The prince is more stable

Chapter 904 Touching Acting Skills
Since giving birth to Zhao Hao, Niao Niao has been completely content with having a son.

Of all Zhao Xiaoqian's women, she was the one with the least pressure, because she was the first to give birth to a son for him. Although he was not the legitimate son, he was still the eldest son of a concubine, and his future status would not be much worse than that of the legitimate son.

In fact, all the officials and civil servants now highly value Zhao Hao, the eldest son of the emperor, even though he was born out of wedlock. The officials still have high hopes for Zhao Hao.

When Zhao Xiaoqian first ascended the throne, many court officials and scholars volunteered to teach the young prince after he turned five.

But Zhao Xiaoqian politely declined.

Regarding his eldest son's education, Zhao Xiaoqian had his own plans. He didn't want his eldest son to be ruined by these great Confucian scholars and become a bookworm who could only spout Confucian sayings and poems. Zhao Xiaoqian even considered sacrificing his own family for the greater good.

Zhao Xiaoqian was very relaxed when he arrived at the door of Yelü Nanxian's sleeping quarters.

Niao Niao tugged at his hand and said in a pitiful voice that she was hungry. Zhao Xiaoqian affectionately pinched her nose.

Yes, it's a real nose, without any silicone implants.

"Eat first if you're hungry, no need to wait for me. We're an old married couple, there's no need for these formalities. Besides, you're a mother now, and you're still acting like a spoiled old lady, it must take a lot of energy. Eat more later..."

Niao Niao was taken aback, then became furious and screamed. Without saying a word, she bit his arm and refused to let go.

"Shut up! The palace's dog-catching team is here! You'd better hide!" Zhao Xiaoqian shuddered in pain, shaking his arm violently as if waving snot, but he still couldn't shake them off.

Watching the couple laugh and joke, Yelü Nanxian stood quietly outside the palace gate, a hint of envy flashing in her eyes.

If a couple can live a happy life together like this, then even if the man is a little unfaithful, she would still be willing.

The couple finally stopped bickering after a while, and Zhao Xiaoqian glanced at Yelü Nanxian.

Yelü Nanxian bowed gracefully: "Nanxian greets Your Majesty."

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded with a smile.

No matter how many times I've seen this woman, my heart beats a few beats slower each time.

Judging by her appearance alone, this woman really resembles the white moonlight of my youth, whom I loved but could not have. Especially her aloof personality and indifferent attitude towards everything in the world, she is more like a fairy who is untouched by worldly affairs.

This fairy must have tripped and fallen flat on her face when she was in Heaven, which is why she was so unlucky to fall to the mortal world...

Therefore, nothing in the mortal world mattered to her, revealing a kind of "destroy it all, I'm tired" magnanimity.

"Nanxian, it seems like it's been a long time since I've seen you. Hmm, I've been busy with state affairs lately, and the women around me haven't been letting me off the hook at night either..."

Before she could finish speaking, Niao Niao pinched him again in a huff.

Zhao Xiaoqian chuckled: "It's alright, we're all family, there's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Yelü Nanxian blushed, pretending not to hear, and simply turned to the side to invite Zhao Xiaoqian into the hall.

The palace was simple but clean and tidy, and there were two young palace maids serving inside. One of the maids looked somewhat familiar.

After careful examination, Zhao Xiaoqian finally recognized her.

These are nameless palace maids who were casually taken away when Yelü Nanxian's wedding procession was abducted.

As he entered the hall, Zhao Hao, who was playing on the floor, spotted him. He immediately smiled innocently, stood up, stretched out his short, chubby arms, and stumbled toward him, calling out indistinctly, "Da da, da da!"

Zhao Xiaoqian was overjoyed, picked him up, and gave him several big kisses on his tender face.

"My good son, you're so clever, and those eyes are full of wisdom... Tsk! Tomorrow your father will issue an imperial examination decree, and you go and pass it for your father, and if you don't pass, you'll starve for three days!"

Little Zhao Hao didn't understand what the imperial examination or the title of "top scholar" meant at all. Anyway, he was in a good mood when he saw his father, so he chuckled.

Zhao Xiaoqian, quick as a flash, pried open his little mouth and counted how many teeth he had grown...

"Not bad, they're almost fully grown and ready to eat meat," Zhao Xiaoqian praised.

The loving father was overjoyed and casually lifted his son's bottom flap: "Your teeth are all in, now let me check if your pubic hair is all in..."

Niao Niao was smiling as she watched this heartwarming scene of fatherly love and filial piety, until her unreliable father lifted his backside curtain. Niao Niao was immediately both ashamed and angry, and snatched her son away.

"My lord, you've gone mad! This child is so young, and you..."

Zhao Xiaoqian said nonchalantly, "We're all men, what's there to be ashamed of? Look at our son, he's not shy at all, laughing so happily without a care in the world."

Little Zhao Hao was indeed very happy. He was held in Niao Niao's arms, but his clear eyes were fixed on his father, and he let out a clear, cheerful laugh.

Niao Niao was speechless and rolled her eyes.

She reached out and gently pinched Zhao Hao's soft cheek, then pointed at Zhao Xiaoqian and taught her son, "From now on, don't call him 'Da Da' anymore, call him 'Father Emperor,' understand?"

Zhao Hao blinked his big eyes and stammered, "Father...Father Emperor?"

Zhao Xiaoqian waved his hand: "Why call me Father? Just call me Dad. We're family. Why all this formality?"

With a chuckle, she taught Zhao Hao again.

Zhao Hao was just over a year old, at the age when he was just learning to speak. After Niao Niao taught him once, he immediately learned it and shouted it out in a clear voice.

"father!"

"Oh! My dear eldest son, call me again!"

"father!"

"Hey! Well said. Here, I'll give you a bone..." Zhao Xiaoqian actually turned around and started looking for bones in the dishes on the table.

Niao Niao, enraged, pinched him hard: "Are you training your son like a dog?" "He's just teething and needs to grind his teeth. Bones are just the right size. Everyone calls themselves 'my son,' 'my son,' isn't that what they called him when he was a kid, gnawing on bones to grind his teeth? This isn't a dark history, it's the path he came from... What do women know!" Zhao Xiaoqian said discontentedly.

"They have all sorts of fallacies, but they just won't work!"

The family of three laughed and joked, while Yelü Nanxian and two palace maids couldn't stop laughing, turning around and shrugging their shoulders.

It was getting late, and Niao Niao and Yelü Nanxian had been waiting for him, their stomachs empty. Zhao Xiaoqian, feeling sorry for them, couldn't bear to let them go hungry for too long, so he sat down and announced that dinner was served.

Although the two women were hungry, they ate very politely, chewing slowly and carefully, one bite at a time.

Zhao Xiaoqian held his son and carefully tore the stewed meat into small strips, feeding it to his son. Little Zhao Hao ate with gusto, his mouth full of oil, kicking his legs wildly with joy.

The atmosphere at dinner was a bit strange, as everyone at the table had their own thoughts.

Niao Niao blinked and said, "My lord has nothing to do tonight, why don't we have a few drinks together? You've been busy with court affairs these past few days, it's time to relax."

Then, she gracefully instructed the palace maids to serve wine, and then looked at Yelü Nanxian: "Nanxian, why don't you join me and my husband for a drink?"

Yelü Nanxian was stunned for a moment, then quickly glanced at Zhao Xiaoqian and immediately understood what Niao Niao meant. Her pretty face turned even redder, and she lowered her head without saying a word.

Zhao Xiaoqian looked at the two women quietly, a slight stirring in his heart.

A scandalous conspiracy?

...I am willing!

Any way you cooperate is fine.

The son was carried out by a palace maid, and the three of them began to drink.

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled but remained silent, while Yelü Nanxian lowered her head shyly, acting as a mood-maker.

The dinner table was filled with laughter and cheerful conversation for a while.

After an unknown amount of time, the two women's faces flushed slightly, and Niao Niao even started to stutter a little. Yelü Nanxian was a Khitan and should have been able to hold her liquor well, but after Niao Niao gave her a look, Yelü Nanxian's body also began to sway precariously.

Zhao Xiaoqian curled his lip.

Your acting skills... if it were a thousand years from now, you'd be called pretty faces, good for nothing but good looks.

Then Zhao Xiaoqian began to think about whether he should get drunk or not.

The main issue is that the details of the two women's scheme are unclear—were they genuinely drunk or faking it? Who was the one initiating the attack and who was the one being attacked?

After a long while, Niao Niao suddenly swayed and exclaimed dramatically, "Oh dear, my lord, I've drunk too much and am really drunk. I can't drink anymore. Please forgive me..."

As she spoke, she beckoned to a palace maid and asked her to help her back to her bedchamber.

Seeing Niao Niao being helped by palace maids, her figure unsteady, Zhao Xiaoqian was utterly speechless.

Such awkward acting! If I didn't have the heart to expose her, Zhao Xiaoqian would have hung her up and given her a good talking-to for her exaggerated and affected performance.

After Niao Niao left, only Zhao Xiaoqian and Yelü Nanxian remained in the bedchamber.

The palace maids who were serving the two had disappeared at some point. Zhao Xiaoqian had to give the two palace maids a thumbs up. Of all the acting skills performed by everyone in the palace tonight, these two invisible palace maids were the most superb.

Yelü Nanxian's face was flushed red, whether from shyness or drunkenness, it was hard to tell.

Seeing that Zhao Xiaoqian was still looking at her with clear eyes, seemingly without any sign of drunkenness, Yelü Nanxian became even more embarrassed.

Encouraged by Niao Niao and with what was supposedly meticulous planning, tonight's script was originally for the two women to team up to get Zhao Xiaoqian drunk, then help him to Yelü Nanxian's bed, and finally...

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. The two women forgot the most important thing: this man's alcohol tolerance was much better than they had imagined. Even when the two women worked together, they couldn't get him drunk. At this point, Zhao Xiaoqian was still perfectly sober.

Seeing that the plan had failed, but it didn't seem to have completely failed, Niao Niao, rather disloyally, pretended to be drunk and slipped away first. How Yelü Nanxian would perform next was her business, and Niao Niao had no say in it.

But Niaoniao forgot that Yelü Nanxian had absolutely no experience in this area. Whether it was performing or seducing men, it was a completely unfamiliar territory for her.

So at this moment, the two sat facing each other in the hall, and the atmosphere was very awkward.

After Niao Niao left, Yelü Nanxian was at a loss and could only look at Zhao Xiaoqian with pleading eyes, completely losing her usual aloof and arrogant demeanor.

Zhao Xiaoqian was at a loss. He had been drinking in a daze until now, and even after Niao Niao had left, the woman in front of him still showed no sign of revealing her true intentions.

The credits are almost rolling, lady! What exactly do you want? Can you just say it directly?
Whatever you say, I'm willing to cooperate!
But you have to show me the script first!
After a long silence, Zhao Xiaoqian finally couldn't hold back any longer.

Since we can't see the script, why not follow mine?

So Zhao Xiaoqian kindly reminded her, "Niao Niao is drunk, aren't you drunk yet?"

Yelü Nanxian was startled. She had to admit that the reminder was very timely. She immediately had a flash of inspiration and widened her eyes dramatically.

"Ah! I'm drunk too!"

After saying that, Yelü Nanxian planned to slump onto the table and show off her drunken princess act to her family.

The table in front of her was a mess of cups and plates. Yelü Nanxian was a little disgusted and worried that they would dirty her clothes, so she carefully cleaned up the part of the table in front of her. Finally, she wiped the table and was satisfied. She then lay down on the table with both arms.

"Ah! I'm drunk!"

Zhao Xiaoqian: "???"

This awkward acting is even more unbearable than a chaotic scene.

(End of this chapter)