Chapter 1191: Fan Zijin’s Education

“Do you think everyone is like your son?” Mu Yangling chided him. “Go outside and ask around. Who can so quickly guess that these pranks were designed by a group of children? Only the few of us who are used to engaging in a battle of wits with them can tell at a glance.”

This was an era where fathers were strict and sons were filial. No matter how mischievous the children were, they would not dare to tease their biological uncle.

Only their family had always indulged their children.

Qi Haoran immediately pushed the blame away. “That’s because you spoiled them!”

“Don’t push the blame on me. I’m still considered a strict mother. On the other hand, are you a strict father or a kind father?”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to hit them with a stick, but you’ve never allowed me to do that. Why are you always stopping me?”

“I’m giving you face. You can’t even bear to kick the children’s butt and here you are, talking about hitting them with a stick? If you retract your leg after raising it, you can still say that your leg is short and your aim is not accurate enough. But if you raise the stick and retract it without hitting them, let’s see how the kids will mock you.”

When Spring heard the couple bickering outside the house again, she hurriedly coughed lightly and raised her voice. “Your Highnesses, His Highness Prince An is here. He’s going to fetch the young masters to stay at his place for a few days. Shall I go and pack their things now?”

Qi Haoran turned to Mu Yangling and said, “Look, I said that Bowen has become stupid. Even Zijin, who is two streets away, knows the inside story and specially came to fetch them to avoid trouble. Meanwhile, Bowen only just realized it.”

Mu Yangling said, “… Your children are naughty and you forbid the children of the Mu family to be obedient? Considering Bowen has been sensible and obedient since he was young, how could he have thought that Tiger Head and the rest did it on purpose?”

Qi Haoran tilted his head and thought about it. With rosy lips and white teeth when he was young, Bowen always looked obedient. He glanced at his wife again and immediately sighed. “You and your brother are complete opposites.”

Mu Yangling was so angry that she kicked him.

Qi Haoran jumped to the side and ran out laughing. He said to Spring, who was outside the house, “Pack up what? Get the brats to apologize to their uncle. How can they tease an elder like that?”

Mu Yangling stopped Spring and said, “Don’t tell them anything. I’ll go pack their things.”

Making the children apologize indiscriminately would probably make them hate Bowen even more.

Mu Yangling decided not to interfere in this matter. Since Fan Zijin wanted to bring the children away to hide, she would let them go.

Since there was always someone by the three children’s sides, it was extremely easy to find out why they were targeting Mu Bowen.

Just as Mu Yangling was asking Mu Bowen about the guards who followed the children the day they came to the residence, Fan Zijin was lecturing the children with his hands behind his back.

He first shouted at the three older ones, “You guys are really stupid. There are so many ways to plot against Mu Bowen. Why did you choose the method that is most childish and easiest to detect?”

He was the most disappointed in Little An. He shook his head and sighed at him. “When I was your age, I wouldn’t have been discovered even if I plotted against a teacher of the academy. Yet, you guys did it so openly and even used such a childish method. Don’t say that you’re my son when you go out lest you embarrass me.”

Blushing, Little An whispered, “Then, Father, what would you do if you were in our shoes?”

Fan Zijin looked at his son in disdain. “Looks like you’ve really learned none of such things from your Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt. Stay with Tiger Head and the rest for the next few days and observe how your father usually schemes against others.”

The children opened their mouths wide. Little Lion was the first to realize that something was wrong and shouted, “Second Uncle, we didn’t want to scheme against Uncle. That’s right, that’s right.” Little Lion thought hard and said, “We just wanted to express our unhappiness and let him know that we dislike him.”

Little An and Tiger Head nodded. They looked at Fan Zijin and whispered, “This is a matter of principle. If we break it, Fourth Aunt (Mother) will skin us alive.”

Fan Zijin: “…”

Fan Zijin tilted his head to look at them and asked, “Then if you encounter an enemy or opponent, for instance, like me and Imperial Censor Yan, what should you do?”

Imperial Censor Yan was an annoying imperial censor who impeached Fan Zijin almost every other day. Although he was not sworn enemies with Fan Zijin, they definitely did not have a good relationship. Previously, these boys had beaten up his grandson.

Little An and the twins had obviously thought about this question long ago. Little An replied, “Refute him logically and make him so ashamed that he won’t even dare to leave the house.”

Little Lion said, “We’ll just do our thing and let future generations judge for themselves.”

Tiger Head: “Fight back!”

Fan Zijin was very dissatisfied with these three answers. He felt that the three kids, who were originally smart and intelligent, had turned silly under the guidance of Mu Yangling and the others.

However, the three children insisted that this was an overt scheme.

Tiger Head puffed out his chest and said, “My mother said that as long as we’re strong, we shouldn’t be afraid of any schemes. All evil forces can be defeated with overt schemes.”

Little Lion and Little An nodded in agreement.

Fan Zijin slammed the table hard and said, “Your mother is idealistic. Does she think that everyone in this world is as silly as her? If your mother and father didn’t have your Royal Uncle and me to protect them, who knows how miserable they would be? If one wishes to succeed, only using overt schemes is far from enough…”

Standing outside the window, Little Madam Xia couldn’t stand it anymore. Afraid that Fan Zijin would misguide the children, she hurriedly pushed the door open and entered with a smile. “I made a lot of delicious food for everyone. Let’s go eat.”

Fan Zijin’s words were stuck in his throat, causing him to turn around and glare at Little Madam Xia.

Little Madam Xia shrank her neck, but she still mustered the courage to lead the children away. “Hurry up and go out. Otherwise, the food will turn cold.”

The children looked at Fan Zijin eagerly.

When Fan Zijin saw Tiger Head hugging his stomach while Little Fu, Little Leopard, and Baozhu drooled, he could only wave his hand helplessly. “Go, go.”

The children swarmed out.

As Fan Zijin looked at the children’s backs, he felt extremely sad. “If we don’t teach them how to scheme, what if they get bullied in the future?”

With their identities, how could the children lead a perfectly peaceful life in the future?

Even if they were profligate sons, they still had to know how to scheme.

Little Madam Xia glanced at her husband carefully and whispered, “But you can’t use their uncle as a teaching material. Even if you ignore the consequences after Ah Ling finds out, you’d be leading the children astray.?”

Fan Zijin snorted. “Sure, I’m the only bad person while all of you are good people.”

“No, no.” Little Madam Xia thought for a moment before saying, “I just think that the children are still young. You can wait for them to grow up and for their personalities to become fixed before teaching them to scheme. For example, the personalities of the Crown Prince and Little Bear are already fixed at their age, so it’s fine for them to learn some schemes and plots. However, Little An and the others are only in their early teens and are at the age where their personalities are still forming. What if you change their personalities by teaching them these things now?”

Fan Zijin tilted his head and thought about it seriously before reluctantly agreeing.

He looked back at Little Madam Xia and asked, “Am I very wicked in your opinion?”

Little Madam Xia shook her head repeatedly and said softly with a red face, “I like people like you.”

Fan Zijin was satisfied with the answer.