FID – Chapter 743

Chapter 743: Scared Me to Death

The air froze for a moment.

Fu Yuzheng held Xiao Maodou tighter in her arms and quickly apologized, “Please calm your anger, Your Majesty!”

The entire Liu family tensed up. If the Empress Dowager were to take this opportunity to make things difficult, they would need to respond immediately.

“At ease.” The Empress Dowager didn’t show any anger. Instead, she took two steps forward and looked at the little baby in Fu Yuzheng’s arms. “This child looks quite clever. Does he have a name yet?”

Fu Yuzheng exchanged a glance with Liu Zhixia, who replied, “Your Majesty, he hasn’t been formally named yet. He only has a nickname, Xiao Maodou.”

“Xiao Maodou?” The Empress Dowager nodded and reached out her hand. “May I hold him for a moment?”

Grandpa and Grandma Liu already had tension written all over their faces. Liu Yusheng quietly moved closer to them, signaling with her eyes to reassure them.

This was the Yongle Hall, under the gaze of many. The Empress Dowager wouldn’t easily do anything that could be held against her.

There was no need to be overly anxious.

What gave her that sense of reassurance, more than anything else, was Feng Qingbai’s presence.

Over there, Fu Yuzheng hesitated only briefly before handing Xiao Maodou over to the Empress Dowager.

The little baby, just past his first birthday, had his eyes wide open—round and bright, with pure, innocent black pupils. His tiny fists, poking out from the sleeves of his thick coat, were tightly clenched and waving around. He babbled nonstop in soft coos.

Even when suddenly surrounded by an unfamiliar scent, he showed no fear of strangers. His little fists waved even more vigorously, babbling away, and drool began to trickle from the corners of his mouth.

Cradling the baby gently, the Empress Dowager lifted a handkerchief and softly wiped away the drool from his lips. A ripple of emotion stirred in her otherwise calm eyes.

Around her, the Liu family practically held their breath, afraid that she might accidentally drop the baby.

Wasn’t it the Empress Dowager herself who had once ordered Zhixia’s execution? And now she suddenly appeared and asked to hold their baby? Who knew what hidden intentions she had?

“Raise him well. One day, he’ll become a pillar of the nation—surely no less than his father.” The Empress Dowager returned Xiao Maodou to Fu Yuzheng, then glanced over everyone present. “I won’t disturb your joy any further. Carry on. Prepare the carriage, we’re returning to the Yangxin Hall.”

Behind her, the crowd echoed in unison, “We respectfully send off Your Majesty.”

Once the Empress Dowager had left Yongle Hall and walked into a dimly lit corridor, the emotions in her eyes finally cracked through the surface, trembling violently until her eyes turned red.

Back at the Yangxin Hall, she immediately dismissed the servants attending her, opened a brocade chest in her private quarters, and took out a small cotton undershirt.

The style of the garment was outdated, but the fabric was perfectly preserved, as if new.

As she looked at it, tears began to fall.

What poured from her eyes was overwhelming sorrow—grief and heartbreak.

In that moment, the dignified and elegant noblewoman looked like a frail old lady, a candle flickering in the wind.

Her eyes were bleak, void of any life.

Back in Yongle Hall, once the Empress Dowager had completely disappeared from view, Feng Mohan’s shoulders immediately slumped. “She scared the life out of me.”

The others: “…” They were probably even more terrified than he was.

“Imperial Uncle, what do you think she came for? She showed up out of nowhere. We didn’t even invite her.”

Feng Qingbai replied calmly, “I don’t know.”

“Could it be because Xiao Feng’er held a family banquet, so she wanted to come take a look?” Liu Yusheng suddenly suggested.

Everyone exchanged glances, especially Feng Mohan, whose eyes showed disbelief.

What did his family banquet have to do with that old hag? They weren’t even family!

“No matter why she came, as long as nothing happened, it’s all good. Honestly, when I saw how she looked at the baby, she seemed to really like him. When she said she wanted to hold our Xiao Maodou, I was worried she might drop him,” Grandma Liu said, patting her chest. She had been truly anxious at the time.

But seeing the Empress Dowager gently wiping the baby’s drool, her heart had settled.

As a grandmother herself, in that moment, she had felt a genuine sense of affection from the Empress Dowager, though it had only lasted briefly.

Liu Yusheng and Grandma Liu’s words gave Feng Qingbai something to think about, though he quickly masked his emotions.

That night, with Xue Qinglian no longer around to block his path, a certain prince smoothly snuck into Shengxiao Courtyard. The girl in bed wasn’t asleep yet, as if expecting him—eyes open, watching him in the dim light.

As he approached, she had already lifted a corner of the blanket for him.

Shedding his outer robe so the cold wouldn’t reach her, Feng Qingbai had barely gotten into bed when the girl slipped right into his arms.

“Feng Qingbai, tell me. What kind of person is the Empress Dowager?”

“You stayed up all night waiting for me just to ask that?” Feng Qingbai raised an eyebrow slightly.

Liu Yusheng quickly played along, smoothing things over. “No, I waited because I wanted you to be with me. Asking that was just… a bonus.”

He chuckled softly and pulled her into his arms. His eyes grew distant, thoughtful.

To describe the Empress Dowager…

“Honestly, I’m not sure I can. I didn’t interact with her much. She was the empress back then, and I was just the son of a palace medic. I rarely ever saw her.”

Before he turned eight, there were two years when he’d been imprisoned—subjected to all sorts of methods meant to terrify him, to drive him insane.

At eight, he escaped the palace and spent half a year hiding in Xinghua Village, then spent three years in madness.

He returned to the palace at age twelve.

The late emperor had passed, and he was named Prince Regent.

From that moment on, he and the Empress Dowager stood on opposing sides.

Because her son coveted that very position.

“But according to others, she was a virtuous, gracious empress—dignified and elegant. That’s probably accurate.”

She and the late emperor were respectful but distant. She had once been a woman who neither fought nor schemed.

Thinking of her silver hair, Liu Yusheng sighed softly.

That woman must have endured a kind of pain no outsider could truly understand, but in the end their positions were destined to be at odds.

While her thoughts wandered, the man suddenly flipped over and pressed her beneath him, his gaze deep and intense.

“Feng Qingbai, stop messing around. I’m going back in a couple of days…” She thought he was about to tease her like usual and reached up to push him off.

“You’re leaving in a couple of days. Shouldn’t you repay your debt before then, Shengsheng?”

“What debt?” Liu Yusheng was completely confused.

“You were laughing a little too smugly back at the manor. You know I hold grudges, right? Shengsheng, from now on, you probably won’t be able to act so pleased with yourself anymore.”

W-Wait what? Liu Yusheng’s eyes went wide. He was using that as a reason?!

“Feng Qingbai, I’m still young!”

“Nineteen,” he murmured, brushing her earlobe. “Shengsheng, let’s get married after the New Year.”

He paused by her ear, then whispered softly, “I can’t hold back anymore.”

A restrained, low voice, trembling slightly with emotion and desire.

Something inside Liu Yusheng softened.

She reached up and wrapped her arms around him.

It had already been three years since they reunited.

So… let it happen naturally.