My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

"Father!"

Shu Rou's voice was urgent, tinged with tears, as she tugged hard at Yao Jingyuan's sleeve with her little hands, her nails digging into the fabric.

"Rou'er wants some too! Rou'er wants some too!"

Shu Rou stared at the food in the sky, tears streaming down her face like large, broken beads. They fell onto her sleeves, the back of her hands, and the floor tiles.

"Rou'er wants to drink that golden porridge too! Rou'er has never seen porridge that color before! Rou'er wants to drink it too!"

She pointed at the glass of milk, her cries growing louder: "Rou'er wants milk too!"

"No rice! Pure milk! Rou'er wants pure cow's milk!"

She pointed at the steak again, tears and saliva streaming down her face: "And that kind of meat! Rou'er wants some too! Rou'er wants that bouncy, juicy meat that comes out with every bite!"

"I don't want this big, fat piece of meat! It's disgusting!!"

She then pointed to the plate of fruit, her face turning bright red, and snot bubbles coming out of her nose.

"Rou'er wants to eat those fruits too! Round and curved ones, Rou'er wants them all! Daddy! Rou'er wants them!"

Shu Rou became more and more anxious and aggrieved as she spoke, her face covered in smears. She threw herself onto Yao Jingyuan, pounding his legs with her little fists like drums.

She was crying so hard she was trembling and gasping for breath.

"Why does that little beggar have so much delicious food! Rou'er doesn't!?"

"Rou'er is a princess! Rou'er is the princess! What right does she have! What right does she have!!!"

Yao Jingyuan stood there, his face ashen, his lips pressed together until they turned white, and his nails dug into his cuffs until they turned white.

He couldn't say a word.

Because he was also swallowing his saliva.

Because he was thinking the same thing—

On what grounds?

Why should that little bastard child, left to die in the cold palace, get to eat things he's never even seen before? And the pure milk that even His Majesty wouldn't dare drink!

He clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, leaving crescent-shaped marks on the flesh, from which blood seeped out, and it burned with pain.

But there's nothing he can do!

All I could do was stand there, looking up, watching that little bastard in the sky happily eating and drinking, laughing so sweetly, so contentedly, so... blindingly.

On the sky, Lin Ye glanced at the system timer.

Two hours and forty-seven minutes.

It's almost there.

He glanced at the small bag across from him.

The little girl had finished eating and was holding a strawberry, taking small bites.

The red juice clung to the corners of her mouth, like a light layer of rouge, spreading slightly as she chewed.

Lin Ye silently ordered in his mind, "System, turn off the live stream."

[Ding—Live stream has ended.]

Great Flame Kingdom.

The sky began to disappear.

It was as if an invisible giant hand had seized that piece of light, crushing it inch by inch, irresistibly, starting from the edge.

The blazing white halo rapidly contracted, circle by circle.

Finally, with a "snap".

It was completely extinguished.

The sky returned to its original state.

The sky was overcast and gloomy, with a few lead-gray clouds hanging sparsely like old cotton wool that had been washed dozens of times, drifting slowly and lifelessly.

A gust of wind blew by, carrying the chill unique to late autumn, swirling up the withered leaves on the ground, making them rustle.

The entire Great Flame Kingdom was deathly silent.

From the capital to the border, from the palace to the countryside, millions of people craned their necks, opened their mouths, and remained in the same posture, as if they had been collectively frozen in place.

Looking down from above, it's like a million chickens with their throats choked, their necks stretched out, their eyes bulging out, and their mouths so big they could fit a fist.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

Then--

"boom--"

It exploded.

"What are those?! What are all those things?!"

"Immortals! That must be food for immortals! Did you see that porridge? It's golden! Like melted gold! Where in the mortal world do we have food like that?!"

"Did you see those red berries? They're so big! So bright red! As shiny as rubies! And the stems are a vibrant green! Where did you find fresh red berries in the dead of winter?!"

An old hunter shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking, "And that meat! When you cut it open! The juices inside flowed out like a stream! I've hunted for half my life, what kind of beast haven't I seen? I've never seen meat like that before! It must be meat from a divine beast! Meat from a divine beast that only immortals can eat!"

"Good heavens! That's a whole glass of pure milk! Even His Majesty couldn't drink that much at once!"

Suddenly, someone lowered their voice and said in a mysterious tone, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty doesn't eat as much as that Lin Ye, does he?"

No one responded to that sentence.

But everyone fell silent.

And silence.

It is the answer itself.

In front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Imperial Palace.

Shu Jingwei stood still, motionless.

The sky disappeared, but she was still looking at it, her eyes fixed on the empty, leaden-gray dome.

That gaze was terrifyingly stubborn, as if that thing would light up again.

Her neck had been tilted back for too long, and a soreness spread from her cervical spine all the way to her shoulder blades, as if someone were sawing back and forth in her bones with a dull knife.

But she was completely unaware.

A gust of wind blew by, lifting the hem of her dragon robe. The hem of the robe fluttered in the wind, whipping and slapping against her legs, like a flag being repeatedly whipped.

The white jade beads on the twelve-tassel crown collided with each other, making a soft, crisp sound, tinkling and clanging.

Her expression was complicated.

He felt the anger of having his imperial authority challenged, and the urge for his daughter to call a strange man "godfather," all while enjoying the privilege alone without ever thinking of his own resentment.

She felt a pang of regret, regretting that she shouldn't have abandoned Ye Fan so soon.

At that time, she only felt that Ye Fan was extremely annoying. It was one thing that he always contradicted her policies, but since it wasn't openly discussed, she was just somewhat dissatisfied.

But Ye Fan's prestige among the people even surpassed his own at one point!

This is something she, as an empress, absolutely cannot tolerate!

So once she had a pretext, she immediately placed Ye Fan, along with the child who looked like him, under house arrest, out of sight, out of mind.

Since she had already secured her throne, Ye Fan's brilliant plans and divine strategies were no longer that important.

She never expected that Ye Fan possessed so much value that she had never discovered.

That magical place, those magical items, those foods that she, as emperor, had never seen or tasted.

That golden porridge was many shades brighter than the millet porridge she usually ate.

Those transparent dumplings—like they were made of crystal—were filled with bright red prawns, some twice the size of the red prawns specially supplied from the South China Sea.

The sizzling, oily meat—she could almost smell its irresistible aroma through the sky.

That large glass of pure milk—as white as snow and as thick as honey—was casually placed on the table, as if it were just an ordinary glass of water.

And there were those colorful fruits, whose names she didn't know, each one as plump as if it had just been picked from the branch.

Every single thing was a hundred or a thousand times better than the emperor's meals.

Each one was like a slap in the face, accompanied by the sound of wind, striking her hard and mercilessly.

And this was just what Lin Ye called a "simple" breakfast.

What does that complicated thing look like?