The princess put her hands on her hips and said domineeringly, "What about me? Lin'er is the current emperor's own nephew. What's wrong with spoiling him a bit?" Moreover, Xia Lin was the youngest son the princess had after the age of 35. Compared with the eldest son who would inherit the general's mantle in the future and had been strictly disciplined and taken out for training at an early age, the youngest son who had always been raised by the princess's side naturally received more favor from his mother.
A few years ago, the general had advised the princess to be fair to her two sons and not to be partial. But since Xia Lin suddenly fell seriously ill half a year ago, the general had stopped saying anything. Anyway, the youngest son was not very capable. He might as well be spoiled. As long as he could grow up healthy, that would be fine. And his elder brother doted on his younger brother very much and didn't mind their mother's partiality at all. So why should he, as a father, be the bad guy!
"Mother, please persuade Father for me. Ask him to agree to my request," Xia Lin tugged at his mother's sleeve and shook it.
The princess was softened by her youngest son's coquetry and immediately agreed, "Okay, okay, okay. Mother will help you. But you have to tell your mother first what exactly you're asking your father to agree to."
Before Xia Lin could say anything, the general pointed at him angrily and scolded, "This rascal actually wants to worship Jiang Yun as his master. He even said that if we don't agree, he'll starve himself to death!"
The princess was shocked. She grabbed Xia Lin's shoulders and said, "Son, this won't do. You're the son of a general and a princess. How can you..."
Xia Lin got unhappy. "Mother, why can't I? Jiang Yun is very powerful. I want to learn martial arts from him. If you don't agree, I'll really starve myself. I won't eat lunch today!"
After saying that, Xia Lin was about to leave angrily. The princess quickly grabbed his arm. "Lin'er, if you go to learn kung fu from Jiang Yun, you'll have to leave your parents. Can you bear to?"
Xia Lin paused. He had such wonderful parents. Of course he didn't want to leave them if he could. But if he didn't do this, he wouldn't be able to get close to Jiang Yun and complete his mission.
"Sorry, Father, Mother. Your son can't bear to leave you, but your son also has something he wants to do. Your son will come back once a year. Okay? Please agree to my request."
Xia Lin knelt down with a thud and kowtowed several times. The sound was so loud that it gave the princess a big shock. She wanted to pull Xia Lin up, but he refused. Even when his head was broken, he continued to kowtow. The princess was in tears and shouted at the general, "You brute! Why don't you agree to our son quickly? Do you have to wait until our son's head is covered in blood before you agree?"
In this atmosphere, Xia Lin inappropriately thought that in fact, his head was already covered in blood and the blood was about to flow to the corner of his mouth.
But on the surface, Xia Lin's expression was quite intimidating, looking as if he would do anything if they didn't agree.
The general was so angry that he kept gasping for breath. He waved his hand. "Get out! Go to Jiang Yun's place and never come back. Having such a troublesome son will surely shorten my lifespan by at least ten years!"
Although the general's words were harsh, both the princess and Xia Lin knew that he had agreed. The princess immediately "pulled" Xia Lin up. "Son, get up quickly! Your father has agreed!"
Xia Lin stood up and grinned foolishly. The princess lovingly wiped the blood off his head with a handkerchief. Just then, a sensible maid brought up some medicinal powder.
The princess remembered this maid and then personally applied the medicine to Xia Lin.