Drive to the Tang Dynasty, where supplies are refreshed daily!

However, Xiao Ran reached out and stopped him.

"Madam, Sizi has already eaten today. Don't give her any more, or her teeth will hurt."

Although the little princess really wanted to eat it and even swallowed her saliva, she knew she couldn't eat anymore, especially since it was something she had specially brought for her mother.

So, swallowing hard, he said, "For Mother Seven~"

Seeing her greedy little face, Xiao Ran took the little princess's hand and said, "Let's go out and get you some beef jerky."

Now, whenever there is beef, whether it's Li Shimin or Cheng Yaojin, they will send him some.

There's plenty of meat available at home, so it's not necessary to eat beef. Therefore, Xiao Ran has turned all the beef into beef jerky. He only stews a few pieces of beef when it's freshly delivered and he wants to eat it.

"Okay~ Qiniu is dry again~"

The little princess smiled sweetly at Empress Zhangsun, "Mother~ I'm going to Qiyouyou duck~"

Empress Zhangsun nodded with a smile, "Alright, Sizi, go quickly, or your mouth will start watering."

Everyone in the room burst into laughter. The little princess hummed softly, "No duck, no duck~ I don't drool duck~"

While saying that he didn't drool, he casually wiped the corner of his mouth to see if there was any drool coming out.

Noticing that his lips were dry, he raised his head and stood there with his head held high, as if to say, "See, I don't have any saliva."

Everyone present saw her secretly wiping her drool, but no one said anything to save face for the little guy.

Xiao Ran suppressed a laugh and said, "Okay, now that we know our Sizi isn't drooling anymore, does Sizi still want to eat beef jerky?"

The little princess nodded quickly, "Seven ducks~"

Xiao Ran greeted Empress Zhangsun, saying, "Madam, I'll take them and leave now. You should get some rest."

Empress Zhangsun nodded.

Her illness had been weighing heavily on her mind, but now that she knew she was really getting better, Empress Zhangsun felt much better and lighter.

Xiao Ran led the group of kids out the door, then returned to the living room to get them some beef jerky.

A few little ones sat there munching on beef jerky.

While eating, the little princess suddenly remembered Little Swallow.

"Little Nangjun~ Little Swallow, Seventy-Seven, and Duck~"

The little princess held up the beef jerky in her hand, gesturing for Little Swallow to eat it.

Xiao Ran shook his head. "Little Swallow won't eat it. It can eat insects. Rhinoceros can eat it by itself."

The little swallow is much more energetic than before, and its wings are recovering very well.

Sun Simiao came to see it, expressed his approval of Xiao Ran's method, and was inspired by it.

Just then, a "doo-doo" sound suddenly came from outside the window.

Xiao Ran and the little ones turned around and saw the swallow tapping on the window with its beak.

“It’s the big swallow!” the little princess said, pointing at the big swallow.

The swallow perched on the windowsill, tilting its head to look at them. Seeing that they didn't move, it pecked at the window a few more times.

The little princess ran to the window and put her little hand inside.

"Da Yan Ji~"

"Dodo~"

The other little ones also went over and started chattering amongst themselves.

Princess Chengyang asked, "Is this big swallow here to see the little swallow?"

Princess Gaoyang frowned. "But didn't it abandon Little Swallow? And Little Swallow is ours now."

Xiao Ran didn't interrupt them while they were talking. The swallow, perhaps because it had to support its family, stayed on the windowsill for a while, and then flew away when it saw that they didn't move.

As the swallow flew away, the little princess and the others rushed over and surrounded Xiao Ran.

"Little Nangjun~ How many swallows have flown by now~"

Xiao Ran nodded, "That's right, because the big swallow still needs to find insects to feed the little swallow."

Princess Gaoyang asked impatiently, "Is Big Swallow here to see Little Swallow?"

Xiao Ran thought about it and realized that it was indeed possible.

Now that the little swallow has recovered well, Xiao Ran would occasionally put it on the windowsill to bask in the sun. So the big swallow probably saw the little swallow, found that it was still alive and getting healthier, and that's why it thought of taking the little swallow back.

Xiao Ran nodded. "It must have come looking for Little Swallow."

Princess Gaoyang frowned. "Should we return it?"

Upon hearing this, the children all looked at Xiao Ran, their eyes filled with reluctance.

Although Little Swallow is always sleeping, they all like her very much. Little Swallow seems to recognize people, and she doesn't dodge no matter how they touch her. She even gently touches the little ones' outstretched hands with her mouth.

This time it wasn't being used as food, but rather to express genuine affection.

So now that they know the big swallow wants to take the little swallow away, the little ones are very reluctant to part with her.

Even Third Sister said, "Can we not let Little Swallow leave?"

Xiao Ran reached out and pulled the little ones to his chest, patting their heads reassuringly before saying, "I know you're very reluctant to part with Xiao Yanzi, but she's Xiao Yanzi's mother, so we have to take her with us."

Princess Gaoyang said, "But it doesn't want Little Swallow anymore. What if Little Swallow goes back and gets bullied?"

Upon hearing this, the little ones became nervous, and even Di Renjie, a little adult, frowned.

Xiao Ran said, "The reason it didn't want the little swallow was because it thought the little swallow wouldn't survive. Food was limited, so it had to raise its other children. But now that the little swallow has survived, of course it still wants its children."

"The most important thing is that swallows need to fly in the sky, but as I said the other day, we don't have wings, so we can't teach the baby swallows how to fly or how to catch insects. If that happens, when they grow up, they won't be able to live on their own."

The little princess tilted her head, "We're here, duck!"

Xiao Ran understood; the little princess meant that they could give the swallows something to eat.

Princess Chengyang also said, "Yes, we can keep raising Little Swallow forever."

Looking into the clear eyes of the little ones, Xiao Ran sighed and said, "The little swallow also has its own kind. It will have to go back sooner or later. You see, we are human, so our friends are human too. The same goes for the little swallow. It needs friends too."

“Can’t we be friends with it? We’ll definitely treat it very well!” Third Sister said, and the other little ones nodded in agreement.

Xiao Ran shook his head. "We don't even understand what the little swallow is saying. Besides, the little swallow has wings, and it always wants to fly. We can't just break its wings and stop it from flying."

The little ones fell silent instantly.

Although they didn't quite understand the deeper meaning of Xiao Ran's words, they could still understand the surface meaning.

Seeing their spirits dampened, Xiao Ran smiled and said, "But that's a matter for the future. Little Swallow is still young, and her injuries haven't healed yet, so we can continue to care for her."

Upon hearing this, the children's mood improved considerably.

Xiao Ran added, "Besides, even if Little Swallow is taken away by Big Swallow, she might come back someday." This was a white lie, after all, it was uncertain whether Little Swallow would return, or even if they would recognize her.

But no matter what, swallows will always fly back, even if it's not this little swallow.

Xiao Ran's words instantly made the little ones forget their sadness, and they started chattering about wanting to see Little Swallow.

Xiao Ran led them to his room. Little Swallow was in the box on the bedside table. She was already awake and peeking out.

The little princesses and the others swarmed in, but Little Swallow wasn't afraid and chirped in her tender voice.

"Little swallows~ The nest is here~"

The little princess ran up to Little Swallow, and the other little ones gathered around her.

The little creatures told the little swallow that the big swallow had just come to visit it and asked if its wings hurt.

The little swallows, of course, couldn't understand, but they still made a few chirping sounds, which made the little ones talk even more enthusiastically.

The last few little ones had talked themselves hoarse, and the little swallow was chirping anxiously, probably because it was hungry.

"Little Swallow is hungry, why don't you go and feed her?" Xiao Ran said.

The chopped-up worms didn't look as scary as the whole ones, so the little ones weren't afraid. They picked up the worms with chopsticks and carefully fed them to the little swallow.

After the little swallow finished eating, it became drowsy, which made the little ones yawn a few times as well.

"Let's go eat."

Xiao Ran took the little ones out to eat, and after they ate, they fell asleep.

The next day, the weather was sunny, and the swallow reappeared on the windowsill after lunch.

This time, the little ones took the initiative to lead Little Swallow to the pavilion outside and put her on the table.

Xiao Ran was afraid that with them around, the big swallow wouldn't dare to come over, so he led the little ones back a few steps.

Seeing that Xiao Ran and the others had left, the big swallow flew over and landed next to the little swallow.

The little swallow tilted its head and looked at the big swallow. The big swallow chirped twice, and another big swallow flew over.

They chirped a few times and then flew away.

The little ones watching from a short distance were getting increasingly anxious.

"Why did they fly away? Did they abandon the little swallows?" Princess Chengyang asked worriedly.

After what Xiao Ran said yesterday, they already know that Little Swallow cannot live without Big Swallow, so they are very worried that Big Swallow will not want Little Swallow.

Xiao Ran thought it was unlikely. The reason he hadn't paid attention to the little swallow before was because he thought it wouldn't survive, but now the little swallow was clearly very healthy. Moreover, the adult swallows had to rely on luck to find food and had to share it with so many little swallows, so not every little swallow could get enough to eat.

Therefore, the baby swallows raised by Xiao Ran and his family are even better thriving than the baby swallows in the swallow's nest.

It was clearly a healthy young bird, and the swallow had no reason not to abandon her own offspring.

So Xiao Ran stopped the little princess who was in a hurry to leave and said, "It's okay, let's wait a little longer."

A short while later, two swallows flew back, each carrying an insect in its beak.

One of them flew into the swallow's nest, while the other stayed on the table, feeding the baby swallows the insects in its beak.

Seeing this, the little ones exclaimed in surprise.

“Big Swallow~” the little princess said, pointing to the returning swallow.

Princess Gaoyang was somewhat surprised.

"They actually went to find insects and even fed them to the baby swallows."

Xiao Ran said, "Look, the little swallow is also the child of the big swallow, so how could we abandon it?"

The little ones nodded in unison.

After watching the swallows finish feeding the insects and then fly away, the little ones finally went out, gathered around the baby swallows, and gently touched them.

"Little Yanji~ Your mother is back~"

Princess Chengyang said with a smile, "Your mother didn't abandon you. You can come home when you're better."

The little ones were talking to Xiao Yanzi, while Xiao Ran watched with a smile.

For the next few days, as long as the weather was nice, the little ones would come out carrying the baby swallow.

The adult swallows will also appear on time and feed the baby swallows.

At first, when the little princess and her friends were around, the swallows didn't dare to come over. But after a few times, even if the little princess and her friends hadn't gone far, the swallows would fly over directly.

One day, it even landed directly on the little princess's head, scaring her so much that she dared not move and could only look to Xiao Ran for help.

Fortunately, the adult swallow only stayed briefly before flying away to feed the baby swallows.

Today, after feeding the baby swallows, the adult swallow did not fly away as usual, but instead perched on the stone table to preen its feathers.

Looking at the swallow's glossy feathers, the little princess couldn't resist reaching out her hand to the swallow and gently touching its wings.

The big swallow looked up at the little princess but didn't move.

The little princess's eyes lit up, and she quickly touched it a couple more times before turning her head excitedly and saying, "Little Nangjun~ Kang Dayanjiya~"

Xiao Ran smiled and said, "It's because Big Swallow likes you."

The little princess was overjoyed and wanted to hug the swallow in her arms, but this time, as soon as she reached out, the swallow flew away.

The little princess was a little disappointed.

"How many times has the Great Yan Dynasty departed?"

Xiao Ran comforted him, "That's because the swallows have gone to catch insects. They'll be back tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, the little princess cheered up again.

These past few days, the little ones have been coming home from school to see Little Swallow, chattering away around her, and haven't gone out to play at all.

The children in the village are also acting strangely. Before, the little princess and her friends would play with them, but these past few days they've run away after school and don't play with them at all.

So the children discussed it for a while and then went up to find the little princess and her friends.

Upon hearing from the servants that the village children had arrived, Xiao Ran had them brought over.

Five or six children walked over somewhat reservedly, and the little princess was pleasantly surprised to see them.

"You want to play with us?" the little princess asked, tilting her head.

Several children nodded, one of whom scratched his head somewhat shyly.

"We noticed you haven't been out and about for the past few days, so we came to check on you."

Princess Chengyang said, "Because we're watching Little Swallow." (End of Chapter)