Liang Zhaoyi stood at the doorway, looking at the oppressive sky outside, and an inexplicable sense of foreboding surged in her heart.
"Lady, what are you doing standing at the door?" Gui Xing approached, draping a slightly worn cloak over Liang Zhaoyi's shoulders. "The weather is bad today, and it's windy outside. Be careful not to catch a cold while standing in the wind."
Liang Zhaoyi frowned and said, "The weather is about to change."
Gui Xing didn't catch the deeper meaning in Liang Zhaoyi's words. She looked at the dark sky outside and said, "Looks like it's going to rain, maybe even heavily." Then she thought of the young master and exclaimed, "Lady, if it rains heavily, won't the young master get soaked on the way to Wende Hall? What if he catches a cold?"
Liang Zhaoyi laughed and said, "The rain won't come down for a while, don't worry about him getting wet." After speaking, she glanced outside again, "It's time to wake him up." With that, she headed towards the side hall.
[Yao Yao, wake up, wake up to study.]
As soon as she walked into the side hall, she heard the parrot Lai Yun screeching dutifully, calling the little master to wake up. Unfortunately, its little master turned a deaf ear to its words.
Lai Yun saw Liang Zhaoyi walk in and taunted gleefully, [The Lady is here to spank Yao Yao's bottom.]
Liang Zhaoyi walked to the bed and lifted the bed curtain's drapes. On the bed lay a delicate little boy. Beside him, there was a cat and a dog sleeping.
The cat was a large orange tabby, and the dog was a pure white Pekingese.
The dog was named Lai Fu, and the cat was named Lai Cai.
Lai Fu, seeing that Liang Zhaoyi was the one approaching, wagged its tail at her.
Lai Cai stood up, lazily stretched, and then elegantly walked over to Liang Zhaoyi.
Liang Zhaoyi reached out to stroke Lai Cai's little head, and Lai Cai meowed comfortably twice.
Lai Fu licked the little master who was asleep and barked at him softly twice.
The little master in his dream mumbled, "Lai Fu, let me sleep a little longer."
Lai Fu barked, [Little master, the Lady is here, you need to get up.]
"Just a little longer, just a little."
Seeing this, Liang Zhaoyi had no choice but to pull away her son's blanket. Then, she picked up her son in one sweep.
Zhao Yao was awakened by the cold. He drowsily opened his eyes and called out softly to Liang Zhaoyi, "Mother Consort."
Seeing her son's adorable just-awakened look, Liang Zhaoyi's heart softened. She felt a bit reluctant to wake her son, but he needed to go to Wende Hall to study. If she didn't wake him up, he'd be late for Wende Hall.
She vigorously rubbed her son's adorable little face, making him cry out.
Zhao Yao's little face was squished out of shape by his mother consort, and naturally, his sleepiness was also rubbed away.
"Mother Consort, I'm awake, don't rub my face anymore." Every time Mother Consort used this trick, he felt his face was rubbed raw.
Liang Zhaoyi gave her son's little face another squeeze before letting him go and began to help him dress.
Once dressed, Zhao Yao ran to the side room to change and wash up.
After washing up, he headed to the dining hall with Lai Fu and Lai Cai. Just as he walked out of the side hall, a sudden clap of thunder startled him.
A booming crash followed, making Zhao Yao feel as if the ground was shaking.
Then he saw the oppressive sky split in half by a purple lightning bolt, which was terribly frightening.
Zhao Yao stared with wide eyes at the split sky, his small mouth wide open in surprise, "Is it supposed to be this scary in the morning?"
Lai Fu barked twice; [It's going to pour.]
"What, it's going to pour?" Zhao Yao exclaimed in shock, "It seems like it's spring, not summer, right?" Just after saying this, he thought of something and chuckled, "If it pours, then I won't have to go to Wende Hall to study."
Lai Cai splashed Zhao Yao's excitement with a bucket of cold water, [This rain isn't coming for a while.]
When Zhao Yao heard what Lai Cai said, his little face was full of displeasure, and he pouted, "You got my hopes up for nothing." With that, he skipped towards the dining hall.
Just then, a soldier walked into the palace, shouting as he walked, "Great victory in Liangzhou, Prince Dai has achieved great victory!"
This news struck the morning court like a thunderclap, leaving many ministers dumbfounded.
The news of Prince Dai's victory brought joy to some and anguish to others; for the ministers supporting the Crown Prince, this was not good news.
Soon, news of Prince Dai's victory reached the harem.
Zhao Yao was having breakfast with Liang Zhaoyi when Tong Xi hurriedly rushed in and respectfully reported to them, "Lady, Your Highness, the latest news is that Prince Dai has achieved great victory."
Liang Zhaoyi paused with her chopsticks in hand, saying meaningfully, "Sure enough, a storm is approaching."
Zhao Yao wasn't particularly happy to hear this good news, he pouted and said, "Second Elder Brother won the war, and Ninth Elder Brother will be smug again. When I go to Wende Hall later, he'll show off again."
Liang Zhaoyi gently advised, "Let him show off, you don't need to compete with him, just pretend you didn't hear anything."
Zhao Yao obediently nodded, "I understand." After saying that, he took a big bite of his meat bun and continued, "Ninth Elder Brother's smug face is really annoying."
"Just ignore him." Liang Zhaoyi peeled an egg and placed it in her son's bowl, "Your Second Elder Brother's big win means there will likely be a banquet tonight."
Zhao Yao furrowed his brow, puffing out his cheeks, "Mother Consort, can I not go?" His little brain worked quickly, and he immediately thought of a plan, "I can pretend to be sick and not go."
Liang Zhaoyi smiled gently, "What do you think?"
Uh...
"Mother Consort, don't smile like that, it's quite scary, okay?" Zhao Yao was most afraid of Liang Zhaoyi smiling like that; it gave him the creeps, and he reluctantly said, "Okay, I'll go."
Seeing her son so unwilling, Liang Zhaoyi comforted him, "Just treat it as going to enjoy some good food, don't worry about anything else."
"Mother Consort, even if I wanted to worry, there's nothing I could do." Zhao Yao shrugged his shoulders and said, "Second Elder Brother's great victory has nothing to do with me." Second Elder Brother's triumph in Liangzhou means Father will likely reward him with many things, and there will probably be more people supporting him in court, giving the Crown Prince a headache now.
"You're thinking correctly." Liang Zhaoyi never wanted her son to get involved in the struggle for the throne. Besides, they lacked the strength for such a venture.
Liang Zhaoyi came from a humble background; her father was just a County Magistrate, and the rest of her family were ordinary citizens with no power or influence. Additionally, no minister in the court supported Zhao Yao.
Staying out of the throne struggle was actually the safest path for Liang Zhaoyi and her son. If they were to get involved, they would be in danger.
Liang Zhaoyi had few extravagant wishes; she only hoped Zhao Yao could grow up safely. When he came of age, he could smoothly leave the palace, start a household, and live as a leisurely Prince or Commandery Prince. If she was lucky, perhaps she could live out her years with him outside the palace.
"Alright, I'll just go watch the show." Zhao Yao beamed, showing two rows of neat teeth, his smile was very bright, "Tonight's banquet will surely be very exciting."
After finishing breakfast, even though Zhao Yao was unwilling, he still had to go to Wende Hall to study.
Lai Fu and Lai Cai escorted him out of Kunde Hall; [Yao Yao, study hard, we'll wait for you to come back.]
Zhao Yao crouched down, patting Lai Fu and Lai Cai's little heads, "I'm off, be good at home."
Tong Xi, carrying Zhao Yao's books and umbrella, followed behind. Watching him bounce as he walked, worried he might fall, he quickly said, "Your Highness, be careful not to trip."
Zhao Yao suddenly stopped, waving to the sparrows perched on the palace walls, "Good morning."
The sparrows on the palace walls raised one wing uniformly, responding to Zhao Yao's greeting; [Good morning, Yao Yao.]
[Yao Yao, it's going to rain heavily today, did you bring an umbrella?]
"Yes, I did." Zhao Yao pointed to the umbrella in Tong Xi's hands.
The leading sparrow fluttered its wings, landing on Zhao Yao's shoulder, and then nuzzled its little head against his cheek.
Zhao Yao nuzzled back against it.
Lai Qian stood on Zhao Yao's shoulder, chirping away in conversation with him.
Zhao Yao responded from time to time, "Oh, I see...is that so..."
Tong Xi noticed Zhao Yao talking to the birds again and muttered in his heart, every time His Highness talked with these birds, it was so earnest and seemed so authentic that he almost seemed like he could understand these birds.
Tong Xi was dead on; Zhao Yao could understand what Lai Qian and the others were saying and could even understand other animals' speech. He could understand all animal languages.
It seemed like he was able to understand animals in his past life as well.