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

On the ice rink, Lin Ye had been skating with Xiao Douzi for more than half an hour.

The little guy is making rapid progress; he can now occasionally let go of Lin Ye's hand and kick the ice a couple of times on his own.

Her face was flushed from exercise, and her bangs were blown up by the wind, revealing her smooth forehead.

"Godfather! Look at me!"

Xiao Douzi loosened her grip on Lin Ye's hand.

She took a deep breath, pushed off lightly with her feet, and stretched out her arms slightly to maintain her balance. She carefully glided forward a short distance, leaving two shallow white marks on the ice with her skates.

Then it came to a steady, clanging stop.

She turned around, opened her arms to Lin Ye, her face clearly saying, "Praise me, praise me!"

Lin Ye was amused by her smugness and was about to praise her when his foot suddenly slipped—

A sharp, pulling pain shot up along the tendons in my calf.

I don't know if it's because he hasn't been skating for too long, but after standing on the ice for too long, his calf cramped up.

Lin Ye suddenly lurched forward, his hands slamming against the railing with a thud, barely managing to stay upright by supporting himself with his arms.

The railing made a loud thud when it was hit, and the vibration made his palms go numb even through his gloves. He subconsciously shook his hand, his brows furrowing and then relaxing.

He lifted his leg and rotated it a couple of times, as if he had stretched it back a bit, but the flesh on his calf was still throbbing. Lin Ye just bent down to reach out and rub it a couple of times—

"Godfather!"

A small, pale yellow figure rushed over with a "whoosh".

The ice blades scraped against the ice with a cracking sound, hurried and chaotic. Little Douzi stumbled and slid to his side, almost falling down first.

"Godfather, what's wrong?" Her voice was urgent and rapid, trembling uncontrollably. "Did you fall anywhere?"

She looked up, her eyes already red-rimmed, tears glistening in the light, as if they were about to fall at any moment.

Her little hands moved back and forth across the leg he was about to rub, trying to find the injured spot.

"It's alright, it's alright," Lin Ye quickly bent down, grabbed the two small hands and held them in his palms, his voice soft and steady.

"He just got a leg cramp, he didn't fall. Look, his godfather is perfectly fine!"

"Then, then Godfather's leg..." Little Douzi sniffed, his voice muffled and stuck in his throat, "Does it hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore, a little rubbing will make it better."

"I'll rub it for you!" Without saying a word, Xiao Douzi squatted down, placed both hands on his calves, and clumsily pinched and rubbed them.

Her lips were tightly pursed, her brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly, and she rubbed them tirelessly with both hands.

As she rubbed her eyes, a tear "plop" fell down, and then, like beads from a broken string, it rolled down her cheeks.

"Waaah... Godfather must be in so much pain..." Little Douzi was heartbroken and cried so hard that she could hardly breathe, tears instantly covering her face.

Lin Ye's heart clenched. He quickly reached out and cupped that wet little face in his hands, wiping away the tears with his thumb.

"Ouch! Godfather, it doesn't hurt anymore, it really doesn't hurt anymore!" He pulled the little bag into his arms, rested his chin on her head, and his voice came out in a muffled tone from his chest.

"Look, Godfather's leg is perfectly fine, nothing's wrong. Little Douzi, believe in Godfather, don't cry, okay? If you cry anymore, your eyes will swell up, and then you won't be the cutest Little Douzi anymore."

The little girl buried her face in his chest, her little hands clutching his shirt, sobbing for a long time before slowly stopping.

She sniffed and said in a hoarse voice, "Then, then Little Douzi believes in her godfather, Little Douzi won't cry anymore..."

"But...but, Godfather wants to rest with Little Douzi! Little Douzi has had enough skating and doesn't want to skate anymore."

Lin Ye looked at her serious expression, sighed, but his eyes were warm:

"Okay, Godfather will listen to our Little Douzi!"

Xiao Douzi nodded obediently, took his hand and walked towards the rest area on the sidelines, glancing down at his leg every now and then, afraid that it would cramp again.

……

In the Great Flame Kingdom, the people under the sky watched this scene with a mix of laughter and exclamations, as comments scrolled by one after another.

[Commoner Wang Xiu: Oh my... Look at how distressed the eldest princess is! My heart has melted!]

[Commoner Zhao Si: Daughters are so much better, so considerate! If it were my brat, he'd probably piss on my head if I fell down!]

[Commoner Li Niu: Who can disagree? It's truly enviable.]

……

Ancheng.

Shu Jingwei sat against the wall, her amputated leg stretched straight out on the stone slab, while her good leg was curled up in front of her.

A warm breeze, typical of late spring, blew in from the alleyway, which should have brought her warmth, but she only felt cold all over.

She looked up, her bloodshot eyes fixed on the scene on the sky where Xiaodouzi was crying with heartache and anxiety, her expression blank.

She suddenly remembered two months ago.

She was dragged out by two guards and thrown onto the stone steps at the palace gate, her broken arms and legs hanging limply like rags.

With every movement, the bone fragments would poke into her muscles, causing her to tremble in pain.

Shu Rou was grabbed by the back of her neck and thrown next to her. The little girl was wrapped up like a dumpling and fell to the ground with a muffled groan.

She wasn't as shrewd as she is now; when she was thrown out, all she knew was to cry.

Perhaps because she had nothing left, she somehow felt a pang of pity and took Shu Rou away.

Having lived a life of luxury for many years, even in this state of destitution, he still possessed a charm that ordinary people could not match.

Many wealthy businessmen in the capital who would never attain an official position in their lifetime were quite interested in the feeling of trampling a former empress underfoot.

So she endured her disgust and fawned over them, serving those fat, ugly, and filthy creatures until they were completely satisfied.

She did manage to get a lot of money, and she even paid a doctor to set her broken arm and leg.

During that time, Shu Rou was also very attentive to her, bringing her water and food, calling her "Mother this, Mother that" and circling around her with bright, sparkling eyes.

Sometimes Shu Jingwei even felt that having a daughter was... not so bad.

Everything seems to be getting better.

However, the turning point came quickly, before her arms and legs could even fully heal...

That evening, Mr. Liu, the owner of the silk shop in the east of the city, invited her to his other residence to "reminisce." She finally managed to coax him into handing over his money, but Mr. Liu, that shrewish woman, barged in with seven or eight servants.

The shrew first pointed at Boss Liu's nose and started cursing, spitting everywhere.

"Liu Neng, you idiot! You dare to sleep with a heartless and vile woman like Shu Jingwei?! Aren't you afraid she'll poison you to death in bed one night?!"

Not content with just the verbal abuse, he slapped her several more times.

Shu Jingwei crouched in the corner of the room, watching with trepidation, preparing to sneak away when no one was looking.

However, Shu Rou, who had somehow moved behind her, suddenly shoved her, and she fell forward to the ground before she could react.

She raised her head, trembling, and stared at the burly woman in the middle of the room, whose gaze slowly moved toward her...