The Emperor's Beloved: My Ancestor is the Crown Prince?

Li Zhi, holding the reins of his son Si Zi, led Xiao Qing Yi into his palace. With the air of a young master, he had the palace servants bring over three soft cushions and ordered someone to fetch a lacquered wooden box.

"Look, here are some fun things." Li Zhi opened the box, inside were exquisite ivory tangram pieces and a set of small wooden building toys, including pavilion and tower components with mortise and tenon joints.

Sizi sat obediently on the cushion, picked up a tangram piece. Her fingers were slender, and she worked on it slowly but very carefully. Xiao Qingyi curiously approached the building toy, poked a miniature bracket with her chubby little finger, "This... looks like the building blocks at home, but it's so small and hard."

She thought of her brightly colored plastic building blocks in the big box, and then looked at the exquisite but slightly "serious" wooden pieces in front of her. A hint of "this isn't fun" appeared on her little face.

Li Zhi keenly noticed this, but he wasn't displeased. Instead, he found the new little sister's straightforwardness amusing. "So... what are your 'building blocks' like?" he asked humbly.

"My building blocks are this big!" Xiao Qingyi stretched out her arms and gestured to a huge, non-existent cube. "They're colorful! Red, yellow, blue! Soft! You can build them up—a really tall tower, and even if you fall, you won't be afraid, it won't hurt!" She emphasized "soft" and "not afraid of falling," which were her most valuable experiences as an "architect" who often knocked over her own creations.

"Soft?" Si Zi was also intrigued. She was physically weak, and her wet nurse and palace servants never allowed her to touch any hard toys that might cause her to bump into them. She couldn't imagine what "soft building blocks" would look like.

"Hmm! It's soft, like...like a pillow, but you can stack it up!" Xiao Qingyi tried to describe it, then suddenly remembered something and turned to reach for her pink backpack that she always carried—the one she had insisted on wearing earlier.

She rummaged through her schoolbag and, under the curious gazes of Li Zhi and Si Zi, actually pulled out several brightly colored EVA foam building blocks! These were portable travel-sized blocks that her mother, Ye Yi'er, often packed for her to keep her entertained on airplanes or trains. Each block was no bigger than the palm of her hand, and came in red, yellow, blue, and green, with rounded edges and a soft texture.

"Look! This is it!" Xiao Qingyi proudly placed several building blocks on the carpet.

"Ah!" Si Zi exclaimed softly, her eyes wide open. The bright color stood out vividly against the elegant palace. She couldn't help but reach out her small hand and carefully touch a yellow building block. It was indeed soft and elastic to the touch, with a wonderful, slightly moist texture (actually a characteristic of EVA material).

Li Zhi also picked up a blue piece, squeezed it, and then curiously tried to bend it, finding it to be very flexible. "This thing... is truly wondrous. What material is it made of? It resembles silk but is not silk, resembles wood but is not wood." He began his research mode as "His Highness Prince Jin".

"It's...it's building blocks!" Xiao Qingyi gave a meaningless answer; her attention had already shifted to playing. "Let's build a tower! Sister Sizi, what kind do you want to build?"

Sizi looked at the few limited colorful building blocks, then at Xiaoqingyi's bright eyes, and said softly, "I...I want to build a tall one, like Father's (Emperor's) Lingyan Pavilion..." Her voice was filled with longing, but she knew she was too weak to build it steadily.

"Lingyan Pavilion is too tall; these probably won't be enough," Li Zhi commented objectively, but then quickly changed the subject, "However, we can build a small one first. Yiyi, how do you think we can build this? They seem... to lack mortise and tenon joints?"

"Like this, stack them!" Xiao Qingyi demonstrated, placing a red block flat on the ground, then picking up a yellow one, carefully aligning it, and placing it on top. The two blocks stood firmly together thanks to the weak magnetic pull. "See! It's very simple!"

This was indeed much simpler and more direct than those elaborate wooden toys. Sizi was immediately drawn to it; she picked up a green piece and, mimicking Sizi's actions, held her breath and gently, very gently, placed it on top of the yellow one.

Three pieces! A small, colorful "foundation" has appeared.

"It's my turn! It's my turn!" Xiao Qingyi excitedly picked up the blue one.

Seeing his two younger sisters so focused, Li Zhi also put aside his own research and joined in. Being older and with a steadyer hand, he was responsible for handing the blocks to them and occasionally gently straightening them when they looked like they were about to tilt.

The children stopped talking, only their soft, expectant breathing and the gentle "thump-thump" of the building blocks being stacked. Red, yellow, green, blue... a crooked but colorful "tower" slowly grew taller, exceeding the height of the rhinoceros sitting on it.

When Xiao Qingyi tiptoed and placed the last white (actually, the original beige block had been worn out) block on top, all three children instinctively held their breath.

The tower swayed slightly, but under the "protection" of Li Zhi's outstretched hand, it eventually stabilized.

"We did it!" Xiao Qingyi was the first to cheer, clapping her little hands.

Sizi tilted her little face up, gazing at the chubby, colorful little tower that shimmered softly in the sunlight. A happy blush spread across her pale face, and her smile shone brighter than any precious jewel. "It's so beautiful...like a tower made of rainbows."

Li Zhi smiled too, feeling a sense of accomplishment as if he had completed a remarkable project. He noticed that Si Zi was smiling more than usual today, her eyes constantly sparkling.

"Won't it fall over?" Xiao Qingyi looked at her masterpiece, a little worried.

"If it falls, we'll just rebuild it," Li Zhi said with great composure, then added, "It's soft anyway, it won't hurt if it hits us." He put Xiao Qingyi's theory to good use.

Sizi gently leaned towards Qingyi and whispered, "Yiyi, thank you. This building block... is really nice." What she liked was not just the toy, but also the feeling of not having to worry about bumps and bruises and being able to try things out freely, as well as the joy of completing something with a friend.

Xiao Qingyi chuckled and generously said, "These are for you and Brother Zhinu to play with! I have plenty more at home!" In her simple world, happiness is about sharing.

At this moment, a palace maid quietly announced that Princess Chang Le, Li Lizhi, had returned, bringing with her some sweet soup to cool her down.

The three children then snapped out of their "construction project." Little Qingyi was the first to jump up, wanting to get the sweet soup, but accidentally bumped into the colorful little tower they had just built.

"Oh dear!" With a small exclamation from Sizi, the colorful tower wobbled and then shattered into a pile of colorful building blocks on the ground.

The air fell silent for a moment.

Sizi looked at the scattered building blocks, her little mouth slightly pursed, and she looked a little disappointed.

Little Qingyi giggled and plopped down on the carpet. She grabbed two building blocks, tapped them together, and they made a muffled, cute sound. "Look! We can still play even when they're knocked over! Let's play... build a bridge! Let's let Sister Sizi's little dolls cross the bridge!" She had instantly invented a new way to play.

Looking at his younger sister Sizi, whose mood had instantly brightened, and then at Xiao Qingyi sitting on the ground radiating carefree joy, Li Zhi suddenly felt that this unexpected "rabbit sister" might truly be the most special and beautiful gift in the palace.

The sunlight was warm, the carpet soft, and the scattered colorful building blocks looked like a field of candy. The laughter of children and the aroma of sweet soup slowly blended together, creating the most ordinary yet precious scene of this afternoon.

The soft, yellow building block that Sizi held tightly in her hand seemed to still retain the warmth of the sunlight and a simple, magical power called "happiness".