108. Estate
"What kind of duck is Junzhu?" Little Tuanzi was confused by Wei Xiuming's question.
Xie Wenling's expression changed slightly; he could no longer stand there and watch the show. "Your Majesty, this is inappropriate. The Princess of Fukang County is already a noblewoman. If she is to be granted the title of Princess of the County without any merit, it may invite criticism."
Wei Xiuming glanced at him: "Do I have to be at the mercy of others just to be granted the title of princess?"
"Your Majesty," Xie Wenling lowered his voice, "a tall tree catches the wind. The princess is still young, I fear..."
A three-year-old county princess with no real power or fiefdom would be the envy of everyone, and if she also had the reputation of being a lucky star, she would be sought after by people.
But the princess is different.
This will inevitably attract envy from others, followed by scheming.
Xie Wenling himself didn't care about being in the limelight; he just liked riding the waves.
But not the little one; she's so young and naive, it would be too dangerous for her.
Wei Xiuming looked at the bewildered little dumpling, then at Xie Wenling who looked nervous, and finally understood. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Alright, then grant the Marquis of Beiding's estate three hundred households, and record it under the county princess's name."
In this way, it appears that the emperor has bestowed the entire Marquis's estate upon the Marquis, and while three hundred households of fiefdoms may not seem like much, it is enough for the little dumpling.
He achieved his goal of receiving the reward without arousing jealousy from others.
Wei Xiuming smiled and looked at the little dumpling: "How is it?"
Although the little dumpling didn't understand the meaning of "food fief," seeing the emperor smile, it cheered up too: "Okay, thank you!"
-
The little dumpling was escorted to the gate of the Marquis's residence by Xie Wenling, and then skipped and hopped back to the Marquis of Beiding's residence.
As soon as she entered the door, she saw her parents sitting and chatting while waiting for her.
"Daddy! Mommy!" The little dumpling cheered and rushed over, "Yue'er is back! The Emperor said he's going to feed Yue'er fish!"
Marquis Beiding and Jiang Xiyue were both stunned: "What?"
Jiang Xiyue hugged her daughter and asked, "Yue'er, tell me slowly, what did the Emperor say?"
The little dumpling tilted its head, trying hard to recall, "The Emperor said... said he really liked the toy Yue'er gave him, and wanted to reward Yue'er with fish..."
She counted on her fingers: "It seems to be three hundred households or something, but Yue'er only has ten fingers, and even counting her feet, she only has twenty. It's a bit hard to count..."
"A fief of three hundred households?!" Marquis Beiding realized what was happening and stood up abruptly, knocking over his teacup.
Just then, the steward rushed in: "My lord! My lady! An imperial decree has arrived!"
The whole family rushed to the front yard to receive the imperial decree.
It was indeed a fiefdom of three hundred households.
"Your subject...accepts the imperial decree and expresses gratitude..."
No sooner had the eunuch delivering the imperial decree left than Jin Qizhi and his second brother rushed over from the backyard.
The second brother entered the door shouting, "Little sister! I heard you've been granted a fiefdom?"
Although Jin Qizhi tried to remain calm, she couldn't hide the surprise in her eyes: "Sister, what's going on?"
The little dumpling was surrounded by the whole family: "Yue'er just... just gave the Emperor a little jumping frog..."
"A little frog?" Jin Qizhi was puzzled. "You actually gave the emperor a frog? No, what kind of frog would earn the emperor a fiefdom?"
Jiang Xiyue hugged her daughter and carefully inquired about her experiences in the palace that day.
The clothes and jewelry sent to the palace were all chosen by Xiao Tuanzi first, and then she would inspect and approve them, for fear of any mistakes or accidents.
The little frog was something that the little dumpling secretly slipped in herself.
The little dumpling's thought process in doing this was also very simple—
She originally intended to keep it for herself, but then she thought about it and realized that among all the people she was supposed to give gifts to, the emperor seemed to be the only one with the most boring life.
Everyone else has friends and toys, even the Consort Xian has a little princess to play with, but the Emperor is all alone, with neither friends nor toys.
I also have to attend the court sessions that my father says are very boring every day, and I can't ask for leave.
...It's so pitiful to think about.
So the little dumpling reluctantly parted with the toys she wanted to keep, secretly slipping them into her bundle when her mother wasn't looking, and presented them to the emperor.
After hearing the little dumpling's entire story, Jiang Xiyue was deeply moved: "Our Yue'er also received such a big reward by accident..."
The Marquis of Beiding stroked his daughter's hair: "His Majesty really likes you... A fief of three hundred households, all that's missing is a proper fiefdom for you..."
"Moon doesn't understand..." The little dumpling looked up, a little troubled. "What is 'eating fish'? Does it mean Moon will have three hundred fish to eat every day from now on? That's so many! Even if everyone comes to eat, we can't finish them all. Maybe we should release the fish..."
Marquis Beiding explained, "It's not about eating fish, it's about a fief. A fief is a territory granted by the emperor, and a portion of the income from that fief will go to you, Yue'er. Simply put, our Yue'er will have a lot of money."
"Really? Money? Then Yue'er can buy lots and lots of candy?" The little dumpling's eyes lit up.
Everyone was amused by these naive words.
The second brother scooped up his sister and spun her around in the air: "It's more than just candy! Our Yue'er is a rich lady now!"
"Be polite!" Jiang Xiyue gently reprimanded, "Watch your words!"
Marquis Beiding solemnly said, "Yue'er, this is the Emperor's favor upon you, and also his high regard for our Marquis Beiding Mansion. You must remember this honor."
The little dumpling nodded as if it understood but not quite.
Marquis Beiding then said, "Since Yue'er has received such an honor, she should go to the ancestral hall to pay respects to our ancestors tomorrow."
"Yes, yes!"
"And a banquet will be held..."
Just as the whole family was having a lively discussion, Marquis Beiding suddenly remembered something: "By the way, Yue'er, you didn't say anything else, did you? Like, that I didn't want to go to court and deliberately made up an excuse to ask for leave or something..."
"Ah... this..."
-
early morning.
Today was another day of learning horseback archery.
Qu Zijin stood in the familiar place, looking at the group of little devils in front of him with lingering fear.
Today was the day to actually practice archery, not just the theory. He was genuinely afraid they would cause some trouble again.
He had specially changed into a smart riding and archery outfit today, but it still couldn't hide his scholarly air.
"Gentlemen," he cleared his throat, "today we will continue our archery practice. I will now distribute special bows and arrows to you. You will need to use these bows and arrows to shoot at the target ten paces in front of you."
The happiest person to learn riding and archery was the second older brother. He jumped up excitedly: "Finally, I don't have to stay in the dull classroom to memorize books anymore!"
The little dumpling stood to the side, curiously examining the bows and arrows that Qu Zijin had distributed.
The bow was made of soft bamboo strips, and the arrows were round-headed wooden sticks with cloth balls covered in paint at the top.
"What is 'jie'?" the little dumpling asked, tilting its head.
“This is a specially made martial arts bow and arrow that won’t hurt anyone,” Qu Zijin said, picking up a small bow to demonstrate. “See that target over there? We’re going to use this to shoot the paint onto it.”
The little princess leaned over and poked the little dumpling's cheek: "Little Moon, your bow is half your height!"
Indeed, it's as wide as her.
The little boy tried to hold the bow in his arms, but he stumbled and almost fell over by the bow, which made everyone burst into laughter.
"Silence! Silence!" Qu Zijin clapped his hands. "Now, everyone, assume the correct bow-holding posture that I taught you before."
Everyone got into position.
"Very good, now we don't need to nock an arrow, let's try drawing the bow first."
Everyone's faces turned red as they strained to draw their bows.
The little dumpling also tried its best to pull the bowstring: "Heave-ho, heave-ho."
She stepped one foot onto the bow and pulled with both hands.
Although it was very irregular, Qu Zijin chose to turn a blind eye.
After all, he couldn't expect a three-year-old to use a bow that was half her height in the correct posture.
The little dumpling succeeded; her body bent slightly, and she pulled the straight string into an arc.
She tried very hard, but quickly ran out of strength. Her hand loosened slightly, and the string immediately snapped back.
The little dumpling quickly bent down to try and grab the string back, but only heard a "snap" sound.
The bowstring snapped against his face, leaving a red mark.
"Waaah..." The little dumpling covered her face, her eyes brimming with tears.
Qu Zijin quickly came over and squatted down: "What's wrong? What's wrong? Let me see..."
He gently pried open the little dumpling's hand and breathed a sigh of relief: "It's okay, it's just a little red, it doesn't hurt..."
Qu Zijin comforted the child while blowing on the aching Feifei. The once stern and unsmiling tutor, who hated his job, was now quite adept at coaxing the child.
“Alright,” Qu Zijin then decided to teach her step by step, “Let’s continue. Princess, you should hold the bow like this…”
He taught the little dumpling to pose properly, and the little dumpling learned very seriously, her pink little face scrunched up.
"Now, let's nock the arrows and try drawing the bow—"
"Heave-ho!" The little dumpling exerted all its strength, its face turning red, but it only managed to pull the bowstring open a tiny bit.
"very nice."
"Whoosh—"
An arrow suddenly flew past and hit the bullseye, splashing out a red paint flower.
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