The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat

The next morning, Hua Manman woke up with two dark circles under her eyes, as expected.

Li Ji, on the other hand, was full of energy and glowing with vitality.

The two were a stark contrast.

Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought Li Ji was a demon who had drained Hua Manman of her life force while she slept.

What was even more infuriating was that Li Ji played dumb.

"Didn’t you sleep well last night?"

Hua Manman forced a smile. "Heh, yeah."

She was ranting furiously in her head.

’How dare you even ask me? Isn’t this all your fault?!’

Hearing her inner voice, Li Ji’s smile grew even more delighted.

He reached out and pinched her little cheek. "Since you didn’t sleep well, let’s have breakfast first. We’ll check your homework after you’ve eaten."

Hua Manman: ???

’Where is the logic in that?’

’People shouldn’t be so Li Ji!’

During breakfast, Hua Manman channeled her indignation into her appetite, eating voraciously until she had accidentally stuffed herself.

She couldn’t stop hiccuping, her small body trembling with each one.

Li Ji found this extremely amusing.

He deliberately had someone prepare dessert and place it in front of Hua Manman, asking if she wanted any.

Hua Manman’s cheeks puffed out in anger, and she couldn’t help but let out another hiccup.

Seeing this, Li Ji laughed even more freely.

Standing by, Gao Shan was quite happy to see this.

Yesterday, when Lady Hua was not home, Prince Zhao had barely spoken. There wasn’t a trace of a smile on his face, and his whole demeanor had been so gloomy that it was frightening to look at him.

But now, facing Lady Hua, Prince Zhao seemed to have completely recovered his spirits. Not only was he talking and laughing, but his appetite had also returned.

He had to admit, Lady Hua was truly the lucky star of the entire Prince’s Mansion.

As long as she was around, everyone could relax a little while working, instead of having to walk on eggshells as they did when facing Prince Zhao alone.

Hua Manman desperately wanted to eat the dessert, but her stomach was too full. She could only stare eagerly at Prince Zhao.

Li Ji slowly savored the dessert, his long, narrow eyes half-closed. He looked like a large, lazy, and elegant cat, a look of pure enjoyment on his face.

Meeting Hua Manman’s gaze, which was filled with longing, Li Ji said with a grin.

"You look quite anxious. In that case, let’s start checking your homework now."

Hua Manman: "..."

’I’m anxious because I can’t eat the delicious dessert! What does that have to do with homework?!’

Li Ji had finished that book long ago. He didn’t even need to open it to recall its contents effortlessly.

He casually recited a line from the book and told Hua Manman to continue with the next one.

Hua Manman scratched her head, thinking for a long time, but she couldn’t remember what the next line was.

During her day at the Zhong’an Bo Mansion, she had been busy with various things. When would she have had time to read a book?

Besides, it was such a thick book. Even if she had finished reading it, she wouldn’t necessarily be able to memorize it all.

’I’m just a poor, weak, and helpless slacker!’

Seeing this, Li Ji shook his head and sighed.

"This won’t do. You can’t even memorize such a simple sentence."

Hua Manman lowered her head in shame.

Li Ji had her bring the book over and began to personally supervise her memorization.

The entire morning was spent memorizing the book.

Hua Manman recited until her head was spinning, feeling like it had swollen to twice its size.

But it wasn’t over yet.

In the afternoon, she had to continue her sword practice.

Li Ji sat in his wheelchair and said lazily.

"Sword practice requires persistence to see results. You can’t slack off.

Raise your hand higher. You have too little strength; it’s too soft. Put more force into it. Widen your stance; your base needs to be stable."

Hua Manman was panting from her sword practice.

She looked at Prince Zhao’s nonchalant appearance, so angry she could grind her teeth.

’This rotten man is deliberately tormenting me!’

Li Ji raised an eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me? Don’t tell me you want to spar with me?"

It wasn’t that Hua Manman had never sparred with him before, but she was thoroughly trounced every single time.

She didn’t want to ask for a beating, so she shook her head without hesitation to decline.

Li Ji let out a soft sigh, looking somewhat disappointed.

Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, it was the day of the old madam’s funeral.

Prince Zhao was still confined for self-reflection and could not leave, so Hua Manman could only attend the funeral procession for the old madam alone.

All of the Hua Family’s relatives and friends came, as did the family of the old madam’s maiden side, but Hua Qingqing did not.

Being allowed to leave the Imperial Palace once was already a special grace from the Emperor; she could not have a second time.

Moreover, she was currently pregnant, and the pregnancy was not yet stable, so she could not go out casually.

The vast funeral procession left Shangjing City and made its way to West Mountain. The Hua Family had a cemetery plot there, where all the deceased members of the Hua Family were buried.

The old madam was buried next to the old Mr. Bo.

The old couple’s tombstones stood side by side.

Hua Dingzong knelt before the tombstones with his entire family, old and young, sobbing until he was out of breath.

「In the Imperial Palace.」

At this same moment, Hua Qingqing knelt down facing the direction of West Mountain and kowtowed solemnly.

Two nannies came forward to help her up, advising her to restrain her grief while also reminding her not to show her sorrow, lest someone use it against her.

Hua Qingqing wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with a silk handkerchief and said calmly.

"I know. There are no outsiders here, which is why I dared to kowtow to my grandmother. If anyone else were present, I would never have dared to do so."

The nannies nodded. "It is good that you understand."

Because Hua Jieyu was pregnant, the Emperor had specially dispatched two experienced nannies to look after Hua Qingqing’s health, ensuring she could give birth to the child smoothly.

This showed how much importance the Emperor placed on this child.

Naturally, the two nannies didn’t dare to be anything less than diligent. They followed Hua Jieyu almost without leaving her side, and all her food and drink were inspected multiple times, fearing the slightest mishap to Hua Jieyu or the child in her womb.

It was precisely because of the Emperor’s obvious favoritism and the nannies’ meticulous care that those with ill intentions did not dare to act rashly.

Since the Emperor ascended the throne, quite a few of the harem’s concubines had become pregnant, but less than half had actually given birth safely. Those who managed to raise their children to adulthood could be counted on one hand.

Everyone was well aware of the reasons why.

From the moment she conceived, Hua Qingqing’s pregnancy had been the focus of everyone’s attention in the palace.

Now, all eyes were on her, waiting to see what would come of this pregnancy.

Ever since the Crown Prince’s death, the Empress’s mood had become very unstable. One moment she would be fine, and the next, her expression would suddenly change, her temper flaring up without warning or reason.

For instance, this morning, the concubines came to pay their respects to the Empress as usual.

Everyone was drinking tea and chatting, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious.

The next moment, the Empress’s expression suddenly changed. She slammed her teacup on the table and scolded in a cold voice.

"Wen Zhaorong, who allowed you to smile so happily? Have you forgotten that the Crown Prince just passed away?!"

Wen Zhaorong’s face paled in fright, and her heart filled with immense grievance.

’Everyone was smiling, so why was she the only one being scolded?’