"With this jar of Six Hundred Year-Old Monkey Wine, reaching the Fifth Grade will be no problem. I might even be able to look forward to the Fourth Grade!"
Princess Guoyun’s eyes sparkled with excitement. "When the time comes, I can even give some to Mother Consort and help her boost her strength too."
She carefully moved the wine jar to a hidden spot and stashed it away, making sure no one would find it.
Afterward, she took out a delicate little notebook and recorded the status of the freshly brewed Six Hundred Year-Old Monkey Wine.
After she finished writing, she made a funny face at the Six Hundred Year-Old Monkey Wine before starting to take stock of her other gains.
’Poor Eldest Crown Prince Brother. There were so few good things at the Royal Manor. I heard that damned Manor Master sold them all. That was the only property his mother left him.’
’I didn’t want to kick him while he’s down, but if I hadn’t taken them, someone else would have just ruined them. It’s better that I took them instead.’
’If they’re with me, I’ll treasure them and won’t let them go to waste. Besides, I’m Eldest Crown Prince Brother’s little sister. It’s only right that I look after them for him.’
’When he needs them one day, I’ll just give them back. I just wonder if Eldest Crown Prince Brother will still be alive by then.’
’Those people are truly evil. Eldest Crown Prince Brother is already in such a state, with only a few months to live, yet they still won’t let him go. It’s just too much.’
... Listening to Princess Guoyun’s self-deceiving justifications, Xia Wuyang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Seeing Princess Guoyun like this, Xia Wuyang’s original intention to rob her blind faded considerably. ’I’ll leave her some things,’ he thought. ’No need to be so excessive. Besides, there aren’t many truly valuable items among her treasures anyway.’
Especially for Xia Wuyang, who secretly controlled the Inner Treasury, Princess Guoyun’s collection was nothing special.
’Her heart isn’t in a bad place; she just has some bad habits. She’s never intentionally harmed me, so a small lesson will suffice.’
The Enchanting Heart Technique descended silently. Princess Guoyun quickly fell into an Illusion Realm, completely unaware.
Only then did Xia Wuyang appear. He took the jar of Six Hundred Year-Old Monkey Wine, picked out a few other treasures that caught his eye, and then left quietly.
Of course, he didn’t forget to leave behind traces of the Enchanting Heart Technique—traces that could only be discovered with a specific Secret Technique. Otherwise, they would be impossible to find. Throughout the vast palace, only Ciping Palace should possess such a Secret Technique.
He believed that given Princess Jinping’s current situation and Princess Guoyun’s cleverness, they would definitely investigate this point, which in turn would bring another "surprise" for Xia Wunian.
Within the Illusion, Princess Guoyun had unknowingly fallen asleep. When she woke up again, she sensed that something in the secret room was not quite right.
After observing carefully for a moment, she suddenly froze. She came to this secret room every few days to clean and take inventory; she couldn’t be more familiar with it.
She would have noticed even if a single item was missing, let alone several.
She immediately rushed to the spot where the Six Hundred Year-Old Monkey Wine was hidden to check. Just as she feared, the Six Hundred Year-Old Monkey Wine was gone.
BOOM... Princess Guoyun felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She rubbed her eyes and looked again, thinking she must have been seeing things.
Only after checking several times did she truly realize that her Six Hundred Year-Old Monkey Wine had indeed vanished into thin air, along with several other precious treasures.
"My Monkey Wine..."
A mournful cry shattered the morning tranquility. This usually cheerful and lively little princess was now crying her heart out, and fat teardrops rolled continuously down her delicate little face, soaking the front of her dress.
She threw herself at the empty spot where the wine jar had been, her hands fumbling around blindly as if she could somehow find the vanished jar just by touching.
"I spent so many years brewing that Monkey Wine! I even sold some of the nice things I filched from Father Emperor just to gather all the ingredients."
"I checked on it every few days, terrified something would happen to it. How could it just be gone?"
"Who could be so cruel as to not even spare my most precious treasure?"
"Waaaaah... Waaaah... Waaaaaaaaah..."
... The Palace Attendants of Fenfang Hall all rushed over to console her, but she was inconsolable. Princess Guoyun’s tears were like a broken dam, flowing out endlessly as if they would never stop.
This frightened the Palace Attendants so much that they hurriedly went to find her mother consort, but even she couldn’t console the princess. When Emperor Xia heard about the matter, he was quite speechless. Although he felt Princess Guoyun was getting her just deserts, she was his daughter, after all. Seeing her so heartbroken, he also sent people to try and calm her down, which only caused the commotion to grow.
Soon, news that Princess Squirrel had tragically lost her beloved wine and treasures spread throughout the palaces. Princess Jinping arrived at once with her Guards. After using her Secret Technique to investigate, she once again discovered traces of the Enchanting Heart Technique, just as expected.
And so, the True Yin Sect and Xia Wunian were once again made the scapegoats. Princess Guoyun, in particular, was absolutely furious with them.
But many of the other Princes and Princesses clapped their hands in glee, delighted to see this happen.
In Wude Palace, the Third Prince, Xia Wuchen, who was still under house arrest, couldn’t help but roar with laughter when he received the news. "That wretched squirrel! She’s always pilfering and swiping things. She’s finally gotten what she deserves. Serves her right!"
In the Gold and Silver Palace, Xia Wushang slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet. "Excellent! That damn little pest borrowed a ton of stuff from me and never returned any of it."
The reactions from the Princes and Princesses in the other palaces were surprisingly uniform; they all found it immensely satisfying.
"Haha, I can’t believe that squirrel would have a day like this. It’s so satisfying!"
"I heard she was crying her eyes out. They’re all swollen like peaches. Even Father Emperor couldn’t stop her."
"This is what they call ’it takes a villain to bring down a villain.’ That guy Xia Wunian has finally done one good thing."
... The Palace Maids and eunuchs were also discussing it endlessly, but most of them surprisingly took Princess Guoyun’s side.
"Princess Guoyun really took a huge fall this time. Xia Wunian is too cruel, going after the few things Princess Guoyun has."
"Everyone says Princess Guoyun is a petty thief, but she never targets us. She only goes after the rich folks and even gives us things sometimes. She’s like a regular Robin Hood!"
"Poor Princess Guoyun. We should also keep an eye out and see which scoundrel stole her treasures."
... When Xia Wuyang heard the news that Princess Guoyun was wailing inconsolably in Fenfang Hall, he couldn’t help but smile.
’Let this be a lesson. Just a small punishment; no need to be merciless.’
He pulled the Qiuci Dancer at his side closer and took a light sip of fragrant tea—the very tea that had just been in the Qiuci Dancer’s cherry-red lips. A barely perceptible smile crossed his face.
Although he had taken the Monkey Wine and a few treasures, he had left most of her collection untouched. He hadn’t gone too far, and this was partly in recognition of the fact that Princess Guoyun still operated with a bottom line.
’That’s enough of this matter. It’s time to prepare for awakening my next Companion Talent.’

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