"Your Majesty, please sit down and enjoy this joy with us."

The emperor joined in the conversation.

"So it turns out the Emperor was just playing a joke on me. It was the Emperor who arranged it. Well, then I have nothing more to say."

"Quickly set out the bowls and chopsticks, the Empress should also sit down and enjoy herself."

The Emperor also spoke up, and the Empress Dowager, having already given enough face, immediately stepped down. She still remembered the Empress beside her and greeted her.

"Little Swallow, are you satisfied with this surprise?"

The Emperor, standing to the side, asked Xiao Yanzi with a smile, his eyes filled with doting affection. Even from a distance, one could feel his love for Xiao Yanzi.

One sentence brought tears to Xiao Yanzi's eyes.

"Hmm, satisfied, extremely satisfied, Father Emperor, are you going to use up all the surprises I have in my entire life?"

Little Swallow nodded vigorously, her voice choked with emotion.

"Little Swallow, you can have as much as you want, I'll give you everything, don't worry about not having enough."

The Emperor waved his hand and made a promise to Xiao Yanzi.

Listening intently, Chen Nian's eyes were filled with envy and loneliness.

She had experienced fatherly love briefly, and although he is no longer here, the joy he gave her was real.

She really missed him and her mother, but they never appeared in her dreams.

Moreover, his face in my memory has begun to blur, and I wonder if he will blame me for starting to forget him?

The Empress Dowager and the Empress, seated on the high throne, looked at the envy and desolation in Shen Nian's eyes and couldn't help but glare at the Emperor, their eyes filled with heartache for Shen Nian.

The Empress Dowager held Chen Nian's hand with one hand and Qing'er's hand with the other, the warmth of her touch entering their slightly cool hands.

Receiving the Empress Dowager's distressed gaze, Shen Nianqing shook her head, tugged at the corners of her mouth, and revealed a faint smile.

Looking at the desolation in Shen Nian's eyes, Ertai thought of her background and felt a pang of heartache. Suddenly, he wanted to go to her side.

However, he has no qualifications at the moment, and she is unaware of his own feelings.

Everything has to start from scratch and we'll have to fight our way through it all; the road ahead is long and arduous.

...

After many twists and turns, the group finally sat down again and began their meal.

"Little Swallow, Ziwei, blow out the candles quickly."

The emperor, seated on the high throne, offered this reminder.

"Um."

The two looked at each other and nodded.

Chen Nian stared at Ziwei's wide-open mouth, tilted his head back, silently held his breath, and his heart jumped. With the way Ziwei was blowing, it was no wonder that the person on the other side was going to suffer.

He pulled Qing'er back a little. The two trusted each other a lot. Chen Nian pulled her back, and although Qing'er was puzzled, she obediently leaned back as well.

Seeing Chen Nian lean back, Ertai silently followed suit and stepped back as well.

"call--"

Just as Ertai finished retreating, Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei blew out a breath that successfully caused the four guards on the other side to suffer.

"Pfft—"

As luck would have it, Chen Nian was right across from Ertai, looking at the flour on his face and, most importantly, his completely bewildered expression.

Chen Nian's peach blossom eyes curved into a smile, her lips slightly upturned, and two dimples appeared faintly on her porcelain-white face.

She noticed that Ertai was either in a daze or on his way to being in a daze, and his bewildered little expression was quite touching.

The perfectionist mistook Ertai's helplessness for confusion.

Although Ertai retreated, he was still on the opposite side and got some flour on his hands. However, compared to the other three, Ertai was relatively lucky and didn't get much flour on him.

Yongqi and Erkang were the ones who got their faces covered in flour.

Looking at the person opposite him smiling broadly, Ertai could only helplessly curl the corners of his mouth. Oh well, as long as she's happy.

"Ha ha ha ha."

Everyone laughed, and the birthday surprise officially came to an end.

...

"Chen Nian, will you come with me to find Father Emperor?"

As soon as get out of class ended and they left the study, Xiao Yanzi grabbed Chen Nian's hand, refusing to let him leave, and begged him to accompany her to find the Emperor.

She should have known better than to play this morning. Now look what happened, her balloon was taken away. She really doesn't understand why such a good balloon had to be banned.

"Little Swallow, you go by yourself. I'm not going. I want to go back to sleep."

Today was another early start, and also the second day of feeling drowsy. I had a whole class on classical Chinese, and my head is still spinning.

Now Xiao Yanzi is trying to drag her to find the forbidden ball that the Emperor has explicitly forbidden her to play with. What if she says something wrong because she's dizzy? Would she even be able to keep her life?

Although the Empress Dowager is there to protect her, and it's unlikely she'll lose her life just because she said something wrong, the Emperor can still punish her if necessary.

She wanted to try and curry favor with the emperor to make her life easier, but she didn't want to do anything to ruin his favor.

Goodwill is easy to lose, but hard to gain.

They have the protagonist's halo, but she doesn't. The emperor has always favored Xiao Yanzi. Even after he found out that Ziwei was his daughter, his affection for Xiao Yanzi didn't diminish at all.

She even felt that Xiao Yanzi was more favored than Ziwei.

Chen Nian waved his hand, resolutely refusing to go.

"Little Swallow, if Princess Shen doesn't want to go, just let her go back."

Seeing that Chen Nian was drowsy, Ertai also helped to persuade him.

Little Swallow is going to find the Emperor to get the balloon. Why is she dragging her feet? The Emperor was angry this morning, and Little Swallow still wants to get the balloon. She doesn't even know if the Emperor has calmed down yet.

If one less person goes, one less person will be scolded.

They couldn't stop Xiao Yanzi; what she was determined to do was extremely difficult to stop.

Yongqi and Benjamin both spoiled and pampered Xiaoyanzi, so there was no way they could stop her. Since he needed Yongqi to see her, he could only accompany her.

He was willing to be scolded, since they had already suffered quite a bit because of Xiao Yanzi, but he couldn't bear to dwell on being scolded.

It would be better to go back to Cining Palace to rest. Where Little Swallow is, there will always be some surprises.

After a few times, he realized that whenever she was with Xiao Yanzi, something always happened—either she got hurt or she got frightened. So, he figured he should try to reduce the chances of her being with Xiao Yanzi.

Little Swallow has caused quite a bit of trouble; it wouldn't be good if she got involved.

...