The Tenth Prince, however, stared intently at the girl, Zhao Jia and Yue, without blinking. He took a liking to the feisty little girl at first sight; she was just like him!
Few women could catch his eye, but this girl, not even ten years old, was one. He had thought it was just a chance encounter and that he would never see her again, but he never expected to meet her here today.
As the Tenth Prince put it, "That spirited and bold attitude isn't something everyone can have." He then chuckled.
The Ninth Prince had a toothache and hit him hard on the forehead with his fan: "Wake up! You really have a unique eye for talent. I admire you to the extreme."
The Tenth Prince covered his head and cried out "Ouch!" with a mournful look in his eyes, but then he smiled and said, "Since she is a princess of the Marhan family, she will definitely be selected for the imperial concubine selection in the future. At that time, I will ask Consort Yi to make her my wife."
The Ninth Prince's eyebrows twitched, both annoyed and amused: "How old is she? How old are you? Can you wait? Father has already begun arranging primary consorts for you and me. Do you think Father would take a fancy to a mere young girl like her?"
The Tenth Prince blinked, gave a disappointed "Oh," then slapped his forehead, his eyes lighting up: "Then I'll ask Father Emperor to make her my concubine. I can wait."
"You're hopeless." The Ninth Prince glared at him speechlessly, then turned and saw Fu Qing following behind him. His heart skipped a beat, fearing that Fu Qing had heard their conversation. Fu Qing was hanging his head, lost in thought.
The Ninth Prince glared at the Tenth Prince, noticing his bewildered expression. He felt a pang of sympathy; the Tenth Prince was truly an idiot, unable to see through this.
Patting Fu Qing on the shoulder, the Ninth Prince smiled and said, "Fu Er, what are you thinking about? You've been so quiet."
Fu Qing snapped out of his daze with an "Ah," blinked blankly, then seemed to remember something, his gaze falling on the Tenth Prince. He bit his lip and said softly, "Does the Tenth Prince like the Seventh Sister?"
The two were taken aback. The Ninth Prince hadn't expected Fu Qing to be so direct, and the Tenth Prince hadn't expected Fu Qing to ask such a question. He blushed with embarrassment, but then he thought that the girl was also familiar with Fu Qing, and that he might be able to get to know her better through this boy. So he nodded happily. Just as he was about to say something, the Ninth Prince patted him on the shoulder and gave him a warning glare. The Tenth Prince scratched his head, puzzled.
Fu Qing looked even more disappointed, but muttered to himself, "But Seventh Sister might not like you."
The Tenth Prince glared fiercely, his eyes wide with menacing fury: "What did you say?"
Fu Qing shrank his neck and quickly shook his head: "No, it's nothing. Please come to the flower hall for tea, gentlemen."
The Ninth Prince quickly grabbed the angry Tenth Prince: "Don't forget why we came here. Eighth Brother is still waiting." He then smiled at Fu Qing and said: "We heard that you have acquired an authentic work by Tang Yin. Eighth Brother also likes to collect calligraphy and paintings, so we came to take a look."
Fu Qing was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized what he meant and quickly stepped aside, gesturing with his hand: "Please, gentlemen."
The Ninth Prince dragged the reluctant Tenth Prince to Fu Qing's room, casually asking on the way, "Fu Er, are you very familiar with the little princess of the Marhan family?"
Upon hearing this, the Tenth Prince immediately perked up his ears.
Fu Qing, unsuspecting, nodded honestly, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Seventh Sister is a frequent visitor to our household, and she is very close to my younger sister."
"Oh, I see. Then you must be very close." The Ninth Prince waved his fan, glanced at the Tenth Prince, and saw him glaring angrily at Fu Er, as if he would beat him up if he didn't agree with what Fu Er said. He sighed slightly, patted the Tenth Prince heavily on the shoulder, and signaled him to be mindful of the occasion.
The Tenth Prince panted heavily, turned his face away, but his ears remained perked up, listening carefully to Fu Qing's reply.
"Of course, Seventh Sister is a very nice person, and everyone in our household likes her very much."
The Tenth Prince's eyes blazed with fury, but he had no choice but to swallow his anger under the Ninth Prince's warning gaze.
*
The next day, Heyue found the calligraphy written by the original owner early in the morning and began to practice copying it. In the afternoon, she practiced embroidery. For several days in a row, although she made some progress, she was ultimately unable to make it exactly the same as the original owner.
Fortunately, Heyue didn't have high expectations of herself and wasn't discouraged.
However, she always pricked her hand with the needle when practicing embroidery. Occasionally, she would seek guidance from Fucha Yuxiu, and she was finally able to embroider some flowers and plants.
Yan Yue had asked her to go horseback riding several times, but she refused each time, saying she needed to practice calligraphy and embroidery. Yan Yue was a little annoyed: "Oh, what's the point of practicing? Our family doesn't care about these things. What's the use of you being good at it? You're not going to turn into a bookworm again, are you?"
Yan Yue covered her face in horror, on the verge of tears: "I was wrong. I shouldn't have hoped that you would be the same as before. You were more adorable a few days ago."
Heyue chuckled at her sixth sister's appearance: "I'll remember what you said, sixth sister. You're not allowed to look down on me in the future. But I still need to practice now, so I'll go out with you again when my calligraphy and embroidery are good enough."
Yan Yue sighed, resting her chin on her hand in boredom, staring sullenly at what she had embroidered, as if looking at her enemy. Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she pointed: "Seventh Sister, why did you embroider a duck?"
He Yue's hand trembled, and she picked up the embroidery to examine it closely. She pouted in annoyance and said, "You're talking nonsense. I clearly embroidered a goose."
"Pfft, hahaha, this isn't a goose at all! It's clearly a long-necked duck." Yan Yue laughed so hard she fell onto the couch. Suddenly, she stopped laughing and blinked in confusion. "Why are you embroidering a goose? I thought you were going to embroider mandarin ducks."
He Yue tilted her head and chuckled, "Because when I see water, I think of geese, geese, geese, with their necks outstretched and singing to the sky. See how wonderful and evocative that is?"
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