Chapter 165: Chapter 165

If possible, the Crown Prince would like to leisurely accompany his sister on a stroll, since getting out is truly not easy. Once they return, it’ll be back to the deep palace halls, and it will be even harder for the young girl to come out and play.

But in this situation, he can’t relax even for a moment.

Reason tells him to immediately refuse his sister’s request to leave, but he doesn’t respond right away and instead remains silent for a long time.

Finally, he sighs while holding his forehead, saying somewhat regretfully, "Yi Yi, your brother has matters to attend to today, so he can’t accompany you to see the nice things. Next time, your brother will definitely go with you."

Jun Ning immediately pouts. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽

The Crown Prince continues, "If you want to go anywhere, let Ming Yue accompany you. Ming Yue is here specifically to protect you; no matter where you go, he will ensure your safety."

"Ming Yue." The Crown Prince calls out towards the outside.

Ming Yue is standing guard outside, and upon hearing the call, he comes in and respectfully kneels at the Crown Prince’s feet, saying, "Your Highness."

Ming Yue awaits instructions.

"Wherever the princess wants to go, you accompany her, but make sure to protect her well!"

Leaving this command, the Crown Prince dares not look at Jun Ning again, fearing to see her aggrieved little face, which would make him feel uncomfortable and get in the way.

Jun Ning is so anxious she jumps out of bed barefoot, chasing after him and grabbing the back of the Crown Prince’s robe, blocking him, "Brother, don’t go. If you leave... I... I..."

For a long moment, Jun Ning doesn’t know what to say.

In her past life as an assassin, she was very good at threatening opponents, making them cry out, despair, and eventually comply with her wishes.

But those were opponents.

When it comes to family, she naturally wouldn’t use force to make them follow her wishes. Yet, subtle persuasion might have no effect, and acting coquettishly likely wouldn’t work either.

How to speak to keep her brother?

No one knows the immense internal struggle Jun Ning goes through in just the brief moment of grabbing the Crown Prince’s robe.

Ultimately, she holds onto the Crown Prince’s robe with one hand and pinches her thigh with the other, bursting into tears.

Besides crying to keep her brother, Jun Ning truly doesn’t know how else to persuade him to stay.

She cries painfully, her body trembling, curled into a small ball, looking very pitiable.

Even Ming Yue, standing by, cannot help but show a pained expression.

Through tears, Jun Ning pleads, "Brother, please don’t go, spare just half an hour to accompany Yi Yi to see something nice, okay?"

As long as her brother sees that, he naturally won’t leave.

And it only takes up half an hour of his time. Seeing her , the Crown Prince is certain to agree.

The Crown Prince, seeing Jun Ning , feels heartbroken. He quickly turns to pick her up, wipes her tears, and says, "Don’t cry." After a pause, he closes his eyes and compromises, "...Just half an hour, your brother promises to go with you."

The Crown Prince thinks that for the half-hour lost during the day, he can make up for it at night.

As long as his sister stops crying and is well, a little hardship for him is no problem.

But afraid that Jun Ning might regret it later, the Crown Prince reminds, "Your brother can accompany you, but as we agreed, just half an hour, no reneging or extending the time, understand?"

"Otherwise, if you cry again trying to stop your brother from leaving, he won’t pay attention to you, nor will he compromise. Do you understand?" the Crown Prince asks.

Jun Ning nods, speaking in a childish voice, "Uh-huh, I understand."

As long as her brother sees that, she won’t need to cry to keep him; he will naturally stay.

"Then let’s set off now."

The Crown Prince, Jun Ning, and Qi Qin ride together in a carriage to the residence of the old craftsman, with Ming Yue driving.

In the carriage, Qi Qin has been resting to conserve energy for the upcoming trip to the Black Forest.

The Crown Prince looks at him, shaking his head, "You stubborn guy, then go hungry!" Saying this, he takes out a bun he bought from a shop they passed by earlier and hands it to Jun Ning, "Yi Yi, eat something to fill your stomach?"

Jun Ning takes the bun and devours it; she is truly hungry.

But with her current appetite, she can’t finish an entire big bun. Just now, being too hungry, she focused on eating and forgot to break the bun in half for the Crown Prince. Now she can’t finish after eating half, and she can’t offer what’s left to anyone.

Throwing it away would be a waste.

Jun Ning can only hold onto the half bun, intending to eat it later when she’s less full.

The Crown Prince, noticing, takes the half bun from her hand without any aversion and starts eating it.

"Yi Yi, in the future, if you can’t finish something, say so early, understand?" The Crown Prince, mistakenly thinking Jun Ning intends to throw away the uneaten bun when they disembark, teaches her, "Every grain and meal comes hard-earned, no matter how wealthy, you must learn to cherish."

"Uh-huh." Jun Ning doesn’t explain, just nods, "Thank you for the teaching, Crown Prince Brother. Yi Yi understands."

Hearing this, the Crown Prince smiles contentedly and continues to eat the rest of Jun Ning’s bun.

At this moment, Jun Ning truly feels the Crown Prince is not the high and aloof figure, untouched by earthly matters, as people say. He is just a regular man, who loves his children and indulges his younger sister.

Truly hoping the Crown Prince Brother never changes.

Yet, the world is unpredictably changeable, beyond the control of ordinary people.

What is hoped for may one day become a luxury.

The inn is not far from the old craftsman’s residence, and the carriage arrived there in about the time it takes to burn two sticks of incense.

The Crown Prince holds Jun Ning and descends from the carriage; before Qi Qin in the carriage has a chance to get down, Jun Ning eagerly runs ahead to find the old craftsman, calling out all the while.

"Grandpa Carpenter, are you there?"

"Did you figure out your big wings today? I brought my brother to see."

Jun Ning runs into the craftsman’s house.

The room inside is spacious and bright, without any excess furnishings, only a kang and two chairs, leaving the rest of the space open. Previously, during Jun Ning’s visit, nothing was placed there, but now there’s a very large wooden kite occupying almost all of the remaining space.

And the old man is sitting with his head down next to the wooden kite. Since his back is to Jun Ning, she can’t see his expression.

"Grandpa!" Jun Ning calls out tentatively again.

But the old man doesn’t respond.

Jun Ning goes forward to check and first notices his injured left leg, which has been neglected. At the moment, it emits a strong smell of blood and foul odor.

Yet, the old man seems completely unaware of his leg’s distress, staring foolishly at the wooden kite beside him, choking with emotion.