As soon as Bai Tuantuan turned around, she saw a thin, bony figure.

He was about the same height as her, and almost bumped into her because of Bai Tuantuan's big movements.

Bai Tuantuan quickly helped her up, and was about to apologize when she heard the little girl's panicked voice: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay." Bai Tuantuan saw her frightened face and quickly patted her head. "It's alright, it's alright."

Guan Xin was stunned. Her eyes looked unusually large on her thin face, prompting Bai Tuantuan to ask, "Don't your family give you anything to eat?"

Upon hearing this, Guan Xin lowered her head and licked her lips: "Food."

[Liar!] The sound of a ladle rang out. [She's been hungry for a long time.]

Bai Tuantuan nodded and looked at Guan Xin, saying, "I know medicine! You can't fool me."

As she spoke, Bai Tuantuan looked at Ruotang, who was standing to the side, and said, "Sister Ruotang, can you give me a piece of candy?"

Ruotang glanced at Guanxin with a complicated expression, but said nothing. She took out the pastry and said, "Eat quickly."

While Guan Xin was eating, Bai Tuantuan asked in confusion, "Sister Ruotang, do you know who she is?"

“The eldest daughter of the Minister of Personnel.” Ruotang sighed and said slowly, “The Minister of Personnel’s first wife was frail and sickly. She passed away two years after giving birth to their eldest daughter. After that, the Minister of Personnel married his first wife’s half-sister as his second wife.”

"A year later, the wife of the current Minister of Personnel gave birth to her eldest son, and then to her daughter, thus establishing herself in the Minister's household."

“Having a stepmother means having a stepfather!” Bai Tuantuan looked at Guan Xin and shook her head sympathetically. “He doesn’t even let you eat your fill. Your father is really a scoundrel.”

Guan Xin paused slightly while eating her snack, looked up at the chubby Bai Tuantuan, and was about to say something when she heard Bai Tuantuan say, "It's okay, you'll be with me later, and I guarantee you'll eat and drink well."

Guan Xin lowered her eyes, finished her snack, and then took out a bracelet: "Thank you."

Then they ran away...

Bai Tuantuan looked at the bracelet in her hand, then at the tube core that had already disappeared, and exclaimed in amazement, "It ran really fast!"

[He's a good candidate for thief.]

Bai Tuantuan: ……

Ladle: ? ? What is it saying?

"Tuantuan." Chen Xingfeng and Chen Lingfeng walked over. "Let's go over there."

Chen Lingfeng's eyes sparkled: "Nan Xiao is waiting for us over there. This palace banquet is different from what I imagined."

"I imagined a banquet would be all about eating and drinking, but I didn't expect them to talk the whole time. Sometimes I couldn't even understand what they were saying." Chen Lingfeng scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

Chen Xingfeng said calmly, "These people have ulterior motives. Grandfather Bai said we don't need to worry about them. Just treat it as an ordinary banquet."

"Do me a favor."

Ning Nanxiao was never short of people, especially girls, but fortunately, his sour face scared many people away.

Upon seeing Bai Tuantuan approach, her eyes lit up, and she quickly said, "I couldn't find Yang Shuishui and Yang Bingbing. I'm afraid something has happened to them."

Yang Shuishui and Yang Bingbing are the daughters of Consort Li, Leng Zhizhi.

“I’ll go find her,” Bai Tuantuan said immediately. “Last time, when Consort Li helped me, did she go directly to the inner palace to look for her?”

Ning Nanxiao glanced around, then lowered his eyes and said, "Well, Consort Li is with the Empress, so it's hard for her to leave. I'm not a man, so it's not appropriate for me to enter the inner palace."

Bai Tuantuan expressed her understanding, and then quickly led Ruotang toward the Imperial Garden.

"Hey, isn't that your sister?" A young lady nudged Xiao Ruyan and asked suspiciously, "Is your sister on good terms with the young master?"

Xiao Ruyan glanced at Bai Tuantuan's retreating figure and rolled her eyes: "Hmph, always trying to curry favor with the young master, anyone who didn't know better would think she's his dog!"

"Pfft." Everyone laughed.

“That’s right, how could the young master fall for a country bumpkin?”

"But she's a county princess now, and we still have to bow to her when we see her. It's really bad luck!" Zheng Yinrong, the granddaughter of the eldest son of the Grand Secretary, said with a look of disgust. "Yan'er, she really overshadows you. Is there anything your aunt can do?"

Xiao Ruyan pouted: "My mother said that even if someone is a princess or a county princess, they can't change their peasant background. It's better to have less contact with them in the future."

“Auntie is right.” Zheng Yinrong nodded. “Although she is a county princess, she cannot change her background. It is impossible for her to squeeze into our circle of noble ladies.”

"Shishi?" A girl about eight years old, roughly the same age as Zheng Yinrong, called softly to the daughter of the Minister of Rites, then tugged at her sleeve. "Shishi, aren't we going too far by doing this?"

Su Shishi looked up at the crowd surrounding Zheng Yinrong, then took two steps back and slowly shook her head: "We can't control what they do, but I don't think the county princess is a bad person. Aqiao, you don't have to follow them."

Qiu Qiao'er was seven years old and the daughter of the Vice Minister of Rites. She had followed Su Shishi around since she was a child. When she heard Su Shishi's words, she nodded shyly.

"You mean, that little white dumpling eats three bowls of rice every meal? My goodness! No wonder she's so fat!"

"Like a starving ghost reincarnated!" Xiao Ruyan vividly recounted Bai Tuantuan's joke, eliciting bursts of mockery from the crowd.

"You guys don't know, do you? That Bai Tuantuan acts like she's never seen the world before. She brings home anything nice she sees and even makes her own clothes. Don't you think that's embarrassing!"

"Isn't sewing a profession for embroiderers? Does Bai Tuantuan want to become an embroiderer in the future?"

Their voices grew louder and louder, naturally attracting attention in a small circle.

Chen Lingfeng was furious: "They actually made fun of my sister! They deserve a beating!"

As he spoke, he was about to rush over to confront them.

However, Ning Nanxiao stopped him, gave him a reassuring look, and then slowly walked up to the noble ladies.

Upon seeing this, the noble ladies immediately shut their mouths and bowed.

Ning Nanxiao stopped and glanced lazily at the group, her eyes icy: "You're all very interested in Princess Changning?"

"This..." The crowd hesitated.

"Heh." Ning Nanxiao laughed mockingly, "Is it shameful to eat three meals a day? Isn't it shameful for you to be seeing doctors all the time?"

Everyone's face turned pale.

Ning Nanxiao, however, was not going to let them off the hook: "You two are meddling in other people's business. What does it have to do with you how many bowls of rice Tuan Tuan eats?"

"You look down on embroiderers? Every single garment you're wearing was made by embroiderers! If you look down on them, then don't wear them!"

The deliberately drawn-out tone sent a chill down the spines of the noble ladies.

"Your Highness, what business is it of yours what we chat?" Xiao Ruyan retorted, her neck stiff. "Why were you eavesdropping on our conversation?"

"I, the young master, will listen openly and honestly." Ning Nanxiao sneered, looked at Xiao Ruyan, and slapped her across the face. The speed was so fast that no one could react.

Xiao Ruyan screamed and looked at Ning Nanxiao in disbelief.

"If I ever hear you speaking ill of Tuantuan again, don't blame me for cutting out your tongue!"