Chapter 15: The Demon Lord Commandery Princess's Slacking Daily Life Chapter 15: Younger Sister Got Lost

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Protagonist:

Yan Qianqian

Sunlight filtered through the window onto the bed; a new day had begun. Yan Qianqian stretched lazily, happily realizing that today was another day when Third Sister and Si Ge did not have to go to the Shangshufang. She had just gotten up when she discovered, to her surprise, that Si Ge Yan Wang had already started practicing martial arts in the courtyard.

Yan Qianqian, who usually fished for three days and dried nets for two, actually broke precedent today and followed Yue Yi to the courtyard to prepare for martial practice. Yue Yi looked at the early-rising young lady before him, a trace of amusement appearing on his face, then, as if performing a magic trick, produced a small box from behind his back and handed it to Qianqian.

Yan Qianqian's eyes went wide; she took the box with an excited face and asked impatiently, "What is this?" Yue Yi answered with a smile: "Last time the Little Commandery Princess said she wanted to learn the whip, but felt ordinary whips were too heavy to lift. The Prince found out and specially had someone forge this whip specifically for the Little Commandery Princess." As he spoke, he gently opened the box.

Yan Qianqian fixed her gaze and saw a red whip lying quietly inside the box. It was small and exquisite, two sizes smaller than the whip seen last time, as if tailor-made for her. Qianqian excitedly picked up the small whip and waved it about; though the whip was small, its power was not — with a wave of Qianqian's small hand, the whip struck the ground and sent up a cloud of dust. Qianqian's eyes turned into literal stars (? _?), "Wow wow wow, so amazing." Seeing Qianqian's great interest in whip techniques, Yue Yi began to seriously instruct her on how to use the whip. He took out an apple and placed it on the ground, telling Qianqian to lash it into two halves. This seemingly simple goal was a challenge for a beginner.

Qianqian took up the small whip with great interest and practiced hard beside them. Her movements were somewhat clumsy, yet full of enthusiasm and determination. Compared to the usual Qianqian who would fall asleep even while standing in a horse stance, the current her seemed like a completely different person, hard to imagine.

Meanwhile, Yan Wang was also seriously practicing swordsmanship on the training ground. Every sword of his carried a fierce momentum; every move displayed exquisite skill and strength. His focus and dedication moved one involuntarily.

The two practiced simultaneously on the training ground, not interfering with each other, yet forming a tacit, harmonious atmosphere. Their sweat and effort intertwined, composing a beautiful scene.

After nearly an hour of hard training, Yan Wang sheathed his sword, drenched in sweat. On the other side, Qianqian had long since smashed the apple to bits, turning it into a pile of apple pulp. Yue Yi said with a smile: "Alright, let's stop here for today; we'll continue tomorrow."

Though still eager for more, both obediently put away their respective weapons. They knew that only by persisting in practice could they continuously improve their skills.

After the two had lunch, Yan Wang planned to go to the street to buy a writing brush; Qianqian, hearing this, eagerly said she would go along. Since it was just going out to buy a brush, the two did not let any maids or manservants follow.

The two arrived at the market; it was crowded with people, exceptionally lively. Yan Wang was concentrating on selecting a brush at a small stall, while Qianqian was drawn away by the conversation of two men nearby. She only heard the tall man say: "Last night was really too great; I played several rounds in one night, I was so happy I didn't want to leave!" The short man responded: "Really? I want to go try too!" Immediately after, the tall man said: "It's right up ahead; I'll take you there." The two walked off with arms around each other's shoulders. Little Qianqian at the side, listening to their dialogue, had her curiosity completely aroused; she pondered: what on earth is so fun? So she sneakily followed behind the two. At this time Yan Wang was wholeheartedly focused on selecting a brush, completely unaware that his younger sister had already left.

Qianqian followed the two to a three-story small building; three large characters were written on the building's door. Unfortunately, our illiterate Little Qianqian did not know how to read these three characters, only felt they looked quite nice.

She saw the two men take out silver and hand it to the woman at the door, then walk in together. Qianqian felt herself and found she had no silver; thinking she definitely could not enter without silver, she circled the building once and finally discovered a small hole at the back. The hole was tiny; Qianqian first gestured with her hand to gauge the hole's size, then gestured at her own head, felt it was about the same, and carefully poked her head through to test — just right! So she wiggled her little bottom and wriggled inside.

Once inside, she looked: wow, this courtyard is really big, so many rooms! But there weren't many people in the courtyard. Little Qianqian moved forward a few more steps, then suddenly heard voices from a room ahead. She tiptoed to the window, pricked up her ears, and listened to the dialogue inside. She only heard a woman's voice: "The young lady is truly handsome!" Accompanied by the rustling sound of combing hair, another gentle voice sighed: "Handsome, well if she weren't handsome, how could she have stayed in this place so long and still not saved enough money to redeem herself?" Little Qianqian listened in a fog, and so stopped eavesdropping.

She continued forward, passed through a corridor, and arrived at that three-story small building seen earlier. By now it was afternoon, and the building had become lively. There really were quite a few people; Little Qianqian wanted to find a place to hide but there was nowhere. The people coming and going saw this child and merely found it a bit strange, but said nothing.

Little Qianqian went up to the second floor; there were many small rooms, doors tightly shut. She faintly heard sounds coming from inside, but did not rashly enter; instead she chose a room with no sound. She carefully pushed open that door and tiptoed inside.

Entering the room, the first thing that met the eye was an exquisite screen. Through the screen, one could see a table laid with fresh flowers and vivid, dewy blossoms. Looking deeper, a wide, comfortable bed appeared before her eyes; beside the bed stood an exquisite dressing table, covered with a dazzling array of various jewelry, looking very exquisite, though seemingly not expensive.

Little Qianqian curiously climbed onto the small stool by the dressing table, and her gaze was instantly captured by herself in the mirror. The little girl in the mirror had a round, cute face, a pair of large, watery eyes blinking, and wore two small, delicate flower-bud buns, looking exceptionally lively and adorable. Little Qianqian couldn't help but grin; the little girl in the mirror also bloomed into a radiant smile, utterly intoxicating.

Afterward, Little Qianqian picked up the hairpins, dangling ornaments, and hair clips on the dressing table with great interest, and began fiddling with them on her head. One moment she slanted a hairpin into her bun, the next she wore a dangling ornament by her ear shaking it, playing with endless delight, as if immersed in a dreamlike world.

As for Yan Wang at this moment, after buying the brush, he strolled along and spotted a shop selling sugar-roasted chestnuts. He thought to himself: my younger sister loves eating sugar-roasted chestnuts; and looking at this shop, the queue was incredibly long. It must be especially delicious; younger sister will definitely like it. So Yan Wang happily went to queue for chestnuts. Yan Wang queued for a good long while before finally buying the sugar-roasted chestnuts. He held the warm chestnuts in his hands, smelling that sweet fragrance, thinking younger sister would surely like them. Yan Wang held the brush in one hand and a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts in the other, humming a little tune as he headed home. Walking along, he felt as if he had forgotten something, but couldn't recall what no matter how he tried.

Upon returning to the Wangfu, Yan Wang was frantic with worry; he bolted straight for Qianji Yuan. The moment he entered, he saw Mantou watering flowers. He hurriedly asked: "Where's Little Sister? I bought sugar-roasted chestnuts for her." Mantou was stunned by the question, blinking: "Didn't the Young Lady go out with you this afternoon?" Yan Wang only then came to his senses, and hastily shouted at the top of his voice: "Yue Ba, Yue Ba, where's Younger Sister?" Yue Ba hurriedly replied respectfully: "When you were buying the brush, the Young Lady ran off alone to look at other things up ahead; Shiyi was following her, nothing will happen." Hearing this, Yan Wang's suspended heart finally settled. He handed the bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts to Mantou, thinking Younger Sister would return on her own after playing her fill. Then he paid it no more mind, turned back to his own courtyard, and began organizing the items needed for tomorrow's trip to the Shangshufang.

Meanwhile, Qianqian was happily admiring herself in the mirror when she suddenly heard a faint sound from the doorway. She secretly muttered: "Oh dear, sneaking into someone else's room like this isn't good; I'd better quickly find a place to hide!" No sooner thought than done; she swiftly ran to the wardrobe by the bed, flung open the door, and saw — good heavens, it was packed full of hanging clothes. But there was a not-small space at the bottom; she had no time to think further, slipped right in with a whoosh, and pulled the door shut behind her. Just then, the door went "creak" and was slowly pushed open......