"Oh," Little Dumpling said, blinking owlishly. "Good thing I decided not to be upset with Big Brother. It seems like I was the one who misunderstood."
"No worries, I'm just glad that your parents reconsidered things." Liu Tián Qǔ said, feeling happy for Little Dumpling.
Little Dumpling blinked owlishly at Liu Tián Qu again. "You made them change their mind, and they like you. They said you could come visit me whenever you want to, and they said I could come see you whenever I want to see you." Little Dumpling was rumbling like a train going off track.
"Little Dumpling." Liu Tián Qǔ cut him off. "Little Dumpling, take a deep breath." Liu Tián Qu watched as Little Dumpling took a deep breath.
"First of all, I didn't make your parents change their mind. You heard them. They had already decided to allow you to begin your training."
Little Dumpling shook his head and said, "No, you made them change their mind."
Liu Tián Qǔ had suspected that the powerful couple had already been considering allowing Little Dumpling to begin training. However, when the couple overheard that Liu Tián Qǔ was going to hire someone to train Little Dumpling secretly. As well as the fact that Little Dumpling wanted to begin some unknown kind of training that Liu Tián Qǔ was currently doing. That pushed them over the edge and they deciding to allow Little Dumpling to began training. It was also their answer unspoken to Liu Tián Qǔ's unasked question. They didn't want Liu Tián Qǔ to train their son in whatever art's Liu Tián Qǔ was training in.
But of course, Liu Tián Qǔ wasn't going to say so. However, it seems like whether she said it or not, it didn't matter because Little Dumpling also understood as well.
"Little Dumpling, I think, you venturing out to see the world is what gave your parents a scare and made them change their mind." Little Dumpling just gave Liu Tián Qǔ a look that wordlessly voiced his opinion. That look seemed to say, 'Big Brother, I know my parents well. Even if you won't acknowledge the real reason, they changed their minds. That doesn't mean I don't know.
"Come, let us sit and talk," Little Dumpling said, gesturing for Liu Tián Qǔ to be seated. Little Dumpling grabbed the empty teapot. He cleaned the teapot out using some of the hot water that was in the pot on the brazier next to the table. After cleaning the teapot, Little Dumpling began made a fresh pot of tea.
While Little Dumpling busied himself, making the pot of tea. Liu Tián Qǔ sat in contemplation, trying to decide if she should gift him with an Armband of the Guardian Warriors or not. Liu Tián Qǔ had an extra Armband of the Guardian Warriors in her bag that she was going to gift Little Dumpling with earlier after he finished picking out a horse. Then they had got sidetracked, and then his parents came to visit. However, from the reaction of Little Dumpling's parents, the Armband of the Guardian Warriors seemed to be an extremely priceless device.
The Wang Royal Manor was extraordinarily rich. So it's not like they couldn't afford to buy Armbands of the Guardian Warriors. However, the Armband of the Guardian Warriors was not a device that you can buy just because you have the money. Liu Tián Qǔ decided to do a little research on the Armbands of the Guardian Warriors.
It also made Liu Tián Qǔ once again question who the peddler was and how he was able to get his hands on so many good things. Liu Tián Qǔ also decide to research all the good things she bought from the peddler the second time around. She was quite sure they were all priceless, as well.
Liu Tián Qǔ didn't want to cause problems by giving Little Dumpling too many valuable gifts at one time. With that decided, Liu Tián Qǔ decided to hold on to the Armband of the Guardian Warriors for now and give it to Little Dumpling at a later time.
Liu Tián Qǔ also made a mental note to revisit the wood maker. With the skills that the wood makers son displayed, she was quite sure she could get him to craft some more good things for Little Dumpling to play with.
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After making a fresh pot of tea, Little Dumpling poured a cup of tea for both Liu Tián Qǔ and himself. Little Dumpling replaced the pot of tea on the tea tray and turned to face Liu Tián Qǔ. Little Dumpling stared at Liu Tián Qǔ with a weird expression on his face.
Liu Tián Qǔ, who had just taken a sip of tea, gently set her cup of tea on the table in front of her when she caught the weird look on Little Dumpling face. "What is it?" Liu Tián Qǔ asked with a slight look of concern on her face.
"My parents like you," Little Dumpling said with that weird look still on his face.
With a slight smile on her face. Liu Tián Qǔ said, "Yeah, I like them too."
"No, you don't understand. They really like you. I could tell." Little Dumpling said, putting special emphasis on his words.
With a look on her face that Little Dumpling couldn't quite understand. Liu Tián Qǔ asked, "Then why don't you explain it to me so I could understand Little Dumpling?"
"My parents are extremely wary of making friends or allowing people to get close to us. Older Brother is the same. He doesn't have any friends, not one. I only ever tried befriending one person, and that didn't turn out so well. Many, many people try to get close to us because of our position and identity." Little Dumpling explained.
"However, my parents always keep a distance between other people and us. Never have my parents opened the doors of Wang Royal Manor to anyone, not even other Imperial family members. This is the first time my Imperial mother and father ever extended an open invitation to Wang Royal Manor to anyone." Little Dumpling tried his best to explain how extremely unusual this situation was.
"Very few people are allowed entrance into Wang Royal Manor. The ones that are allowed are granted the privilege due to official business, never for personal reasons. My parents said that Older Brother even openly claimed you as a friend. Older Brother, don't like people!" Little Dumpling ran out of words and just sat there, staring at Liu Tián Qǔ with wide eyes.
Finally, Little Dumpling asked in a state of perplexity, "How did you do it?"
Liu Tián Qǔ shook her head gently and said, "Little Dumpling, I am the same way. I only have you and Big Brother Fèn Yǒng as friends. I like my Commander, but I wish to observe him more before deciding on whether or not I will let him into my circle of friends."
"For some reason, the moment I met you, I felt an instant connection with you. Strangely it was the same with your brother. However, the strangest of it all was your mother. She and I instantly understood each other, and both of us are aware that the other understands." Little Dumpling eyes remained earnestly glued to Liu Tián Qǔ as she spoke.
"Honestly, I didn't even know who you were when I first met you. Neither did I know your identity as we ate noodles. I decided to be friends with you before I even knew your identity. I didn't set out to deliberately become friends with you and your brother because of your identity." Liu Tián Qǔ gently explained to Little Dumpling.
"That is not the kind of person I am. Frankly, even if you were a commoner, I would have made you my friend. That is the kind of person I am. I have secretly claim my Housekeeper and Butler as an unofficial aunt and uncle and their daughter as a younger sister. When we are alone, I call them aunt and uncle, and I listen to them well too." Little Dumpling eyes grew bigger and bigger, and his mouth fell open in shock as Liu Tián Qǔ begin to explain how the Emperor sent her a slap through Eunuch Rong. She also explained how she playfully send a message back through the Eunuch to the Emperor.
Little Dumpling eyes almost popped out of his head when Liu Tián Qǔ explained how Butler Zhou got very upset with her for teasing the Emperor. She told Little Dumpling of how Butler Zhou heavily scolded her for teasing the Emperor and made her promise not to do it again.
"You allowed your Butler to talk to you that way?" An extremely shocked Little Dumpling managed to gasp out in shock.
Liu Tián Qǔ silently nodded and said, "Uncle Zhou scolded me out of concern. As you can see Little Dumpling, it doesn't matter to me if a person is a commoner or a king. To me, a friend is a friend, and family is family. A person doesn't have to have your blood to be a member of your family. Sometimes it's the family members who hold the same blood you do that you have to be wary of."
Even in her past life, Liu Tián Qǔ was that way. She had many associates and acquaintances, but her circle of friends was very small. She had friends that were rich and friends that were poor. She had friends that were powerful and friends that had no power at all. A person's wealth or position was not the gauge that she used to make friends.
With eyes full of hero-worship Little Dumpling said, "I am glad that you are my friend Big Brother. We must always remain friends, okay?"
"Okay, Little Dumpling, let's always remain friends. When your punishment is over, come over to my residence often. Let's hang out and have fun with each other." Shortly after renewing their vows of friendship Liu Tián Qǔ departed the Wang Royal Manor.