eurekapd Chapter 518 4 Seas Without Worry
Chapter 518 4 Seas Without Worry
Seven years have passed in the blink of an eye, and another summer has arrived.
The Imperial Garden is full of blooming flowers.
Wearing a dark blue palace dress, Yu Wan sat in the pavilion playing cards with the Empress Dowager and several imperial concubines.
She exclaimed excitedly, "Oh dear, I'm so sorry, Your Majesty, and the imperial concubines, I've won again!"
The young empress dowager, who was about the same age as Yu Wan, put down her playing cards with a displeased expression and said, "I've been losing all day."
Yu Wan chuckled, "Your Majesty's luck isn't so good today. Come on, let's play another round."
She hadn't forgotten that the Empress Dowager had won several hundred taels from her yesterday, and she was determined to win it back today.
But the Empress Dowager was unreliable.
"I'm done playing! I'm done playing!" The Empress Dowager stood up abruptly, preparing to leave. She looked around and asked the palace servants beside her, "Where have the Emperor and the Princess gone?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than they saw Emperor Li Yu, who was not yet ten years old, leading a beautiful little girl of about six years old as they walked step by step from the end of the pebbled path.
The little girl saw Yu Wan shouting and continuing to fight, and immediately made a megaphone shape with her hand and shouted to her, "Mother, Father is here!"
Upon hearing this, Yu Wan, who was in the pavilion, immediately threw down the leaf card in her hand and gave a wink to the palace servant beside her.
The palace servants seemed to have encountered this situation before, and they calmly and quickly put away the items on the table without leaving a trace.
Yu Wan had just stood up and was walking out of the pavilion when she looked up and saw another figure appear behind the two children.
The newcomer was dressed in a moon-white robe, his dark hair loosely tied up with a jade hairpin, and his features were exquisite. He was none other than Regent Yun Shang.
He walked slowly with his hands behind his back, and when his gaze fell on Yu Wan, the corners of his lips slightly turned up.
"Father!" The little girl turned around and saw him. She immediately dropped the little emperor and ran over happily, throwing herself into Yun Shang's arms and acting coquettishly.
"Father, give me a hug~"
Yun Shang didn't move, her expression aloof as if she were looking at someone else's child. "Yun Jiaojiao, you're already six years old."
Yun Jiaojiao blinked her big eyes and said in a childish voice, "Yes, Father, Jiaojiao is only six years old, still a child."
She persisted, "I want a hug~"
Yun Shang remained unmoved, even bypassing the little girl and walking directly to Yu Wan.
He hadn't seen her for most of the day, and he was probably missing her terribly.
If there weren't so many eyes around, he would have just wanted to hug her and kiss her a few times.
Unexpectedly, Yu Wan was not as obsessed as he was. Instead, she glared at him and said, "What's wrong with you hugging Jiaojiao? I'm starting to doubt if she's your biological daughter."
After saying this, Yu Wan ruthlessly abandoned Yun Shang, walked a few steps to Yun Jiaojiao, and picked up the little girl with a smile.
She kissed her chubby little face a few times, saying, "Let Mommy smell, does Mommy's little darling smell good?"
Yun Jiaojiao giggled as she was kissed.
Over here, Yun Shang's face was dark and gloomy.
Seeing the regent's gloomy face, the young emperor couldn't help but take a few steps back. Unexpectedly, this step back drew the regent's attention to him.
The little emperor froze, his face tense. "Teacher."
Yun Shang looked at him, his dark eyes revealing no emotion. "Has Your Majesty finished your homework for today?"
Thinking about today's homework, the little emperor couldn't help but puff out his chest proudly, "I've finished it. Teacher, have you forgotten? You just praised me."
"I forgot," Yun Shang said coldly. "There's a lot of homework to do tomorrow. If Your Majesty still has the energy, please do some of it today."
The young emperor's face immediately fell.
He had only played with Jiaojiao for less than fifteen minutes!
The regent is good in every way, except that every time he is embarrassed in front of the queen, he gets extra homework!
He is so difficult!
He usually listens to the Regent, but with his sister Jiaojiao here today, he really doesn't want to go back to do his homework.
Li Yu thought for a moment, then walked over to Yu Wan and carefully tugged at her sleeve. "Your Highness, it's rare for Jiao Jiao to come to the palace. May I spend a little more time with her?"
Yu Wan looked up and glared at Yun Shang, then put Jiao Jiao down and said gently, "Of course you can. Jiao Jiao came to the palace today specifically to play with His Majesty."
She lowered her voice and whispered to the young emperor, "It was the Regent who saw that you had been working hard and doing very well in your studies recently, so he specially brought Jiaojiao to the palace."
Upon hearing this, Li Yu couldn't help but feel a little smug.
Ugh.
He knew that teachers were all bark and no bite.
Li Yu glanced at Yun Shang secretly, and seeing that he still had a stern face, he didn't say anything more.
The young emperor's face immediately lit up with a smile, and he took Yun Jiaojiao's little hand: "Jiaojiao, I'll take you to feed the koi!"
Yun Jiaojiao cheered and skipped after Li Yu as they ran towards the lake.
Several palace servants quickly followed.
The Empress Dowager glanced at the Regent and Yu Wan, a smile appearing on her face. "I'll go and look after the two children."
After saying that, he left without looking back.
Seeing this, several imperial concubines also slipped away.
Suddenly, only Yu Wan and Yun Shang remained outside the pavilion.
Yu Wan watched the two children's figures disappear from sight before turning her gaze away.
She turned her head and saw Yun Shang still standing there, staring intently at her.
"What are you looking at?" Yu Wan felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze and deliberately put on a stern face. "Why did you leave court so early today?"
"Nothing much has happened recently, and things are stable across the country. There aren't many memorials that require my personal approval."
Yun Shang slowly approached her, leaned down, almost touching her face, and said in a low voice, "I missed you."
Those three simple words sent a shiver down Yu Wan's spine.
She turned her face away, her ears slightly red: "Don't give me that, it's only been a few hours..."
"You were so cold to Jiaojiao just now, but now you're saying nice things."
"How many times have I told you? You can't be so mean to Jiaojiao. Jiaojiao is so cute, how can you bear to be mean to her?"
Yun Shang didn't take it to heart. She reached out and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, gently stroking her earlobe with her fingertips: "No, this child will take advantage of me. If I spoil her, she'll dare to crawl into my bed at night."
Yu Wan: "..."
"She's only six years old!" Yu Wan slapped his hand away and scolded, "Jiaojiao is still young, what's wrong with her wanting to sleep with us? Can't you, as her father, show her more love?"
A hint of a smile flashed in Yun Shang's eyes, and he said in a very low voice, "No, I want to cherish you more."
Yu Wan's face flushed red instantly, and she reached out to pinch Yun Shang's arm: "What nonsense are you talking about in broad daylight!"
Yun Shang easily caught her mischievous hand and pulled her into his arms, saying, "No one saw."
"What, is Your Highness shy?" He whispered in her ear, "Who was it that kept pestering me last night..."
"Shut up!" Yu Wan hurriedly covered his mouth, looked around to make sure no one heard, and then breathed a sigh of relief. "You...you have no shame!"
Yun Shang chuckled softly, his warm breath brushing against her palm: "What's the point of having any shame?"
"You can't get the princess to sleep with you just because you have a sense of shame."
Yu Wan: "..."
Well, it's not like she's never experienced Yun Shang's shamelessness before.
Just as Yu Wan was about to curse, she suddenly saw Yun Jiaojiao skipping and hopping towards them from afar, with the little emperor chasing after her, shouting, "Jiaojiao, slow down!"
The afterglow of the setting sun bathed the two children in a warm golden light.
Yun Shang released his grip on Yu Wan's hand, straightened up, and his face returned to its usual aloof and composed demeanor.
Yu Wan looked at this scene and suddenly smiled.
This was probably the prosperous era that Li Yuanhe had hoped for—a time when husband and wife were deeply in love, their young children were adoring them, the court was united, and the world was at peace.
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