Chapter 43: Call Me Mom

Back at the inn, as soon as the door was closed, Lin Shi’s tears could no longer be held back.

She threw her arms around Bai Shuangshuang and cried like a child.

Her thin shoulders trembled, but her arms held tight, as if afraid that if she let go, her daughter would disappear again.

Bai Shuangshuang could barely breathe in her embrace.

She raised her hand, then lowered it, and finally gently patted her mother’s back.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry.”

Bai Shuangshuang’s voice was a bit stiff.

In both her past and present life, she wasn’t good at comforting people.

“Look, I’m fine now, aren’t I?”

Lin Shi cried for a long time before slowly calming down.

She grabbed Bai Shuangshuang’s hands and looked her up and down, her eyes red.

Bai Yongchang stood nearby, at a loss, wanting to approach but not daring.

Bai Shuangshuang briefly recounted what happened after leaving Lingxi County:

She met the Commandery Princess, was taken in, worked at the Prince’s Mansion, got an errand, and returned.

She omitted the Bai Family and County Magistrate’s harassment, the dangers of the Prince’s Mansion, and especially the matters of immortal cultivation.

She spoke lightly, as if telling someone else’s story.

After hearing this, Lin Shi wiped her tears again.

Suddenly remembering something, she hastily let go of Bai Shuangshuang’s hand and turned to kneel before Zhao Qingyue.

“Your humble subject greets the Commandery Princess—”

Zhao Qingyue quickly caught her, not letting her kneel.

“No need for such formality.”

Lady Zhao’s voice was unusually gentle.

“We’re all family. No need for these empty courtesies.”

Lin Shi was stunned by the words “all family.”

Tears welled up again, and she muttered, “Shuang’er has met a benefactor.”

Bai Yongchang helped her to sit nearby.

Bai Shuangshuang turned her gaze to Bai Yongchang.

In her existing memory, this father was a pushover, even somewhat cowardly.

He dared not speak up when bullied in the Bai Family, nor resist when oppressed by the direct line.

He lived his whole life in a cowering manner.

But now, she needed him to do something that required courage.

“Dad.”

She walked over, her voice not loud.

“Dad’s here.”

Bai Yongchang looked up, his lips moving as if to say something, but he swallowed it back.

He wasn’t good with words.

A thousand words stuck in his throat, and in the end, only one sentence came out.

“You’ve lost weight.”

Bai Shuangshuang’s nose stung.

She didn’t respond to that.

Instead, she leaned in and whispered a few sentences.

Bai Yongchang’s brows slowly furrowed, tighter and tighter, the color draining from his face bit by bit.

“This…”

His lips trembled.

“After all, they’re fellow clan brothers and elders. I…”

He was at a loss.

He had never argued with anyone in his life, never fought for anything.

Now his daughter wanted him to do this—he couldn’t.

Bai Shuangshuang looked at her father’s troubled face and sighed inwardly.

‘I know my father has this kind of personality. Forcing him won’t work; I have to coax him.’

“Daddy~”

She called out, her voice carrying a hint of softness, a little bit of coaxing.

“Just help your daughter this once, okay?”

Bai Yongchang’s hand trembled.

“This matter concerns your daughter’s life or death.”

Bai Shuangshuang’s voice was light and soft.

“Those people want me dead. They don’t want to see us well off either. Have you forgotten everything?”

Bai Yongchang’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

He remembered when Bai Shuangshuang was little, bullied by the direct-line children.

She came back crying to him, but he didn’t dare to reason with them.

He could only hold her and say, “Bear it, just bear it and it’ll pass.”

He remembered when Bai Shuangshuang was betrothed to that scoundrel from the Liu Family.

He sat in the study all night without uttering a single word.

As a father, he had been too cowardly.

He owed his daughter too much.

He thought for a long, long time…

“Okay!”

Bai Yongchang’s voice was a bit hoarse, but much steadier than before.

“I’ll go!”

Bai Shuangshuang let out a sigh of relief, the corner of her mouth curving up.

As she turned around, she secretly stuck out her tongue.

‘So coaxing works this well.’

‘It seems… I’m getting more and more used to being a girl. Even the skill of coaxing is coming to me naturally.’

Bai Shuangshuang settled Lin Shi and Bai Yongchang, then kept Xi Chun alone.

The door closed, leaving only the two of them in the room.

Bai Shuangshuang looked at Xi Chun, and Xi Chun looked at her.

Then Bai Shuangshuang pounced on her.

“Mama—”

She buried her head in Xi Chun’s chest, nuzzling like a spoiled kitten.

Xi Chun’s face flushed bright red, red enough to drip blood.

She froze completely, not knowing where to put her hands.

Back in the mansion, when Bai Shuangshuang was still a fool, she used to pounce like this and call her “Mama.”

Back then, though embarrassing, at least she felt no pressure.

The other party was a little fool who didn’t understand anything.

Calling her that was fine.

But not now.

The Second Miss was no longer foolish.

She wore an official robe and commanded troops.

A high-ranking Second Miss pouncing into her arms and calling her “Mama”?

Xi Chun’s mind buzzed into a mess.

“S-Second Miss…”

Her voice trembled.

“Please don’t—”

Bai Shuangshuang didn’t let go.

Her face buried in Xi Chun’s shoulder, she asked in a muffled voice.

“Not allowed to call?”

Xi Chun’s lips quivered a few times, but in the end, she couldn’t say the word “not allowed.”

She took a deep breath, resignedly closed her eyes, and reached out to lightly pat Bai Shuangshuang’s back.

Once, twice.

Like before.

Bai Shuangshuang nestled in her arms, quiet, like a cat that had finally found its home.

As Xi Chun patted, her hands stopped trembling, but her eyes began to sting.

She remembered those years when Bai Shuangshuang was bullied.

She went to argue, was pushed to the ground, scraped her knee, and came back to hide in the woodshed and cry.

When Bai Shuangshuang was betrothed to that scoundrel from the Liu Family, she sat in the courtyard all night.

At dawn, she told herself that if the Second Miss suffered after marriage, she would go to the County Magistrate’s Official Residence and smash her head against the door.

She was just a maidservant, insignificant, unable to do anything.

She only had a cheap life that could stir a few ripples.

But now, it was different.

Xi Chun’s tears finally couldn’t hold back.

They silently streamed down, dripping onto Bai Shuangshuang’s hair.

“What are you crying for?”

Bai Shuangshuang looked up, reaching out to wipe her tears, her movements clumsy.

“No one can bully me anymore, and no one can bully Mama Xi Chun anymore.”

Xi Chun, called “Mama Xi Chun” like that, laughed and cried at the same time, even letting out a snot bubble.

She quickly covered her mouth.

Bai Shuangshuang, seeing her both embarrassed and touched, smiled too.

“Mama, cute~”

“Don’t, don’t say that, Second Miss…”

After settling everything, Bai Shuangshuang sent Xi Chun to the next room and returned to her own.

As soon as she pushed open the door, she heard a lazy voice behind her.

“Back?”

Bai Shuangshuang looked up sharply.

Zhao Qingyue was leaning against the wall of the room, arms crossed, a smile on her lips.

“You—you never left?!”

Bai Shuangshuang’s voice floated a bit.

“Mm.”

Zhao Qingyue walked over slowly.

“I’ve been here all along, Lord Bai~”

Bai Shuangshuang’s mind buzzed.

She had seen everything—how she acted in the room, pouncing into Xi Chun’s arms, calling “Mama,” rubbing against her chest?

Zhao Qingyue stopped in front of her, tilting her head to look at her, with a cunning gleam in her eyes that said “I caught you.”

“Bai Shuangshuang, I didn’t know you had such a little hobby. I felt something was off during dinner.”

Bai Shuangshuang’s face turned red, then white, then green, then black, then vanished…

“I didn’t—”

“Didn’t what? Calling a delicate young girl ‘Mama’—I heard it all.”

Zhao Qingyue enunciated each word clearly.

“And you burrowed into her arms.”

Bai Shuangshuang wished she could find a crack in the floor to crawl into.

“That’s—”

“What?”

Bai Shuangshuang opened her mouth but couldn’t speak.

It was her deepest little secret, the most private understanding between her and Xi Chun.

Now Zhao Qingyue knew, and had seen it with her own eyes.

She gritted her teeth and looked up, her face red.

“What will it take for you to keep it a secret?”

Zhao Qingyue raised an eyebrow, her eyes lighting up.

“Call me ‘Mama’—”

“Ha?!”

Bai Shuangshuang couldn’t believe her ears.

“Zhao Qingyue, you—”

“Call—me—Mama.”

Zhao Qingyue interrupted her.

“Lord Bai, you don’t want everyone to know about this, do you?”

Bai Shuangshuang lowered her head, took several deep breaths, and finally made up her mind, gritting her teeth.

“Mama!”

“Aww, what a good daughter~”

Zhao Qingyue laughed, her whole body shaking with mirth.

“One more condition: you owe me a favor.”

She said.

“Just one. I’ll tell you when I’ve thought of it.”

“How can there be more…”

“You don’t want—”

“Fine!”

Bai Shuangshuang was grinding her back teeth.

“But don’t make it too extreme!”

She added through gritted teeth.

Zhao Qingyue laughed, reached out, and flicked her forehead with just the right force.

“Whether it’s extreme or not, I’ll decide.”

Bai Shuangshuang covered her forehead, wanting to retort but lacking the confidence, so she just glared at her.

Zhao Qingyue pulled a chair over and sat down.

“Let’s get down to business.”

Her tone became more serious.

“At today’s banquet, why did you just let it go? Why not strike while the iron is hot?”

Bai Shuangshuang sat opposite her, rubbing the spot where she was flicked.

“No rush.”

She said.

“Right now, Liu Wenyuan and Bai Jingtang are both tense. A head-on collision isn’t a good strategy; it would only make them unite.”

“Give them some time to stew on their own. Liu Wenyuan worries about his son, Bai Jingtang fears being sold out. Both have secrets in their hearts. One of them will crack first.”

She paused, the corner of her mouth curving slightly.

“Just wait. Soon, they’ll fall apart on their own.”

Zhao Qingyue looked at her, not speaking, her gaze lingering on her face for a long time.

Confident, reliable—different from the little maidservant she knew.

“What?”

Bai Shuangshuang felt uncomfortable under her stare.

Zhao Qingyue withdrew her gaze, the corner of her mouth curving.

“Nothing. It’s just—”

She paused.

“You look pretty good like this.”

Bai Shuangshuang was startled for a moment, and before she could react, Zhao Qingyue had already stood up and walked out.

The door closed.

Bai Shuangshuang sat on the chair, not moving for a long time.

She touched her face.

It was hot.

“…Crazy.”

She muttered softly, unsure whether she meant herself or Zhao Qingyue.