Chapter 89: Not Going to Give It a Hug?

Nan Xueyin has a bad habit; when she is curious about something, she urgently needs to know the truth behind it.

She held it in all evening without getting an answer, then held it in all morning, and was even absent-minded during lunch.

It wasn't until she heard the words, "The gift has arrived."

As soon as Nan Xueyin put down her chopsticks, she flew out.

She seemed to bump into something on the way, something frail and weak, but she didn't pay much attention to it.

There was only that large Phoebe zhennan wood chest placed in the courtyard; she stood still in front of it and pointed at it to ask the servant.

The servant was startled by her sudden appearance, but after a moment, he replied good-naturedly: "That is correct, this is indeed the birthday gift that His Highness the Crown Prince ordered to be prepared in secret."

Nan Xueyin nodded.

"Did His Highness the Crown Prince ask you to take a look?" the servant asked enthusiastically, knowing that this young lady was the one the Crown Prince favored most.

Nan Xueyin recalled that Xiao Youlan had said she would know what the gift was after the afternoon.

But since it was the Empress Dowager's birthday recently, the Eastern Palace should have two gifts, so she wasn't entirely sure.

However, the servant was full of enthusiasm; he had already taken out the key, opened the iron lock, and lifted the lid of the chest, "Please take a look!"

Nan Xueyin looked inside and was slightly stunned.

"Have you seen the gift?"

Xiao Youlan's voice sounded from behind; he had come out too.

But as his gaze shifted to the chest on the ground, he realized something was wrong, "This..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Nan Xueyin had already grabbed the ruyi scepter from the chest, took it out, and turned to look at him.

She had seen many fine things while at the Duan Prince Mansion, but she had to admit that all those jade ruyi scepters combined could not compare to this one made of pure gold.

Whether it was the filigree double-bat and peach patterns, the inlaid translucent turquoise, or the yellow double-tasseled longevity knot tied at the end, there was top-tier exquisiteness everywhere.

It is said that in the past, a ruyi could be used to scratch itches, served as a talisman to ward off evil, and could even be used as a weapon.

In this respect, this ruyi was much more useful as a gift than the little pig Xiao Mingyu had sent back then.

The little pig would be gone after one meal, but this ruyi could be used to bash someone's head, and after bashing, one could still carry it out to exchange for a large sum of silver.

"Then I will accept it."

Nan Xueyin said.

With that, Xiao Youlan's words, "This is not for you," were choked back in his throat, because he realized she seemed to quite like it.

"Your Highness! The gift is here!"

Shu Yu came in from outside, his voice sounding joyous.

Nan Xueyin held the gold ruyi and looked up.

She saw Shu Yu walking in with a smile, holding a small, pitch-black leopard in his arms.

Nan Xueyin looked at him, then at the little leopard.

She turned her head back to look at Xiao Youlan, not very approvingly, "Leopards are wild and hard to tame, and they are so fierce. There are only a bunch of elderly Momo in the Baoci Palace; aren't you afraid of something going wrong if you give this to the Empress Dowager?"

Xiao Youlan fell silent.

Nan Xueyin finished speaking and looked down at the ruyi in her arms.

After a moment of silence, she suddenly realized...

Clearly, this ruyi was the one for the Empress Dowager! With so many lingzhi, auspicious clouds, and peach patterns on the ruyi, it was practically screaming "Happy Birthday"; how could this possibly be for her?

Obviously, that wild little black leopard was the plaything brought to amuse her.

Nan Xueyin was stunned for a long while, subconsciously glancing at Xiao Youlan.

A faint smile appeared at the corners of Xiao Youlan's mouth.

Nan Xueyin's shame was about to explode, but she cared too much about her face, so she let out a "Tsk."

Xiao Youlan understood what she meant and immediately wiped the smile off his face, saying good-naturedly: "It is my fault they did not explain it clearly."

The servant on the side scratched his head, feeling guilty.

He... he didn't know that the Eastern Palace had prepared two gifts either.

Even so, the roots of Nan Xueyin's ears could not help but turn a little red; she stopped looking at Xiao Youlan and stuffed the ruyi into his arms.

Xiao Youlan caught it.

Shu Yu walked up; the leopard in his arms was still very small, like a little kitten, curled up with its eyes not yet open.

"I bought it last night, it was just weaned not long ago. It's sleeping right now," Shu Yu said.

Nan Xueyin stared at the little leopard without blinking.

When she was young, her family kept a yellow dog.

Nan Xueyin didn't know where it came from, but one early morning, she heard a puppy barking outside the door, and when she went out to look, she saw a puppy squatting outside the courtyard gate.

As soon as the door opened, the puppy ran into the courtyard to frolic.

Nan Xueyin's mother had a soft heart; seeing the puppy was thin and pitiful, she fed it something.

Once it ate that meal, the puppy stayed at the house and wouldn't leave.

Her father smiled and said: "As the saying goes, a dog brings wealth; let's keep it! It can guard the house!"

Nan Xueyin was very happy because she didn't have many friends on ordinary days, and with the puppy, she had a playmate, a very loyal playmate.

Nan Xueyin and the dog were almost inseparable.

Gradually, the puppy grew into a big dog, majestic and imposing; it would bark to scare off strangers passing by the courtyard, but when it saw Nan Xueyin and her parents, it would affectionately wag its tail and voluntarily lower its head to let Nan Xueyin pet it.

Nan Xueyin grew up and taller year by year, but the big dog turned into an old dog, its voice becoming weaker and weaker.

Later, it couldn't even chew bones and couldn't eat anymore.

Nan Xueyin was very sad and cried while holding it.

It must have felt its little master's sorrow, as it tried hard to open its eyes to look at her, and there were tears in its eyes too.

That was perhaps the first parting Nan Xueyin ever learned.

Even now, she can clearly remember that her little dog had a white patch on its nose.

And the little black leopard in the arms of Shu Yu actually had a white patch just like that on the tip of its nose.

Nan Xueyin watched, somewhat dazed.

"Won't you hold it?" Xiao Youlan asked her.

Nan Xueyin took a breath, "I will."

As she spoke, she reached out her hand.

Whether it was woken up by the noise or something else, the little black leopard in the arms of Shu Yu began to whimper and cry.

Shu Yu reminded her, "This little leopard is not like a kitten or a puppy; its teeth and claws are very sharp, and its temper is also fierce. The finger of the peddler who sold the leopard was bitten by it. You must be careful..."