That's so cool!
Such gentle eyes...
[It's over, she's completely smitten.]
She was captivated by Jin Jinzhi's gentle gaze.
Yun Duoduo, wake up! Although your soul is in its twenties and approaching thirty, your body is still a seven-year-old child!
She shook her head violently and wiped her mouth.
Thankfully, no drool came out.
Jin Jinzhi looked at her dazed expression and gently patted her forehead.
What's going on in this kid's head?
I don't usually see her looking so dazed.
Military Advisor Cao looked at Yun Duoduo with some doubt, [The princess's gaze is so strange...]
"Oh, by the way, this is for you."
Jin Jinzhi took out a small pear wood box from her bosom and placed it in Yun Duoduo's hands.
"What a beautiful box."
She loved every gift Jin Jinzhi gave her, and she couldn't bear to throw away the gift boxes, keeping them in the bedside table of Fu Shuang Palace.
Yun Duoduo opened the box with surprise and delight, and found a ring inside.
[Ring, ring...]
【Brother Sumire, what does this mean?】
Oh my god, oh my god, is this a marriage proposal?! My heart is pounding, sob sob sob, did this handsome guy propose to me?!
Yun Duoduo started to have wild thoughts. When she caught a glimpse of Cao Canjun's gaze behind Jin Jinzhi, she realized that she was in Nanyang and she was still a child.
Jin Jinzhi only treated her like a younger sister.
Moreover, there is no custom of giving wedding rings to signify a lifelong commitment here.
“Take a closer look at this ring,” Jin Jinzhi gestured for her to focus her attention on the small item in the box.
Yun Duoduo took the ring out of the box. The ring was shaped like a small flower. It was pretty, but Yun Duoduo felt that its design was similar to her hairpins and bracelets.
Especially her little golden hairpin, which is very similar.
[All items are now included!]
"It looks great."
[This girl is usually quite clever, how come she didn't even notice this today?]
"Turn the flower on top."
Jin Jinzhi continued.
Yun Duoduo obediently turned the flower on the ring, and suddenly a sharp stone sprang out from it, startling her so much that she jerked her head up.
Fortunately, the sharp stone tip was only exposed and did not fly out to pierce her, nor did any poison spit out.
"Wow!"
"How unique!"
Jin Jinzhi smiled slightly as she looked at her happy expression.
“Princess, you may not know, but this is the hardest stone that our prince specially sought out when he was in the northern frontier.”
Cao Canjun, on the front lines of the gossip, witnessed Jin Jinzhi and Yun Duoduo's interactions and growth along the way.
The prince is so good to the ninth princess.
"You should wear it on your wrist at all times to protect yourself."
Jin Jin put the ring on Yun Duoduo's hand.
"Um!"
Yun Duoduo nodded vigorously, then smiled and opened her arms to hug Jin Jinzhi.
"Cough cough..."
Consort Li's voice came from inside the sedan chair, pulling Yun Duoduo out of her reverie.
"Brother Jinzhi, I'm leaving now. Take good care of yourself!"
"Go."
After saying that, Yun Duoduo waved her hand and got into the carriage.
Watching the departing group, Military Advisor Cao couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, is the reason you treat the princess so well? Is it because she is the only princess in Nanyang?"
Cao Canjun couldn't understand why his master, the Prince of Jibei, hadn't shown such concern for his younger sister, Princess Jiaping, Jin Zhuangzhuang. Moreover, among the many princesses and county princesses in the Nanyang imperial family, he had never seen the prince take the initiative to show goodwill to anyone.
"She lives like the sun."
Cao Canjun scratched his head, not understanding what Jin Jinzhi was saying.
For Jin Jinzhi, Yun Duoduo was the first adorable little dumpling he had ever seen since returning from the northern frontier.
He used to think that although the world was vast, it was cold, like a poisonous scorpion or a snake flicking its tongue in the desert. Only those with a heart harder than them could survive.
But when he arrived in the capital and stayed in her palace, watching her grow up little by little, his heart slowly changed.
The outermost hard shell seemed to be slowly cracking.
Every time he saw her, a warm feeling would well up in his heart.
...
The group sat in carriages. Yun Duoduo, Consort Wan, and the Eighth Prince Yun Yidong rode in one carriage, while Consort Meng, Consort Li, and the Seventh Prince Yun Yiqiu rode in another.
Yun Duoduo couldn't stop looking at the ring on her finger, feeling very happy.
Consort Wan sat in the carriage, lifted the curtain, looked at the scenery in the suburbs, the sun was shining brightly, the autumn breeze was gentle, and she breathed in the air outside the palace, feeling very relaxed.
[Over the years, I've been able to leave the palace only thanks to the Ninth Princess.]
Consort Wan peeled an orange and handed it to Yun Duoduo, then peeled another one and handed it to Yun Yidong segment by segment.
Yun Duoduo felt somewhat uncomfortable sitting in the sedan chair as Consort Wan made overtures.
After all, the three concubines in Linhua Palace could all be the ones who killed her mother, and the matter of Jinxiu Silk Shop must also be related to one of them.
However, when she came out today, she noticed that the expressions on their faces seemed normal.
Sure enough, those who survive in the palace are all quite capable; they don't easily reveal their emotions or give away their secrets.
"Cough cough..."
Then, Li Pin's coughing could be heard from the carriage behind.
Consort Li sat in the carriage, leaning against a corner, sleeping with her eyes closed. Yun Yiqiu would occasionally wipe the cold sweat from her mother's forehead.
"Alas, Consort Li's illness shows no signs of improvement."
Previously, when Yun Duoduo and her third uncle, Prince Ning, went to Linhua Palace, they suspected that Consort Li, who had been coughing up blood, might have tuberculosis.
For this reason, she even went to the Imperial Hospital to retrieve Consort Li's medical records and prescriptions.
To determine whether it is pulmonary tuberculosis, a chest CT scan, electronic laryngoscopy, complete blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), tuberculin skin test, and tumor marker tests are required to clarify the cause.
She had no equipment and could only look at medical records. In addition, there were no signs of infection among the people around Consort Li.
She initially determined it was not tuberculosis.
"How did Consort Li contract her illness?"
Yun Duoduo ate the orange in her hand; it was sweet and sour.
"Back then, after Consort Li's daughter died, her health deteriorated," Consort Wan sighed.
"ah?"
It seems that what Aunt Xiang told her last time was true: Consort Li had another daughter after giving birth to Yun Yiqiu.
"So that means I have an older sister..."
The royal family is truly heartless. If Consort Li's daughter were a child, she should be the tenth princess, but everyone in the palace calls her the ninth princess, as if Consort Li's daughter had never existed.
Yun Duoduo sighed.
"But why haven't I heard anyone mention it?"
"Consort Li's daughter died under suspicious circumstances. The child was covered in black spots, and the imperial physicians were helpless. She didn't live long before passing away."
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