Chapter 4: Extravagance Beyond Reason

[Dad is here to see me]

[And he brought me a gift for my birth. Woo~ Even though the tyrant father can be harsh, he’s soft-hearted.]

Ah Bao craned her neck and peered eagerly from her swaddling, catching sight of a dazzling figure approaching.

As soon as the tyrant stepped into Yihe Palace, he heard Ah Bao’s voice.

A faint, barely perceptible smile appeared on the cold and stern face of the tyrant.

“I thought Ah Bao would know that I was coming to see her. Is she awake now?”

Concubine De greeted him and quickly approached, “Your Majesty, you arrived just in time; Ah Bao has just woken up.”

Newborns in the confinement period sleep a lot.

The tyrant held Ah Bao in his arms, rocking her gently. The sight of her bright eyes and lively expression only made him find her more endearing.

“I just realized that I hadn’t given Ah Bao a gift yet since her birth. So I prepared something for her.” The tyrant instructed to bring in the box.

Ah Bao’s little hands reached out eagerly.

[This is the first time I’ve ever received a gift in this life and the last one!]

[Hurry and let me see what it is.]

The moment the lid of the box was opened, Ah Bao saw a large gleam of gold.

Wow!

A golden basin!

It was an enormous, gigantic golden basin!

After spending hundreds of years in the underworld without seeing a single gold brick, seeing this basin, which was many times larger than a bowl, filled Ah Bao’s eyes with sparkling gold.

[What does it mean to be extravagantly unreasonable! Look at my tyrant father!]

[Even though gold is a bit tacky, I actually like this tackiness.]

[How did I not notice how handsome my tyrant father is before, glowing with brilliance!]

Although dealing with state affairs had been exhausting for the tyrant recently, seeing little Ah Bao so happy completely cleared the gloom from his heart.

“Ah Bao’s drooling all over, so she must like the gift,” the tyrant said with a chuckle.

[Salivating over gold isn’t anything special; if I could walk, I’d bite into it myself.]

[There’s no way around it. I’ve never seen gold in the underworld. What girl wouldn’t like glittering things?]

The tyrant: …

Was Ah Bao perhaps a wandering soul before her rebirth?

Folktale narrators often said that a soul could be reincarnated quickly if it had relatives performing rites for it. Wandering souls had to wait in line.

How pitiful.

How long had Ah Bao waited to find them?

The tyrant felt even more affection for Ah Bao.

He placed Ah Bao into the golden basin.

Ah Bao was still in the confinement period, just two days old, weighing a little over six pounds.

The golden basin was large enough to compare with a modern washbasin, easily accommodating Ah Bao.

The tyrant said, “This really is a genuine treasure basin.”

Ah Bao lay in the golden basin, feeling as if the air was filled with golden energy.

[Is this the scent of money?]

[It smells so good, hahaha.]

Hmm?

Ah Bao looked around. She couldn’t crawl or roll over yet, but as she turned her head, she saw some words engraved on the inside wall of the basin.

These winding words didn’t look like standard writing.

Ah Bao couldn’t recognize any of them!

What were these?

Meanwhile, Concubine De and the Emperor were conversing.

Concubine De said, “Your Majesty seems to care deeply for Ah Bao.”

When she had given birth to her two sons, the Emperor had not sent gifts for them.

The tyrant, standing with his hands behind his back, gazed at little Ah Bao in the basin, his eyes smiling. “This is all thanks to Taoist Baiyun.”

Concubine De was surprised. “Your Majesty means Taoist Baiyun from Baihua Mountain?”

“Yes, Taoist Baiyun crafted this golden basin using his accumulated incense money over the years and presented it to me. I merely helped to carry it here.”

Concubine De looked at the large golden basin with confusion.

Taoist Baiyun had always had a good relationship with the Emperor in private. Yet, Taoist Baiyun had never given gifts before.

Now that Ah Bao was born, Taoist Baiyun made such an extraordinary gesture.

This inevitably made the meticulous Concubine De wonder.

Why was Taoist Baiyun treating Ah Bao so specially?

Concubine De came back to herself and said warmly, “I also prepared a gift for Ah Bao, but compared to Your Majesty’s golden basin, it’s truly modest.”

Concubine De took out a silk cloth from a nearby cabinet.

Inside was a gold key.

“All the gold, silver, and jewelry I have saved over the years, including my dowry when I entered the palace, is left for Ah Bao.”

[What’s mom saying? I love her most. Having mom with me is the best gift!]

[The gold key means mom gave me an entire little treasury.]

[Hug, mom!]

Concubine De’s smile deepened.

The tyrant watched the mother and daughter affectionately interacting and felt a pang of jealousy.

He wasn’t pleased.

Why did he give Ah Bao a big golden basin, and Ah Bao didn’t even ask him for a hug?

Wasn’t the daughter supposed to be closest to her father?

This ungrateful little thing, forgetting her father as soon as she saw her mother.

The tyrant wanted to hug Ah Bao, feeling itchy to hold her.

“Concubine De, your arms must be tired from holding the baby these past few days. Ah Bao, be good. Let Father hold you so your mother can have a rest.”

Concubine De: !!!

Ah Bao: ???

The tyrant took Ah Bao back into his arms. Before she was born, he hadn’t felt much, but now, after her birth, she was truly adorable.

…

When Ah Bao turned one month old, the Empress Dowager was returning to the palace.

The tyrant needed to select one of the many Concubines to be responsible for the Empress Dowager’s return.

Thus, a banquet was set up in the palace garden.

Concubine De, holding little Ah Bao, had just taken her seat in the garden when she heard a voice whispering next to her, “Mother! I’m back!”

A seventeen-year-old boy hurried over to Concubine De and sat next to her.

Concubine De gave the boy a reproachful look. “You finally remember to come back to the palace? You’ve been out for half a month.”

The boy, Prince Di Zian, grinned.

“Have you seen your father? Make sure you don’t lose your manners,” Concubine De reminded him.

“Don’t worry, Mother. Your son is being good.”

“No matter how good you are, you’re not as good as your little sister.”

Di Zian leaned closer to little Ah Bao. “Mother, you’re the typical case of forgetting your son once you have a daughter. Let me see if my sister looks like me.”

Ah Bao was lying leisurely in her swaddle when suddenly a big head loomed over her.

Their eyes met.

Di Zian and Ah Bao stared at each other.

[Oh, so this must be my long-lost older brother, the Seventh Prince, Di Zian.]

Di Zian’s smile froze, and his eyes widened further.