Volume 1: The Initial Appearance of Beauty Chapter 2: The Frantic and Crazy Empress Dowager

  Night Ling, now should be called Long Ruo Chen. Ruo Chen spent a lot of time thinking. Because she is now in an infant state, apart from thinking, there's nothing else to do. As for why she came here, such a boring question, she wouldn't come up with it, this kind of question would only make her head ache the more she thinks about it. What she thought was, how should she live on here, what attitude or posture should she face future life with? Since she has already become an infant, presumably there won't be any opportunity to return to modern times through space-time travel. If so, why not just accept it? These things, she had a lot of time to think about, therefore she didn't rush to figure them out.

  At about three months old, she had already figured out the general situation around her. This country was called Longteng Country, and his father was the master of this country. His mother was just a concubine in the harem who was not favored and came from a humble family with no backing. The fact that she hadn't seen her father's face even after three months since birth was proof.

  Her mother was a weak and slightly neurotic woman, a very typical palace lady. So the task of taking care of Ruochen was generally completed by two palace maids beside him. The two palace maids who took care of Ruochen were called Ruan Cui and Qing Hong, one wearing green clothes and the other wearing red clothes at ordinary times. According to Ruochen's observation, these two people were very loyal to Qinghuan. Taking care of Ruochen was also very careful. Most of the information Ruochen got was heard from their mouths.

  In the morning, Ruo Chen woke up early and sat up on her soft little bed. She was very satisfied that her body, which was only a little over five months old, could sit stably on the small bed. After being dazed for a while, Ruocui hurried in and saw the little person on the bed, exclaiming, "Ah, how did our little princess learn to sit up by herself? What if she fell?" She quickly brought over some clothes to dress her in and wrapped her up warmly before taking her to see Qinghuan.

  That woman is about to go crazy, right? Yu Chen thought with some sympathy. Ever since giving birth to Yu Chen, the king had not visited Qingning Palace again, and gradually she became somewhat mentally unstable. When she was sober, she doted on Yu Chen in every way, but when she was confused, she ignored him or even showed disgust.

  When Ruan Cui took Ruoxuan to see Qing E, Qing Hong was serving Qing E breakfast. Seeing the doll in Ruan Cui's arms, Qing E frowned in disgust, "What did you bring her here for? Take her away quickly, if she comes back and sees this, she won't be happy." Her poor mother is being foolish again.

  Ruocui and Qinghong exchanged a helpless glance, Ruocui responded with a soft "yes" and took Rouchen to the side hall. A sigh of helplessness escaped her lips, "How did you become like this, Your Highness?" That's why it's said that their loyalty is quite strange - if it were anyone else, they would have long since abandoned their master who had fallen out of favor and was now mad and erratic, seeking a new one. Yet they still worried about this and that like they did.

  After a while, Qing Hong brought over a small bowl of warm milk, and Ruan Cui held Yu Chen, "Is the master okay?"

  "It's nothing. I ate something and fell asleep. Give the little princess some food."

  Ruǎn Cuì nodded, and Light Red sat down across from her, using a small silver spoon to feed milk into Ruò Chén's mouth bit by bit. Ruò Chén naturally made an effort to eat, since she was alive now, she didn't want to die of starvation at all. Although the mother who gave birth to her couldn't fulfill her responsibilities as a mother in any way, it was also good that way - if she had really let him nurse from her breast, he would probably have psychological trauma.

  "How can the little princess be so quiet? She hasn't even cried out loud since she was born?" Qing Hong asked with some concern, she had never taken care of a child before, and although there were wet nurses in the palace, she had only seen the young princesses and princes in other palaces being very lively, compared to their little princess who was so quiet that it was heart-wrenching. "Can't the little princess speak?"

  Ruan Cui held Ruo Chen and said with a sigh, "No matter what, we must raise our little princess well so that she can grow up safely. Now that the master has become like this, he can't take care of the little princess either." The two women didn't speak again, and the air became somewhat heavy. Qing Hui had no family background or backing in the palace, and when she was favored by the emperor, her relationship with the other concubines wasn't good either. Now that she had lost favor, there was no difference between Qing Ning Palace and the Cold Palace. Sometimes even their food and clothing would be reduced. However, they didn't mind these things. Only in this way could the little princess have a chance to grow up safely. If other things were lacking a bit, it was fine too.

  Holding Ruo Chen, Soft Cui wiped the milk that had accidentally flowed to her mouth with a soft handkerchief. "Little princess, you must grow up quickly."

  "What are you doing?" Qing Huan's voice came from outside and followed by her entering. Liang Hong and Ruo Cui hastily stood up. Ruo Cui said, "Your Highness, we were feeding the little princess milk, the little princess is full, would Your Highness like to hold her?" Looking at Qing Huan's expression which wasn't bad, it was better to shift more attention to the little princess.

  Qing Huan walked up to Ruo Chen, her face without powder or rouge had a hint of melancholy. A beauty is always a beauty, no matter where she is. Qing Huan was very beautiful, and if there were some anger and vitality on her face, she would be even more beautiful. After hesitating for a moment, Qing Huan still took Ruo Chen from her and slowly sat down, staring at Ruo Chen's chubby smiling face in a daze. Ruo Chen was worried that she might drop herself, but fortunately, she held her tightly all the time.

  "She... is Dust?" Qingpin looked at the little person in her arms, feeling a bit familiar yet a bit strange. These days she had been somewhat bewildered, and it turned out that this little person had already grown so big.

  "The princess is almost half a year old," Rong Hong reminded softly. Qing Hui nodded sorrowfully, "Yes, the emperor has not seen me for half a year."

  Silence~~~~

  "Dust, why isn't it a boy? If it were a boy, Your Majesty would have liked it, wouldn't you?"

  For a woman who has placed her hopes on the child, the man is completely uninteresting to her. If she wasn't worried that she might accidentally hurt herself, she would have gone to sleep already. Qing'e held onto her and muttered to herself, "Why aren't you a little prince? Why? Why doesn't His Majesty care about me? He clearly said he likes me the most. Have I become ugly? Waaah..."

  Light red soft voice persuading, seeing Qing Huan's emotions start to ask no more, quietly hinting at Soft Cui to take over Ruo Chen. Soft Cui said softly: "Your Highness, I'll take the little princess to sleep." Qing Huan tightly grasped Ruo Chen, grasping so hard that Ruo Chen felt some pain, Ruo Chen was considering whether or not to cry when she suddenly let out a crazy shout and threw Ruo Chen out. It's over!

  In her mind, a blank space, no fear, just some regret, originally she didn't even have time to grow up before having to reincarnate again.

  The expected pain did not arrive, and Yu Chen stared blankly at Qing Hong, who had wrapped her arms around him. He didn't understand how she had done it. Qing Hong's throwing technique was such that even in his past life, he might not have been able to catch it. This... seemed to be called "light skill"? In an instant, Qing Hong leapt to the opposite direction and caught Yu Chen, who was about to crash into a pillar.

  Qingyu's face was a bit heavy as she stared at Qinghui. Ruan Cui's face also turned pale. Qinghui stared blankly at her own hand, looking like she had no idea what was happening. She took a step forward, wanting to hug Ruocheng. Qinghong stepped back first and said seriously: "Your Highness... please don't get close to the little princess again in the future."

  "It wasn't on purpose."

  Ruan Cui took over Ruoxin from Qinghong's hands and gently patted her. Qinghong looked pitiful, "I don't know why I...". Qinghong sighed, "Master wants to marry off the young master to the king. We dare not disobey Master's will. But now that the young master is born, we must protect her at all costs. Master should still remember. After you gave birth to the young master, you are no longer the master of Qinghong and Ruan Cui."

  "You... won't even care about me? Are you leaving? Taking Dust with you?"

  "The young mistress is a royal princess, we can't just take her away. Nor will we abandon our master, you. However, please don't approach the little princess from now on... at least not until she grows up. Not every time can we catch her in time."

  Qingpin nodded reluctantly, lowering her head, "I understand."

  Since it was confirmed that Qing Huan had intermittent mental abnormalities, Li Hong and Ruan Cui no longer asked her to get close to Ruochen. After all, the mother-daughter relationship is important, but it's not as important as letting Ruochen grow up safely. So before confirming that Ruochen won't be suddenly thrown to death by her, it's better to have less contact with her.

  If Dust had thought that these two palace maids were very different from the start. That day, after seeing Qing Hong's skills and what she said to Qing Hui, it was even more certain. Not only did these two palace maids have an extraordinary background, but perhaps this empress dowager's background wasn't as simple as it seemed on the surface either.

  In the midst of boring daydreaming and guessing, Ruò Chén turned one year old. At that age, babies still couldn't say a single word, so Qīng Hóng and Ruǎn Cuì were worried. They often ran to the hospital, and sometimes Qīng Hóng would go out at night to bring back a pile of books to read on her own. Ruò Chén knew they were anxious for her sake, and Ruǎn Cuì would feed her some unknown medicine every now and then. It was really unbearable, so when she was one and a half years old, Ruò Chén finally spoke up. As soon as she opened her mouth, she felt relieved that she had spoken up, because at the age of one and a half, speaking was still like a child who had just learned to talk. It wasn't like she thought it would be, where she could say fluent sentences as soon as she opened her mouth. If it took a few more years... Ruò Chén started sweating at the thought.

  "Little princess, would you like another bite?"

  Ruoxuan sat on the small bed, looking at Rucui who was holding a bowl and asking herself to eat. What was the reason why they treated her like this? Or, what was Qinghui's identity after all? Rucui looked at the small bowl that still had half a bowl of rice left and patiently coaxed, "Little princess, if you don't eat, your tummy will be hungry. Be good..."

  Ruo Chen furrowed her brow, it had been over two years now, and she still wasn't used to someone treating her like a child. As Ye Ling, she was always the one taking care of others, no one ever worried about her, even Zero only occasionally mentioned it, but what he worried about more was the weakness of his character. Thinking of those two people, a cold glint flashed in Ruo Chen's eyes, and in the end, she still didn't kill her, if given another chance, she would never be soft-hearted again.

  Qing Hong sat on one side, doing her needlework while sizing up Ruo Chen. Just then, she caught a glimpse of his fleeting stern expression. Her hands paused for a moment, and Qing Hong was taken aback - how could a three-year-old child have such an expression?

  Ruò Cuì concentrated on feeding her food, "Princess, have a bite?"

  "I'm not eating." Yu Chen had no interest in eating and getting fat. Qing Hong smiled lightly and put down the things in her hand, walking to the bedside and sitting down, "If the princess doesn't want to eat, then she won't eat. Princess...Qing Hong will teach you how to read books, okay?" Yu Chen was taken aback, a three-year-old child could probably start learning now, but she wasn't very sure what normal children were like. She had killed someone for the first time when she was nine years old.

  Qing Hong smiled and said: "Qing Hong can teach the princess many things. Does the princess want to learn?"

  If Dust lowered her eyes, she must have accidentally discovered something different about him at some point. Anyway, it was time for her to learn, and Ruo Chen nodded silently. Soft Jade put away the bowl and chopsticks, somewhat disapprovingly saying: "The princess is still so young, there's no need to rush into teaching anything." Light Red smiled faintly, looking at Ruo Chen with a hint of meaning in his eyes, "Can the princess understand? Princess?" Soft Jade shook her head, "I don't care about you. Anyway, it's up to you to teach the princess. Just don't exhaust the young master, none of us can afford that." Qing Hong nodded, "I know my limits."