"A bedtime story, huh." Lian Hua tugged at his hand, looking up at him, "When I was little, to coax me to sleep, my father would tell me stories, like the Little Tree Demon story. Since Your Majesty is busy, after the baby is born, how about I tell him the stories?"
"In that case..." The Emperor’s gaze returned to the paper, swiftly weighing his options, his expression unchanging, "Nannan is considerate. However, as the months progress, I do not want you to tire yourself with writing. Why don’t I have someone write similar stories? After the Imperial Son is born, you could read these stories to him. It would be fun for you to read and help put the Imperial Son to sleep. What do you think?"
Lian Hua thought it over; His Majesty made a good point. However, "I would also like to write some for him myself. I am his Imperial Consort Mother. Others’ writings are ultimately not my own. I feel it’s not quite the same..."
The Emperor fell silent, looking again at the writings on the paper. Although in vernacular Chinese, their value lay in their genuine and natural quality.
How each fish looked, which ones swam swiftly but were somewhat dim-witted, which ones swam slowly yet were clever, which ones swam slowly and clumsily—it was all clear at a glance. The details illuminated how the slower fish were caught and eaten, including methods such as steaming and braising.
It wasn’t a problem. Moreover, this was the Little Concubine’s intention, something no Hanlin Scholar could match.
He nodded in agreement, leaning down to kiss her, "Good, it’s the Imperial Son’s fortune to have Nannan as a mother."
"Haha, it’s nothing. I am his mother, after all," Lian Hua’s eyes curled with a smile, unable to help leaning against the Emperor’s chest, playfully saying, "Your Majesty, I also want to teach our child properly, just like my own mother did. In the past, she made me learn this and that. Although I mostly didn’t understand why, I knew it was for my good. Just like how I wish to teach our child...cough cough cough..."
She suddenly remembered she couldn’t reveal that and stopped so abruptly that she choked on her saliva, coughing.
The Emperor didn’t have time to delve deeper, hurrying to pat her back, "Easy, easy, take it slow."
After coughing for a while, she finally stopped, took a small breath, couldn’t help patting her chest, and sighed with relief in her mind, almost spilling the "Complete Collection of Encouragement-to-Learn Poems".
Seeing her odd expression, the Emperor couldn’t help but ask with confusion, "Nannan, is there something...?"
"Ha, no, nothing at all." Lian Hua quickly shook her head, vehemently denying it, her gaze darting around. She glanced at the writing on the dressing table and distractedly said, "Oh, the ink has dried. Your Majesty, let me tidy this up."
She wriggled out of the Emperor’s embrace, picking up the paper, folded it again, pretending to organize it.
The Emperor watched, convinced there was indeed something she was hiding from him.
As Lian Hua straightened the paper in her hands, she contemplated sneaking a glance at the hidden compartment in front of the bed but felt the piercing gaze from behind. In the end, she restrained herself, fighting the urge not to look.
His Majesty was too astute, "Ah, I mustn’t look, mustn’t look."
The Emperor watched her fiddle repeatedly with the paper, and unable to stand it, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled the paper away, "Weren’t you going to put it away properly? Where? Let me do it for you."
"Ah, oh, just put it down there." Lian Hua, startled, then quickly recovered and pointed at the drawer beneath the dressing table, where space was allotted for her writing utensils.
"Hmm." The Emperor, following the direction she pointed, pulled open the drawer, and saw several sheets of paper neatly placed on top.
He flipped through briefly and found that they were all stories the Little Concubine had prepared for the child in her belly.
Before he could examine them closely, he heard his Little Concubine say, "Your Majesty, should we go to bed early tonight?"
He placed the papers back on top, closed the drawer, and stood up to ask, "Are you tired?"
At the end of the Xu Hour, his Little Concubine usually went to sleep at the third quarter of the Hai Hour.
Lian Hua shook her head, then nodded, tugging at his sleeve and shaking it, "Brother Zhao, I want you to rest earlier."
The Emperor smiled with indulgence, knowing why, and replied gently, "Okay, I’ll listen to Nannan."
Instantly, Lian Hua beamed with joy, led him by the sleeve to the bedside, sat down on the bed, and looked up at him with a sweet smile, waiting for him to change.
The Emperor felt his heart melt under her gaze and began to change his clothes by himself.
As Lian Hua watched, she habitually placed her hand on Yuan Yuan’s belly and stroked it, something came to mind and she asked, "Brother Zhao, is there any news about the third brother and the others?"
The Emperor’s hands paused, he sighed in his heart, and replied truthfully, "Not yet."
The person who weaved the rattan had an extremely strong sense of caution, tidied up all traces after leaving, and altered their looks before disappearing near the Imperial Academy; no one had seen them or their direction since.
Despite having the Li Family Firm track them based on the rattan, it had only appeared in the marketplace outside the Imperial Academy and nowhere else, making it untraceable.
"Oh..." Lian Hua hugged her belly with both hands, her voice dipped a few degrees, and she lowered her head so no one could see her expression clearly.
Seeing this, the Emperor’s heart ached, so he stopped changing his clothes, walked over to her, squatted down to meet her eyes, and comforted her, "Nannan, you don’t have to worry, your guess is right, your third brother and the others are all right. We will find them sooner or later, just give me a few more days, okay?"
Lian Hua had been looking down at her belly, lost in thought, but upon hearing this, she looked up and blinked, "Your Majesty, I’m not worried, you see, third brother has been very good at hide and seek since he was little. He always watches me get anxious before he shows up; it’s normal not to find him for a while."
Ever since she got hold of the rattan, she knew her third brother and the others were all right, just as His Majesty had said, finding them was only a matter of time.
The question she asked today was just a casual one; if she were really worried, she wouldn’t have asked, just like before.
The Emperor was taken aback, "What was Nannan thinking just now?"
Her unclear expression made him mistakenly think she was in distress.
"Hmm~" Mentioning this, Lian Hua felt a bit proud, and she said cheerfully, "Your Majesty, my three brothers are all very impressive. I wonder, once the baby is born, if they could teach the baby some skills. Not to mention anything else, but big brother is very good at reading. He passed the Scholar exam on his first try. Second brother is skilled in martial arts and very good at fighting. Third brother is clever and knows many tricks..."
She began to prattle on about the future, and although she had compiled a booklet of what she wanted to teach the baby, she hoped her child would have the experiences she had when she was little.
The Emperor relaxed, sat down beside her, and embraced her entirely in his arms.
At this moment, his heart was filled with immense tranquility, satisfied simply by listening to her quietly, his heart already contented.
When he told Lian Hua that her three brothers were all right and that they would be found sooner or later, it was not just a comforting word without basis.
Even though they couldn’t trace the person who wove the rattan, they clarified one thing: the rattan weaver targeted Guo Neng, and weaving the rattan was just a habit, something done without thinking.
That time, shortly after he wandered the marketplace, something happened on the street.