Young Master Su is afraid.

Although he’s no stranger to mischief, he’s wrecked nearly all the flowers in the garden aiming at the chicken, and if his mother finds out, she’s sure to give him a thorough beating.

Luckily, his mother went to Prince NanAn Mansion today.

Prince NanAn quietly had a baby...

Oops!

It’s the Princess Consort NanAn who gave birth to a son. After his mother found out, she went to congratulate them. They wanted to go along, but his mother refused, fearing they might clumsily poke at the Young Prince of Prince NanAn Mansion...

Now that the flowers are ruined, restoring the garden to its original state is the only way to avoid punishment.

They don’t know many people; the only capable and approachable person Young Master Su can think of is the Emperor.

Young Master Su is kneeling on the ground with the chicken, looking as pitiful as can be.

The Emperor has a headache.

He gave him the bow and arrow to practice archery, not for hunting.

He can’t even crawl yet, and already wants to run.

But since the bow and arrow were his gift, and Young Master Su came to him first after causing trouble, the Emperor can’t just ignore it.

Flowers are no big deal for him.

The Emperor said, "I promise, now get up."

Young Master Su’s heart relaxed, "I knew the Emperor wouldn’t just leave us hanging."

He stood up, but the hen in his arms was in the way.

He regretted bringing it out of Dongxiang Marquis Mansion but couldn’t just throw it on the street, so he carried it all the way into the palace.

Now that the Emperor gifted him flowers, Young Master Su was so touched he placed the hen on the Dragon Desk, "Emperor, you’ve been so good to me, I want to give you this hen."

The Emperor, "...."

Eunuch Fu, "...."

The Emperor’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Eunuch Fu was so stifled with laughter his body went limp, his face convulsing.

Suffice it to say, with Young Master Su’s enthusiasm, the Emperor surely regrets being kind to him.

That’s quite a bit of cheekiness.

Young Master Su’s arms were terribly sore, and seeing the hen was rather docile, he relaxed his arms.

He stroked the hen’s feathers; the hen perched on the Dragon Desk.

Eunuch Fu quickly moved forward to cradle the hen—this was the Dragon Desk!

The shadow of a parrot pooping on the Dragon Desk last time still lingered.

He feared being late again, and the hen would mark the Emperor’s Dragon Desk.

Eunuch Fu was perceptive but a step behind.

The hen didn’t poop; it laid an egg on the Dragon Desk.

Typically, hens don’t lay eggs when startled; this one must’ve been overly frightened to behave so unusually.

Young Master Su was dumbfounded by the egg on the Dragon Desk.

Especially as the egg was about to roll off, he reached out to catch it.

The egg was caught securely, but he failed to restrain the hen, which fluttered and flew up.

"Cluck cluck cluck...."

The Emperor was nearly at his wits’ end.

The Ninth Prince’s face turned pale; why hadn’t he stopped Su Yang? He just narrowly escaped disaster, and now it starts anew.

The hen clucked exuberantly inside the Imperial Study.

Outside the Imperial Study, guards’ shoulders shook with laughter.

Only Young Master Su and his kind dared to bring anything into the Imperial Study.

Since the Imperial Study was built, had there ever been a hen clucking in it?

"Someone, catch that chicken!" Eunuch Fu shouted.

Guards rushed into the Imperial Study to catch the hen.

Young Master Su stood aside, feeling the egg in his hand was a bit hot.

He put the egg down quietly and sneaked out.

When the Ninth Prince noticed, he only caught a glimpse of Young Master Su’s swift departure.

He... just ran off like that?!

The Ninth Prince and others hurried after him.

If the culprit runs away, won’t they be left behind to take the blame?

The guards were adept and easily caught the hen.

The guards holding the chicken looked at the Emperor, "Emperor... what should we do with this chicken?"

"Make soup," the Emperor said.

"...."

Outside the Imperial Study.

The Ninth Prince and others chased and shouted.

Young Master Su ran faster and faster.

He was afraid the Emperor would punish him.

After running for a while and seeing no one pursuing, he leaned on his knees, gasping.

The Ninth Prince wanted to kill him; daring to mess with his father’s Dragon Desk like that.

Young Master Su got into the carriage, saying, "Quickly, leave the palace."

Once out of the palace, he continued, "Don’t go home, head to Jibei Marquis Mansion."

Right now, only grandmother can protect him.

Young Master Su was exhausted.

Why do chickens always go against him?

Last time the beggar chicken wasn’t cooked properly and ran off, making him lose face.

This time it’s the hen again.

Next time, he must remember.

The carriage stopped in front of Jibei Marquis Mansion, Young Master Su first asked a servant if his mother was there, confirming she’s not, he rushed to find Old Madam Ji Bei to save him.

The Old Madam Ji Bei was startled to hear this and hurriedly asked, "What trouble did you cause again?"

Young Master Su was still brewing how to report.

Young Master Shen had already recounted in detail, like spilling beans, how Young Master Su messed with the hen, wrecked the garden, went to the palace to seek the Emperor’s help, gifted the hen to the Emperor, and how the hen laid an egg on the Dragon Desk.

Especially Su Yang dared to flee after releasing the hen.

Poor Old Madam Ji Bei, already old, nearly laughed herself breathless.

In the end—

Young Master Su didn’t escape a beating. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

And the more he messed around, the worse the beating.

The Old Madam Ji Bei laughed herself into chest pains and had to call the Imperial Physician to the mansion.

Mrs. Tang arrived upon hearing the news, and after paying her respects, she grabbed Young Master Su’s ear and dragged him away.

The more the Emperor thought, the angrier he got, but he couldn’t renege the promise of flowers to Young Master Su, so he sent Eunuch Fu on an errand.

Eunuch Fu picked out a hundred pots of flowers to send to Dongxiang Marquis Mansion, just in time to see Mrs. Tang chasing Young Master Su around and beating him.

Young Master Su shouted as he ran, "I didn’t know grandmother was unwell and shouldn’t be laughing, I know I was wrong!"

"Mother, I won’t do it again."

Young Master Su was truly frightened.

Grandmother is his father’s own mother.

If he made grandmother laugh until something happened, wouldn’t his father beat him to death?

Mrs. Tang felt her son would sooner or later drive her to become a shrew.

Eunuch Fu’s mouth twitched several times.

He dared not interfere with Dongxiang Marquis’s wife disciplining her son and quietly left the flowers.

Back at the Imperial Study, the Emperor asked, "Did Young Master Su get beaten?"

"When I arrived, he was already being beaten," Eunuch Fu said, twitching his mouth.

"...."

The Emperor said no more.

Eunuch Fu was a bit troubled.

He wasn’t sure if he should inform the Emperor that the incident of the hen laying an egg on his Dragon Desk had already spread.

The dignity of an Emperor.

Already messed with by a hen.

Inside, Young Master Su lay on the bed, Doctor Wei applying medicine to him.

His bottom didn’t know how many times it had been whipped with bamboo, hurting with every touch.

The Ninth Prince and others watched suspiciously and asked Doctor Wei, "Has Su Yang’s bottom grown calluses?"

Doctor Wei, "...."

Young Master Su, "...."

Doctor Wei had black lines across his forehead.

Ever since coming to the Capital, he lost count of how many times he treated Young Master Su.

Though the bottom hasn’t developed calluses yet, it’s not far off.