16. Emperor

"Shh—" The princess put a finger to her lips, "We'll just take a quick look and then leave."

"But..." Jin Lanyue became even more nervous, "We sneaked out, what if... what if we get caught and punished?"

The little princess stopped in her tracks, lost in thought, and trembled slightly: "No, it can't be, can it?"

"I'm scared..." The little dumpling snuggled into the little princess's arms.

But the little princess wasn't much taller than her, and the two little ones huddled together, trembling: "Waaah... what you said scares me too."

"Then, shall we go back?"

"No!" The little princess shook her head, as if she had made up her mind. "We went through so much trouble to get here, how can we just give up like this?"

She placed her two small hands on Jin Lanyue's shoulders, with the tragic grandeur of "The wind howls, the Yi River is cold, the hero departs, never to return": "We cannot back down!"

The little dumpling was infected too, and it also showed a heroic expression of sacrifice: "Hao~ We'll take the beating together!"

"Charge!"

Hand in hand, they turned through a corridor, and the golden doors of the Imperial Study came into view.

Just as the two little ones were about to sneak closer, a grand eunuch dressed in a crimson official robe suddenly emerged from behind a pillar, blocking their path like a small mountain.

"Oh my little darlings!" The head eunuch stopped them, "His Majesty is in the middle of a meeting; you two cannot go in!"

The little princess pouted and put her hands on her hips: "I have something important to report to Father!"

"This..." The head eunuch bowed awkwardly, "Why don't you tell this old servant first, and I'll pass on the message for you?"

"No!" The princess's eyes darted around, and she suddenly sat down on the ground. "I don't care! I want to see my father!"

As she spoke, she began to kick her legs, her embroidered shoes scraping against the ground with a "slap slap" sound.

Xiao Jinlanyue had never seen anything like this before. She stared wide-eyed in shock and stood to the side in astonishment.

The princess became increasingly agitated, eventually lying on the ground and rolling around in a rage, her hair half-undone.

"Oh dear!" The head eunuch was sweating profusely, frantically trying to help her up but not daring to touch her. "Your Highness, please get up, the ground is cold!"

"I don't care! I want to see my father!" The princess cried as she rolled around, her voice so loud it could lift the roof off the house. "Father doesn't want Chaoyun anymore! Waaah—"

Inside the imperial study, the young emperor, who was discussing matters, looked out at the sound.

He was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes, a nose like a hanging gall bladder, and a posture as upright as a pine tree.

Hearing the commotion outside, he raised the corners of his lips slightly, shook his head, and looked at Qu Zijin, who was reporting below him: "I apologize for making you laugh, my dear minister."

Upon hearing this, Qu Zijin turned around and, sure enough, saw two small figures making a ruckus outside through the carved window lattice.

One was rolling around on the ground throwing a tantrum, while the other stood there dumbfounded.

To be honest, Qu Zijin was also a little surprised—the little princess wasn't even behaving her worst in front of him.

Emperor Wei Xiuming seemed quite used to it, and even couldn't help but chuckle. He waved to the chief eunuch beside him and said, "Let them in. If they keep making a fuss, the roof of my house will be torn off."

The chief eunuch felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly bowed and withdrew.

Before long, the two little dumplings appeared timidly at the door of the Imperial Study.

The little princess's hair was askew to one side, and there were still a few blades of grass stuck to the hem of her skirt.

Jin Lanyue's heart pounded nervously. She peeked up and saw the Grand Tutor and the Grand Tutor's Grand Tutor.

She clenched her little fists and tried to tell herself: Don't be scared, don't be scared, I won't get my hand slapped!

Even if I get beaten up, it's not a big deal!

Ugh... I'm even more scared now.

"What are you standing there for? Come forward!" The Grand Tutor's tutor suddenly spoke up.

His voice was very pleasant, and he was smiling.

But Jin Lanyue always felt that he was about to transform into a big bad wolf and devour them all in one gulp.

The little princess had already stepped forward, and she quickly followed suit.

"Greetings, Father Emperor." The princess bowed respectfully, showing no trace of her earlier tantrum.

Little Jinlanyue's mind went blank, and she quickly imitated the little princess's actions, her small body trembling like a leaf in the wind: "Greetings, Father Emperor..."

"Ah, I have two daughters now," Wei Xiuming said with a smile in his eyes. "Get up. Chaoyun, what are you up to now?"

The little girl immediately realized she had said the wrong thing, and she subconsciously looked at the only adult she knew and felt she could rely on present—Qu Zijin.

Qu Zijin happened to be looking at her too, and gave her a reassuring look.

On the other side, the princess secretly raised her eyes and met her father's smiling gaze.

She mustered her courage and crept up to the emperor's desk, pouting sweetly, "Your subject missed Father Emperor~"

Wei Xiuming coughed lightly, and Xiao Jinlanyue immediately hid behind Qu Zijin like a frightened little rabbit, only revealing her big, watery eyes.

Qu Zijin also thought that these two little kids were really bold. He had repeatedly told them not to run around, and yet they appeared in front of him after only a short time?

But seeing Jin Lanyue's frightened look, he softened and began to feel that it was his fault for leaving the two of them in the school.

He wanted to gently pat the little girl's head, but looking at the jingling decorations all over her head, he was speechless for a moment, unable to find a place to start.

It's really...

That's really terrible aesthetic sense.

On the other side, Wei Xiuming saw the little princess acting coquettishly and deliberately put on a stern face: "Grand Tutor Qu is complaining to me that you are not studying hard enough, and that you still haven't memorized the first two chapters of the Three Character Classic?"

The little boy shuddered in fright, his little hands unconsciously clutching Qu Zijin's clothes.

Qu Zijin looked down at her and saw that her small face was full of grievances, and her big eyes were brimming with tears, about to fall, making her look extremely pitiful.

"Don't be afraid," he mouthed to her silently.

But the little dumpling obviously didn't understand.

He sighed and turned around—

"Your Majesty," Qu Zijin said, bowing, "Jin Ban Du and... are quite diligent."

Thinking about how his little princess either slept, fidgeted, or talked back to him in class, Qu Zijin simply couldn't bring himself to praise her.

Wei Xiuming raised an eyebrow and looked at the little princess: "It seems that only you are not working hard."

"No! I...I...I've worked hard!...Father, I have something to do, so I'll go first!" The little princess was stubborn but immediately backed down, lowered her head and ran away, not forgetting to step on Qu Zijin's foot as she passed by.

Jin Lanyue was still clutching Qu Zijin's clothes, looking at the little princess and then at the Grand Tutor, unsure whether she should follow him.

After hesitating, she decided to run away with the princess!

However, as soon as her little feet stepped out, the emperor above pointed to her.

“Speaking of which, I haven’t met the youngest daughter of the Marquis of Beiding before. The Grand Tutor praised her as a child prodigy, which has piqued my curiosity,” Wei Xiuming said, beckoning to Xiao Jinlanyue, “Come, come to me.”

The little girl was startled and looked up to ask the tutor for help. The tutor gave her an encouraging look and gently pushed her out from behind.

The little one had no choice but to grit his teeth and slowly, timidly, incline over.

Wei Xiuming didn't urge her. He watched her approach with a smile, and when she was in front of him, he bent down and lifted her onto his lap, asking gently, "Can you recite the third chapter of the Three Character Classic?"

Xiao Jinlan twisted her fingers nervously and whispered, "I...I can do it a little bit..."

"Then recite it to me?"

The little dumpling took a deep breath and began to recite in its childish voice: "One becomes ten, ten becomes a hundred. A hundred becomes a thousand, a thousand becomes ten thousand..."

She would steal a glance at Qu Zijin every now and then.

Wei Xiuming was surprised that she could actually recite it. After listening attentively to her finish reciting, he gently rubbed her cheek and said, "You recited it well. Grand Tutor Qu's teaching is excellent."

He touched her little face again and praised her, "You're really amazing. You memorized the first three chapters of the Three Character Classic after only three days of study. No wonder the Grand Tutor praised you as a child prodigy."

Jin Lanyue felt a little guilty.

Actually, the "Mastery of Enlightenment Knowledge (Literature Edition)" given to her by the system auntie already included the entire "Three Character Classic".

Wei Xiuming looked at her headdress again and couldn't help but chuckle: "This is Chaoyun's work, isn't it?"

He recognized many of the hair ornaments; they were all top-quality, priceless treasures, gifts bestowed by the emperor.

Wei Xiuming rubbed her little face, feeling that it felt incredibly nice: "Since you've already brought it, then I'll give it all to you."