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Shen Chuwei thought about her precious daughter possibly running out to play again and immediately had people go search for her.

Qin Xiao also brought quite a few guards to search for the little princess.

The East Palace wasn’t large within the Imperial Palace, but it wasn’t small either; looking for a child a little over one year old still required time.

By the Taiye Pond, the willow branches were sprouting tender buds to meet the spring breeze.

Without Xuetuan leading the way, Susu walked wherever she saw a path, her two little short legs taking her wherever looked fun or nice, slowly walking along the stone paved road.

Xuetuan walked alongside Susu, neither too fast nor too slow. With its wild beast presence, cats and dogs around kept their distance.

Only Xuetuan was not afraid of its former charge.

After walking for quite a while, Xuetuan suddenly stepped forward a few paces and used its large body to protect Susu, its pale blue eyes vigilantly surveying the surroundings.

Susu did not understand Xuetuan’s intention. She continued walking forward until she saw someone kneeling on the stone steps in the distance, which she approached out of curiosity.

The person kneeling on the stone pavement was Chu Lingfeng. Ever since he entered the palace to serve as Yinyin’s tutor, he faced days of insufficient meals and was often subjected to hitting and scolding at Yinyin’s slightest displeasure.

Today, because the Emperor praised Chu Lingfeng for his beautiful handwriting and told him to properly teach Yinyin, it caused an imbalance in Yinyin’s heart. After coming out from the Imperial Academy, he punished Chu Lingfeng to kneel for an hour without explanation.

Chu Lingfeng knew that if he did not obey, life would become even harder, especially since he was just a stand-in for the Chunan King’s heir, Chu Nan. The Chunan King would not care about his life or death.

To survive in this vast Imperial Palace, one could only endure.

Chu Lingfeng was dressed in a thin brocade robe, and the fox fur coat he wore outside had been stripped off by two little eunuchs who secretly pawned it.

The early spring wind was as cold as ice chips, piercing through his collar and making the young man shiver.

Susu, with her two little short legs, approached the young man, oblivious to the fact that Little Gugu was being punished with kneeling.

She squatted in front of Chu Lingfeng and looked at him curiously, "Little Gugu."

Chu Lingfeng looked up at the visitor—a cute and pink little girl with her hair tied in two small bunches, a peach blossom adornment between her brows, and her baby-fat face especially adorable.

He had only seen the little princess once but immediately recognized that the little girl in front of him was the same one who had wanted him to hold her last autumn.

Last year she could not walk, but now she could run.

When he saw the tiger by the princess’s side, his eyes widened, and his body stiffened with fear.

A tiger only seven or eight months old was even more robust than an Alaskan dog, especially since Susu fed it every day. Its white fur was shiny, its body muscular.

Such a fierce beast would make even adults go weak in the knees with fear, let alone nine-year-old Chu Lingfeng?

Xuetuan bared its teeth at Chu Lingfeng, a warning not to bully the young master.

Even though Chu Lingfeng had faced many hardships and extreme fear couldn’t deter him, when it came to tigers.

Just as Chu Lingfeng racked his brains on how to leave before the tiger attacked, he saw the little princess pat Xuetuan, "Huhu."

Xuetuan turned its head to glance at the young master and then obediently lay down beside her.

Chu Lingfeng was taken aback, his cold eyes filled with disbelief.

Susu stroked Xuetuan’s fluffy head and then turned to look at Chu Lingfeng, tilting her head curiously, "Little Gugu."

Chu Lingfeng, realizing the tiger’s obedience stemmed from being raised by the princess, understood why it was so well-behaved.

Still, he felt some fear.

As for the princess, he merely glanced at her coldly. For safety’s sake, he decided to leave this place of trouble. Returning to face punishment was better than losing his life at any moment.

Because Chu Lingfeng had knelt for some time, he tried to stand up but fell to the ground. Bearing the pain, he tried to stand again, but it was to no avail this time.

His legs were completely numb from the cold, and he sat slumped on the ground, unwillingly clenching his fists and pounding them against his legs.

Susu watched Chu Lingfeng’s strange movements and stood up. She reached out and grasped his hand that kept pounding at his leg.

"Little Gugu, play."

Chu Lingfeng looked up at the little princess only to see her staring intently at him, her eyes purer than the sky and full of vitality.

He hesitated only for a moment before shaking off the little princess’s hand. He had no desire to be involved with the Royal Family. Who knew if this cute little princess would turn out to be another Yinyin?

Susu looked puzzledly at Chu Lingfeng and then took a piece of Hibiscus Cake from her pocket. She carefully unwrapped the outer greasepaper and handed it to Chu Lingfeng.

"Little Gugu, taste."

In Susu’s eyes, Little Gugu was unhappy. Whenever she was unhappy, her mother would feed her Hibiscus Cake, and she would cheer up. If Little Gugu ate the cake, he would play with her.

Chu Lingfeng looked at the Hibiscus Cake in front of him and secretly swallowed his saliva, feeling terribly hungry.

Being punished by Yinyin to kneel here, he had missed lunch and was now desperately hungry.

Seeing that Chu Lingfeng didn’t eat, Susu thought he might want to be fed, just like she sometimes wanted her mother to feed her.

"I’m feeding Little Gugu," Susu said as she picked up the Hibiscus Cake from the oil paper and held it to Chu Lingfeng’s mouth, trying to pass it into his mouth.

Chu Lingfeng was ravenous at the moment, how could he resist such feeding from the young princess?

At first, he was taken aback, but eventually, unable to bear the hunger in his belly, he opened his mouth and bit into the Hibiscus Cake. It was a bit more delicate than the Hibiscus Cakes he had eaten before—melting in his mouth with just the right amount of sweetness.

He took the Hibiscus Cake, bit into it again, and in no time, a piece of Hibiscus Cake was finished.

Seeing this, Susu lowered her head, pulled open the little pouch, took out another piece of Hibiscus Cake, unwrapped the oil paper, and held it out to him again, "Little Gugu, once more."

Chu Lingfeng hesitated for a moment, thinking since he had already eaten one piece, what would be wrong with eating another?

He took the Hibiscus Cake from Susu’s palm and bit into it, but before he could take a second bite, someone slapped it out of his hand onto the ground.

He looked at the Hibiscus Cake, which had only been bitten once, and when he lifted his head, he saw Yinyin standing in front of him, glaring at him.

"Who allowed you to eat?"

Susu, who loved to eat and hated people who wasted food, felt a heartache seeing the Hibiscus Cake knocked to the ground.

Standing up angrily, she glared at Yinyin, "You owe me a Cake."

Yinyin didn’t like Susu at all, because grandmother said that it was because of Taotao and Susu that grandfather didn’t like her.

"I won’t pay."

Yinyin shouted and still felt unsatisfied, he stepped on the Hibiscus Cake, crushing it.

Susu watching her beloved Hibiscus Cake getting crushed and uneatable, her eyes immediately turned red, "My Cake, you owe me a Cake."

Chu Lingfeng watched the shattered Hibiscus Cake on the ground; he heard the crying, lifted his head, and saw the young princess with red eyes from crying.

Yinyin snorted, "I won’t pay. That’ll teach you to give him food."

Susu took two steps forward and grabbed Yinyin’s sleeve, "You owe me a Cake."

Yinyin shook her off forcefully, and Susu, unsteady, fell to the ground on her bottom. Susu, who feared pain, cried out loud from the impact.

Chu Lingfeng could no longer hold back and was about to argue with Yinyin when suddenly, the White Tiger stood up, pinned Yinyin to the ground, bared its teeth as if to bite her, frightening Yinyin into crying out loud.

Chu Lingfeng was stunned for a moment, but then, fighting the pain in his legs, he stood up and helped Susu up, looking at her with tears hanging from her eyelashes, which was particularly heart-wrenching.

He extended his hand to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

Susu cried for a while, and seeing Little White pinning Yinyin down, she called out, "Huhu."

Little White looked back at Susu and gave Yinyin a fierce look as a warning before slowly coming back to Susu’s side.

Chu Lingfeng watched the White Tiger, still a bit afraid inside, but also curious that the White Tiger was so obedient to the young princess.

Susu took Chu Lingfeng’s hand and began walking back, "Little Gugu, let’s play together."

Chu Lingfeng looked at Yinyin lying on the ground crying fiercely and thought that he probably couldn’t avoid getting punished with starvation and kneeling when he returned today.

"I won’t go," he pulled his hand back and turned to Yinyin, helped her up, who was still crying, but Yinyin pushed him hard, "Get lost."

Chu Lingfeng was already forcing himself to stand and after being pushed, stumbled backward, lost his balance, and fell to the ground again.

Susu saw Chu Lingfeng being pushed down and asked with furrowed brows, "Why did you push Little Gugu?"

Yinyin, angry, said, "He is not your brother."

Susu seriously said, "He is Little Gugu, Gugu is my brother at home."

Yinyin, who had been pampered since childhood, was always indulged, and Susu’s retort immediately made him angry, pushing her to the ground with a shove.

This time, the push was harder, causing Susu to fall backward.

Little White rushed to her aid and caught Susu with its body.

Susu landed on the soft body of Little White, but still, she was frightened and started crying.

Yinyin saw the tiger and had not yet realized that it was the king of the forest, a ferocious beast; he only thought it would be very prestigious to have such a big pet for himself to take out.

"You don’t need such a big pet as a girl, give it to me, and I won’t push you anymore."

Upon hearing someone wanted her Huhu, Susu hugged the White Tiger’s neck tightly, crying even harder.

"It’s my Huhu, you’re not allowed to snatch it away."

The Emperor happened to be passing by Taiye Pond, originally there to relax, but he heard a child crying and knew immediately it was Susu.

It wasn’t just Susu’s crying that distressed him; even a frown from her was enough to hurt him to the core.

"Who dares to bully Susu?"