You cause trouble and I collect your body, the little emperor’s aunt abuses the scumbag again

This is utterly shameless behavior.

Meng Siya gritted her teeth, but she couldn't do anything about it. He was the ruler, and she was the commoner. If he wanted to sit, could she possibly chase him away with a broom?

"Please go ahead, Your Highness," she replied coldly, turning back to continue rummaging through her herbs to mask her inner turmoil.

Just then, a series of gurgling sounds came from inside the house.

"Is Sui Sui awake?"

Meng Siya instinctively tried to rush into the house, but a figure in black was faster than her.

Ji Yongyan had already lifted the curtain and gone inside.

"Your Highness!" Meng Siya exclaimed and quickly chased after her inside.

The room was dimly lit, with only a few beams of light filtering through the window. In the swirling light and shadow of the dust motes, Ji Yongyan stood by the crib, looking down at his waking child.

After getting enough sleep, Sui Sui is full of energy.

Those bright, black phoenix eyes, so similar to Ji Yongyan's, were staring curiously at the unfamiliar man before him. He wasn't shy at all, waving his chubby little hands like lotus roots and blowing bubbles.

In that instant, Ji Yongyan's heart felt as if it had been violently squeezed by an invisible hand, leaving it terribly sore and weak.

He looked at the child and extended his index finger to the child's hand.

"Cuckoo..."

Sui Sui laughed, grabbed Ji Yongyan's finger and put it in her mouth, treating it like a toy.

The soft, damp touch on my fingertips was the child's toothless gums rubbing against me.

Ji Yongyan froze, this was an experience he had never had before.

In the palace, his younger brothers and sisters treated him with utmost respect, even fear.

No child had ever dared to smile at him like that, or use his fingers as a teething toy.

"Is he... not afraid of the malevolent aura emanating from me?"

Ji Yongyan's voice was strained, he couldn't believe it.

Meng Siya stood at the door, her heart pounding.

Blood is thicker than water.

These words lingered in her mind; the natural bond between father and son cannot be faked.

"The child is ignorant and has offended Your Highness."

Meng Siya suppressed the bitterness in her heart and wanted to hug Sui Sui back, "Let go of Sui Sui, she's dirty."

"It's not dirty."

Ji Yongyan didn't pull his hand away. Instead, he bent down and clumsily supported the child's back. "I want to hug him."

The ruthless and decisive crown prince was now speaking to a commoner woman in a pleading tone.

Meng Siya's hand froze in mid-air.

She should refuse, but looking at Ji Yongyan's longing eyes and Sui Sui's affection for him, she couldn't bring herself to say no.

"Your Highness has never held a child before, has he?"

She sighed, her heart softening after all.

Ji Yongyan's movements were stiff, his arms were taut, as if he was afraid of hurting the child if he used too much force.

"Yes."

He awkwardly admitted, "It's too soft, I don't dare to use force."

“It will be uncomfortable for him to hold you like this.”

Meng Siya stepped forward.

"Left hand supporting the buttocks, right hand protecting the lower back, head resting in the crook of the arm..."

As she spoke, she reached out to adjust Ji Yongyan's posture, and the two leaned against each other.

Meng Siya placed her hand on the back of Ji Yongyan's hand, her fingertips touching his skin.

The scent of herbs and her daughter emanating from her body wafted into Ji Yongyan's nostrils.

That's Ya Ya's scent.

Ji Yongyan's pupils contracted, and his breathing became erratic.

He turned his head, and Meng Siya's face was right in front of him.

Her veil rose and fell with her breath, and she lowered her eyes, gazing intently at the child in her arms.

At this moment, time seems to flow backward.

He returned to that mountain village, to those days he had deliberately forgotten.

"Okay, that's it. Relax a bit and don't be so stiff."

As Meng Siya adjusted her posture and looked up, she met Ji Yongyan's gaze.

Those eyes held a turbulent mix of emotions that startled her: shock, fascination, and curiosity.

The two were very close and could feel each other's breath.

The air seemed to freeze, and the atmosphere became ambiguous.

"you……"

Ji Yongyan's voice was hoarse, and his Adam's apple bobbed. "You look a lot like an old friend of mine."

Meng Siya's heart skipped a beat, and she felt fear.

She abruptly withdrew her hand and took a step back, widening the distance between them.

"Your Highness is joking."

She lowered her head and gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, her knuckles turning white.

“There are many people in the world who look alike. How can someone like me be compared to your deceased friend?”

"I am not worthy."

Ji Yongyan stared at her face, his tone tinged with self-mockery.

"She laughs more than you, is bolder than you, and is also more...ruthless than you."

She cruelly abandoned him, dying so resolutely.

Meng Siya felt a sharp pain in her heart.

heartless?

Who is truly heartless?

Who married someone else for power?

Who caused her family to be destroyed?

She bit her lip and tasted the blood before she could barely suppress her sobs.

In the silence, Sui Sui seemed to sense that something was wrong and burst into tears.

The cry broke the somber atmosphere.

In his flustered state, Ji Yongyan forgot how to hold the child and could only hand the child to Meng Siya.

"She's crying... she's crying, what happened?"

He was actually a little flustered.

Meng Siya took the child and skillfully patted and soothed him, and Sui Sui's crying gradually subsided.

She turned around under the guise of comforting the child, not wanting him to see her reddened eyes.

"They're probably hungry."

She said in a muffled voice.

As Ji Yongyan looked at her back, he felt a sense of familiarity again. Just as he was about to go up and ask her something, he heard footsteps outside the courtyard.

With a bang, the courtyard gate was pushed open, and Lin Daxiong's loud voice rang out first.

"Girl! Something's happened! Something really bad has happened!"

Lin Daxiong ran into the courtyard, covered in sweat, and rushed straight into the main room.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw Ji Yongyan inside, and swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"Uh...Greetings, Your Highness."

Lin Daxiong paused for a moment, then gave a perfunctory bow, his eyes darting back and forth between them.

Why is the Crown Prince here again?

And he was alone in a room with a girl?

Ji Yongyan frowned unhappily, his gentle demeanor vanished, and he revealed the aura of a crown prince.

"What kind of behavior is this, all this panic and commotion?"

He asked in a cold voice, "What happened?"

Lin Daxiong glanced at Meng Siya, then gritted his teeth and said.

"It's good that Your Highness is here; you can settle this matter! I just heard from my men that someone in the West Market has spent a lot of money to bribe a group of thugs to make a move against Huayan Pavilion tonight!"

"what?!"

Meng Siya turned around abruptly, her face turning pale.

What are they going to do?

"They said they would set the shop on fire and smash everything inside, claiming that using anything from the shop would ruin your face—it was witchcraft!"

Lin Daxiong stomped his feet in anger, "It's obvious someone's pulling strings behind your back, targeting you, girl!"

Meng Siya swayed her body and hugged Sui Sui tightly in her arms.

She knew who it was.

Who else could it be but Shangguan Yun'er?

Wasn't it enough that woman smashed things once? She had to set fire to it too?

This is going to cut off their livelihood as orphans and widows!

She was first afraid, then she became very angry.

"Since they won't give me a way out, then..."

Meng Siya's eyes became resolute.