Chapter 558: Delicious!

"Grandfather," the little milk bun called out.

"Ah." Prince Rong gave him two more pieces of small sweet radish candy.

Rong Juan carried the little milk bun back, and Qin Bi saw the candy in his hand and in his mouth, guessing it wasn't his own.

Qin Bi knew best how money-obsessed the little rascal was.

"How many pieces did he eat?" Qin Bi asked.

Rong Juan looked down at the little milk bun. "Not many."

"How many did you eat?" Knowing Rong Juan was protecting the little bun, Qin Bi simply asked Rong Juan.

Rong Juan: "..."

No need to ask; Qin Bi had her answer. She gave Rong Juan another pack of sweet radish candy. Rong Juan went back again. The little bun ate plenty along the way. The candy made from boiled sweet radish wouldn't hurt a child's teeth.

So, Rong Juan didn't stop him.

Seeing Rong Juan return, Prince Rong was puzzled. The little milk bun handed a pack of sweet radish candy to Prince Rong. Prince Rong understood the situation and was surprised; Rong Juan's Princess Consort was far superior to that Qin He.

Both were daughters of the Qin Yan Marquisate, but Qin He was somewhat lacking.

Prince Rong gave half to Rong Juan. The little milk bun happily accepted it. Rong Juan put it in his small storage bag. Once secured, they returned to the Prince's courtyard. By mid-afternoon, the Yan Guogong Mansion sent spirit melon seeds.

There were several kinds of spirit melon seeds, all boiled, plus some roasted ones.

"Wow." The little milk bun drooled.

Rong Juan took a small handkerchief to wipe his drool, laughing in exasperation: "When have you ever lacked food?"

The little milk bun grabbed a few, actually trying to grab a handful, but his small hands were too clumsy, managing only a few roasted white sunflower seeds. He put them in his mouth to crack, but couldn't.

Rong Juan handed him to Qin Bi. The man separated the various spirit melon seeds into two portions: one for Qin Bi, one for the little milk bun. Rong Juan was at the Yan Guogong Mansion and didn't lack spirit melon seeds.

The little milk bun, Rong Juan, hugged his portion and negotiated with Qin Bi: "Swap."

Qin Bi shook her head: "No swap."

The little milk bun looked up at Rong Juan, then gave up.

The little milk bun put some spirit melon seeds into the storage bag. He asked Qin Bi: "You put yours there?"

Qin Bi said: "I won't tell you."

The little milk bun: "..."

Looking up, the little milk bun complained to the Prince: "She won't tell me."

Rong Juan laughed in exasperation, and Qin Bi smiled too. She wouldn't tell him. Qin Bi picked up several kinds of spirit melon seeds and put them on the seed plate. The little milk bun looked at Rong Juan, then at Qin Bi, and reached out his small hand to take some from the plate.

Qin Bi sat down and took a spirit melon seed to eat.

Rong Juan asked: "Do you like them?"

Qin Bi nodded with a smile: "Delicious."

The little milk bun chimed in, nodding: "Delicious!"

Qin Bi was speechless. He sucked on a seed until the salt was gone, yet hadn't cracked it open. Delicious? Truly a mindless compliment. Rong Juan couldn't stand it and told the little rascal to spit it out.

The little milk bun wouldn't spit it out; he couldn't bear to.

Qin Bi grabbed a handful and bargained: "I'll give you a handful."

The little milk bun spat it out immediately. These were spirit melon seeds. Qin Bi peeled the shells and fed them to him. The little milk bun reached out his small hand, and Qin Bi gave him the handful of spirit melon seeds she had grabbed.

Rong Juan saw this and favored neither one.

Qin He was still unwilling. At home, she picked and chose, forcing herself to select two pieces of high-grade demon beast hide, then went to the Qin Yan Marquisate and gave one to her legitimate mother, Second Lady Cui.

"Speak," Second Lady Cui said. "What do you want?"

Qin He pouted and coaxed: "Fubao wants a dress made from flame demon beast hide."

Second Lady Cui took a sip of tea: "Go ask the Princess Consort."

Qin He immediately smiled lightly and stood up to find the Princess Consort.

Entering the room with a smile, Qin Bi presented the high-grade demon beast hide to the Princess Consort. This was a Grade Lan high-grade demon beast hide.

Anything better, Qin He couldn't bear to part with.

The Princess Consort was puzzled. What was the point now? There wasn't even time to make clothes for the Red Flame Festival. If given earlier, she could have made a dress. The fur felt nice.

But the Princess Consort said: "I like it very much. A dress made from this would surely be beautiful."

"Yes," Qin Bi said smoothly. "Fubao also likes wearing pretty dresses. Sister-in-law, could you speak to the Eldest Lady and ask for a piece of flame demon beast hide from the family funds?"

The Princess Consort realized. So, Qin He still hadn't given up.

"I'm afraid..." The Princess Consort hesitated. "It won't work."

Qin Bi pleaded: "Sister-in-law, please ask. Your influence is greater than mine."

The Princess Consort spoke plainly: "There truly isn't any extra. Whatever we have is being sent to relatives and friends. The Red Flame Festival is usually cold, and flame demon beast hides are in high demand."

Qin He lowered her head. "Sigh."

She sighed deliberately for the Princess Consort to see.

Qin He was calculating the flame demon beast hides in the Princess Consort's possession. She had heard the Princess Consort prepared flame demon beast clothes for her children, so there must be extras!

The Princess Consort sighed too. Qin He was stunned and had to ask directly: "Sister-in-law, do you have any leftover flame demon beast hides? Even a small scrap will do. I'll make a pair of fluffy shoes for Fubao."

"What is wrong with you?" The Princess Consort said to Qin He. "Fubao is a First-Rank Little Princess. She must have the best. Her clothing brings fortune and luck. How can Fubao wear scraps?"

Qin He was annoyed but couldn't show it. "It's just a child, it doesn't matter. Sister-in-law, hurry and find some for me."

The Princess Consort spread her hands: "There aren't even any scraps."

Qin He's smile froze on her face. She thought the Princess Consort was making things difficult for her and refusing to give her face, but that wasn't the case. The Princess Consort was also frustrated; the flame demon beast hides given by her mother-in-law were barely enough to make clothes for her children.

Even the small remainder was taken away by a maid sent by the Qin Yan Marquis's wife.

Good heavens, the Princess Consort looked at Qin He and silently complained. She didn't expect even scraps of flame demon beast hide to be so popular. If she had known, she would have kept a scrap.

Qin He got nothing, her heart aching terribly. She wasted two pieces of high-grade demon beast hide for nothing.

Since the He Young Master gave her nothing, Qin He had to carefully ration the good things in her possession; giving away two pieces of high-grade demon beast hides for free made even someone like Qin He ache with regret.

She should have asked first whether the Young Master's wife had any leftover scraps of flame demon beast hides; if not, she would not have given away the high-grade hides. Qin He regretted it thoroughly, gaining no benefit and only wasting her things.

Qin Lang wandered around for a while, then returned to tell Qin Xun.

Qin Xun pondered thoughtfully: "From now on, let us try not to mix the assets of our third and fourth branches with the common estate."

Qin Lang nodded, and the two went to find Qin Tang to inform him.

Afterwards, Qin Lang ran to the Rong Prince's residence.

Upon hearing this, Qin Bi breathed a sigh of relief and instructed Qin Lang: "Go back and tell the eldest sister-in-law and the others to never give our things to her. It is truly wonderful that Qin He is in trouble."