The Princess of Pingyang was quite puzzled. "Weren't you holding it in your hand all along?"
Duoduo shook her head.
"No, it's gone."
The Princess also searched the bed and even bent down to look underneath it.
"It's not there either. Could it have fallen on the street earlier?"
The Princess felt remorseful. "It's all my fault for not noticing. Even if we send someone to look for it now, it's surely gone."
Duoduo, feeling dejected, slumped back onto the bed.
The Princess stroked Duoduo's head.
"How about this, mother will have the shopkeeper carve you a new one later, alright?"
Duoduo shook her head again.
"No need, mother."
Unable to bear seeing Duoduo so downcast, the Princess comforted her.
"If you like it, mother will have someone ask the shopkeeper to carve a new one for you."
"No matter how expensive, it's worth it as long as you like it."
Duoduo's large, watery eyes looked at the Princess.
"Mother, the fish that was lost... it was different."
Duoduo stopped speaking.
She didn't know how to explain to her mother what made that fish different from any other.
The Princess thought Duoduo was simply attached to the original one.
"I understand how you feel, but it's already lost. We can't get it back."
Duoduo nodded weakly. "Mhm, I understand!"
Not knowing how else to comfort her, the Princess could only gently stroke her head, over and over.
Having already lost a lot of blood, Duoduo was lulled back to sleep by the Princess's touch.
The Princess carefully covered Duoduo with a blanket, leaving only the wounded area exposed.
"Ah, what a good child!"
She sighed and bent her head to continue embroidering the bellyband.
In the main kitchen, Lüdou had finally finished her tasks.
She seized a moment to take out the book she kept tucked in her robe.
"At the beginning of life, nature is good..."
Lüdou recited the contents, recognizing the characters word by word, sentence by sentence.
There were many repeated characters in the text, and after reciting it several times, Lüdou had pretty much learned them all.
She decided to read it a few more times before returning the book to Duoduo.
Although Duoduo hadn't explicitly said where the book came from,
Lüdou didn't need to guess to know it must be from the Prince of Pingyang.
After all, this was the Prince of Pingyang's mansion.
Lüdou worried that if the Prince asked Duoduo for the book and she couldn't produce it, it might anger him.
Lüdou turned a page, murmuring the words under her breath.
Whack!
A slap landed on Lüdou's head.
The book in her hands almost fell into the water basin.
Lüdou hurriedly clutched it to her chest.
"I called you so many times, and you hide here without answering!"
"During work hours, instead of helping, you're hiding here slacking off!"
Whack!
Another slap struck Lüdou's shoulder.
Lüdou winced in pain. She recognized the voice; it was another cook from the kitchen.
In the main kitchen, there were two people who were constantly at odds.
One was Li Da's wife, and the other was the one now facing Lüdou, called Auntie Zhang.
Li Da's wife excelled at making noodles and all kinds of pastries.
Auntie Zhang, on the other hand, specialized in various medicinal dishes.
Because the Prince's health was poor, the stove was constantly simmering with medicinal stews year-round.
This not only filled Auntie Zhang's purse handsomely but also inflated her arrogance.
Originally, the steward had intended to put Auntie Zhang in charge of the main kitchen.
However, one day, the Princess of Pingyang tasted some pastries made by Li Da's wife and praised them profusely.
Not only did she bestow rewards, but after meeting Li Da's wife, she directly appointed her as the head of the main kitchen.
It was well known that in a mansion, besides the head steward's position being lucrative, the next was the head of the main kitchen.
So, having her position snatched away by Li Da's wife left Auntie Zhang deeply resentful and unwilling to accept it.
She had repeatedly provoked Li Da's wife, hoping for her to make a mistake.
That way, she could get hold of some leverage to have her driven out.
Unfortunately, although Li Da's wife had a fiery temper, she was extremely meticulous in her work.
After all their squabbling, Auntie Zhang had never managed to catch Li Da's wife in a single misstep.
Ever since Lüdou became Li Da's wife's apprentice, she had been very respectful whenever she saw her.
Although Li Da's wife still grumbled and scolded, her rival, Auntie Zhang, could tell immediately.
Li Da's wife treated this new apprentice, Lüdou, differently.
If she couldn't deal with Li Da's wife, dealing with the new girl Lüdou was, in Auntie Zhang's estimation, as easy as pie.
So, she had been watching Lüdou closely.
When she saw Lüdou hiding in a corner reading, she deliberately called out a few times in the kitchen.
The kitchen was crowded, and she had purposely kept her voice low, so no one really heard her.
But Auntie Zhang used this as a pretext to act.
"I didn't hear Auntie Zhang calling," Lüdou protested, trying to tuck the book back into her robe.
"Your eyes are only on these worthless scraps of paper, of course you didn't hear me talking!"
"Let me see what has you so engrossed. It wouldn't be some filthy thing, would it?"
Auntie Zhang snatched the book away.
Lüdou panicked. "Auntie Zhang, this book is borrowed. Please give it back to me!"
Auntie Zhang was illiterate. She flipped through the book a few times but found none of the obscene pictures she had imagined.
It robbed her of the chance to pin that label on Lüdou.
Seeing the pleading look on Lüdou's face, Auntie Zhang raised her hand, holding the book aloft.
"Kneel and beg me. Beg me, and I'll give it back!"
Without a second thought, Lüdou dropped to her knees with a thud.
"Please, give the book back to me!"
After saying this, Lüdou even kowtowed, her forehead hitting the floor.
Auntie Zhang hadn't expected Lüdou to be so easy to manipulate.
She glanced at the book in her hand and moved it towards Lüdou.
A look of hope flashed across Lüdou's face as she reached out with both hands to take it.
But suddenly, Auntie Zhang pulled her hand back.
"No. You doing other things during your shift isn't a one-time occurrence!"
"Today, I must teach you a lesson. You need to learn what is and isn't appropriate to do in this kitchen!"
As Auntie Zhang spoke, her eyes swept over the people gathered at the kitchen entrance.
Li Da's wife looked at the kneeling Lüdou, a flicker of pity in her eyes.
But when Auntie Zhang's gaze turned towards her, she turned and walked back into the kitchen.
"Tch!"
Auntie Zhang sneered.
She took the book and strode quickly into the kitchen.
"No!"
Lüdou scrambled to her feet, trying to stop Auntie Zhang.
But by the time she rushed into the kitchen, the book had already been shoved into the stove's fire chamber.
Disregarding everything else, Lüdou reached in and snatched the book back out.
Then she desperately stamped on the flames licking its pages.
Unfortunately, more than half of the book was already charred and destroyed.
Slap!
Seeing that Lüdou dared to retrieve the book from the fire,
Auntie Zhang, after a moment of stunned silence, slapped Lüdou across the face.
