"You little brat, when having you seen me favouring one of you over the other, he should be the one saying that not you" the imperial consort.

"Okay, I know you are always fair to the both of us but he really missed you," Changlin said ​​

"Really, did he say that?" the imperial consort said in excitement.

She has always loved Ruansong just like she loved her own child when his mother was still alive, she was always bullied by the other women in the palace for not coming from a prestigious family but the only person who has always been on her side was the imperial consort, back then she entered the palace when his mother was ill but she took care of her daily without fearing that she would be affected by her sickness. That was how she became enemies with the imperial noble consort and the empress after his mother died, she became the next woman the emperor favoured and that increased the enmity they had towards her.

Since then she had been taking care of him ever since he was two years old, she also secretly kept Xiaodi for him when she was still in her beast and the jade flute, she only gave them to him when he was four years old. Apart from her, no one else knows his mother more than she does, not even the emperor who loved her deeply, so he had always treated her as his mother.

"He didn't say it directly, you know he never says things like that, but after I told him about your birthday, I could see that his face was filled with regret of not coming to see you on your birthday, he even cooked the dishes you liked best the next day," Changlin said

"That brat, he always been that way, always acting more matured than he should, when he still lived in the palace, he always cooked for me despite being a prince," the imperial consort said sentimentally.

"I agree, back then I really liked his dishes that I stopped eating any food that wasn't cooked by him," Changlin said

"Your highness, back then you were completely spoilt by the fourth prince, he made you learn martial art even though you refused to and her majesty always had a hard time whenever she forced you to eat the food made by the imperial kitchen" attendant Xu said

"Mother, why don't we visit him together in blossom valley, I had managed to slip out of the palace the last time without being noticed by the had to make me drunk and send me back," Changlin said

"If we visit him then he won't find any need to return, moreover, his majesty wouldn't like that so just give up, if you go alone again, he would just do the same thing again," the imperial consort said

"Your highness, you should listen to her majesty, when the fourth prince misses two of you, he will have no choice but to return," attendant Xu said

"But staying in the palace is so boring, I have to be with those annoying brothers of mine, he is more fun to be with," Changlin said

"I know but they are still your brothers so try to get along with them, the palace is stuffy but it is the price we have to pay for the luxury and comfort we enjoy," the imperial consort said

"I have to return to my practice, I have decided to ask the regional commander to train with me when he has time but I couldn't see him today," Changlin said

"That is good, but you need to be careful with those in the court or they might think something else," the imperial consort said

"Alright, I will keep your words in my heart," Changlin said

-------------------

"Did you hear of what happened yesterday?" one of the elite disciples on the training ground said

"If you are talking about the sect leader punishing the young mistress, then I didn't just hear it, I saw it with my own eyes" another disciple replied

"Does that mean that the sect leader really punished the young mistress"

"It wasn't just any ordinary punishment, it was really cruel that I pitied the young mistress, you should have seen how angry the sect leader was, I have never seen him so angry"

"She was indeed impulsive but she was worried about them, we all know how the young mistress is"

"Yes, she would never stay in the sect without knowing if they were alive or dead"

------------------

In the garden.

"You guys should tell me how it was when you went out of the sect," Huo Ying said, she took one tangerine from the big basket of fruit that is on the large stone table while the others followed suit.

"It was interesting but we couldn't enjoy it due to the urgency we had at hand," Bingchen said

"We have never really gone into other cities, if not for the map I studied, I wouldn't have been able to recognise the cities we passed by," Huo Ying said as she stuffed the tangerine into her mouth after peeling it.

"Let me tell you, the most interesting part for me was when we snuck into the vitality sect" Huo Li said

"What do you mean, didn't you and Bingchen sneak into their storage together," Huo Qiang asked

"No, I went out to stall their disciples so that Bingchen could concentrate on finding the herbs, almost all their disciples gathered to fight me, it was very exciting when I fought with them but they were too weak and their speed was too disappointing," Huo Li said

"By the time I was done, I came out only to find them lying on the ground, there was even one that was naked, it must have been Huo Li's work," Bingchen said, then they all fixed their gaze on her.

"Aiyaah! I was just trying to have fun at first so I stripped him but that disciple kept on taunting me with my short stature and calling me a little girl, he even belittled my abilities so…." Huo Li said then she hesitated before completing her statement.

"So..." the five of them chorused

"Eeeeeeeh! So, I used eighteen thunderbolt kicks on him," Huo Li said

"What!!" they all chorused

"are you sure you didn't kill him, he must have suffered a lot," Huo Qiang said

"I didn't check if he was dead but I don't think he died," Huo Li said then she smiled awkwardly with guilt written on her face.

"When we were trying to escape from Yu-Shan city, we were being pursued and they chased us to the woods where you found us, we couldn't let them live since they had seen our face so had to kill them but the captain tried to escape and he didn't meet a good ending," Bingchen said then he nodded his head.

"She caught him back then she slapped him non stop after he had lost all his tooth, she broke shattered the bones on one of his arms and his leg, it was really too cruel," Huo Qiang said

"If he hadn't stopped me, I would have done worse, he even made us spare his life," Huo Li said

"I understand that she was really cruel but you shouldn't have spared his life, he has seen your faces, what if the vitality sect finds out that we were the ones robbed them, they would find fault with us again and we won't be able to get Huo Lan back," Huo Ying said

"There is no way he would have survived after what Huo Li did to him so I didn't want to cause him more pain, after all, we are in the wrong," Huo Qiang said

"You are really too soft-hearted, what if someone found him before he died, if the sect leader found out about this, you would also be getting your own punishment," Huo Lian said