Lüdou had no idea why Duoduo was looking for that group of people earlier, but she honestly pointed in the direction they had gone.
"They left the palace," she said.
"Oh." Duoduo felt a hint of disappointment. She had thought there would be some excitement to watch.
"Forget it, let's head back too." Duoduo remembered she had to come to the Imperial Academy again tomorrow, and that thought made her miserable.
Lüdou looked up at Duoduo with curiosity.
"Your Highness, why do you seem unhappy?"
Duoduo was a bit downcast.
"Everyone else has tomorrow off, but I still have to come."
Lüdou was surprised. "Why? Your Highness, is the Grand Tutor targeting you?"
Duoduo shook her head. "I don't know why either."
"Then, would you like to go back and tell the Prince?" Lüdou suggested.
Duoduo thought for a moment and then shook her head again.
"Forget it. Father is busy with important matters. I shouldn't bother him with such trivial things."
After all, it was just going to the palace to submit her homework. It wasn't a big deal.
With that thought, Duoduo cheered up again.
"Tomorrow, after I hand in my assignments, we can go to the shop too."
"Mm! I'll make more pastries today, so we can earn more tomorrow," Lüdou said enthusiastically.
"Great! I'll help you later!" Duoduo liked seeing Lüdou so energetic.
As they chatted, the three of them left the palace.
Not far outside the palace, there was a commotion.
"Why are they fighting?"
"Hurry, go help!"
...
Duoduo was small, so she could only hear the noise without seeing anything.
"Qingliu, you're tall. Can you see who's fighting?"
Qingliu stood on tiptoe and peered into the group of people brawling.
"Your Highness, it looks like it might be your deskmate."
Qingliu still couldn't match names to faces for everyone at the academy, but she recognized Xiao Yunshi as Duoduo's deskmate.
Duoduo's eyes lit up.
Just as she had expected—a fight had broken out!
"I'll go check it out!" With that, Duoduo dashed toward the crowd.
"Your Highness!"
Lüdou and Qingliu only had time to call out.
Qingliu had reached out to grab Duoduo, but her hand shot into empty air—Duoduo was already far away.
Qingliu's eyes widened in surprise.
How could the young princess move so fast?
Lüdou paid no attention to Qingliu; her eyes were fixed solely on Duoduo. Without a second thought, she chased after her.
Qingliu hurriedly followed as well.
Duoduo, being small, squeezed through the gaps in the crowd.
In the middle of the huddle, Xiao Yunshi and Xiao Yunchuan were grappling and punching each other.
Their classmates, who usually played around with them, were trying to break up the fight.
"Xiao Yunshi, are you crazy? Why are you hitting me?" Xiao Yunchuan shouted angrily after taking a punch to the face.
Xiao Yunshi had completely dropped his usual joking demeanor. His face was set rigidly as he threw another punch.
Xiao Yunchuan dodged while striking back whenever he could.
Duoduo noticed that Xiao Yunshi was also fighting with his right hand.
And he wasn't weak at all. Even against Xiao Yunchuan, who was highly skilled in combat, Xiao Yunshi seemed to hold his own.
He even landed several unexpected blows on Xiao Yunchuan.
The classmates circled around watching, and Xiao Yunchuan's face grew flushed with embarrassment.
"Xiao Yunshi, I'm going easy on you out of courtesy as a fellow student. Don't go too far!"
"Going too far? You tripped me today and got me punished by the Grand Tutor. How do you explain that?"
As he spoke, Xiao Yunshi aimed another punch at Xiao Yunchuan's nose.
"Stop!"
A sharp voice rang out. It was the Grand Tutor.
The crowd of onlookers scattered instantly like startled birds, vanishing in no time.
Only two people were left still locked in a scuffle.
No, wait—there were also Duoduo and her two servants.
The Grand Tutor walked up to them with a stern face, his expression dark as he scanned the group.
"School is over, and instead of going home, you have the nerve to fight here?"
"It seems the homework I assigned is far too little."
Xiao Yunshi immediately protested, "Grand Tutor, we weren't fighting! We were just practicing martial arts!"
He shot a warning glare at Xiao Yunchuan.
Xiao Yunchuan didn't want extra homework either, so he reluctantly went along.
"Grand Tutor, we weren't fighting."
Duoduo noticed the Grand Tutor's gaze fall on her.
She calmly bowed to him.
"Grand Tutor, I was just passing by. The road was blocked, so I had no choice but to stop here."
Duoduo looked up at him with an innocent expression.
The Grand Tutor averted his eyes and coughed twice.
"If you don't go home now, all of you will come back tomorrow for extra lessons!"
At that, Xiao Yunshi reluctantly let go of Xiao Yunchuan. The two glared at each other and left with their servants.
Duoduo walked calmly toward her carriage.
Once all three were inside and the carriage started moving, Lüdou let out two big sighs of relief.
"Your Highness, the Grand Tutor is terrifying! My legs are still shaking."
"Your Highness, you're amazing! You weren't scared at all!"
Qingliu's face was still pale, too.
Duoduo pursed her lips and smiled.
"You get used to it. My imperial grandfather is even more intimidating than the Grand Tutor."
Duoduo wasn't afraid of the Emperor, so why would she fear the Grand Tutor?
Besides, she still had the life-saving jade pendant the Emperor had given her. What was there to worry about?
At worst, the Grand Tutor could only punish her with a bit of extra work.
That said, Duoduo was a bit surprised that Xiao Yunshi had provoked Xiao Yunchuan today.
The two of them often argued, but this was the first time Duoduo had seen them actually come to blows.
Maybe because Xiao Yunshi had had bad luck since the morning and was venting his anger?
When Lüdou heard Duoduo mention the Emperor, she stuck out her tongue.
After all, the most imposing person in the entire realm was the Emperor himself.
"Oh, someone's selling shaved ice bowls!" Duoduo spotted a stall outside the carriage window.
"Stop!" The carriage halted.
"Your Highness, I'll make some for you when we get back. Street food might not be clean," Lüdou said, trying to stop her.
"No, Lüdou, I mean—our barbecue shop could totally make shaved ice bowls too!"
"It hasn't rained in so long, and the weather's scorching hot. Shaved ice bowls would sell like crazy!"
"Right, and that cake Aunt Xu mentioned—that would sell well too!"
"Let's go to the shop and tell Aunt Xu!"
With that idea, Duoduo told the driver to head to the West Market.
Lüdou glanced out the window at the blazing sky and sighed.
"Your Highness, when will it ever rain?"
At the Imperial Academy, Duoduo had ice blocks to cool down.
But Lüdou and Qingliu, waiting outside, only had the shade of the walkways, and it was still stifling hot.
There wasn't a trace of wind in the air, and sweat poured down in big drops.
To cool off, they could only drink plenty of water. And after drinking too much, their bellies sloshed when they walked.
Suddenly, Qingliu spoke up.
"I overheard two eunuchs today. They said that tomorrow, the Emperor will go to pray for rain."
