"Little Yanyan enjoys speaking with you, but you’re so busy with state affairs all day, always rushing here and there. When do you ever have ti to accompany her? Besides, didn’t you promise her a few days ago that you’d take her to the festival market again? What ca of that?"
He really didn’t have ti...
Feeling sowhat ashad, Qin Yi’s face showed a hint of embarrassnt.
And when he thought about how he had indeed promised Little Yanyan to go see the festive lanterns and it still hadn’t happened, he quickly spoke up.
"Didn’t I just tell you that I will take her in a couple of days? Don’t worry, the market won’t be taken down until after the Lantern Festival. We still have ti."
"Little Yanyan and Little Sugar Bean’s birthdays are right after the Lantern Festival. In these next few days, let’s take them out again."
Ti kept passing, as if in the blink of an eye. Little Yanyan had grown up, and Little Sugar Bean was learning to walk. Currently, she was pregnant with two more. By the ti these two children were born and she had safely given birth, by the ti all the children had grown up, they would marry and have their own families. Then, just like birds leaving the nest, they would fly away, never to look back...
Once, such things seed very distant, but now they felt urgently close. As if in a blink, that day would co.
Su Pan’er was particularly indulgent with the children, always trying to accommodate them wherever she could.
In this regard, she was just like countless other mothers, all hoping for their children to have a happy childhood.
While they were speaking, Yan Yan rushed into the Warm Pavilion, bringing a chilly draft with her.
"Father! Empress Mother, Yan Yan is back!"
As the bright red figure burst into the Warm Pavilion, Qin Yi’s recently surfaced pity instantly vanished!
He sternly reprimanded her: "Look at you, you’re almost a grown girl now. You are the First Princess of Our Great Zhou, yet you act so carelessly, with no sense of propriety. Have you forgotten all the lessons from Teachering Nanny these past days? That’s no way to behave!"
This made Yan Yan stick out her tongue and quickly stand still. She greeted them properly, as she had been taught by Nanny.
"Yan Yan greets Father and Empress Mother."
"Yan Yan, co here!"
Su Pan’er would not be intimidated by Qin Yi’s stern face, instead, she waved Yan Yan over: "Your father just said that in the next couple of days, he’s taking our mother and daughter to Appreciate Lanterns!"
"Really? That’s great!"
Yan Yan forgot her father’s recent admonitions in an instant and began to jump around with joy. Then, seeing her father’s stern expression, she quickly approached and began to adorably shake Qin Yi’s arm: "Father, you are too good to Yan Yan. You are the best father ever!"
Qin Yi’s face remained stern, but he protectively placed Little Sugar Bean on his other side: "So, your father hasn’t been good to you before?"
"All good, all good, Father is good to Yan Yan, so is Empress Mother! Right, Empress Mother?"
Yan Yan turned back and looked at Su Pan’er appealingly.
This made Qin Yi unable to hold back his laughter and his serious face softened.
This ti, Qin Yi kept his word.
On the 10th day, early in the morning, Qin Yi took Yan Yan out of the palace once more.
This ti, they changed their attire: Qin Yi wore the plain clothes of a foreign rchant, complete with an artificially thick black beard that covered half his face. Su Pan’er was dressed in a dark red skirt completely covered by a veil hat, hiding her features. Even Yan Yan switched her usual attire for the worn clothes appropriate to a common family, transforming into a bright-eyed, white-toothed little boy.
Their precautions were quite necessary because the last ti they left the palace, so people had recognized them.
This ti, Su Pan’er, wanting to avoid any risks, personally changed the attire for all three of them.
As for Little Sugar Bean, it was even simpler; they stripped away the complicated bundles and simply bundled her up in a thick cotton coat with a piece of old cloth.
When the family of four reappeared on the street, not to ntion strangers, even Su Pan’er could hardly recognize each other.
Qin Yi frequently looked at Su Pan’er’s face, full of amazent, "Unexpectedly, Pan’er, you really have such skill!"
"Amazed by what? Have you forgotten how I helped Ye Han evade the pursuers back in the day?"
Su Pan’er remained unfazed and gave him another look, "Call ’auntie’."
It didn’t matter what he called her, as long as it wasn’t Pan’er.
"Auntie."
Qin Yi called out cheerfully, his smile nearly reaching the back of his head.
"What are you grinning about, showing off your white teeth? Let’s move."
It was rare to leave the palace, so they couldn’t waste ti on such trivial matters.
The streets during the day were busier with an endless stream of people, many of whom were buying and selling goods. Qin Yi and Su Pan’er each held one child as they walked through the crowd, with Qin Yi always positioned protectively in front of her to safeguard the heavily pregnant Su Pan’er.
"Mother, look, there’s a vendor selling little clay n!"
"And there’s soone selling roast sweet potatoes!"
"And soone performing acrobatics!"
Little Yanyan’s old habit of being talkative was acting up again, chattering nonstop as if oblivious to the way Su Pan’er had disguised her as a little boy. As soon as she opened her mouth, her cover was blown!
Yet Little Yanyan remained clueless, buying all the way down the street. Soon she wriggled free from Qin Yi’s embrace and skipped ahead, while Qin Yi, holding Little Sugar Bean and holding Su Pan’er’s hand, followed behind.
Upon seeing pearl flowers — plainly ordinary and cheap — Little Yanyan still bought two. Plain handkerchiefs — she bought two of those as well. Even unnecessary bolts of silk — Little Yanyan bought a whole roll...
Suffice to say, Qin Yi behind her quickly scolded her.
"No more buying! If you buy any more, soon you won’t have any hands left to carry them!"
Exactly! Su Pan’er was physically burdened as it was, how could she do such laborious work carrying a bunch of items? They had planned to stroll around for the whole day, and just carrying things would be enough work for later!
Noticing that the guards had fallen far behind and weren’t close by, Little Yanyan’s enthusiasm for shopping waned, but she remained eagerly observant. Whether it was a little girl or the head of the house, they both had a special fondness for shopping.
"Look over there!"
Su Pan’er was also invigorated for once and pointed to a nearby stall, "That stall is selling wonton noodles; let’s go have a bowl and rest our feet."
The delicacies of the grand restaurants couldn’t compare to the imperial als back at the palace. Since they were out, naturally they wanted to eat sothing not available in the palace.
"Wonton noodles aren’t tasty. How about we try lamb blood soup instead?"
Right next to the wonton noodle stall was a small shop selling lamb blood glass noodles, crowded with people.
"That sounds good too!"
Reaching a consensus, they quickly took advantage of two patrons getting up, and hurried forward to grab their seats.
But another figure moved faster, and before Su Pan’er could sit down, soone else suddenly took the seat.
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