Alice Baker was clever and lively, with striking beauty. In front of Emperor Baker, she was straightforward and vivacious, but in front of others, she was proud and willful. The third princess, Ethan Baker, was close to her; the two were thick as thieves and both disliked Grace Baker. Lately, after hearing their mother mention it several times in the palace, and knowing that Alice Baker had grown up by her side, how could she not understand her mother’s intentions?

It seemed it was time to teach her fifth sister a lesson.

Ethan Baker was afraid of William Baker, but she was not.

Since ancient times, Dalin had upheld the order of seniority and hierarchy. Ethan Baker had to respect her fourth royal brother, and William Baker had to respect her as his eldest sister—this was a fact that would stand even before their father, the emperor. If William Baker dared to contradict her for the sake of that fifth royal sister, perfect—she could use his disrespect for his elder sister as an excuse to deal with both of them at once, and let her mother vent her anger.

Grace Baker had no idea she was already on the princess’s blacklist. Recently, she had been supervising William Baker as he memorized the Analects.

This was a task assigned by Lady Edith. If she couldn’t even manage this, her standing in Lady Edith’s eyes would probably drop. But William Baker truly disliked reading; making him memorize texts was like asking for his life. Grace Baker didn’t try to persuade him directly, but instead took a different approach.

She memorized it herself.

As she recited, she asked, “Brother Jingyuan, how do you read this character?”

William Baker glanced at it, “人不知，而不愠, yun.”

Grace Baker blinked her bright, watery eyes. “Wow, Brother Jingyuan, you’re amazing.”

William Baker: Proud!

After a while, Grace Baker asked again, “Brother Jingyuan, how do you read this character?”

William Baker, full of pride, leaned over to take a look.

Crap! He didn’t recognize it either!

Facing his little sister’s eager, inquisitive gaze, William Baker felt ashamed of his own lack of learning for the first time. Especially since Grace Baker kept asking him, “Brother Jingyuan, what does ‘To hear the Way in the morning and die in the evening’ mean?”

“What does ‘Is it not a pleasure to learn and practice what you have learned?’ mean?”

“What does ‘A gentleman is broad-minded but not partisan; a petty man is partisan but not broad-minded’ mean?”

William Baker: ………

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After that, William Baker started earnestly memorizing the Analects—not just memorizing, but also making sure he understood the meaning of each phrase! Before he finished memorizing the entire Analects, he didn’t want to see his little sister again, for fear of losing the last shred of his dignity!

With William Baker not coming around, Grace Baker had a bit more free time. Charles Baker was sulking because his little sister hadn’t played with him much lately. Grace Baker coaxed him for a long time, and finally Charles Baker made a demand: “I’ll only forgive you if you get me crispy jujubes from Qingpei Garden!”

Last time, she had picked a few jujubes from Qingpei Garden on her way by, and she hadn’t expected Charles Baker to remember them for so long. Grace Baker smiled and patted his head. “Alright, I’ll go pick them for you right now. Be good and wait here.”

Only then did Charles Baker break into a silly grin.

As late autumn approached, the weather gradually turned cold. Grace Baker wrapped herself in the white velvet cloak Violet Morgan had sewn for her and went out to pick jujubes.

Qingpei Garden was planted with many fruit trees. In autumn, the branches of each tree were weighed down with fruit, and the concubines from all the palaces liked to send their servants here to pick fresh fruit. When Grace Baker entered through the small arched gate, she suddenly heard someone crying at the base of the courtyard wall.

She was never one to meddle in others’ business and assumed it was some eunuch or maid being scolded. She went straight in, picked the jujubes, and on her way out, the crying was still going on—soft and stifled, as if afraid of being heard, sounding so pitiful.

As Grace Baker exited through the small gate, she couldn’t help but glance in the direction of the sound.

Behind a waist-high patch of grass crouched a small figure, dressed in fine clothes—not like a servant.

She thought for a moment, then walked over.

Her footsteps rustled through the flowers and fallen leaves. The person in the grass heard the sound and immediately turned around. “Who?!”

Grace Baker parted the grass and saw an especially handsome young boy. He was holding a white rabbit in his arms, his eyes red from crying like a rabbit’s, his face streaked with tears, looking utterly pitiful.

Grace Baker crouched down and asked, “Why are you crying?”

The boy seemed deeply embarrassed at being caught crying in secret. He tried to put on a fierce expression, but he was clearly not a bad person by nature, and after crying so miserably, he just looked even more pitiful. In the end, he could only pretend to be indifferent and turned his head away to hide his frustration. “It’s none of your business.”

With just one look, Grace Baker saw right through the boy’s character. She wasn’t annoyed and instead smiled as she petted the rabbit in his arms. “Is this your rabbit? It’s so cute.”

The boy’s body trembled slightly, and the tears he had just stopped almost started again. He gritted his teeth and held them back, his face full of sorrow.

Grace Baker observed him for a while and gently asked, “What’s wrong?”

Not far away, the sound of palace maids laughing and chatting grew closer. The boy’s expression changed, and he made a shushing gesture. Grace Baker nodded, scooted closer, and huddled with him so the grass would hide them both. The maids came to Qingpei Garden, picked fruit, and then left.

During this time, neither of them spoke. They just crouched in the grass, staring at each other with wide eyes. When the voices faded, the boy looked at her gloomily and asked, “Who are you?”

Grace Baker smiled. “I’m Xiaolu. And who are you?”

He looked a bit surprised. “You don’t recognize me?”