"Pangtuan, wake up. Pangtuan..."
Ye Qianning slowly awoke to the sound of someone calling her. She raised a hand to rub her drowsy eyes and mumbled, "Fourth Granny."
"Don't sleep now. Hurry and get up. The Princess Consort wants to see you," Fourth Granny said, waking her fully.
"Mmm."
Ye Qianning sat up and yawned, looking like she hadn't gotten enough sleep.
"You've been sleeping quite a bit these past few days. Are you feeling unwell?" Fourth Granny touched Ye Qianning's forehead, then her own. "No fever," she concluded.
"Don't worry. Sleeping a lot just means I'm going through a growth spurt," Ye Qianning said in a soft voice.
Hearing this, Fourth Granny chuckled. "You're just getting chubbier."
"Being chubby is a blessing." Even Ye Qianning found it strange. She was absurdly plump for a six-year-old, practically a human meatball.
'The journey from Nanyuan to Beili took over a year,' she mused. 'We were on the road almost every day. By all rights, I should be skin and bones. But this body of mine... the more I work it, the fatter it gets.'
"Right, right, you're right. It is a blessing. Our Pangtuan is a blessed child."
Ever since the little Commandery Princess's rash started to improve, Fourth Granny had grown happier with each passing day.
Once Ye Qianning was ready, a maidservant was already waiting at the door.
"Isn't Fourth Granny coming?" she looked up and asked.
"The little Commandery Princess was insisting on playing with you, so Her Highness the Princess Consort sent me to fetch you," the maidservant replied.
Ye Qianning nodded.
'I've been visiting the little Commandery Princess every day. The little girl is sweet and adorable. I'm not usually a fan of kids, but I can't help but like Commandery Princess Nanxiang. She's pretty and so well-behaved.'
The maidservant led her out of the courtyard. Ye Qianning's quarters were some distance from the little Commandery Princess's, and a long, covered walkway opened up into a garden.
It was spring, and the flowers in the Prince Mansion's garden were budding, ready to bloom, releasing waves of fragrance into the air.
"Eighth Brother, how about we make a bet?"
"Guess if this flower is red or pink. If you're right, you can take your pick of anything in my palace. If you're wrong... how about you crawl between my legs?"
From a distance, Ye Qianning saw a bustling group of children. The boy leading them looked to be about eleven or twelve. He was dressed in rich brocade and wore a jade coronet. He was quite handsome, but the smug, cunning expression on his face completely ruined his looks.
The boy was blocking another, who had his back to her. His figure seemed slight and frail. With his small hands clasped behind his back in a strangely mature posture, he clearly had no intention of engaging and turned to leave.
"Hey! Trying to leave? Stop him!"
At the boy's command, the other children swarmed forward and surrounded him.
The boy in brocade bent down, plucked a flower, and pressed on, "Tell me, is this red or pink?"
The boy facing him remained silent.
Ye Qianning looked at the flower in the boy's hand and frowned slightly.
'Red? Or pink? Why would he ask that?'
The flower in the boy's hand wasn't red or pink. It was a purple iris.
"Cui'er, isn't that flower in his hand purple?" Ye Qianning asked, tugging on the maidservant's small hand in confusion.
The maidservant, Cui'er, had already noticed what was happening. Hearing the question, she quickly raised a hand to cover Ye Qianning's mouth. "Shh! Don't say a word."
A look of complete confusion filled Ye Qianning's eyes.
"The Eighth Prince has an eye affliction. He's been unable to distinguish colors since he was little. Let's go, quickly. If they find us, we could be skinned alive for all we know," Cui'er whispered, releasing her hand and leaning close to Ye Qianning's ear.
'He can't distinguish colors?'
Ye Qianning was taken aback. She couldn't see the boy's expression since his back was to her, but his slight, frail frame was enough to stir a pang of pity in her heart.