Duoduo and Yingniang hurriedly bowed to Xiao Yi, while Lüdou also dropped to her knees.
Only Nina remained standing, completely unmoved.
“Yunxiao, I told you to escort our guest out of the residence. How did you end up bringing her to the rear courtyard?”
There was a chill in Xiao Yi’s voice.
Yunxiao was so frightened that he immediately fell to his knees with a thud.
“My lord, Miss Nina suddenly ran over here halfway through our journey. I wasn’t prepared for it. By the time I caught up, I discovered that the Princess was in the kitchen.”
“Miss Nina ate some of the pastries made by Lüdou and decided she wanted to take the Princess as her disciple, but the Princess refused.”
“However, Miss Nina’s venomous insect has acknowledged the Princess as its master.”
Yunxiao explained the situation in just a few sentences.
Xiao Yi swept his gaze around the room before finally stopping on Duoduo.
“Come here.”
Duoduo gave Xiao Yi a bright smile, then took small steps toward him.
“Daddy, look! This little bug is called Little Gold.”
“It’s going to be my venomous insect from now on!”
Duoduo showed Xiao Yi the little golden insect curled up asleep in her palm.
The moment Xiao Yi saw the insect, his brows drew tightly together.
He pondered for a while.
“Have you made up your mind?”
Duoduo nodded with a beaming smile. “Yes!”
Xiao Yi looked into Duoduo’s eyes for a long while.
Duoduo did not flinch.
Xiao Yi blinked once. “She said that after she and her master competed in the art of venomous insects, she won, and her master was injured.”
Duoduo blinked as well.
“A bet is a bet, regardless of status or position!”
“They’ve been playing with venomous insects since they were little. They might each have countless insects on them at all times.”
“When Daddy invited her master here, you must have already considered that possibility.”
“She likes pastries made with mung beans!”
A sly smile appeared in Duoduo’s eyes.
A smile flashed just as quickly through Xiao Yi’s eyes.
It seemed Duoduo had already figured out her opponent’s weakness.
Those in power had never been afraid of risk.
What they valued more was a person’s usefulness—
and whether they could control that person.
Xiao Yi fixed his eyes on Duoduo. “You must always guard against others.”
His voice was very low.
Duoduo nodded obediently.
“All right.”
Xiao Yi patted Duoduo on the head, then left with Yunxiao.
It was as if he had merely happened to pass by.
Nina walked curiously over to Duoduo.
“What were you and your father whispering about just now?”
Duoduo glanced at Yingniang and Lüdou before turning to Nina.
“Does what you said earlier still count?”
Nina blinked several times, then gave her a dazzling smile.
“I may not be a man, but my word is still as good as gold!”
Duoduo nodded with a smile.
“I don’t need you to teach me everything.”
“I just want you to teach me everything you know whenever I come across something that interests me!”
“Don’t worry. You can have as many pastries from ‘Fu Duoduo’ as you want.”
“But I have one condition!”
The moment Nina heard that she could eat all the pastries she had been longing for, she excitedly cried out, “What condition? Name it!”
“Since you’ve entered the Prince of Pingyang’s residence, you are not allowed to use your venomous insects on anyone here!”
“Not even to scare them!”
“If you break our agreement, you won’t get any more pastries!”
Duoduo spoke with utmost seriousness.
Lüdou was extremely anxious beside them.
How could the Princess say something like that?
Who used pastries to hold someone to ransom?
As soon as Nina heard this, she raised her right hand and held up three fingers.
“I swear!”
Duoduo flashed a brilliant smile and extended her hand toward Nina.
“Welcome to the Prince of Pingyang’s residence.”
This gesture had been taught to Duoduo by Xu Jinxin.
She had said that in their hometown, it was a greeting everyone used when meeting one another.
Nina looked curiously at Duoduo’s hand, and her eyes flickered.
Among their people, members of the same clan never touched one another.
Everyone’s circumstances were different.
Some people were poisonous from head to toe, while others carried all kinds of venomous insects on their bodies.
No one knew what might happen after touching another person.
Yet this little girl had extended her hand without the slightest hesitation.
Nina looked into Duoduo’s crystal-clear eyes and at the radiant smile on her face.
Then she smiled as well.
Nina reached out and clasped Duoduo’s hand.
“Thank you!”
Many years later, Nina would still marvel at how fortunate she had been to coincidentally force her way into becoming the master of such an outstanding disciple that day.
Nina withdrew her hand and turned her gaze toward Lüdou.
“Lüdou, would you like to learn? I can teach you too!”
At the thought of the snake from earlier, Lüdou’s legs went weak.
She hurriedly waved her hands.
“This servant is busy every day. I don’t have any free time.”
Nina looked a little disappointed, but she soon figured it out.
Lüdou was the Princess’s maid, so of course she would obey her mistress.
As long as Nina pleased the Princess, would she still have to worry about not getting any pastries?
Duoduo turned to Yingniang. “Big Sister, would you like to learn?”
Yingniang’s eyes lit up. “Can I?”
Duoduo nodded. “Of course!”
“Nina is very easygoing!”
“Besides, if she refuses to teach you, I can teach you myself!”
“You’re my study companion, so of course you have to learn with me!”
Nina pouted.
“Princess, raising venomous insects isn’t something that can be learned overnight.”
“If you haven’t mastered it yourself and go teach someone else, you could easily end up harming them.”
“Don’t regret it when that happens.”
Yingniang immediately understood.
She took Duoduo’s hand and shook her head.
“Then I’d better not learn. I don’t want to slow you down.”
Yingniang was very aware of the difference between her own learning ability and Duoduo’s.
Duoduo had heard a little about it from Master Zhang.
The art of raising venomous insects was not exactly a proper path to begin with.
“All right, if you don’t want to learn, then don’t! It wouldn’t be useful to you anyway!”
Duoduo was interested in the subject because of the poison in the Emperor’s body.
She only wanted to study it a little.
She had never intended to learn all of this herself.
“How could it be useless? It’s incredibly useful!”
Nina immediately protested, clearly unwilling to accept that.
“Once properly raised, a venomous insect can be worth as much as a highly skilled fighter.”
“It can kill someone silently without leaving a trace.”
“Some venomous insects can even control a person’s nerves, turning them into your puppet.”
“Most importantly, a venomous insect is bound to its master. It will never betray its master in its entire life!”
After listening, Duoduo fell into thought.
“Hmph! It won’t betray its master?”
“Then whose insect was it that acknowledged the Princess as its master just now?”
Because Nina had used a snake to frighten Lüdou earlier, Lüdou had already disliked her. Now she held an even deeper grudge against Nina.
“It’s nothing but self-deception!”
Nina grew anxious. “I only raised it. It wasn’t bound to me.”
“Nina, I want to ask you something.”
“Can venomous insects cause a person to show symptoms of poisoning?”
