Morning.
Qiuqiu bounced over to the chair beside Shen Baozhu. She sat down and tugged at Shen Baozhu's hand, pouting, "Baozhu, what did you do yesterday? The Fourth Prince waited for you in the main hall the whole time. I stood with him, and my feet are still sore."
The Dragon King: [The Fourth Prince was waiting for the cutie. What was Qiuqiu doing with him?]
Shen Baozhu had the same question.
Qiuqiu huffed and complained, "It's all Brother Yan Mingli's fault. He wouldn't let the Fourth Prince go after you. But the Fourth Prince insisted, so he made the Fourth Prince hold onto me, saying I'm your best friend and you'd surely come back looking for me."
"But that's true. We are best friends. But I stood with the Fourth Prince for ages, and my feet are so sore."
Hearing this, Shen Baozhu reached out and patted Qiuqiu on the back, whispering, "Qiuqiu, don't be angry. Don't blame Brother Yan Mingli either. Sister Miaochun hasn't been home these days, and he seems to be sick."
"As smart kids, we should understand Brother Yan Mingli, this sick adult."
Qiuqiu thought Shen Baozhu made sense, but she had a question, "Can it be cured? If not, can we find a new husband for Sister Miaochun? I don't want people to call my brother - in - law sick when we quarrel later."
"If they're telling the truth, I won't be able to refute."
Imagining that scene, Qiuqiu frowned. Sister Miaochun liked Yan Mingli a lot, so it seemed they couldn't find a new brother - in - law.
The Dragon King: [Hahaha, that would be quite pitiful.]
Shen Baozhu gave Qiuqiu an idea, "Then you can say, although Brother Yan Mingli is sick, he's still smarter than you. Unlike you guys, who have bad hearts and are so vicious!"
The Dragon King: [The cutie is right!]
Qiuqiu carefully remembered this and, having come up with a countermeasure, didn't forget to ask about Yan Mingli, "Baozhu, what's wrong with Brother Yan Mingli? Can't it be cured?"
"Well... Qiuqiu, look over there and you'll know." Shen Baozhu reached out and turned Qiuqiu's body towards the corner, where there was a small table with two people sitting.
One was the Prince Rui, sipping tea and having breakfast, and... Yan Mingli, with a silly smile on his face, almost burying himself in the account books.
Yan Mingli had dark circles under his eyes, clearly having stayed up all night. In contrast, the Prince Rui looked energetic.
To let Qiuqiu feel more intuitively that Yan Mingli was "sick", Shen Baozhu waved and shouted, "Brother Yan Mingli, come and have breakfast. There are delicious shrimp dumplings today!"
Hearing Shen Baozhu call him, Yan Mingli looked up. His eyes were bloodshot, and he asked blankly, "Ah, is that Baozhu calling me? What do you want me for?"
"Calling you to eat shrimp dumplings," Shen Baozhu replied.
Yan Mingli waved his hand and smiled, "No, thanks. I don't like shrimp dumplings. Just save a bowl of tremella soup for me."
Qiuqiu looked at the table. There were shrimp dumplings that Baozhu liked, nourishing bird's nest porridge, small buns... but no tremella soup. Under her confused gaze, Shen Baozhu agreed to Yan Mingli's request and said he could also eat shrimp dumplings.
The Dragon King: [Hahaha, Yan Mingli will want to eat shrimp dumplings again later.]
After a while, Shen Baozhu called Yan Mingli to eat again. This time it was tremella soup. Yan Mingli first looked blank, then asked Shen Baozhu to save a portion of shrimp dumplings for him.
Qiuqiu was completely confused and shocked, "Brother Yan Mingli is really that sick!"
The Prince Rui sipped his tea and had breakfast contentedly. He even invited Qiuqiu to join in, "Just like Baozhu did. You call him to have breakfast, then mention another dish... I've been playing this game for a whole morning."
Yesterday, unable to resist Yan Mingli's pestering, the Prince Rui not only took him back to the prince's mansion but also handed over some estates and deeds to him.
When the Prince Rui was still a prince, as the youngest son, he was extremely doted on. Later, when his elder brother who regarded him as his own son ascended the throne, the Prince Rui's life became even more carefree. Even the late emperor, who was his favorite nephew, was very close to him.
Over time, the Prince Rui's private savings reached an astonishing amount.
When Yan Mingli suddenly learned about this fortune, he was overjoyed. He didn't even sleep and stayed up all night to check the account books, afraid that it was all a dream and the money would disappear when he woke up.
The high - intensity mental work all night had turned Yan Mingli into his current state: in a daze but still holding onto the account books tightly.
Under the Prince Rui's guidance, Qiuqiu also played this game once. She thought it was fun, but after learning that Yan Mingli hadn't slept all night, she began to worry, "Baozhu, what's your relationship with Brother Yan Mingli? If Sister Miaochun doesn't want Brother Yan Mingli, will we still be good friends?"
Shen Baozhu, who was concentrating on eating shrimp dumplings, was stunned. Yan Mingli, who was looking at the account books in the corner, reacted even more strongly. He stopped looking at the account books, jumped up immediately, and nervously asked, "Qiuqiu, why did you suddenly say this? Did Sister Miaochun tell you something in advance?"
"Sister Miaochun didn't say anything. But she likes good - looking people. If you don't sleep, you'll become an ugly monster, and Sister Miaochun doesn't like ugly monsters." Qiuqiu reached out and poked Shen Baozhu, a bit angry, "You're just focusing on eating shrimp dumplings and not thinking about our big problem at all!"
"Tell me, will we still be good friends if Sister Miaochun doesn't want Brother Yan Mingli!"
Shen Baozhu ate the last shrimp dumpling in her bowl and looked a bit blank, "What does this have to do with us?"
"Before we knew Sister Miaochun and Brother Yan Mingli, we were already good friends. Even if they quarrel, we'll still be good friends."
Qiuqiu also realized this. She let out a sigh of relief and said cheerfully, "That's good."
Yan Mingli's muddled thoughts began to clear up. He stared at Qiuqiu with wide eyes, then stuffed the account books into the Prince Rui's arms, "You hold these for now. I'm going to catch up on sleep and put on some powder."
Lin Yu: [Does Yan Mingli need skin - care products? I can buy a set for him.]
The Dragon King: [As soon as Chen Miaochun was mentioned, Yan Mingli's headache is gone, his illness is gone, and he even remembers to put on powder.]
[I still like the way he was when he broke off the engagement. Hahaha.]
Yan Mingli walked very fast and accidentally bumped into the Fourth Prince. In a hurry to catch up on sleep, he just quickly apologized and left.
The Fourth Prince ignored Yan Mingli, walked into the room, looked around, and then sat directly on the other side of Shen Baozhu.
Qiuqiu knew that Shen Baozhu liked shrimp dumplings, so she handed over her own basket of shrimp dumplings.
Almost in the blink of an eye, another basket of shrimp dumplings was handed over by the Fourth Prince.
The two baskets of shrimp dumplings touched each other, and the Fourth Prince nervously looked at Qiuqiu.
Qiuqiu tilted her head and looked at the Fourth Prince, "You don't like them?"
She took the Fourth Prince's basket of shrimp dumplings and handed them all to Shen Baozhu, "Baozhu, he doesn't like them. You eat!"
The Fourth Prince looked at the empty space in front of him and tried to speak, "I, it's not that, I don't like them. I just..."
"Oh, you want to eat shrimp dumplings and pick a basket of delicious ones? But these shrimp dumplings all look the same. They should be about the same," Qiuqiu said, looking at the two baskets of shrimp dumplings with a frown.
Shen Baozhu could tell the difference. She pointed at one basket, "This one is bigger and looks round. It must be delicious. You can have this one. That basket is for me."
The Fourth Prince wanted to explain, but Shen Baozhu had already turned around and was chatting with Qiuqiu. The Fourth Prince could only pierce the shrimp dumplings with his chopsticks and angrily ate all the round shrimp dumplings.
The Prince Rui was amused by this scene and at the same time decided that he would stay at the princess's mansion for a long time!