Chapter 5

After a full meal, your host fell asleep soundly in her male mama’s arms.

When I woke up, I hadn’t been sent back to my previous quarters. I was still in the tyrant’s bedchamber.

Detecting that Chu Ye showed no signs of kicking me out, your host obediently stopped crying.

This was, of course, part of your host’s plan.

When I was away from him, I’d wail. The moment I saw him, I’d stop.

The maids taking care of me did their best to praise him.

“Your Majesty, the little princess adores you. She stops crying the moment she sees you.”

Chu Ye snorted through his nose, maintaining his aloof and cool demeanor.

I persisted in smiling up at him and made sure to change my expression the moment I faced someone else.

Sure enough, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the faintest hint of a smile on Chu Ye’s lips.

It vanished as quickly as it appeared.

People love to be treated with double standards.

Given Chu Ye’s position, countless people already treated him that way out of submission.

But what schemes could a newborn baby have?

A pure, innocent newborn was instinctively attached to him, liked him.

He had clearly never experienced this kind of biased affection before.

But this initial attachment and affection from a newborn is usually reserved for the mother who gives birth to them.

Because I consistently refused to drink any milk other than Chu Ye’s…

…every time, Chu Ye had to send all the attendants away, furtively check to make sure no one was around…

…and then carefully pick me up.

The maids had taught him how to hold me. “A baby is fragile, Your Majesty. You must be careful.”

I would expertly open my mouth to nurse.

Of course, I still had to endure his taunts while eating. “So ugly.”

Ugly or not, you’re the one who gave birth to me.

I didn’t say anything, just suckled harder.

Chu Ye hissed in pain. I thought he was about to get angry, but instead he said…

“Ugly and can’t even take a comment. You’ve got quite a temper for a little thing.”

Chu Ye finished his “confinement period,” and it took another month of recovery for his body to get back to normal.

He had already spent nearly a year at the detached palace, and due to his physical condition, he had neglected state affairs for several months.

The ministers he had left in charge had caused some trouble. The moment Chu Ye was well, he rushed back to the capital.

Your host and the system, left behind in the detached palace, stared at each other.

[System: “Why didn’t he take you with him? You should stop the hunger strike. I took a look at the situation in the capital; the tyrant won’t be back for at least ten or fifteen days.”]

I told it that its tiny electronic brain couldn’t understand anything.

My crying and hunger strikes were a performance for the hidden guards lurking in the shadows.

The palace attendants were frantic. I cried for “mama” for a whole day, and that night, I cried myself to sleep.

The hidden guards stationed here faithfully recorded and reported everything.

After that performance, the next day, I reluctantly (but actually starving) drank the wet nurse’s milk.

Your host was living a great life, but the system’s anxiety grew daily.

[System: “What do we do? Chu Ye hears daily reports about you, but he hasn’t shown any reaction. It’s been two months and he hasn’t come back for you. Are you going to be raised outside the palace because he’s embarrassed by you?”]

[Me: “He wants to abandon me? Interesting.”]

To be honest, your host was getting tired of crying for “mama” every day for two months.

[System: “What’s so interesting about it, Host?! There was another consort who was pregnant before Chu Ye, and she’s given birth now, also to a princess!”]

[“Chu Ye is always holding her princess now-oh right, this NPC is a big deal! She’s Princess Chu Yue, the one who competes with the transmigrators for the emperor’s affection!”]

[“She’s extremely favored, you know? In every timeline, she’s the favorite. Many transmigrators died after being framed for trying to poison her. Chu Yue is your biggest rival on the path to becoming the most favored princess!”]

I said it didn’t need to worry. All I needed was one word: “mama.”

I started throwing tantrums and refusing to drink milk again.

The palace attendants came up with a vicious plan. They found a hidden guard with a similar build to Chu Ye to act as a stand-in.

Infants don’t recognize faces anyway. They put the wet nurse’s milk in a small bottle and attached a nipple-like device.

Not only did I drink heartily in the guard’s arms, I even called him “mama.”

-Sure enough, the very next day, Chu Ye’s head eunuch arrived.

Held in a maid’s arms, I was placed in a carriage heading for the imperial palace.