Xiao Chu skipped dinner and slept until the hour of Yin before waking. After his usual morning exercises, seeing the first hints of daylight, he went to the children's courtyard.
His timing happened to catch Xiao Shan in the act of escaping.
The tiny bundle of flesh, dressed in a pomegranate red jacket with a fluffy sable hat on her head, carefully closed her bedroom door before picking up speed and darting forward.
Pu Qing had told him how Xiao Shan had taken an immediate liking to Lady Yu upon first sight, insisting on being held by her and crying incessantly otherwise.
He found this peculiar, suspecting the household servants had exaggerated their closeness.
Wanting to confirm whether Xiao Shan was truly seeking out Lady Yu, Xiao Chu followed behind her. Only when she reached the guest chamber's doorway did he seize her by the collar.
"What are you doing running to someone else's room instead of sleeping?"
Though Xiao Chu had made considerable effort to soften his tone when speaking to the little girl, it clearly wasn't enough for Xiao Shan.
Startled by being grabbed from behind, Xiao Shan's hands clenched like frightened little animals, curling tightly against her chest. Her eyes widened into perfect circles, and even upon recognizing Xiao Chu, they remained filled with terror.
"Still scared even when you see it's me?"
Afraid of relatives who had been around her since birth, yet unafraid of Lady Yu who had only arrived days ago.
Xiao Chu glanced at the tightly shut door and snorted softly. Who knew what strange magic Lady Yu possessed—perhaps some special inheritance from their noble family.
Xiao Shan recognized Xiao Chu, but that didn't mean she liked him or was willing to be taken away by him.
The moment he took a step to return, Xiao Shan began screaming. The girl's piercing shrieks mixed with wailing cries caught Xiao Chu completely off guard. By the time he thought to cover her mouth, it was too late.
"What are you crying for? I'm just taking you back, not punishing or scolding you."
Xiao Chu's voice carried a note of helplessness.
Xiao Shan had cried frequently right after birth, but around six months old—after losing her grandmother, perhaps understanding she no longer had doting elders—her crying had diminished significantly.
These past two years, he had hardly heard her cry at all.
Who would have thought that after being well-behaved around him for two years, she would now choose this inappropriate moment to cry uncontrollably.
Could she possibly believe Lady Yu would cherish and love her like her grandmother had?
"Is Commander Xiao here to see my lady?"
A tall man standing outside the guest chamber gave Shuang Hua and Shi Ya a fright. Collecting themselves and noting the man's attire along with the young lady he held, Shuang Hua tentatively spoke up.
Since Young Lady Xiao was here, it was likely she had followed last time's example, secretly running to the guest chamber to find her mistress—only this time, Xiao Chu had discovered her midway.
But Xiao Chu merely stood holding the child outside the chamber with no intention of leaving. Seeing this, Shuang Hua had no choice but to ask if he was seeking Mi Yao.
Facing Shuang Hua's inquiry, Xiao Chu didn't answer directly, instead saying: "Make her stop crying."
Having encountered Xiao Shan's crying so rarely, he found himself unprepared for her sudden uncontrollable sobs. Threats proved useless, and he didn't know how to comfort children, so Xiao Chu simply handed her over to the maid.
Holding the young lady, Shuang Hua immediately bounced her gently. Seeing Xiao Shan continue to wail, she signaled Shi Ya with her eyes to consult their mistress about how to handle the situation.
As Shi Ya entered the guest chamber, Shuang Hua dared not keep Xiao Chu waiting at the door: "Commander, perhaps you could wait in the adjacent sitting room? Servants have already been sent to fetch the young lady's nurse. With her familiar nurse comforting her, the young lady should stop crying soon."
Xiao Chu remained motionless, his narrow eyes fixed on the carved wooden door that showed no sign of movement.
"Bring her in."
At the sound of the woman's drowsy, languid voice, Shuang Hua breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Xiao Chu. "Shall this servant bring the young lady inside?"
Xiao Chu glanced at Xiao Shan, who had stopped crying the moment she heard Mi Yao's voice. He truly wished to follow them in to see what skill Mi Yao possessed—how without even showing her face, merely with a lazy instruction, she could silence a child's cries.
But reason prevailed. Since Xiao Shan had stopped crying, he saw no reason to linger. Turning away, he went to find Pu Qing, wanting to know what he had missed these past two days. He and Lady Yu had not yet performed the wedding ceremony, so he didn't feel he had a wife, yet Xiao Shan had already taken Lady Yu as her own mother.
Before Shi Ya could even enter the room to inquire, Mi Yao had already been awakened by the little radish's cries.
Lying in bed with her eyes open, she had initially hoped that Xiao Chu, as the father, would be of some use and take the noisy little radish away. But the child's crying showed no sign of stopping.
Realizing that Xiao Chu intended to shift the responsibility onto her, his yet-unwed wife, she had no choice but to speak up and have Shuang Hua bring the child inside.
"You little thing, are you some lustful ghost reincarnated? So bewitched by me that you don't even recognize your own father, only wanting to sleep beside me?"
While Shuang Hua went to prepare warm water to wash Xiao Shan's face, Mi Yao observed the child's red-rimmed eyes and listless expression. She guessed that after she had disappeared, the little radish had likely cried more than just this once. She couldn't resist poking the child's chubby cheeks and spouting nonsense.
Whether she understood or not, the little radish grabbed Mi Yao's finger with her small hand, her tear-streaked face puckering in a pout.
"You've really latched onto me, haven't you?"
Wary of the original host's future fate, Mi Yao couldn't bring herself to use any means to make the child stay far away from her.
To rid herself of this clingy little radish, she was willing to betray the "Dutiful Wife Handbook" and use her brain. But after thinking for a long while, she couldn't come up with any way to reason with a child who couldn't speak and only knew how to wail.
She could only wait for Xiao Shan to grow tired of her on her own and stop bothering her.
Covering her mouth as she yawned, Mi Yao asked Shi Ya to bring the scented cream for moisturizing. She dipped her finger into it, warmed it in her palm, and then pressed her palm against Xiao Shan's freshly washed face to moisturize her skin.
The little radish's skin was quite nice—smooth to the look and touch, with no signs of chapping.
But since she was going to stay by her side, Mi Yao would have to take payment in the form of cheek-pinching and face-squishing. For that purpose, this chubby little face needed proper care.
She certainly didn't dare return to Xiao Chu a daughter with a ruined complexion.
As Mi Yao applied the scented cream, Xiao Shan's nose twitched at the fragrant scent. Her eyes widened as she stared intently at Mi Yao's hand.
When Mi Yao's palm touched her cheek, her eyes widened even further, but within moments, she narrowed them in enjoyment.
Noticing that the hat was covering the little radish's forehead, Mi Yao thought to remove it. But the child sensed her movement and instinctively grabbed the hat, carefully pushing it up a little to reveal her forehead.
Mi Yao paused but didn't dwell on the sable hat. She evenly applied the cream to Xiao Shan's face and even gave her a brief massage before stopping.
"The young lady has fallen asleep," Shuang Hua whispered, afraid of waking Xiao Shan.
"Let her sleep here. If Commander Xiao gives no instructions during the day, from now on she may sleep here whenever she wishes, but prepare a small bed for her."
Although Xiao Shan slept soundly and, aside from hugging and holding her, didn't toss and turn, she was only three years old after all, and Mi Yao still feared she might wet the bed uncontrollably.
She had no desire to be awakened by urine.
It was still early, and though her sleepiness had faded from the disturbance, Mi Yao had no intention of getting up.
After applying ointment to Xiao Shan's face, she didn't wash her hands but instead had Shuang Hua apply another thick layer of moisturizing cream, taking the opportunity to care for her fingers as well.
By the time Mi Yao woke again, it was nearly the end of the Si hour. The kitchen chefs had already begun preparing the midday meal, while the little radish had been taken out by Shuang Hua to have morning congee and then returned to lie beside Mi Yao to sleep.
As Mi Yao changed her clothes, she noticed Xiao Shan had already been dressed in a new bright red patterned jacket. She glanced at the small cap on her head that remained unchanged no matter what she wore.
She had forgotten to check what was underneath while the little radish was asleep.
"Did Commander Xiao leave any instructions?"
"The Town Envoy had breakfast with the eldest and second young masters this morning. When he heard the young lady and mistress were still asleep, he only said to have the small kitchen prepare breakfast for when the young lady wakes."
"What were his exact words? Did he say the kitchen or the small kitchen?"
Hearing that Xiao Chu's exact words were to have the small kitchen prepare, Mi Yao's lips curved slightly. She had thought Xiao Chu, who didn't even mind Wu Nao's cooking, lacked a sense of taste.
It seemed he knew her cooks made delicious food and assumed the little radish clung to her because she wanted to eat tasty things here.
However, since arriving at Xiao Manor, she had ordered the small kitchen to be set up separately and hadn't eaten any food prepared by the Xiao family's cooks.
Surely in such a large manor, the cooks' food couldn't be as bad as Wu Nao's?
Thinking this, Mi Yao couldn't help but glance pityingly at the little radish.
Meeting her gaze, the little radish grinned and flailed, trying to get into her arms.
Mi Yao: "…"
If nothing else, this little girl certainly knew how to push her advantage.
After washing her face, Mi Yao opened the carved redwood box and began selecting jewelry to wear for the day.
Xiao Shan knelt on a stool beside her, staring wide-eyed at the dazzling, colorful jewelry in the box. Watching Yu Xiu pick hairpins to put in Mi Yao's hair, she selected one herself to place in Mi Yao's hair too.
"This red gold hairpin doesn't match your sister's clothes today. Be careful not to poke my sister with it."
As she spoke, Yu Xiu took the hairpin from Xiao Shan's hand and returned it to the jewelry case.
Noticing that Yu Xiu's tone toward Xiao Shan lacked yesterday's overt disgust and had shifted to subtle annoyance, Mi Yao felt amused. Compared to the Yu Xiu who claimed she would properly serve her brother-in-law, she much preferred this current version.
Though one was three and the other thirteen, since Yu Xiu wasn't yet an adult, it wasn't too unreasonable for her to dislike the little girl and compete with her.
Xiao Shan, for her part, was quite good-tempered. She didn't cry when Yu Xiu took the hairpin away and seemed to understand what "doesn't match" meant, selecting instead a gilded flower hairpin from the box with a pattern that matched the embroidery on Mi Yao's clothes.
"Quite the eye for selection. This one then."
Mi Yao tilted her head toward the little radish to accommodate her short arms.
Knowing her choice had been approved by Mi Yao, Xiao Shan's eyes lit up. Supporting Mi Yao's shoulder, she carefully inserted the hairpin into her hairstyle.
"It's crooked."
Yu Xiu muttered under her breath, removing the hairpin and properly securing it in Mi Yao's hair.
Little Carrot didn't mind this at all. She simply picked up the ivory comb that Yu Xiu had set down, lifted a strand of Mi Yao's hair, and revealed her small white teeth as she began combing it.
Seeing that Mi Yao didn't say anything, Yu Xiu snorted inwardly, thinking, "Combing hair that's already been combed? What a foolish, ignorant girl."
With Mi Yao's indulgence, Xiao Shan stuck to Mi Yao's side all day. Even when Mi Yao was reading, Xiao Shan didn't feel bored. Given a few small trinkets to play with, she could happily amuse herself for hours.
As for her worried brothers who had come to visit her, she merely glanced up at them before looking away. Her demeanor was as if she were pretending not to know her own brothers, afraid that if she so much as smiled at them, they would take her away.
Seeing this, Xiao Liang turned to his eldest brother with teary eyes and said pitifully, "Shan'er doesn't want us anymore."
"How could our little sister not want us? She just likes Madam and wants to spend more time with her."
"But she doesn't even look at us, and she won't even eat lunch with us."
"That's because Madam's lunch is prepared in the small kitchen. Since Shan'er is with Madam, she naturally eats the lunch prepared by the small kitchen with her."
Xiao Yi finally managed to comfort Xiao Liang. When their father returned to the residence and had something to discuss with Mi Yao, he brought their little sister back to them.
Xiao Liang's eyes welled up with tears again: "Mother doesn't want Shan'er anymore."
Xiao Yi: "…"
Why did his second brother find everything so upsetting? He thought his second brother was simply throwing a childish tantrum, making a fuss over nothing just to get him to comfort him.