Xiao Yu was as if he had been pardoned. He quickly straightened his clothes and said, "Let's go, let's go complain to your grandmother!"
"Dad, don't tell on me!" Kenkeng and Wawa immediately hugged his legs, and their four chubby little hands gripped his trouser legs even tighter.
Chen Weiwan fanned the flames, her fingertips brushing across Xiao Yu's waist: "That's right, if Your Highness dares to complain, I will punish you to go to the study tonight and accompany the old housekeeper to recite the account book, and you will have to recite it all night long!"
Xiao Yu shuddered. He would rather be tied to a tree by the children than listen to the old housekeeper muttering about the tiny calligraphy in the account book. He had no choice but to compromise with a bitter face: "Okay, okay, I won't complain..."
Inside the Cining Palace, the Queen Mother looked at Xiao Yu's bewildered state and laughed so hard that she clapped her hands on the armrests. The pearl necklaces on her phoenix robe rustled. "Oh! Which little devil has tormented our Seventh Prince into this state?"
Kengkeng answered immediately, his little chest puffed out: "It's me and my sister! We tied Dad to the old locust tree and rode him like a horse!"
The Queen Mother laughed even more happily, pointing at Xiao Yu and saying to Chen Weiwan: "Good! Good boy! He is more promising than his father when he was little! Back then he only knew how to stuff caterpillars into my phoenix crown, unlike Kengkeng who is so sensible!"
Xiao Yu looked at his mother helplessly: "Mom..."
"Don't call me mother!" The Queen Mother waved her hand, her wrinkles smoothed out by a smile. "I think Keng Keng is right. You should let the children practice more, so they don't have to have such a stern face all day, like wooden heads."
Shen Weiwan quickly agreed and picked up a piece of braised pork for Xiao Yu: "That's right, Your Highness, look at how accurate the slingshot is. In the future, he will definitely be more powerful than your old arms and legs!"
Xiao Yu watched his mother and daughter-in-law singing the same tune, then looked at the smug smiles on the faces of his two children, and completely gave up resisting. He had just picked up a piece of braised pork and put it in his mouth when Henkeng suddenly held up a peeled lychee and said, "Dad! Open your mouth!"
He stuffed the cold lychee into his mouth, the sweet juice splashing on his tongue. Wa Wa hugged his arm and rocked him, the velvet in her hair rubbing against his sleeve. "Dad, can we still be the big horse tomorrow? I'll give you a little red flower!"
Xiao Yu chewed a lychee, looking into the children's sparkling eyes. Any resentment in his heart had long since vanished. He reached out and rubbed the children's heads, his fingertips touching their soft hair. "Okay, tomorrow Daddy will make you a padded 'big horse'."
Shen Weiwan chuckled beside him and picked up another piece of red pepper fried pork for Xiao Yu: "Your Highness is so kind. Come, I'll reward you with something spicy to replenish your energy."
Xiao Yu looked at the shiny red peppers in the bowl, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "Wife, is this a reward or revenge? The last time you gave me the 'tonic', it was mixed with three times the amount of chili powder!"
"Of course it's a reward!" Shen Weiwan blinked, and the teardrop mole at the end of her eye trembled with a smile, "After eating the chili, I will be able to run faster than a rabbit carrying the baby later!"
The Queen Mother smiled from ear to ear and gave each of Kengkeng and Wawa a piece of candy cake: "My eldest grandson and granddaughter are really well behaved. Unlike their father, who has always been able to irritate me since they were young."
After dinner, the moonlight was as bright as silver. Xiao Yu held the sleepy baby Wa Wa in his arms, while Chen Weiwan led the bouncing baby Keng Keng. The family of four walked slowly back to the house. Suddenly, Keng Keng pointed at Xiao Yu's back, his little voice clear in the quiet night: "Mom, Dad's back is so broad, like the pony next door!"
Shen Weiwan smiled and pinched his chubby little face, her fingertips touching the soft flesh on his face: "Then you have to be nice to the 'little pony' in the future, otherwise it won't carry you to buy candied haws."
Xiao Yu turned around and glared at Shen Weiwan, the moonlight outlining his handsome profile: "Shen Weiwan!"
"Hey!" Shen Weiwan smiled with her eyebrows curved, and whispered in his ear, "Your Highness, are you tired? Do you want me to ask Chuntao to stew a bowl of 'tonic' for you?"
"Come on!" Xiao Yu quickened his pace, his brocade boots rustling on the fallen leaves. "It might be some 'love tonic' made with chili powder and coptis root!"
Kengkeng and Wawa were rolling in laughter, filling the night streets of the Prince's Palace with laughter. Xiao Yu couldn't help but smile as he listened to the laughter behind him. He knew his days as a "tool" were still many years away, but as long as he could make his family happy, what did it matter if he was tied to a tree and worked as a horse every day?
Back at the mansion, Shen Weiwan hung the sketch she'd drawn that day prominently in her study. In the painting, Xiao Yu was tied to a locust tree, one foot treading on petals, his expression both helpless and doting. Seeing this, Xiao Yu made a move to tear it up, but Shen Weiwan stopped him. She pointed at the portrait with a smile, "Don't, Your Highness! This is our family heirloom. When the children grow up, let them see how brave their father was!"
Xiao Yu reluctantly put his hand down, looking at himself in the painting, then at the smiling Shen Weiwan in front of him, and finally couldn't help laughing. He put his arm around her waist and rubbed his nose against the top of her head: "Okay, whatever you say is right. But next time you let the kid tie me up, I will..."
"So what?" Shen Weiwan raised her eyebrows, a cunning light flashing in her eyes.
Xiao Yu lowered his head and whispered in her ear, his warm breath brushing against her earlobe: "I'll tie you up too, and make you my 'tool'."
Shen Weiwan's cheeks flushed and she punched him: "Rogue!"
As the two of them laughed and played, Kengkeng and Wawa came running in, holding their little blankets, and called out in baby voices, "Mom and Dad, we want to sleep together!"
Xiao Yu reluctantly carried the two children to the spacious step-out bed, and the four of them huddled together. Moonlight gently streamed into the room from the window, illuminating the cozy scene on the bed. He looked at his wife and children sleeping beside him. Shen Weiwan's head rested gently on his shoulder, while Keng Keng and Wa Wa clung to his arms, sleeping soundly, drool still dripping from the corners of their mouths.
Xiao Yu sighed softly, his heart filled with happiness. He knew his daily routine as the prince's "tool" would continue, but he was willing to accept it. This was the life he wanted, full of laughter, love, and countless pitfalls. And he was willing to always be the most solid support for Shen Weiwan and the children, protecting this joyful home until the end of time.
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