(Quick Transmigration) Small Cannon Fodder Has Great Power

On the day of the bride's return visit, Yao Yulang and Gu Yunyun strolled towards the Prince's Mansion with the gifts prepared by Madam Yao.

Yao Yulang carried most of the gifts. He hadn't planned for the ladies to carry anything, but Gu Yunyun wasn't going to be a delicate young lady who couldn't lift a finger. So, at her insistence, he gave her some of the lighter items.

Gu Yunyun wore a light pink blouse with fluffy trim and a lotus root-colored long skirt. She carried a small embroidered cloth bag that was similar in size to the one she wore last time, but this time the embroidered pattern was a cat chasing a butterfly. The black and white kittens were cute and lifelike.

Neither of them spoke the rest of the way. Yao Yulang remained silent, seemingly lost in thought, while Gu Yunyun walked along, seemingly enjoying the bustling Shanghai cityscape, but in her mind, she was conversing with the system.

"Host, you need to speed things up. In a few days, the male lead will move out of the Yao residence to his new house, and that won't be long before you're sent to the small villa in the north of the city," the system urged anxiously.

"I can't rush things. If I make him feel that I care too much about him, it will only make him wary."

"But you can't just sit here and wait to die! If there's no opportunity, create one! Eonbaby! You should at least start a conversation!"

Gu Yunyun thought about it and agreed, so she stared at Yao Yulang and thought of topics to discuss.

Yao Yulang felt uncomfortable under her gaze. "What...are you trying to say?"

Gu Yunyun then realized that she seemed to have been staring at him for a while. Looking into his eyes, she randomly started a conversation, "Has anyone ever told you that your eyes are very beautiful?"

Yao Yulang was stunned by the straight ball.

He subconsciously focused his gaze on Gu Yunyun's eyes, trying to discern her intentions behind her words. However, Gu Yunyun's eyes held only pure appreciation, not infatuation, leading Yao Yulang to instinctively believe that this was a heartfelt praise for something beautiful, devoid of any romantic feelings.

Looking into Gu Yunyun's clear, pure, and bright almond-shaped eyes, he felt that the eyes he could see were truly beautiful.

Only after saying this did Gu Yunyun carefully observe his eyes. Yao Yulang's eyes were typical peach blossom eyes—deeply affectionate and melancholic, with clear black and white, seemingly drunk yet not so drunk; they were indeed a pair of eyes that could stir the soul.

"It's really beautiful." This time, she was genuinely praising it.

"Ahem... thank you." Yao Yulang awkwardly looked away.

"You're welcome," Gu Yunyun said frankly.

Suddenly there was a commotion ahead, and it seemed that a woman was shouting, "Robbery! Catch the robber!" A man rushed towards them, holding a woman's handbag in his hand, and ran past them.

Gu Yunyun's heart skipped a beat. Although Yao Yulang was a businessman, he also possessed the integrity and passion of a scholar, and he would certainly not stand idly by in this situation. She realized that this was a golden opportunity to boost the male lead's favorability!

Before Yao Yulang could react, Gu Yunyun shoved the things in her hand into his arms, her eyes blazing with excitement, and then she turned and rushed out.

Yao Yulang instinctively caught the item, staring dumbfounded at his nominal wife, a princess from a feudal family, who, like a rabbit released from its grasp, took off running like the wind and disappeared from sight in an instant.

Yao Yulang was instantly filled with a thought: No... how could someone with bound feet run so fast?

He had heard before that this Princess Minyun had bound her feet like her Han Chinese mother, so he was even more reluctant to marry such a wife.

Young Master Yao snapped out of his shock, put down the large and small bags he was carrying on the side stall, left a message saying "Please keep an eye on this for me," and hurried after them without thinking twice.

Despite having long legs, Yao Yulang ran for quite a while before catching up with Gu Yunyun.

You know, back in his school days, Young Master Yao was a well-rounded talent, excelling in both academics and sports. As he chased after her, he couldn't believe how fast Gu Yunyun's short legs could move. What happened to the traditional, sheltered young lady who never left her home?

Yao Yulang stopped, panting. When he arrived, the robber had already been pinned to the ground by passersby.

Gu Yunyun, holding the handbag that had just been snatched, waved happily at him when she saw him coming, instantly reminding him of the excited way his classmates waved their medals during the sports meet awards ceremony years ago.

Yao Yulang closed his eyes briefly, trying to banish the terrible thought from his mind, before stepping forward to ask Gu Yunyun, "Are you alright?"

"It's alright, let's return this bag to its owner."

Yao Yulang frowned and said, "How can a young lady like you go chasing after bad guys alone? What if you get hurt?"

"Uh..." Gu Yunyun's excited expression froze, and she felt a little guilty. "Well, it happened so suddenly, I didn't think that much about it."

Yao Yulang stared at Gu Yunyun seriously for a while, then sighed helplessly, suddenly feeling like he was taking care of a child. However, this also made his vague resistance and wariness towards Gu Yunyun dissipate a lot—after all, she was still an immature child.

"Don't be so impulsive next time, let's go."

"Mmm!" Gu Yunyun nodded repeatedly.

They walked back a bit and saw the robbed woman who had rushed over. After returning the lost items to the owner, the two went back to the stall where they had left their belongings to retrieve them, and even bought some trinkets from the stall as a token of their gratitude.

Gu Yunyun enthusiastically picked out a slingshot and a shuttlecock and put them into her small cloth bag.

The two arrived at the Prince's residence and were warmly welcomed inside by the gatekeeper. The old Prince and Princess were already waiting inside.

After talking for a while in the hall, the princess asked Gu Yunyun to show Young Master Yao around the mansion, and then she would call them for dinner later.

Gu Yunyun took Yao Yulang to visit the garden of the Prince's Mansion. After passing through the corridor of the garden, a pool of clear water came into view, with willows drooping by the lake and artificial hills on the side.

Gu Yunyun pointed to the embankment of the water bridge with its flower trellis and introduced, "When the wisteria blooms in April or May, it looks like purple clouds falling on the lake. You can search all over Shanghai and you won't find a wisteria tree with more abundant flowers than the one in my house. My father put a lot of effort into it. In the summer, you can sit under the trellis and enjoy the lotus flowers. Now that it's still chilly in spring, we can only make do with what we have."

"If I have the chance, I definitely can't miss the magnificent sight of the wisteria in full bloom." Yao Yulang imagined such a dreamlike scene and sighed sincerely, "However, the plants are still growing and have a unique charm."

Gu Yunyun led Yao Yulang forward, and along the way they encountered a maid who greeted them with delight, "Miss, you're back!"

"Hey, little magpie!" Gu Yunyun pulled out a shuttlecock from her purse and kicked it with a "whoosh!" "It's for you!"

The little maid thanked her with a laugh and then started kicking the shuttlecock nimbly. The shuttlecock flew up and down, and the maid playfully kicked it at Gu Yunyun again.

Gu Yunyun also became interested, and with a quick kick, the shuttlecock landed steadily on her delicate hibiscus-embroidered shoes. With a slight flick of her wrist, the shuttlecock fluttered like a butterfly, sometimes high, sometimes low, flying over her head and landing back on her toes, moving with incredible ease and obedience. Finally, Gu Yunyun kicked the shuttlecock back to the little maid, still somewhat reluctant to stop.

Yao Yulang admired the girl's lively and agile figure, praising her flexibility and agility. He recalled the shock he felt when she ran on the street earlier that day and couldn't help but glance at her small feet a few more times.

A gossipy voice from the system echoed in Gu Yunyun's mind, "Young Master Yao keeps glancing at your feet (﹃v﹃)."

"Given his understanding of my status as a princess, he must still think I had bound feet." Gu Yunyun wasn't surprised at all. "He'd be curious after I was running and jumping around today. I need to break his stereotypes about me little by little." As she spoke, she asked the system with a smug look on her face, "Wasn't I cool when I stepped in to help someone in need and kicked a robber to the ground? Wasn't I cool enough to impress the male lead?"

The system replied coldly, "He didn't see it."

"what?"

“You ran too fast, and Young Master Yao’s view was blocked from behind.”

Gu Yunyun: ……(⊙_⊙)

"It's a bit cold outside after being out for so long. How about I take you to my study?" Gu Yunyun said, trying to calm herself down, but a hint of bitterness and resentment could still be seen on her face.

Seeing her expression, Yao Yulang assumed she was freezing and said, "Okay."

After passing through several doorways, you arrive at Gu Yunyun's study.

The study was quiet and elegant, with a traditional Chinese painting of wisteria blossoms on the wall.

Seeing Yao Yulang looking at the painting, Gu Yunyun secretly felt a little proud and said, "It's just so-so, please excuse my poor work."

“Miss Minyun is too modest. This painting is radiant with light and color, exquisite in every detail, and the beautiful scenery leaps off the paper. I can even vaguely smell the fragrance of wisteria flowers. The wisteria flowers in the Prince’s Garden have not yet bloomed, but I have seen them here. This trip has been worthwhile.”

Gu Yunyun chuckled and said somewhat embarrassedly, "The fragrance isn't something you're imagining; I just dusted some perfume made from wisteria flowers on it."

Yao Yulang choked for a moment, then couldn't help but burst into laughter, "Miss's ingenuity."

Yao Yulang glanced at the numerous books on the bookshelf and was surprised to see many translations of foreign works. "You read foreign books?"

"Yes, it's quite interesting. What, do you think my bookshelf should only contain the Four Books and Five Classics, Tang and Song poetry, and precepts for women?"

Yao Yulang touched his nose. "No, I'm just a little curious. Did the old prince ask you to look at these Western gadgets?"

“Why not? He reads them himself.” Gu Yunyun leaned against the desk, looking relaxed. “My father said that there are no books in the world that cannot be read. As for whether a book contains treasures or dross, you have to judge for yourself. Don’t be prejudiced before you’ve even read it.”

Upon hearing this, Yao Yulang suddenly felt inexplicably ashamed.

A servant came and called them to the front hall for dinner. At the table, the princess chattered on and on, asking the young couple many questions. The old prince didn't say much, his expression revealing no joy as he silently ate and drank. Seeing her husband like this, the princess secretly kicked him under the table.

The old prince looked up at his wife, but the princess was still talking to the young couple, her eyes fixed straight ahead. He sighed inwardly, sat up straighter, and raised his glass to young master Yao, "Come, son-in-law, let's drink!"

Yao Yulang quickly raised his glass as well.

The old prince poured a lot of wine for Yao Yulang, but Yao Yulang showed no signs of drunkenness. The old prince himself, however, was quite tipsy. Later, he kept muttering, "You mustn't bully our Yunyun!" "Yunyun, my little darling..." As he kept muttering, the old man, despite his advanced age, suddenly became teary-eyed.

The princess couldn't bear to watch any longer and had a servant help him back to his room. She said helplessly to Yao Yulang, "Son-in-law, please don't take offense. Master is just too reluctant to part with Yunyun."

"Before you arrived, he got up very early this morning and paced around the courtyard, peeking out every now and then. But as soon as he saw you coming, he dashed into the main hall and pretended to be reserved." The princess smiled helplessly. "That stubborn old man is actually just like a child."

Gu Yunyun felt a pang of sadness watching the old prince's aggrieved figure being helped along by servants. Although she wasn't the real Aisin Gioro Minyun, this deep paternal love still made her want to cry.

···

On the way back, Gu Yunyun thought about the story of the old prince and princess in her memory, and compared it with Yao Yulang's views on marriage and love, and an idea came to her. She organized her thoughts, gathered her emotions, and said softly,

"You people who have returned from studying abroad all advocate monogamy. But my parents were already faithful to each other even before this trend existed."

Monogamy is a system of modern civilization, a legal or moral constraint, but my parents acted solely from their hearts. She murmured, "One life, one love… there is no more romantic, more sincere vow."

"Since you yearn for mutual love, why did you agree to this arranged marriage?" Yao Yulang asked, puzzled.

“My parents’ love is the most precious and beautiful miracle in the world. I know how rare and luxurious such a sincere and lasting love is, and I dare not hope for it.” Gu Yunyun lowered her head and fiddled with her small cloth bag, stroking the kitten on it. “So I decided early on to guard my heart and live a more carefree life.”

Yao Yulang looked at the whorl of hair on the little girl's head and suddenly felt a pang of tenderness. "You will meet such a person. When that day comes, I will sincerely wish you both well."

Gu Yunyun looked up at him, and he smiled gently.

"If one day you meet someone like that, I will also wish you well." But Fang Hui is absolutely not an option.

Yao Yulang looked at her earnest, round eyes and couldn't help but smile as he patted her head. The little girl's hair was so soft that it softened his heart as well.

Yao Yulang thought it best to treat this adorable little girl as if she were his own little sister, especially since his parents adored her. He would act as her older brother, watching her grow up and accompanying her until she met the right person, then handing her over to him.

Seeing Yao Yulang's visibly softened attitude, Gu Yunyun smiled sweetly.