“Xiao Nao Fu, it’s Xiao Nao Fu!”
Princess Zhaoyang opened her round grape-like eyes wide, stretching out her short little arms as half her body leaned toward Su Tan. “Hug~”
Su Tan froze for a moment. Seeing how adorable and jade-like Princess Zhaoyang was—a splash of brightness in this bitterly cold weather—her perpetually gloomy mood seemed to brighten along with the little girl’s smile.
She sheathed her sword and carefully took the little princess from Lu Zhiheng’s arms.
The small pink bundle was soft and delicate. As Su Tan handed her the jade pendant, she suddenly remembered that Princess Zhaoyang was born in the Year of the Tiger, making this jade pendant particularly suitable for her.
“Do you like this little tiger?”
“Like it, like it~ Tiger pretty, fairy sister pretty~”
The little princess clutched the small jade pendant and gave Su Tan a smacking kiss on the cheek.
“Like Xiao Nao Fu, also like fairy sister~”
Caught off guard by the little pink bundle’s kiss, Su Tan felt somewhat dazed and unsure how to respond.
It had been a long time since a child had been so affectionate with her.
“The Junzhu is truly adorable,” Su Tan remarked.
Lu Zhiheng looked helplessly at Princess Zhaoyang snuggling in Su Tan’s arms. “Sui Sui has always been like this—when she likes someone, she clings to them and refuses to let go. What’s more, she’s quite bold and never acts shy around strangers.”
Su Tan thought to herself, she certainly is bold.
Ordinary children would have been terrified by the Night Cry Ghost’s frightening appearance.
But Sui Sui was different—she directly treated the Little Child Ghost as a playmate, always playing with it without any fear, completely unaware that her prolonged discomfort was due to being with this ghost brother.
But children’s worlds are always full of peculiar wonders.
Sui Sui clapped her hands. “Daddy, flowers, give fairy sister, Sui Sui want flowers~”
Lu Zhiheng rubbed his forehead and explained to the puzzled Su Tan, “Sui Sui means the plum blossoms in the prince’s residence are blooming beautifully now, and she wants to pick one for you.”
Su Tan’s lips curved into a smile, her heart melting at the little girl’s antics. “You just recovered from illness and already want to pick flowers? It’s cold now—how about we wait until the weather gets warmer to pick them?”
Sui Sui pouted. “No~”
Her voice was soft and sticky as she tilted her head to look at Su Tan. “When it’s warm, won’t see fairy sister anymore. Sui Sui was sick, that’s why fairy sister came~”
Though young, Lu Sui Sui already had her own way of reasoning about things.
When the weather was cold and she was sick, Su Tan came.
So when the weather turned warm and she recovered, she definitely wouldn’t see Su Tan anymore.
If she didn’t give flowers now, she wouldn’t be able to give them to fairy sister later when they couldn’t meet.
Hearing Lu Sui Sui’s soft, sticky voice explaining this, Su Tan couldn’t help but smile, though she inappropriately remembered Song Xiao.
Song Xiao had loved sweets since childhood, particularly those overly sweet sugar cakes.
His constitution was weak, and eating these easily caused indigestion, inevitably leading to stomach aches the next day.
When he clamored for sugar cakes, she would coax him too: “How about waiting until you’re older to eat them?”
Back then, Song Xiao was just as hard to fool as Sui Sui. He would turn his head away and proudly humph, saying that when he grew up, he wouldn’t like sugar cakes anymore.
At that time, she thought: children these days really aren’t easy to fool.
Lu Sui Sui reached out her small hands and hugged Su Tan’s neck. “Fairy sister, flowers~”
Su Tan was about to persuade when she heard Lu Zhiheng say, “Just carry her to pick the flowers. If you don’t let her go, she’ll definitely sneak past the maids guarding the door by nightfall and run to pick plum blossoms herself. By then, we might not even be able to find her.”
Lu Suisui tilted her little head up, her eyes sparkling like scattered starlight.
“Okay, let’s go see the flowers.”
Lu Zhiheng had the maids put thick gloves and a tiger-head hat on Lu Suisui, then wrapped her in a heavy cloak. Coincidentally, the snow outside had stopped, and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds.
Though it wasn’t warm, it was no longer as bitterly cold as before.
Lu Suisui refused to be carried by Lu Zhiheng, insisting on clinging to Su Tan.
It had been a long time since Su Tan had held a child.
In the past, she had been deeply hurt by her own biological child and found it hard to get close to other children.
Yet Lu Suisui was exceptionally adorable, and having lost her birth mother at a young age, she evoked an extra measure of tenderness.
Carrying Lu Suisui, she followed Prince Chen outside.
Unexpectedly, Song Tingchen and Liu Qingyin were still there.
Holding the adorable little girl in her arms, with Lu Zhiheng reminding her to watch her step, she lifted her gaze and unexpectedly met Song Tingchen’s eyes.
Song Tingchen’s gaze suddenly darkened, fixed intently on the jade pendant hanging around Lu Suisui’s neck.
He recognized this jade pendant.
The blood jade on it was chosen by her from her own dowry, and she had carved it herself, bit by bit.
The red cord was woven with gold and silver threads, as requested by Song Xiao. Upon closer inspection, the patterns were also braided according to Song Xiao’s preferences.
Only, the little tiger’s final paw had not been finished when the Su family met with misfortune.
During that time, Su Tan wept incessantly and became much more withdrawn afterward.
Song Tingchen never saw Su Tan work on that jade pendant again.
Yet now, the pendant was complete—exquisite, lifelike, and perfectly finished.
Only, it was not hanging around Song Xiao’s neck.
The blood jade given to her by the Duchess of Dingguo, which she had carved with her own hands for the child she carried for ten months, had been casually gifted to someone else.
Song Tingchen found it difficult to describe the emotions swirling within him.
His eyes were dark, his expression cold and unfathomable as a deep pool.
On one hand, he felt that Su Tan was heartless and indifferent, showing no regard for Song Xiao’s feelings.
On the other hand, seeing Princess Zhaoyang Lu Suisui cherishing the pendant, calling Su Tan “fairy sister” with such affection, he couldn’t help but think that if the pendant had been given to Song Xiao, he could almost predict that Song Xiao would have lost interest after a day or two.
Afterward, it would have been forgotten entirely.
An indescribable sense of suffocation welled up in Song Tingchen’s chest, as if something had sliced through his heart.
It was a subtle, lingering ache—not sharp, but profoundly unsettling.
“Sui Sui wants to pick flowers. Do General Song and Miss Liu have any other business?”
Lu Zhiheng’s nonchalant voice broke the silence.
Seeing Princess Zhaoyang clinging so trustingly to Su Tan’s neck, Liu Qingyin felt a surge of deep resentment. This opportunity should have been hers.
Who would have thought that the Chen Wang Mansion was truly haunted, rendering the expensive Soul Return Pill she had purchased utterly useless?
Her nails nearly digging into her palms, Liu Qingyin gritted her teeth, forcing a strained smile.
“This humble maiden’s Danyao (Elixir) has failed to take effect, and I am truly ashamed in my heart. I dare not accept such a precious congratulatory gift from Your Highness, and wish to return it to you in person.”
As she spoke, she produced the small box, adopting an expression of lowered brows and submissive eyes, filled with sincere trepidation.
Lu Zhiheng did not look at her, still maintaining his gentle smile as if completely unbothered.
“Miss Liu should keep it. After all, the Worry-Free Divine Doctor’s Danyao (Elixir) is rare. Since Zhaoyang has consumed it, there’s no reason for you to return it.”
Liu Qingyin’s face turned pale then flushed with anger.