128. What are we dancing to? The expert? Who should we let dance to? Me?

The little dumpling took two steps back and bumped into a palace maid.

A palace maid helped her up and said, "What's wrong, Princess? Were you looking for the Grand Tutor? He's waiting for you in the library."

"Oh, then Yue'er will run off first!"

-

Qu Zijin was organizing his books when he turned around and saw the little boy peeking in: "Grand Tutor..."

"Does the teacher need to see the student?" In private, Qu Zijin still insisted on calling her "teacher."

The little dumpling stepped forward and said, "Grand Tutor, we're going to the Duke of Anguo's mansion tomorrow..."

“Hmm, I remember,” Qu Zijin paused, then pulled a small notebook from his sleeve. “These are some statements I’ve compiled; they should come in handy…”

He was a little nervous.

"Grand Tutor," the little dumpling sensed his emotions and looked up, "Don't be nervous! Sister Fufu is a very nice person!"

Qu Zijin's ears turned slightly red: "I didn't..."

“Yes, it is!” the little dumpling said earnestly. “The Grand Tutor’s hands were shaking as he held the notebook.”

Qu Zijin awkwardly put his hands behind his back.

The little dumpling said mysteriously, "Yue'er wants to tell the Grand Tutor that Mother thinks Sister Fufu is possessed by a water ghost, and wants the Grand Tutor to jump... uh..."

The little dumpling rubbed its face. What did Mommy and Big Brother say again? What were they going to dance?

"What do you want me to do?" Qu Zijin asked, equally puzzled.

The little dumpling had a sudden inspiration: "Ah, Yue'er remembers! It's a shamanic ritual!"

"What?!" Qu Zijin dropped the notebook in his hand. "What kind of shamanistic dance? Who's going to dance? Me? I'm going to dance the shamanistic dance? Huh???"

He froze on the spot, cracks appearing on his usually gentle and refined mask: "You want me to... perform a shamanistic ritual? You didn't mention doing this before??"

The little dumpling squatted down to help him pick up the notebook, and then explained, "Because big brother and mother think that Sister Fufu makes strange things, saying that she has turned into a water ghost..."

Qu Zijin leaned against the bookshelf and slowly slid down until he reached the ground.

The little girl rushed forward to try to help him up, but the Grand Tutor was as heavy as a stone, and she couldn't lift him.

So, the little dumpling simply plopped down next to the Grand Tutor.

Qu Zijin looked somewhat dazed: "What exactly happened? Why are they suddenly going to start a shamanistic ritual?"

The little dumpling recounted the story again, albeit haltingly.

After listening in silence, Qu Zijin took a deep breath and asked, "Teacher, do you really think there's something wrong with Miss Lin the Second?"

The little dumpling shook her head vigorously: "Sister Fufu has become so smart! The bubble solution she makes is so much fun!"

Qu Zijin nodded upon hearing this: "Indeed, they are just some trinkets. Blowing bubbles with soapberry water is not unusual, and these are even toys for ordinary children."

He was just an ordinary child; his family couldn't afford toys, and he spent his days studying and working.

When he went to the river to wash clothes, he would do the same as other children: carefully save the soapy water from washing the clothes and pick reed stems to blow bubbles.

"...As for the ball, it should be a ball made of leather, right? It was recorded as early as the Records of the Grand Historian, but at that time it was called 'Mao Wan', and it was even the predecessor of Cuju."

Qu Zijin regained his composure and sat down on the ground, looking directly at the little dumpling: "To say that someone is possessed by a ghost based on these facts is too arbitrary."

The little dumpling's eyes lit up, and she nodded her head like a chick pecking at rice: "That's right! Yue'er knows that the Grand Tutor is the smartest!"

“Perhaps this accident has actually opened her mind,” Qu Zijin stood up. “Let’s go, it’s time to go to school.”

-

Xiao Tuanzi and Qu Zijin could hear their second brother's loud voice from afar as he returned from the outhouse.

"...That tiger must have weighed at least nine hundred pounds! And its fangs were this long!" The second brother was gesturing to the little princess and the little prince, his arms outstretched. "Everyone was scared out of their wits, but I wasn't afraid! I grabbed a spear, rode my horse and charged over! I rescued my father from its mouth!"

"That tiger tried to pounce on me! I dodged the attack with a somersault and then used my slingshot to hit it in the eye!"

"Wow—" the little princess exclaimed in exaggerated surprise.

The young prince sensed something was amiss: "Wait a minute, you're holding the reins in one hand, a spear in the other, so why are you also holding a slingshot?"

The little princess also realized, "That's right! And before you went to the outhouse, you told us you were using invincible swordsmanship, how come it's turned into a spear and a slingshot now? Where's the sword?"

The second brother opened his mouth, then gritted his teeth and stamped his foot, saying, "You don't know! I actually have a pair of invisible hands!"

"What?!" The little princess and the little prince were both shocked.

"Yes, yes, that's it," seeing that he had fooled the two, the second brother regained his confidence to continue bragging, "and before you knew it..."

"Young Master Jin, you have quite the skills," Qu Zijin said coolly.

His voice suddenly rang out, startling his second brother so much that he stumbled.

"Grand Tutor!" The second brother hurriedly stood up straight, his face still showing an undisguised smug expression.

His gaze shifted to the little dumpling, and his eyes immediately lit up. He rushed over in three strides: "Little sister! I heard you're going to the Duke of Anguo's mansion? Take me with you!"

Before the little dumpling could speak, Qu Zijin shook his head slightly: "This trip is to mediate family matters; having too many people would be inappropriate."

"I promise I won't cause any trouble!" The second brother scratched his head anxiously. "I can help move things, relay messages, and I can even... I can tell jokes to liven things up!"

Qu Zijin said coldly, "It's precisely because you're too active that I can't take you."

The second brother immediately wilted like a frostbitten eggplant, looking pitifully at the little dumpling.

Just as the little dumpling was about to comfort her, she suddenly heard the little princess's gloating voice: "Great! He can't go either!"

The young prince smiled and said, "That's wonderful."

They were initially quite disappointed that they couldn't leave the palace, but when they saw that even Jin Lizhi, who was already outside the palace, couldn't go, they were no longer disappointed.

Seeing their reaction, the second brother quickly crossed his arms and straightened his back: "Fine! I'm going to continue hunting tigers anyway."

The little dumpling watched as her second brother strode away, pretending to be nonchalant.

The little princess leaned in and whispered in my ear, "Little Moon, your second brother is so much fun, much more interesting than Jiayou! I really wish he could switch places with Jiayou and become my brother."

The little prince snorted coldly: "I also want to switch places with you and Little Moon. I also want Little Moon to be my sister. I don't want you."

Qu Zijin coughed lightly: "Everyone, it's time for class."

-

The next morning, the little dumpling was waiting at the gate of the mansion early.

She was wearing a brand-new lotus-colored ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with lotus-shaped beads in her hair specially prepared by her mother, and her little face was flushed with excitement.

"Don't worry, Yue'er, Grand Tutor Qu's carriage hasn't arrived yet." Jiang Xiyue smiled and straightened her collar.

Just then, a blue-curtained carriage slowly drove up.

The carriage curtain was lifted, revealing Qu Zijin's handsome face—though today his complexion was somewhat pale, and there were faint dark circles under his eyes.

"Good morning, Grand Tutor!" the little dumpling exclaimed happily.

Qu Zijin forced a smile: "Teacher, please get in the car."

The little dumpling was carried onto the carriage, and as soon as the carriage started moving, the little dumpling noticed that something was wrong with the Grand Tutor.

He kept flipping through the book in his hand, his lips moving slightly, as if he were silently reciting something—

The Book of Liang, Annals of Emperor Wu, records: "In the tenth year of Tianjian, on the day of Yiyou in the fifth month, a beautiful lotus with three flowers on one stem was born in Leyou Garden."

"No, that's too stiff, no good, start over..."

"Ah! This is actually a twin lotus, a sight that only happens once in a century!..."

"...That's too exaggerated...Never mind, I'm not suited to this tone."

"Twin lotus blossoms are an auspicious sign, representing deep sibling affection and sisterly harmony since ancient times..."

"Is the Grand Tutor reciting poetry?" the little dumpling couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Is he preparing his speech..." Qu Zijin became even more nervous, even a little flustered, "Teacher, are you sure we don't need... don't need that shamanistic ritual..."

"Don't worry, Grand Tutor! Sister Fufu is perfectly fine!" The little dumpling wanted to pat the Grand Tutor's back to comfort him, but she was too short and her arms were too short to reach him, so she patted the Grand Tutor's leg instead.

Qu Zijin took a deep breath and lowered his head to continue reciting silently.

The little boy peeked at it and found that the pages of his book were covered with dense writing, and in some places the ink had blurred, as if it had been repeatedly revised.

Hmm... like the cheat sheet the Grand Tutor mentioned.

But didn't the Grand Tutor say that we can't bring cheat sheets?

The little dumpling couldn't figure it out, so it thought of something else.

for example……

Is it because the Grand Tutor is afraid that he doesn't like making friends with others?

---

A note from the author:

Chapters 113-124 have now been fully revised.

Synchronization may take some time, and the author will inform readers in the author's notes once synchronization is complete.