The moment Luo Luo heard the name “Qingci,” her big, dark eyes suddenly lit up. She even forgot to bring the pastry in her hand to her mouth, staring blankly toward the entrance.
It was Mommy!
Soon, she would be able to throw herself into Mommy’s soft, fragrant embrace.
The little dumpling hurriedly grabbed a fine cotton handkerchief from the side and meticulously wiped her chubby little hands clean of pastry crumbs.
Then, she straightened her little back and used her small, plump hands to carefully smooth out every tiny wrinkle on her aqua-blue ruqun, which was embroidered with golden butterflies.
When meeting Mommy for the first time, her etiquette could not be sloppy.
She was the most well-behaved and sensible baby, after all. Mommy would surely be delighted to see her.
Seated in a grand preceptor’s chair to the side, Xiao Lin took in the entire scene, his handsome, sword-like brows knitting together slightly.
This little devil, who bared her fangs and claws at him, was putting on such an act in front of Pei Qingci?
Wiping her hands, straightening her clothes… where was the slightest trace of the girl who threw tantrums and rolled on the floor before him?
The Empress Dowager’s gaze swept over her son’s slightly displeased expression. The jade prayer beads in her hand paused for a moment, and she said in a gentle voice, “Quickly, invite her in.”
“Yes.”
A moment later, the beaded curtain rustled, and a graceful figure stepped into the hall.
Pei Qingci was dressed in a moon-white palace gown of jacquard cloud-patterned brocade, its cuffs and collar embroidered with a sparse design of magnolia blossoms. She possessed a natural elegance within her dignified bearing.
She curtsied gracefully to the Empress Dowager, her etiquette impeccable. “Qingci pays her respects to Aunt.”
Pei Qingci’s mother and the Empress Dowager had been intimate friends in their youth, hence the use of “Aunt.”
The Empress Dowager smiled and raised a hand. “Good child, rise quickly.”
Pei Qingci was about to rise gracefully when she suddenly felt a weight on her leg.
A small, exquisitely carved dumpling had thrown herself forward, her two lotus-root-like arms wrapped tightly around Pei Qingci’s leg, her cheek rubbing affectionately against the hem of her skirt.
“Mommy! Luo Luo has finally found you!”
Her milky voice was clear and soft, yet tinged with infinite grievance.
“Luo Luo hasn’t seen Mommy for a whole day and night. I’ve missed you to death.”
Pei Qingci looked down at the warm, soft little person on her leg. A warmth spread across her features, and a strange sense of fondness bloomed in her heart.
She gently stroked the top of the dumpling’s head and said softly, “You are an adorable child, but I’m afraid you’ve mistaken me for someone else. I have never given birth.”
Standing behind her, her personal maid, Ming Xue, covered her mouth in shock, pointing at Xiao Luoning.
“Prin… Princess! This child, how does she resemble you so closely?”
She was the spitting image of a young Little Princess.
Hearing this, Pei Qingci couldn’t help but trace Xiao Luoning’s brows and the corners of her eyes with her slender, scallion-like fingers.
What Ming Xue said was true. The little child’s features were indeed seven or eight parts similar to her own.
Luo Luo tilted her little head up and leaned closer to her mother conspiratorially.
“Mommy, Luo Luo will tell you a huge secret. Luo Luo is your good baby from five years in the future! I hopped over from five years later~”
Pei Qingci’s fine brows furrowed slightly. “A… good baby from five years in the future?”
The claim was too fantastical to believe, yet for some reason, a part of her heart believed it.
She subconsciously followed the little child’s lead and asked gently, “Who is your father?”
Luo Luo’s little mouth pouted, and she jabbed a chubby finger disdainfully toward the cold-faced man nearby.
“Well, isn’t it him!”
A vein twitched on Xiao Lin’s forehead.
This little thing could acknowledge him, but what was the meaning of this utterly reluctant expression?
Pei Qingci followed the little finger and looked toward Xiao Lin. The faint smile on her face instantly froze.
Just yesterday, this man had come to the Duke’s manor, his words resolute as he sought to annul the engagement between their two families. How could she have a child with him in the future?
This sudden turn of events was completely unexpected.
She said softly, “How can it be the Regent Prince?”
Luo Luo nodded her little head, her chubby hands gripping her mother’s skirt even tighter.
“Mommy!”
She suddenly buried her face in her mother’s embrace and announced in a muffled voice,
“I don’t want this stupid daddy anymore. I want to go home with Mommy. Wherever Mommy goes, Luo Luo will go.”
“Xiao Luoning!”
Xiao Lin’s voice dropped abruptly. He shot to his feet, and with one long stretch of his arm, he effortlessly lifted the little one off the ground as if she were a mischievous kitten.
Suddenly suspended in mid-air, Luo Luo’s little hands and feet flailed about as she yelled with fierce, childish anger:
“Bad daddy, let Luo Luo go! I don’t want to be with you anymore. I only want my sweet, soft Mommy!”
Pei Qingci’s heart tightened. She hurried forward and securely took Xiao Luoning into her arms, protectively.
“Your Highness is a man of great stature. Why must you trouble yourself with a three or four-year-old child?”
“That’s right, that’s right. You only know how to bully a little baby.”
Having found her support, Luo Luo nestled into the crook of her mother’s neck, nodding in agreement like a chick pecking at rice. At the same time, she couldn’t resist rubbing her little face against her mother’s skin, which was as smooth as fine jade.
Finally, she planted a loud “smack” of a kiss.
Oh, Mommy was just too fragrant and lovable!
Xiao Lin watched this scene of “mother and daughter” affection that excluded him, then flicked his wide sleeve.
“If that’s the case, then you can go back with this ‘mother’ of yours today!”
Hearing this, Luo Luo was so overjoyed she almost jumped up. Her mouth was halfway into a grin when she suddenly remembered the menacing Su Yuyao still lurking in the Prince’s manor.
If she let her daddy get close to that bad woman and something happened to her parents’ marriage, wouldn’t she cease to exist?
No, no way.
“N-No!”
She quickly squirmed out of her mother’s arms, hopped in front of Xiao Lin, and planted her chubby hands on her hips. Puffing out her chest, she struck a negotiating pose.
“Stupid daddy, seeing as you’re so… um… all alone and truly pitiful, the great Luo Luo will be magnanimous and reluctantly agree to go back with you for two days.”
“Stupid daddy? Pitiful?”
Xiao Lin’s face turned ashen, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists.
*She’s my own flesh and blood!
My own flesh and blood…*
He had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill!
Seeing the ice forming in his eyes, Pei Qingci feared he would take his anger out on the child. She immediately pulled the little dumpling close and whispered in her ear, “Luo Luo, be good. You must not talk back to the Prince like this. If you truly anger him…”
But Luo Luo wasn’t the least bit afraid. She broke free from her mother’s embrace, charged toward Xiao Lin’s feet like a little cannonball, and stood with her hands on her hips, tilting her face up defiantly.
“Stupid daddy! If you’re willing to admit your mistake and correct it right now, chase that bad woman with the surname Su far, far away, and promise to only be good to my mommy from now on, then the great Luo Luo will deign to… think just a tiny little bit more highly of you!”
She even held up her pinky finger, making a gesture for a very small “tiny little bit.”
Xiao Lin’s eyes were dark and cold as he spat out two words without hesitation: “Absurd!”
Pei Qingci was a deep and calculating woman, full of schemes.
As for Yuyao, she was the one who was truly simple, kind, gentle, and helpless.