TSFLIP Chapter 600

Today was Emperor Xiachao’s 40th birthday, and the palace banquet would be held that evening. Envoys bearing gifts had been arriving nonstop, and the usually quiet imperial palace was suddenly bustling with activity.

Fengguang was walking through the imperial garden with a plate of preserved plums in her hands, casually biting into one as she strolled. On the other side of the garden lay the Eastern Palace, where the Crown Prince resided. Lately, it seemed her father had practically handed off all state affairs to Xia Fengxue. At the same time, he spent his days “coincidentally” passing by Fengyi Palace—dropping in for tea, staying for a bit, and leaving. The Empress never once asked him to stay the night.

Fengguang didn’t understand the life of middle-aged people. In her simple view, her parents were just being stubborn. Neither one wanted to break the silence. Xiachao believed he had taken away Wang Ci’s freedom, while Wang Ci believed Xiachao was a cold and heartless ruler. And so, the stalemate dragged on for over a decade.

It wasn’t her place to meddle in her elders’ affairs. What bothered her was that she was seeing less and less of the person she liked. That’s why she was on her way to the Eastern Palace now—to find him.

But halfway there, she spotted a family of three in the distance. Her face darkened immediately, and she turned to take a detour. Unfortunately, the sharp-eyed child among them spotted her.

“Pretty big sister!” The five-year-old boy let go of his mother’s hand and ran straight to her, beaming. “Big sister, I want to eat your snack too!”

Great. Too late to run now.

Fengguang snapped back to herself and forced a smile. Looking down at the boy with his rosy cheeks and perfect teeth, she said, “These are my plums. Why should I give you any?”

“Aww, big sister, don’t be so stingy…” Fengliu clung to her hand and pouted. With his angelic face, he was ridiculously hard to say no to.

But Fengguang wasn’t just anybody. Not only could she resist—she also knew this little brat was up to no good. For example, whatever he had smeared on his hands just left a big smudge of grime all over the expensive, delicate fabric of her sleeve when he touched it.

Well, what could she expect? Fengliu was the heroine’s child. Only five years old, but already terrifyingly clever. One look at a young, beautiful noblewoman surrounded by handmaids, and he had already guessed Fengguang’s identity. In his little head, Princess Changning was just a homewrecker trying to steal his father and kick out his mother.

What an insufferable little punk.

Fengguang had never been the type to quietly swallow her grievances—not even from a child. Especially not someone else’s child. So she simply turned the plate of preserved plums upside down and dumped the entire thing on Fengliu’s head. With a gracious smile, she said, “I’m not stingy—go ahead and have some.”

The crushed plums tumbled from his head, slid down his handsome little face, and splattered onto his clothes, making him look ridiculous—nothing like the charming little gentleman he had been just moments ago.

Meng Xi and Feng Miyin, who had just arrived, froze in their tracks at the scene.

They knew exactly what kind of kid Fengliu was. The moment they saw him approach Fengguang on his own, they could guess he was up to no good. He was small, sure, but scheming as hell. Other than that one time he got tossed into Wutong Alley, the kid had never suffered a loss.

But Fengguang wasn’t someone he could mess with.

They had expected to see her storming with fury and were already preparing to step in and smooth things over by saying something like “he’s just a child, please don’t take it to heart.”

But they never got the chance.

The princess had already taught him a lesson—personally.