This cry was too loud.
It caused Zhan Tianye to shift his gaze to Li Meng'er.
Yun Shu also looked over.
She felt a slight urge to laugh at this Li Meng'er.
Perhaps it was because Li De had been too protective of his daughter, which made her so overconfident and careless in her actions.
Instead of leaving earlier, she was now relentlessly demanding an explanation from Zhan Tianye.
Beside her, Xie Jin rolled his eyes. Where did this woman come from?
Did she have a brain?
Had Li De been too shrewd, unwilling to spare any of his intelligence for his sons and daughters?
"An explanation?" Zhan Tianye pursed his lips, the two words he uttered sending a shiver down one's spine.
Li Meng'er couldn't help but shrink her neck and take a step back. After her outburst, she immediately regretted it, feeling she had been too impulsive. But the words were out, and she couldn't take them back. She could only bite her lip and say, "Why was your Snow Spirit Snake wandering in the palace? It not only frightened people but also injured them. Regardless, Prince Jin must provide an explanation."
"Did it bite you?" Zhan Tianye asked coldly.
Yun Xiaojing hugged his arms, "It's just that you are too timid. The little snake looked very cute and well-behaved. It didn't bite anyone at all. If you're timid, just admit it. Why blame a little snake? The little snake didn't do anything wrong."
He was very protective of his little snake.
Zhan Xiaoli and Zhan Xiaofeng both nodded. Zhan Xiaoli spoke first, "The little snake was indeed very well-behaved."
"And exceptionally cute," Zhan Xiaofeng raised his small, pale hand and touched the little snake in Zhan Tianye's hand.
The little snake lazily tilted its head in Li Meng'er's direction.
"You... you..." Li Meng'er was furious. Seeing the little snake look at her again, her face turned even paler, and goosebumps prickled her skin.
Li Meng'er's eldest daughter-in-law tugged at her sleeve, "Your Highness, let's go."
This outing had been a disaster. They never expected that after finally gaining the upper hand, it would be ruined by Prince Jin's Snow Spirit Snake!
That Snow Spirit Snake truly made one's skin crawl.
Li Meng'er could only bite her lip again and say, "I hope Prince Jin will keep a better watch on his pets in the future and not let them appear in front of people. If it frightens me again, I fear I will have to go to His Majesty for an explanation."
With that, she held her head high and walked away arrogantly.
She thought no one noticed her legs were a little shaky.
But the moment she took her first step, she almost fainted and had to be supported by the palace maids beside her.
Only then could she maintain her dignity as she left the palace.
The children in the arms of Li family's three daughters-in-law only reacted after they went outside.
Free from the fear of seeing the snake in the palace, their little faces puffed up.
"Aunt, can we go back? I'm definitely braver than them! They were definitely pretending to be brave just now!" he retorted, unconvinced.
Thinking of how embarrassed he was earlier, he became even more defiant.
The other two also clamored to go back, unwilling to lose face.
So many palace servants had seen it; surely someone would gossip about them being timid later.
It was all Yun Xiaojing and the other two's fault.
Why did they pretend to be fearless? They even dared to touch the snake!
Now, everyone would know that these three were inferior to the three who came from the Dongning Kingdom!
They didn't want to shame their grandfather!
Li Meng'er bit her lip and whispered, "Stop talking. Those three are probably some kind of freaks. What are you comparing yourselves to them? Stay away from them in the future. The more I think about it, the stranger those three children seem! Do you hear me?"
The three children rarely saw their aunt lose her temper. Now, seeing Li Meng'er angry, they were scared into silence.
Then, Li Meng'er spoke to the three daughters-in-law, "You too, keep an eye on them. They are so strange, they could easily get into trouble. As for the Night Consort, she will get her comeuppance sooner or later. Just wait! She won't have any good days ahead."
Although the Li family's three daughters-in-law were displeased, they knew it was not the time to speak up.
It was evident that Li Meng'er had lost face today and was in a bad mood.
If they added more fuel to the fire, Li Meng'er might take it out on them, which wouldn't be worth it.
At this moment, in the palace, with the bothersome Li family gone, only a few palace servants remained.
Zhan Tianye didn't care what the palace staff thought; his gaze was entirely on Yun Shu.
"Would you like to sit down and have a cup of tea?" Yun Shu asked gently.
Xie Jin crossed his arms and said with a grin, "Prince Jin, why don't you join us for a cup of tea?"
After speaking, he glanced at the palace servants.
There were truly eyes everywhere in the palace.
Eyes everywhere.
After Yun Shu and Zhan Tianye had a cozy tea session, this scene would undoubtedly be quickly relayed to the Emperor of Xixia, and also to General Li.
No, and also to Princess Ningde.
That Princess Ningde truly harbored a desire to possess Zhan Tianye. Just look at the strong hostility she directed at Yun Shu in the pavilion earlier.
Anyone who didn't know would think Zhan Tianye and Princess Ningde were intimate confidantes, and Yun Shu was the one disrupting their relationship.
The palace servants thought Zhan Tianye would refuse, but to their surprise, he sat down without even a moment's hesitation.
Yun Shu's red lips curved slightly.
Seeing that their father wasn't leaving but was instead sitting down, the three little ones immediately followed suit and sat beside him.
They chattered away to Zhan Tianye.
Zhan Tianye petted one's head, then another's.
He even took out some banknotes from his sleeve.
A thick stack for each of them.
"After we leave the palace, have someone take you to buy whatever you like to play with," Zhan Tianye said very generously.
After all, they were his sons, and he didn't want to mistreat them.
The eyes of the three little ones immediately lit up. Just as they were about to exclaim, "Thank you, Father!" they remembered that they couldn't call him Father here, so they all said in unison, "Thank you, Prince Jin!"
Zhan Tianye frowned slightly. Hearing others call him these four words always made him uncomfortable. He had always felt that these four words did not belong to him, that they were imposed upon him. Now, his three sons, who should have called him Father, were all calling him Prince Jin.
Suddenly, he detested this title.
And by extension, he detested the Emperor of Xixia.
Sensing the change in Zhan Tianye's expression, Yun Shu gently said to the three little ones, "Go inside with your maternal grandfather and rest for a bit. We still have the palace banquet to attend later."
"Okay!"
"Alright, Mother."
The three little ones obediently agreed.
As they walked to the door, they all looked back.
They felt uncomfortable; Father was clearly their Father. If it weren't for the bad people, they could have openly called him Father at any time!
Therefore, they hated those bad people!
"The tea in Xixia isn't as good as the tea in Dongning. Tsk, I really can't get used to it. Prince Jin, can you?" Xie Jin asked Zhan Tianye with a grin.