The Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 70

"Yong'er, my dear Yong'er, come to your godmother's side~" Liu Qingtang held a small rattle drum and shook it, calling out the nickname of the smiling child not far away.

At this moment, the Empress Dowager, who was imposing and strong-willed in the court, did not care about her image at all. She squatted there, letting her long skirt trail on the ground, with a gentle yet somewhat annoyed and unwilling expression on her face, and her tone was full of coaxing.

Unfortunately, the child she was calling out to, Prince Chun Xiao Le'an, remained completely unmoved, his face full of smiles as he focused on a colorful parrot perched on Qin Shu's hand, without even turning his head.

Qin Shu held the parrot in his hands and placed it in front of Xiao Le'an for him to touch. He would occasionally glance at the Empress Dowager, who was squatting not far away, trying her best to attract Xiao Le'an's attention but getting no response. There was a very warm and affectionate look in her eyes.

Actually, Qin Shu initially found this parrot to amuse Liu Qingtang, but Liu Qingtang seemed to have no affinity with animals. Whether it was a green-eyed, pure white cat that Qin Shu had found for her before, an obedient and gentle brown dog, or even a pair of ordinary white rabbits, none of them liked to be close to Liu Qingtang. They would either run away or hide when they saw her, which made Liu Qingtang extremely depressed.

This time, Qin Shu searched for a long time before finally finding this parrot, which was said to understand human speech and was very perceptive in pleasing its owner. He hoped that it could win Liu Qingtang's favor.

But as soon as it was brought to Liu Qingtang, the parrot flapped its wings and flew to a tree branch in the distance, where it stood and shook its head, shouting in a lifelike manner, "I'm so scared! I'm so scared!" This made Liu Qingtang both amused and annoyed. She laughed and scolded, "You scared me to death!" Then she pouted at Qin Shu and waved her hand, saying, "Qin Shu, quickly take this little rascal who almost scared me to death back."

"No returns! No returns! I'm not leaving!" Upon hearing Liu Qingtang's words, the parrot, which was said to be intelligent, immediately cried out. The cawing made Liu Qingtang chuckle. She raised an eyebrow at the parrot as if speaking to a person, "If you don't want to be sent away, come here."

The parrot paced a few steps on the branch, but ultimately didn't fly to Liu Qingtang's outstretched hand. Instead, it landed on Qin Shu's hand, which was closest to Liu Qingtang. Under Liu Qingtang's displeased gaze, it buried its head under its wings and remained silent like a quail. Strangely enough, whenever Liu Qingtang got closer, the bird would be startled and fly away. Then, when Liu Qingtang threatened to send it away, the bird would fly back and perch on Qin Shu, but would never approach Liu Qingtang.

After all this back and forth, Liu Qingtang finally understood: this little beast only dared not approach her. If Qin Shu was present, it would stand on Qin Shu's hand and get a little closer to Liu Qingtang. If Qin Shu wasn't there, it would stay far away, unwilling to even get close to Liu Qingtang. What was even more outrageous was that this little beast was reluctant to part with the food it ate at Cining Palace, and reluctant to let the people who served it take good care of it, as if it was afraid of angering Liu Qingtang and being sent away. Every time, although it kept its distance from Liu Qingtang, it would shower her with sweet words.

Saying things like "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager is beautiful and has a face like the moon and the moon" is the most common thing. Every morning, it says, "Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, you look even younger and more beautiful this morning." I don't know how the previous people taught it, but sometimes this parrot will also spout some fancy words, saying in a very serious tone, "My darling, I love you the most." This silly bird is particularly funny, and Liu Qingtang is always amused by it.

Once, Qin Shu heard it call Liu Qingtang "my darling," and although its expression didn't change, it suddenly reached out and plucked one of its red feathers. The second time it heard it say the same thing to Liu Qingtang, it plucked the remaining two red feathers as well. This glib-tongued parrot only had three red feathers in total, which it usually cherished. After Qin Shu plucked them all, it hung its head dejectedly and whimpered for a long time. After that, the parrot never dared to call Liu Qingtang that again, and for a long time, it didn't even dare to stand on Qin Shu's hand, only standing far away on a branch to apologize.

The scene of the parrot apologizing was hilarious. Qin Shu stood expressionless under the tree, watching as the increasingly fat parrot, resembling a chicken, perched on a branch bent under its weight, cawing repeatedly, "Master Steward, please forgive me! I know I was wrong." Qin Shu remained unmoved, like a strict jailer, while the ever-fat parrot nodded and bowed in apology, nearly falling off the branch many times. Every time Liu Qingtang watched this scene, she would laugh until she couldn't stand up straight.

Given that the parrot was indeed quite clever and brought Liu Qingtang a lot of joy, she kept it at Cining Palace. This time, when she summoned Xiao Le'an to the palace, Liu Qingtang specifically asked Qin Shu to bring the parrot, which she named 'Coward,' to play with her godson. They were playing happily at first, and young Xiao Le'an was quite interested in the parrot. However, after watching for a while, seeing Qin Shu, her godson, and the cowardly parrot together, Liu Qingtang felt a little resentful.

It's all that coward's fault. He flies away whenever she gets close, so she can't get close enough to play with her godson. It's not fun just watching him like this.

Liu Qingtang regretted letting her godson see that coward. Like a sullen, isolated child, she brooded for a while, then had someone bring her a bunch of children's toys. She squatted a short distance away, trying to attract Xiao Le'an's attention and pull him away from the wretched coward. However, after trying for a long time, it was clearly useless, making Liu Qingtang increasingly frustrated; she was almost ready to squat down and pound the ground.

"Yong'er, good Yong'er, come and see, your godmother has some delicious food here~" Liu Qingtang glared at the cowardly boy who was laughing loudly, gritted her teeth, went to the side to drink a cup of tea to calm down, and asked Zhuiyi to bring some snacks to continue the battle, coaxing him relentlessly. She often took Qin Shu with her to visit Xiao Le'an at the Yang family. Xiao Le'an was a smart boy. Although he didn't like to talk much, he had a naturally smiling face. He looked lovely and was quiet and well-behaved, which made Liu Qingtang's heart melt. She kept sending him good things.

Qin Shu's affection for Xiao Le'an was no less than that for Liu Qingtang. They watched Xiao Le'an grow up; since they could never have children of their own, they practically treated him like their own child. If Liu Qingtang's importance to Qin Shu was a perfect 10, and the relatives and friends Liu Qingtang cared about, such as the Duke of Liu, were a 6, then Xiao Le'an was a full 8. Of course, his care for them was also based on Liu Qingtang's care for them.

Regardless, Liu Qingtang and Qin Shu were both very close to and fond of Xiao Le'an, and Xiao Le'an also felt very close to them. However, this child rarely showed his affection for others; despite his young age, he had a rather mischievous sense of humor, and his favorite pastime was to keep his simple-minded father in suspense. Liu Qingtang had seen countless times this young child ignore his father's clumsy attempts to please him, and then, when he was disappointed, he would kiss and nuzzle him to comfort him.

Poor Xiao Huaiyu, who had finally been trained by Yang Sushu to express himself somewhat, was completely outmaneuvered by his precocious three-year-old son. However, this had its advantages; at least every time he thought of how to please his son, Xiao Huaiyu understood more and more, and his actions became increasingly skillful. As for the fact that Xiao Huaiyu always used the same methods to please his wife before trying to please his son, we won't go into detail.

Perhaps accustomed to keeping his father in suspense, watching his expectations turn to disappointment, Xiao Le'an often did the same with Liu Qingtang. It was strange, however, that he never did this with Yang Sushu and Qin Shu.

At this moment, Qin Shu could tell that his little godson was playing with Liu Qingtang's appetite again, deliberately not doing what she wanted. Even though he didn't really want to play with the parrot, he had to keep his eyes off Liu Qingtang.

Unable to bear seeing Liu Qingtang suffer even the slightest grievance, Qin Shu unusually refrained from immediately helping her. Instead, he waited until Liu Qingtang gave up on her own, sulking as she sat down on a chaise longue. Only then did Qin Shu prepare to comfort her. He tossed aside the parrot he was holding, ignoring the silly bird's struggle to flap its wings and avoid falling. In his still somber but now gentlest voice, he instructed Xiao Le'an to play by himself, handing him a large tray of various medicinal herbs and an illustrated herbal medicine book.

Xiao Le'an's favorite game is finding the corresponding medicinal herbs in the picture book. He can often play this game all day long with a picture book and a bunch of medicinal herbs and never get tired of it.

Seeing Xiao Le'an slumped over the pile of medicinal herbs and fresh herbs that he had specially found, Qin Shu walked over to Liu Qingtang, who was sulking, and gently called out, "Qingtang."

In the small garden of Cining Palace, apart from a few people sitting nearby doing needlework, there were no servants around, so the three of them were very relaxed and at ease with each other. At this time, Liu Qingtang was not at all like her assertive self in public. In her twenties, she acted more like a spoiled young girl, sulking and sitting to one side when things didn't go her way, needing Qin Shu to come and coax her. Sometimes, if Qin Shu didn't notice, or deliberately didn't notice, she would move to face him, looking at the sky and the flowers but refusing to look at him, and then humming a couple of times to get his attention before she would stop.

"Qingtang." Qin Shu placed a hand on Liu Qingtang's shoulder and bent down to look at her expression.

"What?" Liu Qingtang turned her head and glared at the cowardly parrot that was pacing back and forth on the ground like a fat chicken.

Seeing this, Qin Shu took her hand and placed a hairpin woven with red feathers on it. "This was made from the 'Coward's' most cherished feathers."

Liu Qingtang's eyes lit up, and she was no longer annoyed. She held the hairpin, shook it, and then burst into laughter. The coward had been brooding over the three red feathers that Qin Shu had plucked, often standing there sighing like a human. Once she wore this hairpin and showed it to the coward, she was sure to infuriate that fat bird!

"Qin Shu, put this on me, I'm going to make that fat bird furious!" Qin Shu had already anticipated Liu Qingtang's words. He took the hairpin and carefully inserted it into her hair. Then, glancing at a certain spot, his eyes flashed, and he lowered his head to whisper in Liu Qingtang's ear, "I'll have someone fatten up the coward. After a while, when it can't fly anymore, Qingtang can hold it. Even if it's scared, it won't be able to escape then."

Upon hearing this, Liu Qingtang glared at the parrot, who was completely unaware of what was about to happen, and gave it a malicious smile. She then kissed Qin Shu on the cheek and deliberately waved the hairpin in front of the cowardly parrot, letting it see it. The coward actually recognized its beloved feather and immediately let out a mournful cry, hopping around on the ground flapping its wings and cawing, "Bad guy! Bad guy!"

Liu Qingtang laughed smugly amidst the coward's accusations, then turned her head and saw Qin Shu looking at something. She asked again, "Qin Shu, what are you looking at?"

Qin Shu calmly withdrew his gaze, showing no sign of anything amiss, and said, "I was just thinking that it's almost time for lunch."

He was just wondering how the Emperor would feel if he had seen what had just happened. A flash of sarcasm crossed Qin Shu's eyes, but when he looked at Liu Qingtang, his eyes were filled with heartfelt tenderness and a vague possessiveness.

At this moment, Xiao Huaixu stumbled out of Cining Palace, his heart filled with nothing but shock and anger. He never expected to witness such a scene upon arriving at Cining Palace. The woman he once loved was smiling so happily at a eunuch, even kissing him willingly. Their interactions were so intimate, it was almost... as if they were having an affair. Or perhaps it wasn't just "as if," it was the truth. Xiao Huaixu felt utterly absurd, followed by a heart full of irony and resentment. What did this mean? He had lost to a eunuch? A servant who wasn't even considered a man?

Xiao Huaixu exerted all his strength to control himself, managing not to rush forward and stab the damned servant to death on the spot. Instead, he left Cining Palace in a disheveled state, his face filled with rage. He didn't even notice that something was amiss. Cining Palace had always been firmly controlled by Qin Shu; how could he have unintentionally stumbled upon such a private scene?

Author's Note: Smoke and Clouds threw a landmine.

Tianlang threw a landmine

[Thanks to the two girls, Landmine! Mwah!]

Eunuch Qin couldn't resist anymore, hehe~