Yunxiao left for a moment and returned with someone.
“The Prince, this is Liqing.” Yunxiao bowed.
Liqing lowered his head and knelt. “This servant pays his respects to The Prince.”
Xiao Yi lifted his eyes and sized Liqing up.
Liqing kept his head lowered and remained perfectly still, allowing Xiao Yi to examine him.
Even Yunxiao was somewhat surprised.
Very few people could remain so calm under The Prince’s gaze.
This Liqing was clearly no ordinary boy.
Xiao Yi narrowed his eyes.
“Rise and answer my questions.”
“Thank you, The Prince.” Liqing stood up properly, his eyes lowered. He did not look around.
“I hear that you’re the one training all the people under the Princess?” Xiao Yi asked, seemingly out of simple curiosity.
“To answer The Prince, yes.”
Liqing’s response was concise and to the point.
“How did you come up with the idea of teaching them both literature and martial arts?”
Liqing thought for a moment before answering.
“To answer The Prince, martial arts are for keeping fit, while learning literature will allow them to serve the Princess more effectively.”
A strange glint flashed through Xiao Yi’s eyes.
This Liqing was rather interesting.
“Why did the Princess have you seize the grain provisions, only to return them afterward?”
“This servant doesn’t know.”
“I hear the Princess has started buying people again. Was she dissatisfied with the people she had before?”
“This servant doesn’t know.”
Xiao Yi stared fixedly at Liqing for a long while.
The boy answered every question, yet not a single word of useful information slipped out.
His mouth was truly tight-lipped.
Xiao Yi regarded Liqing directly.
“How old are you? Where are you from? What did you do before?”
Liqing seemed to pause. Apparently, he had not expected a prince to ask such mundane questions.
“To answer The Prince, this servant is twelve by East Asian reckoning.”
“Before, this servant wandered all over the land until he met the Princess.”
“Before that, this servant traveled from place to place and survived by begging.”
Xiao Yi studied Liqing. The boy’s back was straight, and his manner was neither servile nor arrogant.
He did not look like a wandering beggar at all.
Xiao Yi fell silent.
He understood that he would not be able to learn anything from Liqing.
Still, having a servant like this was certainly a blessing.
“Enough. You may go back.”
“You don’t need to report to the Princess that you came to the manor today.”
Xiao Yi did not want Duoduo to misunderstand.
“Yes, this servant understands.”
“If the Princess doesn’t ask, this servant will never mention it,” Liqing replied.
A flicker passed through Xiao Yi’s eyes.
Did Liqing mean that he would tell her if Duoduo asked?
The corners of Xiao Yi’s mouth lifted in a cold smile.
“Yunxiao, see him out!”
Yunxiao bowed his head. “Yes.”
Yunxiao led Liqing outside. He noticed that Liqing kept his head lowered the entire time, as though he had no curiosity whatsoever about The Prince’s residence.
“You’ve got quite some nerve, daring to talk back to The Prince!”
Yunxiao had heard the entire exchange and was rather impressed by Liqing.
Liqing kept his head lowered, his face expressionless in response to the praise.
“This servant simply isn’t good with words.”
Yunxiao was left speechless.
Did Liqing mean that he merely wasn’t good with words?
Even after seeing Liqing off and returning inside, Yunxiao continued pondering what the boy had meant.
As Yunxiao escorted Liqing out, Qingliu happened to see them.
“Princess, I just saw Liqing being escorted out of the residence by Yunxiao.”
Qingliu immediately reported it to Duoduo.
Duoduo tilted her little head.
Was Father sending Liqing to take care of something?
Or was he trying to question Liqing about something?
Duoduo thought of the grain provisions she had sent people to seize.
Could Father have found out about that?
Duoduo bit her lip and pondered for a while before dismissing the thought.
She trusted that her people would never betray her.
And she also trusted that Father would never harm her.
Rather than wasting time suspecting others, she might as well do something useful.
Two days later, Yunxiao came to see Duoduo.
“Princess, The Prince requests your presence.”
Duoduo put down her chess piece and thought for a moment.
“Yunxiao, what does Father want me for?”
Yunxiao cupped his hands.
“The Song family has sent people.”
Duoduo could not help glancing at Lüdou.
Lüdou immediately understood what Duoduo meant.
She returned to her room to change clothes.
“Yunxiao, who from the Song family came?” Duoduo picked up a chess piece unhurriedly.
A strange glint flashed through Yunxiao’s eyes.
“The Song couple.”
Duoduo’s hand paused.
Her birth parents had both come?
Oh?
It seemed there would be quite a battle to fight today.
Before long, Lüdou came out.
She was dressed in clothes almost identical to Duoduo’s, and even her hair had been styled exactly the same way.
Duoduo had grown taller recently, and she and Lüdou were now nearly the same height.
Standing side by side, the two of them were so alike that anyone unfamiliar with them would truly have trouble telling which one was Duoduo.
Duoduo looked Lüdou over and found the whole thing rather amusing.
“Qingliu, I remember you have a set of clothes like this too. Go change into them!”
These clothes had been prepared the last time Lüdou disguised herself as Duoduo.
Qingliu had taken a liking to them at the time and insisted on having a set of her own.
As soon as Qingliu heard this, her face lit up, and she ran off to change.
Lüdou’s eyes brightened.
“Princess, you mean…”
Duoduo winked. “Yunxiao just said that both of my birth parents have come.”
“Song Shuzhou must have told them everything about what happened that day after he returned.”
“So they must have come today determined to take me back.”
“How could I possibly let them down?”
Yunxiao, who was standing nearby, opened his mouth in astonishment.
“Princess, you want to leave The Prince?”
Duoduo had not yet spoken when Lüdou answered for her.
“You fool!”
“If the Princess wanted to leave, why would she have Qingliu and me dress exactly like her?”
Yunxiao scratched the back of his head.
“I was only asking, Your Highness. Please forgive me!”
Duoduo waved her hand with a smile.
“Qingliu is the tallest of us, and there’s still a slight difference in our heights.”
Lüdou thought for a moment.
“I’ve got it!”
“Princess, didn’t I make some shoe inserts?”
“You’ll have to put in a few extra pairs!”
As she spoke, Lüdou turned and searched the cabinet for the shoe inserts she had made.
When Qingliu came over after changing, she immediately brought her own shoes upon seeing what Lüdou was doing.
“There isn’t enough room in the Princess’s shoes for that many inserts. You’ll have to wear mine, Princess.”
“These shoes were just made by Lüdou, and I haven’t worn them yet.”
Yunxiao stared, dumbfounded, as Lüdou and Qingliu stuffed six shoe inserts into the shoes.
Lüdou also put two inserts into her own shoes.
Duoduo slipped on the shoes with a delighted smile. They felt a little strange, but otherwise they were fine.
Qingliu changed into a pair of thin-soled embroidered shoes.
The three girls stood together. Apart from a few minor differences, they looked like three sisters at first glance.
Even Yunxiao could not help grinning when he saw them.
“Princess, if I hadn’t witnessed this with my own eyes, I would have thought I was seeing things!”
Duoduo studied Qingliu for a moment.
“Lüdou, put some powder on Qingliu.”
With Lüdou’s skillful touch, Qingliu’s slightly dark complexion became fair and clear.
Now, the three of them were practically indistinguishable.
“Let’s go. We’re going to meet the Song couple!”
