Starting with Intercepting and Marrying the Eldest Princess - Chapter 28.1

Chapter 28.1: “Your Highness, You Wouldn’t Want…”…

The second day dawned, another clear and sunny day.

After Xie Ning and Pei Shujing finished their training and showered, they were discussing where to go for their outing while having breakfast.

“Hey? How about we go mountain climbing?”

The Empress Dowager’s voice preceded her arrival.

“Mother, I just finished training. If I go mountain climbing now, are you hoping your eldest daughter dies young?” Pei Shujing massaged her forehead in exasperation.

She was exhausted today. Xie Ning was finding ways to torment her, but Pei Shujing couldn’t give up. She knew Xie Ning was doing it for her own good.

Xie Ning also knew Pei Shujing was tired, so she followed up on Pei Shujing’s comment: “The weather is great today. There might be too many people heading out of the city.”

“The weather is good, so you don’t want to take me out? You just want to cozy up at home and have sweet time with Xiaojing?” The Empress Dowager looked over, asking Xie Ning with a smile.

“Is that true?” Pei Shujing also smiled at Xie Ning, giving her a subtle pout where the Empress Dowager couldn’t see.

Although she truly didn’t want to move, she had to keep her promise to her mother.

“Uh… Of course not!” Xie Ning asserted. “What I mean is, we can go somewhere with fewer people.”

“I’ve been alone in the palace for too long. I want to go somewhere lively,” the Empress Dowager said.

“You sound very reluctant?”

“Not reluctant, not reluctant at all.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” Xie Ning nodded. “If there are too many people, I’m just worried about your safety. Your Highness, don’t leave my side by more than half a meter today.”

“Alright,” Pei Shujing agreed.

“What about me?” the Empress Dowager asked, her eyes wide.

Xie Ning hesitated: “You shouldn’t leave Her Highness by more than half a meter.”

The Empress Dowager pouted: “Boring.”

“Little Ning, stop, don’t run off.”

A small dog panted its way in, stopped in front of the table, and stared intently at Xie Ning.

“Little Ning?”

Xie Ning looked blankly at the doorway. Soon, Yinyin, with flushed cheeks, ran in.

“Mother.”

“Elder Sister.”

Yinyin quickly performed a salute, then ran over, squatted down, and carefully hugged the small dog with both arms.

“Whine, whine, whine…”

The puppy whimpered, waving its front paws as if seeking help from Xie Ning.

Pei Shujing chuckled, seeing Xie Ning’s confused expression.

After buying the puppy for Yinyin yesterday, Yinyin had been troubled over choosing a name.

She thought Yinyin would choose some grand name, but she didn’t expect her to name it “Little Ning” overnight.

The Empress Dowager shook her head and frowned: “Yinyin, why did you choose that name? If your brother-in-law finds out, you’ll be in trouble.”

But I already know!

Yinyin glanced at Xie Ning and pouted: “Mother, Little Ning is not Xie Ning. Who would dare to talk nonsense?!”

Isn’t that the very definition of a guilty conscience trying to clear itself!

The Empress Dowager said indulgently: “Fine, have it your way.”

So you agreed just like that?!

“This puppy looks quite fierce. From its appearance, one wouldn’t guess it’s a little female dog.”

Xie Ning’s heart skipped a beat. She subtly turned her head to look at Pei Shujing.

Pei Shujing slightly shook her head, signaling that she hadn’t told her mother about Xie Ning disguising herself as a man.

“She’s Little Ning! She already has a name.”

The Empress Dowager smiled: “Good, good. She’s Little Ning. When we go out of the city later, remember to bring the small water bottle your brother-in-law bought you.”

“Got it.”

Yinyin loudly responded.

“Little Ning, let’s go.”

Then, she walked off, hugging her cute pet.

“That girl…” The Empress Dowager smiled and shook her head, then glanced at the frowning Pei Shujing, and finally looked at Xie Ning: “Ningning, you don’t mind, do you?”

Xie Ning shook her head: “Yinyin did this because she likes me. How could I mind?”

“That’s good, that’s good. That child is actually learning from her older sister. Xiaojing has you, Ningning, by her side, so Yinyin also wants another Little Ning to accompany her. My two daughters are surprisingly similar in certain aspects. I hope neither of them will be disappointed,” the Empress Dowager lamented with a knowing tone.

Xie Ning now felt eighty percent certain that the Empress Dowager knew her identity. Although she didn’t know how she was exposed, hearing the Empress Dowager say this, Xie Ning was relieved.

She raised her head, smiled, and patted her chest: “Mother, please rest assured. No one from our ‘Ning’ generation will turn out to be ungrateful!”

The Empress Dowager burst into laughter: “Silly child, why are you putting yourself and a dog in the same generation? Alright, you two eat first. I’m going to change.”

After the Empress Dowager left, Pei Shujing looked at Xie Ning for a moment, hesitating: “Perhaps I exposed myself somehow…”

Xie Ning smiled and shook her head: “Maybe it was me?”

“It’s no big deal. Besides, Mother’s meaning is to tell me that as long as I don’t let you down, she won’t expose me. It’s actually quite good.”

Pei Shujing nodded: “Mother loves me.”

Then she paused, reacting to Xie Ning’s words: “Why did you call her Mother, too? And what do you mean by ‘letting this Princess down’?”

Xie Ning coughed twice: “It slipped out.”

Pei Shujing didn’t pursue it, but she drank half a bowl more porridge than usual today.

Perhaps her body needed energy after the early morning exercise?

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