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Chapter 749 One plays the good cop and the other the bad cop, they're teaming up to extort me.

"Heng'er, don't be silly. Sister Gu is your benefactor."

The servants promptly served tea and snacks, including soft and sweet osmanthus cakes and delicate little milk pastry rolls, all popular snacks in the capital.

Zhao Heng didn't even look at them, his eyes darting around the hall as if searching for something.

Suddenly, his gaze fixed on the display cabinet to the side, and his eyes lit up instantly.

He broke free from the prince's hand, ran to the front of the multi-treasure pavilion, pointed to an ornament on the second floor, and loudly announced, "I want that one!"

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed and saw a small wooden horse, no bigger than the palm of their hand. The horse was carved from the finest boxwood, its mane flying, its hooves thrashing, its posture agile and lifelike.

This was a piece by a renowned artist that the Duke of Zhenguo specially sought out from the northern frontier for Gu Qingchen's birthday last year, and she has treasured it ever since.

Gu Qingchen's face darkened completely. "That's just a wooden horse."

"I don't care!" Zhao Heng turned around and looked at her defiantly. "You ate my rabbit, so you have to compensate me with a horse! That's only fair!"

Gu Qingchen could no longer contain himself. "Who ate your rabbit? Is the rabbit yours? I clearly caught it myself."

Zhao Heng: "Little rabbit, you were sleeping so peacefully, why did you take it out? Or was it murder for money?"

Gu Qingchen laughed in anger, "Little brat, you can't even read a few words, and you can't even pronounce a complete idiom. I'm not trying to steal your money, I'm really trying to kill you!"

A few words made the twelfth prince very angry.

"Zhao Heng!" Zhao Chen'an's tone finally turned stern. "If you continue to misbehave, I will send you back to the palace and confine you for a month!"

To everyone's surprise, the threat not only failed to work, but instead ignited the fuse.

Zhao Heng's lips trembled, and his eyes instantly reddened, his golden tears trembling as if he had suffered a great injustice. He looked at Zhao Chen'an accusingly, but he didn't cry out loud. He just sobbed, his little shoulders trembling.

Even the most hard-hearted person would soften upon seeing this.

Looking at the two brothers in front of him, one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop, Gu Qingchen felt a lump in his throat, unable to swallow it.

She's lived her whole life in the capital, always the one extorting others, never the other way around.

It was still a five-year-old brat!

She looked at Qian Zhenyun for help, only to see him sipping tea with his head down, seemingly oblivious to the farce unfolding before him. However, the slight upturn of his lips betrayed his enjoyment of the spectacle.

Gu Qingchen glared at him fiercely.

Forget it, it's pointless to argue with a child; it would only make me look bad.

She gritted her teeth and practically spat out the words to the maid beside her: "Go, take that horse down and give it to His Highness the Twelfth Prince."

Huan accepted the order and carefully removed the rocking horse.

The tears in Zhao Heng's eyes vanished instantly. He snatched the beloved little wooden horse, hugged it tightly to his chest, and even raised his chin at Gu Qingchen provocatively, his little expression full of smugness.

Zhao Chen'an looked apologetic and bowed to Gu Qingchen, saying, "Qingchen, it's my fault for not disciplining you properly. I'm sorry you had to laugh at me. As for this item... I will definitely find a better one to send you another day."

"No need." Gu Qingchen forced a stiff smile. "It's just a little trinket. If His Highness likes it, consider it a gift for our first meeting."

Having gotten the better deal, Zhao Heng hugged the rocking horse and made a face at Gu Qingchen.

Seeing this, Zhao Chen'an dared not linger any longer. After exchanging a few more polite words, he took his troublesome younger brother and left.

Gu Qingchen stood by the door, watching the two brothers' figures disappear outside the mansion gate, feeling a surge of anger with nowhere to vent.

She turned around abruptly and angrily said to Qian Zhenyun, who had finally put down his teacup, "I really want to throw both of them out of the mansion!"

Qian Zhenyun raised his eyes and looked at Gu Qingchen's pretty face, which was flushed red with anger. Instead of fading, the smile on his lips deepened.

"Throw them out?" he asked leisurely. "Throw the Crown Prince and the Twelfth Prince out of the Duke's mansion? Qingchen, with your temper, do you want to get a memorial impeaching our Duke's mansion for disrespect at tomorrow's morning court session?"

Gu Qingchen was taken aback by his indifferent tone, and the anger that was suffocating in her chest intensified.

"I don't care what His Highness the Crown Prince is!"

She walked up to him, hands on her hips, like a cat with its fur standing on end.

"Didn't you see? Those two, one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop, teamed up to swindle me! I've never been cheated like this in my entire life!"

She grew angrier as she spoke, pointing at Qian Zhenyun and accusing him, "And you! You were just sitting there watching the show, watching me get bullied by a little kid. Are you even on my side anymore?"

Qian Zhenyun did not answer, but stood up and slowly walked to the empty display cabinet.

He stretched out his finger and gently stroked the spot where the wooden horse had once stood, where a faint imprint remained.

He turned his head, looked at her calmly, and asked a completely unrelated question.

"Do you really think a five-year-old child has such discernment that they can pick out the one that you like best and that best represents the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion from a room full of decorations at a glance?"

Gu Qingchen's anger seemed to be doused with a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing most of it.

She was stunned.

Yes, that little horse carved from boxwood wasn't the most luxurious or the most eye-catching.

But that was brought back by my father from the northern frontier; it was the work of a famous artist.

How could Zhao Heng, a child raised in the deep palace, know this?