Yunxiao looked up at Duoduo in surprise.
How did the Princess know what the Prince was thinking?
Yunxiao had asked the Prince that very question before.
He remembered the Prince’s answer clearly.
“Yunxiao, you’ll understand once you have a child of your own.”
Yunxiao didn’t understand.
Have a child?
That was still a distant prospect for him.
Why would having a child make someone tolerate the repeated provocations of an ordinary commoner?
The Prince was Prince of Pingyang!
Even if he wasn’t favored by the emperor, he was still a prince!
After hearing Duoduo’s words, Yunxiao vaguely guessed at the reason.
The Prince must have been lenient because those people were the Princess’s biological parents.
Since the Princess could say such things, Yunxiao felt happy for the Prince.
At least the Princess had not let down all the love the Prince had lavished on her!
Xiao Yi’s gaze flickered as he looked at Duoduo.
Su Xian smiled and took the embroidered shoes from Qingliu. She personally helped Duoduo put them on.
“That’s right. The Prince taught you everything himself, from beginning to end!”
“Even your mother has to step aside.”
Duoduo wrapped her arms around Su Xian’s neck and acted coyly.
“Mother~”
Su Xian gently patted Duoduo’s back.
“It’s all right. Mother isn’t jealous.”
“Ahem!” Xiao Yi coughed lightly twice.
Duoduo and Su Xian exchanged a glance. Then Duoduo hopped down from Su Xian’s lap and ran over to Xiao Yi, hugging him around the waist.
“Father~”
The pleasure on Xiao Yi’s face was visible to the naked eye.
“If Father really takes action, don’t blame me later.”
Duoduo stood up straight and looked at Xiao Yi.
“Mm!”
“Father, remember—you have to beat them until they’re flat on the ground!”
As she spoke, Duoduo even waved her little fist and put on a fierce expression.
The smile at the corners of Xiao Yi’s mouth could no longer be suppressed.
“Yunxiao, did you hear what the Princess said?” Xiao Yi tilted his head slightly.
“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll make the arrangements at once!”
Yunxiao withdrew happily, taking Qingliu with him.
Duoduo was rather curious.
“Father, what are you planning to do?”
Xiao Yi deliberately put on a stern expression. “What? Are you trying to pry into military affairs?”
“Why did your people deliberately snatch the goods from under Father’s men’s noses?”
Duoduo blinked her big eyes and pretended to be innocent.
“How can Father say they did it deliberately?”
“Shitou and the others were helping Father!”
“Otherwise, someone else would have taken everything!”
When Xiao Yi saw her expression, he couldn’t resist reaching out and poking her forehead.
“Someone else?”
“What someone else?”
“I drove all the others away!”
“What other people could there be?”
Duoduo covered her forehead and looked astonished.
“Father, if there was no one else, how could Shitou and the others have succeeded?”
Xiao Yi was stumped.
His subordinates had reported that Shitou and the others had succeeded because they were children, and no one had paid any attention to them.
It seemed that the people under him had simply been too careless, allowing such a gap to appear.
Fortunately, Shitou was one of Duoduo’s people.
If it had been someone else, this matter would truly have been difficult to resolve!
Seeing that her offhand excuse had made her father deep in thought, Duoduo secretly stuck out her tongue.
Su Xian happened to see it and smiled helplessly.
Her husband and Duoduo were always locked in a battle of wits.
Sometimes the west wind prevailed over the east wind; other times, the east wind prevailed over the west wind.
And they never seemed to tire of it.
Still, Su Xian was very pleased to see that her husband had become increasingly spirited.
Especially with regard to his legs…
Su Xian’s gaze fell on Duoduo, filled with gratitude.
This child truly was a bringer of good fortune!
Ever since she had arrived, peace and prosperity had come to Prince of Pingyang’s Residence, and everything had steadily improved.
Su Xian decided that she would set aside some money later and purchase more properties for Duoduo to add to her dowry.
Although the Prince kept saying that he would have a husband marry into the family in the future, what if Duoduo didn’t want that?
Then they would prepare a lavish dowry for her, so that she would never be bullied by her husband’s family.
Peace and harmony reigned throughout Prince of Pingyang’s Residence.
Elsewhere in the city, a carriage stopped in front of a residence.
Madam Song climbed down from the carriage, beaming as she held Lüdou’s hand.
“Duoduo, we’re home.”
Lüdou followed Madam Song out of the carriage curiously.
The residence was not large. It was only a modest one-courtyard home.
Hearing the carriage arrive, the neighbor next door even poked his head out to take a look.
This was a narrow neighborhood in the commoners’ quarter, where ordinary people lived.
Lüdou’s eyes flickered.
This residence was not even as large as the Princess’s courtyard.
It was inferior even to the former Song residence.
The Song family’s first and second branches were crammed together under one roof. No wonder there had been constant conflict.
Lüdou began making her own calculations.
The Song couple paid no attention to her expression.
Even if they had noticed it, they would not have cared.
In their eyes, this was the capital—a place where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold!
They were extremely envious and jealous that their second branch had actually been able to afford a residence.
Madam Song happily pulled Lüdou into the courtyard.
They had completed the task assigned by the Crown Prince. Surely her husband would now catch the Crown Prince’s notice.
Their eldest and second sons would also benefit and be able to attend the finest academy and study under the best tutors.
Their eldest son would be taking the imperial examinations in the second half of the year. If he could rise to prominence in one stroke, then the day their first branch rose to power would not be far off!
At the thought, Madam Song practically strode on air.
“Come on. Let’s go pay our respects to your grandmother first.”
Madam Song knew that the entire second branch was waiting for the outcome today.
She intended to go there and humiliate them.
She wanted them to see that the first branch would always be the first branch!
When Song Shuzhou heard that his parents had returned, he was the first to rush out.
“Mother, you really brought that Jinx back?”
“What nonsense are you talking about? She’s your sister!” Madam Song scolded Song Shuzhou with a reproachful glance.
She was worried that one careless remark from her son would make her hard-won daughter feel alienated again.
Lüdou lowered her head and remained silent.
She had long guessed that the Song family felt no affection for the Princess.
But when she heard the truth with her own ears, she still couldn’t help feeling sorry for the Princess.
Lüdou also felt relieved.
Fortunately, she was the one who had come today.
If it had been the Princess, who knew how heartbroken she would have been?
Remembering the humiliation he had suffered, Song Shuzhou immediately became furious.
In any case, the Jinx had already returned to the Song residence.
There was no chance she could go back to Prince of Pingyang’s Residence.
What did he have to fear?
Song Shuzhou immediately began sneering at her.
“Oh, didn’t you say you weren’t coming back?”
“What? You want to come back now?”
“Could it be that Prince of Pingyang chose the three hundred taels of silver over you?”
“Looks like even you aren’t as valuable as that money!”
Lüdou’s heart stirred.
Three hundred taels?
Hadn’t the Song couple only received two hundred taels?
Madam Song hurriedly glared at Song Shuzhou.
