The little phoenix was originally the crown prince of the phoenix clan and was placed under a phoenix tree to be hatched.
A demon coveted the phoenix's ability to be reborn from the ashes. Taking advantage of the phoenix king's inattention, he secretly stole the little phoenix and refined it into his puppet.
Later, the phoenix king rescued the little phoenix and wanted it to be reborn from the ashes. However, due to the long time of refining, when the little phoenix was stolen, it was still just an egg and hadn't even hatched. Thus, it couldn't be reborn into a new body and could only be attached to an artifact.
The phoenix queen couldn't accept this and fell ill with anxiety. The phoenix clan almost massacred the entire demon clan.
The dragon king said, "Coincidentally, at that time, several demons escaped to the outside world. The phoenix king also wanted the phoenix queen to change the environment, so he led the phoenix clan to relocate to another world."
The dragon king continued, "But unexpectedly, the little phoenix was regarded as a divine artifact. The Heavenly Dao would rather destroy it than let the phoenix king take it away."
The dragon king added, "After the entire phoenix clan had left, the phoenix king had no choice but to entrust the little phoenix to his good friend, a powerful black dragon. I got it from that old black dragon through an exchange."
One could only say that the older, the wiser. The dragon king originally planned to steal it, but unexpectedly, the old black dragon had the little phoenix protected under its body. After rummaging through the entire treasure vault without finding it, he had no choice but to negotiate an exchange with the old black dragon.
The dragon king not only paid a huge price but also promised the old black dragon that he would surely find an excellent master for the little phoenix. Only then did he successfully obtain it.
After learning about the little phoenix's experiences, Shen Baozhu hugged it and winked at Yin Susu. "Susu, although I was bullied by the bad guy, I knocked him out."
Yin Susu was immediately attracted by this news. She exclaimed in surprise, "Really? You knocked out your cousin? Wow, you're so amazing!"
"Baozhu, you're the most amazing person I've ever met!"
At first, Shen Baozhu felt a bit guilty. Strictly speaking, it was the treasure - hunting rat that knocked out the third prince.
When it came to the third prince, Yin Susu had a lot to say.
After losing the eldest princess, the queen would soften her heart when seeing cute little girls. As the queen's niece, Yin Susu was even more favored and knew a lot about the Phoenix Palace.
For example, the relationship between the queen and the third prince was not good because Concubine Li always sowed discord.
This was the third time Shen Baozhu had heard Concubine Li's name.
Yin Susu mercilessly criticized Concubine Li. "Concubine Li is so bad, just as bad as my cousin. She always spoils my cousin and asks me to obey him because he's the future emperor."
"Humph, my aunt is the queen, and my uncle is the current emperor!"
The two little girls were sitting on the ground chatting. Shen Baozhu carefully protected the phoenix in her arms and quietly listened to Yin Susu's complaints, nodding in agreement from time to time. "So bad! How could she do that!"
When Hongshen brought Doctor Liu over, they saw this scene.
In a hurry, Doctor Liu, carrying a medicine box, ran over sweating profusely. He said anxiously, "Baozhu, quickly, let Uncle Liu take a look at your head. Don't let it get hurt... The color is wrong, and there's no smell of blood. This must be paint, right?"
Doctor Liu leaned in and smelled it, and immediately realized that the blood on the white cloth on Shen Baozhu's head was painted on with paint.
Hongshen was stunned and also leaned in to take a look. "Why is the white cloth stained with blood?"
"What blood - stained, it's stained with paint." Doctor Liu was a bit displeased. He had rushed over in a hurry, only to find out that he had been deceived.
Shen Baozhu obediently apologized to Doctor Liu. "Sorry, it was Baozhu's fault for being playful and making Uncle misunderstand."
The annoyance in Doctor Liu's heart vanished with Shen Baozhu's apology. It didn't matter that he had made a wasted trip. As long as Baozhu was okay, that was the best.
Doctor Liu, who had managed to calm himself down, sent Hongshen away. Then he took out a packet of pastries from his medicine box and quietly stuffed them into Baozhu's hands.
He looked around to make sure that the Lady of Jingning and the four maids were not around before giving them to Shen Baozhu.
Doctor Liu whispered, "This is for you. Shh, be quiet. Don't let your mother find out."
Shen Baozhu held the pastries, and the joy in her eyes was almost overflowing. "Uncle Liu is so kind!"
"Of course. You mustn't let your mother find out." Doctor Liu emphasized again.
When Hongshen came back with warm water, Doctor Liu drank the water and even asked Hongshen to send him back, creating time for Shen Baozhu to secretly eat the pastries.
Yin Susu, who had witnessed the whole process, exclaimed, "Wow, this is so great. Baozhu is like an adult who can secretly eat pastries without her mother knowing."
She complained slightly. "If I miss a single meal, the servants and my mother will immediately find out."
Shen Baozhu followed Yin Susu's words and asked, "Why don't you eat?"
"Because I want to become the number - one dancer in the capital! Everyone will kneel at my feet!" Yin Susu put her hands on her hips and was full of confidence.
But Shen Baozhu misunderstood "dancer" as "warrior". She nodded thoughtfully. Becoming the number - one warrior, defeating all opponents in the capital, and making everyone obey her. What an amazing goal!
So she first handed the pastries to Yin Susu. "Susu, eat more. Third brother said that you need to eat a lot when practicing martial arts. You eat first."
Yin Susu hadn't formally apprenticed to learn dance yet. She just saw that most dancers had slender figures, so she refused to eat. She thought that since Shen Baozhu was so amazing and could knock out her bad - guy cousin, her words must be right.
So Yin Susu, who had been refusing to eat recently, took the pastries and took big bites.
Thinking that they were secretly eating pastries, they changed their positions from the prominent front of the door to a corner of the yard, chatting while eating.
Shen Baozhu didn't forget the little phoenix in her arms. She broke off a small piece of pastry and fed it to the little phoenix's mouth.
The little phoenix sniffed the pastry, took a tentative bite, and then ate one bite after another.
Yin Susu brought up the previous topic again. She hesitated for a moment and said, "Actually, Concubine Li is also very strange... Baozhu, I'll tell you a secret. You mustn't tell anyone else."
"People in the palace all say that Concubine Li loves the fourth prince very much and is kind to the crown prince because of transference."
"These are all lies! Concubine Li treats the fourth prince extremely badly! The fourth prince is the stupid prince born to Concubine Li."
Concubine Li had hidden the fourth prince very well. Everyone didn't think much of it and just thought that Concubine Li wanted to protect the fourth prince, after all, he was a fool.
But Yin Susu knew that this was all a false appearance, a complete deception.
Remembering what she had seen, Yin Susu took a big bite of the pastry and said indignantly, "At that time, my aunt was sad because of my cousin. I wanted to find the fourth prince and ask him to persuade Concubine Li to stay away from my cousin."
"Baozhu, you can't even imagine how miserable the fourth prince is!"
"His clothes were tattered, and his face was covered in mud. The servants in Concubine Li's palace all bullied him, didn't give him food, and called him a little fool."
Shen Baozhu empathized and thought that if Aunts Baizhi and the others bullied her, she would definitely be very sad. "Doesn't Concubine Li protect him? Uncle the emperor said that Concubine Li is the fourth prince's biological mother, so she must be kind to him."
Yin Susu wasn't sure either, but she emphasized, "Maybe Concubine Li doesn't know. Anyway, Baozhu, you mustn't tell anyone else about this. My aunt is sad because of Concubine Li. Concubine Li is my enemy! Her son is also my enemy. I'll never help him!"
The dragon king said, "Judging from the characters of the emperor and the queen, they shouldn't have given birth to the third prince. I think the child was swapped."
Lin Yu asked, "Then how do you explain Concubine Li leading the third prince astray?"
The dragon king couldn't answer and was also very puzzled.