Little Rascal

As soon as she said this, Xiaoguo was completely stunned. All her guesses were incorrect. What was the real reason?

Mrs. Yang continued to defend Old Yang with a protective look on her face. “He went to look for Widow Liu because he wanted to borrow her prescription which would help to protect the baby. Widow Liu’s husband had studied medicine when he was alive, so he knew a lot of prescriptions for various ailments. I just received the prescription last night.”

Xiaoguo was on the verge of swearing. “So, why was she crying?!”

“Sigh, don’t be anxious. Let me continue.”

Xiaoguo nodded stiffly. “Alright, alright, alright. Tell me. I don’t believe that there’s any more public display of affection.”

“Xiaoguo, don’t sleep. I haven’t finished talking.”

Mrs. Yang reached out to nudge Xiaoguo, as she continued narrating, “I told Old Yang that I was coming here. But he didn’t even bother to stop me. He even said that I wasn’t calm and kept insisting that I calm down first…”

Xiaoguo didn’t dare to move too much for fear of hurting Mrs. Yang’s stomach. However, she really couldn’t continue listening to what Mrs. Yang was telling her.

She really didn’t expect her pregnant friend to be so melodramatic.

At this moment, Xiaoguo was like a piece of soft meat. She couldn’t pull herself up. Her head felt like it was stuck to a pillow.

“Xiaoguo? Xiaoguo?”

Mrs. Yang did not give up. She continued to tap on Xiaoguo’s back. Seeing that she could not wake her up, she gave up reluctantly.

The next morning, at dawn, Brother Yang came to bring Mrs. Yang back.

Xiaoguo shook her head helplessly and waited for the two loving figures to leave before locking the door and returning to her room. She stretched and returned to her bed. Mrs. Yang had kept her up for the better half the night. She took the chance to catch up on her sleep while it was still early.

–

In the capital.

“Your Highness, get up.”

Zhixia gently called out to the little bundle under the blanket.

The little bump made a few moves before it completely stopped moving again.

Zhixia chuckled and said again, “Your Highness? Xiaoyi?”

This time, he wriggled a few times before stopping.

Seeing that there was a chance, Zhixia tried again. “It’s your birthday today.”

This time, there was a big commotion under the blanket. A small black head slowly appeared, and then there was no more movement.

“How many gifts will our birthday boy receive today?”

“Hmmm?”

Xiaoyi got up and opened his eyes to look at her.

Zhixia covered her mouth and giggled. She moved aside and the palace maids behind her immediately rushed forward. They dressed Xiaoyi, tied up his hair, and cleaned him up. Soon, a handsome boy who was elegant and cute appeared in front of her.

If he hadn’t yawned, he would have looked even more charming.

Zhixia brought Xiaoyi to Yangxin Palace.

It was his birthday today. He had to wake up very early to pay his respects to Shao Zhan.

It was rare that Xiaoyi was being so cooperative. He did not make any noise along the way and did whatever he was told.

Zhixia was extremely surprised. It was a miracle. If this was asked of him on normal days, he would have kicked up a fuss by now. He definitely would not be cooperating so obediently.

Xiaoyi’s big eyes were fixed on the entrance of the hall. He was not even in the mood to eat with Shao Zhan.

Shao Zhan snorted a few times, but he did not attract Xiaoyi’s attention.

After breakfast, Xiaoyi got ready to leave. He walked out anxiously, thinking that the packages might have arrived at his residence by now.

“Sigh, stop right there.”

Shao Zhan looked at the little bastard who was about to leave after wiping his mouth. “How disrespectful.”

Xiaoyi was in a good mood today, unlike Shao Zhan. He turned around and bowed to him. “I’ll take my leave.”

With that, he walked out steadily. Once he was outside, he started running anxiously.

Shao Zhan blinked a few times and came back to his senses. He looked at Eunuch Su, who was also shocked. “Did that just happen?”

This was his first time seeing Xiaoyi behave so politely.

“Yes, yes!” Eunuch Su held onto his hat and nodded vigorously. It definitely did.

“Your Majesty, this…”

Eunuch Su suddenly thought of the gift beside him. The emperor had spent a lot of effort to prepare this, but he didn’t manage to pass it to Xiaoyi.

“…” Shao Zhan looked at the box beside him and thought for a moment. “Forget it. This can be given to him at night.”

Eunuch Su bent down and picked up the box. He carefully carried it out. The things inside were still swaying from the sudden shift.

Holding the box carefully in his arms, Eunuch Su couldn’t help but sigh at his fate. After waiting on the emperor, he still had to serve this little brat. This was really killing him.

“Aye.”

Eunuch Su stopped and raised his head stiffly. Had the emperor just read his mind?

“Remember to give this to him as the last gift of the day.”

“Yes.”

Eunuch Su sighed and quickly walked out.

Shao Zhan pursed his lips. He had forgotten who he had heard this from. The first and last birthday gifts were always the most meaningful ones. Since he could not be the first one to present him with his birthday gift, he should make sure that he was the last one.

He raised his hand and rubbed his forehead. He spent so much of his time worrying about this little bastard.

Xiaoyi quickly ran back to his residence. The first thing he did when he entered was to ask if there was anything for him.

He was not disappointed. When he was making his way to Yangxin Hall earlier, the eunuch had already brought over the gifts that were sent to him by Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang.

Xiaoyi was overjoyed. He hugged the bundle and jumped around happily. Whenever he saw someone, he would show off the bundle in his hand. “Does this look good?”

No matter who he asked, the answer was the same.

“Yes. It looks good!”

Satisfied, Xiaoyi carried the package back to his room so that he could admire the gifts.

The eunuchs and palace maids outside the door wiped the sweat off their foreheads, looking like they had just made a life-and-death decision.

When the Crown Prince asked them earlier about the bundle, they didn’t quite know what to say. After all, it was just an ordinary package. How could they tell if it looked good when it wasn’t even opened yet?

Fortunately, they had all chosen the correct answer—which is to agree that it looked good.

“Alright, let’s get to work.”

At Zhixia’s order, everyone dispersed and returned to their posts.

Xiaoyi hugged the bundle and lay on the bed. He rubbed his face against the package. What should he do? He didn’t want to ruin the knot that Xiaoguo had personally tied up.

In the end, he reluctantly unwrapped the bundle. Although he couldn’t bear to untie the knot on the outside, his yearning for the gift got the better of him.

What came into view were two letters on the top. Under the letters was a pair of half-finished shoes, a strange cloth bag with an embroidered design, and a book.

Xiaoyi’s eyes widened when he saw the book. “There is even a book?!”

Feeling curious, Xiaoyi eagerly opened the envelopes. In order to be fair, Xiaoyi made sure to open both envelopes at the same time.

In addition to congratulating Xiaoyi on his birthday, the letter also contained a detailed introduction of the gifts and it successfully answered all his doubts.

It told him that the half-finished shoes that exposed half of his feet were called slippers. They are meant to be worn in the house.

The strange-looking bag with embroidery was called a school bag. It was meant for him to use it for school.

The book that Zhuang Zhuang had given him was not an ordinary word book. It was a picture book that he had drawn himself. The contents were extracted from the stories that Xiaoguo had told him. He wrote those stories down and illustrated them himself.

To Xiaoyi, everything in the bundle was very meaningful to him.

These gifts that Xiaoyi had been looking forward to for a long time were enough to keep him happy until he met Zhuang Zhuang and Xiaoguo again.

After receiving Shao Zhan’s gift at night, his good mood throughout the day came to a climax.

At night, Zhixia brought the palace maids and left Xiaoyi’s room. There was only one candle light left in his room. Under the dim lights, she could vaguely see a little boy sleeping soundly beside a yellow puppy with a bulging belly. Next to his pillow was a picture book that was left open. Under the bed was a pair of slippers in his size. She turned around and saw a bulging backpack on the table, waiting for its owner to bring it out tomorrow.