Duoduo opened her eyes groggily.
"My hand? What's wrong with my hand?"
Lüzhu looked heartbroken. "Your hand is swollen!"
Duoduo brought her hand in front of her eyes to take a look.
Sure enough, it was so swollen that she couldn't even bend her fingers.
Curious, Duoduo flipped her hand back and forth, examining it.
"Hehe, it looks like a chubby pig's trotter!"
Lüzhu was very anxious.
"I will have a servant woman fetch a doctor to examine you."
"No need!"
Duoduo pushed against the bedboard and rolled up into a sitting position.
"Ouch!"
Duoduo felt a twinge of pain in her hand and couldn't help but cry out.
Lüluo, who had just come in carrying a washbasin, put it down and rushed over.
"Princess, where does it hurt?"
Duoduo held up her chubby hand. "My hand hurts!"
Seeing Duoduo's hand swollen like a pig's trotter, Lüluo froze.
"Princess, were you stung by something?"
Lüluo gently held Duoduo's hand and blew on it.
Duoduo giggled cheerfully.
"Lüluo, doesn't it look like a pig's trotter?"
"It does!" Lüluo nodded honestly.
"I think so too! Lüzhu, I'm hungry!"
"Then I will go set up the meal."
Lüzhu hurried out.
Lüluo carefully dressed Duoduo and finally slipped on her embroidered shoes.
"Princess, shouldn't we let a doctor look at your hand?"
Duoduo shook her head.
If they called a doctor, her father and mother would definitely find out.
She didn't want her parents to worry.
"Lüluo, go get an iced spoon."
"The other day, Mother used an iced spoon to reduce the swelling around her eyes."
"An iced spoon is too small. I'll go get two pieces of ice instead."
Lüluo thought for a moment.
"Right! You're so smart, Lüluo. Hurry up and go!"
Duoduo urged Lüluo, who hurriedly ran out.
After making the bed, Lüyi came over to help Duoduo wash up.
Once Duoduo was all freshened up, Lüzhu came in to announce that breakfast was ready.
Duoduo looked at her two hands and sighed.
It must be the consequence of hitting the wooden dummy yesterday. Yingniang had told her to soak her hands in hot water when she got back.
But she had been too tired after coming back and had forgotten.
Duoduo suddenly remembered something.
"Lüzhu, bring me the cloth bags from the head of the bed."
Lüzhu ran to the bed, picked up the cloth bags, and ran back.
"Princess, are you still going to tie them on today?"
"Your legs are covered in bruises."
Lüyi looked deeply disapproving.
Earlier, when she was dressing the Princess, she had noticed that many parts of her body were bruised.
"Of course I have to tie them. The teacher said I must wear them at all times except when sleeping."
"Besides, didn't you put ointment on me?"
Duoduo didn't mind it at all.
She had just been too tired last night and forgot.
Later, she would quietly use a little golden light and it would be fine.
"Hurry up and tie them, I'm hungry!"
Duoduo pitifully clutched her stomach.
Seeing this, Lüyi couldn't bring herself to object.
She and Lüzhu each took a cloth bag and strapped them to Duoduo's legs.
Lüluo came running back.
"Ah! So cold! So cold!"
Lüluo ran into the room, holding two chunks of ice in her hands.
Lüyi hurriedly grabbed a tea tray to catch them.
"Are you silly? Why didn't you use something to carry them?"
Lüluo quickly dropped the ice blocks onto the tea tray and chuckled foolishly.
"I was only thinking about how urgently the Princess needed them and forgot!"
Everyone in the room started laughing.
Duoduo smiled so widely that her eyes turned into little crescents.
"Thanks for your hard work, Lüluo!"
Lüluo waved her hands. "It's what a servant should do."
"Let's go. I'll eat first and come back to this after."
Duoduo felt like her stomach was completely flat from hunger.
She went to the next room and saw the table filled with her favorite foods.
"Wow, smells so good!"
Duoduo couldn't wait and immediately sat down on a chair.
Lüyi picked up a bowl to serve Duoduo some porridge, while Lüzhu served her the dishes.
Today, there were three kinds of porridge.
Pumpkin millet porridge, red date and white fungus porridge, and minced meat rice porridge.
Duoduo chose the minced meat rice porridge today.
The porridge contained diced dried shrimp, minced meat, and chopped vegetable leaves, looking very appetizing.
Duoduo ate a vegetarian shredded roll and took a sip of porridge.
"I want to eat a crab roe bun."
Lüzhu picked up her chopsticks, grabbed a tiny crab roe bun, and placed it in Duoduo's bowl.
Duoduo picked it up and put it in her mouth, biting off more than half in one go.
"So delicious!" Duoduo mumbled with a full mouth.
Lüzhu hurriedly placed some side dishes into Duoduo's bowl.
"Princess, this will refresh your palate."
Duoduo nodded and swallowed the bun in her mouth.
Then, she started eating the vegetables and drinking the porridge.
After finishing two bowls of porridge and several small buns, Duoduo finally put down her chopsticks in satisfaction.
She patted her stomach.
"Ah! My tummy is finally full!"
"I'm going to play with the ice now!"
Lüyi lifted Duoduo down from the chair.
Duoduo saw the floating golden characters in front of her; she waved her small hands and stirred them a bit.
The golden characters scattered golden light, enveloping Duoduo.
Duoduo's hand was slowly reducing in swelling.
The bruises on her body also began to slowly fade.
Duoduo skipped back to the bedroom, only to see Lüluo anxiously guarding the ice.
"Princess, you're finally here! The ice is about to melt."
"It's fine. Take two handkerchiefs and wrap them up."
Lüluo didn't hesitate to pull her own handkerchief from her pocket.
She wrapped up a piece of ice and placed it in Duoduo's palm.
"Princess, ice it first, and I will go get more."
Lüzhu, standing nearby, took out her own handkerchief.
"Use mine."
Lüluo took it and wrapped the other piece of ice.
Duoduo stretched out her hands, letting the maids place the two wrapped ice blocks into her palms.
"Wow! So cold!"
Feeling the chill in her palms, Duoduo curled her fingers slightly.
She saw the golden light swirling around the ice blocks before finally landing on her hands.
"Lüluo, later, don't throw away this ice and water."
"Wait until it's not so cold, and then pour it into the flower pots I'm keeping."
Duoduo instructed her maid.
"Yes, I will remember."
Lüluo carefully flipped Duoduo's hands over to ice the other side.
Lüzhu looked toward the windowsill at the pots of flowers Duoduo had brought back.
"Princess, those flowers have all sprouted!"
"Yesterday, I even saw one of the branches producing a flower bud!"
When these pots of flowers were brought back, they all looked half-dead.
But after staying in Duoduo's room for just two days, they all looked full of vitality.
The three maids were all very surprised.
"Really?"
Duoduo looked toward the windowsill.
She had put a whole lot of golden light into those flowers!
"I'll bring them over for you to see!"
Lüzhu walked over briskly.
She examined the flower pots, trying to find the one where she had spotted the bud yesterday.
"Huh?"
She suddenly let out a sound of confusion.
"What's wrong? Is the bud gone?"
Duoduo grew a little anxious.
"No, Princess, it's that so many of the flowers have buds now!"
Lüzhu stood there, stunned.
Hearing this, Duoduo's interest was immediately piqued.
"Let me see!"
She pulled her hands back and hopped off the stool.
Lüluo and Lüyi also followed her over.
Sure enough, in every flower pot on the windowsill, the branches had produced buds.
The flowers seemed to sense Duoduo's arrival.
One of the flowers bloomed!
