Chapter 67

Though his pronunciation still wasn’t very clear, Duke Liu was already quite satisfied. Most young children had trouble enunciating words properly—it didn’t need to be taught. With age, they would naturally grow out of it.

Worried the soup might get cold and upset his grandson’s stomach, Duke Liu stopped An’an after he recited twice and carried him over to sit down. He let An’an hold the spoon himself, carefully blow on the soup to cool it, and then feed himself.

Liu Nüluo’s cooking wasn’t quite on par with the household chefs, but it wasn’t far off. The two of them took a sip and simultaneously let out a satisfied sigh.

Hearing the sound, An’an instinctively looked up, wondering who was deliberately mimicking him. At the same time, Duke Liu also instinctively looked down. Their eyes met, and An’an gave a little snort, his awkward and proud little expression unbearably cute.

“More soup~”

Duke Liu had already noticed that An’an’s bowl was empty. When he heard that sweet little voice calling for him, he pretended not to hear. Only after finishing his own soup and setting the spoon down did he smile kindly and ask, “What is it?”

“Hmph~”

An’an crossed his arms and turned his head away in a huff. A grandpa who wouldn’t share his soup with his grandson wasn’t a good grandpa!

Duke Liu carried him into the study and pulled out a book he had long prepared. Sitting at the desk, he opened the book and said, “Come on, read along with Grandpa.”

“Read along with Gwampa~”

In his younger years, Duke Liu had been quite talented—he was selected as a third-rank scholar for his looks. But in order to avoid attention, he rarely showed his brilliance in his older age. Teaching children allowed him to indulge his true nature, which is why he especially loved spending time with them.

For An’an, having such a teacher was a real stroke of luck.

Duke Liu knew that An’an was still too young to have much focus. After a few lines, the child would always get distracted by other things he was curious about.

Normally, An’an wasn’t interested in these matters, but as long as Grandpa made him study, even the dullest topics seemed fun.

“An’an, even though your grandfather is a duke, your uncle will one day become duke, and your aunt is now the empress and will become the empress dowager in the future, Grandpa still doesn’t want you to grow up to be a spoiled, idle young master.”

“You need your own strength too, so you won’t be bullied.”

At this point, An’an felt like Grandpa made some sense, but then Duke Liu added, “Do you really want people, when they speak of you in the future, to say you’re just that little young master from the Duke Liu household, and that without your family name, you’re nothing?”

Duke Liu always thought things through for each child. If one could read, he’d prepare them for the imperial exams. If they were good at business, he’d teach them to run a family business. If they had no particular talent, he’d send them to learn painting and set them up with some shops so they wouldn’t starve.

That last remark made An’an’s eyes light up. He nodded slightly after a pause.

In this life, he had never considered leaving the Duke’s estate, so he didn’t care what others said.

That’s right—he was the little young master of the Duke’s household. No matter what others said, he took it as jealousy.

“You little rascal.”

Duke Liu didn’t have the heart to scold him, but also didn’t know how to properly teach him.

He had originally expected An’an to shake his head in protest after hearing that remark, but instead, the boy thought it made perfect sense and even nodded solemnly, as if he had fully accepted a future of freeloading.

At that moment, Liu Sisi, who had been practicing his calligraphy off to the side, put down his brush. He had just turned ten and was the legitimate eldest grandson of the Duke Liu household.

Despite his young age, he had already shown exceptional talent in his studies. If nothing unexpected happened, he would one day inherit the title.

For someone like Duke Liu, seeing his descendants thrive was the greatest joy.

“Grandfather, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of An’an.”

Upon hearing this, An’an toddled over and hugged his cousin’s arm, enthusiastically rubbing his head against him. The sight of this clingy, shameless act made Duke Liu so furious he snorted and stormed off in a huff.

Never before had anyone stuck to Liu Sisi like a gooey rice cake the way An’an did. Liu Sisi looked at his little cousin’s fuzzy head and stiffly replied, “There’s no need for that. It’s my duty.”

His grandfather had taught him from a young age that a noble family couldn’t rely on just one person to prosper. All the descendants needed to be outstanding for true prosperity. Within his means and without harming his own interests, he should try to support any siblings or relatives who showed promise.

Naturally, this included his little cousin.

An’an didn’t pay much attention to what clearly sounded like polite words. He kept happily nuzzling his cousin’s arm. For him, nothing was more delightful than hugging a thick, strong thigh.

Seeing his little cousin act so adorably and obediently, Liu Sisi allowed himself a rare, tightly restrained smile.

Grandfather had always taught him not to show his emotions too easily, reminding him that the seemingly glorious Duke’s household was actually always one misstep away from ruin—and thus he must act with utmost caution.

From outside, Duke Liu witnessed this scene and was so mad he almost twisted his mouth. He had brought his eldest grandson around in hopes that An’an would be influenced by his cousin’s good example and learn to work hard.

But this little rascal An’an had immediately latched onto the thickest thigh he saw, and not even Duke Liu could pull him away in time.

Looking at his grandson, it was obvious he was enjoying the attention too.

Well, who wouldn’t enjoy having a clingy little cutie attached to them?

Ever since Duke Liu had raised his voice at An’an, the boy stuck to his cousin like glue, calling him “Cousie~” in the sweetest, most affectionate way.

Every time Duke Liu saw this scene, he couldn’t help but grumble inwardly at how An’an was born in the wrong era. If this were a time of chaos, he would definitely have been the emperor’s most favored treacherous minister!

That fawning, bootlicking look—he truly couldn’t bear to watch.

The little rascal trailing behind his cousin had finally reached his first birthday, a momentous event in their dynasty. The “Zhua Zhou” (First Birthday Grabbing Ceremony) was celebrated with great fanfare.

Preparations at the Duke’s estate began a full month in advance. These events were usually handled by Liu Sisi’s mother, the Duke’s daughter-in-law. When she was too busy, she liked to pull Liu Nüluo in to help.

Liu Sisi had been frequently slipping out lately and got caught twice. Seeing his clearly guilty look, the overwhelmed madam jumped to conclusions.

She slapped her own head and nearly burst into tears in front of all the servants. Coldly, she dismissed them and said, “Why have you been sneaking around lately? Don’t tell me you’ve been following those bad influences outside and visiting… places of ill repute at your age?”

That was her more restrained way of putting it. Just the day before, a lady friend of hers had complained that her son had nearly been dragged to a brothel by a concubine’s son—she’d been so angry she fell ill in bed.

Liu Sisi hadn’t intended to tell his mother, but seeing her trembling with rage, he quickly reached out and supported her arm.

“Mother, I—I’ve only been going out to prepare a birthday gift for my little brother.”

Considering how long An’an had been trailing after him like a puppy, Liu Sisi had earnestly wanted to prepare a proper gift. He had spent several days out searching for one.

As soon as she heard Liu Sisi’s explanation, his mother let go of the wrist she was gripping and lightly tapped her own forehead with a sigh.

“It’s my fault—I’ve just been too busy and muddle-headed lately.”

Liu Sisi hurriedly said it wasn’t her fault. He usually either went to the academy or stayed home, so his recent behavior was indeed out of the ordinary; it was understandable that his mother had grown suspicious.

“What kind of birthday gift did you prepare? Can Mother have a look?”

At those words, Liu Sisi immediately hid the wooden box behind his back and quickly walked off. Seeing her normally upright and well-mannered son being so sneaky, Liu Family’s sister-in-law couldn’t help but bend over laughing—after all, there was no one else around.

“Nüluo, I really am grateful to you.”

“Sister-in-law, we’re just lucky Sisi doesn’t mind how noisy An’an is.”

Given how clingy An’an was to Liu Sisi, even Liu Nüluo, his own mother, sometimes found it a bit much.

Last time, after she made a pot of soup for him, An’an had the nanny pack it in a food box. If the servants hadn’t stopped him, he might have insisted on delivering it personally to the academy for his big brother.

“I used to worry that child was too quiet.”

Father-in-law had said that the heir to a ducal household should be calm and composed, but as a mother, she couldn’t help worrying.

“Being calm is a good thing. An’an’s so naughty he gives me headaches.”

The two women were close and could chat endlessly about anything. As the first birthday banquet approached day by day, they both became increasingly busy.

An’an, being the star of the banquet, was ironically the most carefree of them all, spending his days scheming how to best please his older cousin. Liu Guogong, seeing how clever the boy was but how little interest he had in proper matters, would get so mad he’d huff and glare.

At the birthday banquet’s “Zhua Zhou” ritual, An’an wore a bright red outfit, looking especially festive as he was placed on a red cloth to choose an item.

Before him lay all sorts of objects—an abacus, a calligraphy brush, a seal, and so on. Even while being held in the nanny’s arms, An’an’s gaze had never strayed from the items, clearly trying to see which one his cousin had placed there.

Only after confirming it was the brush did he finally relax, slumping bonelessly into the nanny’s arms.

Once the ceremony began, An’an tottered over, completely ignoring everything else, and went straight for the calligraphy brush his cousin had touched. Then, instead of handing it to his grandfather like expected, he ran with a big grin over to Liu Sisi and held the brush out to him.

“Ya~”

Liu Guogong’s face went dark. Liu Nüluo covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, while An’an gave a joyful little hop.

“Here, Duoduo!”

“Thank you.”

Liu Sisi didn’t actually need the brush, but his little cousin’s thoughtfulness was rare and precious. That kind of wholehearted admiration from a child was disarming at any age.

The atmosphere at the banquet was incredibly lively. When the Empress herself sent a gift, the mood reached its peak.

Just then, a poorly dressed man appeared at the gate, only to be stopped by the household guards.