As soon as the thought came to his mind, Ji Jinyou carefully analyzed this possibility.

　　No matter why the Seventh Princess and the Eighth Princess were suddenly so nice to her, if she could get along well with them, spend more time with them, and let everyone in the harem know that she was protected by the two princesses, then, at the Chongyang Palace Banquet two months later, would the person behind the scenes who tried to harm them would not dare to attack the mother and daughter because of concern for the two princesses?

　　In fact, she had thought about it before. Before the Double Ninth Festival, she would find a way to make herself sick and drag Concubine Ru from going to the palace banquet to avoid this disaster.

　　But the problem is that the system in the testing period is extremely unreliable. There are only sixty-eight days left, and it has not been unlocked yet —who will attack them?

　　All the concubines in the harem could be the murderer. She had no way to guard against it. She was afraid that even if she escaped this time, she would not be able to escape the next time.

　　And based on what she had observed during her time here, all the things that were supposed to happen would happen.

　　It seems that there is a mysterious and powerful force that is forcibly maintaining the order of this world and ensuring that everything operates according to the settings in the book.

　　But no matter what, if she has a chance to save herself, she will of course try her best. She hasn’t lived enough.

　　Seeing the little girl looking at the items on the table and smiling foolishly, Concubine Ru hugged the little girl and put her face close to hers: “Youyou, do you like it?”

　　”Youyou likes it.” Ji Jinyou came back to her senses, put down the rattle, picked up a tangerine with each of her two chubby hands, and handed one to Concubine Ru: “Eat it, mother.”

　　She handed another one to Jin Xing: “Xing Xing, eat it.”

　　Jin Xing took the orange with both hands, bowed and thanked her with a smile: “Thank you very much, Princess, for the reward.”

　　”Youyou is so good.” Concubine Ru was so moved that she hugged the little girl and gave her a big kiss on her chubby little face.

　　Ji Jinyou’s little face was deformed by Concubine Ru’s kisses, but she did not hide and accepted her overflowing maternal love well.

　　It was magical to say, from the day she came here, she was surprised to find that she didn’t mind Concubine Ru’s cat-like closeness to her at all, but instead had an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

　　Concubine Ru, the beautiful, gentle and sometimes silly mother, had a natural attraction to her that made her want to get close to her. Sometimes, she would unconsciously lean into her arms.

　　Perhaps, it was because she was an orphan in her previous life and grew up in an orphanage, and had never experienced such maternal love.

　　In order to respond to Concubine Ru’s love, Ji Jinyou leaned over and pressed her face close to her, making Concubine Ru smile happily.

　　After laughing, Concubine Ru held the tangerine and sighed softly, barely audible.

　　When the two princesses sent people to deliver the gifts, she was still angry and didn’t want to accept it. But after thinking it over, she didn’t say no.

　　This was a gift from the two princesses to their younger sister, Xiaojiu. If she refused it, it would be ungrateful and would only make them unhappy.

　　What’s more, even if Xiaojiu suffered some grievances, this was a rare opportunity for her to get closer to the two princesses.

　　As a mother, she is incompetent, cannot please His Majesty, and has no ability to plan for Xiaojiu’s future. If Xiaojiu is always confined to this small courtyard of Miaoyunxuan, it will be a worrying thing for her future marriage.

　　There’s no guarantee that at some palace banquet, His Majesty would randomly assign Xiaojiu to someone for one purpose or another, or that she might be sent to marry a foreign prince.

　　Therefore, she shouldn’t cut off Xiaojiu’s path just because of her momentary anger.

　　Besides, Xiaojiu herself was not angry with her two sisters. Such a young child would not hide anything at all. If Youyou was really treated badly by the two princesses, she would not say good things to them after she came back.

　　This is the rational analysis, but Concubine Ru is still a little worried and wants to talk to Jin Xing.

　　Afraid that Youyou would hear, she pulled Jin Xing a few steps away and whispered, “The two princesses took Youyou out to play today and sent so many gifts with great fanfare. What do you think they meant by suddenly acting like this?”

　　Miaoyunxuan is located in a remote area, and the two princesses have never set foot there before. In the past, when they occasionally saw their young princess, they were not very friendly. It is really puzzling that they suddenly made such a move today.

　　Jin Xing was also full of doubts about this, but seeing that Concubine Ru looked worried, she could only whisper to comfort her: “Your Majesty, don’t worry too much. Maybe she just thinks our little princess is lovable.”

　　In Concubine Ru’s eyes, her Youyou was the cutest child in the world. When she heard this, she nodded immediately: “You are right, it must be like this.”

　　Seeing Concubine Ru’s worry, Ji Jinyou stretched out her little hands to pick through the pile of beautiful pearl flowers, picked out a pink one, and compared it to her head: “Youyou, it looks good.”

　　The little girl smiled with her milk teeth showing, and she seriously praised her own pretty face, which made Concubine Ru and Jin Xing burst out laughing.

　　Ji Jinyou fiddled with the beads for a while, then pointed at the things on the table with her little hand: “Mother, Youyou also wants to give gifts to my sisters.”

　　Since you have decided to establish good relationships with the two princesses, you must work hard to maintain them.

　　Concubine Ru was very surprised, and she went forward to hug the little girl, saying with a smile: “Our Youyou actually knows how to reciprocate, it’s really amazing.”

　　Ji Jinyou was already accustomed to Concubine Ru’s exaggerated praise, so she didn’t say anything and just responded with a silly smile.

　　Thinking of the Seventh Princess saying that she would come to play with Youyou tomorrow, Concubine Ru nodded: “Youyou, play by yourself for a while, mother will help you prepare.”

　　As she said this, she took Jin Xing into the inner room and searched through the family assets to find a suitable return gift.

　　Ji Jinyou ate washed grapes while chatting with the system.

　　[System, tell me, if I hold on to the Seventh and Eighth Princesses, can my mother and I survive? ]

　　System: [Just give it a try. You have nothing to do anyway.]

　　Ji Jinyou picked a grape and put it in her mouth: [I thought so too. ]

　　Concubine Ru came out with a jewelry box containing all the family’s wealth. She picked and chose but couldn’t find anything satisfactory. She looked worried and was in a dilemma: “I don’t have anything presentable. What should I do?”

　　Jin Xing advised: “Why not let the young princess choose what she wants? Tell the two princesses the truth later. I think they won’t mind.”

　　”Okay.” Concubine Ru nodded, took the jewelry box to the outer room, and placed it in front of the little girl: “Youyou, how about you pick out gifts for your two sisters?”

　　Knowing that Concubine Ru was always a person without an idea, Ji Jinyou agreed and leaned over the box to take a look. However, after looking for a while, she still couldn’t figure out what was going on, so she asked the system.

　　[System, which one do you think is the most appropriate return gift? ]

　　The system said: [I don’t think any of them are suitable. Even if all the jewelry in this big box of Concubine Ru is added together, it is not as valuable as any of the jewelry sent by the seven or eight princesses.]

　　Youyou thought for a moment and said, “It doesn’t matter. They know my mother is very poor anyway.”

　　Ji Jinyou picked out two pairs of gold-inlaid agate earrings and looked at Concubine Ru: “Give this to my sister.”

　　Concubine Ru was the kind of person who would be eager to shirk her responsibilities whenever someone else made a decision. She reached out to take it and praised her again, “Okay, I’ll give it to you. Our Youyou has a really good eye.”

　　—

　　The next morning, the Seventh Princess and the Eighth Princess came to Miaoyun Pavilion again. Considering that they had pulled the little girl out of bed yesterday, they deliberately arrived half an hour later.

　　When the two arrived, Ji Jinyou had already finished breakfast and was squatting in the yard, scratching the ground with a small wooden stick in her hand.

　　In fact, Ji Jinyou was counting the concubines in the harem. It was just that when she thought of something, she was used to scratching something with a pen in her hand. However, there were only brushes here, which had to be dipped in ink. In addition, in the eyes of others, she should not be able to write, so she just scratched on the ground with a stick.

　　But in the eyes of Princesses Seven and Eight, the chubby little girl who was painting alone was very adorable.

　　The two walked over with a smile, one touched the little face, and the other touched the little hands.

　　”Xiaojiu, are you going to play with Seventh Sister?”

　　”Eighth sister has some candies, they are so sweet, do you want some?”

　　Although the two girls were only fourteen or fifteen years old, they spoke in deliberately sluggish voices, just like two ill-intentioned beggars who tricked children into selling themselves.

　　Ji Jinyou was a little speechless, but still nodded with a smile: “Okay.”

　　The pretty chubby girl squinted her eyes and smiled innocently, which made the two men’s hearts melt.

　　Concubine Ru heard the noise, came out and asked the two to go into the house. The two said no and wanted to take Xiaojiu to play.

　　Concubine Ru first expressed her gratitude for the items the two had sent yesterday, and then asked Jin Xing to bring up two small gift boxes and hand them to Ji Jinyou.

　　Ji Jinyou stretched out her chubby little hands, picked up one and handed it to the Seventh Princess, then picked up another and handed it to the Eighth Princess, and then said in a baby voice: “Give it to the Seventh Sister, and give it to the Eighth Sister.”

　　Concubine Ru hurriedly added, “This is the gift that Xiaojiu personally selected for the two princesses. I hope the two princesses will not dislike it.”

　　The two were a little surprised, but happily accepted it. They thanked the mother and daughter, and handed the brocade box to the palace maid who was following not far away.

　　Then, the Seventh Princess spoke up: “Madam Concubine Ru, we suddenly had something to do and went out for a while yesterday. We didn’t take care of Xiaojiu, so she had to come back alone. Please forgive us.”

　　As they spoke, the two of them bowed to Concubine Ru according to the etiquette for elders.

　　Concubine Ru never expected that the two would specially apologize to her for this matter, and they even performed the etiquette of a junior. She was greatly surprised and a little flattered. She hurriedly returned the courtesy: “It’s okay. Xiaojiu was seriously ill a while ago. The imperial physician said that she was too weak and told her to move more.”

　　Ji Jinyou: “…”

　　Mother, that’s not what you said yesterday.

　　The Seventh Princess continued, “We also want to take Xiaojiu out to play today.”

　　Concubine Ru had carefully analyzed the pros and cons yesterday and had decided not to stop the two princesses from taking Xiaojiu. Moreover, the two princesses were so sincere, so she naturally had nothing to say. She happily said, “Go ahead. I’ll let Jin Xing go with you, in case the child is too fat and you get tired carrying her.”

　　The two of them knew very well that Concubine Ru was still not very confident about them, but they did not refuse. They nodded and said yes, holding Xiaojiu’s hand and walked out.

　　No one spoke along the way. They first went to the Pearl Palace to play for a while and eat some snacks. Then the Seventh Princess’s personal maid took Jin Xing away under the pretext of asking her for advice on embroidery.

　　The Seventh and Eighth Princesses picked up Ji Jinyou and went to the Imperial Noble Consort’s Palace.

　　The Imperial Noble Consort had just returned from the Empress’s visit and was sitting on the couch drinking tea. Seeing that the two of them were not studying the flower book today, but had brought a pink and tender chubby little girl, she asked curiously, “Where did you get this child?”

　　The Eighth Princess rolled her eyes, carried the little girl over, and sat next to the Imperial Noble Consort, “Mother, this is Little Nine.”

　　The Imperial Noble Consort suddenly realized, “I was wondering why she looked so familiar.”

　　Ji Jinyou: “…”

　　This shows how low her presence is in this palace.

　　The Seventh Princess paid her respects to the Imperial Noble Consort, then sat down next to the Eighth Princess. She took some pine nuts, peeled them, and fed them to the little girl one by one.

　　Neither of them spoke, secretly hoping that Xiaojiu and System would have a quick chat, and talk about the palace maid from yesterday, and how she framed the Imperial Noble Consort a year later.

　　But the little girl ate the pine nuts happily, one at a time, but was reluctant to speak.

　　The Imperial Noble Consort found it very strange looking at this harmonious scene. She didn’t understand why these two careless people remembered to take care of the child today and took such good care of him.

　　Ji Jinyou ate for a while until her cheeks were tired from chewing, so she shook her head: “Youyou is full.”

　　The seventh princess agreed, put the box of pine nuts back on the table, and sat back down. Together with the eighth princess, they each grabbed one of the little girl’s hands and pinched the dimples on her chubby hands.

　　There were four masters in the room, plus several palace maids and nannies, and they were all silent.

　　Ji Jinyou’s new goal was to establish a good relationship with the two princesses, so when they played with the beads on her hands, she let them do it.

　　But it was really boring to just sit there like this, so she called the system out.

　　[System, what will happen today? Is there anything fun? ]

　　It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s finally coming.

　　The eyes of the Seventh Princess and the Eighth Princess both lit up and looked slightly excited.

　　When the Imperial Noble Consort heard the childish voice, she looked up and thought that it sounded a little strange for the child to say that, but she didn’t pay much attention to it and continued drinking her tea.

　　The system flipped through the plot and said: [His Majesty’s newly appointed Cáirén^[1]Lady of Talent —6th rank Sun went to the Empress’s Palace to pay respects early in the morning. On her way back, she was stopped by Noble Lady Fang and Noble Lady Yue, who mocked her. Cáirén Sun cried and knelt on the ground in anger, refusing to get up.]

　　Suddenly a man’s voice sounded in her ears. The Imperial Noble Consort was so startled that her hand trembled and the teacup fell on the table with a bang, and the tea splashed all over the table.

　　She didn’t care about her scalded hand, and suddenly raised her head and looked around, trying to see which servant was so bold as to talk about the concubine in a joking tone.

　　Seeing this, the Eighth Princess hurriedly put Ji Jinyou into the Seventh Princess’s arms, walked over and held the Imperial Noble Consort’s hand, deliberately speaking loudly and concernedly, “Mother, you’re burned.”

　　But with his back to Ji Jinyou, he secretly winked at the Imperial Noble Consort, signaling her to stay calm.

　　Although she was a princess, she made faces and acted sneakily, which made the Imperial Noble Consort so upset that she frowned and prepared to scold her.

　　The Eighth Princess hurriedly picked up the teacup, stuffed it into the Imperial Noble Consort’s hand, and mouthed, “Mother, please listen first.”

　　As soon as he finished speaking, Xiaojiu and the man who was hiding somewhere unknown started chatting again.

　　Ji Jinyou: [Is Cáirén Sun trying to use a self-torture tactic to make His Majesty feel distressed? ]

　　System: [Yes, that is exactly what she was thinking. You know what, although Cáirén Sun is not the most beautiful in the harem, the old emperor really likes her soft and weak nature. When he gets the news, he will hug her and even punish the sisters for her.]

　　Ji Jinyou sighed, [Your Majesty was so good at demoting the Imperial Noble Consort by two ranks and then ordering her death for Cáirén Sun. It’s not surprising that he punished two noble ladies for her.]

　　The Imperial Noble Consort held the empty teacup and pretended to drink tea, all the while secretly observing Xiaojiu.

　　The little girl leaned obediently in the arms of the Seventh Princess, without opening her mouth, but kept talking, which surprised the princess greatly, but she remained silent.

　　Until she heard the little girl’s last words, she was horrified and her hands trembled again. The Eighth Princess was quick to reach out and catch the teacup.

　　The Imperial Noble Consort looked at the Eighth Princess in disbelief. The Eighth Princess nodded very seriously and said with her lips: “It’s true.”

　　The Imperial Noble Consort knew that her daughter was usually not in tune with the world, but she never lied. She didn’t bother to explore the weirdness between Xiaojiu and the man, let alone the tea spots on her clothes. She got up and hurried out.

　　The Seventh Princess and the Eighth Princess looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

　　The fighting ability of the Imperial Noble Consort is beyond the reach of ordinary people. It can be said that as long as she knows the truth, most of the future crises will be resolved.

　　Seeing the Imperial Noble Consort suddenly walk away with a gloomy face, Ji Jinyou was puzzled, [System, what happened to the Imperial Noble Consort? ]

　　The system was also puzzled: [I don’t know. ]

　　Ji Jinyou pondered for a while but couldn’t figure it out, so she thought that instead of wasting her time guessing and making up a lot of nonsense in her mind, it would be better to just ask directly.

　　She raised her little face, looked at the Eighth Princess, and asked seriously, “Eighth Sister, doesn’t the Imperial Noble Consort like Youyou?”

　　If the Imperial Noble Consort doesn’t like her, she’d better leave quickly.

　　Even if you can’t win the favor of the Imperial Noble Consort, it’s best not to annoy her, otherwise you will probably die faster.