129. The "wise" version of Xie Wenling
The Duke of Anguo's Mansion.
Qu Zijin and Xiao Tuanzi were invited into the mansion.
"Little Moon! Grand Tutor!" Lin Fuman rushed over, lifting her skirt, the pearl flowers in her hair bouncing merrily with her movements. "You've finally arrived!"
The little dumpling rushed up to her with delight: "Sister Fufu!"
Lin Fuman grabbed the little dumpling's hand and bowed to Qu Zijin: "Greetings, Grand Tutor! How about we take a stroll in the garden? The flowers there will be blooming soon!"
Duke Anguo and his concubine Li Yuniang watched her with indulgence.
Seeing that she got straight to the point, skipping the long and meaningless social interactions, Qu Zijin felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly nodded: "Very good, very good."
At this moment, the little dumpling noticed two people standing not far away—Lin Lingrong and his legal wife, Gan Fanggui.
Lin Lingrong lowered her head, her fingers tightly gripping her mother's sleeve.
"Big sister!" The little dumpling walked over and said, "Aunties, hello!"
Gan Fanggui forced a smile and gently nudged her daughter: "Lingrong, go play with your sisters."
Lin Lingrong bit her lip, her feet seemingly rooted to the ground.
The little boy took her hand and said, "Big sister, let's go see the flower ducks together?"
Lin Lingrong's hands were cold and stiff, but under the warm palm of the little dumpling, they finally relaxed a little.
The little girl held Lin Lingrong's hand in one hand and Lin Fuman's hand in the other, and the three girls walked side by side in front.
With Qu Zijin by his side, the atmosphere finally eased a bit.
However, Lin Lingrong remained silent, while Qu Zijin was still nervously memorizing his lines. Duke Anguo, seeing his busy expression, wanted to speak but was unsure whether he should.
The little dumpling looked left and right, unsure of what to do.
Lin Fuman, on the other hand, quickly started looking for topics to talk about—
“Look at those butterflies over there!” Lin Fu pointed to the flowerbed. “Don’t they look like they’re dancing in blue dresses?”
The little dumpling quickly chimed in, "So beautiful! Does big sister like butterflies?"
Lin Lingrong gave a soft "hmm," but her eyes unconsciously drifted towards Lin Fuman.
But when Lin Fuman looked at her, she quickly lowered her head again.
Lin Fuman seemed oblivious, smiling as she struck up a conversation with her, gesturing as she said, "Sister, shall we go fly kites together in the spring? I'll make one shaped like a twin lotus flower; it'll definitely fly really high!"
Lin Lingrong paused slightly, her gaze sweeping over Lin Fu's expectant face before quickly lowering her eyes again: "We'll talk about it later."
Her voice was very soft, as soft as a feather falling on the water, leaving no trace.
The little dumpling sensed the awkward atmosphere and quickly pointed to a cluster of brightly blooming chrysanthemums by the roadside: "Big sister, look how pretty the flowers are!"
Upon hearing the word "flower," Lin Fu's eyes lit up, and she took out an exquisite blue cloth box: "Oh right, I brought my mother some calming flower tea. I heard she doesn't sleep well at night, so this..."
According to the regulations of this dynasty, regardless of whether they are born of the principal wife or not, all children call the principal wife "mother".
Aunts, regardless of whether they are one's biological mother or not, are all addressed as "Auntie".
“No need,” Lin Lingrong interrupted. “The doctor specifically instructed that it’s best not to use medicines of unknown origin.”
Her attitude was quite clear.
She did not trust Lin Fuman.
"Ah..." Lin Fu put the box back with a bit of helplessness, thinking about whether there was any other topic to talk about.
A gust of autumn wind swept by, and a few withered leaves drifted down from the branches.
Lin Fuman subconsciously reached out to brush the withered leaves off Lin Lingrong's shoulder, but before her fingers even touched the fabric, Lin Lingrong recoiled as if burned.
“…You used to hate these things because they made your hands dirty.” Lin Lingrong stared at her hand, which was suspended in mid-air, full of vigilance.
Lin Fuman's hand froze in mid-air. She slowly withdrew it, looking down at the embroidered patterns on her skirt: "I'm sorry, sister. I was... too willful before. Can you forgive me, sister?"
Lin Lingrong did not answer immediately.
After a long silence, she asked softly, "What exactly do you want?"
The little dumpling stood between the two, her palms sweating.
She glanced discreetly at the adults not far behind her and noticed they were looking in her direction.
Aunt Li Yuniang's gaze shifted back and forth between Lin Fuman and Lin Lingrong, her brows furrowing slightly as if she were pondering something.
Faced with Lin Lingrong's questioning, Lin Fuman said earnestly, "After dying once, I understood a lot of things. I don't want anything, I just want my sister to give me a chance. We are like twin lotus flowers, born from the same root, but always back to back... But I hope to be face to face with my sister and see the scenery together."
Lin Lingrong's eyelashes trembled slightly, and the little dumpling felt her cold fingers curl up, as if trying to grab something, or as if trying to escape.
The three of them silently turned a corner and suddenly a tranquil pond appeared before them.
Lin Fuman proceeded according to plan, excitedly pointing into the water: "Look! That's a twin lotus!"
Atop the azure waves stood a lotus bud with two pink and white blossoms, their petals nestled close together, gleaming like pearls in the light.
Qu Zijin spoke up at the opportune moment: "Duke Anguo, look, these twin lotus flowers symbolize the deep affection between sisters. Ancient books say that the appearance of twin lotus flowers in the home is an auspicious thing."
Duke Anguo asked with some confusion, "Strange, why are lotus flowers suddenly appearing in our manor? It's already autumn!"
"I found it!" Lin Fu skipped and hopped ahead. "Daddy, isn't it beautiful?"
Standing to the side, Concubine Li Yuniang said softly, "Master, ever since last time, Fufu has been thinking about playing with Lingrong every day. Isn't this a perfect omen of harmonious sisterhood, like twin lotus blossoms?"
Lin Lingrong's hand was being held by the little dumpling, who looked up at her and noticed that her eyelashes were trembling slightly.
"I..." Lin Lingrong had just opened her mouth when Lin Fuman hopped over like a little sparrow, took out a paper packet from her pocket containing pine nut candy: "Sister, here you go!"
The little dumpling couldn't help but swallow hard as it looked at the shiny candy.
It looks so sweet, I want to eat it.
But the older sister has to eat first.
Then the little girl looked at Lin Lingrong again. She noticed that Lin Lingrong's fingers moved, but in the end she didn't reach out to take it.
Lin Fuman held the oil paper package, feeling somewhat conflicted.
Just then, Qu Zijin came over and took the opportunity to defuse the situation, taking a piece of candy from Lin Fuman's hand and putting it into the pond: "Let's feed the fish."
In light of Lin Fuman's previous drowning incident, Duke Anguo ordered craftsmen to surround all the ponds with railings overnight.
The children then clung to the railing and stood by the pond.
The sweet sugar floated in the water, and soon several koi carp swam over.
Lin Fuman happily used the remaining sugar to feed the fish.
The little dumpling was a bit disappointed that it didn't get any candy, but it was quickly drawn to the brightly colored koi.
She tugged at Lin Lingrong's sleeve: "Sister, look at the fish!"
There was a koi with bright red scales that looked exceptionally vibrant. The little girl stared at it intently, then clapped her hands happily: "Look at that fish! It's so red, it looks like Brother Xie!"
Lin Fuman quickly came over: "Where? Where? Which fish looks like a handsome guy?"
Qu Zijin also looked over curiously, and the two of them soon saw the fish that Xiao Tuanzi had mentioned.
It is indeed very eye-catching, but...
Qu Zijin looked at the fish with its exceptionally intelligent eyes, one on each side, and listened as the little dumpling firmly said it looked like "Brother Xie"...
He felt a little... like he wanted to laugh.
He didn't mean to, but just thinking about Xie Wenling's eyes shifting a certain distance in each direction made him a little unable to resist.
So he quickly took two steps back, ignoring the little dumpling's rambling, which prevented him from bursting out laughing on the spot.
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