Chapter 216.1

After seeing off Huiniang, Yaoniang pondered for a long time, her delicate willow eyebrows still furrowed.

It wasn’t that she was afraid of causing trouble for herself since her reputation outside the palace wasn’t great anyway. Emperor Jin’an refused to expand his harem. Although he hadn’t mentioned the reason, rumours had long spread that it was because of her, and the label of “jealous woman” had been circulating for quite some time. Adding one more scandal wouldn’t make much difference.

What she was thinking about was how to deal with Li-shi.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

There was no doubt that Li-shi was the root of all these troubles, and she could probably smooth things over this time. But what about the next time? She could ignore Li-shi, and her brother-in-law could do the same, but her sister Huiniang had to be considered.

When her sister spoke to her before, Yaoniang could clearly sense that there might have been a rift between her sister and brother-in-law. An argument had most likely happened just prior to entering the palace.

In the end, Li-shi was her sister’s mother-in-law, so it was impossible to not deal with it.

Seeing the empress lost in thought, Hong Chou and the others dared not disturb her. It wasn’t until Sibao came looking for her that the palace servants led her over.

“What’s going on now?”

Sibao didn’t speak; she just clung to Yaoniang’s clothing. Nowadays, it was nearly impossible for Yaoniang to wear tidy clothes unless she stayed far away from Sanbao and Sibao; otherwise, these two mischievous troublemakers would ruin her attire in no time.

Outside, there were sounds of greetings; Emperor Jin’an had arrived.

He was wearing his usual attire, a purple dragon-patterned robe with a black gauze crown. Emperor Jin’an’s demeanour had grown more imposing over time; while he used to have a cold and refined temperament, he now had a touch of maturity and majesty.

When Sibao saw Emperor Jin’an, her eyes lit up, and she struggled to get down. Yaoniang let her go, and she stumbled her way over to Emperor Jin’an, calling him “father” loudly. Of course, her voice couldn’t match the loudness of Erbao and Sanbao, but for the usually soft-spoken Sibao, it was quite remarkable.

Yaoniang felt a pang of jealousy as she watched her daughter rush to him and embrace his leg.

Emperor Jin’an, in a rare move, didn’t pick his daughter up but bent down slightly to hold Sibao’s little hand and walked towards her. Yaoniang blinked in confusion because normally, the father and daughter were very affectionate.

When they reached the bed, Sibao tilted her head to look at Emperor Jin’an, seemingly curious about why he didn’t pick her up. At that moment, Fu Cheng came over with a smile and lifted Sibao onto the bed. Emperor Jin’an then sat down opposite Yaoniang.

Emperor Jin’an raised his hand slightly and placed it on the table by the bed. Yaoniang was curious about what he was doing, and she saw his sleeve move as if something was crawling out of it.

Before she could see clearly, Emperor Jin’an turned his palm and held the small creature in his hand. He then unfolded his hand, and both mother and daughter could finally see what it was.

It was a small white puppy with jet-black, glistening eyes and a wet nose, utterly adorable. It seemed uncomfortable lying on Emperor Jin’an’s palm, and it struggled to climb up with great effort.

“Oh?”

Sibao’s wide eyes couldn’t close, and her small mouth stayed open as she pointed at the puppy, seemingly asking Emperor Jin’an what it was.

Emperor Jin’an’s gaze softened, saying, “It’s for Changle.”

Although he loved his daughter, he couldn’t quite manage to express joy like picking up his daughter and kissing her cheek.

“It’s a puppy. Sibao, do you like it?” asked Yaoniang with a smile.

“It’s Sisi’s…”

Sibao wanted to touch it but was a little scared to, so she looked to her mother for help.

“Sibao, you can touch it.”

Yaoniang took her little hand and reached towards the puppy slowly, during which Sibao wanted to withdraw her hand. Yaoniang didn’t stop her, but when Sibao changed her mind and wanted to touch it again, Yaoniang used her own hand to cover the little hand as she touched the puppy’s body.

The puppy was soft to the touch, covered in short and velvety hairs.

As Yaoniang had previously taught her when she wanted to play with Dahua and others, she could touch but not squeeze. So, she gingerly used her fingertips to touch the puppy. During this time, Yaoniang withdrew her hand, but the sensitive Sibao noticed it immediately, so she also retracted her hand.

Nevertheless, at this age, children were naturally curious. Sibao reached out to touch it again on her own, first with a light touch, then another, giggling and seemingly delighted as she was no longer afraid anymore.

Sibao’s attention was successfully diverted by the puppy, and she played with it happily. Only then did Yaoniang inform Emperor Jin’an about Huiniang’s entry into the palace.

“How do you plan to handle this?” Emperor Jin’an asked.

Nowadays, whenever Yaoniang encountered something she could resolve on her own, Emperor Jin’an no longer took the initiative but first asked for her opinion.

Yaoniang was accustomed to it and said, “I’m thinking we can use the Shuntian Prefecture to scare her a bit, give her a lesson, so she remembers not to make the same mistake in the future.”

As she spoke, she looked at Emperor Jin’an, seemingly asking if he thought this approach was acceptable.

“Since you think it can work, then go ahead.”

This meant that it was fine for her to do so?

Yaoniang called for Hong Chou and instructed her to take care of the matter.

~

“Su Huiniang, you are unfilial, this old woman must make Cheng’er divorce you…”

Li-shi finally got tired of cursing and sat down on the chair out of breath.

It had been a long time since she referred to herself as “old lady.” Despite Li-shi’s temper, she cared about her reputation. When she walked outside, she consciously or subconsciously imitated the manners of those high-ranking officials’ wives. Although she often unintentionally made herself look ridiculous, she was no longer as coarse as before.

Li-shi’s agitation this time was stirred up by Huiniang.

This little troublemaker actually encouraged her son to lock her up.