"Mother, I have silver!" Duoduo expressed her disagreement.
Su Xian was stunned for a moment, then instantly smiled again.
"Keep that silver for your dowry."
"For a girl, the more dowry she has, the more confidence she will have."
"You are still young now, so of course you rely on your parents. But when you marry in the future, you will only be able to rely on yourself."
"Listen to Mother, don't spend that silver recklessly, understand?"
Duoduo blinked.
If Mother knew that she had used one tael of silver to earn hundreds, or even tens of thousands of taels...
Thinking of Su Xian's timid nature, Duoduo decided it was better not to tell her mother for now.
Lest her mother find out and nag her for a long time!
Thinking of this, Duoduo nodded obediently.
"Don't worry, Mother, I won't spend it recklessly!"
Su Xian knew that Duoduo, influenced by the Prince, had a mind of her own.
She was just reminding her out of habit.
She rubbed Duoduo's head.
"You've had a tiring day today, go back to your room and rest for a while."
Duoduo nodded and stood up.
"Mother, I'll go back and do my homework first, and come over to keep you company for the meal later."
Su Xian smiled gently. "Alright, don't tire yourself out."
Duoduo curtsied and led Lüdou towards her own courtyard.
Lüdou didn't speak the whole way. She had also heard what Baihe said earlier.
She had originally thought that since Madam Li was so capable, the shop would definitely be packed with people.
As a result, there was no one!
That also meant her chance to sell her pastries on consignment there might have fallen through.
Lüdou felt very disappointed in her heart.
She had wanted to use her own abilities to help the Princess earn more silver!
But now, she hadn't earned a single copper coin, while the Princess had earned a lot of silver.
Lüdou felt like she had no opportunity to show her worth.
She was very depressed!
Duoduo was also pondering her own matters and didn't notice Lüdou's unusual mood.
Because today was the first day, the teacher hadn't assigned too much homework.
He only required everyone to practice a page of calligraphy and recite an essay.
Duoduo's handwriting was taught by Xiao Yi.
She knew many types of calligraphy styles.
Small regular script, cursive script, running script, wild cursive script...
Li Jin had even praised her handwriting, saying it was no inferior to that of a calligraphy master.
Duoduo hadn't seen what the handwriting of the calligraphy master the teacher talked about looked like.
However, Duoduo knew that her handwriting was definitely better than that of girls her age.
Her father had told her to hide her talents. Other things were fine, but how was she supposed to hide her talent in handwriting?
Duoduo thought about this all the way back to her courtyard.
"Lüdou, go prepare the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. I want to write!"
Duoduo ordered.
"Yes, this servant will go right away!"
Hearing Duoduo's order, Lüdou immediately agreed and trotted off to prepare the items.
Duoduo gave Lüdou a slightly strange look.
Why did she feel that when she asked Lüdou to work, Lüdou was actually very happy?
Duoduo didn't know that Lüdou was worried that if she couldn't help the Princess, she would be disliked by her.
Now, hearing Duoduo's order, Lüdou immediately sprang into action.
Duoduo entered the room and washed her face and hands first.
The weather was hot, and after walking for a while, her face was covered in sweat.
Duoduo changed into casual clothes for indoors and walked to the desk.
Duoduo picked up the writing brush and casually wrote a few characters on the paper.
Even though she deliberately tried to write poorly, the characters were still undeniably beautiful.
Duoduo put down the brush and stared blankly at the character for clumsy on the paper.
Lüdou saw that Duoduo had written a few clumsy characters and stopped writing.
She curiously leaned over to look.
"Princess, although these characters aren't as good as your usual ones, they are still wonderful!"
Lüdou praised Duoduo.
Duoduo tilted her small head. "Lüdou, do you have any way to not write well?"
"Ah?" Lüdou was stunned by Duoduo's words.
The Princess in her impression was always on the path of striving to do well, or even better.
Lüdou remembered very clearly the silhouette of Duoduo burning the midnight oil on many nights.
Seeing Lüdou's expression, Duoduo knew she had asked in vain.
Because their positions were different, their levels of understanding were naturally different too.
Lüdou saw Duoduo pick up the brush again and start writing.
Because of Duoduo's words just now, Lüdou paid close attention.
She noticed that Duoduo was trying to write the characters poorly.
Although Lüdou didn't understand why Duoduo was doing this, she was always someone who listened to whatever Duoduo said.
Lüdou thought for a moment and tentatively offered an idea.
"Princess, if you want to not write well, why don't you try writing with your other hand?"
Duoduo raised her head and looked at Lüdou.
"Change hands?"
Duoduo switched the brush to her left hand and tried to write.
Duoduo had never written with her left hand before. Holding the brush with her left hand, she couldn't control the pressure at all.
The strokes she made were either too heavy or too light.
The characters on the paper were so ugly that even Duoduo couldn't bear to look at them.
However, the more Duoduo wrote, the happier she became.
"Lüdou, tell me, if I learn to write with my left hand, will I be able to write with both hands together in the future?"
"Yes! Definitely. You are the smartest, Princess!"
Lüdou revered Duoduo above all else.
"Lüdou, you practice writing on the side too. By the way, how is your memorization of the text I taught you yesterday?"
Ever since Lüdou returned to Duoduo's side, the two had resumed their days of one teaching and the other learning.
Duoduo not only taught Lüdou how to read and write, but also taught her martial arts.
This way, the two of them could be considered companions.
"This servant has already memorized it all." Lüdou began to recite the text.
Duoduo, meanwhile, worked hard to train her left hand to get used to writing.
By the time Nanny Li came in to remind the two that it was time to eat, Duoduo's left hand was already capable of writing.
It was just that the handwriting was a bit too horrible to look at.
"Hahaha!" Duoduo picked it up and laughed at it herself first.
Seeing this, Nanny Li's eyes revealed surprise.
"Princess, you just started writing with your left hand, and you can already write so well?"
Duoduo looked at the sprawling, messy characters on the paper, her face showing confusion.
"Nanny, what is good about these characters?"
Nanny Li shook her head gently. "To be able to write like this when you've just started using your left hand is already considered good."
Duoduo smiled and didn't argue.
She put the paper aside to look at Lüdou's homework.
"Mhm, not bad, Lüdou. Your small regular script is really beautifully written!"
"It's all because the Princess taught me well!" Lüdou's face was full of gratitude.
If it weren't for Duoduo, how would she have the opportunity to learn to read and write?
Lüdou understood that Duoduo was grateful for her sincere devotion in protecting her back then.
But she was the Princess's maid; wasn't it a maid's duty to protect her mistress?
The Princess's heart was too kind. She had to protect the Princess well and not let anyone hurt her!
"Lüdou, let's go. We'll go keep Mother company for the meal first, and when we come back, I'll continue writing!"
Duoduo led Lüdou and Nanny Li out the door.
"Princess, this old servant heard some news in the palace today," Nanny Li reported in a low voice.
