Lin Zhanyuan scrunched his small face and relaxed it out again. Suddenly, he put his hands together and placed them at the position of his heart. Digging and searching for a long time, he stretched his hands back to the Empress Dowager and said happily, “I’m giving this to Grandmother!”
The Empress Dowager looked at his empty palms and asked with a smile, “What is it?”
Lin Zhanyuan replied, “It’s a heart!”
This was a game that Lin Feilu often played with him, but he actually copied the techniques and implemented it!
Even Lin Feilu was shocked, let alone the Empress Dowager.
This silly brother of mine is quite good at imitation.
The Empress Dowager had never seen anything like this before. She reacted with a laugh that didn’t seem to fit her senior age. Liuzhi couldn’t contain her own laughter either, but she held onto the Empress Dowager. She smiled as she reminded, “Please be careful not to injure your waist, Empress Dowager.”
The two laughed even harder in amusement as they heard the little girl whisper in a hushed voice, “Brother, you can’t use the game we play to fool Imperial Grandmother!”
Lin Zhanyuan ignored and continued saying, “It’s a heart, it’s a heart, it’s a heart!”
The Empress Dowager laughed so much that her tears were starting to flow out involuntarily.
When she finished her fit of laughter, she leaned down slightly, reaching out to touch Lin Zhanyuan’s fair and supple face, “Yes, I have received the love of my dear grandson.”
Lin Zhanyuan was very attuned to one’s individual aura. Although the Empress Dowager bore a rather intimidating face, she had become much more gentle and tender after chanting and reciting Buddhist prayers and mantras for several years. As she smiled at him again, Lin Zhanyuan felt that there was no longer any reason to be afraid of her.
Thinking of what his sister had taught him for the past two days, he happily rushed over and hugged her, “I like Grandmother!”
As a mentally challenged child, if he said that he liked something, he was obviously telling the truth, and not a single shred of a lie.
The Empress Dowager had never been this close to any of her grandchildren. As she aged into her elderly years, she started to yearn for familial affection. Reminiscing about her retreat to Mount Wutai over the years, she started to burst into tears.
Liu Zhi was also deeply moved. As she wiped her tears, she exclaimed, “The 6th Imperial Prince adores the Empress Dowager.”
The Empress Dowager smiled and touched Lin Zhanyuan’s head in return.
After the walk, the two children accompanied her back to the Yiqing Palace before obediently excusing themselves. The Empress Dowager gave the two grandchildren each a blood jade bracelet from the East China Sea. The children’s wrists were thin and small, so it was currently too big for them to wear. Lin Feilu held onto the bracelet properly and Lin Zhanyuan followed his sister’s example.
The Empress Dowager couldn’t help but clasp his tiny gentle hand and said, “If the Little 6th Prince has nothing to do all day, you can come over to the Yiqing Palace more often.”
Lin Zhanyuan didn’t understand, so he turned to look at his sister.
Lin Feilu ‘translated’ for him, “Grandmother is asking you to come more often and play with her frequently!”
Once they spoke of the word ‘playing’, he became very excited and nodded happily, “Play! I’ll play with Grandmother!”
As soon as the two children left, Liu Zhi massaged the Empress Dowager’s legs while speaking her thoughts aloud, “I think Your Highness Empress Dowager will be staying in the palace for a longer while this time.”