Chapter 174: Breaking Out Of The Cocoon To Become A Butterfly
Qin Wanwan’s toys were all made by Ke Ke, who described them as creations by Shang Wuyang.
That fellow is indeed a master of mechanisms; he even made a small bicycle.
There were also magic cubes, small swords that could transform, and jigsaw puzzles.
Fearing she might be bored, Rong Zhi brought her to the banquet and also brought her toys.
As soon as Qin Wanwan’s small toys were brought out, the few children in the room gathered around.
To fight over the bicycle and the small swords that could transform into other weapons, several boys started fighting.
Three of the young princes, excluding Yin Yuanli, also joined in.
The scene descended into chaos.
Qin Wanwan: Σ(°△°|||)︴
“Stop fighting, stop fighting. You can take turns playing with it for a while.”
At Yin Yuanli’s command, several people rushed in from outside and separated the children who were tearing at each other.
Ke Ke flew to the small bicycle and stood on it, pointing and lecturing them.
“What are you snatching for? If it’s yours, snatch it. Have you asked my cub’s opinion?”
Qin Wanwan nodded: “Exactly, exactly.”
A group of young boys looked at Qin Wanwan.
Tenth Prince: “Sister Wanwan, I want to play with that small car that can transform.”
Eleventh Prince: “I want to play too, I’ll play first, brother, you should let me go first.”
Tenth Prince: “Pah, how dare you ask me to let you go first? You’re the younger brother, why don’t you listen to me, your older brother, and let me ride it first?”
Twelfth Prince: “I want to play with that small sword that can transform.”
Several other young boys chimed in enthusiastically: “I want to play too!”
They started arguing again.
Qin Wanwan looked at them, then at the three young girls who were quietly playing with the jigsaw puzzle together.
Over there, they were quietly cooperating; over here, they were noisy.
In the end, Yin Yuanli stepped in and decided the order in which everyone could play with the toys by drawing lots. Each person could only play for the time it takes one incense stick to burn.
One incense stick is about half an hour, and they even lit an incense stick there to keep track of the time.
Qin Wanwan went to play with the jigsaw puzzle with the three young girls.
Anyway, the toys were all hers, and she could play with them herself when she went home.
“It’s a little horse pattern.”
After assembling the puzzle, the girls all became happy.
“This is so fun! Sister Qin, where did you buy it? I’ll have my mother buy it for me too when I go back.”
Qin Wanwan: “My Daddy made it for me, and Father Rong drew this picture.”
Hearing her words, the girls were very envious.
“My father doesn’t even have time to accompany me.”
“Yes, yes, my father has so many sons and daughters, he rarely has time to accompany me and my mother.”
This was common in most ancient families, especially wealthy ones. Men had many wives and concubines, and many children. Once there were many people in the inner courtyard, with only one father and one husband, the time allocated to children and wives naturally decreased.
The children here were all legitimate children brought by the main wife. Concubines, no matter how favored, did not have the qualification to accompany the male head of the household to banquets and social events.
“Huh? Sister Wanwan, did the red gemstone on your hairpin just move?”
Qin Wanwan raised her hand to touch it, and it really had!
She took off the small hairpin.
“This isn’t a gemstone, it’s a butterfly pupa.”
After so many days, was it finally about to emerge?
“A butterfly pupa? Will beautiful butterflies emerge from it?”
“My mother said butterflies turn from insects. How can such terrifying insects turn into such beautiful butterflies?”
Qin Wanwan said seriously: “My Daddy Shang said that girls change a lot as they grow up and become more beautiful. Insects are probably like that too.”
“Huh? Didn’t you just say Father Rong?”
Qin Wanwan: “I have Father Rong and Daddy Shang.”
The children: “???”
Does this mean she has two fathers?
Before they could ask for clarification, the butterfly pupa showed signs of movement, as if something was trying extremely hard to break out.
Everyone was seeing this scene for the first time, and for a moment, no one spoke, staring nervously at the red butterfly pupa.
Even the boys who were playing on the other side came over.
“What is this…”
A boy with a loud voice wanted to speak, but someone covered his mouth.
“Shh… don’t scare it.”
The butterfly pupa broke open, and then a clumsy-looking butterfly with curled wings emerged.
“What’s wrong with its wings?”
Ke Ke explained to the children: “Butterflies are like this when they first emerge from the pupa. Their wings will slowly unfold. Otherwise, such a small pupa couldn’t hold such large wings.”
The children nodded, seeming to understand but not fully.
The butterfly crawled along the hairpin onto Qin Wanwan’s hand, found a spot, and slowly shook and unfolded its wings.
Watching this, the children became anxious, wishing they could help it straighten its wings.
Under the watchful eyes of many clear, large eyes, the little butterfly’s wings finally unfolded.
“Wow! It’s a red butterfly, such a beautiful color, like sparkling gemstones, it’s so good-looking!”
“I’ve never seen a red butterfly before, and it’s so big, its wings are so large, even bigger than Sister Wanwan’s hand.”
“It’s flying, it’s flying.”
This beautiful and dreamlike butterfly, amidst the children’s exclamations, flapped its wings and flew up, circled above their heads, and finally landed on Qin Wanwan.
The children all exclaimed.
“Little butterfly, quickly, fly to me.”
The boys stopped playing with their toys and one by one called out to the butterfly.
Ke Ke said proudly: “Give up, you all. This butterfly only recognizes my cub.”
“Sister Wanwan is so amazing! Can you make it fly?”
Qin Wanwan: “Yes, I can.”
She extended a finger and waved it: “Come here.”
The beautiful butterfly, which was originally in her hair, gracefully unfolded its wings and flew to her fingertip.
This butterfly was very large; its wingspan could cover her hand.
The wings were a vibrant red, with black veins, and had a clear, translucent glassy texture.
Qin Wanwan then had the butterfly circle her, looking like a dancing little elf.
This completely shocked the group of uninformed children.
“You, you can actually control butterflies, that’s amazing!”
Qin Wanwan said with a little pride: “Not only can I make butterflies obey me, I can also make other animals obey me.”
The children were even more shocked.
“Really?”
“I have a kitten at home, but it seems unwell lately. Can you help it and see what’s wrong?”
The speaker was that greedy little girl; she was a child from the Gu family.
The maid quickly brought the cat, which was a very beautiful white lion cat.
It just looked very listless, as if it was sick.
Gu Qingqing hugged the lion cat and looked eagerly at Qin Wanwan.
“Can you help Xue Bao and see what’s wrong? It hasn’t eaten for two days. My mother called a doctor, but they couldn’t figure it out.”
Qin Wanwan petted the lion cat’s head. It seemed to regain some spirit, rubbing its fluffy little head against her hand, meowing softly.
Qin Wanwan said: “Its stomach hurts.”
