After sitting for a while longer, Father put away his fishing rod and pulled me up. "I promised A Cheng to play chess with him. Do you want to come along?"
I glanced at Yu Chi Cheng, who was extremely well - behaved in front of Father, and shook my head.
Father stroked my head and said, "Alright. Xi He, go back by yourself, okay?"
I nodded extremely obediently. Yu Chi Cheng gave me a meaningful look and then followed Father away. I made a face at his back.
Annoying guy! He always bullies me and won't let me tell on him.
...
I watched their backs for a while and then returned to my Twin Palace. Brother wasn't there yet, so I sneaked into his left chamber. After a while of playing around, I gasped and went back to my right chamber.
Not long after, Brother came back. Seeing his extremely messy bedroom, he shouted at me. I immediately lay back on the bed and pretended to be asleep.
Brother rushed in angrily, grabbed me up as soon as he saw me, his hair standing on end with anger. "Yong Xi He, you've been messing with my paintings again? I spent days painting those!"
I pretended to be groggy, propped myself up, and rubbed my eyes. "Really? But I've been lying in bed all day today..."
"Lying in bed all day?" Brother looked at me in disbelief. Then he noticed the shoes on the ground, picked them up, and asked me, "You've been lying in bed all day, but there's mud and grass on the edges of your shoes. There are even your footprints on my painting. Do you want to go and check it out with me?"
After saying that, he pulled me out of bed. I couldn't help but shout, "Oh, Brother, I'm sorry. I was wrong, okay?"
Yong Zi Ming then let go of me and sighed helplessly. "You just love causing me trouble!"
At that moment when he sighed, I suddenly had an illusion. It was as if Brother was Mother and I was Brother... or maybe Brother was Father and I was Mother...
Well, I know it's wrong to laugh at Mother behind her back... So I chose to shut up obediently.
...
The conflict between Brother and me dissipated because of such a thing. It was only when I had dinner with my younger siblings in the evening that I realized something was off about today's events.
Xi Yao was sitting next to me. She tried to pick out the lean meat and put all the fatty meat on my plate. Seeing this, I transferred it to Brother. Brother gave it a disdainful look and threw it to Zi Zhen. Zi Zhen looked at us pretending to be oblivious helplessly and then ate it in one bite.
So, we thanked Mother again for giving us such a good younger brother who could eat so much meat. Moreover, except for a bit of baby fat on his face, he wasn't fat at all.
Zi Zhen always emphasized that it was the result of his martial arts practice, but Brother and I didn't believe it. He was so young. What kind of martial arts could he practice?
Not long after, Xi Yao started staring at my dress and said, "Second Sister, where's that beautiful jade pendant around your waist? I thought you wore it every day."
Only then did I touch my waist and shout, "Oh no!"
"What's wrong?" Brother looked up at me.
I rushed towards Brother's left chamber in a hurry. "Quick, help me look for the jade pendant in your room. I must have left it there earlier..."
Brother rolled his eyes. "My room is so messy. How can I find it? Let's finish dinner first."
But I said, "No. This jade is very important. It was given to me by an uncle."
Xi Yao said, "I know. You've said it many times. And every time I asked to play with it, you wouldn't let me."
Actually, this jade was important not only because it was given by that handsome uncle but also because I met Qi Yuan because of this jade.
I anxiously summoned a group of maids to help me look for it, while Brother and the others were sitting leisurely in the hall having dinner.
Since Brother and I were given the Twin Palace, we siblings usually solved the problem of having meals in the hall of the Twin Palace by ourselves. Father always told us to take good care of our younger siblings and then spent time alone with Mother. He always thought that he didn't have enough time with Mother and told us not to bother them. So, we had to wait for Xi Yao and Zi Zhen to come to the Twin Palace every day for dinner, and we would stage a scene of grabbing food every day.
After rummaging around for a while, Brother's left chamber became even messier, but the jade pendant still couldn't be found. I couldn't help but feel dejected.
At this time, Brother said, "Are you sure you lost it here? Where else did you go today?"
I tried hard to think and shook my head. But when I recalled the memory of fishing, I suddenly screamed!
I knew where the jade was lost. I seemed to have accidentally dropped it into the water!
After screaming for a while, I rushed out of the Twin Palace and ran towards Qingwan Garden. But what could I do even when I got to Qingwan Garden? I couldn't swim at all. So, I walked back sadly.
As I was walking, I suddenly saw a large group of people patrolling. Suddenly, I had an idea. How could I forget Lord Qi Yuan!
So, I stepped forward, but unfortunately, it wasn't Qi Yuan who came.
But I didn't give up. So, I started asking about Lord Qi Yuan's shift and then went to look for him.
After looking for a long time, I finally pulled Qi Yuan out of a group of people and then dragged him towards Qingwan Garden.
Qi Yuan was very surprised and couldn't help but ask me, "What's wrong, Princess?"
I said, "Lord Qi Yuan can swim, right? Can you help me look for something?"
"What thing?" He pulled me to slow down.
I looked at him and lowered my head embarrassedly. "It's that jade pendant..."
Lord Qi Yuan couldn't help but smile bitterly and then let go of me. "Princess, don't play tricks on your subordinate."
I quickly shook my head. "No, I'm not playing tricks on you. This time it really fell into the water."
He stopped and thought for a while. Finally, he said, "Alright, this is the last time."
At that time, I didn't consider the meaning of his words. I just nodded happily because I was excited and dragged him away.
He followed me to Qingwan Garden. After asking about the location where I lost the jade, he jumped into the water.
I watched him sink and was quite worried. I was always a bit timid about the water in the pond.
Just as I was looking at the water surface anxiously, suddenly a hand reached out and patted me...
I let out a sudden scream and was immediately covered by someone's hand. I turned around.
It was Yu Chi Cheng.
He made a gesture to be quiet and then looked around. "What are you doing here?"
I broke free from him, gently stroked my chest, and retorted, "What are you doing here! You scared me to death."
Yu Chi Cheng smiled lightly. "I couldn't sleep, so I came out for a walk. The moonlight in the Great Yong Palace has always been nice."
At this time, there was the sound of water waves. I just remembered what I was doing here. I thought that if Yu Chi Cheng found out that I brought Qi Yuan here, today's matter would be completely exposed. So, I immediately decided to take him away before Qi Yuan came up.
So, I immediately pushed Yu Chi Cheng and forced a laugh. "Haha, you said you wanted to watch the moon. I know a place with an excellent view to watch the moon. Let's go together!"