Chapter 14

Zhao Gao had been suffering from rheumatism these past two days, feeling unwell and keeping a low profile. Now that the Emperor had called upon him, he quickly knelt down. “Although the young prince is a bit mischievous, he is naturally intelligent. Given time to mature and apply himself properly, he will surely be able to share Your Majesty’s burdens. I beg you to grant him more time, and I will do my utmost to guide him.”

He bowed deeply, his forehead pressed to the ground in utmost reverence.

The Qin Emperor gave him a long look. “Rise. If the young prince errs again, you will share his punishment.”

The little one in his arms, who had been quiet and well-behaved, tugged at his sleeve and snorted, turning her head away—specifically presenting the back of her head toward Zhao Gao.

The Emperor recalled that the child had seemed displeased upon seeing Zhao Gao several times before. The first time he had brought her back, she had even wrinkled her nose and called him “ugly.” Did she still dislike him now?

A question formed in his mind: How could a newborn recognize Zhao Gao? And how could Zhao Gao have offended her when he hadn’t even had the chance to cross paths with her in the womb? Was it simply an ill-fated clash of personalities?

Between a smooth-talking, capable favorite minister and his own flesh-and-blood daughter, the choice was obvious. The Emperor decided then and there that Zhao Gao would be assigned more external duties in the future, keeping him away from the child as much as possible.

Without further deliberation, his decision was made.

The Emperor turned his attention back to his troublesome son. “Apologize to your royal sister.”

Huhai’s face instantly turned green. Even after all this, his father still wouldn’t let him off the hook—now demanding he apologize to that detestable little sister?

Under the fierce gaze of the Royal Beast, he yielded. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his backside, he struggled to his feet and limped over to his father. Head bowed, he addressed the little bundle in the Emperor’s arms. “I… I…”

The young prince clenched his jaw, shut his eyes, and shouted, “Royal Sister, I was wrong!”

The Emperor pressed, “What exactly were you wrong about?”

“I… I shouldn’t have taken you away or pinched your cheeks.” He thought to himself that if it hadn’t started raining, delaying his return, perhaps his father wouldn’t have found out. He was just unlucky.

At this thought, the wounds on his backside began to itch unbearably, a tingling, maddening sensation. He could hardly stand still, itching to run off and have a eunuch apply some Cooling Balm.

Once back in his quarters, a young eunuch around his age examined the injuries and exclaimed in surprise, “Young Master, your wounds have mostly healed!”

“Many have scabbed over, and they’ve stopped bleeding too!”

So it was the scabbing that made them itch. Huhai froze. “How could they heal so quickly?”

He had only been punished the day before. The imperial physician had said it would take at least ten days to half a month to recover, and he’d have to sleep on his stomach, barely able to move. But with scabs forming, as long as he didn’t pick at them, the bleeding wouldn’t return. At this rate, he’d be back on his feet in no time.

The eunuch was equally baffled, even more astonished than Huhai. Since the prince couldn’t see his own injuries, the eunuch—who had applied the medicine—had a clear view. The men ordered to punish the young prince had held nothing back, striking so fiercely that his flesh had split open. The eunuch had hardly been able to bear watching.

And yet, overnight, the wounds had healed?

The eunuch pondered. “I applied medicine to you this morning, and the injuries looked much the same as yesterday. How could they have improved so much in just half a day?”

Huhai recalled that the strange sensation in his backside had only started after he stood before his royal sister in the Emperor’s palace, apologizing and repenting. Could it truly have been divine intervention?

The legendary saying—”to correct a mistake is as good as not having made one”—manifested in reality? He bullied his little imperial sister, got punished by the emperor father, and because he apologized, his wounds healed faster?

Huhai’s imagination ran wild, and the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. He hurriedly called to the dazed little eunuch, “Go prepare some gifts…”

The young prince pondered for a moment. His small treasury had nothing but boyish things like slingshots and swords. “Never mind, go find Madam instead. Mother has plenty of nice things. Tell her to prepare some gifts girls would like, then deliver them to the emperor’s chambers. Say I want to apologize to my little imperial sister.”

The bewildered little eunuch went out and relayed the young master’s request to Madam Yu, who had nearly cried herself to tears these past two days. She immediately ordered the maidservant to open her chest. “Bring out that box of South Sea pearls His Majesty once bestowed. Give them to the little princess to play with.”

The maidservant was surprised. Though small in size, each pearl in that box was uniformly lustrous, perfectly round, and exceedingly rare—priceless, in fact. Moreover, it was the only gift the emperor had ever given to Madam Yu, bestowed upon her when she gave birth to the young master. She treasured it dearly, yet now she was giving it away just like that?

Madam Yu was timid, but no worldly possession was more important than her son. Gritting her teeth, she insisted on sending it. “I only hope His Majesty will let this matter pass and not hold Huhai’s mistake against him.”

She feared the emperor might form a negative opinion of Huhai because of this incident, affecting her son’s future. If a sincere apology could earn His Majesty’s forgiveness, it would be worth it.

The thought even brought her some joy. “Nanny, Huhai has truly grown. He knows to send gifts and apologize. If he learns from this experience, it might be a blessing in disguise.”

The little eunuch lowered his head, his lips twitching. Though he couldn’t fathom why the young master had suddenly taken it into his head to send gifts, he doubted it was due to a sudden “epiphany.” No one knew his young master better than he did.

The gifts were soon delivered. Hong Tao reported that they were sent by someone from the young master’s side, intended as an apology to the little princess. The Qin Emperor paused his brush while reviewing memorials and glanced at Zhao Gao. “Did you teach him this?”

Zhao Gao shook his head. “It seems the young master has truly realized his mistake. This is a good thing.”

The gifts were brought before the Little Dragon Cub for inspection, as per the emperor’s orders. “Your Highness, these are from Young Master Huhai. They say it’s an apology.”

“After all, they are family. The young master must have truly repented.”

The palace maid showed her the gifts but didn’t let her play with them, afraid the little princess might accidentally swallow them.

The box of glittering pearls made the Little Dragon Cub’s eyes sparkle. So pretty!

But the moment she heard the maid say they were from Huhai, she snorted and turned her little head away, resisting the urge to grab the pearls. She didn’t care for gifts from that nasty human!

Pinched her noble dragon cheeks and thought that was the end of it? No way! Even without this incident, she wouldn’t want to play with this human.

The maid reported the little princess’s reaction to the emperor. After a brief contemplation, the man said, “Lock it away in the treasury.”

“Fetch two of the largest South Sea pearls from my private collection and have them made into a stuffed toy for the little princess to play with.”

Hong Tao was momentarily confused. The Qin Emperor grew impatient. “Use the pearls as eyes—big and round. The little cub will like it.”

Now the young maid understood. They were to make a stuffed doll for the little princess, embedding the pearls as the doll’s eyes.

She was somewhat astonished. Good heavens, the treasures the Emperor had seized over the years through his southern campaigns and northern expeditions to unify the six states were countless. Among them, those South Sea pearls were considered the finest, rumored to have been taken from the crown of the Queen of Chu back then—truly priceless treasures.

Yet for a mere little cloth doll, the Emperor actually wanted to use the two largest pearls as the doll’s eyes? Wasn’t he afraid of blinding the little princess with their brilliance?

And he said it so casually, as if they weren’t invaluable jewels but just ordinary stones picked up from the ground.

The experienced nanny’s hands trembled as she worked on the cloth doll, afraid she might accidentally scratch those priceless pearls.

Who would have thought that the South Sea pearls, once coveted by all the Madams of the imperial harem, would now become part of a toy for a nursing infant?

Having confiscated the gift from the mischievous older brother, that evening the Little Dragon Cub received a present from her father. At first glance, she was drawn to the pair of enormous, dazzling pearls on the cloth tiger’s head and eagerly reached out to grab them.

The Qin Emperor chuckled to himself. He had noticed early on that the Little Chick might have inherited this trait from him—a fondness for gold, silver, and jewels. Anything shiny caught her fancy, even the polished dragon-patterned chairs and tables in the palace.

As a man and an emperor, no matter how much he liked such things, he would simply store them away in his private treasury after a glance, never playing with them. Thus, no one knew of his interest in these worldly treasures. The Little Dragon Cub, however, made no attempt to hide her delight. Her eyes sparkled like a cat spotting fish, as if she wanted to snatch and carry away anything that caught her fancy.

From that day on, this cloth tiger—whose only valuable parts were its eyes (worth a fortune)—became the Little Dragon Cub’s favorite toy. She carried it everywhere, even to bed, never letting it out of her sight.

Rumors spread outside the palace that the young princess, though small in age, was exceptionally clever and sensible. Knowing the cloth tiger was a gift from the Emperor, she treasured it dearly and allowed no one else to touch it.

The jade pendant gifted by her gentle older brother, hung around her neck, had long been forgotten by the Little Dragon Cub. The Qin Emperor’s lips curled slightly—sometimes the most unexpected things bore fruit.

If not for considering his eldest son’s feelings, he would have long discarded that worthless piece of jade.

The Ying clan had a tradition: gifts given to newborns by elders and older siblings carried blessings and thus had to be carefully preserved. They symbolized a bond, serving as tokens for future interactions if needed.

After receiving the gift, the Little Dragon Cub marked another check in her little notebook. Another point for Daddy. Once Daddy scored full marks, she would tell him her little secret about crossing worlds.

The young eunuch returned after delivering the gift. By evening, there was still no change in the wound on his buttocks. Lying in bed, Huhai wondered: Did he need to apologize in person for it to work?

If he apologized a few more times, would he heal faster?

With this thought, the next day—still with no improvement—Huhai had his attendants carry him to his father’s palace.

The guards and palace servants there regarded him with extreme wariness, refusing to let him enter. Huhai protested indignantly, “This young master has come to apologize to my royal sister! What’s wrong with visiting her? How dare you block me?”

The captain of the guards, who had appeared at some point, eyed him suspiciously. “Young Master, are you certain you’re not here to bully the little princess?”

“His Majesty has ordered that suspicious individuals are not to be admitted.”

Unwilling to leave, Huhai had his attendants set him down right there at the palace gates. He lay there basking in the sun until his father returned from court. Pitifully pleading, he trailed behind his father into the palace.

As soon as he saw the Little Imperial Sister being carried by a palace maid, the young boy’s eyes lit up. Limping eagerly toward her as if greeting a dear relative, he exclaimed, “Little Imperial Sister, your brother has come to see you again!”  

The Little Dragon Cub glanced at his face, then disdainfully turned her head away.  

Undaunted, the boy grinned shamelessly. “Imperial Sister, I went back and reflected on my actions. I realized my apology yesterday wasn’t sincere enough, so I’ve come to apologize again.”  

“From now on, I’ll examine myself three times a day and come to apologize to you every single day. How’s that for sincerity?”  

Even if his motives were self-serving, the boy still smugly believed he was being incredibly earnest—after all, none of those he had bullied over the years had ever received so many apologies from him.  

The Little Imperial Sister was truly fortunate!  

Unfortunately, the Little Dragon Cub ignored him, reaching past him instead to wave at her towering Dragon Father, begging to be held.  

The Qin Emperor obliged without hesitation, smoothly scooping her up while taking the opportunity to reprimand his son. “Apologies aren’t given like this.”  

Huhai looked up. “Father, teach me how.”  

The man carried the little cub inside, lecturing his son as he walked. “Sincerity means catering to someone’s preferences. Empty words without action are useless.”  

Huhai, recalling the pain in his backside, grew anxious and pressed, “What does Imperial Sister like?”  

The Qin Emperor’s lips curved slightly as he picked up the small cloth tiger the little cub was clutching and pointed at the two dazzling gemstones sewn onto it. “For example… this.”  

Huhai’s eyes widened: “…”  

Suddenly, he felt like selling himself.