Xia Zheng was shooed to the side, but far from being upset, he was actually delighted. From the look in his mother’s eyes, he could tell she liked Lin Yuan, and liked her a lot at that.
Off to the side, Xiao Linshuang saw her older sister chatting happily with that beautiful lady and came over to join in the fun. Crawling onto her sister’s lap, she said to Princess Anle, "Pretty sister, are you my sister’s, uh, are you Brother Xia’s mom? But how can you be so young? You look even younger than my mom."
"Little sister, don’t be rude. You should call her Madam."
When Lin Yuan heard Xiao Linshuang call Princess Anle "pretty sister," her heart skipped a beat. She quickly grabbed her and quietly scolded her, then carefully apologized to Princess Anle, "Madam, I am truly sorry. My little sister doesn’t know any better and has offended you. Please..."
Before Lin Yuan could finish, Princess Anle waved it off nonchalantly, smiling as she gently pinched Xiao Linshuang’s cheek. "It’s okay, it’s okay. This little girl is both adorable and clever. Ah, I have always hoped for a daughter like her. Instead, I keep having nothing but rascally boys!"
After saying this, she didn’t forget to give Xia Zheng a disdainful glance, clearly annoyed that he was a boy, and a troublesome one at that!
Lin Yuan couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Xiao Linshuang, however, tilted her head, looking very puzzled as she asked, "Pretty, uh, Madam, why do you like daughters so much? Shouldn’t everyone prefer boys? Look at my mom, after giving birth to three girls in a row, my grandparents were so angry they wanted my dad to divorce her!"
Princess Anle was taken aback, not expecting the young girl to blurt out something like that.
Lin Yuan was even more surprised and quickly covered her little sister’s mouth, looking somewhat helplessly at Princess Anle. She had been nervous the whole time, and just when she finally relaxed, now she became worried again. Why couldn’t her little sister say something nice, instead of bringing up all those past grievances!
Princess Anle, after all, was used to seeing the world and quickly recovered her composure, maintaining her smile, though this time it contained a touch of sympathy and pity.
Leaning slightly forward, she took Xiao Linshuang’s hand with concern and asked, "Did your grandmother really want your father to divorce her just because your mother had three daughters?"
Although aware that people of the times favored boys over girls, Princess Anle, who grew up in a life of privilege, still found it somewhat unbelievable. Her own mother had only given birth to her, yet her father, the Emperor, not only did not neglect her mother for this but loved her even more, and was extremely protective of his only daughter.
Lin Yuan glanced at Princess Anle and envied this fortunate woman in her heart. Although she had been orphaned from a young age, at least the skills she was left with were warm and sweet. Later, she was brought into the palace by the Emperor and granted the title of princess. And then she met Xia Zheng’s father and even had two sons in a row. How could such a happy woman understand their sorrows?
Perhaps she understood, just had not thought of it.
Lin Yuan looked at Xia Zheng with some worry. To be honest, she didn’t want to tell Princess Anle about the issues in her own family, especially about cutting ties with the old household. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of her family’s scandals, afraid that Princess Anle would look down on them, but she felt that telling a princess who had never experienced the hardships of commoners was somewhat pitiable.
An Le, An Le, she thought the parents of Princess Anle probably wished for their daughter to enjoy a life of happiness and indeed, she was doing just that. Lin Yuan always felt that Xia Zheng and his father, Brother Xia, were extremely protective of Princess Anle, which was why this woman, who was nearly forty, could still live carefree, looking so young and beautiful.