The Royal’s Little Lady

T/N: Long overdue bonus chapter. Thank you, @elamia! Enjoy~

It could be said that the moment Xiao Heng sat down, the atmosphere in the room became awkward. Everyone’s attention was no longer on the cards but on Xiao Heng.

 

Gu Sui’er was a little helpless.

 

Xiao Heng always urged her to memorize more poems, saying that she couldn’t lose if she played feihualing again. It didn’t matter much because she was also trying her best to learn them.

 

However, she had never been good at playing cards, and now that she had only two of the ten gold leaves remaining, Xiao Heng must be disappointed in her.

 

Unexpectedly, Xiao Heng didn’t say anything; he merely sat behind her and watched the game.

 

Feeling the warm breath beside her ear, Gu Sui’er raised her head and looked at Zuo XiuYan, who happened to sit across her.

 

From her very red face and the way she bit her lips, she clearly understood that Zuo XiuYan was not feeling comfortable.

 

Gu Sui’er lowered her head and continued playing silently, but her mind was a complete mess.

 

She didn’t know what exactly the situation was now. Xiao Heng’s future legitimate wife was sitting at the table but here he was, sitting by his little concubine’s side and watching her play cards. Mo-moreover, he was sitting so close!

 

“Concentrate on playing.” The man beside her seemed to have no idea what was wrong with him sitting there. Instead, he reminded her in such a deep voice.

 

Gu Sui’er had no other choice. She agreed softly, and after that, gave it her all to choose, play and draw the cards.

 

“This one.”

 

Just when Gu Sui’er was about to remove a card, Xiao Heng raised his hand, clutched hers, and helped her to draw out another card.

 

“Is that okay?”

 

Gu Sui’er frowned, why did she feel that something was not right?

 

“Shoot.” Xiao Heng’s tone was not open to questions.

 

Without any other way, Gu Sui’er did what she was told.

 

In the next round, Gu Sui’er drew a card and immediately realized that her last shot was really a good one.

 

After a few more turns, Gu Sui’er actually won the game under Xiao Heng’s guidance.

 

This time, she won three gold leaves, so the number of leaves suddenly changed from two to five.

 

While the second Young Madam didn’t mind the loss, Xiao Jin did; she pouted. On the other hand, although Zuo XiuYan was still smiling, her smile seemed a little stiff.

 

During the next few rounds, Xiao Heng gave pointers to Gu Sui’er from time to time, and sometimes even reached out to hold her hands to personally help her organize the cards.

 

The second Young Madam and Xiao Jin didn’t pay much attention to this.

 

After all, besides being married, the second Young Madam was also Xiao Heng’s sister-in-law. Why would she mind her husband’s younger brother getting close to his woman?

 

As for Xiao Jin, she was not as experienced in the matters between men and women. More importantly, her focus was now on the game, so she naturally didn’t take note of it.

 

But Zuo XiuYan’s case was different. She only felt as if she was being roasted on a slow fire.

 

When she first met him that day in the pavilion, he personally helped her up. He was cold and distant but she could feel that his gaze on her was a little different.

 

In fact, she was aware of the thoughts of men. She was also very clear that it was impossible for a man to look at her like that for no cause or reason.

 

He… was clearly interested in her, so why would he embarrass her now?

 

Zuo XiuYan’s heart was constantly churning. She felt extremely uncomfortable, but she couldn’t infer the reason behind his current behavior.

 

As soon as she looked up, she lost again. Hence, she could only grit her teeth and take out a gold leaf to hand over to Gu Sui’er.

 

Gu Sui’er was busy sorting out the cards, so this gold leaf was taken by Xiao Heng. He didn’t even glance at her when he took the gold leaf from her hands.

 

Zuo XiuYan immediately felt upset; her face was heated and she felt uncomfortable all over.

 

What would the servants think when they see her, his future main wife and this residence’s another Young Madam, being treated like this? Would they look down on her because they believed she was not favored by her husband?

 

Zuo XiuYan carefully looked around at the maids. Each one of them had lowered their head as if they didn’t realize anything was wrong.

 

After a few more rounds, a heap of gold leaves had formed in front of Gu Sui’er.

 

Xiao Jin counted and discovered she only had seven more gold leaves left: “Third brother, I don’t allow you to do this. You helped Sui’er to bully us. So of course she will win!”

 

The second Young Madam also had only a few leaves with her, but she chuckled and said: “It doesn’t matter. We are just playing for fun. Let’s join hands and fight a few more times to defeat Ah Heng. We can make him cry.”

 

Xiao Heng naturally wouldn’t cry. Hearing her words, he got up.

 

“You all play and have fun.”

 

As soon as he left his seat, Gu Sui’er hurriedly said; “Third Young Master, it’s better if you continue playing, I won’t play anymore.”

 

Xiao Heng: “En?”

 

Gu Sui’er got up and explained: “It must not have been easy for you to win so much. If I play, I might end up losing everything once again. I’ll go to keep a watch over Ah Chen.”

 

She was not a good player.

 

Xiao Heng raised his eyebrows and said in a low voice, “What are you afraid of? I made you win this much so that you can lose slowly.”

 

Except for the light sound of little Ah Chen spitting out saliva on a cloth puppy on the couch, the room was awfully silent. As a result, when Xiao Heng said this, everyone hear it loud and clear.

 

Some people carefully lowered their heads, pretending to be deaf for that certain moment.

 

There were also some people who glanced at Zuo XiuYan furtively, only to notice her red face and trembling hands. She was also gritting her teeth.

 

She was totally furious.

 

She was so humiliated by the third Young Master even before she married him. What would happen after she actually married in? Would she still be able to suppress his little concubine and build her prestige as the third Young Madam?

 

Tears slowly surged out of her eyes but Zuo XiuYan strived to hold them back and not turn away.

 

This incident inevitably turned into a matter of private discussion. There were constant debates but everyone unanimously found it a little weird.

 

During the arranged meeting a few days ago, Zuo girl was said to have caught the third Young Master’s eye. So, no one ever thought that he would embarrass her like this at this place.

 

“Third Young Master has always doted on the Young Mistress. This is something that everyone has known for a long time. Just… I didn’t expect him to favor her to the extent of backing his little concubine even in front of his future legitimate wife.”

 

“I’m afraid it’s also for the sake of the Little Young Master. He’s so adorable that no one dislikes him. The third Young Master must love him a lot too. Having a concubine-born son like this, he must always be afraid that the child being bullied in the future.”

 

When the topic came to this point, everyone began to chatter about the adorable Little Young Master.

 

Some said that he smiled at them when he noticed them, some said that the way he rolled on the couch made them laugh while some said that their Little Young Master’s eyes were exceptionally good-looking. As a result, the topic changed.

 

At this time, Zuo XiuYan was hiding in her room and wiping her tears. She felt that she had lost too much face; she didn’t wish to go out or meet anyone now.

 

Later, Xiao Jin still came to coax her: “You shouldn’t take this to heart, it’s not worthwhile. In the future, you will be the main wife, and she will still be an insignificant concubine. My third brother also has an eccentric temper. Prior to getting himself this concubine, he didn’t even have the least bit of interest in women. However, he started pampering her to no end soon after she entered the residence. I think that once you marry him, he will start pampering you.”

 

Zuo XiuYan felt a lot more at ease after these words. Thinking of something, she made up an excuse to go home and meet her mother.

 

Hearing everything that had transpired in RuiDing residence, her mother finally announced: “Actually, the solution to this problem is that Little Young Master. If not for her child, how can this little concubine be favored so much? I believe His Majesty and the Old Madam both dote on that child very much. You have to find a way to coax that baby so that you can easily kick that little concubine away after marriage. Then, wouldn’t it be a good idea to directly place him under your name in the genealogy and bring him up?”

 

Old ginger was still spicier than the young. Listening to her mother’s words, Zuo XiuYan had a sudden flash of insight. She needed to start manipulating little Ah Chen while he was still young.

 

She had never paid attention to this little baby before; for her, he had always been noisy and troublesome. But now, she began to consciously take note of him.

 

On this day, when she went to the Old Madam’s yard, she saw her ordering the servants to put little Ah Chen on the low couch to play.

 

By now, Ah Chen had tried many times to crawl forward but there seemed to be something wrong with the way he crawled. Because, the more he crawled, the more backward he went.

 

He himself seemed to be bewildered by this. After crawling for a while, he stopped, looked ahead, then behind, and gradually, an expression of doubt flickered in his clear eyes. Then, he began babbling angrily in his baby voice.

 

Witnessing this scene, the Old Madam’s body convulsed with laughter: “My darling little great-grandson ah, how did you manage to crawl backward?”

 

Sitting by the side, the second Young Madam put a hand over her big belly as she laughed: “Our family’s little Ah Chen is too amusing! You all see he looks incredibly stunned.”

 

The little guy’s bewildered expression really made one laugh to death.

 

Zuo XiuYan was also beside her. Originally, she came to accompany the Old Madam and play games with her, but now that everyone’s attention was on the tiny child, she also looked over.

 

The child was chubby, fair and adorable. He was indeed very likable.

 

However, she was an unmarried girl. She was interested in matters of love, poetry, and songs, and could confide in Xiao Jin concerning her private matters but, she had no affection for this child.

 

Still, she smiled and said, “He’s so cute that everyone will inevitably come to like him at first sight. I have always liked little children. I used to play with my younger brother very often when he was young.”

 

She stepped forward and stood before Ah Chen.

 

Ah Chen is now at the age at which children were curious about everything. Whenever he saw an unfamiliar person, he would stare at them with wide eyes and grin.

 

Now that he saw Zuo XiuYan, he first stared at her for a while, then he waved his chubby little arms excitedly, struggling to crawl over to Zuo XiuYan.

 

Seeing this scene, Zuo XiuYan felt a little revolted, but in front of the old lady, she could only carry him up.

 

After Ah Chen was held by her, his little head slumped on Zuo XiuYan’s shoulder. He rubbed his face there as his drool dripped onto her clothes.

 

Zuo XiuYan tried her best to endure the sense of discomfort.

 

However, from an outsider’s point of view, little Ah Chen liked Zuo XiuYan so much that he didn’t want to let her go.

 

The eldest Young Madam smiled and said, “Usually, our family’s Ah Chen is very fussy. He doesn’t like to be carried by unfamiliar people or be served by them but now that he met Zuo girl, he’s actually being so well-behaved.”

 

Looking at Ah Chen rubbing his little face on Zuo XiuYan’s shoulders like a kitten, the Old Madam’s skepticism for Zuo XiuYan diminished a little: “Yes, it seems that you two actually have some predestined affinity. He was not so close to me in the past, it was only after we frequently interacted that we gradually became close.”

 

Zuo XiuYan was actually horrified. She didn’t like being entangled with this drooling little thing at all! Her shoulder was soaked with drool now. And what was even more terrible was that the baby seemed to have teeth. At this moment, he was drenching her neck and shoulders with his spit. Even thinking about it made her feel uncomfortable.

 

Moreover, this little thing was soft and slippery. She was afraid of dropping him, so she had to be careful and at the same time, not reveal her displeasure.

 

She suppressed the unhappiness in her heart with great difficulty, hugged Ah Chen, and said with a smile, “Ah Chen is really cute and lovable.”

 

Seeing this, the Old Madam felt more and more relieved: “Since Ah Chen likes it, you should visit him more often. People rarely have such fate.”

 

Zuo XiuYan didn’t want to accept having this ‘fate’ at all. How could she like this drooling baby? Furthermore, he was still that concubine, Gu Sui’er’s, child.

 

But thinking of Xiao Heng and wanting to please the Old Madam, she smiled and said, “Yes, I’ll have to visit him more in the future.”

 

Just as she was saying this, little Ah Chen clasped her lapel and pulled it with his chubby little hands.

 

Although he was only a few months old and his hands were as round as little white steamed buns, his strength was not too less. The little fists clutching Zuo XiuYan’s clothes tightly did not let go.

 

Startled, she hurriedly cried out, “Ah–– Y-you, let go!”

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