"The Emperor himself doesn’t even make me bow, yet a princess demands a full formal kowtow from me. Is a princess greater than the Emperor? Or is it you, Princess, who rules Beili?" Though Ye Qianning was small, her presence was formidable.

Sang Shu was taken aback. "What audacity! How dare you spout such nonsense."

"I’m only speaking the truth. If you don’t believe me, Princess, we can go argue our case before the Emperor. We’ll see if he makes me perform a full formal kowtow." As she spoke, Ye Qianning turned to Nanxiang and said, "Xiang’er, come on. We’ll go with them to have a word with the Emperor."

"Fine! We’ll let Imperial Uncle judge who’s right and who’s wrong. To think they’d dare look down on my father for being a military general!" Nanxiang puffed out her chest and lifted her chin, her little face etched with indignation.

"Let’s go," Ye Qianning said, taking the lead.

A flicker of panic crossed Sang Shu’s face.

Sang Zhen gave her a discreet nudge, then ordered the palace maids, "Quick, stop them!"

The palace maids rushed forward to block their path.

"What do you think you’re doing? Get out of the way! I’m going to take this up with my Imperial Uncle," Nanxiang shouted, pushing at the palace maids.

Ye Qianning turned back. "Sixth Princess, Ninth Princess, why are you stopping us?"

"My father, the Emperor, is a busy man. You can’t just see him whenever you please," Sang Shu said, taking a few steps forward.

"Whether we can see him isn’t your decision to make. Unless you’re trying to say that you, the Sixth Princess, are the one truly in charge of this Imperial Palace."

"Don’t you dare falsely accuse me!"

"Then why stop us when we want to see the Emperor? Could it be that you’re blocking us because you know you’re in the wrong?" ’I really didn’t want to bicker with a bunch of kids,’ Ye Qianning thought.

’But they dared to look down on my father. He fought for Beili for so many years, only to be scorned like this. It’s just not right.’

"Exactly! What right do you have to stop us, Sixth Princess?" Nanxiang fumed.

"On the grounds that I am a princess and you are not. If you want to reason with me, try being reborn into a better family in your next life." Sang Shu despised commoners more than anyone. ’They just reek of poverty.’

"Nanxiang, I’ve never seen you act so barbaric before. Why are you like this now? So uncultured." Sang Zhen, while not as domineering as Sang Shu, was used to following her lead and would mock whatever she mocked.

"You’re the uncultured one!"

Ye Qianning burst out laughing. "That’s hilarious. Take a look at your own behavior. You have the audacity to lecture others on being uncultured?"

"What did you just say?" Sang Zhen’s small face scrunched up in a frown.

"Everyone says the imperial family places great importance on etiquette. Apparently, that’s not quite true."

"How dare you defy me! I’m going to tell my father, the Emperor, that you’re completely unworthy of the Crown Prince. Dream on if you think you’ll ever be the Crown Princess Consort!" Sang Shu fumed.

"To hell with being the Crown Princess Consort! I couldn’t care less about it. If you can get this engagement annulled, I’ll thank your ancestors for the next eight generations."

"You..."

"You’re just some crummy princess, what’s so great about that? And you look down on people from the countryside? If you ask me, your manners are worse than theirs."

Having been cut off, Sang Shu trembled with rage.

"Ye Qianning, you’re so unreasonable and shameless, and you’re as fat and stupid as a pig! Forget the Crown Prince—no man in the entire world would ever marry you. You’re going to die alone!" Sang Zhen said, stepping forward to support the Sixth Princess.

"Better fat than ugly! Why don’t you take a look in the mirror? With a face as ugly as a pig’s, you’re the one who’ll never get married!"

Ye Qianning was about to speak, but Nanxiang beat her to the punch.

Sang Zhen’s face flushed red with anger. "You damn fatty won’t get married either! You’re the ugly ones!"

"Hmph! No one wants an ugly old hag like you, but our Pangtuan is different! Even if she can’t find a husband, I, this Commandery Princess, will marry her! What about you? Will anyone marry you? Well, will they?" Nanxiang declared confidently, her hands on her hips.

"You’ll marry her? You’re a girl! How can you marry her? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!"

"So what if I’m a girl? As long as two people are happy together, that’s all that matters! It’s better not to get married at all than to end up in a bad marriage! Just like your cousin on your mother’s side—always getting beaten by her in-laws, crying her eyes out. She was even dragged down the street by a carriage in public! BOO HOO HOO! How terrifying." Nanxiang said triumphantly, hands on her hips, shaking her head and gesturing for emphasis.

"..."

Ye Qianning was stunned. ’I thought she was just a sweet, delicate girl. I had no idea her fighting spirit was this strong.’

’Such awareness, such an attitude... every word out of her mouth is a bombshell—’

’If the Prince and Princess Consort heard this, they’d probably faint from shock...’

For a moment, even Sang Shu was dumbfounded.

Sang Zhen, dazed by the verbal assault, finally snapped out of it and lunged at Nanxiang. "You... you... Nanxiang, I’m going to kill you!"

Not one to back down, Nanxiang rolled up her sleeves, ready for a fight.

Ye Qianning quickly moved to pull her back.

’After all, Nanxiang is only six, while Sang Zhen is nine and pretty tall. Nanxiang would lose if they actually fought.’

"Pangtuan, don’t hold me back! I’ve been putting up with her for ages," Nanxiang said, looking back.

"You can’t win against her. I’ll handle this." Ye Qianning let her go and charged at Sang Zhen.

’Kids’ fights are usually just a matter of lunging, scratching, and biting.’

Sang Zhen was about as tall as Sang Zhi, but those who were pampered tended to be physically weak. And sure enough, the moment she lunged, before she could even make contact, she was sent flying.

Ye Qianning was heavy and sturdy. With her exceptional physique, knocking someone flying with a simple body check was a piece of cake.

"Sang Zhen!" Sang Shu cried out in alarm.

"AHH..."

Sang Zhen let out a pained shriek as she hit the ground, then immediately burst into loud sobs.

Nanxiang’s eyes went wide with delighted surprise. ’So being chubby is a good thing after all! You don’t even have to use your hands in a fight; you can just run into people and send them flying!’

"Sang Zhen!" Sang Shu ran over to her. Seeing her wailing, she spun around and shrieked at the maids, "Are you all dead?! Seize those two immediately!"

Receiving the order, the palace maids surged forward.

"You dare!" Nanxiang snapped back to reality, planting her hands on her hips and stepping forward.

And just as she expected, the palace maids froze. The girl before them was the young Commandery Princess of the Changyang Prince Mansion, the one and only daughter of the Prince and Princess Consort, who doted on her endlessly. Who would dare lay a finger on her?

"What are you all gawking at? If you don’t move now, I’ll have all your heads!" Sang Shu had never been so humiliated in her life.

The maids were terrified of both parties, but they feared their own princess more. Her methods of punishment were especially cruel.

"Xiang’er, get back."

"We’re good sisters! We share our fortunes and face our troubles together. How can I possibly retreat in the face of a great enemy?" Nanxiang had heard many stories of war, and the thing she admired most was camaraderie.

A look of admiration filled Ye Qianning’s eyes. "Alright. Then we’ll do it together."

Nanxiang nodded, took the lead, and charged forward. She threw her arms around a palace maid’s thigh and sank her teeth into it.

Ye Qianning was speechless. "..."

’Oh, well.’

’I guess this is how six-year-olds fight...’

"AHH..."

The tender-skinned palace maid yelped in pain from the bite and immediately reached down to grab Nanxiang’s hair.

With a flick of her small hand, Ye Qianning sent a pebble shooting straight toward the maid’s wrist.

"AHH..."

The maid shrieked as her hand went limp, dropping as if it had been dislocated.

Four or five palace maids lunged at her. Not wanting to reveal her martial prowess in the Imperial Palace, Ye Qianning deftly sidestepped and kicked out. One maid fell, knocking into the others. In a domino effect, the whole group went down with a CRASH.

"AHAHAHA!" Nanxiang roared with laughter.

Sang Shu and Sang Zhen were livid. They scrambled to their feet and charged.