Huangfu Yue led the people from the manor and continued climbing the mountain for a while. Suddenly, she heard Zhong Liangshu's voice from behind…
"Ling'er, why did you stop? Are you too tired to walk?"
Huangfu Yue turned her head to look at Zhong Liangshu and her daughter. She saw Huangfu Ling, whose small hand was held by her mother, stop and look to the left.
She followed the little girl's gaze to the left and saw a beautiful butterfly absorbing nectar from a pretty wild flower.
It was unclear whether the little girl was looking at the butterfly or the wild flower.
"Mother, look there quickly, there's a butterfly, and it's so beautiful… the flower the butterfly is kissing is also beautiful," Huangfu Ling pointed with her tender and cute little finger, exclaiming with her small pink mouth open.
"The butterfly isn't kissing the flower; it's collecting nectar," Huangfu Yue smiled and explained to her little niece.
"Collecting nectar? What is collecting nectar?" Huangfu Ling had a curious expression, blinking her large, spirited eyes at her aunt, waiting for an answer.
The little girl was too young to know what collecting nectar meant.
Her cousins didn't know either, and they all looked at Huangfu Yue with curious expressions, wanting to hear her tell them.
"Collecting nectar means exactly what it says: it means eating flower nectar," Huangfu Yue explained simply and clearly, then asked, "Do you all understand now?"
The little ones all nodded, but Huangfu Ying quickly had a new question: "Auntie, why do butterflies eat nectar?"
Huangfu Yue was amused by her second niece's question and was about to answer when Xu Yuqing already said, "Silly child, of course, it's because the butterfly is hungry."
"So butterflies get hungry too!" Huangfu Ying exclaimed adorably.
Huangfu Yue was amused again and chuckled. "Of course, butterflies get hungry. All animals do."
"The more I look at the butterfly, the prettier it is. I want… Auntie, can I go catch it?" Huangfu Ling raised her small hand and said.
Huangfu Yue saw the little girl's eager and pleading expression and dotingly nodded, "Go ahead."
"Mother, Auntie agreed. You…" Huangfu Ling's gaze shifted to her mother.
Zhong Liangshu glanced at her sister-in-law. Since she had agreed, if she didn't, she feared her sister-in-law would feel disrespected and be unhappy.
Zhong Liangshu hesitated for a moment, then released her daughter's small hand, "Go ahead."
Huangfu Ling immediately ran happily towards the butterfly. Zhong Liangshu, afraid her daughter would fall, quickly called out, "Ling'er, don't run, be careful you don't fall."
After calling out, she worriedly told a maid to quickly follow and look after her daughter.
The maid, named Baoyuan, immediately obeyed and went to catch up with Huangfu Ling. "Little mistress, slow down, don't run. Walk slowly, the butterfly won't run away."
The other little ones saw that Huangfu Ling was allowed to catch the butterfly and showed envious, longing eyes, including Huangfu Xuan, the eldest cousin.
"Auntie, we want to catch butterflies too," Huangfu Xuan and his sisters said in unison.
Huangfu Yue slightly curved her lips and waved her hand, "Go ahead."
Seeing that Zhong Liangshu did not stop them, Zhu Jiayi and Xu Yuqing also felt it inappropriate to stop them and let the children go catch butterflies. However, like Zhong Liangshu, they each assigned a maid to follow and look after the children.
"Look, there's a dragonfly over there. I'll take you to catch it."
Just as Huangfu Xuan was about to reach the butterfly, he saw a dragonfly flying nearby. His attention was immediately drawn to the dragonfly, and he instantly lost interest in the butterfly, running towards the dragonfly instead.
Huangfu Jing and the other young girls looked at the dragonfly. Only Huangfu Jing was interested in the dragonfly and immediately chased after her brother, wanting to catch dragonflies with him. Huangfu Ying and Huangfu Ling still preferred butterflies and wanted to catch them.
However, as soon as Huangfu Ying and Huangfu Ling reached the butterfly, it noticed them and immediately flew away.
"Butterfly, don't run!"
"Butterfly, stop, you can't run!"
Huangfu Ying and Huangfu Ling both shouted anxiously and ran after the butterfly. The two maids behind them followed, chasing the butterfly with them.
Huangfu Xuan and Huangfu Jing's situation was also not smooth. As they were about to reach the dragonfly, it flew away like the butterfly, startling them. They quickly chased after it, with the maid from the main household following them to catch the dragonfly.
Seeing this, Zhu Jiayi, fearing that one maid could not look after both her children, sent another maid to catch up with them and take care of them.
"Grandmother, sisters-in-law, let's sit down and rest for a while. We can continue climbing the mountain after the children are done playing and come back," Huangfu Yue said to her relatives.
Before Madam Zheng could nod, Xu Yuqing was the first to agree: "Good, good, let's sit down and rest quickly. I'm so tired."
After speaking, she eagerly asked Fen'er to find a good spot for her to sit. Fen'er looked around and found a smooth, large stone for her to sit on, but she was not satisfied.
"How can this stone be for sitting?" Xu Yuqing frowned slightly and looked at her sister-in-law. "Yue'er, bring me a chair or a stool to sit on."
"There is no place around here suitable for placing chairs or stools. You won't be stable if you sit on them," Huangfu Yue refused.
It wasn't that she intentionally wanted to trouble Xu Yuqing or deny her a chair or stool, but it was a mountainside, not flat ground, and it was truly unsuitable for chairs and stools, making them unstable. If she forced it, as she said, Xu Yuqing would not be stable.
But Xu Yuqing didn't think so. She didn't believe Huangfu Yue's words and thought Huangfu Yue was deliberately withholding a chair or stool from her.
She pouted subtly in dissatisfaction, scanned the surroundings, and after a search, found that, as Huangfu Yue had said, there was indeed no place suitable for chairs or stools, and she wouldn't be stable if she sat on them because the chairs and stools themselves wouldn't be stable.
"Stop looking. Would Yue'er lie to you? Just sit on the stone. I think this stone is quite good, smooth and clean," Madam Zheng said, a hint of impatience flashing in her eyes as she looked at her second daughter-in-law.
Xu Yuqing looked at the stone, still somewhat hesitant. She really didn't want to sit on a stone, fearing it was hard. However, she saw Madam Zheng walking towards the stone and sitting on it.
"Don't look anymore, come and sit quickly," Madam Zheng said, then beckoned to the other two daughters-in-law. "Jiayi, Liangshu, you two come and sit too. This stone is very large and can seat several people… Yue'er, you come and sit too."
Zhong Liangshu immediately nodded obediently, "Thank you, Grandmother." Before she finished speaking, she walked to Madam Zheng's side and sat down.
Seeing this, Xu Yuqing, afraid she wouldn't get a good spot if she didn't sit down soon, thanked Madam Zheng and walked over, finding a spot to sit.
After sitting down, she complained inwardly, this stone was indeed hard and uncomfortable to sit on.
However, having something to sit on was better than nothing.
With this thought, Xu Yuqing stopped complaining.
"Thank you, Grandmother, but I won't come to sit. I want to look around to see if there are any mushrooms or wild fruits," Zhu Jiayi gently waved her hand, refusing Madam Zheng.