How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

His hand rested on the shoulder of the person who was only a little shorter than him.

The second prince was wearing a very thick red fur coat. Not surprisingly, once he fell into the icy lake, he would sink to the bottom of the lake forever.

But Xie Jinyu didn't have the courage to do so.

He knew very well that his second brother was innocent. It was not his second brother who took away the father's love and the mother's attention that should have belonged to him, but his father and mother were unwilling to give them to him.

But he still envied and hated his second brother.

Even if we can't push him into the icy lake, we should at least teach him a lesson.

Lock him in a cold, deserted room and let him experience the same pain he once suffered.

This second brother who looks delicate and delicate is certainly not as hard-working as me. He will definitely cry and bang on the door miserably, calling for his father and mother.

Funny to think about it.

Xie Jinyu stretched out her hand, and was about to grab the coat and pull the man away from the lake, but her eyes suddenly met a pair of dark and bright eyes.

The second brother turned his head and blinked, seeming a little surprised. "Crown Prince brother?"

Xie Jinyu subconsciously withdrew his hand, avoiding the other party's clear eyes that were as dazzling as the sun.

"Why did you come out too?" His voice was soft and pleasant, and his clear eyes looked at her, "You don't even wear a coat, you'll get sick."

Xie Jinyu saw that the second prince untied his outer fur coat, and then stood on tiptoe to put the coat on him.

The wind was very strong by the lake, causing the Second Prince to shiver and his white nose tip to turn red. He held his cold hand with his warm little hand, and said with chattering teeth, "Brother Crown Prince, let's go back."

Xie Jinyu stared blankly at the hand that was being held.

The warmth was not just the body temperature that the second prince had accumulated for a long time, transmitted by the outer coat that blocked the cold wind, but also the soft and gentle touch of the palm. The little hand firmly grasped his fingers, as if afraid that he would get lost, and wrapped around him tightly. He could clearly feel his own pulse and the other person's pulse beating at the same time.

It's a very strange feeling.

"Royal brother... aren't you cold?" he asked with difficulty, and couldn't help but hold the little hand back, his heart pounding wildly.

Something is trying to hit the cage.

"My brother is not cold." The child smiled at him with his eyes crooked. "If my brother the Crown Prince gets frozen, my brother will be very disappointed."

This was the first time Xie Jinyu felt cared for.

Such pure care comes from family love.

There were palace maids in the Eastern Palace who cared about him, but it was more of pity and sympathy than concern. They looked at him with distress, but due to their mother's orders and fear of the royal power, they dared not lend a helping hand.

It’s so warm.

It’s so warm that it makes people... want to cry out of grievance.

But as a prince, he cannot cry.

At that moment, he was extremely greedy for this bit of warmth. He wished he could stay at that moment forever. He did not want to go back to the banquet and wanted to draw more warmth from his second brother.

Can he ask for it?

He gradually stopped and watched his second brother stop because of him.

"What's wrong?" Snowflakes had been falling without him noticing, and he saw his second brother standing on tiptoe and raising his hand to brush away the snowflakes on his eyelashes.

It's like an elder brother taking care of his younger brother, with utmost tenderness.

"I want to go there." He pointed to the house next door as if possessed by some mysterious force. "I don't want to go back to the banquet."

He knew that this request was a bit excessive. His second brother had no outer coat to keep him warm now, so he would definitely prefer to return to the warm banquet.

However, the second brother turned around and looked at the house, then nodded, "Okay."

He held my hand and walked into the cold and deserted house.

She dragged the wooden stool to the candlestick with ease, climbed up and lit the candle with a tinderbox, then jumped down, stood by the bed, lifted the quilt and said to him, "Brother Crown Prince, come in quickly and warm up."

He had forgotten what he was thinking at the time. He only remembered that he climbed onto the bed, and his second brother carefully took off his shoes and socks, stuffed him into the quilt, and then followed him into the quilt.

"Brother Crown Prince, why are you going to the Ice Lake?" He chatted, patting his chest as if he was coaxing a child to sleep. I guess Concubine Hua and his father coaxed him to sleep like this every night.

This realization gave rise to a hint of evil thoughts in Xie Jinyu's heart.

"I don't want to live anymore." He answered with an indifferent expression. He knew how scary such words would be for a child, so he wanted to scare his second brother.

There was suddenly no sound beside me, and the little hands beating on my chest also stopped.

He turned around, but was shocked to see that tears were welling up in his second brother's eyes, and then fell down as if he didn't want the money.

"Don't die." The second brother shook his head and hugged him tightly, refusing to let go, as if he was afraid that he would return to the icy lake to commit suicide. He choked and cried, "Ze Ze doesn't want his brother, the crown prince, to die."

He succeeded and made the second prince cry miserably.

Even though, it didn't seem quite what he wanted.

"Did someone bully you?" He said angrily with red eyes, "Whoever it is, I will beat him with ten, no, twenty lashes of the stick!"

Xie Jinyu just found it a little funny.

Twenty strokes of the cane? Do you dare?

If that person is the queen mother.

Xie Jinyu suddenly became very curious about what would happen if a doted second brother broke into his chaotic and cold family environment.

He rolled up his sleeves with malicious intent, revealing the red marks on his arms from being beaten with a ruler.

"It was my mother's punishment."

He said lightly, "Emperor Father doesn't care."

Those tears that didn't want money began to fall on his arm again, scratching the red marks left by the ruler. It obviously didn't hurt anymore, but Xie Jinyu felt an extremely burning sensation.

"How could they do this!"

The second brother's eyes were filled with disbelief and anger at having his trust and admiration destroyed. "It's fine if you don't let me play with you, but how could mother hit you!"

Xie Jinyu was stunned.

what?

Before he could react, he was pulled out of bed by his second brother. He watched him angrily dragging him back to the banquet, loudly complaining to Concubine Hua, refusing his father's apology, and glaring at his mother with his chest straight, trying to get her to stop such atrocities.

During that period, Concubine Hua had a unilateral quarrel with the emperor, and the second emperor also unilaterally ignored his father. He ran to the East Palace every day, and when he saw the queen mother appear, he glared at her with bared teeth like a little wolf cub fighting for food.

But he is just a child after all.

I don't understand that all the power in the harem is in the hands of Empress Cao alone.

In the end, the second brother finally won the right to play with him for a period of time every day.

That was something my second elder brother won because he was so angry that he fought for more than half a month, causing chaos in the entire harem.

Xie Jinyu really enjoyed this preference.

Risking everything for him, keeping eyes only on him, thinking about him sincerely and caring about his preferences.

He even enjoyed the fact that his father and mother, who had once ignored him, had to bow down to him and compromise because of his second brother's love for him.

So what if you don’t like me?

My second brother loves me.

For my sake, he will choose to hate you and refute you.

I don’t love you either.

I will take back all the debt of family affection that you owe me from my second brother.