The Emperor walked around Jixian Academy for a long time, seemingly not in a hurry to see the young prince, more like taking a stroll.

Just when Headmaster Li thought he was just taking a leisurely walk, the person in front lightly coughed and casually asked, “Where do the five or six-year-old children study?”

“Your Majesty, it’s Changqing Hall, over there.” Headmaster Li didn’t know why the Emperor asked this, so he could only lead the way bewildered.

When they arrived at Changqing Hall, it happened to be lunchtime. A group of children poured out of the hall, running out with joyful cries.

Shen Tuo’s gaze swept across the faces of the group of young children, his face darkening slightly.

Headmaster Li knew that the Emperor liked quietness and didn’t like such noisy occasions, so he kindly suggested, “The children are still young, and they are playful. Changqing Hall is noisy. Why doesn’t Your Majesty move to outside the hall? It will be quieter there.”

The Emperor didn’t answer him, his face still gloomy. Headmaster Li was trembling, thinking he had said something wrong, so he could only look at Commander Wu.

Wu Ying made a silencing gesture, signaling Headmaster Li to be quiet.

Shen Tuo took off the pendant from his waist and played with it. His gaze fixed on a child who was hanging her head, observing for a while, then shook the jade pendant in his hand and walked forward.

“Clang!”

The jade pendant accidentally fell to the ground and broke.

Yu Xiaobao was walking forward with her head down, not seeing anyone in front of her, and bumped directly into him.

The green jade pendant shattered at her feet. Yu Xiaobao widened her eyes, took a step back, realized she had bumped into someone, her face showing a look of bewilderment after causing trouble, and hurriedly said, “I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean to.”

“Oh dear, the child is careless and bumped into His Majesty. It’s all this servant’s fault. I didn’t supervise properly, I didn’t supervise properly!”

Before Shen Tuo could speak, Headmaster Li rushed forward, pulling Yu Xiaobao’s shoulders back and wanting to bow to apologize.

“No need, Headmaster Li, you’re overreacting. You may leave now.” Shen Tuo raised his hand to stop him, at the same time giving Wu Ying a cold look.

Without a word, Wu Ying directly pulled Headmaster Li out of Changqing Hall.

The other students had all gone to the dining hall for lunch. At this time, there were only two people in Changqing Hall, looking at each other.

Yu Xiaobao blinked her eyes and looked up at the person in front of her.

The little girl was only four years old, forming a stark contrast to the tall man. It was difficult for Yu Xiaobao to stretch her neck to look, but even after straining her neck, she couldn’t see his face clearly.

His Majesty… was he the most noble and untouchable person in Daye, as her maternal grandmother had said?

But she had just accidentally bumped into him and broken a piece of jade.

Oh no, oh no, she had caused trouble again. This time, she must have caused a big problem for her mother.

Just as Yu Xiaobao was heartbroken, thinking that she would definitely get a beating from her mother when she went home today, the person in front of her slowly squatted down and looked at her levelly.

“Kid, my jade is broken. How are you going to compensate me?”

“I… I don’t have any money.” Yu Xiaobao stammered, her eyes rolling as she stared at the extremely handsome uncle in front of her.

“Hmm?” Shen Tuo raised his eyebrows. “Kid, are you trying to renege on your debt?”

“No! I’m not reneging on my debt.” Yu Xiaobao said painfully, “But I really don’t have any money. I’ll tell my mother when I get home, and I’ll pay you back tomorrow, okay?”

She had already angered her mother yesterday, and now she had caused trouble again. She couldn’t escape a beating, or perhaps she would be punished to copy a thousand-character essay.

“What’s your name, and what’s your mother’s name?”

Yu Xiaobao answered obediently and then asked how much money she had to pay.

“Three thousand copper coins.”

Yu Xiaobao opened her mouth wide, gasping in surprise. Although she was young, she wasn’t unaware of money. Three thousand copper coins was probably an amount she couldn’t save even if she saved for a hundred years. Her mother only gave her one hundred cash a month.

This jade was so expensive. Her mother wouldn’t have to spend all their savings, would she? It’s over; she had ruined her mother.

“It’s so expensive. Can you make it cheaper? I only have one hundred cash as pocket money every month. I’m so poor, so poor.” Yu Xiaobao looked at him with a pleading expression, trying her best to act cute. “Uncle, you’re so handsome. You look like a god from heaven, and you’re so kind…”

The child didn’t have many words, and Yu Xiaobao used all the words she could. It could be seen that she was really trying hard to plead poverty.

A hint of a smile appeared in Shen Tuo’s eyes, listening with great interest.

She could even haggle. The little ghost was very clever. And, for such a young child, Yu Ning actually gave her one hundred cash as pocket money every month. It seemed that in these years, their mother and daughter had lived a very carefree and happy life.

“It seems that you are indeed very pitiful. Then I will be kind and not ask you to return the three thousand copper coins now, but you will have to repay this money in other ways…”

Yu Xiaobao’s eyes lit up with surprise, nodding repeatedly. “Okay, okay.”

Huo Shi was someone who couldn’t tolerate grievances, even if the person who wronged her was her mother-in-law. After returning home, she wanted to go to Old Madam Ruan to seek justice, but she was stopped by Yu Ning and Xie Wanyu.

“Seek justice?” Xie Wanyu stretched out her palm and asked, “Mother, you said that Grandmother instructed Ruan Qinghe to suppress Xiaobao. Where’s the evidence? You can’t just convict someone based on your words alone.”

Huo Shi put her hands on her hips, her anger rising. “I saw it with my own eyes! What evidence do I need? I am the witness, and Ning’er, your sister, also saw it!”

Yu Ning patted Huo Shi’s back, appearing much calmer. “Mother, we really don’t have any evidence. If we go like this, we’ll definitely be retaliated against.”

“But I can’t just swallow this anger. I’ll go and make a scene, scare them, and see if those Ruan family members dare to act recklessly again.”

Xie Wanyu put her hand on her forehead, helplessly saying, “Mother, in our dynasty, filial piety is valued. If you do this, you will surely be reported by those censors.”

It was precisely because civil officials followed the principles of filial piety that even though the current Emperor and the Empress Dowager were not in harmony, they couldn’t openly do anything to the Empress Dowager.