“Grandfather, grandfather, wait for me!”ε==(づ′▽)づ
Luo Luo rushed to the Duke’s legs, her two small hands tightly hugging his legs.”
“Luo Luo will make that clueless, foolish daddy Xiao Lin come kneel and apologize to you tomorrow.
Grandfather~ You’re so magnanimous, please give daddy one more chance~ Please, please.(づ)づ
Luo Luo looked up with her small face, her eyes more sincere than the most devout believer.
The old Duke was both angered and amused by her childish words, as if hearing a fantasy.
“You? Make Xiao Lin apologize? That boy’s temperament is more stubborn than nine oxen pulling together. Hmph! This time, my mind is made up!”
He lifted his foot to board the carriage.
“Wah wah… Grandfather, don’t go.”
Luo Luo’s two short arms tightened even more, her entire small body almost hanging from her grandfather’s leg.
The old Duke shouted, “Hurry up and pull away this little rascal who’s causing trouble!”
Pei Qingci watched her daughter nearly crying from anxiety, feeling equally distressed.
“Father, your daughter knows you’re doing this out of indignation for me. But Luo Luo she…”
“You still want to indulge her?”
The old Duke glared with wide eyes, “Do you actually believe that nonsense about ‘returning after five years’?”
“Father…”
Pei Qingci lowered her gaze, “Your daughter begs you to grant two more days…”
“Say no more. Xiao Lin has gone too far. This marriage must be called off today.”
The old Duke was resolute, determined to board the carriage.
Suddenly, Luo Luo’s small body went limp, letting out a weak “Aiya~” as she softly fell backward.
“Luo Luo!”
Pei Qingci exclaimed in shock, her heart leaping to her throat.
The old Duke was also startled and quickly turned around.
“What’s wrong with this little rascal? Wasn’t she just full of energy causing a scene?”
Pei Qingci looked at her daughter’s tightly closed eyes and weak breathing, her face turning pale with fright.
“Your daughter doesn’t know. Ming Xue, quickly call the palace physician! Hurry!”
“Yes, Princess!”
Ming Xue lifted her skirts and ran off, immediately throwing the entire mansion entrance into chaos.
Amid the panic, the Duke clearly saw the “little patient” lying in his daughter’s arms secretly open one eye into a narrow slit and glance at him.
“Mmm… Grandfather… Luo Luo seems… about to die…”
“Enough, enough.”
The Duke let out a long sigh, his voice softening by more than three degrees: “For the sake of you, this little debt collector, enough.”
“This old man will give that scoundrel Xiao Lin one more chance.”
“Three days, only three days. If he’s willing to come personally, bearing gifts and apologizing, this matter will be dropped.”
“Really?”
Luo Luo’s “illness” instantly recovered. She jumped down from Pei Qingci’s embrace, full of energy, with no trace of sickness at all.
“Grandfather, don’t worry, leave it to Luo Luo. Luo Luo will definitely drag that scumbag daddy by the ear to apologize to you.”
She patted her small chest, not forgetting to turn back and make a funny face at her mother.
“Mother dear, don’t worry. Luo Luo is completely fine. Luo Luo will go and come back.”
Before the words finished, she had already taken Xuan Ying and Yun Ying with her, bouncing out of the mansion entrance like a frolicking little rabbit and disappearing around the corner of the long street.
The old Duke watched the small figure disappearing at the alley entrance, both angry and amused.
“What a little rascal, she was clearly pretending just now. This old man’s lifelong reputation was actually fooled by this little child.”
Pei Qingci looked at her father’s expression of not knowing whether to laugh or cry, feeling slightly relieved.
“Father, Luo Luo is indeed born from me and Xiao Lin.”
“Hmph, do you need to tell me?”
The Duke glanced at his daughter, stroking his beard.
“Her features are fifty percent like you, seventy percent like that scoundrel Xiao Lin.”
Especially that soft “Grandfather” that could melt anyone’s heart.
For the sake of this little debt collector, that scoundrel better know what’s good for him and come crawling to apologize on his own!
*
Prince’s Mansion.
In the study, eaglewood smoke curled upward.
The servant’s voice contained a barely noticeable hint of joy: “Reporting to Your Highness, the little princess has returned to the mansion!”
Before the words finished, the tall, noble figure behind the desk suddenly stood up. The black jade thumb ring knocked against the red sandalwood table edge, making a light, crisp sound.
“Luo Luo is back?”
This little ingrate actually knows to come back.
Before the corner of his mouth could lift, a pink whirlwind carrying the scent of milk rushed straight to him.
The little person now puffed out her cheeks, hands on her waistband, posing herself into a round, chubby teapot shape.
“Xiao Lin!”
Luo Luo raised her milky voice, full of authority: “Lord Luo Luo orders you to immediately, right now, go to the Duke’s mansion and kneel to apologize to my grandfather and my mother dear.”
Xiao Lin’s entire body instantly froze with frost: “Hmm?”
The dangerous upward inflection of his tone carried incredulous coldness, “You go to the Duke’s mansion once and come back daring to order this prince to apologize?”
The knuckles under his wide sleeves turned slightly white from clenching.
“Yes!”
Luo Luo lifted her small head, her pair of dark, almond-shaped eyes wide open, trying hard to emit “fierce light.”
“Who was it that made a big scene calling off the marriage yesterday, making grandfather and the Duke’s mansion lose all face? Shouldn’t you go apologize? Or should grandfather come thank you instead?”
Her posture was exactly like a bristling little kitten showing its claws.
“Apologize?”
Xiao Lin’s temple veins throbbed violently, a surge of anger rushing to the top of his head.
“Heh, this prince will gather the Pei family’s dowry tomorrow and make a big scene returning it again.”
His chest heaved, “Apology? Absolutely impossible.”
“Call off the marriage?”
Luo Luo’s pretty little face instantly scrunched up, like a pinched little soup dumpling.
“No! Not allowed to go!Her two small paws desperately clung to her daddy’s python-patterned silk sleeve, her entire body almost hanging from it, using her signature troublemaking skills.
“Xiao Lin, if you dare call off the marriage, Luo Luo will cry for you to see.”
Xiao Lin’s face turned iron-gray. With one large hand, he directly lifted her to the base of the corridor wall.
“Stand properly. Face the wall and reflect on your mistakes for this prince. Don’t come in until dinner.”
“Luo Luo isn’t wrong. The wrong one is you, this unreasonable bad daddy.”Though her small frame was pressed against the wall base, her momentum didn’t diminish in the slightest as she fiercely yelled back.”
“This prince has already prepared the dowry anew. You will stay here and properly, properly, reflect!Xiao Lin flicked his sleeves and turned, his back carrying storm-like anger as he directly returned to the study.
Face the wall and reflect?
Good child punishment stand?
Naturally, it didn’t exist!
As soon as Xiao Lin’s figure disappeared, the small figure at the wall base suddenly shrank down, sneaking off the corridor like a thief, her two short legs moving rapidly as she rushed straight to Head Steward Liu Bo.
“Grandpa Liu~~”
ω
Dragging out a long, soft ending, Luo Luo bumped into Liu Bo’s embrace, looking up with big, pitiful eyes.
Liu Bo smiled with squinted eyes, “Aiyo, my precious little ancestor, what is it this time that made His Highness so thunderously angry?”
Luo Luo shook her small head with great seriousness, imitating the old scholars in the mansion as she let out a long sigh.
The expression paired with her childish little face was indescribably comical: “Ai, this generation of adults is too difficult to handle!””
“Grandpa Liu, you love Luo Luo the most. Quickly tell me, which treasury are mother dear’s dowry treasures hidden in?”