Consort An lay lazily for a while before sitting up and calling to the head palace maid waiting outside, "I haven't seen An'an in some days. Take my token and invite Madam Gu to the palace."
Qi Zhenzhen soon arrived at the palace with Sui An.
The little girl had been sleeping the entire journey and was still asleep when they reached Zhaoyang Palace.
Qi Zhenzhen tried to wake her, but Consort An stopped her. She carefully took the child, placed her on the couch, adjusted her to a comfortable position, and let her continue sleeping.
"Children need to sleep a lot to grow well. Watching her sleep makes me feel very happy," Consort An said.
"She sleeps more than ordinary children. Basically, besides eating, she sleeps. There are very few times when she plays. After Ah Nian finishes his work and teases her, she often falls asleep the next moment, even while smiling," Qi Zhenzhen said with a smile.
Da Neng: [So I'm so lonely! How can this little girl sleep so much!]
"The elders all say that children who sleep well are intelligent. Our An'an will surely be an exceptionally clever little girl in the future," Consort An said.
Gu, the clever one, Sui An, yawned widely and slowly opened her eyes.
Her big, watery eyes scanned the surroundings. The place was unfamiliar. Upon catching sight of Qi Zhenzhen's face, the little girl relaxed. She lifted her small arms and waved them at Qi Zhenzhen.
"An'an, I am your great-aunt. Do you still remember me?" Consort An teased Gu Sui An with a rattle.
Gu Sui An made babbling sounds, and drool uncontrollably flowed from the corners of her mouth.
Consort An took a soft cloth from a palace maid and gently wiped Gu Sui An's drool, automatically translating the little girl's babbling into 'I remember, I remember.'
"Zhenzhen, do you see? An'an is smart. She still remembers me," Consort An said happily.
As if to respond to Consort An, Gu Sui An reached out her small hand to grab the dangling tassel of Consort An's hairpin.
She was strong and pulled Consort An's hairpin right off, taking a few strands of hair with it.
Consort An gasped, and the attending palace maids immediately knelt on the ground.
Qi Zhenzhen also apologized and began to kneel, "Your Highness, please forgive me."
Before she could kneel, Consort An personally supported her. "An'an just likes me! Zhenzhen, we are family. You don't need to be like this."
After speaking, Consort An waved to her attendants, "Everyone, rise. Go and prepare some food suitable for a child."
Consort An pulled Qi Zhenzhen to sit down. She then unpinned her hair, leaving her dark tresses in a simple bun at the back of her head secured with a wooden hairpin.
She chose a hairpin that was not sharp and gave it to Gu Sui An to play with.
The culprit knew she had exerted too much force earlier, but she was not yet able to speak. She could only babble and happily shake the hairpin.
"Zhenzhen, look how happy An'an is smiling," Consort An said joyfully.
As they were talking, a palace maid from Jinrong hurried in to announce that Princess Jinrong had arrived.
Consort An sighed and waved her hand at the palace maid.
"Zhenzhen, please help me persuade Jinrong. She still listens to you when you speak," Consort An said, rubbing her forehead. Her children were all burdens.
She wasn't too worried about her son; His Majesty was also very attentive to him.
But when it came to Jinrong...
Putting aside the matter with the sixth son of the Yan family, she had intended to let Jinrong take her time and then choose a talented young man.
However, this girl, who had not shown any signs earlier, later told her that she didn't want to get married.
For a princess, marrying late was not an issue, but if she didn't marry at all, even being born into royalty wouldn't silence public gossip. This greatly worried Consort An.