"Princess, is this a Zen riddle? Who told you about it?"
Li Jin thought for a moment, finding the two sentences quite profound.
Duoduo stopped in her tracks.
"Teacher, do you know what these two sentences mean?"
Li Jin stroked his chin.
"Your teacher is hungry and needs to eat first. What about you, Princess?"
Duoduo rubbed her belly.
"I think I'm hungry too."
Looking at the adorably dazed Duoduo, Li Jin felt a pang of fondness.
"Come, your teacher will take you to get some food."
"Did you not sleep well last night? How about you go back to your room for a nap after eating?"
Duoduo shook her head.
"No! I have to figure out what those words mean first!"
Whenever Duoduo encountered a problem she didn't understand, she could be incredibly stubborn, insisting on getting to the bottom of it.
"Alright, let's go eat first. Who knows, maybe you'll figure it out once your stomach is full."
As her teacher, Li Jin naturally understood his student's temperament.
"Okay!"
Duoduo nodded.
She was already so hungry she had no energy left.
The two walked to the kitchen, but there was no one around.
Li Jin rummaged around and found some food in the steamer.
Because the fire on the stove had been kept burning, the food was still warm.
Li Jin glanced around and spotted a table in the kitchen.
"Shall we eat right here?"
Duoduo nodded curiously.
Li Jin found a cloth and wiped the table clean.
Then, he took the breakfast from the steamer and set it on the table.
"Eat up."
Li Jin served Duoduo a bowl of porridge and placed it next to her hand.
"Thank you, Teacher!"
Duoduo gave Li Jin a sweet smile before picking up her spoon and taking small, delicate sips of the porridge.
Li Jin was genuinely starving, and there was no one else in the kitchen.
So, forsaking all etiquette, he began to wolf down his breakfast.
He practically swallowed the small steamed buns whole, one bite at a time, and devoured the eggs in just two bites.
A few minutes later, Li Jin finally felt like he had some substance in his stomach.
He looked up, only to see Duoduo eating with a smile, her eyes crinkling into little crescents.
Li Jin let out a light cough.
"I was too tired yesterday, and we've passed the usual mealtime today, so please excuse your teacher's poor manners."
Duoduo shook her head, beaming.
"Eating with you makes the food taste so good!"
In the past, Duoduo used to eat with Lüdou.
Back then, their meals might have consisted of nothing more than a single potato or a piece of cassava.
They would both take tiny bites, chewing each mouthful thoroughly over and over again before finally swallowing.
They couldn't bear to waste even a single crumb.
Later, when she ate with the Prince of Pingyang and the Princess Consort, they both ate very elegantly.
At most, they would take a few bites before setting down their chopsticks, eating no more.
Every time, Duoduo would reflect on whether she was eating too much.
However, watching the way Li Jin ate just now, she felt the true appetizing aroma of food for the very first time.
Even if the meal in her hands was just plain white rice porridge.
She still found it incredibly sweet and delicious.
Li Jin couldn't help but chuckle.
"Are you trying to say that your teacher eats like a barbarian?"
Duoduo wore an innocent expression.
"No! I really do like eating with you, Teacher."
"Look, I've finished all my food!"
Duoduo held up her bowl to show Li Jin.
"Are you full then? Do you want me to serve you a little more?"
Duoduo put down her bowl and patted her little tummy.
"If I eat any more, my tummy will burst!"
Li Jin looked at the food on the table, which had been mostly polished off by the two of them.
He figured Duoduo was indeed full.
In a little over two hours, it would be time for lunch anyway.
"Alright, then I will clear the table."
Li Jin picked up the bowls and placed them on the stove.
Duoduo followed him like a little shadow, helping out as well.
Li Jin didn't stop her; it was good to move around a bit after a full meal.
The two walked out of the kitchen.
"Princess, you worked hard yesterday. Today, I'm giving you a day off."
Duoduo didn't answer. She kept a straight face, clearly lost in thought.
"Ah! Teacher, I've figured it out!"
Halfway down the path, Duoduo suddenly cried out.
"Oh? Let's hear it then."
Li Jin had also been pondering the Zen riddle Duoduo mentioned earlier, and he had just formed a train of thought.
"When I eat with you, Teacher, I unconsciously eat faster."
"But when I eat with my father, I eat slower."
"So, do I naturally eat fast, or do I eat slow?"
"Actually, it doesn't matter. It all depends on me."
Duoduo's eyes were astonishingly bright!
"I am a good person. To good people, I am naturally a good person."
"I am a good person. But to bad people, if I am still a good person, then I am not a good person!"
"However, if bad people think I am a bad person, then I am a good person!"
"Whether I am a good person or not still depends entirely on me!"
Upon hearing this, Li Jin couldn't help but clap his hands for Duoduo.
"Princess, your comprehension is truly remarkable!"
Having finally resolved her confusion, Duoduo smiled so widely that her eyes narrowed into little slits.
"It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Teacher."
Li Jin burst out laughing, caught off guard by the sudden high praise.
"Hahaha, indeed! It seems that meal we just had deserves a lot of the credit!"
Duoduo nodded with a beaming smile.
"Teacher, you were right earlier. When someone has a full stomach, their mind naturally becomes clear!"
"I'm going to tell my father right now! See you later, Teacher!"
Duoduo dashed off quickly toward the room where the Prince of Pingyang was staying.
Li Jin shook his head.
"So it was the Prince of Pingyang who said it. No wonder it was so obscure and hard to decipher!"
Li Jin said, continuously shaking his head.
"Ah, the new waves of the Yangtze River drive on those before them, and the old waves perish on the shore!"
Duoduo sprinted to the door of the room and knocked.
"Come in."
The voice of the Prince of Pingyang came from inside.
Duoduo pushed the door open and walked in.
She happily ran up to the Prince of Pingyang.
"Father, I figured it out!"
The Prince of Pingyang cast a scrutinizing gaze over Duoduo.
Duoduo had come out with Li Jin this time without bringing a single maid along.
Her hair was still in the same state as yesterday.
After sleeping on it for a night, her hair was a messy, frizzy disaster, looking like an exploded lion's mane.
Furthermore, there were no older maidservants at the estate, only guards.
The Prince of Pingyang's eyes circled around Duoduo's head a few times.
Sensing the Prince of Pingyang's stare, Duoduo shyly covered her hair and haphazardly patted it down a few times.
With that, her hairdo completely fell apart.
The hair piled on top of her head cascaded all the way down.
"Uh..."
Duoduo was at a loss for what to do.
Normally, her maids always combed her hair for her.
The Prince of Pingyang couldn't help but twitch his fingers.
"Go, bring me a comb," the Prince of Pingyang said with a straight face.
A brilliant light suddenly burst across Duoduo's face.
"Father, are you going to comb my hair for me? Do you know how to comb hair?"
"If you don't go right now, I will change my mind!" A flash of fleeting exasperation crossed the Prince of Pingyang's face.
"I'll get it right away!"
Like a cheerful butterfly, Duoduo fluttered off to fetch the comb.
She naturally stepped into the Prince of Pingyang's embrace and handed the comb to him.
