Xia Wanwan flung her tiny body over the sack and said a little guiltily, "I didn't... steal it..."
"I'll take it out myself... for you..."
A teasing glint flashed through the Eldest Princess's eyes. "Go on, then. Let me see what it is!"
At that, the guards and palace attendants beside her stopped moving and watched with smiles as the little one rummaged through the sack.
Xia Wanwan opened the sack and stuck nearly half her little body inside.
After feeling around for quite a while, she finally pulled out an apple.
The apple was bigger than her face. Holding it out, she asked the Eldest Princess, "Do you... want some? It's... really sweet!"
A trace of tenderness suddenly softened the sternness in the Eldest Princess's eyes.
It turned out she did not dislike children. She disliked annoying children.
The little girl before her was fair, clean, and round, gazing up at her with big, hopeful eyes while holding an apple bigger than her own face.
She was asking whether she wanted some.
What a thoughtful, well-behaved, pretty little girl.
When it came time to make offerings to Imperial Grandfather and Grandmother, they could each have half of Xia Wanwan.
The Eldest Princess accepted the apple and said with a smile, "Thank you. Did you only steal an apple?"
Why was there a tiny tooth mark on it?
Xia Wanwan pressed her lips together, feeling a little guilty.
The apple was too big for her to bite into. That was why she had given it back to the Eldest Princess!
She compared the two gourds in her hands with the Lychee-Wood Roast Chicken in the sack.
She decided to keep the roast chicken. Her mother had never eaten roast chicken that delicious before.
She held out the two palm-sized gourds