After the little phoenix finished drinking the sugarcane juice, Shen Baozhu first used a small handkerchief to wipe the mouth of the treasure - hunting rat, and then that of the little phoenix, truly achieving fairness.
Qiuqiu thought Shen Baozhu's actions were right. She reminded, "Baozhu, remember to wipe the Fourth Prince's mouth later. Don't leave him out."
Shen Baozhu nodded. "Mm - mm, I won't leave anyone out!"
Lin Yu: [It feels a bit strange. Baozhu lumps the Fourth Prince together with the treasure - hunting rat and the little phoenix?]
Lin Yu: [The Fourth Prince is a human. Isn't this a bit odd?]
The Dragon King: [What's so strange? The little cutie is kind - hearted and is willing to take care of the Fourth Prince. It's his good fortune.]
The Dragon King: [The little phoenix is a phoenix and can command all birds. The treasure - hunting rat has a built - in storage ability and is cute and soft. The Fourth Prince is good for nothing and has even eaten four pills.]
In the Dragon King's eyes, the biggest use of the Fourth Prince was to deal with the Third Prince. Earlier, he had asked Shen Baozhu to bring the Fourth Prince back just in case the Fourth Prince was killed by Concubine Li.
By now, the Fourth Prince had been washed clean, but his hair was extremely dirty. There were not only dirty things and rotten leaves but also bugs.
The Dragon King: [There are bugs in his hair? I remember the treasure - hunting rat carried the Fourth Prince.]
Hearing the maid's words, Chen Ruxia was shocked. She took a deep breath and scanned Shen Baozhu, Qiuqiu, and the place where they had just been.
Where did these two kids pick up this little beggar!
Chen Ruxia ordered people to replace all the decorations in the house and clean it from top to bottom. Finally, she looked at Shen Baozhu and Qiuqiu. "You two go take a bath. The treasure - hunting rat and the little phoenix also need to be washed!"
Shen Baozhu and Qiuqiu sensed that Chen Ruxia was angry. They hung their heads and obediently followed the order. The treasure - hunting rat and the little phoenix also kept silent and let the maids bathe them.
The entire princess mansion was bustling. The young servants fetched water, built fires, and delivered water in the kitchen, while the maids served the masters to take baths. They threw away what could be thrown away and washed what couldn't be thrown away ten times.
When Chen Miaochun and Yan Mingli returned to the princess mansion, they saw everyone in a hurry.
Especially Qingdai. She was extremely busy. First, she called someone to deliver hot water. Hearing that there was no more firewood, she sent someone to buy firewood. Then she found someone to carry cold water to the kitchen...
Chen Miaochun and Yan Mingli didn't know what had happened and stood there stunned. Chen Miaochun reacted first and stepped forward to ask, "Aunt Qing, have Baozhu and Qiuqiu come back?"
Qingdai's eyebrows twitched. Not only had they come back, but they had also brought back a little beggar with bugs on him!
She sighed. "They came back a long time ago. Miss Miaochun, go and take a look quickly. When the princess comes back, the little princess will definitely get beaten."
Yan Mingli asked anxiously, "Will the punishment be severe? As long as the person is okay. After all, it was my fault that I didn't take good care of Baozhu. If Aunt gets angry, just punish me."
"What? Young Master Mingli must have misunderstood. The little princess brought back a little beggar with bugs in his hair. The maids only found the bugs when they were bathing the little beggar." Qingdai's explanation was straightforward. "Miss Ruxia was afraid that there would be bugs in the house, so she made the little princess and Miss Qiuqiu take three baths and cleaned the house inside out."
Chen Miaochun didn't find it scary that there were bugs in the hair, but seeing Yan Mingli take three steps back in fright beside her, she worried, "Is Ruxia angry? The house probably can't be lived in anymore. Let her stay in my place."
Before Qingdai could answer, Yan Mingli pulled Chen Miaochun inside. "Chen Ruxia is so smart. Maybe she's already moved there with Baozhu. Let's go to your courtyard first to see Baozhu."
...
In Chen Miaochun's courtyard.
Just as Yan Mingli had guessed, Chen Ruxia had already moved to Chen Miaochun's courtyard with her two younger sisters.
Chen Ruxia was sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard, facing Shen Baozhu.
Shen Baozhu was wearing a tender pink dress. Her little face was flushed, and Baizhi was drying her wet hair.
Qiuqiu was sitting beside Shen Baozhu, wearing the same style of clothes but in a different color. She had also washed her hair, and a maid was drying her hair behind her.
Looking further to the right were the treasure - hunting rat and the little phoenix.
The little phoenix flapped its wings. It couldn't stand the wet feathers. It dodged the maid's hand, jumped from the treasure - hunting rat's head to Qiuqiu's shoulder, and then hopped in front of Shen Baozhu.
"It's so uncomfortable! I want to use fire to dry the water!" The little phoenix bared its teeth at Shen Baozhu, as if testing.
Shen Baozhu was distracted playing with Qiuqiu's wet hair and generously offered her own hair to Qiuqiu. The two of them were having a great time. Hearing that the little phoenix wanted to use fire to dry the water in its feathers, she just nodded casually in agreement.
The Dragon King: [The little cutie wanted to braid Qiuqiu's hair but was stopped by Baizhi. Hahaha.]
Lin Yu: [Can the little phoenix use fire to dry the water? It seems very uncomfortable.]
Lin Yu: [Baozhu, I've bought you a few quick - drying hair masks. Just apply them to your hair.]
Lin Yu first bought a box of quick - drying hair masks on the interstellar network. Since it would take three hours to receive the goods, she borrowed five hair masks from her neighbor colleague. Then she transferred the hair masks into a jade bottle. After doing all this, Lin Yu gave the hair masks to Shen Baozhu.
As soon as Shen Baozhu received the hair masks, she smelled a strange fragrance. Immediately, the flowers and plants in the courtyard grew rapidly, and the birds circled above the courtyard. At the same time, the hair of several people in the courtyard instantly dried.
Chen Ruxia instinctively looked at the little phoenix and the treasure - hunting rat. They also became clean and fresh, without a single drop of water on them.
Lin Yu: [A super - fast hair dryer plus a plant growth promoter?]
The little phoenix tilted its head up and stared intently at Shen Baozhu, secretly expecting her reaction.
In the little phoenix's era, it was important to be calm and composed. Any powerful divine beast made no trace when they took action. As for a little phoenix like this that used a small spell and caused a change in the world, it was considered a failure.
If the little phoenix were just an ordinary bird, no one might notice. But it happened to be the only son of the Phoenix King. There were always some malicious people who, when there was no one from the Phoenix Clan around, deliberately provoked the little phoenix. When it used its spell and caused a strange phenomenon in the world, they would laugh at the little phoenix for being incompetent.
At this moment, the little phoenix looked at Shen Baozhu, thinking about the scenes of being laughed at in the past. If this human in front of it laughed at it, it would... it would leave this place!
As soon as the little phoenix made up its mind, in the blink of an eye, it was held in Shen Baozhu's palm. "Woo - woo, you're so amazing! Can you catch bugs? Catch all the bugs!"
Catch... bugs?
The little phoenix stared blankly at Shen Baozhu.
The Dragon King: [The little phoenix can, of course, but why catch bugs?]
The Qingyun True Man guessed Shen Baozhu's thought. [Does Baozhu want the little phoenix to catch bugs for the Fourth Prince?]
Lin Yu: [Why?]
Chen Ruxia was in a hurry to take a bath and didn't take care of the Fourth Prince. It was only when she had some free time just now that she ordered the maid to find someone to shave the Fourth Prince's hair to completely get rid of the bugs.
Shaving the hair was not a simple thing. The maid went out of the mansion to find an experienced old barber to avoid hurting the Fourth Prince.
Shen Baozhu explained to Lin Yu, "Big brother said that bad guys who make mistakes will have their hair shaved off. This is a very serious punishment. I don't want the Fourth Prince to be a bad guy."
Lin Yu quickly found out the name of this punishment. [It's the punishment of shaving the hair.]
The Dragon King: [Then why did Chen Ruxia order someone to shave the Fourth Prince's hair? She's so bold.]
Lin Yu reminded, [Ruxia probably doesn't know the Fourth Prince's identity.]
The Dragon King: [How is that possible? The little cutie and Qiuqiu have been calling him the Fourth Prince. Chen Ruxia has heard it.]
The Qingyun True Man: [Ask Baozhu.]
Shen Baozhu looked up at Chen Ruxia. "Sister Ruxia, do you know who the little brother we brought back is?"
Chen Ruxia, who was observing the changes in the courtyard, replied casually, "A beggar named Si Huangzi. Is that little beggar older than you? He doesn't look like it from his figure."
"I'm not sure about the characters in his name. It's probably this pronunciation."
Qiuqiu corrected Chen Ruxia's answer. "Sister is wrong. The Fourth Prince is not a beggar. He's a prince, a foolish prince who lives in the palace."
These few words instantly made Chen Ruxia dizzy. She looked at Shen Baozhu in disbelief. "You brought a prince home?"
Shen Baozhu felt a bit guilty. She hid behind Qiuqiu. "The Fourth Prince's mother is a bad person. I was afraid he would starve to death, so I brought him home to take care of him."
"You even want to bring a prince home to take care of him?" Chen Ruxia lost her usual gentleness and calmness, and her voice rose a few notes.
"So I almost shaved a prince's hair off?"