Chapter 106

Chapter 106

"Madam, the Crown Prince's birthday celebration is approaching. Here is the list of gifts." Qinxin presented a gift list for My Lady to review.

Su Yi was throwing darts, but none of them hit the target. After throwing for a while, they all ended up on the ground. However, Su Yi seemed to have enthusiasm despite her lack of skill and continued to try excitedly.

When Qinxin mentioned the little milk dragon's birthday celebration, Su Yi nearly dropped the dart on her foot. It missed and landed beside her foot. "It's already his birthday?" she asked, sounding a bit confused.

"Yes, Madam," Qinxin replied. She knew that recently, the entire palace had been preparing gifts for the Crown Prince. Seeing that Madam had not made any moves, it seemed she had completely forgotten about it, which was somewhat expected.

Fortunately, Qinxin had prepared in advance. She just needed Madam to review the list to see if anything needed to be added.

"Let me see," Su Yi finally put down the dart and took the list from Qinxin. She glanced at it and mused, "Hmm... the names are quite long, and each one seems to be more elaborate than the last."

"It's good. You've prepared it very thoroughly," Su Yi praised after reviewing it. Kangxi had been too busy to visit these past few days, and Su Yi had been as carefree as a fish in water, completely forgetting about the little milk dragon's birthday.

Su Yi put down the list and looked at Qinxin with a gentle smile, speaking in a soft tone, "Qinxin, I wouldn't know what to do without you."

Thanks to the diligent and lovely Qinxin who had been busy around her, Su Yi had saved a lot of effort.

Even though Qinxin was not hearing such 'sweet talk' from Madam for the first time, she couldn't help but lower her head and smile shyly, saying, "It is my duty to share Madam's worries."

Who doesn't like to hear praise?

The gifts to be sent officially were ready, but Madam could also prepare a private gift for the Crown Prince, such as a personally embroidered pouch. When she met the Crown Prince, she could give it to him personally, and he would likely be even happier to receive a gift made by Madam herself.

Qinxin thought this and voiced it out.

Su Yi's smile slowly disappeared: "..." No, she didn't know how to embroider. She could stab someone, but that was about it.

Su Yi remained silent for a while, feeling that directly admitting she couldn't embroider would be embarrassing. So she changed her approach, "Embroidered pouches and such are so old-fashioned, lacking any originality. Baocheng won't be short of those things."

Indeed, every item the little milk dragon had was the finest selected by the Imperial Household Department, made from precious fabrics and crafted by top-tier embroiderers. So, even at such a young age, the little milk dragon was already being raised with great care.

As for a pouch, if she tried to make one, it would truly be a showcase of her ineptitude. During the selection process, she had only made the first and last stitches, and that was about it.

Moreover, after entering the palace, she hadn't done any needlework. She probably didn't even know how to finish a stitch now.

Qinxin glanced at Madam, understanding her situation. Madam's smile had a hint of guilt, and her eyes were evasive, clearly not telling the truth.

Madam couldn't find a good reason not to prepare a gift. If she couldn't do it, she couldn't do it. Qinxin wouldn't mock her.

Qinxin was about to say, "Alright, Madam, you make a good point," when her eyes caught something. She looked closely and saw the Crown Prince squatting nearby like a little ball, pouting with a slightly unhappy look on his beautiful face.

The Crown Prince?!

When did the Crown Prince arrive?!

Why didn't anyone announce him?!

Wait, the Crown Prince's unhappy expression, could it be...

Did he hear what Madam just said?!

Why did the young Crown Prince start sneaking up on people now? Did he just hear that Madam wasn't planning to make a gift for him herself and got upset?

Qinxin quickly gestured to Madam, whispering a warning, "Madam, the Crown Prince is here."

Quick, go comfort him, Consort Rong.

Su Yi was about to ask, "Qinxin, why are your eyes twitching so much?"

Then she heard the soft whisper of the Crown Prince and immediately realized something. She didn’t turn around to look but instead mouthed to Qinxin, "No way! Really?!"

Qinxin blinked her eyes. "It’s true, Consort Rong."

Su Yi was at a loss. "What should I do?"

Should I turn around to comfort him, or what?

"Actually, embroidering a pouch is really old-fashioned, it lacks any novelty, and it easily gets old. Once it’s old, it doesn’t look good anymore, right?"

Su Yi didn’t turn around but continued speaking to Qinxin, pretending she hadn’t discovered the little milk dragon hiding sneakily.

"Yes, Your Highness," Qinxin replied, though she didn’t understand. But she couldn’t possibly disagree, could she? What if Consort Rong shifted the topic onto her?

Comforting the Crown Prince wasn’t her forte; that was Consort Rong’s job.

Don’t think that just because the little Crown Prince is young, he’s easy to comfort. When he doesn’t want to pay attention to you, even if you try to comfort him, he’ll just ignore you with a cold face, making you smile until your face stiffens without him even cracking a smile. He’s not as easy to comfort as he is in front of Consort Rong.

"So, I plan to make something else by hand to give him personally. On this special day, of course, it has to be a special gift to be worthy, and it will surely give Baocheng a surprise. Don’t let it slip, or Baocheng might guess, and then there’d be no surprise."

Su Yi acted as if she’d come up with a brilliant idea, and with a mysterious air, she told Qinxin to keep it a secret.

Qinxin secretly admired Consort Rong’s quick thinking.

"Is that so, Your Highness? What are you planning to make for the little Crown Prince? Do you need my help?" Qinxin replied smoothly.

He had been looking like a sad puppy with droopy ears and pitiful eyes, but upon hearing that Consort Rong was going to prepare a gift for him by hand, his eyes instantly lit up, his ears perked up, and his whole face sparkled.

Kangxi, who was hiding more skillfully than the little milk dragon, looked at Baocheng’s unimpressed appearance. "You’re already thrilled without even seeing the gift, and you don’t even know what Consort Rong might come up with."

This reminded Kangxi of his own birthday, when Consort Rong had merely sent a gift according to protocol, not one bit more, not one bit less. She didn’t even bother making something by hand.

At least the other consorts would make clothes or shoes by hand and send them separately. Hmph, it wasn’t that he cared about what she made, but he felt Consort Rong hadn’t put much effort into the gift.

Kangxi thought bitterly, "Why was mine so half-hearted, while Baocheng gets a handmade gift?" He didn’t care if embroidering a pouch was cliché.

"No, Qinxin, the gift must be made by hand to show sincerity. As for what the secret is..." Su Yi thought, Qinxin is quite tactful. She spoke easily now, but what should she give?!

The secret was that she hadn’t thought of anything yet.

It’s terrifying—the worst is when you haven’t prepared a gift, and the next day you find out it’s their birthday, and they’re eagerly waiting to see what you’ll give them. If you haven’t prepared anything, you’d feel terrible seeing their disappointed face.

But she secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she reacted quickly.

The little milk dragon, who had gone from gloomy to cheerful, was now smiling so much that his eyes were almost gone, squinting with his teeth showing, looking quite silly, like a foolish son.

Kangxi looked at his son’s goofy grin and felt his hand itch.

He had been itching to give Baocheng a slap on the back of his head.

But he was afraid that since Baocheng was already silly enough, a couple more slaps on the head might make him even sillier. Forget it, Kangxi put his itching hand back down.

The little milk dragon, unaware that he had just escaped his father's affectionate pat, was already daydreaming about the gift Consort Rong might handcraft for him. He was so eager to know what the gift would be, wishing Consort Rong would reveal more details.

The little milk dragon wanted to hear more 'clues,' holding his breath and planning to squat a bit longer, hoping Consort Rong might accidentally let something slip to her maids.

He promised that even if he heard and knew in advance, he would definitely pretend not to know for the time being!

The little milk dragon wanted to continue lurking, hoping to overhear what his gift would be.

But Kangxi stood up expressionlessly, straightened his clothes, and thought, how boring. He shouldn't have squatted with Baocheng earlier.

Just now, the maids by Consort Rong's side had been giving her signals, but Baocheng completely missed them.

Otherwise, how could Consort Rong suddenly change her tone? Consort Rong didn't seem like someone who enjoyed preparing gifts by hand; she was quite lazy.

Hmph, Baocheng missed it, but how could he not?

He wanted to see what new tricks Consort Rong could come up with. If she didn't come up with something decent, she would have to do it again.

Then Kangxi flicked his robe and deliberately coughed lightly, as if hinting at his arrival.

He habitually placed his hands behind his back and walked out calmly.

Seeing that Kangxi had left, the little milk dragon, who had been squatting with great enthusiasm and didn't want to leave, feeling the thrill of discovery, had no choice but to follow and walk out.

The little milk dragon's short legs couldn't match Kangxi's long strides, so he had to trot behind his father.

"We greet the Emperor," the maids said in unison, having been earlier signaled by Liang Jiugong to stay silent, which had nearly suffocated them.

Consort Rong, hearing the commotion, also stood up, looking somewhat surprised, "I wasn't aware Your Majesty was coming. Why wasn't I informed? I must apologize for my rudeness." As she slightly lowered her gaze, she quickly rolled her eyes, so fast it was almost imperceptible.

But this was Kangxi, who knew all too well that Consort Rong's words were deceitful.

'You've been here for a while, acting as if nothing happened, and now you just happen to arrive. At least you could have brushed off the dust from squatting before coming over. Otherwise, pretending not to know is quite difficult.'

Kangxi casually glanced at his robe, noticing some dust at the hem. He remembered that he hadn't paid attention to his robe when he squatted earlier. How careless.

He should have gone further away to brush it off before coming over.

Meanwhile, regardless of Kangxi's inner thoughts, he looked warmly at Consort Rong, wanting to take her hand, "At ease, it's me..." who arrived suddenly, catching you off guard.

This was an old routine; it felt strange not to say it.

Before he could finish, a chubby little hand beat him to grabbing Consort Rong's hand.

"Consort Rong, Baocheng missed you!" Oh, the owner of the little chubby hand was now cooing adorably, quite skilled at this act of affection.

Kangxi was left hanging, thinking, Baocheng, you're a man!

Then Kangxi pretended he hadn't been cut off, as if he had just raised his hand to stretch, thinking to himself: Baocheng!

"I've been busy lately and haven't had the chance to visit you. Today, I found some free time and brought Baocheng along to see you," Kangxi said. If he had lost his composure over this, it would have been too low an estimation of him. Was this all it took?

Actually, before Kangxi left the palace, Baocheng had noticed he was going to visit Consort Rong and insisted on coming along, impossible to stop.

The little milk dragon said he hadn't seen Consort Rong in a while, sounding pitiful.

He also wondered if Consort Rong was preparing a gift for him, thinking maybe he would arrive just as she was preparing it.

Even when the little milk dragon was just a baby, he had already received so many gifts for his full moon celebrations and other occasions. As he grew older and saw more, he became less excited about gifts.

It was rare to see him so full of anticipation—how could Kangxi not bring him along?

So, a little tag-along trailed behind.

As the saying goes, first time’s the charm, second time’s a breeze. The little milk dragon was already quite familiar with Yonghe Palace. After entering, he even tugged at his father's sleeve, suggesting they should be a little quieter and sneak in.

This way, they might catch a glimpse of what’s going on. If they made any noise and woke up Consort Rong and the others, who might immediately put things away, they would hear nothing.

Kangxi, with a stern face, said, "This must not happen again, only this once." At the same time, he and Baocheng tacitly lowered their footsteps, making almost no sound as they walked.

So, the father and son huddled together in a corner of Yonghe Palace, under the complex, indescribable, and ultimately understanding gazes of the servants.

The corner wasn't very spacious to begin with, and with a grown man and a little tyke squeezed in, it was quite crowded. Liang Jiugong was even pushed back to a half-squatting position, much to their annoyance.

Kangxi hid inside without revealing a single corner of his robe. It was only when the little milk dragon leaned out too far and forgot to pull back that Qinxin saw him. After all, the apricot-colored robe was quite dazzling in the sunlight. It wasn't so much that Qinxin saw him, but rather that her eyes were dazzled.