The Emperor and Little Chubby Boy 5

Ning Bai was driven out of the palace by the imperial guards, feeling both humiliated and resentful towards Lin Lang. His feelings were beyond words.

Meanwhile, all the palace servants in Zichen Palace had been dragged out for punishment, and the atmosphere was oppressively silent.

The Emperor couldn’t help but think of Ning Mo again, wondering how such a good person could have passed away so early, while someone as foolish as Ning Bai was still bouncing around in front of him. Was heaven blind?!

He glanced up and saw Lin Lang sitting by the desk in the hall, copying the daily records as if nothing had happened. Lin Lang’s straight back and fair neck reminded him so much of Ning Mo that he couldn’t help but become a bit entranced.

When he snapped back to reality, he realized he had been so captivated by someone who resembled Ning Mo that he momentarily forgot the pain of missing him. He was both shocked and angry, angry at himself for how easily his feelings for Ning Mo were tested, and angry at his own weakness and incompetence for allowing someone so similar to Ning Mo to distract him from his longing.

He redirected his anger and said harshly, “There’s nothing to do today, Lord Lin, you should go home early and stop lingering in front of me—”

Lin Lang paused, put down his pen and ink, tidied up his things, and respectfully prepared to leave. To be honest, he wasn’t that dedicated; he had a day off tomorrow, and leaving early meant he could enjoy a longer break. He was eager to go home and spend more time with his little one—

The Emperor noticed the obvious joy in Lin Lang’s departing figure and couldn’t help but call him back before he stepped out, saying, “Don’t think too much about what Ning Bai said earlier. In my heart, there’s only Zimo, and I’ve never had any thoughts about you. Besides, how could you compare to Zimo—”

Lin Lang: …

He really wanted to thank this blockhead Emperor Liu Qi! He never wanted the Emperor to think of him like that! Nor did he want to be compared to his past self! He didn’t want to hear this blockhead express how much he liked his past self in front of his current self!

It’s so awkward! It makes this blockhead seem so foolish! He couldn’t believe he was supposed to support this guy into becoming a wise ruler for the ages! Spare him, please!

No matter how frustrated Lin Lang felt inside, he maintained a calm and serious demeanor: “I understand, Your Majesty. My only wish is to assist Your Majesty, to establish a heart for heaven and earth, to establish a life for the people, and to ensure the prosperity and happiness of the Cangxuan nation and its people!”

After speaking, he waved his sleeve and stepped out of Zichen Palace, his figure appearing particularly tall and radiant, almost saintly. The Emperor was a bit dazed by the sight. He thought his Zimo seemed to be like this too!

He couldn’t help but knock his head hard, wondering what he was thinking! How could Lin Lang compare to his Zimo!

Lin Lang was unaware of the Emperor’s inner thoughts. After leaving Zichen Palace, he returned home by carriage while it was still early.

At this time, the little one was squatting under the big tree in the courtyard, holding a small water bowl in one hand and a twig in the other, with a pile of dirt in front of him. He was pouring water into the dirt pile and stirring it with the twig, looking very serious.

Lin Lang couldn’t help but rub his forehead, wondering why he didn’t have a well-behaved little daughter, a pretty little princess who wouldn’t play with mud like this little rascal—

The little one heard the commotion, looked up, and saw that his dad had come home! His chubby little face immediately broke into a big, bright smile. He threw the twig and water bowl aside and ran over joyfully, looking like a chubby little chick from a distance.

Lin Lang couldn’t help but smile warmly, thinking that having a little rascal wasn’t so bad; his own child was always endearing!

He bent down, opened his arms, and scooped up the little one, lifting him high and spinning him around. The little one giggled like a little bell in spring.

Suddenly, Lin Lang noticed that the little one’s clothes and arms were covered in mud, and some had even gotten on him. He couldn’t help but stiffen.

Headache, why isn’t there a washing machine in this era—

Lin Lang changed into a light blue casual outfit, with only a white jade hairpin in his hair, his forehead hair tied high, and a long ribbon around his waist. He looked like a gentleman, clear and bright as the moon, with manners as upright as bamboo. He also changed the little one into a bright yellow robe, put on bright yellow tiger-head shoes, and carefully retied the slightly loose bun on his head before taking the little one out.

Since Lin Lang started working, he hadn’t taken the little one out for a stroll in a long time. They had been living in Shu, and only came to the capital half a year ago for the exams. Three years ago, when he woke up, he had nothing but a jade pendant, a jade belt, and a jade crown, which he pawned for several hundred taels of silver to sustain their lives for a while. Later, he copied books and wrote articles for others, saving up some silver to support himself and his little one, and to cover the travel expenses to the capital for the exams.

In the past, when he was in the Duke’s residence, he had the best of everything. After Liu Qi ascended the throne, even more good things were piled in front of him. At that time, his eyes were filled with the teachings of sages and the righteousness of poetry and books, and he didn’t pay attention to mundane things like food and clothing. Even those jade pendants, crowns, and belts were just external possessions. Who knew that exchanging them for money could sustain an ordinary family for years, and later even saved his and his little one’s lives.

In these three years, he truly realized the importance of money. Everything from food, clothing, housing, and education required money, especially writing materials, which were expensive consumables. He had to learn to be frugal and budget carefully to make ends meet.

Fortunately, after becoming the top scholar, the Emperor rewarded him with a three-entry house not far from the palace, along with a lot of gold and silver. There was also a poem inscribed on the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which brought more rewards, and with the salary from his position, he was now much more financially comfortable.

The last time he became the top scholar, he was thrilled by the ambition and ideals of achieving great things. This time, what made him happiest was the rewards of the big house and money. After all, his greatest wish now was to raise his little one well, and raising a child, as anyone who has done it knows, is very costly!

They lived in Xisanli Alley, surrounded mostly by court officials. If it weren’t for the Emperor’s reward, he couldn’t have afforded it with the money he had.

After leaving the alley and walking west across two streets, they arrived at the bustling and lively West Street. There were many restaurants and teahouses here, with numerous peddlers along the street selling candied haws, sugar figures, spring rolls, meat pies, baked cakes, and sugar-roasted chestnuts, all kinds of snacks, and the aroma could be smelled from afar.

Little Chubby Boy was already drooling and couldn’t help but suck his fingers, looking longingly at the delicious food but not demanding to eat it. Even at his young age, he understood that his dad didn’t have much money and couldn’t buy food and toys at will, or else they would go hungry, and the feeling of hunger was too uncomfortable—

Lin Lang saw the little one’s expression and knew what he was thinking, reflecting on whether he had been too strict in his education, making the little one aware of life’s realities too early, which might be a bit cruel.

He patted the little one’s soft hair and smiled, “What do you want to eat? Daddy will buy it for you—”

The little one looked at the red candied haws and the sweet and tempting sugar-roasted chestnuts, then shook his head with difficulty and said in a childish voice, “Little one already ate a full tummy at noon, little one is not hungry, little one doesn’t need to eat—”

Lin Lang’s heart melted, and he immediately bought a stick of candied haws and a big bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts, stuffing them into the little one’s arms, smiling with squinted eyes, “Daddy has money now, and from now on, whatever little one wants to eat, daddy can buy it for you—”

The little one’s eyes immediately lit up, looking up with an innocent face and asking, “Can daddy buy me the meat and pastries I ate at Huang Huang’s place?”

Lin Lang: …

This little rascal really knows how to pick! Isn’t this a way to drain daddy’s money? Even if you emptied your dad’s pockets, it wouldn’t be enough for you to eat a few meals—

But he couldn’t tell the little one such a harsh truth, so he forced a smile and said, “The delicious food in the palace is made by the imperial chefs, and it’s not sold outside—”

He pointed to all the food stalls in sight and said, “But all the delicious food here, daddy can buy for you!”

The little one widened his eyes, feeling like he had gained countless treasures, grinning and showing half of his little milk teeth, giggling non-stop. After laughing, he wasn’t greedy and didn’t want everything, but said with some restraint, “Little one is happy with candied haws and sugar chestnuts today, little one will buy more delicious food tomorrow!”

He said it like an emperor who only favored one beauty today and would favor others another day, making Lin Lang both amused and exasperated.

Besides taking the little one for a stroll, the main purpose of coming out today was to buy some meat, vegetables, and eggs, not only to make delicious food for the little one tomorrow but also to prepare for the next ten days.

The meat and vegetable stalls were in the alleys of West Street, and at this time, the vegetables weren’t very fresh, but they were discounted and cheap. For Lin Lang, fresh meat could be salted and stored in jars for a long time, and some vegetables that were easy to store could be kept for a few more days without any problem.

However, even with discounts, the meat here was still a few coins more expensive per pound than in Shu, and vegetables were correspondingly more expensive, but there were many varieties.

Lin Lang bought some pork knuckles, pork belly, pork ribs, cabbage, radishes, wild leeks, pumpkins, and soon Uncle Lin’s basket was full and couldn’t hold any more. Lin Lang reluctantly stopped, taking the old and the young to the famous Chunfeng Building on West Street for dinner—knowing there were still many buy-one-get-one-free vegetables, such a bargain, but unfortunately, they couldn’t be stored for long, so they had to wait for next time.