Little Sizi came to my house and became the family's darling, and Li Shimin got anxious.

In the early morning, the little princess rubbed her sleepy eyes and peeked her head out from under the covers.

Beside him, Li Yinxun was sleeping soundly, her arm around Guo Qian.

The little girl lay on the bed for a while, her face gradually turning red.

She sniffed, her eyes clearing a bit, and with her small hands gripping the sheets, she slowly slid off the covers.

Little feet stepping on the carpet.

The little princess glanced back at the two adults sleeping in each other's arms on the bed, a pang of jealousy rising in her heart. She gave a soft hum and then slipped into the bathroom.

"Splash—"

The sound of flushing water was heard, followed by the sound of flowing water.

The little girl stood on a small stool, skillfully squeezed out hand soap, lathered it up, rinsed it thoroughly, and then dried her little hands with a paper towel.

The villa was very well soundproofed, and since everyone was exhausted last night, Li Yinxun and Guo Qian, who were sleeping in bed, were completely unaware of this.

The little princess walked out of the bathroom without waking the adults. Instead, she skillfully ran to the door and dragged out her special pink stool.

Place the stool steadily under the doorknob, climb up with difficulty, grasp the doorknob with your little hands, press down hard, and then push gently.

The door opened.

The little girl nimbly jumped off the stool, moved it back to its original position, and then huffed and puffed as she clung to the elevator door and went downstairs alone.

……

Arrive at the living room on the first floor.

The little princess, familiar with the place, headed straight for her own private domain: the low snack cabinet in the corner.

Opening the cabinet door, her little eyes scanned the rows of snacks, and finally she picked out a box of strawberry-flavored children's milk and two packs of soft, fluffy bread.

"Xiao Zhi, Xiao Zhi, turn on the TV."

The little girl plopped down on the soft, long-haired rug in the middle of the living room, opening a bread bag and issuing commands.

"Okay, playing 'Boonie Bears' for you..."

The TV screen lit up, and Bald Qiang's exaggerated laughter echoed throughout the living room.

The little princess nibbled on her bread and drank her sweet milk while staring intently at the screen, occasionally letting out a low giggle.

Her little face was full of satisfaction.

The second floor.

Li Yinxun woke up from the heat and subconsciously raised her hand to touch the top of her head, wanting to check if the little girl had kicked off the blanket.

However, there was nothing there when I touched it.

Only the bed sheets felt slightly cool.

"Um?"

Li Yinxun's sleepiness vanished instantly, her heart tightened, and she sat up abruptly.

Guo Qian, who was next to him, was also awakened.

He groggily opened his eyes, looked at Li Yinxun who had a panicked expression, and asked in confusion, "What happened? Did the sky fall?"

"Sizi is gone!" Li Yinxun threw off the covers and got out of bed.

Upon hearing this, Guo Qian was wide awake and sat up abruptly.

Without saying a word, the two began searching the bedroom.

Just as Li Yinxun was anxiously preparing to rush out the door to call for help, Guo Qian suddenly pointed to the doorway.

"That is..."

Next to the doorknob, there was a small pink stool.

Li Yinxun was stunned for a moment, then a flash of inspiration struck her, and she slapped her forehead.

"I forgot about that."

To prevent the little princess from being scared or locked out when she was alone, they had taught her to use a stool to stand on to open the door, and this stool was specially prepared for her in her room.

"You little rascal, you ran down there by yourself."

Li Yinxun let out a long sigh of relief and ran downstairs.

Before even reaching the first floor, one could faintly hear the little girl's deliberately lowered, yet still cheerful laughter coming from the living room.

……

Li Yinxun walked quickly to the sofa and looked at the little girl sitting cross-legged on the carpet. She was both annoyed and amused.

She knelt down, pinched the little princess's soft little face, and sincerely praised her:

"Our little Sizi is amazing! When she's hungry, she knows to find food herself, and she can even open the door and go downstairs by herself. She's such a big kid now."

After being praised by her aunt, the little princess was so proud that her tail was practically wagging.

But before he could gloat for more than a few seconds, he heard his aunt say:

"But little Sizi, remember this: no matter where you want to go in the future, even if it's just to go downstairs for a drink or a snack, you must wake up your aunt or uncle first. You can't sneak off by yourself, okay? We'll worry about you."

The little princess nodded obediently and said sweetly, "I know, Auntie, don't be angry."

"Are you full now? Do you want to go wash up and brush your teeth?" Li Yinxun asked softly.

The little princess suddenly covered her mouth, her eyes darting around, "I forgot to brush my teeth... my mouth smells bad..."

Li Yinxun leaned close to her mouth and exaggeratedly sniffed, then laughed and said, "Where does it smell bad? Our Sizi is a fragrant little princess, she doesn't smell bad at all."

The little princess widened her eyes dramatically, letting Li Yinxun carry her to wash up.

When the two finished washing up and arrived at the restaurant, the table was full of breakfast, including red date and longan porridge and crystal-clear steamed buns made by Green Luo and the others, as well as Western-style toast and fried eggs prepared by Guo Qian.

Li Shimin, Empress Zhangsun, Li Lizhi, and Chengyang had already taken their seats.

Li Shimin was picking up a fried egg, studying how it had become so crispy on the edges and smooth on the inside, when he saw the two enter and greeted them with a smile:

"Come on, everyone's here, let's eat!"

"Seven again!" The little princess stared at the steamed buns, drooling.

Li Shimin, who was eating porridge halfway through breakfast, suddenly stopped.

"Oh no!"

The people in the restaurant were startled by his sudden commotion, and they all stopped eating and turned to look at him.

Li Shimin rubbed his forehead and sighed deeply:

"I...I was so busy eating that boiled fish last night that I completely forgot what Father had told me."

"What's wrong?" Li Yinxun raised an eyebrow, looking at him with a leisurely air.

Li Shimin said with a bitter face, "It's alright, Father told you to inform him when you arrive in the Tang Dynasty."

While peeling an egg for the little princess, Li Yinxun casually comforted her, "It's no big deal, just forget about it. When you go back later, bring back some snacks and show him the pictures of the new house. Your grandfather is the kind of person who loves to eat and is prone to tantrums. With food and a new house, he won't have time to be angry with you."

Empress Zhangsun covered her mouth and chuckled. No wonder Erlang was tossing and turning in bed last night; so that's what it was all about.

Li Shimin acted immediately, striding to the snack cabinet in the corner of the living room and starting to rummage through it.

"Take this, take this too, and this one as well..."

The little princess's once full cabinet of snacks was suddenly reduced by more than half.

The little princess, who was focused on eating her eggs, was a beat slow to react. When she saw the empty snack cabinet, she was dumbfounded.

Li Shimin turned around and caught the little princess's aggrieved look in her eyes.

He coughed twice and solemnly admonished:

"Sizi, you must remember that children should not eat too many snacks. These things... well, they may taste good, but they are not good for your health. Your father will help you solve this problem."

The little princess blinked her big eyes and looked at Li Yinxun with a puzzled expression.

is that true?

Li Yinxun winked at Li Shimin, then readily agreed:

"Yes, eating too many snacks is not good. Our little Sizi is growing, so she needs to eat more meat."

The innocent little princess had no idea about the subtle exchanges between the adults, and a big question mark appeared in her little head.

My aunt usually lets me eat this, so why not today?

Besides... I clearly didn't eat that much!