Emperor Mingde came over after the court session, frowning as he looked at Hao Yue.
"Bei Yue, Bei Shang, accompany your uncle for a meal."
"Okay, Xiao Rou'an, let's go eat."
The two children took their sister's hand and walked away. The sister looked back for her mother. Hao Yue quickly stepped forward and said gently, "Little Prince and Little Princess, you may go. Rou'an has already had breakfast."
Little Bei Yue disagreed, stating seriously, "Aunt, if I may say, sister is a bit timid. You can't always hover over her; you must let her be independent. This way, she won't be easily influenced by others in the future."
Little Bei Shang chimed in, "Yes, my father said so."
Then, she turned to Emperor Mingde and added, "Besides, meals are more enjoyable with more people. Uncle must be lonely and bored, which is why he doesn't eat well."
Hao Yue was momentarily speechless.
Emperor Mingde looked at his daughter, who was just over two years old. She resembled him, and he realized he hadn't held her much at this age.
"Let's go together!" he said softly to Hao Yue. "From now on, bring Rou'an for breakfast every day."
Looking at the Emperor with his straight nose, thin lips, and sparkling eyes, Hao Yue suppressed the sudden surge of tears and lowered her head. "Yes, Your Majesty."
"It's a pity Rou'an is too young. Otherwise, when I leave, I would definitely take her to wander the martial world and broaden her horizons."
Little Bei Yue said with regret, "It's okay. Grow up quickly, and there will be plenty of opportunities. Brother will take you to see the salted river, stones that look like monkeys, and the most powerful expert in the world, Heilong."
Emperor Mingde: "Uncle also wants to go out and broaden his horizons."
"If you want to go, go by yourself! Don't interfere with our children's affairs."
Little Bei Shang: "Yes, my father said so. Everyone has their own way of living."
...
They ate well and slept well in the palace, but gradually, the two children found it boring.
No wonder Mother didn't live here anymore. The people here were not like the villagers, who would quarrel, throw stones at each other, spit, and then become good friends, going up the mountain to catch rabbits.
The people here were afraid to speak, bowed their heads, and were always saying "damn it."
There were many people in the palace, but they were all afraid of Uncle and them. They wouldn't play with you cheerfully. No wonder Uncle was lonely.
Little Bei Yue even attended court a few times, which was even more boring than watching a county magistrate handle a case.
Uncle asked, "The dikes in Haifeng County have been washed away year after year. How should this be resolved?"
The answer was, "Send people to personally supervise the construction, use the sturdiest materials, and build the strongest dikes."
Uncle asked him, "What do you think, Bei Yue?"
Little Bei Yue had no idea, but on his journey, he had seen abandoned dikes and knew what they were. He had even played with the rusted gates there, and beneath the gates, a nest of snakes was hidden.
"I think if they are always being washed away, it's not that the materials are poor, but that the location is built incorrectly. This requires experienced people to inspect it. If the reason isn't found, no matter how well it's built, it will still be washed away."
The ministers fell silent. The Minister of Works, who had just answered, blushed deeply.
The Minister of Justice stepped forward, "Little Prince speaks the truth. I have a friend who is skilled in water conservancy. I can recommend him to Minister Min to inspect it together."
Emperor Mingde nodded in agreement. The ministers looked at the little prince sitting on the dragon throne with his legs dangling, his mind clear.
It seemed they could no longer urge the Emperor to take more concubines to continue the lineage.
As it turned out, the persistent flooding of the Haifeng County dikes was indeed not due to the materials, but to problems with the soil in Haifeng County. It was only after transporting clay from the north city that a sturdy dike was finally built.
Little Bei Yue and Little Bei Shang had finally had enough of staying in the palace. Emperor Mingde's staged suffering couldn't keep them.
The two waved their little hands, their clothes bulging.
"Green hills remain unchanged, and the flowing water continues. We shall meet again."
Emperor Mingde had no choice but to sadly summon the hidden guards to follow them out of the palace.
As soon as they left the palace, they were taken away by Yu Liu and Yu Shan.
"Oh dear, we haven't found Third Uncle yet, we don't want to go back!"
"Looking for me?"
That unique, charming voice belonged to their long-lost Third Uncle.
"Third... Oh, no, Great Hero Heilong, we finally found you!"
"Are you the ones looking for me?"
Third Uncle examined the two little darlings from all sides, checking them thoroughly. They had no injuries, their protective amulets hadn't self-destructed, and they had even gained weight, their cheeks plump. It seemed they had been living quite comfortably.
He glanced sideways at the hiding spots of the two hidden guards.
"Hurry home, don't let your mother worry."
"No, Uncle! We haven't gone on adventures in the martial world with you yet!"
The two children each hugged one of Third Uncle's legs and started rummaging in their clothes. "These are all things we painstakingly found from Second Uncle's treasury to give to you. We think of you all the time, please take us with you!"
Yu Liu said, "If you don't want to come out, why stay for more than ten days? Did you only come out after you were done playing!"
Third Uncle, who was about to soften, said, "...I can't take you now. There are flies around me. We'll talk about it later. Hurry home! I'm leaving!"
With a skillful twist of his legs, he broke free from their grasp and leaped into the sky, flying away.
The two little ones were dumbfounded.
Third Uncle was too heartless!
All that wailing was for nothing.
"Just you wait, I'll go back and complain to Mother. What kind of martial world people are you, not loyal at all."
Yu Liu was about to say something when his expression changed. He and Yu Shan immediately shielded the two precious children, and the hidden guards also became instantly alert.
Swish, swish, swish—
Two graceful figures descended before them.
They were two beautiful women. One in white, exuding an ethereal, detached, and cold aura, as if she didn't belong to the mortal world.
The other in red, alluring and charming, with a captivating gaze, holding a strand of hair and smiling enigmatically.
"Excuse me, have you seen a young man in black? Oh, very cold and cool-looking!" the red-clad beauty asked charmingly.
Little Bei Yue and Little Bei Shang poked their heads out, "What do you want him for?"
The gazes of the two beauties fell upon the two little ones.
Whose noble children were these? They looked so rare.
The white-clad beauty's face softened slightly. "Have the young master and young lady seen him?"
"Yes! He just said there were flies around him and then he ran away. He wasn't talking about you, was he? His eyes must be blind, they're clearly beautiful sisters."
White-clad, red-clad: "......Where did he run?"
Little Bei Yue pointed in the opposite direction, then curiously asked, "Which one of you is his wife?"
Didn't Third Uncle say women were trouble? Why did two appear at once? Which one was Aunt?
"Neither of us!"
The two women said in unison, then looked at each other.
The white-clad woman looked at the red-clad woman and said coldly, "Ni Hongmian, don't try to snatch people from our Wushui Villa. Our Villa Master has decided on the Sacred Flame Heilong!"
The red-clad woman sneered, "Heh, then let's wait and see! Let's see if Heilong brother fancies your broken villa!"
The two women arrived like a gust of wind and left like a gust of wind, leaping onto the rooftop one after another and disappearing.
"So this is what people in the martial world are like, leaving whenever they want......"
Little Bei Yue stretched out his hand, wanting to leave too. Couldn't he be taken along?
Yu Liu slapped his hand away. "Little Ancestor, you've met everyone you wanted to meet. Can we go back now?"
However, just as they were about to leave, another person fell with a "plop."
This time, it was a man.
"Have you seen a young man in black with a forehead band? Oh, very arrogant and crazy!"
Those words were unpleasant!
The two little children were enraged. "We haven't seen anyone in black with a forehead band, but we did see someone very arrogant and crazy, and that's you!"