Nangong Shiyuan’s ears were ringing from the noise. If he had not still possessed enough reason to know that this little thing was his daughter, he would truly have wanted to kill someone.
“Shut up!” The veins at Nangong Shiyuan’s temples bulged, as though he were doing his utmost to endure something.
Those two words, cold and fierce, made Xiaobao shudder. Immediately afterward, her crying grew even louder.
“If you don’t shut up, I’ll kill you.”
Xiaobao: “Wah—wuuu…”
Nangong Shiyuan: “…………”
“Stop eating.”
Xiaobao instantly stopped crying, her little body still jerking with sobs.
“I—I’m not full yet.”
She muttered in an extremely soft voice. At the same time, she stuffed the remaining half of the pastry in her hand into her mouth. Her cheeks, white with a hint of pink, were puffed out roundly. Tears rolled down from her eyes with soft plopping sounds, and she even hiccupped.
Nangong Shiyuan: “…………”
He had several sons, but every one of them was respectful and carried a trace of fear whenever they faced him.
How could any of them be like this…
Su Xiaobao looked at him pleadingly, making several muffled sounds around the food stuffed in her mouth.
Nangong Shiyuan said disdainfully, “Talk after you’ve finished eating.”
Xiaobao tried her best to swallow the food in her mouth, but in her nervousness, she choked. Her little face and neck turned red, and her small arms flailed up and down as she reached for water.
Seeing the little thing choking until her face turned red, yet unable to reach the water jug because her arms were too short, Nangong Shiyuan’s eyelid twitched. He stretched out an arm, picked up the jug, and poured her a cup of water.
Nangong Shiyuan: “…Stupid.”
Though he sounded disdainful, he still handed the water to her.
Xiaobao felt much better after drinking the water, though she continued to whimper and seemed somewhat uncomfortable.
“Thank you~”
Her voice was soft and full of gratitude as Xiaobao gave him an enormous smile.
“Do you live here too? Then do you know where Xiaobao can find her daddy? Pretty Mommy said that after Xiaobao found her daddy, she would be able to live a good life, but it isn’t good at all.”
The little child had only just finished crying, so her nose and eyes were bright red. When she spoke, her tender, childish voice was soft and choked with sobs, making her look unbearably pitiful.
Nangong Shiyuan remained expressionless, without the slightest trace of guilt. He was just about to speak when a senior eunuch stumbled in from outside and nervously begged forgiveness.
“Your Majesty, someone broke in. This old servant deserves to die.”
Nangong Shiyuan disliked being disturbed while resting, and he also disliked hearing other people breathing in his sleeping quarters. Thus, every night, everyone nearby was driven outside.
That was also why Su Xiaobao had entered such a huge palace without realizing that anyone was inside.
“Get out.”
“Yes.”
The eunuch breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He did not dare ask questions, much less look around carelessly. He hurriedly bent his body and quietly withdrew.
At that moment, Su Xiaobao’s little mouth hung open as her beautiful, bright-red eyes stared fixedly at the man before her.
Nangong Shiyuan calmly lowered his eyes to look at her. “What…”
Before Nangong Shiyuan could finish speaking, the little thing suddenly threw her arms around his long leg in a bear hug.
“Daddy, you’re Xiaobao’s daddy! Uncle Lin said Xiaobao’s daddy is called His Majesty!”
Her childish little voice was utterly certain.
Nangong Shiyuan: “…………”
The veins at his temples throbbed violently. “Get down.”
Su Xiaobao quickly shook her head. “No! You’re Xiaobao’s daddy.”
Nangong Shiyuan reached down, tore the child off his leg, and casually lifted her up before tossing her onto the floor.
The fall hurt the little dumpling’s bottom. Her tiny mouth turned downward, and with tears welling in her eyes, she looked as though she was about to cry again.
An eerie voice suddenly came from above her head. “Cry one more time and get out.”
Su Xiaobao sniffled repeatedly and stopped herself from crying, but she still followed after him like a little tail, asking questions.
“Daddy, why don’t you come visit Xiaobao?”
Her soft, sticky little voice was full of complaint. “Without Daddy, everyone bullies me. The food smells bad and can’t be eaten, and the steamed buns are hard and I can’t bite through them.”
Nangong Shiyuan narrowed his eyes dangerously. Although he did not care about this child, could anyone casually bully his bloodline?
What truly audacious dogs…
Heh… Some people in this palace would never learn their lesson.
As Xiaobao sobbed pitifully, her chubby little paw still reached into the plate and grabbed a pastry to stuff into her mouth. Especially after learning that the person before her was her daddy—and that all these things belonged to her daddy—she grew even bolder.
Nangong Shiyuan lowered his eyes to stare at the little brat. For a moment, he was actually speechless.
Forget it. He would let her eat her fill before sending her away.
“Daddy, eat.”
Suddenly, a soft, pale, chubby hand held out a mung bean cake shaped like a flower before him. Disgust flashed through Nangong Shiyuan’s eyes.
“Take it away.”
Xiaobao looked at him pleadingly. “It’s delicious. Daddy, have just a little.”
Nangong Shiyuan was about to refuse firmly when his expression suddenly changed drastically.
Su Xiaobao watched as he abruptly stood up. The pastry in her hand was knocked onto the floor.
Then Xiaobao saw Daddy clutch his head and let out a pained groan. His long hair concealed his expression, so she could not see his face, but she could sense that Daddy was suffering terribly.
It had happened again. His head throbbed dully in waves, as though it were being hammered.
Nangong Shiyuan clutched his head, the veins on the back of his hand standing out. His eyes were filled with blood vessels, and his face instantly turned deathly pale. Cold sweat slid down from his forehead as he desperately endured, unwilling to lose control and turn into a mindless monster.
Everything before his eyes seemed to turn the color of blood. The human world gradually twisted and vanished, while countless ghostly hands filled with resentment seized him and dragged him into a dark, boundless abyss.
The voices of the wronged souls who had died on the battlefield in the past rang in his ears. Every one of them demanded that he pay with his life.
“Daddy, Daddy, what’s wrong with you?”
Just as Nangong Shiyuan was gradually descending into madness, that soft, childish voice allowed him to recover a sliver of the reason he had been struggling to preserve.
He suddenly remembered that little thing was still here.
Leave. Quickly…
Nangong Shiyuan’s thin lips moved slightly, but he could not make a sound.
Plop…
Cold sweat slid down the bridge of his nose.
Get out!
Su Xiaobao could see that a great deal of black mist had suddenly emerged from Daddy’s body. Daddy also looked to be in terrible pain.
She hurriedly climbed down from the chair. Her tiny figure reached out anxiously and worriedly to grab Daddy’s clothes.
“Get out!”
Suppressing the countless negative emotions within him, Nangong Shiyuan practically spat that furious command through clenched teeth. With a sweep of his sleeve, he flung away the child clutching his clothes.
“Get out!”
Nangong Shiyuan gasped for breath as he staggered toward the exit, but after only two steps, he stumbled and nearly fell.
The tables and chairs in the room were knocked over with a clatter.
Xiaobao looked at him with tears in her eyes. Her bottom hurt terribly.
But instead of leaving, she stubbornly stood up and ran toward him on her short little legs, throwing her arms around him.
“I’m not leaving! Xiaobao isn’t leaving! If Xiaobao blows on it, it won’t hurt anymore. Go away! You bad things, go away! You’re not allowed to get close to Daddy!”