She looked completely innocent: "Why are you looking at me like that? Anyway, I won't agree to you going fishing. My mother said not to go near the water easily, because those who drown are the ones who can swim."
"..."
The maids around him looked at him strangely, finding it quite unusual.
The Liu family's granddaughter speaks slowly and softly. She is bold, but actually timid. When the young prince mentioned that he could swim, she dared to say, "Those who drown are all those who can swim."
If this were someone else, Ji Pingxi might have become furious.
When she was most playful, she wouldn't listen to anyone's advice, but she was close to Yuzhi, and seeing that she really wouldn't let her go, her bristling hair slowly calmed down.
If you don't want to go, then you don't have to go.
Yu Zhi gently stroked her head to comfort her, but the little princess flung her hand away.
"My mother said that if people always touch your head, you won't grow tall!"
Yu Zhi treated her like a friend and a younger sister, and said seriously, "No, you love drinking milk so much, you will definitely grow very tall in the future. The emperor and empress are very tall."
Ji Pingxi's lips curled up: "Really? Will he grow taller than you?"
Yu Zhi fell silent.
I've decided to drink two big bowls of fresh goat milk when I get home!
"I want to be taller than you." She gestured: "This much taller!"
"..."
Yu Zhi scoffed, "You're dreaming."
"It's not a dream!"
Two years ago, the little princess was much more obedient than she is now. Now she not only learns to climb trees, but she also dares to talk back to her. Yu Zhi instinctively felt that her position as the "older sister" was threatened, so she decided to leave her alone for a while to let her calm down.
Before the little princess could calm down, the Empress rushed over with her entourage.
Ji Pingxi's eyes lit up: "Mother—"
He rushed into the Empress's arms like a gust of wind.
Yan Xiu steadied herself.
"Mother, Xixi wants to eat the glutinous rice cake you make..."
"All you do all day long is make your mother worry. There's no glutinous rice cake, only your father's beating."
Yan Xiu is a loving mother, while Ji Ying is a strict father. Their daughter frequently climbs walls and trees, her playful nature becoming increasingly dangerous each time.
Three months ago, I said I was going fishing, but I ended up falling into the lake. Luckily, it was summer, so I didn't get too cold.
Two months ago, I became obsessed with playing with rabbits. I would stay up late at night to look for their burrows with a lantern. When I couldn't find the burrows, one of the rabbits kicked me on the shoulder—luckily, it was just a kick on the shoulder. If the rabbit had scratched my face, she would have been crying!
Not to mention that her orange cat had a bald patch a while ago. The more Yanxiu thought about it, the more she realized that she could no longer indulge her daughter.
She realized that indulging a child is like killing him, and decided to delegate authority to Ji Ying in disciplining the women.
Upon hearing "Father's punishment," Xiao Changyang's face fell, and he turned to run away.
She doesn't want to be punished by her father!
Father has been so fierce lately!
She tried to run away, but Yan Xiu wasn't about to let her. She grabbed her daughter by the back of her collar and smiled at Yu Zhi: "We can't spoil her anymore. She's getting more and more unruly."
Yu Zhi paused slightly, then slowly nodded.
Seeing her nod, Ji Pingxi felt betrayed by her best friend: "Zhizhi! Why aren't you on my side! Whose side are you really on?"
"You're so disrespectful! You should call me 'elder sister'!" Yan Xiu scolded.
The little princess looked aggrieved: "Hmph! She doesn't side with me, I don't want her to be my older sister! Zhizhi, are you even my friend?"
Yu Zhi knew she was faking tears, but she couldn't help but soften. After hesitating for a moment, she advised, "Anyway, you can't climb trees anymore. You can't stay up all night looking for rabbit burrows anymore, and you definitely can't sneak off to the lakeside now that it's autumn..."
She remembered everything meticulously, and Ji Pingxi blushed as she spoke gently and softly. In the end, unable to bear it any longer, he covered his ears with his hands, his face full of pain.
Look, this is her best friend!
Why do her best friends always remember her embarrassing moments?
"...In short, you must listen to Her Majesty."
Ji Pingxi sobbed, "Zhizhi, you're so long-winded..."
Yuzhi: "..."
Yu Zhi shut her mouth, not wanting to talk to her.
The little princess, who had been caught and brought back, received a beating from her father, becoming as wilted and sullen as an eggplant after autumn frost. She remained obedient for only a few days before reverting to her old ways.
Yuzhi has been her "study companion" for almost three years. The responsibility she shoulders has gradually shifted from "playing with her" to "studying with her." She not only has to complete the homework assigned by her teacher, but also supervise her playful little princess to finish her homework.
Ji Pingxi is clever and can learn anything well, but he is playful and cannot compare to Yu Zhi, who lost her father at a young age and did her best in everything so as not to be looked down upon by outsiders.
Despite being five years younger, she had already finished reading Mencius, while the little princess was still a little short of finishing the Analects.
While studying, the person ran away again.
Yu Zhi sat in Yangchun Palace and sighed at the void.
"Zhizhi! Zhizhi! Look what good thing I found!"
Ji Pingxi ran in excitedly.
Ever since Yu Zhi spoke up for the Empress and didn't side with her, she stopped calling her "sister."
Yu Zhi was saddened and depressed for several days because of this, but she did not try to correct it and believed in letting things take their natural course.
At home, she was a spoiled little girl, but after entering the palace and coming to the side of the little princess, she always encouraged herself as the "older sister" and wanted to set a good example.
To save face, she suppressed her childhood whims and tendency to cry.
The curtain was lifted, and Princess Changyang strode in, a smile on her face. She didn't shout or yell when she didn't see anyone, and remained silent when she did, acting all mysterious.
Yu Zhi's curiosity was piqued, and she put down her book: "What's wrong? What do you want me to see?"
"Close your eyes."
Yu Zhi closed her eyes with relief, and soon felt something on her shoulder. She reached out to touch it, but couldn't figure out what it was for a moment.
"Can I open my eyes now?"
Ji Pingxi looked like he was doing something naughty, covering his mouth and chuckling, but then immediately became serious: "That's enough."
Yu Zhi sensed something was wrong when she suddenly became so serious. She held the soft object in her hand, opened her eyes, and was completely terrified.
"Isn't it amazing—"
"ah!"
A scream.
Having known her for several years, Ji Pingxi had never heard her make such a sharp sound before, and he was so frightened that he took a half step back.
Yu Zhi threw the 'frog' away as fast as she could, her face pale, her eyes reddening within moments, tears welling up and threatening to spill.
She considered herself a 'little adult' and didn't want to appear timid in front of Xi Xi, who was five years younger than her. Yet, she was also genuinely angry and frightened. She looked up, her eyes red-rimmed, and said, "You... how could you..."
Her voice trembled, and Princess Changyang was startled by her appearance, unable to speak.
Yu Zhi held back her tears and looked at her one last time before running away in a disheveled state.
Almost all the palace servants in Yangchun Palace witnessed Miss Yu rushing out of the door in tears, and they were all puzzled—what had their little princess done to offend someone?
Inside the hall, Ji Pingxi stood there stunned for a long while before remembering to pick up the toy she had been lying on the ground, muttering to himself, "It's made of dough, it's not real..."
She seems to have... she seems to have scared Zhizhi?
Xuanwu Street, the Yu family residence.
Yu Zhi, who had rushed back in a panic, nestled in her mother's arms, her legs weak, and cried, "How could she do this... I... I don't want to be her older sister anymore..."
She cried uncontrollably, her voice choked with sobs, "I'll never talk to her again!"
Liu Boyan had previously been quite grateful to have the little princess in her home; Zhizhi seemed to have grown much bolder and was showing a lot of responsibility as an older sister.
But today, when I saw my daughter running back crying without saying a word, my heart was in my throat.
After finding out what had happened, she was both amused and distressed, and genuinely felt sorry for her daughter who had been so frightened that she had stopped pretending. She patted her daughter's back and said, "My good Zhizhi, don't cry, don't cry..."
Yu Zhi hiccuped in anger, clenching her fists, her eyes blurry with tears: "She went too far!"
The following day, a crisp autumn breeze blew.
Ji Pingxi waited early at the entrance of Yangchun Palace, but instead of seeing anyone, she received the bad news from a palace servant: "Miss has requested 'sick leave' today and will not be coming."
The illness was fake; Zhizhi's anger was real.
Princess Changyang sadly hugged the little rabbits and kittens made of dough—all cute designs, with no scary frogs or mice.
Unfortunately... I prepared a lot of little things to apologize and make amends, but no one paid any attention to them.
Before this, she had always thought that Zhizhi was very brave.
So his boldness was just an act.
She touched her nose, feeling guilty, yet also strangely intrigued: Zhizhi looked taller and older than her, a full five years older, but was much more timid than her.
Is this what my mother always meant by "you can't judge a book by its cover"?
"She's not really going to ignore me, is she?"
She grabbed the rabbit's ear, wrote an apology letter, then turned around and prepared a lot of other things, instructing the palace servants to send them out.
...
Meanwhile, in the Yu family, upon learning that the frog from that day was made of dough by a craftsman, Yu Zhi's blush lingered for a long time.
Liu Boyan couldn't tease her daughter anymore, so she spoke up for the little princess indirectly: "Look, she knows she was wrong and wrote you a letter to apologize. Shouldn't you forgive her?"
As Yu Zhi pinched the dough cat's front paws, she couldn't help but laugh. She couldn't hold back her laughter and felt even more ashamed to face anyone afterward.
A fake product made her lose her composure. Xi Xi is so smart, she must know that her previous boldness was all an act.
She covered her face in embarrassment, saying one thing but meaning another: "I won't forgive her, it's her fault for scaring me."