Sarah Thompson sat down and said, “Ever since you became a Yudu Guard, you’re out early and back late every day. Our family rarely gets to eat together anymore.”

“It’s not all my fault,” George Lambert said with a smile. “Emily and Peter are both busy with their studies now, and they often come home late too.”

“That’s true, you’ve all grown up.” Sarah Thompson sighed with emotion, then asked, “How are things at the academies for you two? Is everything going smoothly? Has anyone been bullying you?”

“Mother, how could that happen?” Emily Lambert replied gently, “Our Bamboo Grove Academy only admits girls. Everyone gets along very well, and the teachers like me a lot.”

“At Nanshan Academy, all the teachers are highly learned scholars, and the rules are strict,” Peter Lambert said with a smile. “I’m close friends with my classmates, and we have a great time together.”

“That’s good.” Sarah Thompson nodded in relief, then looked at George Lambert. “How about you? Is the work as a guard tiring?”

“I was just about to tell you, Mother. I had some good luck today and earned a small merit,” George Lambert said. “I should have a chance to be promoted to full guard soon.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful news!” Sarah Thompson immediately beamed with joy.

The family, with a loving mother and filial children, happily finished their meal together.

Then the three siblings sent their mother back to her room, cleaned up the dishes together, and each returned to their own bedrooms. As soon as Sarah Thompson returned to her room, the other three doors immediately opened at the same time.

Two little heads popped out together.

After checking left and right to make sure everything was safe, Emily Lambert and Peter Lambert both slipped into George Lambert’s room.

“What’s up?” The three of them sat around a small table, and George Lambert asked, “Another meeting?”

Peter Lambert sat upright and answered slowly, “I got into a fight with a classmate at the academy. His father is an official, and I’m worried he’ll try to get back at me. So I wanted to discuss it with everyone and see how we should handle it.”

Chapter 6 The Lambert Siblings Value Harmony Above All

Ever since their grandfather died in the Battle of Tianxia Gorge, and their father and uncle died in the Battle of Yunxiang, there had been no adult men left in the The Lambert Family, only their mother Sarah Thompson holding up the family.

The so-called “a family of loyal martyrs” was no exaggeration.

Growing up, hardships were inevitable. The three children had sensibly formed a tacit agreement from a young age: don’t tell Mother about problems right away. Because of Sarah Thompson’s fiercely combative nature—intimidating to outsiders, but to her own children, it just made them worry for her.

So whenever they suffered grievances or faced difficulties outside, the three siblings would first hold a little meeting to see if they could handle it themselves. Over time, this became their habit.

“What exactly happened?” George Lambert asked seriously.

Given his younger siblings’ kind and friendly natures, they rarely got into conflicts with others. So his first reaction was that someone must have been bullying Peter Lambert.

“I was getting along fine at the academy, but recently a girl, for no reason, said she liked me,” Peter Lambert said with a frown.

“Isn’t that pretty common?” Emily Lambert said.

Peter Lambert was handsome, gentle, and mature beyond his years—smarter and more composed than his peers. Since he started school at age seven, little girls had been expressing their affection for him nonstop.

His only comment on this was always the same: it interferes with my studies.

“But this girl is different. She’s good-looking, comes from a good family, and has her own group of admirers,” Peter Lambert said. “One of them is that official’s son. Ever since he found out the girl likes me, he’s been causing me trouble again and again.”

“Didn’t you explain things to him?” George Lambert asked.

“I told him long ago that I don’t like that girl at all, and I’ve clearly rejected her,” Peter Lambert sighed. “But after hearing that, he got even angrier.”

“Hmm…” George Lambert and Emily Lambert exchanged a glance, thought for a moment, and understood the feeling.

The girl you love likes someone else—that’s already painful. But if she likes someone who doesn’t even care about her, that’s even more infuriating.

“I put up with it many times, but today he and a few friends snatched my book basket and burned it in front of everyone. All my classmates saw it. If I didn’t fight back, I’d never be able to stand my ground at the academy again,” Peter Lambert said calmly.

“That’s right. When patience runs out, there’s no need to endure anymore,” George Lambert nodded.

The academy might be an ivory tower, isolated from the outside world, but it was also a wild place where rules were hard to enforce. Once people saw you as weak and easy to bully, everyone would want to pick on you for fun.

“But at the time, he had the numbers, so I didn’t say anything. I waited until after class, and when he was alone at the academy gate, I fought him,” Peter Lambert continued calmly.

“But you don’t look like you’ve been in a fight,” Emily Lambert looked Peter Lambert over.

If you’d been in a scuffle, you’d at least have some dirt on you.

“In this fight… I put a sack over his head from behind, used a brick as a weapon, and knocked his head with it several times,” Peter Lambert said.

“Did he fight back?” Emily Lambert asked.

“He tried, but failed,” Peter Lambert gestured. “I spent a whole class studying grappling techniques in advance and locked his arm.”

“……”

There was a moment of silence.