“I don’t want to, you have to let me rest… Otherwise, don’t even think about doing that to me again next time…”
Yiyi suddenly puffed up her cheeks, her delicate brows knitted together, looking a little stubborn.
Liliya was stunned for a moment, then her eyes filled with laughter.
She deliberately put on a stern face and, drawing out her words, acted coquettishly, “Yibao, could you really bear to see me starve? Hmm~ Mmm~!”
As she spoke, she gently tugged at Yiyi’s sleeve, her eyes full of teasing tenderness.
“You!”
Yiyi’s cheeks flushed from Liliya’s sudden act of coyness, and even the tips of her ears turned faintly pink.
She looked at Liliya and stammered in a low voice, “W-we’ll… when we get back, you can bite all you want, alright?”
“Hehe…”
Liliya instantly broke character, her eyes curving as she smiled, reaching out to pinch Yiyi’s blushing cheek.
“Alright, then I’ll remember that.”
Yaoyao, wide-eyed and confused, glanced at Yiyi, then at Liliya, her little head full of question marks: “Bite what? Are you biting strawberries? I want to bite, too!”
With that, she raised the strawberry pulp in her hand and held it out to the two of them.
Yiyi’s face turned even redder at her question.
She hurriedly waved her hand and said, “No, it’s not that! Yaoyao, hurry and eat your ice cream!”
“Please wait a moment, Your Highnesses. I’ll prepare a private room for you.” Luoli stood up, her gaze sweeping over the few scattered customers nearby, her tone gentle but considerate.
Liliya watched Luoli’s figure at the counter, then suddenly reached out, using the pad of her finger to hook Yiyi’s chin, her eyes brimming with sly amusement: “Oh my, Yibao, see? Now you really can’t escape, can you? Hm?”
“Y-you, stop talking nonsense!”
Yiyi’s cheeks turned so red it seemed they might drip blood.
She hurriedly turned her head to avoid Liliya’s touch, clutching her skirt tightly, her heart in utter chaos.
“I-I just don’t want you to go hungry!”
“Hehe~”
Liliya leaned in close to her ear, her voice lowering, laced with mischievous fondness.
“Let’s wait till we get home, shall we? Otherwise, it wouldn’t be easy to clean up here, little Yibao.”
“Then go already, tell Luoli to stop preparing.”
Yiyi’s voice was as soft as a mosquito’s, her cheeks still burning.
She turned her head, not daring to meet Liliya’s eyes, only stealing glances at her from the corner of her eye.
Liliya’s smile deepened as she ruffled Yiyi’s hair, then stood and walked over to Luoli.
“Luoli, there’s no need for the private room. We’re heading back.”
She walked to Luoli’s side, stood on tiptoe, and patted Luoli’s arm, speaking softly.
Luoli froze, then nodded in understanding, giving the staff an apologetic smile.
“Sorry to trouble you, we’ll come again next time.”
She turned to Liliya and asked naturally, “Returning to the palace? Let’s go back, then.”
“Mhm.”
Liliya nodded with a smile, turning to Yiyi, who was still quietly calming herself, and called out, “Yibao, Yaoyao, let’s go—time to head home!”
At her words, Yiyi gently picked up Yaoyao, settling her securely in her arms, carefully supporting her little knees to keep her from slipping.
She also grabbed the fresh jade box on the table, handed Yaoyao her unfinished ice cream, and said gently, “Yaoyao, let’s go. I’ll carry you, you can eat as we walk.”
Yaoyao beamed, hugging her little spoon tightly as she snuggled into Yiyi’s arms.
Her little head nuzzled Yiyi’s shoulder affectionately.
As she scooped up another spoonful of ice cream and popped it in her mouth, she mumbled, “Thank you, big sister~ Big sister’s hug is so comfy!”
The cold sweetness melted on her tongue, her eyes curving into crescents, a bit of cream still on her lips, looking especially adorable.
Seeing her like this, Yiyi’s blush faded a little, replaced by a gentle smile.
She reached out and wiped the cream from Yaoyao’s mouth.
“Eat slowly, no need to rush, no one’s going to take it from you.”
“Mhm!”
Yaoyao nodded vigorously, but still couldn’t help quickening her spoon, afraid the ice cream would melt.
Meanwhile, in the deepest chamber of the Dragon Clan’s Sacred Temple—the Dragon’s Slumber Hall—on a jade bed shrouded in mist, a massive silver dragon slowly opened her eyes.
Her silvery scales shimmered with moon-like brilliance under the dim light, her pupils as cold as a frozen pond.
Yet as they opened, a faint, almost imperceptible warmth flickered within.
Her name was Bai Ye, one of the true rulers of the Dragon Clan, Xiamier’s mother, and grandmother to Yiyi and Yaoyao.
“I’ve stayed here for so long… It’s about time to step outside…”
Bai Ye stretched her dragon body, her silver wings stirring up a gentle breeze, making the clouds in the hall billow.
“Xiamier, that child, had daughters and didn’t even tell me.”
Her voice was deep and distant, tinged with a hint of reproach, but even more with undisguised anticipation.
The silver dragon’s form gradually morphed in the mist into a woman in flowing silver robes.
Her hair cascaded like a waterfall, her features bore a seven-tenths resemblance to Xiamier, yet were marked by a colder, more dignified presence wrought by the passage of time.
She lifted her hand with a graceful wave, sending an invisible pulse of perception rippling through the temple, probing every corner before finally settling in the direction of the dessert shop.
There, two little ones’ pure auras lingered, warm and vibrant.
“A pure-bloodline, so utterly pure…”
A look of satisfaction flashed in Bai Ye’s eyes.
At her fingertips, a strand of silvery light coalesced.
With a gentle flick, the light transformed into an invisible protective barrier, quietly enveloping Yiyi and the others.
As her words fell, her figure flickered into a stream of silver light, piercing through the clouds of the Dragon’s Slumber Hall and heading straight for the Ice Palace.
At that moment, walking through the palace corridor, Xiamier suddenly stiffened.
A familiar, scalp-numbing pressure crashed down from the heavens, its authority beyond question.
She spun around, looking up at the sky, just in time to see a silver-white streak split the clouds—its destination unmistakably her own palace.
“Wait! What the heck?!”
Xiamier’s pupils shrank, her composure shattering in an instant, replaced by utter panic.
“That old lady’s coming straight for me?!”
The “old lady” she referred to, of course, was her long-slumbering mother, Bai Ye.
Xiamier never imagined her mother, upon awakening, would come directly for her.
Remembering how she’d hidden the existence of her daughters, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.
“I’m doomed, doomed—this is bad.”
Xiamier instinctively took two steps back, her mind racing for solutions.
“If I’d known, I would’ve told her about her granddaughters earlier. Now look, she’s here to demand answers!”
The guards on either side of the corridor felt the overwhelming pressure, bowing deeply, barely daring to breathe.
They sensed the owner of this aura was incomparably noble, yet had never seen their majesty so panicked.
For a moment, they were at a complete loss.
Xiamier took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
She knew hiding was impossible—she could only face it head-on.
Just then, the silver light landed.
Bai Ye, clad in her silvery robe, stood at the end of the corridor, gazing at her with calm eyes, a hint of a smile playing beneath the surface.
“Mo—Mother…”
Xiamier forced a couple of awkward laughs, trying to ease the tension.
“You’re awake? Why not rest a little more? Did you need something so suddenly?”
“Little Xiazi, as your mother, can’t I come see my darling daughter right after waking up?”
Bai Ye walked toward her, her steps light but exuding invisible pressure.
Her tone was teasing, her eyes probing.
“I hear you, rascal, have two daughters—is that true?”
“Uh…”
Xiamier choked on her mother’s blunt question, her smile freezing on her face.
She knew there was no more hiding, so she straightened up, putting on a look of “honest confession,” and said ingratiatingly, “It’s true! It’s all my fault—I was so busy doting on them I forgot to tell you. I’ll take you to meet them right away!”
“Oh?”
Bai Ye arched a brow, but did not pause her steps.
“I’d like to see just what sort of little ones could make the Dragon Clan’s Sovereign hide them from her own mother.”
“Don’t rush, don’t rush, hehe. Come on, let’s go have some tea and wait for them to return, alright?”
Xiamier hurried forward, affectionately linking arms with Bai Ye, hoping to change the subject.
She was already scheming: if she could stall for a bit and wait until Yiyi and Yaoyao returned, with her two sweet granddaughters acting as peacemakers, her mother would have no outlet for her anger.
Bai Ye glanced at Xiamier’s hand on her arm, her smile deepening.
“What’s this? Now you’re scared? Why didn’t you think of that before?”
Even so, she didn’t shake off Xiamier’s arm, letting her lead the way to the side hall’s tea room.
Xiamier let out a sigh of relief, quickly instructing the maids to prepare the finest dragon nectar tea and delicate desserts, all the while chattering, “Mother, you have no idea—Yiyi is so sensible, looking after her little sister even at her young age. Yaoyao is lively and sweet-tongued, you’ll be sure to like them when you see them.”
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