Zhan Zichen's eyes turned red. "What did you say?!"
"Your sword broke, that's your problem. You were the one who drew your sword to block our path and harm us. The breaking of your sword was your own fault, do you understand?" Zhan Xiaoli said impatiently, frowning.
Zhan Zichen stomped his foot fiercely and pointed at Zhan Xiaoli. "That's not true! You broke my sword! You are my younger brothers, how could I possibly harm you! I think you did it on purpose!"
Yun Shu now truly saw Zhan Zichen's unreasonableness with her own eyes.
It was truly impossible to reason with him.
She looked at Zhan Zichen with a peaceful gaze. "Now that things are clear, although there are reasons for what happened, I can compensate you with a sword, consider it a welcome gift from me. As for who is right and who is wrong in this matter, I believe you know very well."
Upon hearing this, Zhan Zichen's face turned bright red. "I... I don't think I was wrong, and I think they should give me the dagger. Yun Xiaojing used that dagger to cut my sword, so it's only right to take away his dagger."
"Shameless," Yun Xiaojing, who had initially not wanted to curse, couldn't help it.
He had never met someone who could maintain their shamelessness with such purity and wronged expression before, but now he had.
It was infuriating!
Yun Shu continued to smile peacefully. "That dagger is not for you; it belongs to Xiaojing."
"Then compensate me with an identical sword! You are their mother, you cannot indulge them!" Zhan Zichen was convinced he was not wrong.
Moreover, the more he looked at Zhan Xiaoli and the others, the more displeased he became, especially with Yun Xiaojing. He really wanted to beat them soundly, then they wouldn't dare to talk back to him.
And they had a mother!
Why?
"Mother, he's too unreasonable," Zhan Xiaoli said, annoyed.
Zhan Xiaofeng clenched his small fists. "I'm so angry I want to hit him."
"Don't just talk about yourself, I want to hit him too! But now he's alone, and we are several people. We can't hit him, otherwise, he might latch onto our family and never leave!" Yun Xiaojing had seen many rascals before and knew well that rascals were unreasonable.
And they didn't distinguish between right and wrong!
It was too infuriating!
If it weren't for being in the General's mansion, if they were anywhere else, he could have found a bunch of little things to scare Zhan Zichen to death!
See if he would dare to be unreasonable and make trouble again!
Yun Shu stood up and ordered a nearby servant, "Someone come and escort Prince Ning's heir apparent back to Prince Ning's mansion. We will send a sword later."
After speaking, she prepared to lead Yun Xiaojing and the others back to her courtyard.
She knew very well that reasoning with Zhan Zichen was futile; he wouldn't listen, and he would absolutely not realize his own mistakes.
Clearly, Prince Ning appeared to be such a gentle and refined person, how could he have raised his son to be so troublesome?
"I'm not leaving!" Zhan Zichen struggled, refusing to leave no matter what.
He flailed his arms and kicked away the servant. "Don't touch me! I am the heir apparent of Prince Ning! And if you touch me again, I will kill you. I always keep my word, do you believe me?"
At such a young age, he was filled with hostility.
And extremely arrogant.
The servants could only look at Yun Shu.
Yun Shu pursed her lips. Reasoning was impossible, and persuasion had failed, so it was simple.
She took Yun Xiaojing's hand and walked away, giving orders. "Tie him up and send him back directly."
"No!" Zhan Zichen shouted.
At this moment.
Prince Ning, Zhan Tianyu, who had just left, returned.
Zhan Tianyu looked at Yun Shu, his gaze deep and somewhat meaningful, yet seemingly casual. He spoke in a gentle voice, "My apologies, Second Miss Yun, for causing you trouble."
Upon hearing this, Yun Shu looked at Zhan Tianyu. The apology on his face was genuine.
Such a seemingly reasonable person, yet his son, Zhan Zichen, was so unreasonable?
"It's nothing. Please, Prince Ning, explain this matter to your child properly. Although my sons are not at fault, it's just a sword, and I will compensate you." Yun Shu took out a bank note for five thousand taels.
A sword that could be so easily cut by Yun Xiaojing couldn't be worth more than five thousand taels, no matter how good it was.
Zhan Zichen had stopped flailing since Zhan Tianyu's arrival, but his face was still full of defiance.
Seeing Yun Shu take out the bank note, he bared his teeth and said, "I just want my sword."
The next moment.
*Slap!*
Zhan Zichen's face immediately turned red, a large handprint imprinted on it.
Zhan Tianyu's slap sent Zhan Zichen reeling, and he seemed to not yet realize why he was being hit. "Father!"
"What did I say before I left? Are you still making trouble?" Zhan Tianyu asked sternly.
Zhan Zichen realized something, and his body trembled in fear. He was truly scared. "I... I... I was wrong. Because that was the first sword Father gave me, and I liked it very much and cherished it, but they cut it. I... I just wasn't convinced."
In just half a day today, there had been too many things that made him unconvinced!
But he feared his father even more!
Yun Shu's brows furrowed.
The slap had been too quick, and she hadn't seen it very clearly. Zhan Tianyu didn't seem like someone who would use violence, but that slap had been forceful.
By now, the handprint on Zhan Zichen's face had turned a purplish-blue.
It showed how much force had been used.
Yun Xiaojing and the others looked up at Yun Shu.
Why would Prince Ning hit someone just like that?
It looked very painful.
Yun Shu didn't dwell on it too much and didn't say anything. Everyone had different ways of dealing with their children. She didn't have the saintly disposition to teach Zhan Tianyu how to discipline his child.
She nodded at Zhan Tianyu, her attitude distant and indifferent. "I have just returned from outside. I will take the children to change first and will not be seeing Prince Ning off. Come, send Prince Ning and his heir apparent away."
"Yes!"
The servants stepped forward and gestured politely. "Prince Ning, Prince Ning's heir apparent, please."
Zhan Tianyu did not follow the servants. Instead, he looked at Yun Shu with a gaze that was as dark as it was unclear. "It was my failure to discipline him. This matter has nothing to do with these three. These three children are so clever and sensible at such a young age, it truly makes this king envious. I wonder if Miss Yun would be able to come here after changing, and impart some of your methods for raising children to this king?"
Everything he said was humble and polite.
Yun Shu turned back to look at him. "Xiaojing and the others can also be mischievous at times, and I have many shortcomings. I am not qualified to teach Prince Ning."
"Fourth Brother, why don't you ask me instead, or send your son to my mansion? In just a few days, I can return a obedient and sensible son to Fourth Brother."
Suddenly.
A familiar voice came from not far behind them.
Yun Shu's eyes lit up, and she turned to look.
Qiu Lu pushed a wheeled chair forward.
Zhan Tianye sat in the wheelchair. Despite the wheelchair usually diminishing his presence, under the backdrop of the colorful flowers and green leaves in the garden, his aura seemed to increase rather than decrease.