The Prince of Jin returned early that day. When he came in, the two little ones who had been watching Tang Zhuyun make candied hawthorns each grabbed a candied hawthorn and eagerly went to fawn over her, making Tang Zhuyun extremely envious.
The Prince of Jin, impartial and unbiased, took a hawthorn from each person's candied hawthorn skewer.
Then he discovered that the hawthorn pits had all been removed.
When it comes to making food, Tang Zhuyun is more patient than anyone else.
After swallowing the sweet and sour hawthorn, he smiled gently and patted the two children's heads, asking, "Have you completed the task I assigned you today?"
Linlin said, "Mine is finished. Yanran's... I finished hers too."
Yanran dared not look up at Prince of Jin.
Tang Zhuyun burst out laughing.
Before leaving in the morning, the Prince of Jin assigned the two men "homework," making them shoot arrows one hundred times.
Linlin completed the task meticulously, but Yanran ached from the bow and arrow, and she came over with tears in her eyes to show Tang Zhuyun her red little hand.
Tang Zhuyun asked, "You don't want to practice anymore?"
Yanran, tears welling in her eyes.
She didn't want to practice; she wanted to be a happy little girl, neat and tidy every day, making pretty clothes with Concubine Meng, learning to draw flower patterns, and eating, drinking, and playing with her older sister...
I don't know what's wrong with my father lately; he always seems to want to give her a pep talk.
Her father would take her along when teaching Linlin brother to ride horses and hunt, and he also made her study with Lord Tang, but she neither wanted to touch a bow and arrow nor could she understand classical Chinese texts.
Is Father raising her like a boy?
If that's the case, he should just focus on paying attention to Linlin- nii-san.
She couldn't do it, and she didn't want to. She just wanted to be her older sister's little shadow, carefree and happy.
Tang Zhuyun nearly had a heart attack after learning about her thoughts.
If the Prince of Jin knew what Yanran was thinking, could he just kill himself?
How did she manage to corrupt such a good child, making him so unambitious?
There's nothing she can do; she herself is all brawn and no brains, and can't raise a high-achieving child.
"Aren't you afraid that your father will punish you when he comes back?" Tang Zhuyun squatted down and asked patiently.
Yanran's eyes were brimming with tears; she was afraid.
She was afraid of angering her father, and she was also afraid of disappointing him, but she didn't want to do either.
"I'm scared, but my hand hurts," Yanran pitifully.
Seeing the red marks on her fingers from being bound, Tang Zhuyun cursed Prince of Jin in her heart. Was his head full of tofu pudding?
Yanran is so young, and she's a girl. She's not the type to be overly competitive or ambitious. Why are you pushing your child so hard?
Most importantly, Yanran is not suitable; she herself wants a comfortable life.
Besides horseback riding and hunting, she is diligent and considerate, a warm and comforting companion.
Tang Zhuyun sighed, "I'll talk to your father tonight, but can you finish today's task first?"
Yanran shook her head and mumbled, "If I'm sick, I don't have to practice."
It took Tang Zhuyun a moment to realize that the little thing was pretending to be sick?
"That won't do." She has her principles too. "I have to take full responsibility for the decisions I make."
Yanran looked dejected, but she dawdled and ultimately didn't practice.
Tang Zhuyun remained silent.
Linlin practiced even harder, and now she was facing Prince of Jin, hoping to plead for Yanran.
"Your Highness," he looked up at Prince of Jin, "Yanran's hands are almost worn raw. She wanted to embroider a purse for you, to keep... for the New Year."
Tang Zhuyun: "..."
She leaned against the doorway and saw the disappointment in the Prince of Jin's eyes.
But he didn't get angry; he just said calmly, "Never mind then, you guys have fun, I'm going to change."
After the Prince of Jin went inside, he did not come out for a long time.
Yanran bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes, on the verge of crying, but she held them back and walked over to pick up the small bow and arrow that Prince of Jin had specially made for her and Linlin by the wall...
Linlin stayed by her side, correcting her posture. "Yes, like this, look at the bullseye, don't let your hand shake..."
Then Tang Zhuyun saw Yanran leaning against him, sobbing softly, "Brother Linlin, my hand hurts so much."
"I know, but the prince is angry... I'll give you a good snoring after I finish practicing."
Tang Zhuyun: What an amazing childhood sweetheart relationship!
Why does she only have one older brother?! She wants to be the sister of seven older brothers! Ten wouldn't be too many.
But I really feel sorry for Yanran.
Yanran was initially very curious about Linlin's training, but later realized that such intense training was really not suitable for a child.
Linlin is incomparable; she's an anomaly.
Tang Zhuyun couldn't bear to watch any longer, but when she saw Nanxing behind her, she found that the latter's expression was calm, as if none of this had caused her any emotional fluctuation.
In the past few days, Tang Zhuyun also noticed that Nanxing always had a poker face, was very cool and silent, and had almost zero presence in this mansion.
What a strange person.
"Alright, your father won't force you." Prince of Jin appeared at the door at some point, seemingly having composed himself, and said to Yanran.
Yanran looked up at him expectantly. "Father, are you angry?"
The Prince of Jin said, "No."
Tang Zhuyun: If you're not here, at least give us a smile!
Then the Prince of Jin's expression softened slightly. "Go play in the kitchen, go eat candied hawthorns. Linlin, you come riding with me."
Yanran, with tears in her eyes, cheered up. "Thank you, Father."
Then, like a joyful little bird, she rushed to Tang Zhuyun, looked up at her, and said with a smile, "Sister, can't we use other things to make candied hawthorns? Let's start!"
Tang Zhuyun: "..."
She dared not look at the Prince of Prince of Jin's expression, feeling a guilty conscience that she had abducted someone else's child.
The key issue is that this carefree attitude is exactly like hers, and the Prince of Jin will surely think that one is influenced by one's company.
Prince of Jin didn't look at them, and left with Linlin.
Tang Zhuyun was actually quite annoyed by his actions. What, was he trying to give Yanran a hard time? Was he deliberately getting close to Linlin to make Yanran jealous? Luckily, Yanran was innocent and naive, not the type to be jealous, otherwise she would have hated Linlin.
Yanran: "My sister likes me, and my father likes Brother Linlin. We're all happy."
Tang Zhuyun: I hope the ancestors of the Yuwen Family won't come to her in the middle of the night to interrogate her and ask her why she raised other people's children to be like this.
Linlin was already able to ride a horse independently. Prince of Jin sat on his horse, watching him run around the field twice, his eyes filled with deep satisfaction.
Even knowing that this child is outstanding, I am still amazed every time.
If only he were Yanran.
He longed for Yanran to grow into a spirited and capable child, able to shoulder the responsibility of restoring her clan; even better, he hoped she could have the straightforwardness of Tang Zhuyun, unwavering in her pursuit of her goals.
However, Yanran was ultimately too weak.
No, we can't do that.
Prince of Jin took a deep breath, waved to Linlin was running towards him excitedly, and after Linlin stopped, praised him a few times. Then, he asked casually, "Linlin, what are your plans for the future?"
He said Linlin, "Study hard and become the top scholar!"