Following TanTan's instructions, XiaoRue hurried back to her young mistress's room to put the poisoned dagger somewhere safe.
However, she didn't realize that someone was watching her from a distance, hidden among the trees.
It was ManQi.
In fact, he had been keeping an eye on Hua MuTan since the previous night, following Prince Li's orders. He had continued his duty that morning and had witnessed several things.
Early that morning, he had seen FangFang secretly enter Hua MuTan's room. Perhaps the little girl had heard about the assassins and wanted to check on her YangMu.
A few minutes later, ManQi saw FangFang hurry out of the room and bump into Princess XiXi. At the time, he hadn't realized that FangFang had taken a dagger. He had simply assumed that the little girl had run away because she was afraid of being scolded by the princess.
But later, when Hua MuTan and XiaoRue hurried toward FangFang's room, ManQi sensed that something was wrong.
Since Prince FengEr and Princess XiXi were accompanying them, he didn't dare to approach openly. Instead, he followed them secretly to find out what had happened.
Now, seeing XiaoRue walking hurriedly toward Hua MuTan's room alone, ManQi decided to show himself.
His sudden appearance startled her.
"What is that you're carrying, Miss XiaoRue?" ManQi asked.
"It's a secret! I don't have to show it to you!"
XiaoRue stared at him suspiciously.
"It might be dangerous for you to carry it around. Just give it to me. I'll keep it safe for you."
In truth, ManQi simply didn't want XiaoRue to get hurt, especially after what had happened to FangFang.
But XiaoRue wasn't about to trust him so easily.
Without warning, she stomped on his foot as hard as she could.
"Ouch!!! Why did you do that?!"
"To show you that I can defend myself! I don't need your help!"
With that, XiaoRue hurried away.
"What...? Hey...!"
The pain wasn't actually too bad, but ManQi decided not to force her. Instead, he quietly followed her from a distance.
From outside the window, he watched as XiaoRue hid the dagger beneath some clothes in the wardrobe.
So simple...
He couldn't help smiling at how easily she had hidden such a dangerous object.
Not long afterward, he saw Hua MuTan return to the room. She instructed XiaoRue to take out the dagger, then asked her to prepare paper and ink.
TanTan began drawing the dagger.
XiaoRue watched her with a puzzled expression. She noticed that the way her young mistress held the ink brush was different from before. In the past, Hua MuTan had held it with great elegance, but now her grip seemed rather awkward.
Still, the drawing itself was surprisingly good. It looked almost exactly like the real dagger.
After TanTan finished, she asked XiaoRue to put the dagger away safely.
This time, however, she instructed her to hide it underneath the bed instead.
TanTan took the drawing and decided to visit Prince Li's room. After asking XiaoRue for directions, she also asked her to prepare some herbal medicine for FangFang.
XiaoRue immediately headed to the kitchen to gather the ingredients.
And just at that moment, ManQi appeared again.
He offered to help her prepare the medicine, proudly claiming that he was an expert at making herbal remedies.
XiaoRue hesitated for a moment before finally agreeing.
And so, a few hours later, the two of them found themselves spending time together in the kitchen, preparing FangFang's herbal medicine.
Neither of them seemed to mind the company.