At first, Yan Mingli didn't take Shen Haiyan's persuasion to heart. It wasn't until after breakfast that he took Shen Baozhu to have the morning reading.
To be precise, it was he who was reading aloud, while Shen Baozhu recited every word without a single mistake.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Yan Mingli's forehead. He hadn't even read the text fluently yet. How could Baozhu already recite it?
Shen Baozhu urged Yan Mingli to turn the page. "Baozhu has already memorized these two pages. Brother Mingli, turn the page quickly."
"Ah? Oh, okay, I'll turn it, I'll turn the page." Yan Mingli's hands trembled as he flipped to the next page.
After about an incense stick's worth of time.
Yan Mingli had only read the new content twice, yet Shen Baozhu had already memorized it and was urging him to turn the page again. Yan Mingli's hands trembled slightly. He had only looked at the first two pages and couldn't even read the rest.
Shen Haiyan, having eaten his fill, started doing squats. He said sympathetically, "Guess why big brother makes Baozhu practice calligraphy every day instead of memorizing books?"
"I already reminded you just now, but you insisted on asking for trouble."
Dragon King: [Poor fool. But there's nothing we can do. The little cutie can now remember everything at a glance. Hahaha.]
Dragon King: [Little cutie, don't forget the important things. Take the Fourth Prince into the palace to talk to the emperor and use the truth - telling talisman on Shen Qingshan.]
Of these two things, the first one was obviously more important to Shen Baozhu, as it was related to the pastries between her and the Fourth Prince.
She pulled on Yan Mingli. "Brother Mingli, how much longer until the morning reading is over? Baozhu wants to go play with the Fourth Prince."
Hearing this, Yan Mingli closed the book with a sigh of relief and said cheerfully, "Let's go right now!"
"Yan Mingli, aren't you going to continue your morning reading?" Shen Haiyan shouted at Yan Mingli, scaring him into quickening his steps.
The Fourth Prince lived in Shen Haiyan's courtyard. He had already gotten up, washed up, and was about to go to the main courtyard to have breakfast with Shen Baozhu when he saw Yan Mingli leading Shen Baozhu over.
When Shen Baozhu saw the Fourth Prince, she skipped over happily. She whispered something in the Fourth Prince's ear. The two kids held hands and quickly reached an agreement.
The Fourth Prince prepared himself and said a complete sentence, "Brother Mingli, let's go play with Qiuqiu."
Yan Mingli still remembered his agreement with Chen Miaochun. He tried to persuade the Fourth Prince to stay. "Can't we go in the afternoon? Miaochun and I plan to buy you some clothes."
The Fourth Prince looked at Shen Baozhu, who hesitated. There were delicious pastries in the palace, but Brother Mingli always bought a lot of delicious food every time he went out. It was so hard to choose.
Seeing Shen Baozhu's hesitation, Yan Mingli didn't ask anymore. "Then have fun, you two. Don't be so torn, Baozhu. I'll remember to bring you delicious food, and the sesame cakes the Fourth Prince likes. I won't forget."
With Yan Mingli's promise, the two kids looked at him with bright eyes. "Thank you, Brother Mingli!"
Lin Yu: [No wonder the Fourth Prince likes Mingli.]
Lin Yu: [The Fourth Prince likes to eat, and Mingli always brings his favorite food.]
Dragon King: [The fool brings the Fourth Prince food, while the emperor gives the Fourth Prince a cold shoulder. It's so easy to choose.]
When Shen Baozhu and the Fourth Prince teleported to the Yong'an Marquis Mansion with the treasure - hunting rat, Qiuqiu was still sleeping.
The servants of the Yong'an Marquis Mansion recognized Shen Baozhu and invited her and the Fourth Prince to the main courtyard of the marquis mansion.
Madam Chen was reading a book by the window. When she saw Shen Baozhu bringing a little boy over to play, she immediately put down the book in her hand and stepped forward to hold her. "Baozhu, you're here so early today. Do you have something urgent to see Qiuqiu about?"
Shen Baozhu nodded and complained to Madam Chen, "Auntie Chen, I want to complain. Qiuqiu is so unloyal! She left me and the Fourth Prince behind and ran home by herself!"
"Auntie Chen must teach Qiuqiu a lesson!"
Looking at the angry Shen Baozhu, Madam Chen's gaze fell on the silent Fourth Prince. She led Shen Baozhu into the house and went along with her. "Qiuqiu did such a thing. Then I'll help Baozhu punish Qiuqiu. How about that?"
Shen Baozhu stood still, holding Madam Chen's hand tightly. She stammered, "Then, then punish Qiuqiu to eat one more bowl of rice."
Dragon King: [Hahaha, punish Qiuqiu to eat one more bowl of rice.]
Lin Yu: [Baozhu just wanted to complain, but didn't expect Madam Chen to really teach Qiuqiu a lesson.]
Madam Chen squatted down and pinched Shen Baozhu's little hand. "Let's punish Qiuqiu to be woken up by Baozhu and not be allowed to sleep. How about that?"
"Okay! I'll go punish Qiuqiu right now!" Shen Baozhu pulled the Fourth Prince and rushed into the room.
In the inner room, Qiuqiu was sleeping soundly, hugging a pillow bigger than herself.
Shen Baozhu lay on the edge of the bed and poked Qiuqiu's face with her hand. "Qiuqiu, wake up!"
"Mommy, let me sleep a little longer... Baozhu!" Qiuqiu opened her eyes groggily and saw Shen Baozhu. She was so scared that she instantly woke up. Hugging the big pillow, she trembled and asked, "Did Brother Heqing send you to catch me for reading?"
Shen Baozhu pulled Qiuqiu out of bed. "No. The Fourth Prince and I are going to the palace to eat pastries. We're here to call you to go with us."
Qiuqiu breathed a sigh of relief. She put on her shoes, took the initiative to pull Shen Baozhu to choose clothes. Seeing the Fourth Prince sitting on the bench, Qiuqiu also pulled him over.
The three kids chattered around the clothes for a long time. Shen Baozhu was wearing a bright blue ruqun today. She recommended that Qiuqiu wear a light blue dress, while the Fourth Prince suggested that Qiuqiu wear a gray thin dress, as it was dirt - resistant.
Qiuqiu looked at one and touched another. She wanted to wear all the dresses.
Dragon King: [There are a total of five dresses. Does Qiuqiu want to wear them all?]
Lin Yu: [How about wearing the red one? It's similar to the dress Baozhu is wearing. They're the same style but different colors.]
Dragon King: [Wear the blue one. It's a sister outfit with the little cutie.]
Lin Yu: [The red one is also a sister outfit.]
Daoist Qingyun: [If Baozhu doesn't go to the palace soon, she won't be able to eat the pastries.]
Daoist Qingyun: [Choose the cyan one. It has a lot of embroidery and uses gold thread. It's shiny.]
The Dragon King, who liked shiny things, instantly changed his mind. [It's so beautiful when it's shiny. Choose the cyan one!]
Following Daoist Qingyun's words, Shen Baozhu looked at the cyan dress, picked it up, and handed it to Qiuqiu. "Qiuqiu looks good in this!"
Qiuqiu trusted Shen Baozhu's words very much. She took the cyan dress and quickly changed into it.
Just when the Fourth Prince thought they could set off for the palace, Qiuqiu took out her jewelry box. "For the cyan dress, how about I wear this little cyan butterfly?"
"I also have a few hair crowns and jade pendants. Fourth Prince, choose one to wear."
After being brought back to the princess mansion by Shen Baozhu, although the Fourth Prince had washed himself clean, he had always tied his hair with a ribbon and had never worn a hair crown.
Qiuqiu held a small hair crown and measured it on the Fourth Prince's head. Finally, she chose a gold - inlaid jade hair crown and a jade pendant in the shape of a folding fan. She also called over the most skillful maid beside Madam Chen and asked the maid to dress up the Fourth Prince carefully. If anything was missing, she could directly take it from her jewelry box.
The Fourth Prince frowned at the hair crown. He didn't like things that restricted him, but out of respect for Qiuqiu's kindness, he reluctantly sat down.
While the Fourth Prince was being dressed up, Qiuqiu pulled Shen Baozhu aside, and the two started whispering to each other.
Qiuqiu whispered, "Do you know why the emperor doesn't like the Fourth Prince?"
Without hesitation, Shen Baozhu replied, "He has no taste. He only likes bad guys!"