Chapter 174 Sheng Sheng is no longer a three-year-old child.
"well."
I can't figure it out, forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore.
No matter what happens between the two of them, it won't affect her being affectionate with her older sister Yan Yan.
The man who had been giving up smiled again and pulled Li Manyan along, skipping and hopping towards the riverbank.
Following the route Xie Yunchuan had told her, Li Manyan detoured around the back mountain and walked south for about fifteen minutes. Sure enough, after passing through a sparse pine forest, she saw a babbling brook.
The river was crystal clear, and the pebbles on the bottom were clearly visible. The riverbank was still shallow, and several young ladies excitedly squatted down to scoop up water and play, but they were soon deterred by the icy river water.
There weren't many fish, just a few small ones swimming in the middle of the river.
However, right next to it is a wide open meadow, covered with unknown wildflowers, all in various colors and very beautiful.
The weather is nice today. If it weren't for the cold winter weather, I would have taken off my shoes and stepped into the water.
If they couldn't play in the water, they could pick flowers. Several young ladies had asked their maids to bring small baskets to hold the flowers. One of the young ladies received one flower from Shen Shen and thanked her before happily starting to pick flowers.
"I want the white one, and the pink one too. Oh, this purple one is so pretty!"
The little dumpling grumbled as it picked flowers. After filling half a basket, it said to the flowers in the basket, "I'm sorry, flowers, I picked you without your permission, but I will definitely weave you into a beautiful wreath and won't let you become meaningless flowers!"
Li Manyan was completely charmed by her and said with a smile, "The princess can even make flower wreaths?"
"No, I don't think so," the little dumpling said calmly. "But there's always someone who can, you can ask someone else for help."
Li Manyan chuckled, "Then I'll help the princess?"
"Sister Yan Yan, you know how!"
"Yes, my aunt taught me this."
Consort Jing often summoned her to the palace to keep her company. Consort Jing had no children of her own, and she truly loved her as if she were her own daughter.
Besides frequently gifting her jewelry, Consort Jing also loved to do handicrafts with her.
For example, they could make incense or brew wine together, because Consort Jing felt that these hands-on activities were very helpful in fostering the relationship between the two.
Li Manyan also learned how to make flower wreaths from Consort Jing.
Sheng Sheng exclaimed in surprise, "Consort Jing is truly amazing! No wonder Father Emperor always says that although Consort Jing is no longer a young girl, she still retains a touch of innocence and purity."
Sheng Sheng imitated Xie Yuxiao's tone of voice, which made Li Manyan laugh again.
Li Manyan laughed and said, "I've discovered that the princess is actually a very interesting person. She always makes me laugh."
"Hehe, really?"
After laughing, Li Manyan hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "Princess, my aunt... she didn't mean any harm. What happened before was a misunderstanding, Your Highness..."
"Hmm?" He asked in confusion, then stopped picking flowers and looked up to see Li Manyan's somewhat tentative expression. He understood immediately.
Although the truth about Cuilan has come to light—that Cuilan was actually Empress Zheng's person—she had worked in Consort Jing's palace for several years, and there were still many rumors circulating that Consort Jing was also involved in the matter.
Furthermore, with Consort Jing having no children, the Fourth Prince gradually returned to the public eye, and Consort Liang seemed to be gaining status through her son. Some even speculated that Consort Jing was afraid of being threatened because she had no children, so she cooperated with Empress Zheng and secretly undermined Empress Zheng, which led to the current situation where Empress Zheng was confined to her quarters.
After Li Manyan became acquainted with Xie Yunchuan, she knew that Xie Yunchuan was fully aware of the matter, but she didn't know what Shengsheng, the person involved, was thinking.
Li Manyan had heard that the Second Princess was intelligent and had auspicious omens, but no matter what, she was only a five-year-old child. Children's likes and dislikes are the most direct and simple. Even though the truth came out, Li Manyan was worried that once the Second Princess accepted the idea that Consort Jing had harmed her, it would be difficult for her to completely change her opinion of Consort Jing.
After these few interactions with Shengsheng, Li Manyan felt that Shengsheng was a very well-behaved, cute, and intelligent child, which is why she wanted to explain things to Shengsheng.
If this second princess is unreasonable and making trouble, it doesn't matter what she thinks, since the truth is there and the second prince knows that Consort Jing has nothing to do with this matter.
It was precisely because Li Manyan had grown fond of the adorable little girl after her brief interaction with Shengsheng that she didn't want her to harbor any misunderstandings or prejudices against her aunt.
Moreover, her aunt treated her extremely well, and she certainly didn't want her aunt to be misunderstood.
Sheng Sheng is so clever; she understood Li Manyan's meaning immediately.
Sheng Sheng's feelings for this pretty young lady instantly improved even more.
After all, who wouldn't like such a sensible and filial older sister?
Li Manyan likes both herself and Consort Jing, which is why she's trying to mediate between them.
At the same time, the little dumpling also made a deep grudge against Xie Yunchuan in her heart.
Hmph, you bad brother! You're so close to Sister Yan Yan, yet you didn't even bother to explain things up for me. You almost made her misunderstand me!
“How could that be?” Sheng Sheng said sincerely. “Actually, I never thought it was Consort Jing from the beginning. After all, Consort Jing has no reason to harm me, right?”
Li Manyan felt relieved: "Really? Does the princess really think so?"
“Of course, Sheng Sheng isn’t a three-year-old anymore.” Sheng Sheng frowned, put her hands on her hips, puffed out her cheeks, and held up five fingers. “Sheng Sheng is already five years old, how could she be so unreasonable?”
Li Manyan smiled and said, "That's good. My aunt is very good to me, and I like the princess very much. Of course, I don't want there to be any misunderstanding between you and my aunt."
After saying that, seeing her frowning, Li Manyan squatted down beside her, picked out flowers of matching colors from her basket, and gently coaxed her, "Princess, don't be angry. It's all my fault. I didn't mean anything by it. How about I help you make a flower wreath?"
The little dumpling's expression changed in an instant: "Hehe, okay, then I'll take two! I'll give one to my brother!"
"Alright, what color does Your Highness like?"
"Hmm, brother always likes to wear black, but there aren't any black flowers here. So let's go with pink, since brother gave Sheng Sheng a pink carriage."
"Hmm? Doesn't the princess like the pink carriage?"
"I love it, Sister Yan Yan. Did you tell my brother to paint it pink?"
"Yes, I thought it was a little girl, and the second princess is so cute, she would probably like such a cute color as pink."
She raised an eyebrow and made an "o" shape with her mouth: "Oh~"
"What's wrong?"
"No, hehehe."
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