Luo Nanchen pouted but didn't dodge Lin Qiao's outstretched hand. Instead, he looked sulky and aggrieved.
Lin Qiao pinched Luo Nanchen's chubby cheeks playfully. "The pastries others got are the worst. The ones I brought for you are the best."
Luo Nanchen didn't understand what "worst" meant. He still pursed his lips and stared at Lin Qiao with his big, bright eyes.
Lin Qiao picked up the box for Luo Nanchen. Sure enough, it was much more exquisite than those for others and more than twice as big. "Come on, stop being angry, my little ancestor."
Luo Nanchen secretly twitched the corner of his mouth and then suppressed it. "Okay, just put it there."
He was still proud of his calmness, but he didn't know that in Lin Qiao's eyes, his look of being jealous but easily appeased was just like a cute little kid.
Lin Qiao thought to herself, "No wonder those beautiful ladies are after him! I also want to pinch Luo Nanchen so much..."
After Lin Qiao left, Luo Nanchen looked around. When he saw that no one was paying attention to him, he pretended to be nonchalant and opened the food box left by Lin Qiao.
There were stacks of delicate pastries, which were clearly much more exquisite than those for others. Luo Nanchen's mouth curved up slightly.
But at the very bottom of the food box, Luo Nanchen saw something.
It was Nangong Rou's jade pendant.
The last thing Nangong Rou left for him, which was snatched away by Luo Junhao.
...
Half a year passed in a blink of an eye.
The Mid - Autumn Festival was approaching, and the queen was supposed to handle all the arrangements.
But Concubine Yao begged several times at the gate of Changle Palace before Lin Qiao stretched and sat up from the bed.
Spring Blossom came to report to her about the Mid - Autumn Festival. Lin Qiao thought for a while. In line with the original owner's image of a debauched queen (mainly because she was lazy), she said, "Let her handle it. When she's done, come to me for the queen's seal."
Concubine Yao at the palace gate was so angry that she trembled. "She's so useless, delusional, arrogant because of the emperor's favor. She's unfit to be the queen!" Then she flushed with anger and returned to her palace.
At this time, Lin Qiao, the so - called "unfit queen", was sitting at the table, ready to start a wonderful day. The breakfast was being served one by one.
Suddenly, Lin Qiao said, "Wait."
Spring Blossom stopped her hand and stared blankly at Lin Qiao. "Your Majesty, is today's breakfast not to your taste?"
Lin Qiao shook her head. "Was the concubine just asking about the arrangements for the Mid - Autumn Festival?"
"Yes."
Living a life of ease in the harem and being like a bodhisattva every day, Lin Qiao finally realized something was wrong.
This Mid - Autumn Festival was a fuse for Luo Nanchen's complete transformation into a dark - hearted person.
On this Mid - Autumn Festival, a rather rare royal secret in the history of Yunjin happened.
The crown prince, Luo Junhao, had an affair with a minor concubine of Luo Siyuan.
This might be what was called the "step - mother literature".
But Luo Junhao seemed determined to be a unique character different from the male leads in traditional "step - mother literature". He didn't protect the concubine whole - heartedly, nor did he try to save her from trouble.
Instead, when he was discovered, he immediately pushed the concubine out.
His attempt to clear his own name failed, and he also dragged Luo Nanchen, who was being used like a servant and just happened to pass by, into the water. He insisted that he was just keeping watch for Luo Nanchen and that it was Luo Nanchen who really wanted to have an affair with the concubine.
No one would believe that it was Luo Nanchen who did such a thing. A twelve - year - old child who didn't even have enough to eat and wear every day had neither the time nor the ability to think about such dirty things.
But Luo Siyuan was Luo Siyuan. In his opinion, Luo Nanchen was useless and just annoying to look at. After weighing the pros and cons, Luo Siyuan naturally chose to believe his beloved crown prince.
So Luo Nanchen was demoted to the cold palace, where he met his first master in life and got his first lucky break. From then on, he completely turned dark.
Although Lin Qiao was no longer the Lin Qiao in the book and Luo Nanchen was no longer the poor, neglected child, Lin Qiao was still worried. On the way to the Mid - Autumn Festival banquet, she kept reminding Luo Nanchen.
"Don't run around then, okay? You must stay by my side all the time," Lin Qiao said earnestly. Looking at the chubby cheeks on Luo Nanchen's little face that she had helped to grow, she increasingly felt like a mother - fan of Luo Nanchen. "Otherwise, you'll know how dangerous the world is. They might even throw away your milk powder."
Help! When she was reading the novel, she was clearly a girlfriend - fan of Luo Nanchen...
Luo Nanchen listened silently with his head down and didn't say a word.
Lin Qiao coaxed him like a child. "Are you scared? Don't be afraid. Although the world is dangerous, you still have your mother..."
Luo Nanchen looked up and stared at Lin Qiao seriously. "I don't drink milk powder. Do you want to drink it?"
"..."
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, your milk powder won't be thrown away."
"..."
She suddenly had a strange feeling. It seemed that it wasn't her coaxing the child, but the child was coaxing her.
After half a year, Lin Qiao finally began to re - evaluate Luo Nanchen.
This half - year was neither long nor short. But because Luo Nanchen was on a special diet and didn't need to return to Changle Palace for meals, Lin Qiao didn't see him very often.
Every time she saw him, she felt that he was more composed than before and less and less like a child.
In the past, when she teased him about being thin, his face would turn red, and he would be like an angry little lion. But now, when she teased him, Luo Nanchen would just blush a little as a formality and show no other reaction.
Of course, she wouldn't call him thin anymore.
The child had grown up and needed self - esteem.
But his composure was obvious, just like now.
Luo Nanchen had a calm expression on his face. "Don't be afraid. No one can bully you."
"..."
Damn it! If Luo Nanchen grew up a bit more and said such domineering words with such a禁欲 expression, who could resist him!!!
The Mid - Autumn Festival night banquet was arranged by Concubine Yao and held in Tinglan Garden.
There were singing and dancing, and all kinds of beautiful women. Luo Siyuan was extremely licentious. Whether they were captured or deceived, in short, his harem was so full that it was unprecedented in the history of Yunjin.
Although Lin Qiao didn't like such a showy occasion, thanks to these beautiful women, Luo Siyuan hadn't thought of her these days. At this moment, he was hugging a beautiful woman with fair skin and long legs and drinking.
Lin Qiao turned her head and saw that Luo Nanchen was sitting obediently on the chair and eating. She felt relieved and looked forward to the highlight of the night - the drama between Luo Junhao and an unknown concubine.
Before she saw Luo Junhao, Lin Qiao suddenly realized that the song being sung in the hall sounded so familiar.
"Thank you for the glory you've given me. I want to bow deeply to you. Because someone understands the efforts I've made—"
The tune and the lyrics... It didn't seem to be a song from Yunjin!
Lin Qiao asked in an indifferent tone, "This song is quite nice. Who presented it?"
Autumn Moon replied, "Your Majesty, it was General Meng Erliu from the Northwest."
Meng Erliu?
This person didn't seem to be a very important character in the original novel, right? Otherwise, why wasn't she very familiar with the name?
Lin Qiao followed Autumn Moon's gaze and saw the legendary Meng Erliu. He was tall and straight, with a tough face exuding a wild charm from the grassland. Wearing a suit of armor, he looked extremely imposing.
Seeing Lin Qiao looking over, Meng Erliu actually smiled, stood up, and walked straight towards Lin Qiao.
"Your Majesty, cheers."