Dressed As a Consort in Ancient Times - Chapter 83

Thinking this way, Jiang Libai lowered her head to glance at the little Xingxing in her arms. Seeing her suckling happily, she knew she must have gotten some milk.

Then she quietly glared at Gu Yun, who was also watching Xingxing.

She must never let this bastard “help her” again, or else Xingxing might really end up with no food.

Gu Yun was inexplicably glared at by the Seventh Princess and felt a bit confused. In her bewilderment, she used her eyes to ask what had just happened.

Jiang Libai: “…”

She snorted lightly, turned her head away, and ignored Gu Yun, who was utterly baffled.

Noble Consort Yuan, seated above, had been watching them. She had taken in their “sweet interaction,” and the more she watched, the more she felt they were well-matched and deeply affectionate—like a pair of lovers no one could separate.

With this, she felt much more at ease.

By dusk, after finishing dinner at the Changchun Palace, Jiang Libai and Gu Yun brought Xingxing back to the Princess’s residence.

“…Back then, when I left Xingxing with my mother and snuck out of the capital alone, I thought she would scold me harshly when I returned…” Jiang Libai said with some emotion.

“How could that be?” Gu Yun, playing with Xingxing, said, “You were injured at the border. The Noble Consort was so worried and just hoped you’d return. I’m sure all she cared about was whether you had recovered.”

“You saw it just now, too—she couldn’t bear to let you leave and wanted you to stay in the palace a few nights so she could take better care of you.”

Because of this, Jiang Libai felt even more guilty.

She had left the capital without regard for her emperor father, consort mother, or even the infant Xingxing… and she had gotten injured, making her parents worry for so long.

She silently resolved in her heart: from now on, she would go nowhere, staying by her parents’ side, together with Gu Yun and Xingxing. Their family would never be separated again.

The carriage entered the residence and stopped outside the main courtyard.

Gu Yun got off the carriage holding the already sleeping Xingxing. After handing her to the nursemaid waiting nearby, she extended her hand to help the Seventh Princess down.

“Take the young lady back,” Jiang Libai said, kissing her daughter’s soft little face before instructing the nursemaid to bring her to her room.

Together with Gu Yun, she returned to the thoroughly cleaned inner chamber, finally relaxing completely: “After being away for so long, we’re finally back.”

Looking around, everything was still the same as when she left the capital. She nodded in satisfaction.

As the crescent moon rose above the treetops, the two of them, now free from the day’s exhaustion, lay down on their familiar bed and peacefully drifted into sleep.

New Year’s Eve was a big occasion. Every year, the royal family of the State of Yu held a New Year’s Eve banquet. All royal relatives were invited, and the festivities didn’t end until just before midnight.

Early in the morning, the heavy snow that had fallen overnight had stopped, and the snow in the courtyard was a few inches thicker.

Servants in the courtyard were clearing the snow from the paths. The swishing sounds drifted into the room.

Gradually waking up, Gu Yun rubbed her temples. After resting a bit, she opened her eyes. A good night’s sleep seemed to have done wonders for her mental energy.

Previously in the carriage, though she had slept as well, the constant jostling meant she had to stay partially alert at all times in case of another assassination attempt…

“Mm…” The Seventh Princess beside her lazily moved her body, turned over, and wrapped her arms around Gu Yun’s waist.

Gu Yun lowered her brows and looked at her. Seemingly still struggling to wake up, her long lashes fluttered slightly, her small mouth slightly open, as if mumbling something.

“You little sleepyhead, ready to get up?”

A warm breath brushed across her face. Jiang Libai reached out from under the blanket, groggily groping for Gu Yun’s nearby face, “Still sleepy…”

Gu Yun took her hand and tucked it back into the warm blanket, gently saying, “Then sleep a little longer. There’s nothing urgent anyway.”

“Mm… then wake me in an hour…” Jiang Libai’s eyelids drooped again as she fell back asleep, “We still need to get ready… we have to enter the palace this afternoon…”

Gu Yun lowered her head, kissed her face, and quietly got out of bed.

Her mental energy had somewhat recovered, and her head didn’t hurt as much anymore. Recalling that back at the border, Chunxi’s letter mentioned that the parrot had flown into the palace and was playing with Xingxing… she felt a faint sense of anticipation.

The servants had already finished clearing the snow. The air, under the not-so-warm sunlight, felt particularly crisp and clean.

Gu Yun pulled her cloak tighter around her and walked out toward the courtyard.

The parrot from last night had returned with them, but since she and the Seventh Princess had been so exhausted, they only wanted to rest and hadn’t gone to check on it.

Following Mujiang to the place where the parrot was kept, Gu Yun entered. After looking around, she spotted the parrot pecking at food by the window.

—

“You go out first.” She dismissed the wooden oar out of the room and lifted her foot to walk toward the window.

The parrot, hearing the movement, turned its small eyes toward the door.

“Yixing?” Gu Yun stared intently at it, trying to find a trace of familiarity in its intelligent eyes.

However, the parrot merely tilted its head slightly and did not respond to her, as if silently questioning why she would call it by the name of her elder brother who had already passed away.

Seeing this, a heaviness settled in Gu Yun’s chest, and the hope in her eyes was like a burning flame doused by a bucket of ice water.

Of course—Yixing’s star power had been exhausted and couldn’t be restarted. How could it possibly return?

She must have been delusional, overthinking things.

Standing still, Gu Yun looked at the parrot for a while. As her disappointment grew, she let out a silent sigh and turned to walk out of the room.

She thought, perhaps she would never see her Yixing again in this lifetime.

As that lonely figure slowly faded away, just as it was about to disappear at the doorway, the parrot flapped its wings and cried out, “General!”

Gu Yun’s footsteps halted. She immediately turned toward the window, unable to hide the astonishment and joy in her eyes. “Yixing?!”

“General, it’s me, it’s me!” The parrot fluttered its wings and flew to Gu Yun’s side, landing on her shoulder.

A familiar feeling washed over Gu Yun’s heart. Her throat choked up as she slowly raised her hand to gently stroke its feathers. “I thought… I’d never see you again.”

Yixing lowered its head and rubbed hard against Gu Yun’s warm palm. “I’m back, General.”

—

Later, Gu Yun learned from Yixing that because it had previously infused its star power into the parrot’s body and established a subtle link with its mind, even after the system had completely shut down, it was still able to reassemble within the parrot using the remaining bit of star power.

It took a long time, but it finally succeeded in rebooting.

However, since the original system had already been shut down and was no longer usable, it could no longer link with Gu Yun, and thus couldn’t communicate with her through their minds.

Moreover, due to the excessive power depletion, it had not fully recovered yet.

It rested in the parrot’s mind, slowly gathering star power, and only occasionally took over the parrot’s body as the dominant consciousness.

Fortunately, the parrot was a simpleton but treated it with great respect and did not resist its presence. So during this period, the immense star power it gathered did not cause any harm to the parrot.

After briefly explaining its situation, Yixing leaned against Gu Yun’s chest with a look of contentment: “Even though I can’t communicate with General in your mind anymore, this is nice too.”

“I used to be just a virtual bionic system, unable to physically touch General. But now, borrowing the parrot’s body, I can see General’s valiant figure too!”

Hearing this, Gu Yun gently stroked its head. “As long as you’re back, that’s enough.”

—

After noon, the Princess’s residence was bustling about and finally managed to get everything in order.

Jiang Libai and Gu Yun took Xingxing onto the carriage, ready to enter the palace for the New Year’s Eve banquet.

The deep winter night was especially cold. Even with a stove inside the carriage, it couldn’t completely drive away the chill.

Gu Yun picked up the folded blanket and placed it over the Seventh Princess, carefully pulling the corners up to cover Xingxing as well.

As she withdrew her hand, she caught sight of Xingxing looking at her with round eyes, her little mouth puckering as she made babbling sounds.

“Are you trying to talk to me?” Gu Yun bent down and leaned closer to Xingxing, pinching her soft little cheek.

Hearing someone respond, Xingxing became ecstatic. Her round eyes curved into crescents, and she giggled. Her chubby hands, wrapped in the blanket, squirmed as she tried to reach out and grab Gu Yun.

“It’s cold outside. Stay tucked in, okay?” Gu Yun held down her fidgety little hands, smiling as she coaxed her.

The little one thought Gu Yun was playing a game with her. Her tiny hands waved more energetically, and her laughter became unstoppable. She looked like a soft, cuddly ball—utterly endearing.

“You little rascal.” Jiang Libai patted her small bottom and pulled the blanket aside a bit so her hands could stretch out more freely.

As soon as her hand was free, Xingxing grabbed Gu Yun’s collar and began pulling it around aimlessly, chirping with messy sounds like a little bird just waking up, as if asking Gu Yun to play with her.

Gu Yun narrowed her eyes and simply crouched down, moving her collar closer so Xingxing could hold it more securely. “What are you trying to say to Mommy? Want to play with Mommy?”

Xingxing laughed even more joyfully, and imitating Gu Yun’s earlier tone, slowly let out a syllable: “Ma…ma…”

Gu Yun was momentarily stunned, then looked up at Jiang Libai with delight, her smile nearly reaching the heavens: “Xingxing said ‘Mama’! She called me Mama!”

Jiang Libai had already learned from Gu Yun what “Mama” meant. Hearing Xingxing say it, even haltingly, made her very happy too.

“Good girl, Xingxing! You can say Mama now!” She couldn’t help but lower her head and kiss her daughter’s chubby cheek. “Now say ‘Niangqin’ (Mother), can you say Niangqin?”

Xingxing let go of Gu Yun’s collar and lightly patted Jiang Libai’s head. She opened her little mouth but seemed unable to say the word. She became flustered and continued to babble “Ma” over and over.

Seeing how anxious she was, Jiang Libai and Gu Yun exchanged a glance and both burst into laughter.

After a while, Jiang Libai blinked and slowly looked downward.

Gu Yun raised an eyebrow and followed her gaze—only to find that her collar had been pulled open by Xingxing, revealing her collarbone and a patch of fair skin.

Thankfully, she was wearing a chest binder underneath. Otherwise, Xingxing’s tug would have exposed her.

Clearing her throat, Gu Yun pulled her collar back up and tidied her clothes.

When she looked up again, she saw the Seventh Princess still staring at her. Her eyes were sparkling, as if filled with an unquenchable flame.

“Princess, we’re almost at the palace,” she reminded softly, though her voice too seemed tinged with uncontrollable emotion.

It is worth mentioning that since the princess was injured, they have not shared a moment of intimacy for over a month.