Yun Suiwu lowered his eyes and watched, but he did not move.
Meanwhile, when the little prince saw Lianxiang like this, he curiously turned his head to look over. He babbled a string of baby sounds and started crawling toward them.
But after crawling forward, he reached the edge of the couch.
Yun Suiwu immediately reacted. With one arm, he wrapped around Lianxiang’s waist, and with the other, he grabbed Shian’s leg and lifted him over.
The moment the little prince faced his elder brother’s cold and noble face, his mouth opened, and he looked ready to burst into tears.
“Don’t cry, Little Prince. I’ll hold you,” Lianxiang quickly soothed him.
One hand worked to free her hair from the gold chain, while the other wrapped around the little prince.
The little prince immediately buried his face in her chest, looking wronged.
“Good boy, Little Prince. Look at this beautiful blue gemstone on the prince’s belt.”
Although Lianxiang was terrified and anxious inside, she forced herself to smile sweetly at him.
The little prince followed the direction of her finger.
Sure enough, he stopped crying.
He stretched out his little hand and touched the gemstone, then looked up at his elder brother.
Yun Suiwu was also looking at him, his expression gentle.
“Don’t be afraid, Little Prince. The prince is your elder brother. He cares about you very much. The necklace around your neck and the bracelets on your wrists were all made for you by his order…”
Afraid that the little prince might start crying again, Lianxiang guided his hand toward the blue gemstone.
It was almost as if the child understood her words.
He did not cry.
Instead, he continued touching the smooth gemstone.
Every few moments, he would look up at the prince’s face.
When he saw that the prince remained calm and gentle, without the slightest sign of anger, he finally relaxed and began playing with the gemstone seriously.
Still, from time to time, he would sneak another glance at the prince.
His chubby cheeks and bright black eyes made him look unbelievably adorable.
The prince’s attention seemed completely focused on the little prince, leaving no concern for her.
Lianxiang, however, was blushing furiously.
Sweat covered her back as she struggled to keep herself from touching the prince.
Unfortunately, her hair remained tightly tangled in the gold chain.
Since she could not see it clearly, she could not untangle it no matter how hard she tried.
The little prince sat safely beside the prince’s leg, completely unaware of what was happening.
One hand played with the blue gemstone, while the other tugged at Lianxiang’s sleeve from time to time, clearly wanting her to play with him too.
Lianxiang felt utterly helpless.
Still, she forced a gentle smile for him.
At the corners of her eyes, a faint redness appeared, and a thin layer of mist dampened her long dark eyelashes.
She was terrified that Aunt Pei, Taorui, or Green Willow might return and witness this scene.
In desperation, she even considered pulling out her own hair.
But the hair wrapped around the chain was not just a few strands.
It seemed that nearly her entire hair bun had become tangled.
Keeping her head lowered in the same position for so long made it difficult to breathe.
Her neck felt stiff and sore.
And the person she was tangled up with was none other than the highly respected prince himself.
Her heart pounded wildly.
Tears began slipping from the corners of her eyes without her control, moistening her flushed cheeks.
Under the warm golden light, the tears sparkled like morning dew on flowers, making her rosy lips appear even more vivid.
Yun Suiwu watched her from the corner of his eye.
The scene reminded him of that noon two months ago.
For a moment, he felt an unexpected impulse—to lift her chin and taste those soft red lips himself.
Perhaps those eyes truly possessed some kind of magic.
For the past ten years, he had rarely interacted with women and had always disliked physical contact with them.
Yet now…
He seemed to enjoy having her kneeling beside him, helping him remove his belt.
Perhaps because the young widow looked so pitiful, with tears already dripping onto the couch, he finally took pity on her.
He reached over and unclasped the gold chain hanging from his waist.
At the other end of the chain was a delicate sachet embroidered with golden thread.
At last, Lianxiang’s head was free.
The only problem was that the beautiful sachet was now hanging from her hair bun.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
She quickly moved away from him and climbed down from the couch to remove the sachet from her hair.
But as soon as she left his side, the little prince lost his sense of security.
He frowned and looked at her pitifully, pouting in dissatisfaction.
Lianxiang wanted to carry him elsewhere.
However, he was unwilling to leave the beautiful blue gemstone behind.
He insisted on staying.
And he wanted Lianxiang beside him.
She could not ignore the wishes of her little master.
Yet the greatest master of all was the prince, whom she feared deeply.
In the end, she had no choice but to kneel on the couch again.
Even then, the little prince was unhappy if she sat too far away.
He grunted and fussed until she moved closer.
He even patted the prince’s leg with his little hand, looking as though he wished Lianxiang would simply sit on the prince’s lap.
Lianxiang understood what he wanted.
He wanted to sit in her arms while playing with the prince’s blue gemstone.
But that would place her far too close to the prince.
That was absolutely impossible.
So she could only lean forward awkwardly toward the prince, supporting herself with both hands.
Only then was the little prince satisfied.
Perhaps because Lianxiang was beside him, giving him courage, the little prince boldly began touching everything on the prince’s body.
He poked here and tugged there.
Eventually, his attention shifted to the white jade ring on the prince’s finger.
Instead of reaching toward the prince, he turned to look at Lianxiang.
Clearly, he wanted her to remove the jade ring for him.
This put Lianxiang in an extremely difficult position.
She could not tell whether the prince was simply patient or whether he planned to punish her later after Aunt Pei returned.
From beginning to end, the prince had barely spoken.
And she did not dare look up to read his expression.
“What does Shian want?” Yun Suiwu finally asked.
His voice remained as cold and clear as jade, revealing no emotion.
“The little prince wants the white jade ring on Your Highness’s finger,” Lianxiang replied timidly.
The sachet hanging from her hair felt surprisingly heavy, and she wondered what was inside it.
Yun Suiwu removed the jade ring and handed it to the little prince.
The little prince happily accepted it.
The next moment, he stuffed it into his mouth.
Fortunately, the ring was large enough that there was no danger of him swallowing it.
He happily chewed on it with his tiny baby teeth until drool began dripping from the corners of his mouth.
“Little Prince, thank the prince.”
Lianxiang took out the handkerchief she always carried for him and wiped away his drool.
“Your Highness, the little prince is currently at the stage where he explores the world around him. Allowing him to touch different objects helps his growth and development, so this servant did not stop him.”
Afraid that the prince might blame her, she hurriedly explained.
This young widow actually knew quite a lot.