Xi Weilan held the lotus flower in her hands, her little face full of excitement. She looked at the Seventh Princess with curiosity and asked, "Who is your Ninth Sister? Is she very skilled in martial arts?"
"Ninth Sister, her name is Lu Qianning, everyone calls her Princess Wenqing."
Upon hearing this, Xi Weilan's little face froze. Wasn't that Big Sister Lu's name? So she was the Ninth Princess. She touched her head and thought, that made sense—a princess's sister would naturally be a princess too. But the princess in front of her didn't seem nearly as composed as Big Sister Lu. It felt like things were a bit upside down.
In an instant, the expressions on her little face shifted back and forth, causing the Seventh Princess to twitch at the corner of her mouth. What exactly was going on in that little head of hers?
Suddenly, Xi Qingyue spoke up and asked, "You still haven't told us why you returned to the capital because of us."
At that mention, an even deeper smile spread across the Seventh Princess's face. She slowly uttered one phrase, "The Wang Family Pastry Shop."
Immediately after, Dongxue explained everything she knew to the two of them in detail.
After learning the reason, Xi Qingyue was utterly speechless. "Are they insane? Would they die if they go one day without eating a box of pastries?"
The Seventh Princess couldn't help but burst out with a "pfft" laugh. "They won't die, but the children at home will throw a tantrum crying nonstop. They just wanted to spend silver to buy their kids a box, never expecting that everyone had the same thought. If only one family inquires, it's no big deal. But when a dozen or even more families start asking around at the same time, wouldn't that stir up a storm? It annoyed all of my sisters to no end."
Hearing this, Xi Qingyue thought to herself, "Your sisters are just as crazy. They went all the way to report to the Emperor over a box of pastries. And your imperial father is even worse—he actually asked each of them one by one who gifted them the jade pendant. What a mistake. I shouldn't have taken out the jade pendant in the first place."
By now, she also understood why the Seventh Princess had come to find them. After all the princesses were ruled out, only the Seventh and the Ninth remained, and the Seventh Princess knew that better than anyone. She came looking for them because of Lu Qianning. Either they were close or they were enemies, and the former was more likely.
"By the way, I haven't told you why I was punished in the first place. I beat the Fourth Prince so badly that he couldn't get out of bed for three days. That's why Father sent me to Meixi Temple. Your unintentional help got me out of it. Also, I want to know how the Ninth Sister is doing now? If she gave you two jade pendants, she must really like you both, right?"
Since things were out in the open now and the Seventh Princess could tell the two little girls were not ordinary children, she no longer tried to hide anything and directly asked what she was worried about.
Seeing the look of anticipation on her face, Xi Qingyue let out a sigh. "Alas, Big Sister Lu is so pitiful, she..."
Her words cut off midway, causing the Seventh Princess to stumble forward, afraid something had already happened to Lu Qianning.
Then Xi Qingyue's voice continued, "She's fine. Although she's been chased and hunted, she's fought them all off. Nothing will happen to her. She won't die."
The Seventh Princess patted her chest, relieved. She shot Xi Qingyue a glare—this little girl definitely paused on purpose to mess with her. Anyone else would have gotten a kick from the princess by now.
Afterward, she waved to Dongxue, who came over carrying a tray on which lay more than ten jade pendants of various designs.
Pointing at the pendants, she said, "Whichever one Little Nine gave you, pick out an exact duplicate. If you absolutely have to show it to others, use mine instead. Don't let her pendant see the light of day until she comes back."
Xi Qingyue's expression turned more serious. How was she supposed to know the capital would be this twisted? Just buying a box of pastries had somehow led to all of this. She'd only wanted to make things simple by borrowing authority from a powerful name, and instead she'd made it even more complicated. The people in this place sure live a tiring life.
She took out a pendant and examined it carefully. It was no different from the multicolored phoenix jade pendant from Lu Qianning, except the back was carved with the characters "Wen Yang."
She shook the pendant in her hand. "This one, then."
Then she paused and added, "You'd better not be deceiving me, or else..."
She didn't finish the sentence, but the implied threat was clear: she would wipe out the princess's mansion and everyone connected to it. Her piercing gaze was so fierce that even Dongxue was startled. It was the look of someone who truly intended to kill. Only then did Dongxue fully realize why the princess didn't treat these two as children.
Far from being angry, the Seventh Princess showed a bright smile. "Since the jade pendant is a gift from me now, then the Big Sister Lu you speak of is me. My name is Lu Jinshuang, ranked seventh among the princesses. Don't mix it up."
Hearing this, Xi Weilan gently shook her head. "Big Sister Lu is Big Sister Lu. No one can replace her."
That one sentence made the Seventh Princess's smile freeze, and even Dongxue was astonished. From start to finish, the two had never treated the Seventh Princess as a princess, just like meeting any ordinary person. They couldn't even change a single form of address—and plenty of people were dying to have the privilege of calling her Big Sister Lu.
Xi Qingyue chuckled and ruffled Xi Weilan's hair. "Don't worry, there's only one Big Sister Lu. If some clueless person insists on inspecting the pendant, we'll just use this one to substitute and deal with the aftermath later. Princess Wenyang is helping Big Sister Lu here."
She figured that within ten days at most, Lu Qianning would be arriving in the capital. Without her weak spots weighing her down, she'd probably be even more of a headache than the Seventh Princess herself.
Lu Jinshuang wanted to roll her eyes when she heard that. The girl had been calling her "Big Sister" nonstop just a moment ago — what difference did one more character make?
She had Dongxue put away the rest of the pendants, then sat down with the two girls in the pavilion beside the lotus pond, and ordered food and snacks to be brought over.
Before long, Nanny Sun hurried over.
"Your Highness, the Tenth Prince is outside the mansion gate, seeking an audience."
Lu Jinshuang didn't even lift her head. "Not seeing him. Tell him to go as far away as possible."
"Yes, Your Highness." Nanny Sun immediately withdrew without the slightest hesitation.
In the past, the Tenth Prince could walk straight into the mansion with ease. But since the Ninth Princess' political marriage, the Tenth Prince couldn't even get past the front gate anymore.
Xi Qingyue watched Nanny Sun's retreating figure, lost in thought. The Tenth Prince was apparently Lu Qianning's own blood brother—that heartless, ungrateful piece of work. She quietly averted her gaze and went back to snacking on pastries.
The two girls were arranged to stay in the Autumn Chrysanthemum Court, with a dozen maids prepared to serve them.
"Miss Yue, if you need anything at all, feel free to say so. This servant will do her utmost to take care of it." A maid in her teens said with a gentle smile.
Xi Qingyue waved them off. "No need. All of you, go rest. I'll call if I need you."
The maids all left obediently without arguing or lingering. Their instructions were to follow the two girls' orders absolutely.
Once everyone was gone, Xi Weilan said happily, "Sis, where are we going to play tonight?"
Xi Qingyue answered without hesitation, "To the imperial palace. Big Sis will take you to sit on the dragon throne. I'll take a photo of you there, and we'll print it out and put it in the villa."
"But Sis, if I'm sitting on the dragon throne, I don't have an imperial robe to wear," Xi Weilan said with a troubled expression.
Hearing this, Xi Qingyue stroked her chin in thought. "What if we cut up the Emperor's robe? We'll wear it to pose for the photos first, then cut it into strips after we're done. That way nobody will ever know it was us."
Xi Weilan's face lit up with joy. "Sounds great!"
