With Nanny Li away, Duoduo obediently worked on the assignments Nanny Li had left for her.
Three pages of large calligraphy characters per day, and one piece of embroidery featuring a flower stem pattern.
Duoduo started with the calligraphy, but she was clearly not in the right state of mind today.
Several times, she wrote the characters wrong and had to start over.
Seeing that Duoduo had already ruined several sheets of paper, Lüyi, who was standing by, suggested, "Princess, why don't you take a break before writing again?"
Duoduo nodded and set down her writing brush.
"Has the driver who took Nanny back returned yet?"
Lüyi felt deeply moved.
Having a master like the Princess who cared so much about her servants was truly a great blessing for them.
She had heard that it was the Princess who suggested to the Princess Consort that Nanny Li be allowed to go back and reunite with her family.
Lüyi and Lüzhu had privately discussed it and vowed to be loyal to the Princess until death, never betraying her for their entire lives!
"This servant will go take a look."
Lüyi quickly trotted out.
Duoduo paced back and forth a few steps; she couldn't even focus on reading a book.
Soon, Lüyi ran back in.
"Princess, the driver has not returned yet."
"However, I left word with the guards at the gate. As soon as the driver returns, they will have him come here to report."
Hearing this, Duoduo instantly lost interest.
She stood before the desk and picked up her brush once again.
This time, she barely managed to finish writing one page properly.
Duoduo shook her wrist, rubbed her eyes, and kicked her sore legs.
Lüyi helped set the finished calligraphy aside to dry.
Lüyi then spread a brand-new sheet of Xuan paper onto the desk.
Duoduo had lost her interest in writing, so she sat down.
"Lüyi, bring the embroidery basket over."
"Yes."
Lüyi hurried into the inner room and brought out a delicate little basket.
"Here you go, Princess."
Duoduo took the embroidery basket and prepared to split the threads first.
"Princess, shall this servant help you split the threads?" Lüyi offered to help.
"No need. Nanny said I should do my own tasks myself."
Duoduo pursed her lips and concentrated as she began to split the thread.
However, halfway through splitting one thread, it snapped.
Duoduo felt a bit discouraged.
Why couldn't she do anything right today?
Duoduo put down the embroidery thread, walked over to the window, and sulked.
In the garden, a hundred flowers were in bloom, and many butterflies were fluttering up and down.
"Princess, do you want to go out and play? The sun is a bit strong right now; let's wait until it's a little later to go out."
Seeing Duoduo staring blankly at the butterflies, Lüyi, standing behind her, thought Duoduo wanted to go out to play.
Duoduo shook her head.
"Lüyi, you may leave. I want to be alone for a while."
Lüyi hesitated for a moment, then bowed to Duoduo. "Yes."
Lüyi retreated and closed the door.
Duoduo stared blankly at the scenery outside.
She thought of that dilapidated courtyard in the Song Manor.
When it rained in the summer, there would be water everywhere inside the room.
In the middle of the night, she and Lüdou would wake up freezing and could only hug each other, hiding in a dry spot and crouching there all night.
The living conditions were somewhat bearable, as at least they had a place to shelter them from the wind and rain.
Even if it meant that when it poured outside, it drizzled inside.
The most terrifying thing was that they often had nothing to eat.
Duoduo had eaten any flower in the garden that was edible.
Some flowers had nectar inside, sweet and very delicious.
Some flowers were powdery and soft, and eating them helped stave off hunger for a long time.
Some flowers, however, were bitter.
Some flowers were poisonous, and eating even a little could make someone instantly pass out.
Some flowers would also cause diarrhea.
Duoduo remembered that one time, she ate a type of flower that gave her diarrhea for a whole day and night, leaving her almost unable to get out of bed.
As Duoduo recalled those miserable days from the past, her heart filled with gratitude.
Fortunately, the Prince and Princess Consort of Pingyang had taken her and Lüdou in. Otherwise, she might still be starving in the Song Manor right now.
That day, Yingniang had told her.
Even though it was the Emperor's decree that ordered the Prince of Pingyang to adopt her as his foster daughter.
However, given the Prince of Pingyang's temperament, as long as he was unwilling, this matter definitely would not have gone through.
Furthermore, even if the Prince of Pingyang agreed on the surface, he wouldn't treat her well in private.
Yet, the Prince of Pingyang not only personally taught her how to read but also, out of consideration for her, had Ling Feng teach her martial arts.
Yingniang said that parents who truly care for their children will plan far ahead for their futures.
The Prince of Pingyang genuinely treated her as his own child.
Yingniang also told her that she must work hard to become stronger, because becoming stronger was the only way to make the Prince of Pingyang look at her with new respect.
Duoduo made up her mind and walked back to the desk.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began to recall the key techniques the Nanny had taught her.
Once she felt confident in her heart, she finally began to move her brush.
This time, Duoduo smoothly and quickly finished writing the remaining two pages of large characters.
Duoduo rubbed her eyes and walked a few laps around the room.
Then, she took the embroidery basket and sat down by the window.
Duoduo calmly and peacefully began to separate the threads.
Nanny Li had said that separating threads could temper a person's patience.
As long as a person had patience, they would have a greater chance of success in whatever they did compared to ordinary people.
Duoduo finally finished separating the threads, and a satisfied smile appeared on her face.
She threaded the needle, picked up the embroidery hoop, and began to embroider the flower stems.
Embroidering flower stems was the foundation of embroidery.
What it practiced was embroidering straight lines; these were all basic skills.
Duoduo's mood was very steady now.
The hand holding the embroidery needle moved quickly and steadily, and the thread ran perfectly straight.
When Duoduo finished and held it up to look at it herself, she was very satisfied.
She placed her completed work back into the embroidery basket; Nanny Li would inspect these when she returned.
Duoduo stood up, stretched her body a bit, and hopped in place a few times.
Both embroidery and writing were very straining on the eyes.
Just now, Duoduo had been too absorbed in her work, and only now did she feel that her eyes were quite sore.
Just as Duoduo was leaning against the window, admiring the flowers in the garden, there was a knock at the door.
"Princess, the driver has returned."
Duoduo hopped down from the chair, ran swiftly to the door, and pulled it open.
Outside the door, the driver stood looking thoroughly disheveled and extremely nervous.
He was tightly gripping a horse whip that had snapped into two pieces.
"This humble one... this humble one pays his respects to the Princess."
Upon seeing Duoduo, the driver knelt down in a panic.
Duoduo put away her inner suspicions. "Rise. You have worked hard."
"Did Nanny make it home? Is everything alright with her family?"
Duoduo had been worried all afternoon, and now that she finally saw the driver, she immediately blurted out her questions.
The driver stood up trembling and cast a stealthy glance at Duoduo.
"To answer the Princess, Nanny Li did return home."
"Her family... uh... her family is not doing too well."
The driver seemed very frightened and involuntarily tightened his grip on the leather whip.
"What happened to her family? Speak quickly!"
Duoduo stomped her feet anxiously.
"What is going on here? Whose family had an accident?"
Just as the words fell, the Princess Consort of Pingyang walked over from the side.
"Mother!"
Duoduo hurriedly curtsied to the Princess Consort of Pingyang.
The driver dropped to his knees with a thud and kowtowed.
"Weren't you escorting Nanny Li back? You've returned so quickly? Rise."
The Princess Consort of Pingyang walked up to them.
"By the way, who did you just say had an accident in their family? Is it Nanny Li's family?"
