176. Private Talk

However, the little dumpling didn't understand. She only saw Dou Shichen get into the carriage and drive away on his own. She couldn't help but mutter to herself, "Shining Bean Prince is always so fierce."

The second brother also said angrily, "That's right! No good deed goes unpunished. I should have known better than to help him out!"

"But... Second Brother, isn't Shiny Bean Prince actually not bad?" the little dumpling asked, tilting his head.

The second brother curled his lip: "He's not bad, but his temper is just awful!"

Jiang Xiyue was only then informed by a servant and came over: "What happened? What are you all talking about here?"

The little dumpling held her mother's hand and told her everything that had just happened. At the end, she complained in a low voice, "Shining Bean Prince is not easy to get along with at all."

Jiang Xiyue patted her head: "It sounds like the Prince of Zhennan is just a bit arrogant, but he's kind at heart. Didn't he compensate the vendor in the end?"

The little dumpling nodded as if she understood, but quickly forgot about it: "Mommy, let's go feed the fish again, feeding the fish is fun!"

The second brother also put his earlier unpleasantness behind him and said, "Yes, let's hurry up, or the koi will all be fed by others!"

The little boy and his second brother followed their mother to the lakeside, but unexpectedly, they saw a familiar face as soon as they arrived.

The little boy's eyes lit up, and he grabbed his second brother's hand and ran over.

Under a tree by the lake, a young girl in a traditional Chinese dress was squatting on the shore, scattering fish food into the lake, with several maids beside her.

"Big sister!" the little dumpling called out happily.

That little girl was Lin Lingrong.

Lin Lingrong turned around and saw the little dumpling. A smile appeared on her face. She stood up and bowed to Jiang Xiyue first: "Greetings, Lady of Beiding Marquis."

Jiang Xiyue smiled and nodded at her. She then looked at the little dumpling and her second brother: "Princess, Young Master Jin, are you here to feed the fish too?"

"It's a duck!" The little dumpling ran to Lin Lingrong's side and squatted down with her by the lake. "Big sister, look, there's a really big fish over there, all red, doesn't it look like a lantern duck?"

Lin Lingrong looked in the direction the little dumpling was pointing and nodded with a smile: "It looks like it! I just saw it steal food from other fish."

The second brother also chimed in, boasting, "Big Sister Lin, you wouldn't believe it, I just shot down a pear with my slingshot. It's a pity I hit the fruit and it's inedible, but next time I'll definitely hit the stem so you can have some."

Lin Lingrong gave her a very polite "Wow!" and exclaimed, "Young Master Jin is amazing! I've never dared to play with a slingshot before."

"It's a duck! It's a duck! Second brother is the best!" the little dumpling exclaimed, praising him as well.

My second brother was so flattered that his tail was practically wagging.

Jiang Xiyue stood not far away, watching the children play happily, and also chatted with the maids that Lin Lingrong had brought.

The maid smiled and said, "Our young lady is off today and was thinking of going out for a stroll. I didn't expect to run into you like this."

Mother smiled and nodded: "Yes, it's really fate."

The children played in front, while the adults chatted behind, and time flew by in the blink of an eye.

With dinner time fast approaching, Jiang Xiyue suggested to the children, "Why don't we go to the restaurant up ahead for dinner? The food there is really good, and the children will definitely like it."

Lin Lingrong was a little shy and said softly, "Wouldn't that be too much trouble for Madam Hou?"

“No trouble at all, it’ll be more fun with more people,” Jiang Xiyue still really liked the child. “It’s settled then, let’s go over now.”

"Alright, then thank you very much, Madam Hou." Lin Lingrong no longer declined.

-

The group chatted and laughed as they walked toward the restaurant.

The restaurant we went to was the most famous in the capital. It was built very high up, and not only were the dishes delicious, but you could also enjoy a panoramic view of half of the capital from the top floor.

Aside from being expensive, it has no other drawbacks.

As soon as the group arrived at the door, the waiter greeted them warmly.

Jiang Xiyue booked a private room on the top floor.

As everyone walked up the stairs, the place became quieter and the decor more exquisite the higher they went.

The waiter pushed open the door to a private room and said with a smile, "Madam, this is the private room you booked. We only have two private rooms on the top floor. The next one is at the end of the corridor on the other side, so you and the children can play without worry."

The private room was elegantly decorated, with a large round table by the window. Outside the window were bustling streets and distant green mountains, a truly beautiful view.

The children, seeing the view outside the window, excitedly ran to the window and leaned over the railing to look down.

"Wow! The people below look like little ducks, like little ants!" the little dumpling exclaimed.

Lin Lingrong whispered, "This is the first time I've seen such a beautiful view from such a high place."

The meal took more than half an hour to finish.

Once the children were full, they started to get restless.

Jiang Xiyue saw this and said with a smile, "If you guys are bored, go play in the corridor outside for a while. Remember not to go too far and don't make any noise, okay?"

"Yay!" The little boy immediately jumped off the chair and grabbed Lin Lingrong's hand. "Big sister, let's go outside to play!"

The second brother also stood up: "I'll go too, I'll protect you!"

The three children skipped and hopped out of the private room.

"Let's play hide-and-seek!" the second brother suggested. "This floor has a long corridor with lots of pillars and decorations, perfect for hiding people!"

The little dumpling immediately clapped her hands, blindly agreeing with every idea her second brother had: "Great! Great! Yue'er loves playing hide-and-seek the most!"

Lin Lingrong nodded: "I want to play too, but... I might not be able to hide it well."

"It's okay!" the second brother patted his chest and assured him, "We won't laugh at you. We'll play rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets to arrest you!"

Three children huddled together, holding out their little hands to play rock-paper-scissors: "Rock, paper, scissors!"

The little dumpling chose paper, while the second brother and Lin Lingrong both chose scissors.

"Oh dear, it's the moon!"

The second brother suppressed a laugh and reached out to ruffle her hair: "It's your bad luck! Quick, turn around and count. You can only come back to us when you reach thirty!"

The little dumpling can already count to thirty! Although she lost, she obediently turned around, covered her eyes with her hands, and loudly counted, "One, two, three..."

The second brother made a "shh" gesture to Lin Lingrong and ran with her to the other end of the corridor.

He hadn't run more than a few steps when he suddenly stopped and pointed to a corner with a large vase on it: "I'll hide here. You run inside and find a secluded spot!"

Lin Lingrong nodded, and while the little dumpling was still counting, she quickened her pace and ran deeper into the corridor.

She ran all the way, and when she stopped, she looked up and found that she had reached the end of the corridor, next to a room with its door tightly closed.

The waiter said there were only two private rooms on the top floor, and they had taken one, so this must be the other one.

"I'll hide here," Lin Lingrong thought to herself, turning sideways and hiding behind a pillar by the door of the side room. From here, she could see what was happening in the corridor, but she wouldn't be easily discovered.

She held her breath, peeked out, and watched as the little dumpling counted to "nineteen, twenty...", feeling both nervous and expectant.

However……

Suddenly, a hushed voice came from the side room next door.

Lin Lingrong was stunned for a moment, not expecting that there was someone in the room.

Embarrassed, she considered leaving her hiding spot and finding another place to hide so as not to accidentally disturb them.

However, she heard a voice that sounded very familiar.

Lin Lingrong was stunned.

One of them was actually the voice of his father, the Duke of Anguo!

Moreover, judging from his tone, he seemed very anxious, not like he was talking about ordinary things.

Lin Lingrong changed her mind.

She dared not breathe, crept closer, pressed her ear against the crack in the door, and listened intently to the conversation inside—

"Prime Minister, please help me think of a solution! If this continues, my Anguo Duke's mansion will really be finished!" Anguo Duke's voice was anxious and flustered.

Immediately afterwards, an old but steady voice rang out, it was the old prime minister: "What's the use of being anxious? His Majesty is clearly biased towards that brat Xie Wenling. What you did before was somewhat rash, so it's not surprising that he caught you red-handed."

"Reckless? That idea was clearly yours!" Duke Anguo's voice suddenly rose, then quickly fell back down. "You were the one who said that as long as I submitted the evidence you gave me, I could bring down Xie Wenling, so I risked it! Now look what happened, not only did I fail to bring him down, but he also found out and retaliated! If this continues, I won't even be able to keep my title of Duke!"