Duoduo shook her head. “Mother, don’t worry. I came to see you for something else.”
Su Xian visibly relaxed. She sat up languidly, draped a robe over her shoulders, and led Duoduo to sit beside her on the cushioned couch.
“If something’s the matter, you could have sent a maid to tell me.”
“It’s so hot out. If you keep running back and forth, you might suffer heatstroke, and then you’ll feel awful.”
Duoduo snuggled up to Su Xian. “I won’t. I always take the shady paths.”
“Oh, right, Mother! Father asked me to give you this!”
With that, Duoduo took a purse and a letter from her sleeve and placed them in Su Xian’s palm.
Su Xian’s gaze was immediately drawn to the purse.
“Your father asked you to give this to me? This purse doesn’t look like one I made for him.”
As she spoke, Su Xian tightened her grip on Duoduo’s hand. “Could this purse have been given to your father by some shameless woman?”
At the thought, the aura around Su Xian turned sharp and fierce.
“I’d like to see who has the nerve to do such a thing!”
If something like this had happened in the past, Su Xian might have had no choice but to pinch her nose and accept it.
If the prince happened to take a fancy to the woman, Su Xian could only swallow her anger and have her brought into the household as a concubine.
But things were different now!
She was carrying the prince’s child, and her daughter was a commandery princess. She had every reason to hold her head high.
There was another reason, too: the prince had asked Duoduo to bring the purse to her, which clearly meant he had no such intentions himself!
As she spoke, Su Xian was about to order Lüdou to investigate.
Duoduo was startled by her mother’s words. Seeing that Su Xian was actually going to act on them, she hurriedly grabbed her.
“Mother, calm down! Don’t you think this purse looks familiar?”
Su Xian cast Duoduo a puzzled glance, then looked down at the purse in her hand.
“One look at the stitching is enough for me to know that this wasn’t made by me—or by you.”
Su Xian had taught Duoduo embroidery when she was first starting out. Later, when Nanny Li came, Duoduo had continued learning from her.
This purse resembled her own style of embroidery in some ways, but Su Xian was certain she had never made it.
Lüdou, who had noticed the look of disbelief on Duoduo’s face, curiously leaned over for a closer look.
“Oh? Wasn’t this made by Miss Yunxi?” Lüdou recognized it at once.
Back when Yunxi and Duoduo had lived together, Lüdou had seen her embroidering a purse.
Hearing this, Su Xian lowered her head and examined the purse carefully.
She even turned it over. Sure enough, she saw a few small characters embroidered inside.
Yunxi!
Su Xian couldn’t help laughing helplessly.
So the saying was true—pregnancy really did make one foolish for three years! How had she failed to recognize it?
Wait!
Su Xian turned her head toward Duoduo. “Why would Yunxi’s purse be with your father?”
Afraid that her mother might misunderstand again, Duoduo told her the whole story in one breath.
A look of astonishment appeared on Su Xian’s face.
“You’re saying that your maternal grandmother had Yunmeng steal Yunxi’s purse and then gave it to the Wang family as a betrothal token?”
Duoduo nodded vigorously. “That’s right! But Father has already helped break off the engagement!”
“Mother, just read the letter and you’ll understand!”
She had failed to explain things clearly earlier, which had caused her mother to misunderstand. This time, Duoduo didn’t dare conceal anything.
She told Su Xian everything she could.
“Father agreed to Fourth Uncle’s demand, and that was how he got the Wang family to call off the engagement!”
Su Xian had just begun unfolding the letter, but when she heard this, she immediately set it down.
“What did your father agree to do? Did Prince Rui make things difficult for him?”
“No, wait. How did you find out? I’m going to ask the prince myself!”
Su Xian stood up, but before she could leave, Duoduo pulled her back down.
“Mother, I was right beside the study at the time! I heard everything!”
Su Xian looked at Duoduo suspiciously. “Really? You’re not lying to me?”
Duoduo shook her head vigorously. “No! I swear!”
Only then did Su Xian sit back down. After thinking for a moment, she asked, “Then what did your father agree to do?”
A sly smile appeared in Duoduo’s eyes. “Fourth Uncle wanted Father to write a letter to his former subordinates stationed at the border.”
“He wanted Father’s old troops to delay the fighting at the border!”
Su Xian was shocked. “Your father would never agree to that!”
Duoduo nodded with a beaming smile. “Exactly! So Father proposed breaking off the engagement instead.”
A troubled look crossed Su Xian’s face.
Now that Yunxi’s purse had been returned, it meant that the prince had ultimately agreed to Prince Rui’s demand.
How was she ever going to repay the prince for this favor?
Duoduo looked at her mother in confusion. “Mother, aren’t you happy that the engagement was called off?”
“Your father said that the Wang family wasn’t a suitable match.”
Su Xian stroked Duoduo’s head. “Of course Mother is happy for your cousin Yunxi.”
“It’s just that your father went against his own principles to help Yunxi end this engagement.”
“Mother feels terribly guilty! I had no idea Prince Rui would make such a heartless demand!”
“If I had been there, I absolutely wouldn’t have let your father agree to it! Even if it meant… even if it meant…”
Su Xian repeated “even if it meant” twice, but she had no idea what she could have done instead.
Watching her mother, Duoduo thought privately that it was no wonder Imperial Physician Li had said pregnant women experienced unusually intense emotional swings.
In the short while since she had arrived, her mother had already gone through several different moods.
Duoduo affectionately rubbed against Su Xian’s arm to comfort her.
“Mother, have you forgotten what Father is like?”
“How could he let anyone manipulate him? As long as he refused, even if Fourth Uncle held a knife to his throat, he still wouldn’t give in!”
Duoduo’s words made Su Xian laugh.
“You little rascal! What would happen if your father heard you say that?” As she spoke, Su Xian gently pinched Duoduo’s cheek.
Seeing her mother smile again, Duoduo finally breathed a sigh of relief.
During the early stages of pregnancy, a mother shouldn’t become upset, or it could affect the baby’s development.
Duoduo finally understood why her father had asked her to manage the household!
Given her mother’s condition, Duoduo could only shake her head inwardly.
Forget it. She would just work a little harder and help her mother run things.
With that thought, Duoduo flashed Su Xian a mischievous smile. “Father would only nod and say, ‘No one understands me better than Duoduo.’”
Su Xian was thoroughly amused by Duoduo.
She was about to lower her head and read the letter when Duoduo casually took it away.
Duoduo handed the purse and letter to Lüdou. “Lüdou, make sure you put these away safely!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Lüdou accepted them with both hands and went into the inner room to put them away.
Su Xian shot Duoduo an exasperated look. “Mother hasn’t read the letter yet!”
Duoduo shook her head. “There’s no need! The engagement has been called off anyway. Mother, do you want to send Uncle a letter?”
