to catch her breath, and a surge of anger erupted from her heart. Deep down, she was very proud; she knew that offending Yang Shufei would lead to serious consequences, yet she could not help but retort a few words, especially since the Crown Prince was being excessively arrogant. Thus, she exerted her strength with her five fingers and fiercely clawed at the back of the Crown Prince's hand, instantly leaving five deep blood marks.

The prince opened his hand with the pot: "Leave, let go! You only know how to spoil the fun!"

The boy took the snowball handed to him by his subordinate and chased after Qing Tong, hitting her repeatedly. Qing Tong ran and dodged, but eventually got hit by a snowball on the back of her head. In that moment, her back made loud cracking sounds, having been hit five or six times in a row. Another large snowball struck heavily on the back of her head, causing Qing Tong to stumble and fall to the ground, while the boy pointed at her and burst into loud laughter

The three young princes' companions were all frightened and rushed forward to pull Qing Tong's clothes, trying to drag her out. Qing Tong held onto the prince's ear and refused to let go. The three boys became anxious and began to kick and hit her back indiscriminately. Qing Tong did not resist; she simply tugged harder whenever someone hit her, causing the prince to let out a pitiful cry that sounded quite comical.

The blue-eyed person turned sideways to clear the passage: "What are you doing?"

Qing Tong stared at him, showing no sign of pleading for mercy. The Crown Prince hesitated for a moment longer; his pride overcame his reason, and gritting his teeth, he poured an entire pot of steaming water over Qing Tong.

The Ninth Prince is the eldest son of Emperor Jing, and his mother is Consort Si Tu Hui. The Empress of Emperor Jing comes from the prominent Ning family, and Empress Ning is known for her jealousy. The fact that all of Emperor Jing's first eight sons died young reveals her schemes. However, she fell victim to Consort Si Tu Hui, who not only gave birth to a healthy dragon son but also caused Emperor Jing to discover Empress Ning's intention to use sorcery to kill the emperor. Seizing the opportunity, Emperor Jing deposed Empress Ning but was compelled to appoint another young lady from the Ning family as empress. Fortunately, this young Empress Ning was of a timid and kind nature, which allowed Emperor Jing to have more than a dozen sons thereafter

Qing Tong reached out and grabbed a snowball, seizing the moment while he was feeling proud, she suddenly stood up and threw it back. This time it was both accurate and forceful, landing squarely on the boy's face with a "smack"! The boy's hearty laughter was instantly choked back, and he spat out the snow, coughing and spluttering.

The prince pushed him aside and said, "Leave, get away!" He looked down at Qing Tong from a high position, stretched out his leg to shove the surrounding snow in front of Qing Tong, and piled it into a large mound the size of a face, saying, "Eat this snow for me!"

Suddenly, Qing Tong heard a sound of wind behind her head, and instinctively she turned to the side. A large snowball flew past her face, just three inches away, and with a loud thud, it hit the window, sending snowflakes flying. A good amount of snow splattered onto Qing Tong's face.

The Ninth Prince ignored his brothers' greetings and walked straight to the two entangled individuals, lightly kicking the one with green eyes and saying: "Let go!"

The girl with blue eyes smiled and said, "Thank you!" The young eunuch blushed, lowered his head, and withdrew.

Of course, Qing Tong did not have any means of transportation, but this did not diminish her excitement in the slightest. She found walking too slow; this lively and active child, disregarding her image, ran through the snow in her new clothes, stepping deep and shallow. She arrived at the entrance of the Taixue quite early; the teacher had not yet arrived, and only a few young eunuchs in their teens were inside, tending to the fire. Upon seeing Qing Tong, they all paused to look at her. Qing Tong cheerfully greeted them: "I am Princess Yuan Qing Tong, the seventeenth princess. Yesterday, my father allowed me to come to school. Hello!" She arrived at the entrance of the Taixue quite early; the teacher had not yet arrived, and only a few young eunuchs in their teens were inside, tending to the fire. Upon seeing Qing Tong, they all paused to look at her. Qing Tong cheerfully greeted them: "I am Princess Yuan Qing Tong, the seventeenth princess. Yesterday, my father allowed me to come to school. Hello!"

Qing Tong let out a heavy sigh, completely ignoring him, which only made the Crown Prince angrier. He bent down, grabbed Qing Tong's hair, and forcefully pressed her face into the snow, cursing, "You reckless girl! Eat this! Hurry up and eat!"

Yu Jingchun was a companion reader of the Crown Prince, and he was in such distress that he could not find a way out. Upon hearing the words, he was so delighted that he jumped up, went into the room, and brought out a purple copper kettle, which contained water that had been boiled on the stove in preparation for making tea. He held the kettle and was about to pour it towards Qing Tong. Qing Tong was startled and quickly rolled over, flipping the Crown Prince onto himself. The Crown Prince struggled vigorously and rolled back. The two children fiercely tugged at each other on the ground, rolling into a ball. Yu Jingchun held the kettle, looking around but dared not pour the hot water, fearing he might accidentally harm the Crown Prince.

She only felt a chill on her cheek, and when she turned around, she saw a boy who was half a head taller than her glaring at her angrily, shouting: "You dare to dodge this prince's snowball!" Behind him were four elegantly dressed boys, one of whom immediately handed the boy another snowball, and the boy aimed it at Qing Tong and threw it.

The boy, seeing that he still hadn't hit his target, became furious: "Don't move!" Another snowball was thrown at the blue-eyed face.

Qing Tong could not sit still and said: "I ran a bit too fast, and now I feel quite hot. How about I go to the snow to get some fresh air? If you all have nothing to do, shall we play together for a while?"

Several young eunuchs were taken aback, standing up in a flurry. They had seen many princes from the Imperial Academy, but never had they been treated with such courtesy! Qing Tong had already put down her writing tools and excitedly asked, "Is the fire ready? Do you need me to help?" She had always worked alongside Gan Zhi Gong and Hua Jian, and did not see anything wrong with it! The young eunuchs dared not let her take action; one stepped forward and said, "No, no! It is already lit, Princess, you just need to warm it up!"

A companion reader came up to help him organize the golden crown. He gasped several times before pushing this companion reader away, then seized the copper kettle from Yu Jingchun's hand and shouted to the other two companion readers: "Hold her for me!" He brandished the kettle, gesturing towards Qing Tong. The previous companion reader, who had not participated in the fight, was watching closely from the side. He called out, "Your Highness," and reached out to stop him.

Has the Crown Prince ever suffered even a minor injury? At the first sign of pain, he immediately cried out and let go. Qing Tong leaped forward, grabbing the jade belt around his waist and forcefully dragging him down to the ground, then mounted him and began to tear and strike. Although young, Qing Tong was invincible, and within a few moments, he had the Crown Prince crying out in distress.

At this moment, several princes arrived. The harem was in discord, and the sons of Emperor Jing were also at odds with one another. Upon seeing the Crown Prince in distress, some of the princes entered the room indifferently, some laughed and watched the commotion, and others shouted encouragement, yet no one intervened to mediate the conflict

In a fit of rage, he lunged forward, pushing Qing Tong down and shouting for several of his followers to join him. Three out of the four boys rushed in, pinning Qing Tong down to prevent her from getting up. Only one boy, around thirteen or fourteen years old, stood by and advised, "Your Highness, do not act this way; be careful not to hurt anyone."

Stop it all! What kind of behavior is this? A unique and cold voice of a young man came from behind, and several princes who were watching immediately ceased their laughter, some calling out "Ninth Brother," while others referred to him as "Your Highness the Ninth Prince," their voices tinged with a hint of fear

A young eunuch in his teens said, "No need, no need, Your Highness can play by yourself. After a while, once the incense has been burned, I still need to boil the water, as the young masters will be coming to drink tea." He had a fondness for this little princess in his heart and boldly said, "Since it is your first day attending class, would it be alright if I arranged a desk for you? The Grand Tutor will arrive at the third quarter of the morning, so feel free to play, and I will call for you when the time comes."

After all, he is a boy, much stronger than her. After rolling for a while, Qing Tong truly had no strength left. The Crown Prince finally broke free from her grip, first crawling a few steps on all fours before unsteadily standing up. His golden crown was askew on his head, making him look quite disheveled; his ears were a deep purple tinged with red, as if they had also swollen a size larger.

Qing Tong lay on the ground, only to see a pair of ochre-colored boots tap her twice, without causing any pain. The Crown Prince was still kicking and scratching beneath her, so she remained unwilling to let go. The Ninth Prince coldly said: "Yu Jingchun, pour boiling water on her and see if she is willing to let go!"