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

The depth charges have all been dropped.

Looking at Empress Zhangsun's pale face and Li Lizhi's blank expression, Li Yinxun knew that these words would take them a while to process.

She didn't intend to dwell on the topic any further.

Saying too much is not good. Some seeds, you just need to bury them and don't need to rush to water them.

So she picked up the bowl, took a bite of rice, and started eating with a smile.

"By the way, Auntie, I did the math, I'm twenty-two, and you're only thirty-two. Does it make me sound old to call you 'Auntie'?"

Empress Zhangsun was still thinking about the issue of marriage between close relatives when these words brought her back to reality.

In the palace, she was already considered middle-aged, but in this young girl's words, it was as if she was still very young.

"So what do you want to be called?"

"Call me 'sister' then," Li Yinxun said matter-of-factly.

Empress Zhangsun smiled and waved her hand: "You can't call me 'elder sister,' it would mess up the generations."

"How did things get so chaotic?"

"Sizi and Lizhi call you 'sister,' and if you call me 'sister' too, won't that create chaos?"

Li Lizhi's eyes flickered slightly.

Li Yinxun choked, realizing it was true.

After thinking for a moment, he shook his head: "That won't do, that's too strange."

Empress Zhangsun's eyes lit up: "How about this, let Sizi and Lizhi call you 'Auntie'?"

Li Yinxun blinked.

The aunt of the princes and princesses of the Tang Dynasty.

This generational hierarchy is absolutely top-notch.

"Okay!" Li Yinxun slapped her thigh, decisive and efficient.

Empress Zhangsun was amused by her reaction.

This girl, to put it nicely, is straightforward; to put it bluntly, she's unreliable.

But being with her is definitely relaxing.

Without the intricacies of the palace, without having to guess anyone's thoughts or calculate anyone's interests, it's simple and good.

Empress Zhangsun looked at Li Lizhi and Sizi: "Lizhi, Sizi, from now on... you shall call Xiaoxun your aunt."

Li Lizhi called softly, "Auntie."

The little princess blinked her big eyes, looked at her mother, then at Li Yinxun, and called out in a clear, sweet voice, "Auntie!"

"Hahahaha..."

Li Yinxun's face lit up with a smile: "Hey! That's more like it! It sounds much better!"

Surprisingly, just a few words were enough for Empress Zhangsun to recognize her as her younger sister.

Empress Zhangsun smiled faintly, a smile that eased the heaviness between her brows.

After finishing her meal, Li Yinxun glanced at Empress Zhangsun and Li Lizhi.

The two sat on the hospital bed, without cell phones, books, or anything to pass the time.

There was a sense of bewilderment, as if one had been stripped of all daily routines and had nowhere to place their thoughts.

During the Tang Dynasty, Empress Zhangsun had to manage the affairs of the six palaces every day, handle the delicate relationships between the concubines, and arrange the children's daily life. Her time was completely filled.

Li Lizhi was skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and also assisted Empress Zhangsun in handling affairs of the inner palace.

It's very difficult to make a busy person suddenly stop.

Li Yinxun picked up Sizi and stood up.

"I'll take Sizi downstairs to the fruit shop and buy some fruit."

The reason why Li Lizhi was not allowed to come along was because Empress Zhangsun was afraid that she would be lonely if Li Lizhi left.

Moreover, Empress Zhangsun couldn't be without someone by her side.

I took the little princess out of the ward and downstairs.

There's a pretty big fruit shop right outside the hospital. Colorful fruits are displayed on the shelves, looking fresh and juicy under the lights.

The price is also shocking.

Li Yinxun glanced at the label: apples were eighteen yuan per pound.

My goodness, it's twice as expensive as outside.

That's how it is with shops near hospitals. Landlords know business is good, so they raise rents exorbitantly. When rents are too high, shop owners have no choice but to raise their prices.

In the end, it was all the patients and their families who were hospitalized here who paid the bill.

After picking out a few items and preparing to pay, the little princess suddenly pointed to something covered in thorns in the corner.

"It smells so bad~~"

Li Yinxun looked in the direction she was pointing, and her lips twitched.

"This is called durian. It doesn't smell bad; it tastes delicious. My mother can't eat this."

Although she had eaten it, she didn't find it delicious.

"Year of the Ox~"

"Call me whatever you want."

Li Yinxun was too lazy to correct her pronunciation. She paid the bill, then carried the little princess and a large bag of fruit back to her ward.

She thought for a moment, then pulled Sizi into the shopping mall next door.

"Sis, I bought some apples and bananas. Tell me what you'd like to eat."

"Alright!" Empress Zhangsun responded, peeking into the bag. There were apples, bananas, oranges, grapes—quite a variety.

I guess they even considered beauty.

Empress Zhangsun didn't say anything, but the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

Li Yinxun stayed in the ward for a while, and the little princess started chanting again: "Year of the Ox, Year of the Ox."

Once you have that preconceived notion in your mind, you'll feel like you can smell durian everywhere.

Li Yinxun couldn't take it anymore.

"Sis, I'm going out for a bit."

"Um."

She got up and ran, extremely fast, as if something was chasing her.

Empress Zhangsun and Li Lizhi exchanged a glance, puzzled.

Li Yinxun went straight to the mobile phone store, randomly picked out a phone, and used her ID card to get a SIM card, spending less than five thousand yuan.

Li Yinxun inserted the SIM card, turned on the phone, and downloaded WeChat.

They can just go back and teach Empress Zhangsun and Li Lizhi how to use it. With a mobile phone in hand, at least they won't be so bored that they'll just sit there staring blankly.

But that's not enough; if one person is playing on their phone, the other person is still bored.

She then went to the bookstore and picked out a few classic books.

Whoever plays on their phone and whoever reads, you decide.

When they returned to the hospital, the doctor had just come out of Empress Zhangsun's ward.

Li Yinxun quickened her pace: "Doctor, how is the situation?"

"The recovery is going well." The doctor flipped through the test reports in his hand. "The infection is under control, and the shortness of breath has eased a lot. Observe for two more days, and if there are no problems, you can be discharged the day after tomorrow and go home to rest. Be careful not to overwork yourself, and take your medication and have follow-up check-ups on time."

Empress Zhangsun was stunned after hearing this.

"Can I be discharged the day after tomorrow?" she asked to confirm.

"Yes." The doctor nodded. "In your case, hospitalization is mainly for controlling the infection and acute symptoms in the early stages. Once you're stable, you can go home and rest."

After the doctor finished speaking, he made a note of it and left with the nurse.

Empress Zhangsun leaned against the headboard for a long time before letting out a soft sigh: "Two days... and I can go home to recuperate."

In the past, whenever her illness flared up, the Imperial Medical Bureau would treat it as a major crisis, using herbal medicine and acupuncture, which would keep her bedridden for months or more, and still not be able to cure her completely.

Here, it only took a few days from being admitted to the hospital in a coma to being told that he could be discharged to recuperate.

This decisive and efficient approach left her with an indescribable sense of awe.

Li Yinxun took out a new phone and a book. "Sister, Lizhi, it's boring staying in the ward. You can use this phone. You can call us if you need anything."

"And these books contain stories that are widely circulated around here; they're good for passing the time."

Empress Zhangsun saw that almost everyone here had one, so she didn't refuse and Li Yinxun sat down to teach her how to use it.

Li Lizhi's gaze fell on several books: Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Water Margin, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Pick up the top book, "Dream of the Red Chamber," and open it.

"Full of absurd words, a handful of bitter tears..."