Xiao Ling was pulling back the blanket to get a better view of her surroundings and caught her mother's attention.
"What's wrong, baby? Are you uncomfortable?" Opening the blanket, the opening gives her a full view of the people in front of her parents. Madam Long looked into her daughter's eyes and immediately understood.
"Don't worry, when the initiation ceremony begins, I will remove the blanket, so you can take what you like best."
Xiao Ling gave her mother an expectant look. Her eyes screamed, 'Really?' And it made her mother smile and nod.
At her mother's affirmative answer, Xiao Ling also gave her a nod, and her expression eased a lot.
***
Madam Long sat in front of a huge rectangular wooden table.
The servants placed the table and various objects on it. A hairpin, a zither, a dagger, a pouch with exquisite embroidery, an old book with unknown contents, and a rustic pulp box.
When everyone saw the objects, it amazed them to see the book and the box.
They know that they have passed the box down from generation to generation within the Long Clan, but none of the descendants have been able to find out what it is. Even worse, that a descendant would choose something so ugly and rustic.
They always place the book only when the descendant turns one-year-old, but they are seeing it at the initiation ceremony of Princess Long.
We should note that they have crowned the Long as the only Clan that can only have one son, that is the heir, but this generation of the City Lord could have three, too much to their joy. One of them is a girl.
It is said that it is because his wife is from a family where they can have two children. But no one knows where the City Lords' wives come from. They only know that they disappear for a time's period, and come back with a lady in their arms.
***
Madam Long sat at the table with Xiao Ling in her arms. When she removes the blanket from her, the little beauty amazes everyone. She looks cute and lovely. They know that when she grows up, she will be more beautiful than her mother, because of the addition of Lord Long's genes.
Seeing her beautiful eyes, golden with a slight green shade, the color mesmerized them, but even more by the liveliness and intelligence they gave off.
Besides that, the cute smile she is wearing makes her look sweet and cheerful.
"Xiao Ling, baby... You must choose from what is on the table. What do you like the most?" Madam Long patiently explained to her daughter.
"The objects on the table, will suggest what your hobbies will be. Besides that, they might show what you are good at and what you are not good at. You can choose whichever ones you want, as many as you want..."
The others watched as Madam Long explained to the little girl all about the objects, and the normal rule says that only one to three objects can be selected, but she says just the opposite...
It left everyone stunned.
But seeing the seriousness in Princess Long's eyes, they realized the baby is not a normal baby. In fact, she seems to understand what her mother is explaining to her.
To hairpin, she represents the love for jewelry and beauty, what woman doesn't like it.
For the music, they added an old zither, the best way to show the exquisite imagination and ear to create and identify sounds. The curious thing is the shape of the zither, which looks quite old.
A dagger, for self-defense, proves that she may have a talent for self-defense. Her survival instinct is active.
A pouch with exquisite embroidery, showing the flexibility and adaptability of her hands and fingers.
An old book with unknown contents, the book looks ordinary, without a name, and without knowing the contents, but the book emits a light imperceptible too many of those present, but the little baby could see it clearly, a purple light emitting from within, as if it is calling her to open it.
The last object is an old and rustic pulp box. The color of the box has faded away over the years. No one knows what it is, it's just that they take this box out every time a Long offspring turns one-year-old. She feels the box is a mystery, but the attraction to it is no less than the attraction and connection she felt with the ring.
The fact that the book and the box appeared at Xiao Ling's initiation ceremony is due to the deep deliberation of Lord Long and Madam Long.
Knowing that their daughter is intelligent, they did it so. According to them, she can pick out all the items on the table. That would mean she was born to be a prodigy.
And the future of the Clan will be in her hands in the future, just as Great-Grandfather predicted.
Xiao Ling ignored the others' stares, and her focus was on the objects on the table, especially the last two. She felt the anxieties and emotions of the two objects. And her heart trembled.
She wanted to choose them, but she remembered that in her past life, she always took what she was interested in first, and that made her have many problems with envy, jelousy, and hatred.
Staring at the two objects, she gave a slight glance at her parents.
Her parents understood what she wanted, and Lord Long assured her with his gaze and a nod.
Xiao Ling understood her father's arrogance, 'Take as many as you like, no one here will dare to harm you.'
The words in his eyes were enough for her to take the two items first.
'I will trust my new parents. If they say I can take everything, I will do it, and they will protect me.'
At this moment she realized that although the phrase, 'Blood is thicker than water', does not apply to every family, it can apply to the one she has right now. The trust and love they make her feel is unmatched.
Xiao Ling took the box first, did not open it, just held it in her hands for a few seconds, and her connection with the box was more intense, but she held back from opening it in front of so many eyes.
It surprised many when she took the box and thought that's all she would take. Even though they know the box is mysterious, they couldn't help but feel disappointed, as they wanted her to be more feminine....
(Don't ask why... Maybe because they want to fight and make her their daughter-in-law, or something else...)
But what happened next left them dumbfounded...
After inspecting the box, she wanted to put it inside her blanket, and did so with the help of her mother, who saw her struggling to find a suitable position. After doing so, she took the book, and the same thing happened as with the box.