Chapter 132 Pet Squeak

The wedding of Zhen Mi and Cao Pi was a grand affair, and the Prime Minister's residence was filled with joy.

The young man, always dressed in blue robes, was now in wedding attire. He held the bride's delicate hand, a hint of a smile playing in his usually indifferent eyes. Zhen Mi smiled back, her manners impeccable and her movements measured.

Cao Cao smiled and sat in the head seat.

Standing among the ladies, I suddenly felt restless and agitated. What should have been a scene of family bliss was actually a cold and desolate one, hidden behind the glamour. I couldn't sense a single trace of happiness...

Turning around, I saw that Baozi had left sometime earlier. I asked the maid, and she said that he had gone to play in the direction of the warehouse.

I left the festive hall and went to find Baozi alone.

Stepping out of the courtyard, one sees Baozi struggling to look up and talking to several guards in front of the warehouse, his expression serious.

I took a few steps closer and saw Baozi with his hands behind his back, asking the guards in a serious tone, "Why are you all tied up?"

Upon closer inspection, I saw that all the guards had their hands bound.

"Reporting to the young master, the saddle that the Prime Minister kept in the warehouse has been chewed up by rats..." the guards said obsequiously. "Such an ominous thing happening on such a joyous day, we are afraid we will not escape the death penalty... so we have tied ourselves up to plead guilty."

Cao Cao acted swiftly and decisively, and their concerns were indeed not unfounded.

"A capital offense?" Baozi tilted his head slightly. "It's just a bitten saddle, how could it be that serious?"

The guards looked at each other, none of them daring to speak.

"Don't be afraid, wait a few days and we'll talk. There's no need to be in such a hurry to apologize." Baozi looked left and right, then suddenly spoke up.

I raised my eyebrows slightly. This little one has quite a few ideas.

"This..." The guards looked at each other in bewilderment.

"I will plead for you," Baozi said, his voice quite serious.

"Thank you, young master! Thank you, young master!" The group immediately knelt down, tears streaming down their faces, and kowtowed to the steamed bun.

Baozi turned around, saw me, and immediately pounced on me with beaming eyes, "Mommy..."

I crouched down and caught him right in the act, letting him snuggle against me and act all cute.

The kneeling guard was dumbfounded, looking at the little guy who had just been quite persuasive but had suddenly become frustrating.

"Don't worry, I'll help you. Mom says helping others is the source of happiness!"

I smiled and pinched his cheek, then carried him away.

As soon as I turned around, I saw Cao Pi, dressed in wedding attire, standing at the door. His indifferent eyes casually swept over Baozi. I frowned slightly and subconsciously hugged Baozi tighter.

"Mom?" Baozi blinked, looked at me with a puzzled expression.

I smiled and loosened my grip slightly.

The next morning, Baozi tiptoed out of bed, mysteriously grabbed his clothes, and slipped out the door.

I followed him secretly to see what tricks he was up to.

Following Baozi all the way to the outside of the corridor, I saw him squatting on the ground, intently playing with the clothes, until he wore a hole in them. Only then did he look at them with satisfaction, put them on, and then sit on the corridor, chin in hand, lost in thought.

Just as I was wondering what he was up to and was about to go up and ask him, I suddenly heard Cao Cao's voice coming from not far away.

I looked up and saw Cao Cao and Cao Pi walking side by side, talking about something.

"Hmm, this battle..." Cao Cao nodded, then suddenly noticed Baozi sitting on the corridor steps in a daze. "Chong'er, what's wrong?"

Baozi looked up with a frown, his eyes and nose all scrunched up, just like a wrinkled little steamed bun.

"Daddy..." Baozi blinked, his eyes brimming with tears, which was heartbreaking.

"What's wrong? Who bullied Chong'er?" Cao Cao bent down to look him in the eye and laughed.

"Chong'er's clothes were torn by a rat..." Baozi pouted, her face scrunched up like a bun, and said with great distress, "I heard that clothes being torn by rats is a bad omen, so Chong'er is very scared..."

"Who's talking nonsense?" Cao Cao pinched Baozi's nose and laughed. "Don't worry."

"Really?" Baozi blinked, her face full of anticipation.

"Yes, really!" Cao Cao said with a smile.

I hid behind the corridor and couldn't help but laugh. What a little devil.

Before he could finish speaking, he saw those guards from yesterday lose their temper and tie him up to beg for forgiveness.

Seeing several guards binding him and kneeling on the ground, Cao Cao's face darkened slightly. "What happened?"

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, the saddle that His Excellency kept in the warehouse has been chewed up by rats..." the guards said meekly, "We are to blame..."

Cao Cao raised an eyebrow, looked down at Baozi, and saw Baozi making faces at the guards. He couldn't help but laugh, "My son's clothes have been bitten, let alone the saddle in the warehouse. What crime have you committed?"

The guards, feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, kowtowed and thanked the emperor.

Baozi patted his chest fearfully, breathed a sigh of relief, and prepared to make a run for it.

"Where are you going?" Cao Cao grabbed him.

“Daddy…” Baozi turned his head, smiling ingratiatingly.

"Why run?" Cao Cao asked, a smirk playing on his lips.

Baozi lowered his head and obediently confessed his guilt.

"Go change your clothes. If your mother sees you, you'll be in for a beating," Cao Cao laughed, scolding in a low voice.

"Thank you, Dad!" Baozi exclaimed happily, blurting it out without thinking.

"Um?"

"Thank you, Father..." Baozi said sweetly and affectionately.

"Why does this outfit look so familiar?" I gritted my teeth as I emerged from the back of the corridor.

Baozi's eyes widened dramatically, then she looked down and exclaimed, "Ah! These are clothes Mom made..."

"You brat who deserves a beating!" I yelled and lunged forward.

Baozi flapped her little hands and ran quickly.

I laughed and chased him all over the yard.

As we were playing around, I suddenly felt a cold gaze behind me. I instinctively shivered and turned around to see Cao Pi turning away and leaving.

After lunch, I sat in my room, feeling utterly bored.

"Mom, why don't we go to the warehouse to catch mice..." Baozi, who had forgotten the pain of his past mistakes, started to get restless again.

Since I had nothing else to do, I went to catch mice with Baozi.

"Mommy! Mommy! I caught a mouse!" Baozi shouted excitedly.

"What's there to be happy about? I caught six..." I shook my head dismissively.

“Mom…you actually poisoned the rats to death…” Baozi accused, pointing to the six dead rats on the ground.

"Mind your own business, I've caught him anyway," I said with a sly grin.

"But I caught one alive!" Baozi laughed triumphantly.

Upon closer inspection, I saw that the dirty little hand was holding a squeaking little mouse.

"What's the use of keeping it alive?" I shook my head disdainfully. "Are you going to keep it as a pet?"

"Mommy, what is a pet?" asked Baozi, the inquisitive child.

"Small animals for companionship and enjoyment," I replied casually.

"Okay! I want to keep Zhizhi as a pet!" Baozi announced cheerfully.

"Squeak?" I asked, puzzled, my face full of questions.

Baozi grinned and brought the little mouse to me.

"Squeak..." The poor little mouse struggled and squeaked.

I started to convulse.

"No!" I roared, transforming into a shrew.

Baozi looked at me pitifully.

And so, I surrendered to those watery eyes.

"Mrs. Yin, it's my pet, its name is Zhizhi!"

"Madam Bian..."

Baozi tied a small chain around Zhizhi's neck and happily carried it around to show off.

The result was predictable...it caused widespread panic among the women of the Prime Minister's residence.

For several days in a row, screams echoed throughout the Prime Minister's residence, as one terrifying scene after another unfolded.

In the evening, Baozi nestled in my arms, pestering me to tell her stories.

Ever since I accidentally told him a story when he was old enough to understand, I've told him a story every night before bed. I've told him stories from "Snow White" to "Cinderella," and finally, I told him all of "One Thousand and One Nights"...

"Mommy, when are you going to give me a little sister?" Baozi mumbled sleepily as he nestled in my arms.

"What would you need a little sister for?" I chuckled.

"Dad said that with a little sister, Mom won't run away so easily anymore..."

I paused for a moment, then touched his forehead. "Baozi, don't you want to leave the Prime Minister's residence?"

"Yes, I like Dad... When I grow up, I want to be like Dad and become a great hero who fights on the battlefield..."

That night, I held a steamed bun in my hand and, for the first time ever, couldn't sleep.

Baozi doesn't want to leave his father...

And so, I lived a semi-confined, parasitic life in the Prime Minister's residence, watching Baozi grow up day by day. No matter how much I struggled, in the end, I was just like Sun Wukong, who could not escape the palm of the Buddha.

In the tenth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao pacified Qingzhou.

In the eleventh year of Jian'an (208 AD), Cao Cao pacified Bingzhou.

Time slips by day by day, and everything remains unchanged from history.

Cao Cao's power grew stronger and stronger.

"Mommy, Mommy! Long nose..." Baozi ran over shouting early in the morning.

"I don't have a long nose." Sitting by the window, I watched Baozi running around, his head covered in sweat.

"An elephant! Sun Quan gave Daddy an elephant!" Baozi's face flushed with excitement. "It's so much bigger than Zhizhi! I want to keep an elephant as a pet!"

I decided to ignore his wild ideas.

Baozi wouldn't give in and dragged me along to see the excitement.

Cao Cao and his ministers were looking around at the elephant.

I suddenly realized something was wrong; this scene felt so familiar…

Could it be...? I glanced at Baozi, who was jumping around excitedly, and quickly pulled him to go back to the room.

"Who among you can weigh this elephant?" Cao Cao, as expected, asked with even more wild imagination.

Baozi's eyes were already shining as he stared at the elephant, drooling, and nothing I could do could stop him. "Mommy... I want that elephant as a pet..."

I'm speechless. How can the flavor of steamed buns be so unique... like keeping an elephant as a pet...

A mouse and an elephant—isn't this pet combination a bit too bizarre?

"This...we'll probably need to build a huge scale!" someone suggested in response to Cao Cao's proposal to weigh an elephant.

"Who has the strength to weigh it?" someone scoffed dismissively.

"Why not just kill the elephant and weigh it piece by piece..." someone suggested an even more foolish idea.

"Don't kill it! Don't kill it!" Baozi shouted when he heard that the elephant was to be killed.

I quickly raised my hand to cover his mouth, but Baozi had already started yelling.

"Does the young master have a solution?" someone asked, clasping their hands in a gesture of respect, their eyes filled with disdain.

Baozi blinked, remained silent for a while, and while everyone was whispering among themselves, he nodded with a smile, "Yes, I have a way."

"Oh? Chong'er, what's your plan?" Cao Cao asked with a smile, ignoring the whispers of the other ministers.

Baozi pulled over a servant, whispered a few words in his ear, and then told him to leave in a hurry.

The officials looked at each other in disbelief, unable to believe that a child with not even all his teeth could come up with any good ideas.

"It's simple, just follow me!" Baozi turned and walked away mysteriously.

The group followed Baozi to the riverbank, where an empty boat had already been prepared as instructed by Baozi.

“Bring the elephant onto the boat!” Baozi said, pointing at the elephant.

Once the elephant was on the boat, the boat sank a little. Baozi ordered his men to mark the boat and then had the elephant led back to shore.

"Then all you need to do is place stones of equal weight on the stone, let the water level rise to the same level as the mark you just made, and then add up the weight of all the stones to find out how much the elephant weighs!" Baozi said loudly, his eyes shining like stars, looking extremely proud.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

I sighed deeply, rubbing my forehead.

The story of Cao Chong weighing the elephant actually happened right before my eyes...

What drives me even crazier is... that Cao Chong is actually my son...

oh! MYGOD!