In the Side Hall of Canglan Court.
The Emperor held Lian Hua, listening to her intermittent speech and occasional sobbing cries, his heart ached imnsely.
He comforted her softly and gently wiped her tears; eventually, she stopped crying and her mood eased.
His Little Concubine, her heart was indeed very grievous; venting it out was good, lest it be suppressed within, brewing sickness.
Lian Hua nestled in the Emperor’s embrace, her eyes wet but bright; though she had cried, she felt an unprecedented sense of relief and comfort as if the shackles on her had been unlocked.
She said in a sticky voice, "Brother Zhao, did you accept my silver? This is what I have always wanted to do; I would be very happy if you took it."
Her voice carried the raspy tenderness of post-tears.
"Alright," the Emperor did not refuse again, caressing her soft hair repeatedly.
He knew she wanted to help her family repay debts; she also wanted to add her own contribution, accepting it would let her rest at ease.
At this mont, Lian Hua’s heart was filled with an unprecedented peace and contentnt.
She laid her face against the crook of the Emperor’s neck and softly said, "Brother Zhao, thank you."
Thank you, her Brother Zhao, for appearing in her life, rescuing her from hopelessness, making her no longer alone, bringing her light and a future.
The Emperor gently laughed, his smile very tender.
He placed his hand on her belly, tenderly kissed her forehead, and whispered in her ear, "Nannan, thank you too."
For compensating the deficiencies in his life, letting him feel the warmth of the world, enduring the hardships of carrying his Imperial Son, allowing him the luxury of feeling belonged.
Lian Hua’s eyes curved, her smile satisfied and bright.
After a while, she felt a bit embarrassed, cuddled into his chest, and chuckled, "Brother Zhao, am I too tearful? I didn’t use to cry so much, only at ho, I wouldn’t cry outside."
In her mories, it seed that every ti she cried as a child, it was because she had done sothing wrong and had been scolded by her mother, scolded until she wailed.
Every ti she cried, her father and brothers would know and feel very heartbroken, and her mother cared as well, she knew.
When punished to kneel, her knees reddened, it was her mother who applied dicine; the mother was then so gentle, rubbing her knees, asking if it hurt.
Having parents and brothers made a child beautiful, with them, she had the support to madly play outside; after being scolded, she wiped the tears, and after the pain, she was brave again.
Tears and weakness were only for her dearest; outsiders would not understand, they might even mock and scoff at her frailty.
So, perhaps she loved crying in front of His Majesty?
The Emperor laughed, tickling her nose teasingly, "Right, my Nannan is like the Mountain King outside, ever since childhood, only Nannan had made other kids cry, no other child had the power to bully my Nannan."
"Not at all," Lian Hua imdiately rebutted, head raised in firm denial of that nickna, "That’s because, that was all justified retaliation, I never bullied anyone without reason. I’ve been good, your little good girl, not the Mountain King. Isn’t it because I’m good that you call little good girl?"
Just like the kids who laughed at her na, like those classmates who laughed at her poor handwriting and inability to read, like the He Family boy who played a prank with a rooster, they all provoked her first before she bullied them.
Also, that ti she climbed a tree by the lake to watch the fish, so boy shook the tree, causing her to fall into the lake, and she even knocked out a fish.
Afterward, her third brother devised a plan, and she, along with her second brother, cornered that boy and beat him up.
And there were many more instances.
The people she bullied were all ones who provoked her first, even the fierce dog in the neighborhood was because it scared her friends that she stood up.
Cough cough, of course, there were many instances where her good intentions turned bad, wasn’t she just too young to understand?
The Emperor looked at her with a smile that was not quite a smile, ambiguously saying, "I call you little good girl, but this ’good’ is not necessarily that ’good.’"
Lian Hua was startled, "What does that an?"
Can being good co in many varieties?
The Emperor pinched the baby fat on her face, glanced at her, then touched her belly, his expression extrely ambiguous, smiling without answering.
Lian Hua furrowed her brows in thought, instinctively feeling that this gaze was very familiar...
Touching her round belly again...
It seed like he was saying...
Oh, this big villain!
Lian Hua’s face suddenly flushed red, rembering where the nickna Little Sweetie ca from.
This big villain, so sneakily bad, before she was pregnant, he would often call her "sweetie" in bed, making her beg for rcy each ti before he would let her go.
Wasn’t the nickna Little Sweetie derived from their ti in bed?
Later, it seed they just got used to calling it.
This big villain!
Once she realized this, her face turned crimson, and, annoyed and embarrassed, she said, "I don’t care, I am very good, just the very obedient kind of good."
"Mmm, right, just that kind of good," the Emperor agreed, following her words, his gaze becoming more ambiguous.
His large hand continued to rest on her belly, gently caressing her round stomach, seemingly reminded of sothing, his eyes turning deeper.
Lian Hua couldn’t stand it anymore and imdiately removed his hand, got up from his lap, her ears turning red as she muttered, "I’m not talking to you anymore."
This big villain’s look, as if he wanted to devour her, was so embarrassing!
The Emperor chuckled softly, stood up and followed her, pinched the tip of her ear, causing her to dodge and want even less to deal with him.
Eventually, fearing he was making her angry, he stopped teasing her.
Recalling how she looked when he ca back, the Emperor asked curiously, "Nannan, what were you thinking about in the hall when I was out?"
Why the look of being up to sothing sneaky?
"Ah, what?" The topic shifted so quickly, Lian Hua was startled, taking a while before she replied, "Ah, that... it’s a bit hard to say..."
She started to avoid his gaze, her words becoming evasive.
Is it really okay to say it now?
Seeing her deanor, the Emperor nodded knowingly, confird she indeed was up to sothing sneaky.
He wrapped his arms around her, raised his eyebrows and said, "Why would it be hard to say? If Nannan speaks up, who knows, it might just co true?"
"Is that so..." Lian Hua hesitated, lowering her head and fidgeting with her sleeve, conflicted.
She wanted His Majesty to give back the silver he had offered her during a previous argunt, which she had stubbornly refused to accept...
But this act, like eating what’s been spat out, was very shaless, and she felt embarrassed.
Moreover, she had just been talking about giving her own silver to His Majesty, and now she wanted His Majesty’s silver, wouldn’t that an trying to retrieve what she had given away?
She looked up, sneaking a peek at the Emperor, hesitating in her heart, and hemming and hawing said, "This... Your Majesty, let’s not say it, it’s not so appropriate..."
She still cared about face after all...
The Emperor beca even more curious, noting this little villain’s embarrassed yet mischievous deanor—tsk, truly adorable.
He pressed further, "I thought Nannan and I were one, no need to hesitate in speaking, I also wish to share Nannan’s worries, it’s just..."
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