Only one thought filled Ye Yubei's mind: his daughter had finally praised him!
It seemed Tang Tang thought he was a very good Emperor Father, too.
Ahem, ahem, ahem.
Ye Yubei could not suppress the upward curl of his lips. After hearing his daughter complain about him every day, this sudden bit of praise was honestly rather hard to get used to.
"Your Majesty, I have heard that my eldest legitimate grandson, Di Sun Wuyou, gets along wonderfully with the Ninth Princess. He mentions her to me every day. I humbly dare to ask a favor."
"What is it?"
Ye Yubei stroked his daughter's head. Indeed, his little princess was clever and lovable. Even Grand Secretary Lu liked her so much.
Ye Tangtang already had a bad feeling.
[This old fox isn't going to ask Scumbag Dad to marry me off to their Lu Wuyou, is he? Surely not, surely not! I'm still so little.]
Ye Yubei: "..."
How could that possibly happen? His daughter had to grow up by his side. He would not marry her off to anyone!
Grand Secretary Lu continued, "I humbly dare to ask Your Majesty to bestow a marriage between the Ninth Princess and Wuyou."
Ye Yubei frowned slightly and slowly turned his head. "What did you say?"
"I humbly dare to ask Your Majesty to bestow a marriage between the Ninth Princess and Wuyou!"
[Waaah! This old fox really does want to snatch me away! He must want to use me to threaten Scumbag Dad. But Scumbag Dad is so stupid, he might actually marry me off to the Lu Family!]
[How can I be this unlucky? I've only been a princess for a few days, and now I'm supposed to go be someone's nanny?]
[I'm still so little! I don't want to get married! I still want 365 prince consorts, waaaah!]
[Enough, enough. Tomorrow I'm grabbing my bucket and making a run for it.]
Ye Tangtang tugged at Ye Yubei's hand and sobbed, "Emperor Father, Tang Tang is still little. Tang Tang doesn't want to leave Emperor Father so soon. Tang Tang doesn't want to get married."
Grand Secretary Lu said, "Ninth Princess, you are mistaken. As a princess of this nation, how could you not marry? I hear you are already twelve. We can hold the ceremony in two more years, and the Lu Family will provide you with a wedding procession stretching ten miles in red."
[Pah! I don't care about your stupid ten miles of wedding finery! Once I've made enough money, I'm grabbing my bucket and running away to find my 365 little prince consorts outside the palace~]
"You are mistaken, Grand Secretary Lu," Ye Yubei said coldly. "Even if my Ninth Princess never marries, I can support her for the rest of her life. Besides, Tang Tang is still young. I cannot bear to marry her off. And that Di Sun of yours is not worthy of my little princess."
Grand Secretary Lu choked on his words. His greatest pride was his Di Sun, Lu Wuyou, the Third Young Master of the Lu Family. Accomplished in both scholarly and martial pursuits, overflowing with talent, he had a brilliant future ahead of him.
How was he not worthy of this Ninth Princess?
No matter how he looked at her, the Ninth Princess was a useless little thing who knew nothing but eating, drinking, and playing.
Ye Yubei wiped the tears from Ye Tangtang's face and affectionately tapped the tip of her nose.
"Emperor Father never said I would marry you off. Look how messy you've made yourself crying. Don't you look like a little mottled kitten?"
"Emperor Father, is everything you said really true?"
Ye Tangtang hugged Ye Yubei's arm and wiped all her tears and snot onto his dragon robe.
Ye Yubei: "..."
She was his own daughter. He would endure it!
"Of course it's true. When has Emperor Father ever lied to you? Besides, even if a little rascal like you got married, I would still worry. What if someone mistreated you?"
Ye Tangtang: [Wow! Daddy is so wonderful! Emperor Father is the best daddy in the whole world! Waaaah! In the future... if he kicks the bucket, I'll definitely collect his body.]
[And every year, I'll burn lots and lots of paper money for Scumbag Dad. He'll definitely live well underground. Maybe he can even become a God of Wealth down there.]
Ye Yubei: "..."
There was absolutely no need!
"Emperor Father is the best! I knew Daddy couldn't bear to let me go."
Ye Tangtang wiped away her tears. Her little nose had turned red from crying, and tears shimmered in her big, watery eyes. Her adorably silly appearance nearly made Ye Yubei laugh.
Who would have thought this fearless little girl would cry until her eyes turned red?
It really did make his heart ache a little.
"Be good, Tang Tang. Don't cry anymore. With Emperor Father here, no one can bully you." Ye Yubei's heart ached yet again.
Perhaps this was what it meant for blood to be thicker than water.
Ye Tangtang: [Hahahaha! As long as I cry pitifully enough, Scumbag Dad definitely won't marry me off! Hehehe, I fooled him again, didn't I? I really am a little genius.]
[My thigh does hurt a bit, though. I pinched it too hard just now. Twice today. It really hurts.]
[For the sake of my future 365 prince consorts, I'll endure it!]
Ye Yubei was left reeling in the wind. He swore he would never believe this Ye Tangtang again!!
Since the Northern Emperor had put it that way, Grand Secretary Lu could hardly say anything more.
However, the Lu Family would not give up. The more the Northern Emperor cared about this little princess, the more determined he was to bring Ye Tangtang back to the Lu Family.
"Grand Secretary Lu, you may withdraw."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Ye Tangtang nearly pulled a face at the old fox.
[Bleh, bleh, bleh! Old fox, your Lu Family actually wants to marry me? Why don't you take a good look at yourselves and see whether you're worthy?]
[When you finally get torn apart by five horses, I'll definitely go hide your head so you can't even piece together a complete corpse! Your soul can go to hell-all eighteen levels of it!]
Ye Yubei: "..."
He absolutely must not provoke this little thing. Otherwise, he would not even have a corpse left.
That was simply too tragic...
He should at least be able to keep his corpse intact, right? Tang Tang had said she would collect his head, after all...
Had his expectations really sunk this low?
He was the ruler of a nation, for goodness' sake.
Phoenix Hall.
Empress Lu held a string of prayer beads, with incense set out on the table. She sat with her eyes closed, her expression kindly and benevolent.
She looked like Guanyin descended to earth to deliver humanity from suffering.
"What did you say? His Majesty actually demoted Consort Li to the rank of imperial concubine for that little burden?"
Empress Lu slowly opened her eyes. Beneath her curled lashes lay a sharp gaze.
Hongguo said, "Yes, Your Majesty. His Majesty would do anything for that little burden now. Who knows what sort of sorcery she's used?"
Empress Lu's expression froze. "Sorcery..."
She had nearly forgotten. These past few days, rumors of a demon haunting the Palace of Gathered Elegance had spread throughout the palace. This was the perfect opportunity.
"Hongguo, come here. I have something to instruct you to do."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Empress Lu whispered something into Hongguo's ear. Hongguo's expression changed slightly. "Your Majesty, will this really work?"
Empress Lu smiled and said, "Ever since that demon Ye Tangtang left the Cold Palace, there hasn't been a moment's peace in the palace. This is the perfect chance to let the Empress Dowager see that demon for herself."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The next day.
Ye Tangtang had just opened her bleary eyes when she heard a commotion outside. Wearing her little dinosaur pajamas, she opened the door, her big tail swaying back and forth.
"Who's making all that noise so early in the morning? Are you going to let me sleep or not?!"
Princess Tang Tang had quite a temper when she woke up.
The two ferocious-looking guards at the door trembled in fright at the sight of the little dinosaur before them. They staggered back two steps and landed flat on their bottoms.
"A monster! It's a monster!"
"The Imperial Preceptor was right! The Ninth Princess really is a monster!"
Ye Tangtang: "..."
They were just pajamas. What a fuss.
"I'm not a monster. I'm just wearing little dinosaur pajamas."
No sooner had Ye Tangtang finished speaking than several guards hoisted her up, lifting both her legs off the ground. Then they carried her away just like that...
Ye Tangtang: "..."
[Is this any fucking way to treat a princess?]
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