The Emperor's Beloved: My Ancestor is the Crown Prince?

Even though he was mentally prepared, Li Chengqian's heart still skipped a beat. He slowly withdrew his arm, his fingertips still feeling the soft touch.

The palace servants standing inside the hall lowered their heads and dared not utter a sound.

Li Chengqian sat quietly for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the brightly colored "soft building blocks" on the carpet that Li Lizhi and the others hadn't tidied up when they left, and then looking at the small table where the sweet soup bowl had been placed.

He suddenly spoke, his voice exceptionally clear in the silent hall: "Please carefully put away those colorful objects on the ground, and... the iron box that held the food, and place it in my study."

"Yes, sir." The palace maid immediately responded and carefully picked it up.

Li Chengqian rose and walked to the window. The setting sun cast a golden glow on the palace's massive eaves.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his deep eyes reflecting the deepening twilight.

And on the other end—

Xiao Qingyi felt as if she had taken a nap in a warm cloud, and her body gently sank down.

"oops!"

She landed on her bottom, slipping onto the cool, smooth stone floor of her ancestral hall. She blinked her sleepy eyes, and what came into view were the familiar, ancient beams and pillars, and the quietly hanging portrait of her ancestors.

came back?

She shook her still slightly dizzy head, her face still a little dazed. She remembered that in the end... she fell asleep leaning against her ancestor? And then... then she came back!

She touched her wrist; her phone and watch were still intact. She quickly checked her little backpack—oh no! Several of her building blocks were missing! She must have left them with Grandma! Her insulated lunchbox was gone too!

Xiao Qing felt a little sorry for him, but more than that, she felt excited and a little tired after completing a "great adventure".

Xiao Qingyi patted her skirt, preparing to run to Xiaoling to ask for food as usual, but as she turned around, she almost bumped into someone.

"Brother?"

She looked up and saw Li Qingge standing at the entrance of the ancestral hall, quietly watching her.

"Yiyi," Li Qingge's voice sounded different than usual, less casual and more serious, "Where...did you go this afternoon?"

Xiao Qingyi blinked: "I went to my ancestor's house and made some new friends."

"How did you get there?" Li Qingge squatted down, his gaze level with hers. "You've been missing since noon, and you took your schoolbag with you. Just now, you came out of the ancestral hall?" His gaze swept over Xiao Qingyi's still somewhat dusty skirt and the schoolbag that was noticeably lighter.

"Mmm!" Xiao Qingyi nodded vigorously, completely innocent. "I pushed open the back door and found myself in a new place! It's huge!"

It was "pushing open the back door" again. Li Qingge's heart sank. He had noticed before that, apart from the wall and the old ancestral hall side door that was always locked, what other "door" was there in the backyard?

unless……

His gaze fell on Xiao Qingyi, and he suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a different color peeking out from the pocket of her coat.

He reached out, gently pinched that corner, and pulled it out—it was an intricately woven silk ribbon, with a piece of warm, translucent white jade pendant carved with exquisite patterns tied to the end!

Bathed in the dim light, the jade pendant shimmered with a restrained yet lustrous sheen, warm to the touch—clearly an extraordinary piece. The intricate carvings of intertwined ruyi branches were simple yet elegant, unlike any style Li Qingge had ever seen on modern jewelry.

Xiao Qingyi exclaimed "Ah!" and tried to snatch it back: "It was given to me by Pretty Jie Jie!"

Li Qingge held the jade pendant in her hand, not returning it to her immediately, but instead holding it up to her eyes to examine it carefully.

The weaving technique of the silk ribbon was very special, and the texture and carving of the jade pendant were even more exquisite... He felt that there was a kind of profound beauty that had been settled by time, and it had a faint similarity to the ancient jade he had seen when he visited the museum.

"Which pretty lady?" Li Qingge pressed, her voice growing more urgent, "What's her name? Where did you get it from?"

"It's...it's that lady who's dressed so nicely! Her name is...um..." Xiao Qingyi tried hard to recall Li Lizhi's self-introduction, "They all call her Princess Chang Le...right! Princess Chang Le, Jie Jie!" She thought the name was really nice.

Princess Chang Le...?

Li Qingge's pupils contracted slightly.

A "pretty lady" dressed in ancient costume, who calls herself a "princess" and can casually give away such a precious ancient jade?

Combining the names "Li Chengqian" and "Du He" that my sister mentioned earlier, and that "big house without electric lights"...

An absurd yet seemingly coherent conjecture exploded in his mind like a thunderclap, leaving him momentarily speechless.