Sun Mingzhu quickly grabbed Shen Anbo and gestured with her eyes for him not to leave.
Butler Zheng urged them on, but the three of them remained motionless, like wooden stakes.
When the chief eunuch arrived, the three of them greeted him with smiles.
"Grand Eunuch, I am Marquis Shen'an. May I ask what brings you here?" Marquis Shen'an bowed respectfully.
But the chief eunuch didn't even glance at him, bypassing him and heading straight for the main hall.
When Mu Ting saw the chief eunuch arrive, he quickly summoned the rest of the Mu family.
The head eunuch, who had been wearing a cold expression just moments before, immediately put on a smile upon seeing Mu Tingzheng.
"General, you must be tired from your journey. His Majesty has specially sent this old servant to inquire after your well wishes."
Mu Tingzheng: "Thank you for your trouble, Chief Eunuch."
The head eunuch looked at the little baby on the high platform, his smile growing even brighter.
"This must be Miss Mu."
The little dumpling glanced at the head eunuch, then trotted over with its short legs and touched the long whisk in his hand.
"Is this thing made from an old lady's hair?"
The little dumpling raised its head and asked, "This whisk is so white and long, it looks just like an old lady's hair."
The head eunuch laughed heartily; it was the first time he had ever seen a little child who wasn't afraid of him.
The head eunuch handed the whisk to the little dumpling, saying, "Touch it and see if it looks like an old lady's hair."
In this dynasty, the little dumpling is the second person to be able to play with the eunuch's whisk; the first was her mother.
The little dumpling took the whisk and shook its head.
"No, the old lady's hair isn't that stiff."
The chief eunuch and Mu Tingzheng both laughed.
The head eunuch looked at the little dumpling playing with the whisk and it was as if he were seeing Princess Yuening when she was a child, just as lively and adorable.
The head eunuch had watched Princess Yuening grow up, and now that he saw her daughter, he couldn't help but shed tears.
The rest of the Mu family arrived quickly.
Mu Yanxiu spotted the little dumpling holding the whisk at a glance, and she curiously went over to her.
What are you playing?
Little dumpling: "Little niece, come closer to me."
"I don't want to."
As Mu Yanxiu spoke, her face had already moved closer.
The little dumpling chuckled as it lifted the whisk and gently stroked her face.
"Hahaha, stop, stop now."
Mu Yanxiu laughed heartily, feeling itchy.
The little dumpling immediately stopped, but Mu Yanxiu said again:
"One more time."
The two of them happily started playing again.
When Bai Mengyun saw her daughter and the little dumpling together again, she angrily went up and pulled Mu Yanxiu away.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, the head eunuch said to the little dumpling:
"Alright, my little ancestor, quickly give me the whisk, I have something to announce."
The little dumpling had had enough fun, so it returned the whisk to the head eunuch.
Mu Ting pulled the little girl over and made her kneel down beside him. The rest of the Mu family knelt down in unison.
The Shen'an family, who had been lingering outside, also knelt down and listened intently.
Jiang Yuanyuan scanned the room several times, but couldn't find Hong Gege among them.
She angrily pinched her skirt. She had originally wanted to talk to Brother Hong, but she hadn't even seen him.
"His Majesty was overjoyed to hear that the Mu family had found their long-lost daughter and wept with joy. He specially ordered his servant to come and offer his condolences. His Majesty and the Empress have also prepared a banquet for Miss Mu and invited the General's family to the palace for the banquet in two days."
After the chief eunuch finished speaking, Mu Ting clasped his hands and said:
"Your Majesty, I thank you for your great kindness."
Mu Tingzheng thought His Majesty had chosen a good date. Hong'er would be returning from Yuelu Academy tomorrow, just in time for the banquet the day after tomorrow.
The head eunuch quickly helped Mu Tingzheng up, and then helped the little dumpling up as well.
The head eunuch said, "General, I have other duties to attend to, so I will take my leave now."
Mu Tingzheng: "Please take care, Father-in-law."
The little dumpling also imitated its father, saying, "Grandpa, take care."
The eldest daughter-in-law listened to the little girl's sweet voice, and looked at her a few more times with reluctance before leaving the Mu family.
When the Shen'an Earl's family learned that the emperor would be holding a banquet in two days, they considered leaving as well.
After the head eunuch left, the little dumpling took Mu Tingzheng's hand and asked:
"Father, is His Majesty the Emperor?"
Mu Tingzheng nodded and said, "Yes, His Majesty the Emperor is your mother's brother, that is, your uncle."
"Your mother is Princess Yuening of this dynasty."
The little dumpling was stunned. So her mother was a princess, not the silly or crazy woman the people of Qinghe Town talked about.
Mu Jinxuan walked over and asked, "Little dumpling, what do you want to do today? Do you want your third brother to keep you company?"
The little dumpling thought for a moment, but she didn't know what she should do.
While the little dumpling was thinking, she saw Mu Jinchen pick up Mu Yanxiu.
Mu Jinchen: "Don't forget that you're punished by copying the Thousand Character Classic twenty times. You have to hand it in to your father today."
Mu Yanxiu's face immediately twisted in distress, and she was about to start crying and making a scene when she saw Mu Jinchen's eyes turn cold.
Remembering that she had knelt in the ancestral hall all night, Mu Yanxiu quickly covered her mouth and nodded repeatedly.
The little dumpling listened and ran over curiously.
"Big brother, let me do the copying punishment too." The little dumpling volunteered. She had never written before and didn't know what copying punishment meant; she was just curious.
Mu Yanxiu looked at her like she was an idiot and said, "Being punished by copying is just as annoying as going to school."
The little dumpling clapped its hands happily, "Yay, going to school! The little dumpling loves going to school!"
"Big brother, please let me go to school as punishment and copy texts, okay?"
The little ones had never been to school before and just thought it was something fun.
Mu Yanxiu shook her head with a bitter face, thinking to herself:
Fool! A four-year-old is a fool!
Bai Mengyun tried to stop him, but Mu Jinchen glared at her and shut her up.
Seeing that the little dumpling wanted to stay with Mu Yanxiu, Mu Jinxuan had no choice but to go and play with his second and fourth brothers.
The little dumpling insisted on going, and Mu Jinchen reluctantly agreed, carrying the two little babies, one in each arm, to the study.
The servants set up two small tables, one for each of the two little ones.
Mu Jinchen said to the little dumpling, "Little dumpling, you can just look at the book and write whatever you want. You don't need to copy it twenty times as punishment."
"As for Xiu'er, you must repeat it twenty times, not a single word less."
Mu Yanxiu pouted, clearly unconvinced, and said, "Fine!!"
The little dumpling kept playing with the calligraphy brush, imitating Mu Yanxiu by dipping it in ink and drawing on the rice paper.
Seeing the two little ones writing so earnestly, Mu Jinchen instructed the servants to keep an eye on the two young ladies and rode his horse toward the military camp.
Qiuqiu stretched and jumped onto the table to look at its little master's masterpiece.
"Tsk tsk, no wonder he has chosen his young master. Look at this calligraphy, it's exactly the same as the doctor's prescription."
"It's all just scribbles, I can't understand a thing about it!"
Qiuqiu complained a few times, then curled up and went back to sleep.
Mu Yanxiu glanced at the little dumpling and immediately burst into laughter.
"How could you even pick up the wrong pen?"
The little boy clutched the pen in his hand and asked, puzzled, "Isn't that right?"
"Your aunt is so silly, I have to teach you even this."
Mu Yanxiu got up and sat down next to the little dumpling.
"Watch closely, I'll teach you just once."
Mu Yanxiu corrected the little girl's hand and showed her the correct way to hold a pen.
Mu Yanxiu then spread out the Thousand Character Classic, saying, "Now, write according to the characters on the calligraphy template."
The little dumpling praised, "Wow, my little niece is really amazing!"
Upon being praised by the little dumpling, Mu Yanxiu couldn't hide her joy and pride, and turned her back like a schoolteacher.
Qiuqiu opened one eye, looked at the words Mu Yanxiu had written, and immediately frowned.
It looks awful, just like a little dumpling's scribbles.
It's true what they say, the second-to-last student teaching the last student; one dares to teach, and the other dares to listen.
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