The question from Emperor Ling made the little child instantly tense up.
“W-what white furball?”
The little child averted his eyes and said, “I don’t know anything about a white furball.”
Emperor Ling: “…”
Emperor Ling narrowed his eyes.
He wanted to ask more, but the little child had already sat up, rubbing his stomach and saying he was hungry.
“Daddy, I want to eat!”
“Alright.”
Emperor Ling patted the child’s stomach, which wasn’t even that empty since he had eaten a pastry just half an hour ago.
But since the little one was asking for food, Emperor Ling had someone bring more for him.
With the food in front of him, the little child not only ate by himself but also fed his father.
The two of them ate together, and for a while, the earlier conversation was forgotten.
Less than a day after they set out, the little child, looking at the scenery outside, suddenly realized something.
He was heading back to Guan Shan Residence, but at Ah Wu’s speed, Ah Wu should just be arriving at Qi Dynasty!
The little child: “!”
Realizing this, the little child quickly poked his head out to look around.
Their route back to Guan Shan wasn’t fixed. To avoid potential assassins, they frequently changed their path.
With all the changes, there was a chance he and Ah Wu wouldn’t meet.
“Little Seven, sit still. What are you looking at outside?”
Emperor Ling grabbed the back of the little one’s collar, trying to make him behave for a moment.
But the child kept staring outside, eyes straining to see something.
He wished he could spot Ah Wu the next second!
“Daddy, I want to ride a horse.”
The little one wriggled around in the carriage, itching to go outside and ride. Sitting in the carriage all the time was too stuffy for him.
He figured if he was out riding and happened to meet Ah Wu, Ah Wu could spot him right away.
“You’re still too young to ride.”
Without a second thought, Emperor Ling rejected his request. “Wait until you’re a little older. Then you can ride however you like.”
As Emperor Ling said this, he tried to call the little one back, hoping he would settle down with a book or they could chat for a while.
The little one glanced at the horses outside and scrunched up his little face.
Seeing that he hadn’t given up, Emperor Ling followed his gaze outside.
There was a white horse, the one the little one wanted to ride. Its coat was glossy and bright, indeed a fine and beautiful horse.
Emperor Ling glanced at the horse and then looked at the little one with the scrunched face. He said, “This white horse’s color is just like the little white furball in the palace. Little Seven, do you like riding white horses because you also like white furballs?”
The moment Emperor Ling mentioned the little white furball, the little one fell silent.
He no longer asked to ride the horse and instead sat quietly in the carriage, flipping through his picture book.
Emperor Ling sat beside him, reading along with him. “Is this book from Guan Shan Residence?”
“Yep! Master Liu gave it to me.”
The little one’s picture book was filled with various stories, each accompanied by illustrations. Not only did the little one love it, but all the other children at Guan Shan Residence loved it too.
The stories in the book were a bit childish for Emperor Ling, but they were just right for the little one.
After reading five pages, the little one yawned, losing interest in the book.
“Daddy, hold me!”
The little one was becoming clingier to his father, perhaps because, unlike in the palace, he now only had his father to rely on.
He asked his daddy to cuddle him to sleep.
As Emperor Ling obliged, he teased, “You’re six years old already and still need Daddy to put you to sleep. Aren’t you embarrassed?”
The little one, blushing, burrowed into Emperor Ling’s arms.
With his small voice muffled against his father’s chest, he mumbled, “Not embarrassed, not embarrassed.”
Even as he said it, the little one’s ears turned red.
Emperor Ling chuckled, gently pinching his red ears.
Traveling on the road wasn’t the most comfortable experience. The conditions for eating and sleeping were unstable, which quickly led to fatigue.
Seeing the little one feeling stifled in the carriage, Emperor Ling thought for a while and finally chose a cool evening to take the little one out for a ride.
“Every man needs to know how to ride. Daddy will teach you now, and when you’re older, a martial arts master will teach you properly.”
“Daddy, do you know how to ride?”
“Of course I do.”
Emperor Ling raised his eyebrows. “When I was young, your mother and I often rode horses outside. We even raced.”
When Emperor Ling was young, his charm extended beyond just his looks.
The little one loved hearing stories about his father’s youth. As he listened, Emperor Ling lifted him onto the horse.
Emperor Ling didn’t know how much longer he had left, so he cherished every moment he had to teach his child something.
“Daddy, riding is so fun!”
The little one’s face, once sullen, was now beaming as he clutched the reins, eager to gallop on his own.
Patiently, Emperor Ling taught him. One teaching, the other learning—it made the days on the road seem to pass a little quicker.
The little one never used his foresight ability on his father.
Though he dared to use it on others, he instinctively refrained from using it on Emperor Ling.
He didn’t want to see his father’s body deteriorating, so he simply chose not to look into his father’s future.
If he didn’t see his father’s future, it meant his father would stay healthy.
To get a message to Ah Wu, the little one used his foresight ability on one of the guards escorting them.
“Hm.”
The guard’s future wasn’t perfect. His wife suffered mistreatment at home from her mother-in-law, but the guard didn’t find out until it was too late.
The little one patted the guard’s hand and said, “Next time you take a break, go home early. It’ll be a surprise for your wife!”
The guard laughed and agreed.
Later, the guard did return home early without warning, and sure enough, he caught his mother mistreating his wife.
Thanks to his early return, he managed to resolve the issue in time, and both he and his wife’s future took a completely different path.
At this point, the guard still didn’t know what lay ahead. He just smiled and followed the little one’s advice.
While the little one was busy predicting for the guard, Ah Wu had already arrived at the Qi Dynasty Palace.
By the time he arrived, the Empress had already been dealt with.
Ah Wu frowned, feeling he had arrived too late.
With both Emperor Ling and the Empress gone, the atmosphere in the palace was still tense.
But Ah Wu wasn’t concerned with the palace’s mood. He observed for a while before turning back.
The First and Third Prince were in poor spirits. Shui Shui had been brewing medicine for the Third Prince for several days.
The First Prince, accompanied by the Fourth Prince and Murong Xu, who had rushed back for unknown reasons, seemed to show signs of emotional recovery.
Ah Wu looked at them but thought seeing his own little one would be better.
With a blank expression, he turned and left, the back-and-forth journey not tiring him in the slightest.
Ah Wu was still on the road, hurrying along, while the little one and his father had already finished their journey and arrived at the entrance of Guan Shan Residence.
Even though they had reached the entrance, the little one didn’t seem as happy as he should have been.
With a pained expression, he looked at his father and stretched out his arms.
Emperor Ling held him, somewhat helpless. “Little Seven, we’ve already arrived at Guan Shan Residence, and you still want Daddy to carry you? Didn’t you just say not long ago that it was embarrassing to always be carried by Daddy?”
“Daddy, carry me.”
The little one didn’t want to lose face, but he had no choice now. “My legs hurt.”
The little one had been pestering to ride a horse, and while riding, his legs had started to hurt from being rubbed against the saddle. He endured the pain, not wanting his father to take him down from the horse, and kept quiet.
By the time his craving for horse riding was satisfied, the insides of his chubby little legs were chafed and raw.
Now, walking hurt.
Emperor Ling knew his legs were sore, and had been carrying him for quite a while. But now that they were at Guan Shan Residence’s entrance, remembering the little one’s earlier words about not wanting to be carried, Emperor Ling asked him.
Seeing the little one’s tearful eyes, Emperor Ling gave in and picked him up again.
“Once we’re inside, we can rest for two days, and you’ll feel better.”
With the child in his arms, Emperor Ling struggled with their luggage as they made their way back to their quarters.
“Oh, Little Seven, you’re back!”
As soon as they entered Guan Shan Residence, someone greeted the little one teasingly. “Little Seven, why do you love being carried so much? Come on, let Uncle carry you for a bit.”
The little one: “…”
Silently, the little one buried his face in his father’s neck.
Emperor Ling stifled a laugh, patted his back, and quickened his pace to get him home faster.
But for some reason, despite not announcing their arrival, they kept bumping into familiar faces along the way.
After running into Zhang San and two other teachers, the little one’s face turned red, and he insisted on walking by himself.
He walked slowly, but his chafed legs rubbed painfully against his clothes, making every step excruciating.
After what felt like an eternity, the little one finally made it back to the room he shared with his father.
As soon as he entered, he slammed the door shut.
The next second, as expected, Emperor Ling heard his son burst into tears.
He dropped the luggage carelessly on the floor, not bothering to organize it, and immediately scooped up the crying child, undressing him so the fabric wouldn’t rub against his sore legs.
“There, there, stop crying. Daddy will put some ointment on it.”
After applying the ointment, the little one, with teary eyes, refused to put his clothes back on.
With a chuckle, Emperor Ling playfully tapped his chubby bottom. “You can’t go around without clothes. What if someone comes in and sees a little bare-bottomed boy?”
“It really hurts.”
The little one buried his head under the blanket, only covering his head and leaving the rest of his body exposed.
Seeing him fussing over his sore legs gave Emperor Ling a bit of a headache as well.
The two of them stood at an impasse for a moment, until Emperor Ling’s gaze fell on a dress. It was a new design from Guan Shan Residence, very stylish.
One of the little one’s classmates had brought it over, saying it was meant for Little Seven to take home for his sister.
It didn’t fit the Fifth Princess, so they left it behind when they departed.
Emperor Ling walked over, picked up the dress, and got an idea.
“Little Seven.”
With a smile on his face, Emperor Ling approached the bed with the dress. “Come here, Daddy has some clothes for you that won’t hurt your legs.”
The little one turned around, suspicious.
When he saw the dress in his father’s hands, he froze, and then his little face puffed up with red anger.
“I’m not wearing a dress!!!”
He knew that dresses were for girls!
The little one was furious.
But Emperor Ling, holding the dress, calmly coaxed him. “It’s just a dress. It’s better than not wearing anything.”
“Besides, this dress doesn’t seem to be just for girls. Look, there’s even a fluffy ball on it.”
“This white, round fluffy ball reminds me of the little white furball in the palace. I left it there, hoping you’d come back to see it.”
As Emperor Ling mentioned the little white furball, the little one’s anger slowly began to fade.
After a while, Emperor Ling handed the dress over and asked, “Little Seven, are you sure you’ve never heard of that little white furball?”
The little one, still pouting, snatched the dress from his father’s hands.
In a few swift moves, he slipped into the dress and immediately changed the subject. “I’m dressed now.”
Emperor Ling was inwardly pleased with how well this tactic worked.
What started as a casual question was now something Emperor Ling kept bringing up because of the little one’s reaction.
“Yes, very good looking.”
Emperor Ling looked his son up and down, thinking it was a shame that the Noble Consort hadn’t seen him like this.
But that was okay—he could draw.
Later, he’d sketch the little one’s appearance in the dress.
“Little Seven, does wearing the dress feel better on your legs?”
“A little better.”
The little one tugged at the dress, slowly warming up to it.
The two of them stayed indoors for most of the day, not leaving the room.
When it was time for lunch, Emperor Ling went to the school’s cafeteria to get food.
When he returned, a group of children followed behind him.
“Little Seven, we’ve come to see you!”
The children eagerly wanted to see the little one, but he blocked the door, not letting them in.
“Let’s play tomorrow. I’ll come find you then.”
The little one didn’t want anyone to see him wearing the dress, so he stood his ground, holding the door shut. But the children outside were determined to catch a glimpse of him.
“We’re already here; no need to wait until tomorrow.”
The kids at the door shouted, “We brought you some toys! We made them ourselves! The teacher gave us the blueprints, and we made them according to those!”
The children lingered at the door, while Emperor Ling, holding a lunchbox, watched with amusement.
After a long while of being pestered, the little one finally gave up and let the kids inside.
When they entered and saw him wearing a dress, they were a bit stunned.
“Little Seven, why… why are you wearing a dress?”
“Are… are you a girl?”
“I’m not a girl!”
The little guy’s face flushed as he explained, “I… I scraped my leg, so I’m wearing a dress.”
“Oh, I see.”
Satisfied with the explanation, the kids didn’t make fun of him.
They simply surrounded him, staring in fascination.
“Little Seven, you still look really good in a dress.”
“Yeah, it looks great on you!”
With all the kids’ compliments, the little one finally stopped feeling resistant to the dress.
After having a meal with the little one, Emperor Ling went for his routine medical check-up.
He didn’t let the little one follow him. “You stay here and play with your friends. Otherwise, you’ll have to sit outside for a long time while I get checked.”
He patted the little one’s head and told him to play with the other kids. It wouldn’t be too late for him to come over once the check-up was done.
The little one looked worriedly at his father, but under his father’s insistence, he eventually stayed behind.
With his father gone, the other kids remained.
“Little Seven, do you want to play house? We can play dragon and princess!”
They had read stories about dragons and princesses—where a dragon kidnaps the princess, and a brave warrior comes to rescue her.
They wanted to reenact the story.
Little Seven nodded, blinked, and let out a small growl, volunteering to be the dragon.
“No, Little Seven, let Jiu Jiu be the dragon. You should be the princess!”
“What? I don’t want to—”
His protests were drowned out by the agreement of the other kids.
They had played house before.
Wearing his dress, Little Seven sat on a big rock, a piece of cloth draped over his head. He was now the princess who had been kidnapped by the dragon.
The kids, using sticks as weapons, began fighting to rescue the princess.
Little Seven swung his legs, waiting for them to finish.
Ah Wu, who had just returned, frowned at the sight. He never participated in such childish games.
But childish games were exactly what Little Seven loved.
Not seeing Little Seven among the children, Ah Wu frowned and started to leave.
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