“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
The hall doors were pushed open, and the slightly flushed man gave a wave of his hand. Qiuci, Xiao Wan, and the others withdrew from the hall.
“How much have you had to drink?” Yan Yunning tugged at Xuan Yanyu’s collar and leaned in close, inhaling carefully.
A faint fragrance of wine, mingled with the scent of bathing herbs — it smelled very pleasant. Yan Yunning couldn’t help but breathe it in a few more times.
The man gave a low, husky laugh. He ruffled Yan Yunning’s hair and said in a low voice, “Why are you sniffing around like a little puppy?”
Yan Yunning’s interest was suddenly piqued. “Xuan Yanyu, I want to get a puppy — a white one, with big round eyes, small and tiny, not a large breed.”
“Quite the list of requirements.” Xuan Yanyu scooped her up and lay back on the chaise longue himself, hooking the corner of his lips into a smile. “Come beg me for it.”
Yan Yunning nestled softly against his side, her slender fingertip tracing small circles on his handsome face. “Buy me one, alright? Such a noble Crown Prince would certainly buy his Crown Princess one — isn’t that right?”
“Such a small, small request — His Highness the Crown Prince will surely be able to manage it, won’t he?”
“And if I can’t manage it?” The man smiled at his leisure.
Yan Yunning deliberately blinked her lashes against his eyelids. “If you can’t manage it, you give me your seat as Crown Prince, and I’ll manage it myself.”
Xuan Yanyu closed his eyes and tilted his head aside, dodging her distraction. His low, deep voice carried a smile. “Can’t the status of Crown Princess get it done?”
“Oh~” Yan Yunning broke into a bright smile. “If the Crown Princess can get everything done on her own, what’s the point of having the Crown Prince?”
The man flicked her on the forehead. “Without the Crown Prince, where would you get the status of Crown Princess? Without the status of Crown Princess, how would you be able to get everything done on your own?”
“…… Are you going to agree or not?” Yan Yunning petulantly rubbed her hair against his cheek. “Are you buying a puppy or not? Are you buying a puppy or not?”
A faint, ticklish sensation swept across his cheek. Xuan Yanyu cupped Yan Yunning’s small face, capitulating with mercy. “Yes, yes, yes — tomorrow I’ll have Ye Chen go find one for you.”
Yan Yunning curved her eyes in a smile and pressed a kiss to the man’s lips. “Good.”
——
The next morning.
After Yan Yunning finished breakfast, just as she was about to go looking for the ancient locust tree near the cold palace — with Fafa urging her on — Ye Chen came into the hall cradling a snow-white puppy.
“Crown Princess, His Highness had this subordinate buy the puppy for you.” Ye Chen held the puppy out toward Yan Yunning.
The little pup was curled up in Ye Chen’s arms, its round little head raised, its eyes black and bright, its tiny tongue lolling out.
Yan Yunning had just reached out to ruffle its fluffy fur when Ye Chen took a step back. “Crown Princess, His Highness gave instructions — you may only look. You cannot touch it, and you cannot hold it.”
Yan Yunning: “……”
“The puppy will be cared for by the maidservants. His Highness the Crown Prince said you may only hold it after you have given birth to the little master.” Ye Chen added.
The puppy let out two small “wuu-wuu” sounds. Yan Yunning used her handkerchief to dab at its drool, pursed her lips, and said, “Then take it away for now.”
“Yes.” Ye Chen rubbed the little pup’s head and carried it out of the hall.
[Master, are we going? Going to look for it?] Yan Yunning had just begun to sit down when Fafa suddenly spoke up.
[Fafa, are you reliable?]
At first it had said it didn’t know how she could get home, yet now it was saying there was a treasure that could help her get back. She had a vague memory that there had been another time, too — when it said she could go home — only she couldn’t quite recall the details clearly.
Fafa: [Master, you don’t trust me?]
Yan Yunning raised an eyebrow. [Can I trust you???]
Fafa: [Then don’t trust me.]
Yan Yunning: [……!!]
Though she didn’t place much faith in what Fafa said, Yan Yunning still used the excuse of needing a walk to aid digestion after breakfast. With her maidservants in tow, she strolled at a leisurely pace toward the stream that lay some distance from the cold palace — and there she saw it: the tall, ancient locust tree.
The ground was very dry. There was no way she could dig it on her own.
“Crown Princess, do you like locust flowers?” Xiao Wan asked with a smile.
“Mm, they smell lovely.” Yan Yunning pointed at the parched ground. “Have someone water it — several days in a row.”
“Yes, Crown Princess.”
Yan Yunning looked around for a moment, then said, “Let’s head back.”
“Alright.” Xiao Wan nodded with a smile.
A breeze stirred through, and a few locust blossoms that had settled in Yan Yunning’s silken hair were swept away by the wind and fell to the ground below.
Before she could cup them in her palm and admire them, the maidservants following behind had already trampled them into the dust — as if the blossoms had never rested in Yan Yunning’s hair at all, leaving behind only a quiet, unspoken regret.
She turned a corner and made her way to the Zhaozheng Hall, all the while turning over in her mind what to name her puppy.
The man at her side glanced at her, his voice lazily unhurried. “Have you thought of one yet?”
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.” Yan Yunning scooted a little closer to Xuan Yanyu, smiling brightly as she asked, “Why don’t you come up with one? You weren’t involved in naming the baby, but isn’t this a good opportunity? A furry child is still a child, after all.”
“And if you’d like, you can even be its……”
“I wouldn’t.” Knowing exactly what Yan Yunning was about to say, Xuan Yanyu refused outright.
Yan Yunning: “……”
“However, I have thought of a name.” The man rested his arm along the armrest of the throne, his smile carrying a faint, not-quite-innocent edge.
Yan Yunning’s eyelid twitched. The next moment, she heard the man’s low, slightly hoarse voice murmur close to her ear: “I think ‘Little Lemon’ has a nice ring to it. Crown Princess, what do you think? Hm?”
“I think no such thing. I think ‘Xuan Xixi’ has a very nice ring to it — let’s call it Xuan Xixi!!” Yan Yunning raised her eyebrows.
“Wuu-wuu.” The puppy, being held by a maidservant, let out two low, miserable whines.
“Hm?” Yan Yunning patted the man’s arm, teasing him with a grin. “Xuan Xixi — it likes that name.”
Xuan Yanyu did not even deign to lift an eyelid.
“Crown Princess, if you look at the puppy carefully, you’ll understand why it cried,” Ye’an offered gently.
Yan Yunning curved her lips in a smile. “No need to look. It simply loves the name Xuan Xixi.”
She had of course noticed why the puppy had cried just then — it was because when she proposed calling it “Xuan Xixi,” the maidservant holding it had been startled and given a little jolt.
Ye’an: “……”
“Xuan Xixi, let’s discuss this.” Yan Yunning gave a sweet smile. She pillowed her head on the man’s arm — the one holding his writing brush — and said with great seriousness, “How about we call the puppy Xuan Erxi?”
Ye’an: “……”
His Highness goes by Xuan Xixi, and the puppy goes by Xuan Erxi?
With so many names, the Crown Princess truly had a gift for coming up with them.
Though, wasn’t “Xixi” just another way of saying “Erxi”…
“Yan Yunning?” Xuan Yanyu pinched her earlobe, his expression mild but his meaning clear. “Give it a proper name. If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll throw it out.”
“Hm……” Yan Yunning took the man’s hand in hers and, after a moment of genuine thought, said solemnly, “Then let’s call it Xuan Xuetuan.”
White and fluffy — it suited the name perfectly.
“Why ‘Xuan Xuetuan’? Why not just ‘Xuetuan’?” The man didn’t quite follow.
“You don’t like it? Then we’ll call it Yan Xuetuan.”
Xuan Yanyu laughed in spite of himself. “Either way, it must have a surname?”
“Naturally. My furry child should of course have a surname — either following yours, or following mine.”
“Your furry child?” Xuan Yanyu said plainly, “When the baby is born, I predict you’ll hand your furry child straight off to the maidservants.”
It was because he had noticed that Ningning truly adored small children. Every evening after dinner, she would unfailingly take a stroll to the imperial garden and spend time playing with Noble Consort Lin’s little princess.
Noble Consort Lin, knowing that Ningning took her daily walk through the imperial garden, would be there every day with her little princess in arms, waiting for her.
He was genuinely a little worried now — Ningning currently clung to him so readily; after the baby was born, would she still be as attached?
No matter, he supposed. Had Imperial Father and Imperial Mother not been competing over who got to help him look after the child? When the time came, he would simply hand the baby over to them.