"Headbutting" is when Hou Xiangxiang and Huo Xiaolong are bored, so they put their two children on their shoulders and let them ride on their shoulders, then make them head-to-head.
This is the two kids' favorite game right now; they can't play anything else.
He Yi was worried that her daughter might hurt the child without thinking, but the two children didn't think so. One second they were fighting fiercely, and the next second they were spitting on each other's faces.
The next morning, Huo Minzhi, led by her eldest sister, came to pay her respects to Long'er.
"Greetings to Your Highness."
The little girl thought Huo Xiaolong was the same as before, no different. On a hot summer day, he sat there licking an ice pop while reading official documents.
"Minzhi is here?"
"Was the journey tiring? Did you make any new friends? You grew up in a red-light district and don't know any outsiders. You should make some close friends, like me, Da Ni'er, and Hou Xiangxiang."
Huo Minzhi's feelings for Huo Xiaolong were not the fear between master and servant, but rather more of a respect.
The older sister had previously taken her to see the dilapidated temple. The older sister said that she was abandoned there when she was a child and then taken in by them.
"It's not hard work," the little girl said, shaking her head.
"I...I've made friends!"
Minzhi's eyes sparkled as she spoke to Huo Xiaolong, saying that she was waiting for the prince to praise her.
"Where are you from? What's your name? What do you do?"
This summer in Beijing was very hot. Huo Xiaolong was in his study wearing his undershirt, with the sleeves and trouser legs rolled up high and his hair tied up. He looked like he was about to hug that big block of ice.
Huo Minzhi was more like a younger sister to her. Back when they were in the red-light district, she would run around with her every day and even taught her how to skip school.
Now that her younger sister, who doesn't often talk to outsiders, has made friends, a barrage of questions from the young girl are coming at her.
Huo Minzhi did not feel pressured, but replied to each question one by one.
"Her name is Li Yuanyuan. She's from Jiangnan and is currently a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination). She's here to take the Jinshi (the highest level of the imperial examination). Your Highness, she likes you very much. May I bring her along to visit?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jian tugged at his sister's sleeve.
Huo Xiaolong, however, grinned broadly.
"Okay, call her over to play in a bit, get her some good food, and let her try the things in the basket to see which one she likes."
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
Min Zhichong raised his eyebrows twice and hopped out.
"Your Highness is spoiling her far too much."
Li Jian reached out, picked up the ink from the desk, added some water, and started swirling it around.
Upon hearing this, Huo Xiaolong seemed to sigh, and then she spoke.
"Oh, what can I do? I was the youngest at first, what did my husband call me again? Little Potato! Now that I have these younger brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces, I have to spoil them."
"Besides, do you think I spoil them? I spoil everyone in our family."
Li Yuanyuan had no idea that Minzhi and Huo Xiaolong had such a good relationship until she stepped into the Prince's Mansion and discovered that the person she had been longing for was in that study.
"Minzhi, will the Prince come out in a little while?"
The girl from Jiangnan stared intently at the study and asked.
“Come out, it’s almost noon. The prince has to come out for lunch. She never misses a meal.”
"Then I'll wait for her here."
Huo Minzhi was speechless. The child looked up at the bright sun and then at his excited friend.
"Why don't we wait in the pavilion? There's ice there."
"good."
The child doesn't understand. If she wants to see him, she can just say so. She can knock on the door and let them know. If she's not in a hurry, she can see him. Why does she have to wait?
The little wooden basin belonging to Aunt Zhang made a sound again.
"Eat! Those girls working in the backyard, stop working and go to the front hall to eat. And you guys on the roof, come down and eat in the kitchen. We've saved some food for you."
"What are those old men doing? I told them to have the guards move that rock later. They're quite old, and if they get heatstroke, the medical bills will be a huge burden. Eat and go to sleep. Don't come out this afternoon. Come out for a stroll when it's cooler in the evening."
Li Yuanyuan noticed that both the young ladies and maids in the mansion were heading towards the front hall.
—The door creaked open.
The Prince of Zhenbei was dressed casually in plain clothes, walking around the house in sandals, making a smacking sound as he walked.
The girl was still a little dazed; she had always thought that the Prince of Zhenbei was so arrogant.
"Is Your Highness so...so casual at home?"
Huo Minzhi admired Li Yuanyuan a bit when she heard this. She really knew how to make excuses. Why didn't you just say that she was lazy and irresponsible at home?
"Yes, it's always been like this."
"I want to say a few words to her."
"Go ahead and say it."
Minzhi took Yuanyuan's little hand and strode towards Huo Xiaolong.
"Your Highness!"
Long'er stopped and turned around.
"Didn't you go out to hang out with your friends? What are you doing here?"
"This is my friend, Li Yuanyuan."
Huo Xiaolong looked down at the girl, and Yuanyuan's cheeks immediately flushed. She bowed and said...
"Greetings to Your Highness."
"No need for greetings, it's lunchtime, let's go eat."
Three tables were set up in the front hall. Huo Xiaolong sat at one table with his mother and his girlfriends, the girls sat at another table, and the maids sat at yet another table.
Such dining scenes were quite a shock to Li Yuanyuan.
"They're not maids, they're the older sisters who used to do cleaning and tidying at the brothel," Huo Minzhi explained to her friend, worried that she might not be comfortable with it.
“I know, I recognize them all. That’s Ping’er, that’s Huanlu, and that’s Wenye over there. Am I right?” Li Yuanyuan said to her with a smile.
"Oh my, this little girl is quite clever. She has memorized all the women in the women's portrait."
"That's for sure. If they can remember all of us, they must have watched it many times."
Huo Xiaolong also looked at Li Yuanyuan and asked:
Do you like reading?
"Um!"
"I especially love the prince's illustrated guide!"
"If, if it weren't for that book, if the prince hadn't gone to Jiangnan, we women would probably only be able to spend our lives in the inner quarters."
Huo Xiaolong put a chicken leg on her plate and then said...
"All I've done is give you an opportunity. How well you succeed and what path you take is up to you."
"Studying is for understanding principles and bringing peace to the world, not for myself."
Li Yuanyuan's chopsticks hovered in mid-air as she listened to the girls' every smile and frown in the room. Outsiders said that the people around the prince were all benefiting from his success.
Girls who were once considered lowly have become female generals.
But looking at it again today, Li Yuanyuan felt that it wasn't like that.
After the meal, Huo Minzhi led her to play in the garden, while the maids also got along very well with Huo Xiaolong.
She could clearly sense the doting look in the eyes of her older sisters.
To them, the Prince of Zhenbei was neither a prince nor a general, but just an ordinary younger sister who needed to be pampered and loved.
It turns out that the most beautiful and dazzling flower is also a treasure held in the palm of someone else's hand.
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