Chapter 1453: 709 Grandparent and Grandchild Meet (Second Update)

After the morning classes ended, the children came out one after the other.

Zhang Dequan stood at the east side of the courtyard entrance, carefully watching each child as they came out.

It was strange; so many children had come out, but why was his own Little Princess nowhere to be seen? Could something have happened to her?

It couldn’t be possible; he had spoken with Teacher Lu from the Genius Class and mentioned that it was an order from the king himself that he should take extra care of the Little Princess.

A mere teacher at the Academy wouldn’t dare ignore the king’s direct order.

Zhang Dequan waited left and right, while in the classroom, the Little Princess was packing up her books at a snail’s pace.

She had never done such a thing before; when she went to classes, she never brought books because her senior tutor would provide them, and a Palace maid would arrange them for her when leaving.

But here, she had to do everything on her own.

She was flustered and clueless, without the slightest idea of which book to pack up first.

Fortunately, her little desk mate was also still packing, or else if she were the only student left in the classroom, she would have felt very pressured.

Teacher Lu sat at the podium, propping his chin with one hand and his head nodding off bit by bit, almost falling asleep.

Little Jingkong’s sluggish packing had made Teacher Lu question life itself, and now the teacher had found a coping strategy; he would sleep, and the child would pack at his own pace.

Little Jingkong finally finished packing the last book after a quarter-hour since classes had ended. He glanced at the Little Princess’s desk, which was as disastrous as the scene of a major car accident, and asked, “Why haven’t you started packing yet?”

The Little Princess was at a loss, “I don’t know how.”

Teacher Lu nearly pecked his way off the podium like a chicken pecking grains, almost falling asleep, but was startled awake to see that Little Jingkong had finished packing and only the Little Princess was left. He immediately perked up, intending to get up and help the Little Princess with her book bag.

Just then he heard Little Jingkong say, “I’ll teach you.”

A foreboding premonition suddenly filled Teacher Lu’s heart.

Before he could stop him, Little Jingkong had already dumped out neatly packed books haphazardly.

Teacher Lu’s heart broke inside!

Let go! Let me do it–

Little Jingkong arranged his own books into a scene as chaotic as the one on the Little Princess’s desk, copying even the angle at which “Analects of Confucius” was placed on top of “Three Character Classic” to the letter.

Due to the extreme mess on the Little Princess’s desk, it took Little Jingkong another quarter-hour just to imitate the disaster.

Little Jingkong laid his book bag down to his left, the opening facing the books, and instructed meticulously, “Now, as I do, open your book bag. I put one book in, and you put one in.”

“Mhm,” the Little Princess opened her book bag following Little Jingkong’s lead.

She didn’t do it quite right, the four corners not neatly aligned. Little Jingkong adjusted it for her.

Teacher Lu’s lip twitched. Don’t you realize what a mess your own book bag is? How dare you have the cheek to teach the Little Princess?

Teacher Lu chuckled, “Xiaoxue, shall Teacher help you pack up?”

Little Jingkong spoke indifferently, “Why doesn’t Teacher help her eat too? We are taught to do our own things. Those are Teacher’s very own words.”

Teacher Lu: “…”

What a rebellious disciple!

“First pack ‘A Thousand Character Essay,’ then ‘Analects of Confucius’…”

Little Jingkong had a negative packing skill, doing it all haphazardly, but he looked very serious and as if highly experienced.

The Little Princess observed their bulging book bags, distorted by the haphazardly stuffed books poking out at every angle, and vaguely felt that it wasn’t packed the way a Palace maid would do it.

Yet Little Jingkong’s inexplicable confidence and aura made the Little Princess think that maybe this was indeed the correct way to pack books.

Teacher Lu dozed off once more, wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, murmuring sleepily, “Have you finished packing? It’s time to go, right?”

Then he heard Little Jingkong say to the Little Princess, “There, I’ve shown you step by step; now, you try packing by yourself.”

Without delay, under Little Jingkong’s guidance, the Little Princess dumped out all her books again…

Teacher Lu collapsed onto the podium with a thud!

He gazed at the ceiling beams hopelessly, wishing someone would end his misery!

…

Canglan Ladies’ Academy also ended classes, and Xiao Hen came to Lingbo Academy to pick up Jingkong.

There were a few hundred steps from Lingbo Academy, and as he walked at a normal pace, Little Jingkong still hadn’t come out.

He had grown accustomed to it.

Little Jingkong wasn’t always so dilatory; he only dragged his feet on days when he protested against not being allowed to see Gu Jiao.

Xiao Hen never rushed him, nor did he scold him afterward.

That’s just the way children are; the more you care, the more they know their actions can affect you.

Xiao Hen waited patiently at the front gate of the Academy.

Zhang Dequan was on the east side, and he on the west side, with only the academy’s gateway separating them.

With over a thousand students at Lingbo Academy, the gateway turned into a torrent of humanity during meal times or dismissal, bustling with activity.

Yet even obscured by so many people and despite Zhang Dequan’s divided attention as he looked out for the Little Princess, he caught sight of Xiao Hen from the corner of his eye in an inadvertent scan.

Xiao Hen was dressed in Canglan Academy’s uniform with a veil partially covering his face.

Zhang Dequan, being a eunuch, saw women and the Imperial Garden’s flowers as equivalent; no matter how beautiful, they failed to catch his interest enough for a second glance.

But today, for some reason, he found himself looking at that student several times!

Is it a student?

They’re wearing the uniform of the Canglan Academy for girls.

A bit tall, but the former Empress of Xuanyuan was also a tall beauty.

That’s odd, I should have misspoken.

Why compare a student from Canglan Academy with the late Empress of Xuanyuan?

Don’t look, don’t look, I can’t look anymore.

I might lose the Little Princess if I keep this up.

Zhang Dequan forced himself to look away from Xiao Hen and, standing on tiptoe, continued to scan the crowd pouring out of the gate.

The Little Princess is so small, hardly noticeable among these students in their teens and twenties, she could easily be lost if you’re not careful.

“But this person really…”

Zhang Dequan’s gaze was once again involuntarily drawn to Xiao Hen.

Why do I keep wanting to look at her?

I, a eunuch, mustn’t harbor improper thoughts toward a young lady.

After looking a few more times, Zhang Dequan attributed his curiosity to Xiao Hen’s phoenix eyes.

The eyes were slender, with the corners tilted slightly upwards, bright and still.

The Princess and the Empress of Xuanyuan both had such phoenix eyes, adding a serene and enchanting temperament beyond the innocence of almond-shaped eyes.

Anyone who sees such eyes would have trouble looking away.

Zhang Dequan was so mesmerized that he didn’t notice the Little Princess had already come out of the Academy.

She came out with Xiao Jingkong, who didn’t recognize her family members. The moment he saw the bad brother-in-law, he led the Little Princess over to him.

Thus, Xiao Hen saw one little bean leading another, smaller bean through the crowd.

Xiao Jingkong had a schoolbag on his back and was holding another in his arms.

It’s hard to distinguish boys from girls when kids look at other kids, but Xiao Hen, an adult, could tell the difference.

Xiao Hen raised his eyebrows at Xiao Jingkong. What’s going on?

Xiao Jingkong seriously said, “My desk mate.” He then turned to the Little Princess and introduced, “My sister… sister.”

The Little Princess politely said, “Hello sister, my name is Xiaoxue.”

Xiao Hen twitched the corner of his mouth. Damned kid, I sent you to school not to bring back a little girl.

Xiao Jingkong explained to the Little Princess, “My sister can’t talk.”

“Oh,” the Little Princess, with an elder’s mindset, immediately looked at Xiao Hen with eyes full of concern for the differently-abled junior.

Xiao Hen: “…”

Elsewhere, in the Crown Prince’s residence, a guard hurried to the study room door: “Your Highness, there’s news from Prince Han!”

The Crown Prince put down the documents in his hand, “Come in quickly!”

“Yes!”

The guard entered, saluted the Crown Prince, and said seriously, “Prince Han’s confidant just came by and left two messages, one bad news, one good news.”

The Crown Prince frowned, “What’s good and bad at this time? Is it news about Xiao Liulang?”

The guard replied, “Yes!”

The Crown Prince asked, “What’s the good news?”

The guard reported truthfully, “Prince Han has found Xiao Liulang’s whereabouts based on clues left by General Nangong. It turns out that Xiao Liulang has been in the inner city of Shengdu this whole time, and the reason General Nangong couldn’t trace him was that he changed his identity and disguised himself to enter the Canglan Academy for girls! His surname is Gu, and he is the Zhan Country’s miss who made it into the top ten of the beauty rankings on the third day he came!”

The Crown Prince didn’t care about the beauty rankings, but the identification of Xiao Hen’s identity was tremendous news. Next, they just needed to go directly to Canglan Academy to capture him!

The Crown Prince could hardly contain his excitement, “Don’t delay, have Prince Han capture him for me right away!”

The guard’s face was filled with distress, “Prince Han cannot lay hands on him.”

“Why not?” the Crown Prince asked.

The guard bravely said, “That’s the bad news Prince Han sent back… the Emperor is at the Academy!”

The Crown Prince inhaled sharply!

Zhang Dequan had been gone for quite some time, and the Emperor had finished reviewing the petitions. It was truly stifling inside the carriage without anyone to fan the air.

The Emperor instructed the coachman to bring the carriage to the gates of Lingbo Academy.

Zhang Dequan had already located the Little Princess and was waiting for her to say goodbye to her newfound friend.

He hadn’t expected that there would be someone the same age as the Little Princess in the Genius Class, and that person was coincidentally this female student’s brother.

The Little Princess saw the Emperor’s carriage and ran over panting, stopping beside the wheel, which was taller than herself, and looked up at the carriage window, “Uncle! I made new friends! Do you want to come and see?”

“Is that so?” the Emperor opened the curtain.

“Over there!”

The Little Princess pointed.

The Emperor looked towards Xiao Hen and Xiao Jingkong.

And Xiao Hen, feeling the gaze, also raised her eyes to look at the Emperor’s carriage.