Chapter 14
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“Your Highness, taste my special milk first, then decide whether to grant my request.” Xue Yao proudly lifted his little tail, full of confidence in the seasoning of the Want Want milk!
The Seventh Prince casually gave his consent while idly toying with the small pinwheel in his hand.
Secretly offering milk was a breach of palace rules. The little prince’s diet was closely controlled. Xue Yao needed to find a way to sneakily give him the milk.
He couldn’t openly bring out the milk inside the bustling school.
Once they left the school, eunuchs, maids, and the wetnurse would all be in tow, waiting for instructions.
He had to wait until the lunch break to avoid being noticed by others.
Ever since becoming a reader-in-waiting and experiencing a tearful encounter with the Fifth Prince, Xue Yao would accompany the Sixth Prince to the warm pavilion every afternoon during his nap.
After tending to the three little princes, the attendants would leave the pavilion and wait in the south side chamber.
Xue Yao seized this opportunity to discreetly bring the Seventh Prince in through a side entrance to complete the secret exchange with the arranged item.
With the plan in place, Xue Yao patiently awaited his chance.
During this particular afternoon break, the Sixth Prince, still thrilled from his first game of cuju, couldn’t sleep. He lay on the bed, enthusiastically discussing his cuju experience with Xue Yao, gesticulating and sharing his insights.
In his moment of urgency, Xue Yao spoke up.
He sang a childish lullaby to soothe the Sixth Prince to sleep.
However, the Sixth Prince remained wide awake, while the cchubby cub on the other side, upon hearing the song, immediately fell into a deep slumber.
His Highness completely forgot about drinking the milk!
After patiently waiting for the Sixth Prince to become tired and fall asleep, Xue Yao turned, gathered his courage, and playfully poked the Long Aotian cub in the armpit, attempting to tickle him awake.
The Seventh Prince remained blissfully asleep.
His Highness was in a deep, peaceful slumber.
Xue Yao felt quite distressed.
He hoped to use the Want Want milk to win over the heart of this deviously cute little munchkin as soon as possible.
This time, he must seize the opportunity.
Xue Yao squinted his eyes, made a decision, and was determined to wake up this chubby little baby.
He used both hands to tickle Seventh Prince’s armpits and the soles of his feet.
The chubby cub continued to sleep soundly, completely undisturbed.
Xue Yao furrowed his brow in thought, then leaned in closer to the Long Aotian cub and whispered softly, “Does Your want to drink milk?”
Hearing the key word “milk,” the Seventh Prince’s little mouth suddenly began to make sucking motions.
However, he remained deeply asleep.
Small, chubby, and a heavy sleeper!
Nevertheless, there was some response.
With patience, Xue Yao leaned closer to the cub’s ear and continued to say, “Shall we get up and have some milk?”
“Shall we get up and have some milk?”
With each whispered word, the chubby cub’s legs subtly kicked a few times.
It seemed like he was struggling to wake up.
Milk was meant to be drunk!
His Highness really wanted to drink it!
Finally, after the eighth leg twitch, the Seventh Prince “blinked” open his expectant eyes!
He turned his head in confusion, looking at Xue Yao. His Highness’ tea-colored eyes glistened, and his long eyelashes were damp from sweat, a few strands sticking together, making them stand out even more.
His Highness was quite agitated. He was even sweating.
He wanted milk!
“Shall we go to the side chamber to have some milk? Promise, Your Highness, if you love it, you can’t let others hear my slip of the tongue,” Xue Yao softly negotiated in a hushed tone.
The Seventh Prince had just woken up. Bewildered, he was momentarily unable to recall any agreements.
But the gentle tone and expression of the little reader-in-waiting reassured His Highness, making him feel calm and peaceful, not upset about being roused from his sleep.
“Come, let’s go over there to have some milk.” Xue Yao pointed to the empty side chamber.
The Seventh Prince let out a little yawn, then stretched out his chubby arms towards Xue Yao, wanting to be picked up.
Normally, his personal palace maid would lift him up to drink milk.
Xue Yao didn’t think much and carefully got up, reaching out to pick up the little one.
He exerted some effort with his arms.
Surprisingly, he couldn’t lift him!
This was a solid baby, not just plump on the outside.
Xue Yao often forgot that he was only eight years old, lacking the strength of an adult. Surprisingly, he couldn’t even lift a three-year-old.
The Seventh Prince didn’t understand why he wasn’t being picked up. He still extended his arms, looking blankly, waiting to be held.
Xue Yao gazed at cub and took a deep breath.
He couldn’t give up.
He bent down and wrapped his arms around the baby.
He gathered his inner strength.
One, two, three, lift!
But it wouldn’t budge.
Xue Yao felt disheartened.
He was too heavy!
This was the first time that the Seventh Prince found himself “unpickable.” However, driven by the desire for milk, His Highness struggled to crawl up on his own.
Crawling to the edge of the bed, he turned around, his little bottom facing the bed, and extended one chubby leg to “explore” the floor.
Xue Yao quickly got out of bed, catching the cub from behind, then they slipped into the side chamber smoothly to begin the Want Want milk exchange.
Xue Yao turned around, pretending to fetch something from his pocket while he closed his eyes and entered the mental space, taking out a carton of Want Want milk.
“This milk was bought from a foreign land,” Xue Yao pointed to the doll on the milk carton and coaxed the baby, “It’s specially made for children, and it has a unique flavor.”
The Seventh Prince couldn’t read much yet, but he could tell that the words on the milk carton were not from their own country. Great Qi didn’t have simplified characters.
The odd “container” of the milk and the odd “illustrations” indeed had an exotic charm in the Seventh Prince’s eyes, making it quite believable that it came from a foreign land.
The moment the milk slid into his mouth, the cub’s tea-colored eyes suddenly lit up!
His slightly widened eyes made every eyelash stand out. The entire baby froze in amazement.
It was just a brief pause. His Highness’ little mouth suddenly began a rapid sucking motion!
“Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp…”
“Hey!” Xue Yao quickly pulled the straw out and reminded, “We agreed to take just a sip first, Your Highness. You’ve nearly finished half the carton with that one sip!”
The interrupted Seventh Prince eagerly extended his small hand and asked, “Will Your Highness continue drinking? Will Your Highness continue drinking?”
A smug smile crept onto Xue Yao’s lips.
He knew it. No little rascal could escape the clutches of Want Want milk.
This time, Xue Yao acted nonchalant, looking at the anxious cub. “Will Your Highness continue drinking?”
“Yes, yes!” His Highness replied with excitement!
“Who wants to drink milk?” Xue Yao patiently guided.
“Your Highness!”
“Who is Your Highness?”
The Seventh Prince’s eager little face momentarily froze at this question. It required some thought for him. His pale tea-colored eyes flickered, and then he patted his small chest. “Your grandpa!”
Xue Yao: “……”
Well, if he wanted to be ‘grandpa,’ then so be it.
This was a not-so-humble Long Aotian.
Xue Yao wasn’t trying to make things difficult for the Seventh Prince. He was guiding him to contemplate a fundamental question — who he was.
Children with communication disorder, coupled with remarkable memory and logical thinking abilities, often exhibited a lack of self-awareness.
Their thinking tended to transcend their own perspective, like a falcon soaring from high above, seeing the big picture.
What might seem like a complex maze to others, they could dissect and understand thoroughly.
That was why the Seventh Prince would remind someone what to say from an outsider’s perspective. Even if he had a certain need, he would remind the people around him what to say or do from an outsider’s perspective, such as ‘Is Your Highness sleepy?’
This was the fundamental reason for the Seventh Prince’s weird communication style.
This seemingly powerful talent carried a significant pitfall.
It was the lack of self-awareness.
Completely adopting an observer thinking mode detached from oneself could make their emotional perception seem more than half missing, making them appear aloof and uncommunicative.
If left unchecked and allowed to develop, they would become almost entirely set in their ways by adulthood.
Such individuals might seem powerful but were actually quite lonely. They were not much different from a machine or a weapon.
What Xue Yao aimed to do was to take that soaring consciousness and tuck it back into the chubby cub’s body, allowing him to genuinely perceive the world using his own self.
“Who is ‘grandpa’?” Xue Yao further guided the cub to find his sense of self.
The Seventh Prince’s gaze became perplexed.
This question seemed to have left his little mind stumped. His soaring consciousness, now flustered, was desperately searching for the target that claimed to be “grandpa.”
Xue Yao bent down, getting closer to the Seventh Prince and looked at him with patient eyes. “Is grandpa perhaps Lu Qian?”
The Seventh Prince’s long eyelashes quivered slightly. He looked up at him even more bewildered.
“Then, who is Lu Qian?” Xue Yao continued to guide him. Seeing the Seventh Prince’s dazed expression, he gently called out, “Lu Qian?”
The Seventh Prince’s gaze flickered.
Gradually, those titles — “Seventh Prince,” “Your Highness,” “your grandpa” — slowly merged back into his true self.
The soaring consciousness in mid-air, like a falcon, found its way back to the physical body, merging with Lu Qian.
The Seventh Prince’s formerly puzzled eyes became serene as he gazed at Xue Yao curiously.
Xue Yao knew his guidance was working. He suppressed a smile while waving the carton of Want Want milk in his hand.
He wanted to hear Lu Qian spontaneously say, “This lord wants milk.”
As long as the coaxing was sufficient, His Highness could certainly manage it. After all, didn’t he say it previously when he was eager to ride a real horse?
However, right after that…
“Does Your Highness want milk?” The Seventh Prince, with anticipation, asked Xue Yao this question and then began nodding enthusiastically to himself!
He was so impatient that he answered his own question!
Xue Yao: “……”
Well, it seemed more patience was needed for the treatment.
In order to help the cub have a normal afternoon nap as soon as possible, Xue Yao didn’t press the issue further. After emphasizing the condition not to repeat his slip up, he fed His Highness the remaining Want Want milk.
When the Seventh Prince noticed the milk carton was empty, he looked at Xue Yao with a mournful expression. “Does Your Highness want more?”
Xue Yao shrugged. “I’m sorry, there’s only this one. If Your Highness is obedient, I’ll find another carton for you next time, alright?”
“Aha!” The Seventh Prince showed surprise for the first time and pounced into Xue Yao’s arms, tilting his head to present the left side of his chubby face.
It was a gesture inviting cheek-pinching.
This was the Seventh Prince’s “secret weapon” because Father Emperor and Eldest Brother both enjoyed pinching his cheeks.
In truth, Xue Yao didn’t quite understand the meaning behind the chubbly cub’s action, but when he saw that soft and doughy cheek turn toward him, he instinctively reached out to pinch it.
Ah! That meltingly soft cheek made Xue Yao briefly forget about the cold and ruthless Prince Ning, who would surely chop off his ear and tailbone in the future.
Suddenly, the urge to continue feeding kicked in!
But a quick glance at the three remaining milk cartons in the mental space brought Xue Yao back to reality…
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