Chapter Eleven: Take My Hand

At this moment, an exceedingly dull scene was unfolding before her eyes. Xiao Jingxuan reached for Yunbai’s small hand, Yunbai dodged away in irritation, Xiao Jingxuan, enraged, reached out again, and Yunbai flung his hand aside once more. This went on, over and over. Su Jingluo felt somewhat helpless—this father and son’s way of interacting truly was unique to the extreme.

“What are you two doing?” Su Jingluo could not help but speak up, seeing the little eunuch leading them, anxious yet unable to say a word. She had to interrupt the strange spectacle.

“Let your son hold my hand,” Xiao Jingxuan was furious. What was so wrong about holding his hand? A father wanted to express affection for his son, yet he was rejected—it was humiliating. Today, if they didn’t hold hands, no one was leaving.

“I won’t. I don’t like you!” Yunbai’s little face turned pale with anger, his lips pursed in a childish pout.

Su Jingluo wanted to tell Xiao Jingxuan a famous saying: once you didn’t care, now you’re out of reach. But then she thought, the closer Xiao Jingxuan and Yunbai became, the better—it would be good for the child’s mental health, and useful for scrounging food and drink.

“Yunbai, hold his hand.”

“No, Mother, why?” Yunbai protested, unwilling to hold the hand of his villainous father.

“It’s a rule in the palace. Hurry up.” Sometimes, children didn’t need long explanations—a little coaxing would suffice.

Xiao Jingxuan hadn’t expected Su Jingluo to be so adept at spinning tales, able to fool a child so easily. But it was so effective.

Yunbai was reluctant, but since it was a rule, he grudgingly took his father’s hand. That soft, small hand nestled in Xiao Jingxuan’s palm, and for a moment, the man was moved to tears. Being a father was wonderful. How could this little hand feel so comfortable and adorable?

This family of three, each the picture of a different mood—Su Jingluo’s face full of curiosity, Yunbai’s expression full of resentment and disdain, and Xiao Jingxuan, so pleased that his smile creased his face like layers of pastry.

Upon entering the palace, their first task was to pay respects to the Empress Dowager. Yet, before her palace, Xiao Jingxuan’s smile faded.

Many unpleasant memories surged within him. His birth mother’s status had been low; his father, the emperor, did not favor him. But as long as he had his mother, it was enough. Yet his mother passed away, leaving him alone and destitute. If not for his outstanding talent and martial prowess, the Empress Dowager would never have taken him in.

Still, Xiao Jingxuan was not treated kindly: scolded every three days, forced to kneel at the ancestral hall every five. Only when he was sent to the frontier to quell rebellion, returning in glory and receiving titles and honors, did those days end.

This was Xiao Jingxuan’s first time seeing the Empress Dowager since returning from the borderlands. He stood stubbornly, refusing to kneel or pay his respects. Su Jingluo had no idea what Xiao Jingxuan was being so obstinate about—at this time, those with power could truly kill without hesitation—so she obediently followed palace protocol, bowing deeply at the door with Yunbai, awaiting the Empress Dowager’s summons.

The messenger went inside and seemed to vanish for ages, with no sound or sign.

Su Jingluo’s knees were numb from kneeling; she thought little Yunbai surely couldn’t endure much longer. She softly asked Yunbai to shift his position.

She looked, and was startled—the father and son both wore the same fierce glare, staring at the Empress Dowager’s chambers.

“Bad Father, you said you’d protect Mother and me. Why are you making us kneel so long?” Yunbai, eyes red, suddenly shouted at Xiao Jingxuan.

This was bad—at this rate, it was hard to tell who would suffer more: Xiao Jingxuan or the one inside the chambers. Su Jingluo wanted to quickly soothe Yunbai, but the situation didn’t allow it; she couldn’t very well say at the palace door, “Oh Yunbai, we mustn’t poison anyone!” What on earth was happening? Su Jingluo felt as though she might not survive this episode.

Xiao Jingxuan, indignant, glared at the Empress Dowager’s palace and knelt heavily on the ground.