As Guaibao opened her eyes, the image of her daddy, sitting at the edge of the bed looking at her with gentle gaze, came into to her view. She discreetly rubbed the corners of her mouth. Her inner self rejoiced when she confirmed that there was no trace of drool.
In a soft, baby-pitched tone, she opened her mouth: “Daddy, why did chu wake up so early?”
Ming Jue snapped back to his senses as he answered, “Have you forgotten? We have planned to make a trip to the palace today.”
While they conversed, Guaibao patted her little butt, receiving the set of clothes prepared by the maid as she clumsily adorned them with the maid’s assistance. Upon hearing the mention of the palace, her eyes lit up with excitement and Guaibao hopped off the bed with swift maneuvers.
Indeed, she did recall her Imperial Grandmother mentioned before that she would introduce her to a couple of kids around her age.
Concealing her smirk with her chubby hand, Guaibao looked forward to making acquaintances with more little fresh meat friends.
(Ehehe~)
While helping out to make Guaibao look presentable, Ming Jue’s thoughts wandered off to the events that had unfolded last night. If Guaibao were to hear that her mother had come to visit last night, her current excitement would probably wane in comparison to her desire to reunite with her mother.
Recalling the words and behaviour of that brazen woman, the blood circulation around his ears rapidly increased.
“Oh Daddy, why have your ears turned redder than tomato?”
Ming Jue awkwardly stood up and approached the exit in quick steps, averting his daughter’s question.
“It’s nothing. Daddy will go ahead and wait outside.”
Gritting his teeth, he secretly thought to himself.
(That woman deserves to wait!)
……
“Guaibao has arrived, Imperial Grandma~ Your sweet little Magpie1TL Note: In Chinese culture, Magpie is associated with omen of good fortune has flown over to visit you, chirp~”
Guaibao spread her arms wide and mimicked the motion of a bird flapping its wings, running towards the Empress in small steps with a bright smile.
“Oh my, little darling. Watch your footing…” The Empress gestured to a palace maid to stay on guard in case of an accident.
Guaibao playfully snuggled into her grandmother’s embrace with skilled movements.
“Dear Imperial Grandmother, you look beautiful today as well,” she voiced out her admiration in her usual baby-pitched tone, praising the elderly to the sky.
The Empress was amused by her antics. No woman would turn down compliments, especially when it came from such a pleasant little child.
She picked Guaibao up and pecked both sides of her cheek. Patting Guaibao on her head, the Empress responded in kind.
“Our dear Guaibao has also grown increasingly beautiful with each passing day. For a moment, Grandma nearly mistook you for a fairy from the folklores.”
The little girl puffed her chest out with pride, clearly in a good mood from the compliments she had received. Guaibao sneaked a few peeks at the Empress with upturned eyes, subtly gesturing with her eyes, evidently wanting to be spoiled even further.
The Empress suppressed her urge to laugh and played along with Guaibao. The grandmother-grandaughter pair embraced each other, living in their own world as they sang praises of one another until new guests arrived.
Reluctantly ending their exchange, the pair wordlessly agreed through their eyes to continue this session in their next meetup.
The Empress seated Guaibao on her lap with a light smile as she spoke formally, “Come over here, Fangfei, Fanghua, Molin and Mochen.”
She waved towards the couple of kids aged between five and six years old.
The children invited to the palace today were Guaibao’s cousins from the Empress’s maternal family, the Duke Cheng’en household. Since she was under the assumption that Guaibao was destined to have no other siblings, the Empress feared that Guaibao might feel lonely, and decided to introduce Guaibao to her distant relatives as playmates.
Next to the Empress was the formal wife of Duke Cheng’en, Wu Shi, who made a slight bow to pay respect to the newly conferred princess. After that, she encouraged her kids to have fun with their cousin.
Although the four children were at a young age, they were well-behaved.
Taking the first initiative, Guaibao hopped off and approached them, cheerfully greeting them with her signature baby-pitch, “Hello everyone~”
The Empress instructed the palace maids to take the kids to the Imperial Garden to play, while she took the opportunity to catch up with Wu Shi on the latest happenings in her maiden family.
“Your Majesty’s complexion seems to have improved greatly. Our dear mother will be glad to hear. With such a lovely little princess by your side, you must be living in bliss every day.”
The Empress could not resist boasting when Guaibao was being mentioned. “Guaibao is very intelligent, she truly is my joy. Just looking at her makes me feel at ease. I can’t go a day without seeing her.”
Her eyes curled up as she went on and on, singing praises of Guaibao.
“Yes, yes. At one glance, everyone would agree that the little princess is an outstanding child, just like how His Highness, Prince Li was.”
Wu Shi went with the flow and agreed. As the only child of Prince Li, it was only natural for the Empress to treat the little princess akin to her greatest treasure. Even the Emperor had showered her with great favours.
……
While the adults were having their conversation, Guaibao energetically led the four little kids to the Imperial Garden, where she had familiarized the entire layout.
“Big sisters, what should we play today?”
Guaibao tilted her head and smiled at her shy, elder sisters, while sneaking a few glances at her older brothers beside them. Her chubby cheeks were radiating with joy.
As the daughters of the formal wife of Duke Cheng’en, Fangfei and Fanghua were taught to behave elegantly and carry their conduct with grace at all times. Stumbled by Guaibao’s question, the two young ladies could only meekly shake their heads.
Guaibao’s eye lit up as she mischievously suggested, “Then shall we play the hand-clapping game?”
The four kids looked at each other in confusion: “…”
This was the first time they had heard of it.
Puffing her chest confidently, Guaibao held the hands of the two sisters and cheerfully explained, “This is how the game is played…”
After demonstrating a couple of rounds, the kids started stretching out their hands with their limited understanding. Under the guise of playing the game, Guaibao thoroughly enjoyed the warm and tender hands of her young fresh meat cousins.
Secretly rejoicing in her heart, she grabbed onto Molin’s hand, while extending her other hand towards Mochen.
(Oho, was this the reason why Guaibao has two hands? One fresh meat on each side~)
The young boys were unaware of her impure thoughts. Not that they would have understood it either. Naively thinking that their cousin simply liked them, they amiably went along with the whims of Guaibao.
Just then, a woman dressed in a phoenix-tail dress with crescent moon embroidery approached them with a proud demeanour, accompanied by her large entourage of maids and eunuchs.
She scanned at the kids before her, before setting her sights on Guaibao.
(Could that be the rumoured Lingxi Princess, who had received the favour of our Imperial Father?)
As the sole daughter of Noble Consort Luo, she had always been showered with the Emperor’s favour in the past. But now, even the cloud embroidered silk brocade she had set her eyes on from the annual tributes had been granted to Prince Li’s mansion instead.
This thieving little brat sure was capable at attracting attention and favour.
“Did no one educate you on how to pay proper respect?
Guaibao lifted her head in response as her mood soured, thinking how impudent that person was, to interrupt her when she finally managed to enjoy some little fresh meat.
Purposely feigning ignorance, she asked, “Who are you?”
“Weren’t you taught any manners? Yours Truly shall educate you properly.”
The older princess was prepared to duke it out, to test whether her father would side with her, or a wild little girl who popped out of nowhere.
She signalled to her palace maids to drag Guaibao over.
The Empress’ attendants who accompanied Guaibao understood the situation, and stepped forward without a second thought to protect Guaibao.
However, Guaibao showed no signs of fear. The smile on her face grew brighter, as she regretfully released the hands of her two cousins.
She was truly, extremely upset at this moment.
Her little fists clenched tightly. Even before the palace maids approached, she took the initiative and took a few tiny steps forward.
Recalling her mother’s teachings, she had been taught to never, ever let anyone take advantage of her! If someone were to attempt to bully her, she should take the initiative and strike first!
TL Corner: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Do let me know in the comments or discord if there are any errors or mistakes.
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