Chapter 19: Lolita Cultivation Plan?

  "Rosy, green willow, quick, quick, quick go invite a wet nurse!"

  Perhaps due to hunger, Shangguan Wan'er, who had been quietly sleeping all the way, burst into tears as soon as she entered the gate of the Zhou Wangfu. Although she was small, her crying voice was not at all small, and it was so loud that Li Xian was startled. He rushed straight to the back hall, and before he even entered the house, he began shouting loudly.

  "Your Highness, what is this..."

  "This child can't be..."

  "It can't be, Your Highness, how could you..."

  It wasn't even necessary for Li Xian to call out, as the maids had already been startled by Shangguan Wan'er's crying. Five or six little maids rushed out, each one full of curiosity, and surrounded them, their big eyes scanning back and forth between Li Xian and Shangguan Wan'er, who was still crying in Gao Yan's arms, as they began to discuss the situation among themselves.

  Dizzy, what are you guys thinking? At my age, can I have a child that big? A bunch of brainless people! As soon as Li Xian heard the maids gossiping like this, the black line on his forehead immediately drooped down. Unfortunately, it was not easy to clearly explain the origin of this maid, so he had no choice but to put on a stern face and fake coughed a few times. Unfortunately, Li Xian's cough seemed a bit small, while the gossip energy of the maids seemed to be even bigger, and the chaotic noise did not stop at all, but instead increased by several points, making Li Xian feel extremely embarrassed.

  "Your Highness, I'm still breastfeeding my child, and judging by the amount, it should be enough." Just as Li Xian was feeling depressed, a loud voice suddenly came from behind him.

  "Hmm? Alright, that's great. Hurry up and invite your wife over for a visit, I won't be stingy with the reward." Li Xian turned his head back to look at the speaker, only to discover that it was Lin Hu, his newly promoted personal attendant, who had spoken up. He couldn't help but feel delighted and repeatedly urged him on.

  "Alright, Your Highness, please wait a moment, I'll go and pass on the message." Lin Hu was originally just a deputy captain of the palace guard, without the privilege of living in the palace. Not long ago, he had rendered meritorious service in the case of the imperial prison, and as a result, he had been promoted to be in charge of the imperial escort, which was considered a good appointment. He had not only received a generous reward from Emperor Li Xian but also moved his whole family into the palace, feeling extremely grateful. Upon hearing Emperor Li Xian's words, Lin Hu was overjoyed and hastily replied, rushing to the front courtyard. Before long, he led in a robust young woman.

  "Your Highness, this is my wife, Wang." Lin Hu smiled foolishly at Li Xian and introduced her. Then he turned his head to look at his own daughter-in-law and scolded in a low voice: "Foolish woman, what are you staring at? When you see His Highness, why don't you hurry up and pay your respects?"

  "Ah, so this is Your Highness! I, your humble servant, pay my respects." The king's family was clearly not used to grand occasions and didn't know much about etiquette. Not only did they use improper titles, but their bows were also extremely awkward, causing Lin Hu to blush bright red with embarrassment. He hastily apologized to Li Xian, "Your Highness, our humble household lacks refinement, but we have plenty of milk. Our daughter can't even finish it all every day, what a pity."

  "Never mind, never mind. I, Xiao Wang, have presumptuously invited Mistress Lin to come here on a matter of business. It's about this little girl, who has just left her mother and is pitifully young. I was wondering if Mistress Lin would be willing to take care of her for me? If it's acceptable, I'll allocate one guan of silver per month for your household expenses, and as for food and other necessities, they can all be taken from the estate's kitchen. Would that be agreeable?" Li Xian didn't bother with the etiquette issues of an ordinary woman, and his heart ached at the sight of Shangguan Wan'er crying uncontrollably, so he offered a sky-high price right away.

  Every month, one guan of money is not a small sum. Let alone the common people who can't earn it, even Lin Hu, as the imperial guard, after a busy month, only gets 400 wen of salary. Comparing this, you can see how astonishing one guan of monthly allowance is! Wang's family was overjoyed and hastily promised: "Thank you, Your Highness, thank you, Your Highness, I will definitely do my best and won't disappoint this child..."

  "Shut up!" Wang responded quickly, but ended up provoking Lin Hu instead. To be honest, Lin Hu had brought his wife in solely to repay Li Xian's kindness in promoting him, and hadn't even thought about asking for money. Before entering the house, he had repeatedly instructed his wife not to ask Li Xian for a reward, but she had completely forgotten this once she heard that the reward was substantial. She didn't even bother to consult with Lin Hu, which made him furious and lose face. He scolded her harshly, interrupting Wang's display of loyalty, and then bowed his head and clasped his fists in front of Li Xian, saying: "Your Excellency, please forgive my wife for not knowing the rules of etiquette and speaking nonsense. It's just that she doesn't know how to take care of children properly, it doesn't require much skill, and besides, our lives are all thanks to Your Excellency. How could we possibly accept your money? This is absolutely impossible."

  This is a genuine person, can be used, if there is ability, it's okay to use it! Li Xian has experienced people, just took a look at Lin Hu's expression, and then listened to his words, which were all from the heart, and he had already made a judgment about Lin Hu in his heart. However, he didn't say it out loud, but instead smiled and waved his hand: "Lin, you don't have to be so polite, what Xiao Wang said won't change, this matter is settled just like that. Only, hmm, there's one condition, your wife has to move into the inner courtyard, of course, your daughter can also come in and live with Yu'er together, they can keep each other company. However, it will be hard on you, Lin, and your wife can only go home when she's free. Are you willing or not?"

  "Everything small listens to your arrangement, Your Highness." With this, even his own daughter could follow him into the inner courtyard. Lin Hu was naturally delighted and quickly agreed, despite some difficulties that might arise from certain things. After all, both husband and wife were in the palace, so it wasn't too hard to overcome them.

  "Alright, it's settled then. Lin family's daughter, Wan'er is starving, so I'll trouble you to go to Xiao Wang's house first and feed her, how about that?" After rambling on for a while, Li Xian finally managed to clearly state the conditions, not wanting to waste any more words. He pointed at Shangguan Wan'er, who was crying uncontrollably in his arms, and hastily instructed.

  "Alright, Your Highness can rest assured, just leave it to me and it will be done." Having received the reward money, and also being able to bring his own daughter into the inner courtyard, Wang was overjoyed. When Li Xian spoke up, how could he not agree? He repeatedly promised and took the baby from Gao Miao's arms, smiling all over his face as he followed Yan Hong and the other maids into the main room, where they fed the child in the warm pavilion where the maids rested.

  "Hmm, finally settled, what a pain! Hmm, does this count as the legendary loli-raising? Should be, might be, or maybe not! When he heard the crying inside stop, Li Xian clearly let out a sigh of relief, wiped his face with his hand, and had a somewhat evil thought about the legend of lolis in later generations. The corner of his mouth curved up, and he couldn't help but reveal a sly smile. This made Gao Mei, who was standing beside him, shiver uncontrollably, completely baffled as to what was wrong with her young master's brain."

  Huh? What's going on, why is she laughing so ambiguously, did I get it wrong? Just as Li Xian was thinking wildly, a burst of laughter and playful noise suddenly came from the main room, along with the sound of the young maidservants quarreling with each other. Suddenly, Li Xian felt suspicious, wanting to go in and take a look, but fearing that he might stumble upon Wang Shi breastfeeding her child, which would be somewhat improper. He couldn't help but hesitate, looking at the cotton curtain separating the inner and outer doors with suspicion, his mouth twitching. In the end, he suppressed his curiosity and began pacing back and forth in front of the door, slightly impatiently.

  "Your Highness, the child has fallen asleep. I am fortunate to have not failed your trust." Just as Li Xian was getting somewhat impatient, Wang finally emerged from the room with Yanhong's accompaniment.

  "Alright, alright, hurry up and arrange for someone to sweep the courtyard, and make sure Lin's wife is settled in a nearby house, don't go too far. Li Xian was overjoyed when he heard this, and anxiously went to check on Shangguan Wan'er who was fast asleep. He didn't care about how others reacted to his words, and simply lifted the curtain and rushed into the room. As soon as he entered, he saw Cui Liu and a group of maids gathered around the bed, chattering and gossiping about Shangguan Wan'er."

  "Cough, cough." Li Xian was unwilling to squeeze into the crowd, but after waiting for a short while, he still didn't see any signs of the maids calming down, so he had no choice but to fake a couple of coughs to show his presence.

  "The palace has fallen."

  "Your Highness."

  ……

  A group of maids heard the commotion and finally turned their heads, seeing that it was Li Xian who had entered the room. They all turned around, chattering and greeting him in unison, but the expressions on their faces were suspiciously red, and the atmosphere was strange and awkward. This made Li Xian feel puzzled, so he looked at everyone with suspicion, furrowing his brow slightly, and asked somewhat displeased: "What are you all gathered here for?"

  Li Xian's words were not spoken, but once they were, all the maids burst out laughing and quickly ran out of the room. Li Xian felt embarrassed and turned to look at Yan Hong, who had just entered the room, and said: "Yan Hong sister, what are these little girls making a fuss about? Are my words so funny?"

  “……”

  Yan Hong did not respond to Li Xian's question, but instead blushed and lowered her head, not daring to look into his eyes. This made Li Xian even more perplexed, unable to understand what was going on. He scratched his head and asked suspiciously: "Sister Yan Hong, you'd better speak up, I haven't done anything wrong, have I?"

  "No, just, ah, just..." facing Li Xian's questioning, Yan Hong was in a panic for a while, answering randomly.

  "Huh? Speak clearly, what are you trying to say?" Seeing Yan Hong's expression, Li Xian's suspicions grew even heavier, his face turned stern and he gruffly said.

  "Ah, the maids thought this girl was the young master's, but later when Mistress Lin said something, they realized... Ah..." As soon as she saw Li Xian's displeasure, Yan Hong suddenly became a bit flustered. In her fluster, words tumbled out of her mouth, and although she had only spoken halfway, she suddenly felt it was inappropriate and awkwardly shut her mouth tight, lowering her head in embarrassment.

  Alas, so that's how it is. No wonder these little girls are laughing so wantonly. I'll go and... Who dares to say that I, your young master, can't give birth? You'll all be giving birth soon! Although Yan Hong only said half a sentence, Li Xian completely understood. At first, he was furious, but then thinking of his current awkward age, he couldn't help but lose steam, rolled his eyes heavily, shook his head helplessly, and turned around to walk towards Shangguan Wan'er who was sleeping on the couch...