The prince longs for me every night after mastering thought-reading
Chapter 503 - 431: Raising a baby tiger with the crown prince, the man in black comes again_2

Chapter 503: Chapter 431: Raising a baby tiger with the crown prince, the man in black comes again_2

Chu Zhao closed his mouth tightly at these words.

After the effects of the medicine passed, the man in black had to be supported by Chu Zhao to come out, completely drained.

For the man in black, who prided himself on his physical prowess, experiencing such debilitation from diarrhea was akin to seeing a ghost—it was a first for him.

Meanwhile in the Imperial Palace

Susu hadn’t seen Shen Chuwei for several days and clamored daily to the wet nurse to be taken out to play.

Ever since the last incident, the wet nurse dared not take the babies to play in the courtyard.

But with Susu so insistent, the wet nurse had no choice but to take her out.

In October, the chrysanthemums in the courtyard had bloomed, as had the peonies.

Susu was delighted by the sight of the bright flowers.

Seeing how happy Susu was, the wet nurse took her over to the peony blooms.

On this day, with clear skies, the Empress Dowager found the Ci’ning Palace stifling and decided to go for a stroll.

Since Wanxin went on the autumn hunting expedition, Lady had been visiting the Ci’ning Palace daily to serve.

Remembering that both the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess had gone on the autumn hunt, leaving only Lady, the Empress Dowager decided to visit the East Palace with the support of Momo Yu.

From a distance, they saw the wet nurse holding Susu, playing in the courtyard.

Momo Yu asked, "Your Highness, would you like to go over for a look?"

The Empress Dowager glanced at Susu and shook her head, "No, let’s sit with Lady for a while."

Momo Yu said no more and accompanied the Empress Dowager to Lady.

On several consecutive visits to the East Palace, the Empress Dowager always saw the wet nurse playing outside with Susu.

The Empress Dowager didn’t pay much heed to it and didn’t go over to take a look.

Today, the peony flowers had almost all bloomed, and the Empress Dowager could see them from afar on her way to the East Palace.

She also saw the wet nurse playing with Susu in front of the peony blooms.

Susu was so excited to touch the peony petals, her chubby little hands clinging to the petals and refusing to let go.

"Mama, mama..."

Susu, looking at the petals, lowered her head and was about to bite into one. Thankfully, the wet nurse noticed in time and stopped her.

"Little ancestor, you can’t eat flowers."

Susu grabbed the petals with one hand and pouted, "Papa, papa..."

The Empress Dowager happened to witness Susu trying to bite into the petals.

"This child, why is she eating flowers? Could she be hungry? What is the wet nurse doing not feeding her?"

Momo Yu found Susu quite adorable and asked, "Your Highness, would you like to go over and take a look?"

The Empress Dowager responded, "Let’s go, let’s go see the children."

Momo Yu happily agreed, "Alright."

The wet nurse, upon seeing the Empress Dowager, quickly picked up Susu and went forward to greet her, "Empress Dowager, may you live in peace and health."

The Empress Dowager replied, "Rise."

"Thank you, Your Highness," the wet nurse said softly, holding Susu while standing up.

Susu, with her dark, bright eyes, looked at the Empress Dowager intently, still holding a petal in her hand and waving towards her.

The Empress Dowager looked at Susu for a good while and said, "I haven’t seen Susu for some time, has she lost weight?"

The wet nurse replied, "Your Highness, Susu ate less the past few days because she missed the Crown Princess, but she’s much better these past two days."

"No wonder she looks thinner. You servants must tend to them diligently, understand?" the Empress Dowager reprimanded.

"Your Highness is right to reprimand. This servant has taken note," the wet nurse answered softly.

"Mama... mama..." Susu tried to put the petal into the Empress Dowager’s hand.

The Empress Dowager was initially curious about Susu’s actions until she saw the chubby little hand holding a petal—it was a peony, her favorite flower.

Upon seeing this, Momo Yu laughed and said, "Susu knows the Empress Dowager likes peonies and picked one especially for you."

These words pleased the Empress Dowager to no end.

Seeing the adults laughing, Susu also began to giggle aloud.

The sound of Susu’s laughter made the Empress Dowager even happier.

"Let me hold Susu," she said.

The wet nurse hesitated for a moment, but then brought Susu closer to the Empress Dowager.

Susu did not fuss when the Empress Dowager held her and, out of curiosity, examined her closely and then smiled broadly.

The Empress Dowager had never seen such a smiley child before; Susu looked adorable when she smiled.

Imperial Hunting Grounds

With both the Emperor and the Crown Prince injured, the hunt turned into a free-for-all activity.

Xiao Jinyan got up earlier than usual and couldn’t resist kissing little nine, who was sleeping soundly in his embrace.

Shen Chuwei, deep in slumber, suddenly felt as if she couldn’t breathe and woke up abruptly, only to find a handsome face close at hand.

"Awake?"

Shen Chuwei rubbed her bleary eyes and complained a bit peevishly, "Your Highness, why disturb one’s sweet dreams so early in the morning?"

Shen Chuwei’s voice was soft and mellow as if she were coaxing or perhaps being cross.

Xiao Jinyan, holding her slender waist close to him, chuckled, "What time do you think it is to still be asleep?"

"Isn’t Your Highness still in bed?" To Shen Chuwei, Xiao Jinyan’s presence in bed meant it was still early.

Xiao Jinyan replied, "This morning, I’ve been indulging and stayed in bed with you."

Shen Chuwei was speechless. The sun rising from the west?

After getting up and finishing breakfast, Shen Chuwei lay down again, hoping for a little more sleep, only to see Xuetuan bounding onto the bed with a tiger cub in his mouth, approaching her.

Stunned, she wondered, when did Xuetuan learn this trick?

She watched as Xuetuan set the tiger cub down by her hand and, seeing the cub smacking its lips, understood that it was hungry.

She promptly instructed Chun Xi to fetch goat’s milk.

Once the tiger cub had its fill and lay quietly on Shen Chuwei’s belly to sleep, she felt as if the cub saw her as its tiger mother.

But that was wrong, wasn’t it? Xuetuan had brought it over; shouldn’t the cub consider Xuetuan its tiger father?

This realization made Shen Chuwei turn her head to look at Xuetuan, who was lounging on the bed, seemingly about to take a lazy nap. She picked up the tiger cub and placed it beside Xuetuan’s belly, figuring that fostering a bond had to start from the cub’s infancy.

Xuetuan, seeing the tiger cub lying on his belly, was utterly baffled: "..."

Ever since Concubine Xu obtained the Poisonous Insect with a sympathetic response, she would occasionally pick it up to check, but each time she did so with anticipation, she was deflated by disappointment.

Suddenly, the Poisonous Insect cried out twice and leapt a couple of times.

ps: First update