The little princess was torn, and the demon emperor patched her up

Chapter 139 Rice Cake Rabbit
The fire in the cage is lush and bright.

Lu Yu'an looked at the plum trees that were looming in the shadows of the snow, and a hint of fear could not help but appear on his gentle face.

Xiao Baojing was curious: "What is Mr. Lu looking at?"

Lu Yu'an was very secretive. "In the past, the palace was not peaceful. There were often ghosts and monsters appearing. At first, they just made trouble secretly, so the late emperor didn't take it seriously. It was not until several murders happened one after another that the late emperor finally spent a lot of money to hire the most powerful demon-slayers in the world to enter the palace to exorcise the demons. This ensured the peace in the palace for the past few years."

Xiao Baojing heard from Qiu Xinghe that when he was a hostage in Yejing, he encountered a demon in the palace.

She asked tentatively, "Could it be that those murders implicated Xiao Nanjia?"

"That's right. Miss Xiao also knows that since the birth of your Majesty, the late Queen has ignored her. Therefore, all matters concerning your Majesty are taken care of by Madam Qing.

"Madame Qing never married in her life. She took great pains to raise Your Majesty, just like raising her own daughter. Your Majesty is also very close to Madame Qing, and he only regards her as half his mother.

"In the past, during the New Year's Eve banquet, firecrackers were set off in the palace. The late queen and the concubines in the palace all hugged their children, but no one cared about your Majesty. Although he was surrounded by flowers and fireworks, the young Majesty was very sad and could only look at the late queen and the late crown prince in the distance.

"At that time, it was Nanny Qing who hugged His Majesty. She squatted beside His Majesty, gently covered her ears, and told her: 'Don't be afraid, Princess Four, Nanny is with you. After watching the fireworks and firecrackers, Nanny will go back and make you rice cakes and rabbits.'"

Xiao Baojing breathed in the oncoming chill.

It was as if she was back on New Year's Eve of that year, with the sound of noisy firecrackers filling her ears. Her brothers and sisters all had their mother to lean on and act cute, but she was the only one standing alone by the side, until a pair of warm hands with thin calluses gently covered her ears.

Lu Yu'an whispered, "Although the emperor loved Madam Qing, he hoped to be loved by the late queen. After the firecrackers were set off, she saw the late queen pick up a piece of flower cake and gently feed it into the mouth of the late prince, calling him "good boy" in a low voice. She felt uncomfortable, so she pushed Madam Qing away and complained in a crying voice: "Who wants you to accompany me?! Who wants to eat the rice cakes you made?! What a shabby thing, how can it be as delicious as the golden hibiscus roll?! They all eat that!' After that, she ran away crying without caring about Madam Qing's mood."

The young man had a deep, pleasant voice.

A clear picture gradually emerged in front of Xiao Baojing's eyes——

The young Xiao Nanjia ran to the depths of the imperial garden alone, crying bitterly.

Nanny Qing returned to the bedroom and looked at the tray of rice cake rabbits that she had steamed in the kitchen in advance, and she couldn't help feeling sad.

The rice cake rabbits she made were crude in shape and far less delicate and beautiful than the golden hibiscus rolls from the imperial kitchen.

It’s true that the fourth princess doesn’t like to eat.

She fished out a tightly wrapped old blue handkerchief from her sleeve.

He opened the handkerchief layer by layer, revealing several small-denomination silver bills and some silver ingots.

She counted them, wrapped them up again and hid them in her sleeve, then decided to go to the imperial kitchen in person to buy a tray of flower cake rolls for Xiao Nanjia.

The old man struggled through the wind and snow on New Year's Eve, and begged for help from everyone, before he was able to invite the imperial chef who had already gone to sleep.

The golden hibiscus flower cake rolls were steaming hot just out of the oven. The old man was very satisfied. He carefully put them into the food box, wrapped them with layers of cotton cloth, and then carefully hid them close to his chest.

The imperial chef smiled and said, "You are not afraid of getting burned anymore."

Nanny Qing raised her cloudy old eyes and said in a gentle voice, "The fourth princess loves to eat this."

But the old man failed to return to his bedroom with the box of flower cake rolls.

The plum tree transformed into a monster, which hooked her ankle halfway, dragged her into the plum forest, and ate half of her body.

It was not until the next morning that the young eunuch discovered the old man, who had already died stiffly.

Xiao Nanjia rushed over and saw that the old man was dead in a miserable state, with his flesh and blood blurred, and he was only holding something tightly in his arms.

She slowly pried the old man's hands apart.

What the old man was holding in his arms was a box of golden hibiscus curls.

It was wrapped in layer upon layer of cotton cloth and pressed tightly against the heart, as if fearing that the flower cake would get cold along the way.

Xiao Nanjia was stunned.

She forgot how she got back to the bedroom. She came to the small kitchen like a wandering soul and saw the steamer was tightly closed.

For some unknown reason, I opened the steamer and found a tray of rice cake rabbits inside.

It was the last tray of rice cake rabbits that the old man left for her, which she despised in front of him because it was shabby.

The rice cake rabbit is crudely made, with red beans inlaid into the red rabbit eyes. It looks stupid and dull, and is far less delicate and beautiful than the flower cake roll.

The north wind blew overnight and the air was already chilly.

Xiao Nanjia picked one up in a daze.

——The fourth princess always cries for the queen, what a crybaby. Look at your red eyes from crying, just like this rice cake rabbit.

——After our fourth princess eats the rice cake rabbit, she will no longer shed tears with red eyes in the future!

——Don't be afraid, Princess Four. Nanny is with you. After you finish watching the fireworks and firecrackers, Nanny will go back and make you rice cakes and rabbits.

——Mammy is always with you!

Rice cake rabbit has a soft and sticky taste.

When you take a bite, the sweet red bean paste overflows. It is the filling that Aunt Qing has been cooking in the small kitchen for a very long time.

Xiao Nanjia held the rice cake rabbit tightly in his hands, then slowly knelt on the ground, curled up his young body, and cried inconsolably.

...

Snow and hail are coming towards us.

Xiao Baojing rubbed his eyes that were about to tear up due to the snow and hail, and said in a buzzing voice: "So, she started to hate spirits and monsters because of Aunt Qing?"

"Yes." Lu Yu'an sighed, "After Nanny Qing left, there was no one to take care of Your Majesty. It was not easy for her to stumble along the way. She hoped to build a world without monsters and ghosts, where the young and the elderly would be well cared for, and everything would be in order. Maybe her methods were a little extreme, but when it comes to her love for the human race, no king in the world can surpass her."

Xiao Baojing lowered his head and wrung his hands tightly.

The snowflakes fell on my cheeks, feeling a little cold and a little painful.

...

Royal study room.

Although it was almost midnight, the room was still brightly lit.

Xiao Nanjia circled and dotted on the map, which clearly showed a plan to seize the territory of Northern Zhou.

"Your Majesty!" The young eunuch hurried in holding a whisk. "As you expected, the great demon enjoyed the dragon vein and found an orange tree in the deep mountains and fell asleep under it! He slept so deeply that our people couldn't wake him up no matter what. Although there were demon-slayers to help, the big red lanterns he hung on the tree were so powerful that the demon-slayers couldn't hurt him at all, let alone kill him!"

Xiao Baojing's expression was cold, and he was obviously not surprised by this result.

She ordered: "Prepare a carriage and send him to the north of the Demonic Wall. Then ask the three major religions of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism to suppress him."

The young eunuch immediately took the order and did it.

The imperial study fell into silence.

Xiao Nanjia turned to the food table.

The food table was piled with a wide variety of flower cakes and crispy candies.

She picked up a flower cake and was about to bring it to her lips, but then put it back without interest.

These colorful pastries are not as good as rice cake rabbits after all.

(End of this chapter)