Zhizhi was still catching butterflies in her dream.
She dizzily turned over, her small hand pinching a corner of the blanket.
‘Who? Who is gossiping about this Ghost Emperor behind my back?’
The Little Dumpling yawned and opened a corner of her eyelid. No one knew that she had secretly woken up. Currently, her eyes were half-open, staring blankly in a certain direction.
Because her mother was in the side room, the Little Dumpling did not expand her Divine Sense. She would never thrust her Divine Sense directly into her mother’s private space.
‘Is someone gossiping about me behind my back?’
The Little Dumpling tilted her short-haired head, habitually hugging the small blanket Si Xinyan often used. The scent belonging to her mother allowed her to quickly feel at ease. Otherwise, she wouldn’t want to sleep alone in a cold palace.
Si Zhiruo pouted, guessing who was slandering her. She already had one target in mind. Su Liumeng was most likely with her mother. It wouldn’t be right to use her Divine Sense to lock onto the target.
At the same time, in the side room of Tianxin Hall.
Regarding the suggestion Su Liumeng made, I had seriously considered it many times.
“Let’s wait a little longer,” I said. “I’ll discuss it with my daughter.”
In my heart, I was more inclined to set the time for when Zhizhi was 1.5 years old. Since Su Liumeng said so, it definitely wasn’t a small matter. It should be moved up a bit. I thought my daughter wouldn’t object to it. I already had a judgment in my mind, so I would discuss it with her later. While I said “discuss,” my daughter would surely listen to me.
Su Liumeng’s eyes curved into crescents; she was a bit happy. Finally, she wouldn’t be pushed to drink milk.
As for —
She always felt a sinister sensation behind her back, as if she had done something bad. It must be that her senses were malfunctioning.
I patted the couch in front of me. “Come over here quickly.”
Su Liumeng remained silent for a long time. She leaned in front of me, and I took the opportunity to wrap my arm around her body to support her.
Su Liumeng looked at the arm before her. Xinyan’s fair and tender hand was leading her closer to her own body…
Like in the past, countless beautiful scenes could have occurred. However, Su Liumeng felt that it wasn’t as ambiguous anymore. She hadn’t looked closely lately. Suddenly, she stared upward for 1 or 2 seconds.
I noticed her gaze, and a flush gradually spread across my face. My small hand also gripped the corner of my clothes with more force. What was once completely pink now had a hint of mature crimson…
I blinked and pulled my clothes down a bit. “Don’t look.”
‘Does she… think it’s not pretty?’
The stretch marks on my waist had almost disappeared after 1 year of conditioning. If one looked closely, they could still vaguely see some traces.
Su Liumeng kept staring at me, and I lowered my head in embarrassment. Su Liumeng took my small hand. “Baby, why are you always so beautiful?”
I didn’t say a word, but the corners of my mouth curved up secretly.
***
Deep within Tianxin Hall.
The Little Dumpling couldn’t figure it out, so she simply took another nap. In this wide world, sleep was the most important thing. She still had butterflies to catch. It was only because she didn’t want to be serious; otherwise, she could have pulled the karmic threads and caught the culprit immediately.
Hmph. Don’t let her find out who exactly was talking bad about Zhizhi.
The next day.
Zhizhi was the first person to crawl out of bed. She had slept for a long time yesterday. No matter how young she was, it was impossible to sleep for an entire day. However, she didn’t actually get up. Instead, she curled up in her mother’s arms, playing with several small cards.
The small cards were given to her by a maid she was on good terms with. The maid said they were toys brought in from outside, characters from an anime. Having nothing to do, Zhizhi took them out and held them in her palm, reading the descriptions of the different characters on the cards.
Su Liumeng had been gone for a long time. She had many things to do every day, and being able to find time to return and rest was a rare moment of leisure amidst her busy schedule.
The 8:00 or 9:00 AM sun was already a bit warm. Originally, my routine was like a college student’s. I wouldn’t cover myself with a blanket until I had played on my phone until the early hours of the morning. Later, after becoming pregnant with Zhizhi, I started going to bed before 10:00 PM. Even later, during the postpartum month, I couldn’t be lazy; I had to wake up at specific times every day to breastfeed my daughter.
Recently, life had become a bit different. It was like I had regressed into my former college student self; my routine was gradually completing its degradation. After all, my daughter had grown up quite a bit. I didn’t have to worry about breastfeeding all day, so naturally, I slept more and more soundly. Even when I couldn’t sleep, I insisted on sleeping for 1 or 2 more hours.
Currently, I just wanted to take a nap. However, there was a fluffy, moving object in my arms. How could I sleep comfortably?
Her short hair, which already reached her ears, was no different from a domestic cat’s. She was squirming and moving in my arms, and suddenly, it became unbearably itchy. I reached out and grabbed her little paw, which served as a form of “hard control.”
The little one looked at her small hand and made several unsuccessful attempts to move it. She then lifted her head and looked at my tightly closed eyes, her mouth immediately pouting to the left.
I raised my other hand and patted her shoulder, essentially hugging her back into my arms. “Don’t move. Let Mommy sleep a little longer.”
The grievance Little Zhizhi was brewing was forcibly interrupted. Her eyes were a bit vacant and confused. Looking at the cards that had fallen onto the bed, she saw that one of them was being pressed down by her mother’s arm. Her small hand couldn’t move, so she could only watch helplessly as the card was pressed into a wrinkled shape.
‘Bad Mommy.’
She grumbled the words in her heart. Then, she gave a huff and stopped moving or making a fuss. However, her little feet were still restless, kicking directly against Si Xinyan’s thigh as she barely found a comfortable position. Matching her long, trembling eyelashes, she entered the dreamland of her second sleep.
In my half-dreaming, half-waking state, I felt my daughter’s foot. Obviously, I had long since grown accustomed to her sleeping posture, so I didn’t react and allowed her to place her leg wherever she wanted.
Outside the gauze curtains, Chunlan was on duty. She was the closest to the sleeping quarters. Maintaining a bowed head for a long time was tiring, so she inadvertently lifted her head. Through the thin gauze, she suddenly saw a flickering, warm scene. She quietly backed away a certain distance, staying in a place where she wouldn’t disturb the two.
Si Zhiruo tried several times but could not fall back asleep. She had slept for too long yesterday.
‘Zhizhi doesn’t want to sleep anymore.’
How could the little one wrong herself? She simply opened her eyes. Her body, which was wrapped tightly, certainly couldn’t move around, so she could only stare with her big eyes at the small card pressed under her mother’s arm.
The more she looked, the more unhappy she became.
‘This is Zhizhi’s card…’
It was a gift from Spring Qiao.
Thus, she directly reached out her small hand, wanting to forcibly pull the card out. Not being able to move her body didn’t mean her hands couldn’t move.
As a “cold and ruthless” Ghost Emperor, she was still a baby who had just been born not too long ago. Naturally, she retained a childish side. It was just that the pressure had been too great a few days ago, and she had been constantly thinking about her mother’s affairs, so she had forcibly suppressed it. Now, although it couldn’t be directly resolved yet, she had at least completed a heart-to-heart with her mother. The heavy stone in the little one’s heart was no longer so heavy.