Hua Xiao's smile froze as she met the little boy's clean and clear gaze, as if that gaze could shine straight into her heart, exposing all her thoughts to it.
"No, no..."
Hua Xiao is still young and can't be as considerate as an adult.
Her lips twitched stiffly, her guilty gaze flickered, and she subconsciously stole glances at Nanny Jiang and Zhuangyou. Her weak voice was already somewhat incoherent.
"How...how could this be? I...I came to play with Niannian. I...I didn't know His Highness was here! I really didn't know His Highness was here!"
Hua Xiao spoke faster and faster, revealing her panicked and anxious state, and her voice suddenly rose in pitch.
The little girl was startled by Hua Xiao's sudden outburst. She blinked innocently with a blank look in her eyes and asked in a childish voice, "Sister Hua Xiao, what's wrong? The Crown Prince isn't in the palace."
"His Highness the Crown Prince is not in the palace...?" Hua Xiao didn't understand why she was panicking. A cool breeze blew in through the half-open window, chilling her thin, sweat-drenched body and calming her down for a moment.
"Yes, I saw you looking around as soon as you came in, and you looked very disappointed when you saw that only Niannian was here. That's why I thought of asking you if you came to see the Crown Prince instead of Niannian."
The little dumpling tilted his head in confusion, looking at the uneasy Hua Xiao, his dimples appearing on his face. He smiled comfortingly and explained in a soft, sweet voice.
Hua Xiao met the innocent and pure eyes of the little girl and listened to her straightforward words. For a moment, under the little girl's clear gaze, she felt a sense of utter embarrassment, as if she had nowhere to hide.
"No, no..." Hua Xiao lowered her eyes again, but unlike the shrewdness she had just displayed, she now looked like a child who had done something wrong, timid and awkward.
She said in a low voice, "I did come to play with Niannian. I... I was just worried that His Highness the Crown Prince was in the palace, so I looked around a few times because I was a little flustered."
"Oh...I see." She blinked her bright black eyes, tilted her head, and carefully looked at Sister Hua Xiao's expression. It seemed that there was nothing that made her uncomfortable anymore.
Actually, the little girl didn't really understand the complicated thoughts in Hua Xiao's mind; she could only quickly sense Hua Xiao's attitude and emotions.
Therefore, when the little girl saw that Sister Hua Xiao no longer gave her the strange feeling, she simply believed Hua Xiao's excuse, looked away, and continued to happily play with her nine-linked rings.
Hua Xiao watched the little baby having a great time. Her pink and tender profile was chubby and childlike, with a pair of dimples gently settling on her exquisitely sculpted face. She was extremely happy and didn't seem to have taken what had just happened to heart.
Hua Xiao breathed a sigh of relief and settled down to sit next to the little baby, quietly watching her play with the nine-linked rings.
The Princess's residence also has this. When the Lady of Fende County was still young a couple of years ago, she also loved to play with this, and she saw it a few times.
In her memory, this thing was just a bunch of buttons that couldn't be untied, all tangled together in a mess. No matter how you tried to untie them, they would stay the same. She really didn't understand what was so fun about it.
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