Huo Chengche reacted quickly, ducking his head to narrowly avoid his father's sneak attack.
The Empress Dowager was also startled and quickly bent down to pull her grandson up.
She couldn't bear to let Huo Chengche continue kneeling, so she glared at him before glancing at the chair behind him. "Are you trying to upset me? Sit down right now! You've just recovered from a serious illness; you don't look like you're recuperating at all!"
The Empress Dowager was furious.
Huo Chengche quickly smiled and obediently sat down. Looking at him now, he finally showed some of the naivety and immaturity of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy.
Emperor Chongjin glanced at his son, who was still pretending to be obedient in front of the Empress Dowager, coughed twice, and barely managed to calm himself down.
"That old scoundrel, hmph, even from thousands of miles away, he really manages to surprise me every day!" Emperor Chongjin snorted coldly and muttered a curse.
As for who it is, who else could it be but the "daddy" that the little messenger keeps talking about?
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager couldn't help but smile helplessly. This Prince had been stationed in the border town since the time of the late Emperor. Over the years, although he held considerable military power, he never overstepped his bounds, and he didn't concern himself with any affairs in the capital.
Despite holding a high position and commanding a large army, he remained completely unnoticed, truly embodying the saying "a great hermit lives in seclusion."
Before this, the Empress Dowager knew very little about him. It was only after the little boy arrived that she gained some understanding of this mysterious Prince Hengchang—he was truly an "interesting" person.
Huo Chengche tried hard to recall his past life. Speaking of which, he knew very little about the people in the Hengchang Prince's Mansion. Apart from meeting the Fifth Prince Xuandi, Niannian's father and mother, and the other brothers, he had only heard about them from Niannian and Xuandi and had never seen them in person.
"The Hengchang Prince's Mansion has been guarding the Northwest for generations and rarely comes to the capital. This time, sending Niannian to the capital, the Hengchang Prince must be a little worried. Moreover, none of these things are kept secret. Che'er thinks that the Hengchang Prince is straightforward and honest, and he lives up to his reputation as a tough man from the Northwest."
Looking at Emperor Chongjin's dark face, Huo Chengche knew that he was not really angry with Prince Hengchang, but just felt that Prince Hengchang was being a father who was... too improper. Therefore, he casually attributed Prince Hengchang's behavior to his "straightforwardness".
As expected, Emperor Chongjin snorted coldly upon hearing this, and his expression softened considerably.
Why was he arguing with an old scoundrel? Probably because he was quite envious of any son or daughter the old scoundrel might have.
Huo Chengche smiled as he looked at the gleam in his father's eyes. He had never known that his father, the emperor, had such a childish side until…
He looked at the little baby nestled comfortably in the Empress Dowager's arms, dozing off, and smiled slightly.
The Empress Dowager nodded in agreement as she listened to Huo Chengche's words.
"What Che'er said makes sense. No wonder the Hengchang Prince's Mansion has stood tall in the Northwest since the founding of our dynasty and has been highly valued by emperors of all dynasties. The Wei family has a pure family tradition. Although their way of raising children is somewhat different from that in our capital, these are minor details. The children they raise are simple and lovely in nature, which is good."
As she spoke, the Empress Dowager looked at the sleepy little girl in her arms, chuckled, and tapped her little nose to wake the little bundle of sleep. She smiled kindly and said, "Niannian, don't sleep anymore. How about you sleep after dinner?"
"Okay!" The little boy immediately agreed in his childish voice, his still sleepy head nestled in the Empress Dowager's arms, before he remembered to say, "Oh right, Daddy said that if Grandma Dowager asks about this acupoint technique, there's one more thing Daddy told me to tell Grandma Dowager."
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