“You really are good at comforting people!” Xiao Yi teased with a laugh.
Duoduo winked at Xiao Yi.
“That’s because Daddy taught me well!”
Xiao Yi shook his head with an indulgent smile.
This child was getting bolder and bolder!
“By the way, you mentioned sachets earlier. Do you know how to make them?” Xiao Yi asked, recalling what she had said.
Duoduo shook her head.
“Nina didn’t teach me.”
“Then I’ll have Nina teach you tomorrow. She just said that she’d teach me whatever I wanted to learn.”
Xiao Yi nodded.
“Did she say anything about getting the gu insect out?”
Duoduo nodded.
“Nina mentioned it. All I know for now is that there’s a way to get the gu insect out.”
“But I’ll ask her about the exact method later.”
Xiao Yi stared at Duoduo.
“Ask her as soon as possible!”
Seeing the confusion on Duoduo’s face, Xiao Yi explained, “Nina gets along well with you. Since she has certain goals of her own right now, she’ll surely tell you everything she knows.”
“But if we wait a few more days and her master recovers, he’ll definitely come here himself.”
“By then, with her master present, Nina certainly won’t say much.”
“In Miaojiang, some people make their living through this.”
Xiao Yi’s words left Duoduo somewhat puzzled.
“Daddy, Nina said that gu insects are closer to them than their own family!”
“They wouldn’t casually place gu on someone else!”
Xiao Yi shook his head in disagreement.
“In this world, people can be divided into good people, bad people, honest people, and scheming people. They aren’t all the same.”
“What Nina said only represents her own views.”
“Or perhaps, it only represents who she is right now.”
“Can she guarantee that she’ll never change?”
Duoduo tilted her little head and thought for a long while before shaking it.
“No!”
Duoduo couldn’t even guarantee that she herself would never change.
Much less anyone else.
“So remember this: keep your distance from Nina.”
“And if there’s anything you want to know, ask her and learn it as soon as possible!”
“Her identity is too unusual. She can’t stay in the Prince of Pingyang’s residence for too long.”
“Oh, and have Lüdou bring her a change of clothes. Also, don’t let her leave the residence without good reason.”
Duoduo blinked.
“All right, I understand.”
“Then I’ll go back and keep studying!”
When Duoduo saw her father nod, she curtsied and withdrew.
After that conversation, Duoduo seemed to understand why her father was so opposed to Nina.
Anyone would be unwilling to be silently poisoned with gu and controlled by someone else for the rest of their life.
Duoduo recalled that when Li Jin had once discussed maps of the frontier with her, he had mentioned that every emperor throughout the generations had been deeply wary of the southern border.
At first, she had assumed it was because the southern border was remote and its people were fierce, which made others wary of it.
Only after meeting Nina did Duoduo understand that people from such a place truly were frightening.
Nina had said that some members of her tribe could even command all kinds of venomous creatures to attack people.
One person could take on an entire military camp without a problem.
Of course, Nina might have been exaggerating.
But Duoduo felt that what she had said might actually be possible.
Duoduo couldn’t help thinking more deeply about it.
Her father had gone out of his way to invite Nina’s master to teach her about gu insects.
His purpose clearly went beyond simply finding the mastermind behind everything.
“Commandery Princess?” Lüdou saw Duoduo emerge from the study and walk straight ahead.
“Commandery Princess? What’s wrong?”
“Did His Highness scold you because of Nina?” Lüdou asked, her face full of concern.
She had said so much, yet Duoduo hadn’t reacted at all.
Growing anxious, Lüdou reached out and tugged at Duoduo’s sleeve.
Only then did Duoduo come back to her senses after being stopped.
“What is it?” Duoduo asked, looking at Lüdou blankly.
Lüdou nervously examined her.
“Commandery Princess, did His Highness scold you?”
“If you ask me, you should stop learning about gu insects from Nina.”
“Not only does His Highness dislike it, but Her Highness is strongly opposed to it as well.”
“Even if you learn it, what use will it be? Why waste your time?”
Lüdou tried earnestly to persuade her.
What if it really was useless?
But what if it proved useful?
What could it be useful for?
Duoduo fell into thought once more.
Seeing Duoduo lower her head pensively, Lüdou bit her lip.
Suddenly, Duoduo’s eyes lit up.
She had figured it out!
Once she learned this skill, she could use it for her own benefit.
If she learned how to control gu insects—or animals—wouldn’t one person be worth a thousand soldiers?
Even if she couldn’t learn those abilities, at the very least she could learn how to guard against being given gu.
She might even learn how to remove gu insects.
Then, if she encountered people from the southern border, wouldn’t they be unable to do anything to her?
Following this line of thought, Duoduo’s mind grew brighter and brighter.
“Lüdou, hurry back! I still have questions I want to ask Nina!”
With that, Duoduo took off running.
Lüdou had never expected that, after all her earnest persuasion, the Commandery Princess would not only ignore her advice but hurry back to continue studying.
“Commandery Princess, slow down! Be careful not to overheat!”
Lüdou shouted as she chased after her.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
“Commandery Princess, it looks like it’s going to rain!” Lüdou entered the room carrying a plate of pastries.
Her face was glowing with excitement.
After so many hot days, it was finally going to rain.
The moment Duoduo heard her, she stood up and ran to the window.
Sure enough, the clouds overhead were growing thicker and thicker, while rolling thunder rumbled in the distance.
It seemed a heavy downpour was about to arrive.
Duoduo propped her chin in both hands.
It seemed Fifth Uncle was quite lucky after all!
“Oh! It really is going to rain!” Nina came over as well.
Duoduo turned her head toward her.
“Does it rain a lot in the southern border?”
Nina nodded. “We have a long rainy season there. The plants grow luxuriantly, and that’s why there are so many varieties of gu insects.”
“The thing I’ve found hardest to endure since coming to the capital is how hot and dry it is here!”
“It’s nothing like our southern border, where the air is humid. Even my gu insects are hiding in my pouch and refusing to come out.”
Duoduo had noticed that too.
Ever since Little Gold had entered her palm, it had never come out again.
She had seen that Little Gold and the two original inhabitants inside had each claimed one side of the pond.
They did not interfere with one another.
“Commandery Princess, I’ve been staying at the residence for several days now. I want to return to the inn and check on my master.”
“Although he was injured while competing with me in gu, it still wouldn’t seem right if I didn’t go back to see him.”
Nina thought that several days had passed, so her master’s anger should have subsided by now.
Duoduo blinked.
“Nina, you still haven’t taught me how to remove gu!”
A few days earlier, when Duoduo had asked to learn, Nina had refused.
When Duoduo saw that Nina was unwilling, she had changed the subject at the time and begun studying other things instead.
In the days since, Duoduo had cautiously sounded Nina out.
She had discovered that Nina did not lack the knowledge—she simply didn’t dare teach it.
That was because the method was a secret forbidden to be passed on outside their tribe.
“Nina, could it be that you don’t know how to remove gu?”
“But you promised that you would teach me whatever I wanted to learn!”
“You can’t go back on your word!”
Duoduo resorted to goading her.
