Lüdou was extremely displeased with Nina.
Nina had never expected Little Gold to bite Duoduo either.
She hurriedly picked up the insect by its wings and brought it close to her face.
“Little Gold, you’ve gotten bold!”
“You’re the gu insect I raised! How dare you acknowledge someone else as your master without my permission?”
“Believe me, I’ll roast you and eat you!”
Little Gold seemed somewhat frightened. It wriggled its body, but its eyes remained fixed on Duoduo.
From its expression, Duoduo could tell that it was asking for help.
Yunxiao was also startled. He quickly went outside and waved over a guard.
“Go and bring The Prince here at once!”
Yunxiao understood that this matter was already beyond his ability to handle.
Without showing any emotion, Duoduo placed her right hand on the wrist of her left hand.
When Nina turned around and saw what Duoduo was doing, surprise flashed across her eyes.
“You know how to take a pulse?”
“Our Princess can do all sorts of things!” Lüdou said, watching Duoduo anxiously. “Princess, are you feeling unwell anywhere?”
Seeing Lüdou and Yingniang staring at Duoduo with such concern, Nina let out a mocking laugh.
“Little Gold merely acknowledged a new master. If it were anyone else, it wouldn’t even bother biting them!”
“But I can’t figure it out. Back then, I had to go to extraordinary lengths before Little Gold became my gu insect.”
“Why would it acknowledge you as its master?”
“That makes no sense at all!”
Nina’s face was full of bewilderment.
According to common sense, a gu insect would acknowledge only one master in its entire lifetime.
Although Little Gold had never sealed the bond with her through a blood ritual, she had raised it herself from the time it was tiny.
They had been together day and night. Little Gold should not have betrayed her so easily.
Duoduo could tell that there was indeed nothing wrong with her body.
She withdrew her hand and looked at Nina curiously.
“I heard that a gu insect that already has a master won’t acknowledge anyone else as its master.”
“Little Gold didn’t acknowledge you as its master?”
A flush crept across Nina’s face.
“You’re right,” she answered candidly.
She picked Little Gold up by its wings and placed it in Duoduo’s hand.
“It belongs to you now.”
“You must take good care of it.”
“It has tasted your blood. From now on, the two of you will be connected heart to heart.”
“If you’re ever in danger, it will sense it.”
“Little Gold isn’t an ordinary gu insect. Even my master doesn’t know what kind of creature it is.”
“When it changes form one day, remember to tell me!”
Nina reluctantly gave Duoduo her instructions.
Little Gold was the most intelligent and human-like of all her gu insects.
That was why she liked keeping it by her side so much.
But now, it had abandoned her.
Nina felt miserable.
She stroked Little Gold’s tiny head.
“Hey! Haven’t I treated you well?”
“I’ve given you plenty of good food and drink, and you abandoned your big sister over a single pastry.”
“You ungrateful little thing!”
Little Gold tucked its head between its body and curled itself into a ball.
Duoduo found it adorable.
After all, she already had two pets.
Little Gold could stay with them and have some company.
“Nina, what does Little Gold usually eat?”
“It? Anything!”
“Whatever you eat, it eats too!”
“It isn’t picky!”
Nina thought for a moment. “Like me, it likes pastries.”
Duoduo immediately broke into a smile.
“That won’t be a problem!”
“Lüdou is an expert at making pastries!”
“She can even make the pastries served in the palace!”
Nina’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“There’s a pastry shop in the capital that sells palace-style pastries!”
“Have you tried them? Their pastries are delicious!”
“Unfortunately, even if you line up, you still might not get any!”
“Lüdou, can you make those pastries?”
Nina reached out and tugged at Lüdou’s sleeve.
Lüdou found Nina’s overly familiar manner rather unpleasant.
“This servant’s skills are limited. How could I possibly make palace pastries?”
Duoduo blinked and smiled with her lips pressed together.
Yingniang, who had been hiding behind Duoduo, suddenly spoke.
“Is that shop called ‘Fudoduo’?”
“Yes!” After thinking for a moment, Nina answered with certainty. “You know it too? Aren’t the pastries from that shop delicious?”
“I’ve tried all their other pastries.”
“It’s only their palace-style pastries that I can never get my hands on. They’re always talking about limited quantities!”
At this point, Nina sounded quite irritated.
“The owner of that shop is such a strange person.”
“Why refuse to make more money when people are willing to pay?”
“Isn’t the whole point of making pastries to earn money?”
Yingniang covered her mouth and giggled softly.
Lüdou froze when she heard the name “Fudoduo.”
When she heard Nina’s following complaints, the expression on her face changed.
Duoduo noticed that Lüdou no longer seemed quite so resistant to Nina, so she winked at Nina.
“Nina, if you want pastries from that shop, that’s easy enough.”
Nina’s eyes lit up. “If you can help me buy some, I…”
She thought for a moment.
“I won’t take a single coin from you. I’ll teach you all of my gu arts for free!”
“Our gu arts are never taught to outsiders!”
Yingniang was just about to speak when Duoduo stopped her.
“Didn’t you say just now that you would take me as your disciple?”
“Since we’re master and disciple now, you can’t possibly hold anything back from me, can you?”
Nina waved her hand dismissively.
“That’s different.”
“For an ordinary master-and-disciple relationship, teaching her a little superficial knowledge would already benefit her for the rest of her life.”
“What I was talking about just now is something our people begin learning from childhood. We never teach it to outsiders.”
Duoduo tilted her little head.
“Then how is me supposed to know which kind you’re going to teach me?”
“And what use will it be to me once I learn it?”
“Princess, she must be trying to trick you!” Lüdou immediately advised her.
“Who would take knowledge their own clan has kept secret for generations and trade it for a single pastry?”
Nina saw that Lüdou was always contradicting her. With a wave of her hand, a small snake flew out of her pouch and shot toward Lüdou.
Lüdou hurriedly dodged to the side in fright.
Duoduo quickly raised her hand to stop them.
“Hey, let’s all talk this out calmly!”
“Nina, hurry and call the snake back.”
“No! Today, I’m going to show her what I’m capable of!” Nina waved her hand, and the little snake landed on Lüdou’s head.
Lüdou screamed in terror and began shaking her head wildly.
“Nina, the pastries from ‘Fudoduo’ that you were talking about are made by Lüdou!”
Worried that something might happen to Lüdou, Duoduo hurriedly revealed the truth.
“What? Come back!”
Nina quickly summoned the snake back.
Lüdou watched as the snake flew back into Nina’s hand, then disappeared into Nina’s pouch.
Her legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed to her knees.
Just then, Xiao Yi appeared in the doorway in his wheelchair.
“What is going on here?”
His expression was extremely dark.
