My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

The images on the celestial screen continued to shift.

Duoduo opened the second book, which was "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".

The cover features a chubby green caterpillar with two red antennae on its head, emerging from a red apple with a round hole in it.

"On Monday," Dodo mimicked the caterpillar's tone, turning the pages one by one, "it ate an apple, but it was still very hungry."

"On Tuesday, it ate two pears, but it was still very hungry."

……

The children of the Great Flame Kingdom stared wide-eyed.

Where have they ever seen a book like this before?

The food and fruit on the pages, red, yellow, and green, were so vibrant and beautiful that they immediately caught my eye.

By Saturday, the caterpillars were eating voraciously—

Chocolate cake, ice cream, cheese, sausage...

Colorful food items were spread out over two whole pages of paper.

Duoduo and Xiaodouzi sat head to head, poking at the pages of the book with their fingers, counting one after another.

Each time a number was counted, the two children would exclaim "Wow!" in excitement.

Finally, the caterpillar turned into a pupa and hung quietly on the branch.

Then the pupa split open and turned into a butterfly.

Turn to the last page—

The butterfly's wings almost covered the entire double-page spread.

It's huge and full, as if it's about to fly out of the book.

The colors on it are like an overturned paint palette, with red, yellow, blue, purple... layer upon layer, so dazzling that it's hard to look away.

"So beautiful!"

……

Inside the Fengde Hall, Shu Rou sat behind a small table next to Shu Jingwei.

She slightly raised her head, her gaze fixed on the colorful pages of the book on the sky.

So lovely!

It was infinitely more beautiful than any picture book she had ever seen before!

Her eyes followed Duoduo's hand greedily.

When that hand reached for the third book, her heart leaped into her throat, and she held her breath, afraid of missing a single detail.

However, the sky seemed to have seen through her desire and suddenly turned the camera away.

Those pictures that haunted her dreams have vanished!

Shu Rou clenched her hand tightly in her sleeve, her nails digging deep into her palm, leaving several crescent-shaped red marks.

The knuckles turned white from the force applied.

Why should I?!

Why should she, a noble princess, living a life of luxury, be forced to memorize those long, tedious, and pedantic documents?!

If she can't recite it, she'll be beaten with a ruler, forced to copy it a hundred times, or even deprived of food and sleep!

Meanwhile, those commoners could read interesting picture books that even she, as a princess, had never seen!

And the boy next to him was watching—

A metal box that contains countless picture books and can make sounds! It sounds incredibly interesting.

She wants one too!

She wants a book like that too!

But... she can't cry anymore.

The last time she caused trouble, the Empress Dowager threw her into the palace school and made that damned old man hold a ruler and make her memorize those damned tattered books.

She hates!

I hate that old geezer!

I hate those densely packed words, like ants crawling on the ground!

She hated even more the woman who had so ruthlessly sent her away and was now hypocritically embracing her.

Her mother, the Empress.

Shu Rou lowered her eyelashes, her eyes swirling with a barely contained resentment and coldness.

When she looked up again, her eyes were already filled with clear, watery light, teetering on the verge of collapse.

She reached out and gently tugged at Shu Jingwei's sleeve, which was embroidered with a golden dragon.

"Mother Queen..." Her voice was hesitant and tentative.

"Rou'er... wants picture books like those too... the one with the caterpillar, and the one with the little rabbit... Rou'er... wants them all..."

She looked up, tears welling in her eyes, threatening to fall, making her look extremely pitiful.

Anyone who saw this would feel sorry for this timid little girl.

Shu Jingwei glanced down at her, feeling quite pleased with her obedient demeanor as if she were completely relying on her.

Rou'er has become increasingly well-behaved these days.

She extended her fingers, clad in crimson gold armor, and stroked the top of Shu Rou's hair, her tone carrying a nonchalant arrogance:

"Alright, Rou'er wants it, Your Majesty will have the best painter in the inner court paint it for you." A disdainful smile curled at the corner of her lips.

"Those painters have worked for decades and possess profound skills. Are they really inferior to those worthless, unknown things in the sky?"

"Whatever pattern our Rou'er wants, they'll draw it! It'll definitely be more exquisite and luxurious than the ones on the backdrop!"

Shu Rou blinked hard, revealing a perfect, utterly obedient smile: "Thank you, Mother! Mother is the best!"

After saying that, she obediently turned her head and looked back at the sky.

But those eyes, which had just been filled with dependence and grievance, gradually grew cold in the shadows where no one could see them.

The best painter in the palace?

She'd seen all those artists' work before; they couldn't even draw a moving little person—they were all useless!

Are you trying to coax her like a three-year-old?

Shu Rou lowered her head, thinking of the person who had appeared in her bedroom a few days ago, and the obedient smile on her lips deepened even more.

But she's only three years old now.

A three-year-old child whom no one would be wary of...

Shu Jingwei did not notice the changes in her daughter's thoughts.

She glanced at Shu Rou's "obedience" with satisfaction, then looked away, picked up the glass cup in her hand, and drank the remaining wine in one gulp.

Picture book?

Hmph, these are nothing but scraps of paper to fool children. In her Great Flame, they are practically worthless.

As for that robot?

No matter how clever you are, all you can do is carry a few tattered books in your belly. What other use can that be?

The robotic arm was as thin as a hemp stalk; it didn't even need her new iron sword. A single cavalry charge would crush it into a pile of scrap metal.

These fancy and ingenious skills are ultimately illusory.

The truly reliable ones are her elite troops! Her new ironclad forces!

Shu Jingwei slowly clenched the wine cup in her hand, her knuckles tightening one by one, the twisted shadow of her fingers reflected on the cup.

Only the blade and the fist are the only truth!

Once she lures Yao Jingyuan back and kills him, and once her elite army has joined forces and marches north, she will wipe out all the rebels in the north—

The world is now completely secure!

As for the present situation...

Her deep, dark eyes, like poisoned hooks, slowly swept over the civil and military officials and noble families in the hall, a greedy smile spreading across her lips.

It's time to prepare some "military supplies" for the great war to come.

She clapped her hands three times lightly.

"Smack."

"Smack."

"Smack."

Outside the palace gate, heavy footsteps fell with the final clapping, then suddenly rose again.

A squad of imperial guards clad in black armor marched in with perfectly synchronized steps into the Fengde Hall.

Their armor plates gleamed with a strange, cold metallic light under the candlelight.

The soles of the boots pounded on the gold bricks, producing a heavy and awe-inspiring echo, each sound like a drumstick striking the hearts of everyone present.

They lined up in the center of the hall, like a silent black city wall.

The newly forged iron weapon was drawn—

"Clang—"

The blade gleamed with a chilling, eerie light under the candlelight.

In that instant, the air in the hall seemed to be suddenly sucked out, and everyone held their breath.

What is Your Majesty doing?!