Even Yunxiao couldn’t help giving the three of them a thumbs-up.
“Princess, you’re amazing!”
Duoduo beamed and did not object.
“In a moment, no matter which one of you the Song couple chooses, don’t argue with them.”
“Huh?” Lüdou and Qingliu stared at her simultaneously.
“When the time comes, you can keep the money they pay to redeem you,” Duoduo continued.
Lüdou and Qingliu shook their heads at the same time.
“No!”
“This servant won’t leave the Princess!”
Duoduo blinked her big eyes.
“If you don’t go back with them, how will we convince them to give up?”
“If we don’t slap them in the face properly this time, they’ll come back again!”
“They keep coming back over and over. They’re not tired of it, but I am!”
“Besides, it’s causing trouble for Father too!”
Duoduo added the last sentence.
“But what if Madam Song recognizes you?” Lüdou asked worriedly.
The Second Young Master Song had never met Duoduo, so it was perfectly understandable that he would mistake someone else for her.
And after returning home, he would certainly have described Duoduo’s appearance to the Song couple.
Duoduo shook her head.
“Not necessarily!”
“Lüdou, do I look the same as when I first arrived?”
Lüdou immediately shook her head. “You’re completely different!”
“Exactly!” Duoduo pointed at Qingliu. “The three of us look somewhat alike.”
“And now we’re dressed exactly the same.”
“Madam Song may not recognize me!”
Duoduo gave a mischievous little smile.
Perhaps it was because they had spent so much time together, or perhaps for some other reason.
In any case, Lüdou and Qingliu both bore a certain resemblance to Duoduo.
Duoduo had filled out, making her cheeks round and chubby.
Qingliu, on the other hand, was the thinnest of the three.
“If either of you is chosen, go back with them.”
“Oh, and remember to make a huge scene so that everyone in the capital hears about it!”
Duoduo revealed her plan.
Lüdou and Qingliu began to understand what she intended.
“Yes, Princess!” The two nodded.
“Let’s go! We’re going to meet the Song parents!”
Duoduo lifted her foot and led the way.
When she put it down, she nearly twisted her ankle.
The soles of her shoes were too high, and she had not yet grown accustomed to them.
“Princess!” Lüdou and Qingliu hurried over to support her.
Duoduo waved them off.
“I’m fine. I’ll get used to them after walking a little more.”
After taking a few steps, Duoduo indeed became much more accustomed to them.
“Yunxiao, why didn’t Father simply have them thrown out?”
Duoduo was puzzled.
Given her father’s usual manner, he should not have been this gentle.
Yunxiao followed at Duoduo’s side, unable to hide the smile on his face.
“Replying to the Princess, the Prince said he wanted you to decide for yourself.”
Duoduo tilted her head.
Since when had her father become so careful?
Could it be that he was worried she would leave the manor?
Duoduo couldn’t figure it out, so she stopped thinking about it.
Inside the reception hall, Xiao Yi and Su Xian both looked rather unpleasant.
Across from them, the Song couple stared nervously at the doorway.
The Prince of Pingyang’s presence was simply too intimidating.
If they had not come under orders, they would have wanted to leave long ago.
At that moment, Yunxiao entered.
“Your Highness, Your Highness’s wife, the Princess has arrived.”
After speaking, Yunxiao walked behind Xiao Yi and stood there.
Xiao Yi’s gaze swept over the upturned corners of Yunxiao’s mouth.
He lifted his teacup and secretly considered what Yunxiao’s expression meant.
Just then, three girls walked in through the doorway.
When Xiao Yi got a clear look at the three of them, he nearly spat out his tea.
He lowered his eyes and desperately restrained the corners of his mouth, which wanted to rise.
No wonder Yunxiao’s expression had looked so strange.
When Su Xian saw Duoduo enter with her two maids, her eyes widened involuntarily.
“Ahem!”
Xiao Yi reminded her with a cough, and Su Xian hurriedly composed herself, sitting as stiffly as a wooden figure.
When the Song couple saw three identical daughters walk in, they were completely dumbfounded.
“Your Highness, isn’t this going too far?” the eldest Song brother was the first to react.
He assumed that the Prince of Pingyang did not want them to take Duoduo away and was deliberately making things difficult for them.
A cold smile tugged at Xiao Yi’s lips.
“Weren’t you declaring, at every opportunity, how deeply devoted you were?”
“Surely you can recognize your own daughter?”
“Today, I’ll make this promise: as long as you can identify your daughter, I will allow her to leave with you.”
Xiao Yi’s words immediately made the Song couple’s eyes light up.
They knew it.
How could a fallen Prince of Pingyang possibly dare oppose the Crown Prince?
The eldest Song brother looked toward his wife. Madam Song gazed at the three “daughters” before her with a bewildered expression.
The eldest Song brother pointed at Duoduo. “She looks the most like Yu’er!”
Madam Song studied Duoduo for a moment before shaking her head.
“The way she walks is strange, as if her shoes don’t fit.”
That did not suit the identity of a princess.
She pointed at Qingliu. “I think this one is her.”
The eldest Song brother examined Qingliu.
Because she was used to it, Qingliu tended to hunch her shoulders slightly.
The eldest Song brother shook his head. “She doesn’t look like the Princess either.”
In the end, both their gazes fell on Lüdou.
They both found Lüdou much more pleasing to the eye.
The eldest Song brother was just about to identify her when he suddenly remembered what the Second Young Master Song had said.
He had mistaken the wrong person, which was why they had failed.
The eldest Song brother hesitated.
“Your Highness, may I ask them a few questions?”
Xiao Yi’s expression turned cold. He was just about to order them out when he saw Duoduo quickly wink at him.
Xiao Yi lowered his eyes and said nothing.
The eldest Song brother assumed that the Prince of Pingyang must have yielded out of consideration for the Crown Prince’s dignity, and he grew rather pleased with himself.
He walked over to the three girls and deliberately pondered for a moment.
“Back then, Father was incompetent and made the wrong decision.”
“Today, Father has come to take you home and make up for his past mistake.”
As he spoke, the eldest Song brother studied the three girls closely.
However, all three kept their eyes lowered and showed no reaction.
“Duoduo, if you’re willing to come home with Father, blink your eyes.”
After he finished speaking, the three of them still kept their heads lowered and remained silent.
The eldest Song brother noticed the mocking look on Xiao Yi’s face and felt awkward.
His youngest daughter was clearly a jinx, so why had the Crown Prince suddenly insisted on having her?
The eldest Song brother forced himself to continue.
“Back then, the Prince of Pingyang wanted your elder sister, not you.”
“It was your grandmother who secretly switched you. Father didn’t dare offend the Prince of Pingyang, so he allowed him to take you away.”
After the eldest Song brother finished speaking, he noticed that the expressions of the three girls before him had changed ever so slightly.
The thin one’s face flashed with surprise.
The one in the middle pursed her lips.
The round-faced one remained expressionless.
The eldest Song brother came to a conclusion.
He went back and whispered with his wife for a while.
At last, the eldest Song brother cupped his hands toward Xiao Yi.
“Your Highness, thank you for taking care of Duoduo this past year. Here are two hundred taels, which we offer as her redemption money.”
Xiao Yi raised an eyebrow but still said nothing.
Madam Song walked over to Lüdou and affectionately took her hand.
