Chapter 881: The beloved cousin escaped from control (7)
"What's your name?" Du Shichu asked him.
"Sister Du, my cousin Ran's name is Wu Xiaoran." The Fifth Princess answered quickly on behalf of her cousin.
Wu Xiaoran pursed his lips and said nothing, letting the Fifth Princess speak for him. Du Shichu looked at him. Although he was young, he was good-looking, with picturesque features. Even if he had not grown up yet, one could already foresee his future elegance.
Du Shichu always had more patience for good-looking children, so she asked again: "Wu Xiaoran, what kind of animal do you like? I'll make one for you."
The Fifth Princess did not answer for him this time. After all, she didn't know what animal Wu Xiaoran liked, so she asked, "Yes, cousin Ran, what do you like? Sister Du can weave them, and the animals she weaves are so realistic!"
Wu Xiaoran finally raised his head and met Du Shichu's gaze. Only then did Du Shichu realize that he had a pair of very beautiful phoenix eyes, which were black, bright and clear, and gave people a very focused feeling when he looked at people.
"Shall I knit a puppy for you?" Du Shichu asked him tentatively.
Wu Xiaoran shook his head and grabbed the hem of his clothes with one hand and twisted it again and again. Du Shichu waited patiently for him to speak.
Finally, after a long while, he whispered in a somewhat hoarse voice: "...Eagle...I, want an eagle..."
"Okay, I'll weave an eagle for you." Du Shichu smiled and agreed readily. The eagle is an unruly bird of prey that soars across the sky. No one would have thought that a skinny boy likes this kind of animal.
Du Shichu was skilled and quick in weaving small animals. Although the eagle was not a common animal, it would not take long as long as one mastered the knitting skills. Therefore, it took only about a quarter of an hour for Du Shichu to finish weaving. She handed it to Wu Xiaoran and said, "Here you go."
Wu Xiaoran took it, glanced at Du Shichu quickly, and whispered: "...Thank you..."
"You're welcome. One for each of you. You and the Fifth Princess and the Sixth Prince will get the same." Du Shichu said with a smile.
"What are you guys playing?" A loud and powerful male voice suddenly sounded. Du Shichu keenly noticed that Wu Xiaoran shrank back in fear when he heard the voice, and his face immediately turned paler.
Du Shichu then remembered that he was probably thinking of his biological father who had abused him together with his stepmother. The emperor and his biological father were brothers, they looked alike, and their voices were also that of an adult man. No wonder he was afraid of similar voices as a conditioned reflex. Du Shichu patted his back with some sympathy and whispered, "Don't be afraid, it's His Majesty who has come."
The emperor walked over cheerfully and saw a group of little rascals, each holding a straw animal. He smiled and asked, "Where did you get these little things?"
"It was compiled by Sister Du for us..."
"Sister Du gave it to me..."
Everyone answered at once, jumped up to the emperor happily, and vied with each other to show off their toys to him.
The emperor took the cricket from Wu Qi's hand and looked at it carefully, then said to Du Shichu in surprise: "Chu'er, I didn't expect you to have such a skill. Your weaving is better than that of professional masters, right?"
"Your Majesty, I am too kind. Of course, I am not as good as a professional master." Du Shichu replied, "I just made it up for them to play with."
"Who did you learn this from?" the emperor asked curiously. After all, as the only daughter of the King of Qi, what precious toys did Du Shichu want? She basically could not see the small toys that the children of ordinary people liked.
"My father taught me. He learned it from the soldiers under his command..." Du Shichu said. King Qi did not actually teach the original owner how to weave these straw toys. He just learned it himself, weaved them himself, and gave them to the original owner to play with.
But even if Du Shichu lied, the emperor would not know, after all, the King of Qi was no longer around.
When the emperor heard her mention the King of Qi, the smile on his face disappeared visibly, replaced by melancholy and regret. He said, "Your father is very smart and learns things quickly. I didn't expect that he would teach you to weave these things..."
Seeing that he was about to be immersed in the emotion of missing his father again, Du Shichu quickly changed the subject and said, "Your Majesty, do you have a favorite animal? I can make one for you too."
When the emperor heard this, he really put aside his sadness and said with a smile: "Okay, I like tigers. Can you weave a tiger?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, please wait." Du Shichu said confidently.
The emperor laughed and said, "Then I'll wait!"
At this time, the emperor saw that Wu Xiaoran was also holding a straw eagle toy in his hand, and immediately lowered his voice, as if he was afraid of scaring him, and said to him softly: "Ran'er, do you like eagles? Eagles are really good! They are brave and fierce, and very powerful. The emperor's uncle likes them too. I remember that there are two eagles, one male and one female, in the Royal Beast Garden. When they give birth to eaglets, the emperor's uncle will give the eaglets to you, okay?"
Wu Xiaoran immediately raised his head, his eyes lit up. Although he still didn't say anything, the emperor obviously understood what he meant. He reached out and patted his head gently, laughing and said, "It's settled! When you have a little eagle, I'll give it to you to raise!"
The corners of Wu Xiaoran's mouth, which had been pursed, relaxed, his eyes brightened, and there was no more fear or shock on his pale face. He allowed the emperor's large, warm hand to touch his head without refusing.
Du Shichu was multitasking as he quickly weaved the tiger while watching how the emperor and Wu Xiaoran were getting along. It seemed that Wu Xiaoran had a good impression of the emperor and was not averse to his approach.
"Your Majesty, the tiger is ready." Du Shichu handed the little tiger in his hand to the emperor.
The emperor took it and looked at it again and again, and was very happy: "Chu'er, what do you want? I will give it to you!" He waved his hand and said generously.
Du Shichu shook his head: "Your Majesty, I have everything. It seems that there is nothing I want..."
"No, you must be tired after knitting so many things for everyone today. I can't let you work so hard for so long in vain." The emperor retorted, "It seems that Jiangnan sent some new cloth yesterday. I will give you some."
"No, Your Majesty, if you must give me a gift, please give me a cat from the Imperial Menagerie. I heard that Siam recently offered tribute to several precious and beautiful long-haired cats. I want one..." Du Shichu thought it would be better to raise a pet.
The emperor agreed immediately: "Okay! You can choose whichever one you like. You can go to the Imperial Zoo and choose it yourself."
"Then I won't be polite." Du Shichu was very happy.
So as he was talking, the emperor simply took a group of little ones to the zoo.
The Imperial Menagerie is the royal zoo, which houses all kinds of rare and exotic animals, including white deer, yellow tigers, black wolves and even golden snakes. When the little ones saw the snake, they were so scared that they screamed and hid behind the emperor and Du Shichu.
(End of this chapter)
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