The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 1117

Chapter 1117: 542 Reward (first update)

As it turned out, Xiaoba was still too naive to contend with a bad brother-in-law.

Xiao Hen was just teasing him. Having picked the flower, wouldn’t throwing it away be a waste?

Xiao Hen then picked the flower back up and handed it to him, saying, "Here, I was just teasing you, it’s not poisonous."

Xiaoba looked at the little flower with suspicion and did not reach out to take it.

The credibility of the bad brother-in-law was already gone; Xiaoba no longer believed what he said.

Thus, Xiao Hen held onto the flower for him, to prevent the kid from wreaking havoc on other flowers.

All the way, Xiaoba observed the bad brother-in-law, now glancing at his hand holding the flower, then at his face.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" Xiao Hen asked.

"I’m checking to see if your brows turn dark," Xiaoba said honestly.

Xiao Hen: "..."

It wasn’t until they entered Renshou Palace that Xiaoba, seeing no signs of poisoning in the bad brother-in-law, finally took the flower back.

Now that Xiao Hen was serving both in the Hanlin Academy and the Ministry of Justice, more eyes were on him. He could no longer visit Renshou Palace as capriciously as before; it was only under the pretext of escorting Xiaoba that he could avoid giving others something to criticize.

Despite claiming he didn’t want to enter the Imperial Palace, once inside, Xiaoba was quite happy to frolic around.

"Hello, Sister Feicui!"

"Hello, Sister Zhenzhu!"

After greeting each palace maid in Renshou Palace, he went to find his granny.

The Empress Dowager’s condition was not good. Perhaps too heartbroken over Princess Ning An and her son, she looked somewhat haggard, especially after each visit from Huangfu Xian, she would be lost in thought for a long time.

Today at noon, Huangfu Xian had just visited, had some food, and then left.

The Empress Dowager sat by the window in a daze, looking at the scenery in the courtyard, when suddenly a small round head popped up from below the windowsill.

"Granny!"

The Empress Dowager’s eyelids twitched abruptly: "Why is it you again?"

Standing on tiptoe, Xiaoba handed the flower through the window from outside, "A beautiful flower for my beautiful granny!"

The corner of the Empress Dowager’s mouth twitched.

You could at least have come up with a different excuse instead of being so perfunctory.

Dispassionately, the Empress Dowager took the Peony Flower, asking, "Did you cause trouble with Princess Xinyang’s flowers again?"

Xiaoba placed his little hands behind his back and seriously said, "I took it from my brother-in-law’s hand!"

He wasn’t lying; he had indeed taken it from the bad brother-in-law’s hand just now!

Though, in truth, he had picked it himself.

Didn’t the Empress Dowager understand him?

The Empress Dowager snorted and looked at the dazzling Peony Flower, "Why the sudden kindness? What made you think of bringing me a flower?"

Xiaoba sighed, "Ah, not really, it was the bad brother-in-law who said the flower was poisonous, so I couldn’t give it to Jiaojiao."

The Empress Dowager: "..."

After entering Renshou Palace, Xiao Hen didn’t rush to find his granny but went first to see Eunuch Qin.

"The Empress Dowager’s condition, ah..." Upon hearing Xiao Hen inquire about the Empress Dowager, Eunuch Qin didn’t conceal anything, "To tell you the truth, it’s not good. Princess Ning An had such a hard time at the border that her return deeply tormented people... The one who is most distressed is Young Master Xianxian... To suffer such an ordeal at a young age... The more wayward he becomes, the more it grieves the Empress Dowager..."

Huangfu Xian, after moving into the Imperial Palace, caused quite a few disturbances. On his first day, he bullied Qin Chuyu, and not long after, he managed to scare two little Princesses whom Consort Zhuang kept in the palace. Not greeting the Empress or Consorts or showing them a displeased look was considered minor.

The key point was that whenever someone complained to His Majesty, he would deny it!

"How can such a good child turn out like this?" The fault of the son lies in the father. In Eunuch Qin’s view, Huangfu Zheng truly deserved to die, "This child’s cunning.. ahem ahem."

Realizing he was about to speak out of turn, Eunuch Qin decisively stopped himself.

Xiao Hen acted as if he hadn’t heard the last sentence, "Then I’ll go see the Empress Dowager."

When Xiao Hen came to the outer area of the Empress Dowager’s study room, he patted Xiaoba on the shoulder, "Go play. I’m going to talk to granny for a while."

"Okay, I’m leaving now, granny!" Xiaoba waved his little hand and turned to go out.

Xiao Hen stayed in the study room to talk with the Empress Dowager, while Xiaoba went to Kunning Palace to find Qin Chuyu.

Considering last time’s lesson, they did not head towards Bixia Hall this time.

"Let’s go feed the fish!" Xiaoba suggested.

There is a Taiye Pool in the Imperial Palace, where numerous koi fish are kept, each one plump and adorable to look at.

But Qin Chuyu’s mood was not as cheerful.

"What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy?" Xiaoba asked in concern.

Walking along the flower-lined path, Qin Chuyu sighed, "My little dog is gone."

"Why is it gone?" Xiaoba was puzzled.