Chapter 329 – Adorable Little Prince
Ye Zhen wanted to say that she wasn’t worried in the slightest about Lu Lingzhi’s life or death. She just wanted to know who had been caught.
When she came to the little prince’s dwelling, Mo Rongyi had just returned from the imperial study. When he saw her waiting for him, he was so excited, the only thing that was left for him to do was to jump up with joy. “Yaoyao, have you found some people to help me?”
“I haven’t found anyone yet. You can show me how many people you have,” Ye Zhen said. Since he was trying to compete with people in the imperial clan, she couldn’t use the guards around him, lest the other party have an excuse to taunt the little prince.
Mo Rongyi took Ye Zhen to see his little friends. Those children were all his companions. But they were just that- children used to only reading books. Only a few had ever played cuju.
“They won’t play cuju with me anymore. They said that they want to play polo!” Mo Rongyi said angrily to Ye Zhen, “I wanted to tell you about this yesterday. Imperial Brother won’t let me out of the palace.”
“Polo?” Ye Zhen quirked her eyebrows. That would be a test of their equestrian skills. Isn’t this openly bullying Mo Rongyi?
“I don’t want to agree. They said I was a coward and didn’t dare to compete with them,” Mo Rongyi said with a face full of sorrow.
“Oh? Who are these people who want to try and play polo with you?” Ye Zhen asked.
“Two cousins of Second Imperial Uncle’s family, the heir of Marquis Pingyang, and the second son of Marquis Xinping-” Mo Rongyi listed several people. “They are all in cohorts with Eighth Imperial Brother.”
Ye Zhen’s face soured. “They are all older than you, so you are just being bullied by them. If the eighth prince can find someone older than you to bully you, why can’t you go find someone else too? These little companions, how can they help you?”
Mo Rongyi met the scolding with an aggrieved look. “Haven’t all the people who can help me been bought out?”
“Idiot!” Ye Zhen wanted to knock this little guy to death. “There are so many people in the capital who can help you!”
Instantaneously, Ye Zhen remembered that Mo Rongyi had almost never had contact with the aristocratic families in the capital before. When the previous emperor was alive, he and the empress dowager could only live humbly in the shadows.
How could he know the situation of each family in the capital like her?
“Why don’t you ask the emperor?” Ye Zhen asked, looking at the lad’s disgruntled face.
“I don’t want others to say that I can only rely on Imperial Brother,” Mo Rongyi whispered.
“A’Yi, you don’t need to rely on anyone now. You are Little Prince. As long as you go out, there are many people who would want to come in contact with you.” Ye Zhen softened her tone. “You don’t need to fear anyone anymore.”
Mo Rongyi had been looked down upon since he was a child. Although he was a prince, the children of the imperial clan had shunned him because the empress dowager was not a high-born. Even the aristocratic children had no impression of him. If not, Xie Longyuan and the others would not have dared start a fight with him at that last lantern festival.
“Then what should I do?” Mo Rongyi asked. He instinctively believed in Ye Zhen.
“Let those aristocratic children get to know you first. If you live in the palace and don’t take the initiative to make friends with them, how can they interact with you?” Ye Zhen said.
Mo Rongyi looked at Ye Zhen with bright eyes. “Yes.”
Ye Zhen knocked him on the head amusedly. “When will you play polo with Sixth Prince?”
“I planned it for the fifth day of next month,” Mo Rongyi said.
“Then there is still one month left. Tomorrow I will give you a list of the aristocratic children. Where do you want to have a banquet? Find a reason to post and invite them. In this way, everyone would know what Little Prince is like. As people come and go, you will get to know more people.” Ye Zhen told him.
Mo Rongyi nodded. “You are right. It is my birthday in two days. I’ll go ask Imperial Brother if I can hold a celebration in the palace. If I can, I’ll invite them to the palace.”
“I’ll give you a list of names tomorrow,” Ye Zhen said with a smile, “A’Yi, you need to face those aristocratic children on your own. You need to make them respect you yourself.”
Only
“Can I do it?” Mo Rongyi was a little timid.
“What is there that you can’t do?” Ye Zhen encouraged him. “Trust me!”
Mo Rongyi looked at Ye Zhen’s eyes, full of trust and rea.s.surance, and nodded firmly. “Then I’ll go see Imperial Brother right now.”
Ye Zhen wanted to say that they didn’t need to be in such a hurry, but Mo Rongyi had already run away, a trail of smoke following his path.
“What a child!” Ye Zhen laughed and shook her head. How could such an annoying person like Mo Rongzhan have such a cute little brother?