Xiao Lin’s handsome face contorted with rage as he nearly roared:
“Xiao Luoning! How dare you repeat those treasonous words to this prince again?”
Seeing her father’s murderous expression, Luo Luo immediately activated her survival mode honed through years of confrontations!
Her little mouth puckered as if she’d instantly opened the floodgates of her tear ducts, releasing the grievances she’d been brewing all along like a celestial river overflowing.
“WAAHH!!”
An earth-shattering wail instantly pierced the skies!
Large teardrops fell like heavy rain, accompanied by her thunderous sobs:
“Daddy wants to beat someone to death! Wuwuwu! Help! Daddy wants to beat his own precious little daughter to death! Grandpa Liu! Uncle Yun Ying! Uncle Xuan Ying! Help! Please bring justice for poor Luo Luo!”
·°(﹏)°·
Her trembling cries were so heartfelt and heart-wrenching, one would think Xiao Lin had already subjected her to the ten great tortures.
Liu Bo was so anxious he kept stamping his feet on the spot, wringing his hands as he circled the furious prince, his distress evident.
“Oh my little ancestor! Your Highness mustn’t, you absolutely mustn’t! The young mistress has such delicate skin and tender flesh, her poor heart is breaking from all this crying!”
Yun Ying nearby chimed in urgently: “Indeed Your Highness, please show mercy! The young mistress is only three years old!”
“Wuwu! Yes! Yes!”
Bolstered by their support, Luo Luo cried even more vigorously between hiccups.
“Luo Luo is still little! If Daddy really hits Luo Luo, Luo Luo won’t live anymore! I’m going to find Mommy!”
This piercing, penetrating wail instantly spread to every corner of the prince’s manor.
Even the horses in the backyard stables snorted in surprise.
Xiao Lin felt a vein throbbing violently at his temple from the noise, as if being hammered by tiny mallets.
He sternly questioned the little rascal who was crying so hard she kept hiccuping: “This prince hit you? When did this prince lay a single finger on you?”
“You did! You did! You definitely did!”
Luo Luo nodded her head like a chick pecking at rice, her little face flushed red from crying uncontrollably, her voice shrill and pitiful.
“Wuwu… It hurts so much… It hurts to death!!”
Xiao Lin’s temples throbbed violently, the corner of his eye twitching: “Preposterous! This prince hasn’t even touched a single thread of your clothing! Where did I hit you? Show me the injury!”
The little one unleashed her full acting skills, suddenly clutching her small chest.
“Luo Luo’s heart has been smashed into eight pieces by your terrifying expression! It’s broken piece by piece! Can’t even put it back together anymore!”
“Outrageous! This is sheer insolence!”
Xiao Lin trembled with rage at this absurd logic and top-tier acting, his face turning from green to red then pale.
Finally unable to bear it any longer, he abruptly set the “hot potato” down on the ground.
“You! Immediately! Right now! Get out of my sight.”
“Bad Daddy doesn’t want Luo Luo anymore! Doesn’t even want his own daughter anymore!”
Covering her face with her hands, Luo Luo wailed loudly as she ran out on her short little legs.
Liu Bo was truly so anxious that tears streamed down his aged face, tugging at Xiao Lin’s sleeve.
“Your Highness, this won’t do! The young mistress is barely taller than a radish! If she leaves the manor and encounters human traffickers, or faints from hunger by the roadside… What terrible fate would befall her!”
Su Yuyao finally set down her silver spoon, covering half her face with a round fan as she spoke in her gentle voice:
“Yes, Your Highness, children’s words carry no harm. Perhaps… you should hurry and bring the young mistress back? If you offer gentle apologies, she will surely turn tears into laughter.”
Though the words sounded conciliatory, each phrase was deliberately stoking the fire, reminding everyone that it was the Prince who had been “in the wrong.”
“Apologize to that little rascal? Chase after her? Impossible!”
Xiao Lin angrily flung his sleeve, making the fabric snap sharply through the air.
He strode back to the dining table and sat down heavily, grabbing a pair of priceless jade chopsticks that creaked under his white-knuckled grip.
Su Yuyao lowered her eyelashes, a venomous vine-like smile slowly unfurling at the corner of her lips as she stirred her soup with a silver spoon, creating ripples across its surface.
*
Once outside the Prince’s mansion, Xiao Luoning’s earth-shaking wails abruptly ceased.
She cautiously glanced back at the vermilion gates, and upon seeing no pursuers emerging, a sly flicker crossed her little face before she quietly slipped into the adjacent bustling streets.
If foolish father won’t come find me, Luo Luo treasure will go find mother herself.
(′)
The little one hadn’t seen her mother all day, and her heart felt as if gently scratched by kitten paws – she missed her terribly.
She knew the bluestone path beneath her feet like the back of her hand. Bypassing several familiar shops, she broke into a run with her short legs, reaching the imposing Duke’s mansion in no more than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
She was going to tattle to mother!
To complain how father had been bewitched by that fox spirit and cruelly driven her from home.
Luo Luo sniffed her reddened nose tip, stood on tiptoes, and pounded the heavy ebony door knocker with her small fists.
“Hey! Anyone inside? Luo Luo is here to see mother!”
Her milky voice carried a barely noticeable hint of grievance.
Soon, the side door creaked open a crack, revealing two sleepy-eyed gatekeepers who looked the little girl up and down – this finely dressed but solitary child.
“Hey! Whose kid are you?”
One asked while yawning, his tone impatient. “Dressed quite fancy, but why claim false kinship? Our mansion has no young mistress like you!”
“Luo Luo isn’t lying!”
Xiao Luoning puffed out her small chest. “My mother is Pei Qingci, let me in quickly.”
“Pei Qingci?”
The other gatekeeper snorted with laughter as if hearing the biggest joke.
“Everyone in the capital knows the Duke’s daughter Miss Pei remains unmarried and pure as ice. How dare you, wild girl, make such false claims? Go on, get lost!”
Both clearly annoyed at having their sleep disturbed, they stepped forward and pushed her rudely.
Luo Luo was shoved outside the gates, stumbling several steps before regaining her balance.
She stared grievance-filled at the tightly closed door, her little mouth trembling repeatedly before she finally hung her head and left, looking back every few steps.
Sigh, still couldn’t see her fragrant, soft mother.
(︿)
Her small figure looked utterly dejected, almost out of place in the lively street scene.
Inside the mansion, at the corridor.
“What’s that commotion outside?”
A clear, cold voice came from behind.
Pei Qingci approached the gate, wearing a lotus-root colored brocade dress with intricate embroidery, her cloud-like hair elegantly coiled up, her demeanor dignified and proper.
The gatekeepers immediately bowed, faces breaking into obsequious smiles.
“Reporting to the Lady, it was just some little beggar who appeared out of nowhere, bold enough to impersonate your daughter! We’ve already sent her away.”
“Impersonate… my daughter?”
A faint trace of confusion flashed through Pei Qingci’s eyes.
“Exactly so!”
The servant eagerly chimed in, “He looks about three or four years old, dressed rather finely, but the moment he opened his mouth he claimed to be your son! What an absolute farce!”