Chapter 600: Afraid
Once Qi Haoran left, only Mu Yangling and her son were left in the Qi Residence. Because of his father’s departure, Little Bear was a little dispirited the entire day, sitting quietly at the side with his head lowered.
Mu Yangling kissed his little face and coaxed him. “Darling baby, we’ll be able to see Daddy in two months. It won’t be long.”
Little Bear shifted his body and turned his face to the side to ignore her. In his heart, he vaguely knew that if he wanted to see Daddy, he would have to separate from his brother. On the other hand, if he wanted to enter the palace to play with his brother, he would have to be apart from his parents.
The young Little Bear already knew what it was like to feel conflicted.
Seeing that he was gloomy, Mu Yangling had no choice but to carry him into the palace to play with Little Treasure.
When Li Jinghua saw her, she waved her hand and said with a smile, “Even if you didn’t come, I was about to get someone to call you. Come and help me take care of the child.”
Little Bear had long slid down from his mother’s arms and rushed up to Little Treasure.
Li Jinghua heaved a sigh of relief and said, “I don’t know what’s wrong with this child these few days. He keeps crying at night and always looks a tad tired during the day. Even the imperial physician can’t detect what’s the matter.”
Mu Yangling stroked their little heads. “Could it be that he knows that Little Bear is leaving?”
“I told him that long ago. Although he made a scene for two days at the beginning, he forgot about it later on.” Li Jinghua paused and said, “I guess the recent movements in the palace have shocked him. As you know, this child has been weak since he was young. He gets startled whenever there’s movement.”
Li Jinghua grabbed Mu Yangling’s hand and said, “I want to ask the Emperor to let him stay at your place for a few days first. I’ll bring him back when things in the palace have settled down.”
As Li Jinghua’s conferment ceremony was about to be held, many desolate palaces in the harem had to undergo cleaning and repairs. Although it wasn’t a massive project, there were people coming and going, so it was indeed a little noisy. Used to running around with Little Bear, Little Treasure often ran around on his short legs every day. Seeing as this palace had been empty recently, perhaps he might have accidentally suffered a fright or something.
Li Jinghua was the most nervous since she only had this one son.
A little embarrassed, she said, “You have to start packing now, too. I’ll have to trouble you at this time.”
Mu Yangling replied with a smile, “I’ll leave the packing to Mama Wang and Spring while I’ll just watch from the side.” She glanced at Little Treasure’s slightly pale face and continued, “In that case I’ll bring him back after the bell rings.”
Li Jinghua was overjoyed and hurriedly got someone to pack Little Treasure’s things.
Li Jinghua was indeed very busy. As Mu Yangling sat in the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, she saw that there were many palace servants coming and going, either reporting or asking for instructions.
After watching for a while, Mu Yangling stood up and said, “Sister-in-law, go ahead with your work. I’ll bring Little Treasure and Little Bear out for a walk.”
Li Jinghua nodded and asked the female official beside her to follow.
Mu Yangling bent down and picked up a child with each hand, only lowering them when they reached a quiet place in the imperial garden. She wiped the sweat on Little Bear’s forehead and saw that there was no sweat on Little Treasure’s forehead at all. After touching his back, she sighed. “No wonder your mother was worried about you. You’re not even sweating on such a hot day.”
Mu Yangling placed him on her knee. Seeing that he had his head lowered, she asked, “Little Treasure, can you tell me what’s wrong?”
A bright little kid, Little Treasure looked up at Mu Yangling before lowering his head again without saying anything.
Little Bear stood at the side, gesturing and shouting, looking very indignant.
Mu Yangling looked at her son for a while and asked Little Treasure tentatively, “Little Treasure is afraid at night and can’t sleep?”
Little Treasure almost buried his head in Mu Yangling’s arms.
Now that she understood what was going on, Mu Yangling chuckled. She patted his back gently and said, “What are you afraid of? Little Bear sleeps alone at night, too.”
Little Treasure complained aggrievedly, “Brother sleeps with you and Uncle.” Clearly, Aunt was lying to him.
On the other hand, Little Bear clenched his fists angrily and wailed twice. However, Little Treasure had his own persistence and said, “Little Bear sleeps in the warm pavilion in the same room as Uncle and Aunt. I’m alone and sleep in the palace all by myself…”
At this point, Little Treasure’s eyes were filled with tears. He was a child who slept lightly and thought too much. In addition, the harem was an unfamiliar environment. It was fine with Little Bear accompanying him, but without Little Bear accompanying him, he would always wake up at night. When he turned to look outside the empty palace, there was the sound of trees blowing in the wind and shadows reflected by the lights…
Mu Yangling’s heart ached when she saw him tell her about his fear in an aggrieved voice. In her previous life, when she was young, she, too, couldn’t sleep at night and liked to let her imagination run wild and be afraid when she opened her eyes to look out of the window. However, at that time, she was sleeping with her father and was only afraid for a moment.
She patted his back and said, “It’s alright. You still have me, your father, and your mother. We’ll help you chase away the baddies.”
Now that she knew the reason, she could start brainstorming ideas for treatment.
When they returned to the Qi Residence in the afternoon, Mu Yangling asked the kitchen to prepare the two children’s favorite food. After coaxing them to eat a lot, she brought them back to the house to play to aid in the digestion.
Perhaps it was because he had returned to a familiar environment, and the room was not as empty as the palace, surrounded by people he was familiar with, the paleness on Little Treasure’s face faded a little.
At night, she didn’t send the two children to the warm pavilion. Instead, she placed them on her bed. Seeing Little Treasure looking at her with sparkling eyes, Mu Yangling said with a smile, “I will sleep with you guys today.”
Not only Little Treasure, but Little Bear also cheered happily. He stripped off his clothes and slipped into the blanket.
The corners of Mu Yangling’s lips twitched. She reached out and patted his butt. “Get up and put on your undergarments. How can you sleep naked?”
Little Bear was unwilling and lay still.
Mu Yangling had a headache. She didn’t know what was wrong with this child who simply didn’t like to sleep with his clothes on. Sometimes, he would even get up in the middle of the night and take off his pants.
Seeing this, Little Treasure also took off his clothes and crawled into the blanket naked. At this moment, the two children did not have any sense of shame and simply did whatever brought them the most comfort.
Little Treasure explained on behalf of Little Bear, “Aunt, it’s comfortable to strip naked.”
Little Bear nodded repeatedly and even looked at the clothes in disdain.
Mu Yangling had no choice but to let them be. When she woke up twice at night, she had to check if the two children had covered themselves with blankets. Although it was a hot day, Lin’an City was a region of rivers and lakes, so the temperature at night was not very high. As such, they still needed to cover themselves with a thin blanket.
Little Bear was already sleeping horizontally, but Little Treasure was obediently curled up at the side.
Mu Yangling only glanced at them and checked that the blanket was still covering them, before turning around and falling asleep again.
When the work in the palace came to an end and Mu Yangling brought Little Treasure back into the palace, Little Treasure’s face was already rosy. Li Jinghua heaved a sigh of relief when she saw this. Although the palace servants reported that the child was getting healthier and healthier, she was always worried before she got to see him in person.
Mu Yangling got someone to bring the two children down to play. Then, she pulled Li Jinghua into the inner room and whispered about Little Treasure’s fear. “Sister-in-law, why don’t you bring Little Treasure over to sleep with you tonight? He’ll be at ease if he gets to see you upon waking up.”
Li Jinghua blushed and said hesitantly, “I’m afraid His Majesty will be displeased.”
Now that the Emperor stayed at her place almost every night, it would definitely be inconvenient to leave her son here.
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