Translator: DavidT Editor: celllll
Ling Tian almost laughed; he finally heard the classic script line.
In his past life, he was pulled by his sisters to watch a few different dramas, especially those of the Qing dynasty. There was always an official crying out like that. As such, the most memorable thing Ling Tian had about those shows was the phrase, “The emperor has arrived!” He thought that he wouldn’t be able to hear it anymore after entering a different world! Who would have thought that it would still be shouted out in reality? Ling Tian could not help but think to himself, Don’t tell me this line also came to this world with me?
As everyone stood up to receive him, a man who looked about 30 years old dressed in a yellow robe walked in front. He had an average-sized figure and showed signs of putting on weight. His nose and mouth were lifted with an aura of nobility surrounding him. Beside him, there were two beautiful ladies dressed extravagantly. Standing beside each other, they each had their own separate kind of beauty.
Ling Tian knew that one of the two was his own aunt. With a single glance, he was able to immediately identify her. Perhaps, it could be said that he was able to do so even before looking. The lady to the right of the emperor who emitted a chilly and irritable aura was definitely not his own aunt. The lady to the left of the emperor who had a friendly aura and was beaming with excitement to rush over was definitely his aunt, Consort Ling Ran.
After paying greetings to everyone, Ling Ran ignored her status as a consort and ran over, snatching Ling Tian from Chu Ting’er’s bosom. The next instant, Ling Tian’s face was full of saliva from her kisses, “Hahaha, little thing, you’re finally not asleep! Aunt has come over to check on you a few times but you were always asleep like a pig. I say, little thing, were you born in the year of the pig in your previous life? Stupid little pig, fragrant little pig, aunt’s Ling Tian piggy… Hahaha…”
Ling Tian broke out in sweat! This aunt of mine is really so… valiant! To think that she has come to see me a few times already. What a pity that I have always been asleep…
“Hahaha, sister-in-law, this little child is so fragrant. He is such a cute little piggy! He is just too beautiful to death! Ah! No no no, I can’t say death! Let aunt kiss you again!” Ling Tian stared at his overly enthusiastic aunt with anger. Aunt, although I am your nephew, I am not a clump of dough. It hurts to be rubbed all over by you, you know?
“Haha, since younger sister loves to have a son so much, you should find the time to have one with the emperor. Then you will be able to play with him all day, hahaha.” Chu Ting’er teased Ling Ran softly.
“Ah, sister-in-law, you’re being annoying. Little Tian, hahaha, you’re so fair. This aunt just can’t get enough of you. Brother, look at little Tian Tian’s eyes. Wow, he has double eyelids. Also, also, his face is just so comfortable to rub… Ah, what are you doing? Quickly return him to me!” Ling Xiao could not bear to see his son get bullied by Ling Ran like that and snatched his son back. Then, he scolded sternly, “You are already a consort; how can you be so unrestrained without bearing your image in mind? Can’t you be more refined? You better be careful that the emperor doesn’t divorce you! What? Let you hug him for a while longer? My son’s face would be all bruised by you if I were to allow that!”
A yellow-dressed figure then walked in front of Ling Tian and said, “Haha, how would I do that? Ran’er’s temperament is just naturally so lively. After so many years, she is still as lively and innocent as ever. We really like him. Hahaha, come little boy, let your uncle give you a hug.” Following the gentle voice, Ling Tian felt that he was in the arms of another person. He then opened his eyes and looked carefully at the emperor’s face as though he was extremely curious. In actual fact, Ling Tian could see the expressions hidden under the emperor’s eyes extremely clearly. [1]
This was the advantage a child had. Facing a one-year-old child, everyone’s guard would inevitably be reduced greatly, revealing the thoughts which they would usually hide completely. After all, even if the one-year-old baby was a genius, just what would he be able to understand?
But no one would ever guess that Ling Tian actually had a mental age of 26 years old! At this moment, Ling Tian could see the complicated look in the emperor’s eyes. There were a few elements of joy, worry and contradiction. Plenty of emotions flashed by his eyes and they were all committed to Ling Tian’s memory.
Following which, another pair of fair hands hugged Ling Tian. Those were the hands of the empress who had been standing behind the emperor. Ling Tian knew that the empress, Yang Xue, was the precious daughter of the Yang family head, Yang KongQun. This lady was also the person he wanted to meet the most after he knew that someone wanted to poison his mother and him! Ling Tian then lifted his head and observed this lady closely.
Unsurprisingly, this empress lowered her head as though she was only focused on teasing Ling Tian who was in her arms. But from Ling Tian’s angle, he was able to see a hidden coldness in her heart together with a deep hatred and worry! However, she was still able to betray her heart and said, “Emperor, take a look at how cute this child is!”
Ling Tian’s face turned cold. This lady is definitely related to that event! She is definitely going to be a trouble eventually! Now that I have not grown up yet and am still unable to protect myself, it would be best for me to find a way to restrain her. I must definitely restrain her power!
Very quickly, a cunning smile appeared on his face; Ling Tian had an idea. As though he was mumbling something, he stretched out both his hands, with one of them grabbing a strand of hair by her cheek and the other pinching the jade peaks right in front of him. At the same time, he struggled and bit down…
“AH!!” An ear-piercing shriek sounded and the empress let go both of her hands. One of her hands reached out to her hair while the other to her chest. As for Ling Tian, his small body began falling to the floor. The surface of the hall was made of solid limestone. Everyone then began to exclaim and Chu Ting’er almost fainted from shock.
While many words would be required to describe the scene, it all happened in an instant. Ling Ran who was the nearest had rushed forward, saving the small Ling Tian right before he fell onto the floor.
The whole event took place at a lightning-fast speed; Ling Tian was already in Ling Ran’s bosom before everyone even got to react to the situation. However, everyone clearly saw that the empress was the one who let go of the child all of a sudden. Her action simply looked like it was premeditated. Furthermore, the emperor and royal uncle Yang KongQun actually did not have any reaction when the child fell down. Instead, the one who caught the child was Ling Ran who was slightly further away.
The next moment, everyone was dumbfounded and the place was filled with pin drop silence! Everyone all thought, Sh*t just got real. Things probably won’t end so easily! Everyone present is extremely worried. This matter can be big or small. If it is small, the emperor will just suppress the matter and ensure that everything is status quo on the surface. If things get blown up big, it wouldn’t be impossible for both the families to fight. If something like that happens, the winds in the Sky Bearing Empire are going to change for sure!
However, what everyone did not see was the delightful smile on Ling Tian’s face. The 20 to 30 strands of hair on his right hand silently fell and left no trace on him. As for his left hand, he rubbed his index finger and thumb together as he wore an evil smile on his face, reminiscing something.
“Empress, what is the meaning of that? How can you bear to harm such a small child?” Ling Ran, who was hugging Ling Tian, still had a lingering fear as her body trembled slightly. The moment she composed herself, she began to roar like a lioness. Following which, Chu Ting’er clumsily sprinted over with a face full of tears. She hugged Ling Tian’s small body tightly in her arms as her body trembled and she began to whimper.
Ling Zhan’s beaming face turned ashen as his eyes turned red. He glared at the empress who was in panic with a killing intent rising in the atmosphere! Even though he was in front of the emperor, he did not conceal it in the slightest! Ling Xiao’s face was completely dull without any expression, with his hands holding on to the hilt of his sword!
Facing Ling Ran’s interrogation, the empress’s face turned pale as panic filled her eyes. She then stuttered, “No no no, it wasn’t on purpose. I… just now, that child… He… pulled my hair. He… pinched my… He… I… I really didn’t do it on purpose, emperor!”
A wave of killing intent towards the empress filled the place and the atmosphere became deadly. All around, everyone from the Ling family was filled with a killing intent as they grabbed the hilt of their swords. The empress couldn’t bear with the pressure and broke out into tears.
The emperor’s face turned ashen and he shouted out with a wave of his sleeves, “Men, send the empress back to the palace!” At this moment, the emperor was already certain that this was definitely a conspiracy between the empress and her father. However, this conspiracy was just too brainless; she actually enacted such a lousy act in front of the emperor! Did they really think that the many officials and generals present were idiots? Now that they created such a huge trouble, how would he be able to settle the matter easily? A chill flashed past as he looked at Yang KongQun! It seemed that he had given them too much leeway!
“Wait!” Ling Zhan squeezed his way out of the crowd and said, “The empress is going to leave like that? Don’t tell me you are not going to give this old man here an explanation?” The chill in his tone was like the chilly winds blowing from hell.
Duke Ling was enraged!
This was something intolerable! The Ling family had a single descendant for three generations and his son had no activity for five to six years after they got married. After waiting for so long, his daughter-in-law’s stomach finally rose up as she gave the Ling family a new child. Everyone in the family was extremely careful when taking care of him, caring for him as though he was tofu. But never would he have expected that on such a joyous occasion, Ling Tian would be almost killed by this woman under the watchful eyes of everyone! Too bold! So what if you’re from the Yang family? Don’t tell me this old man here would not dare to kill you!
Yang KongQun also became flustered as he stepped forward and anxiously replied, “Duke Ling, everyone saw that it was a misunderstanding!” Knowing that they were in the wrong, Yang KongQun had already lost the pride his displayed earlier. How could he still be concerned about his face at such a moment? Thus, he lowered his pride.
Ling Zhan laughed out loud as his voice became solemn, “Misunderstanding? HAHAHA, misunderstanding? Yang KongQun, you old bastard! You dare say that such a thing was a misunderstanding? My grandson was almost killed in the hands of your daughter and you dare brush it off as a misunderstanding?”
Yang KongQun was enraged by the fact that he was called an old bastard. However, he could not do anything about it. As sweat filled his whole face, Yang KongQun held on to the arm of Ling Zhan and said, “Old Ling, listen to me, this was indeed a misunderstanding. This, this, sometimes, people’s hands would slip…”
Ling Zhan’s face changed, “Slip of hand? Yang KongQun, what if this old man has a slip of hand too?” A chilly voice sounded. The killing intent within it was not concealed at all. “This old man’s hand will slip towards the three grandson of yours. Yang KongQun, what do you think about that?!”
[1]: In China, the emperor likes to address himself as “we” instead of “I”.