Thrown out of the house, the wet nurse enters the noble household and becomes a person of high statu

Xue Bi left his seat to chase after Luo Luo, who had slipped away.

He didn't need to guess; he could already tell where Luo Luo would go.

There were only two places: one was the small kitchen where she stole candy, and the other was her mother's room.

Since there were desserts served continuously during the meal, only the latter is left.

Pushing open the door, I saw the little girl lying on the bed in the inner room.

She curled up in a ball around the begonia-patterned quilt, her two short legs sticking out, her toes dangling, and she muttered to herself.

Hearing the door open, she suddenly turned over and quickly stuffed something under the covers with her two small hands.

"Father Xue!"

Xue Bi stood by the screen, arms crossed, watching her.

He had heard this title countless times, but each time he heard it, he felt a deep sense of comfort.

Although Luo Luo has a sweet tongue and is willing to call everyone "Daddy," she is not good at it.

She inherited her mother's intelligence, wit, and ability to assess situations perfectly.

Xue Bi approached, squatted down, and looked her in the eye.

"Luo Luo, everyone at the table is eating, why are you running away?"

Luo Luo blinked. Her eyes were just like her mother's, round and clear, but with an added mischievousness.

She reached out and grabbed Xue Bi's sleeve, shaking it so hard it seemed to melt one's heart.

"Father Xue, Luo Luo is full."

"You're full? Then tell me, who ate the four sesame candy rolls that were missing from the plate on the table in the room?"

Luo Luo's little face stiffened, then she threw herself into his arms, wriggling like a little worm.

"Father Xue, please don't tell Mother, I only ate a tiny bit..."

Xue Bi was knocked backward by her bump and instinctively reached out to catch her back.

When she starts to act coquettishly, she doesn't follow any rules; she rolls into someone's arms like a soft, fluffy glutinous rice ball.

He sighed, wiped the sesame seeds from the corner of her mouth, and said gently, "Eating too many sweets will rot your teeth, and your mother will nag you again."

"That's why I ran away," the little girl said confidently.

Xue Bi pinched her little face and said to her gently, "You're right. How about you eat half a bowl of rice later? I'll peel shrimp for you."

As soon as Luo Luo heard the word "eat," she crawled out of his arms, her little brows furrowed tightly.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. She lay back on the bed and pulled something out from under the covers.

"Father Xue, I'm going to show you Mother's treasure, so please don't rush me to eat."

"Treasure?"

"Yes! I saw that the things Father Xiao sent were also wrapped in yellow cloth, and this one is too. Mother even hid it. What else could it be but a treasure?"

She held the object up with both hands, presenting it to him like a precious treasure.

Xue Bi could see clearly that it was the finest bright yellow brocade, with its edges finely rolled and tied with a red gold thread.

His smile vanished in just one glance.

That was an imperial edict.

"Luo Luo, where did you find this?"

"In the compartment under Mother's pillow!"

Luo Luo, without any guilt, lay on his lap.

"My mother secretly watched it several times, and each time she finished watching, she was stunned."

"When Luo Luo asked what it was, her mother hid it and said it was an adult's thing."

She tilted her little face up, beaming with pride.

"But Luo Luo can find it! This is Mother's treasure!"

Xue Bi pondered. Wen Ying was hiding an imperial edict that she had never mentioned. If he didn't know about it, what about the others?

What was inside? Alone, in the dead of night, she secretly unfolded it, read it over and over again, and then stared at it blankly.

What could it be? Did Xiao Yiheng give it to her?

He should have told Luo Luo to put back things that weren't hers, not to touch them, and not to peek at other people's private belongings.

But since it involved Wenying, he...

Xue Bi picked her up and placed her on the bed, his expression stern. "Luo Luo, this needs to be put back. It belongs to your mother; we can't..."

Before she could finish speaking, Luo Luo grabbed the crimson thread and pulled it apart forcefully.

"Look, look! It's nothing!"

The bright yellow silk was unfurled, revealing the contents clearly.

Xue Bi's gaze fell upon it and he couldn't look away.

He paused for a moment in the blank space of the imperial edict, coughed lightly, and then came to his senses, putting the edict away.

Presumably, the others were unaware of the imperial edict...

Luo Luo tilted her head to look at him, a rare hint of unease appearing on her little face. "Father Xue, why aren't you saying anything?"

Xue Bi rolled up the imperial edict again and carefully tied it with red gold thread, making sure it looked exactly the same as the original.

Then he hugged Luo Luo and said, "Luo Luo doesn't want to eat, so she won't eat today."

It's not a big deal to skip a meal, and suppressing it further could backfire, especially since she ate quite a few pastries and sweets.

"Really?" Luo Luo's eyes lit up.

"Really." Xue Bi released her and looked earnestly into her eyes.

"But you have to promise me one thing: you have to put this back exactly as it was, and you can't tell anyone that you've seen it, nor can you tell anyone that I've seen it."

Why?

"because……"

Xue Bi paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "That's your mother's treasure. A treasure must be hidden well to become a real treasure."

Luo Luo tilted her head and thought for a moment. Keeping a secret was very easy for her. Anyway, the contents of the imperial edict were obscure, and she couldn't understand what was written on it anyway.

"Okay!" she nodded vigorously.

Xue Bi, unusually childlike, held up her little finger, "Then let's pinky swear."

Luo Luo also stretched out her hand and made a pinky promise with him.

Afterwards, she put the tied imperial edict back in its original place, clapped her hands, and looked as if she had accomplished a great mission.

"Let's go, before your mother gets angry, let's sneak back."

Luo Luo excitedly took his hand tightly and looked up, asking, "Father Xue, will you be unhappy if I don't eat?"

After all, her mother would get angry when she refused to eat.

Xue Bi looked down at her, unable to suppress the smile on his lips. "How could this be?"

After the family banquet, Liu Wenying was extremely busy. A new batch of silk had been produced at Zhiyun Manor, and she had to go and inspect it herself.

The shop was overflowing with Mid-Autumn Festival orders, and she had been running around outside since dawn.

It wasn't until sunset that I remembered something: I hadn't checked Luo Luo's schoolwork yet.

Luo Luo was lying on the desk, with a calligraphy practice book spread out in front of her. She had written half of the first page, but the second and third pages were still blank.

She crossed her short legs and played with a grasshopper made of straw in her hand.

"Since Mother isn't home, you're not going to do your schoolwork?"

A solemn voice came from outside, and Luo Luo's hand trembled, causing the grasshopper woven from straw to fall to the ground.

Pei Dingxuan stood at the door. He had returned early from the Ministry of Justice today, still wearing his official robes, which carried the cold, damp chill of the prison.

In particular, he was extremely tall, and standing there he completely blocked the light from outside the door.

Luo Luo is fearless, but she is somewhat intimidated by Pei Dingxuan.

Xue Bi would hold her and tell her stories, Lu Ye would let her ride on his shoulders to pick persimmons, and Pei Yaojun would let her pull her hair and tug her ears.

But Pei Dingxuan never indulged her. He spoke bluntly, and his very presence was like a mountain, a mountain with no sweets or stories, only rules.

"Father Xuan..."

She let out a soft cry, like a deflated balloon.

…………