Free Web NovelChapter 819: Chapter 825, Chapter 826: Empress Zhao Falls into the Water
"Daddy, come and see the snowmen my brothers and I made. Whose looks the best?"
On a clearing in the Wintersweet Forest, Chen Mo accompanies four children in building snowmen.
Chen Mo spends so little time with them, let alone alone with the children. Today is a rare outing, a perfect opportunity for them to deepen their family bond.
So, Chen Mo teaches the four children to build snowmen, promising rewards for the best ones.
"Mine is definitely the best-looking snowman because my snowman is you, Daddy," Chen Jia said, holding up her little frozen red hands, her childish voice ringing out.
Chen Mo: "..."
Such a young age, already quite the talker.
Besides Chen Jia, who made a snowman resembling Chen Mo, Chen You, Chen Nuo, and Chen Zhong each made snowmen representing their respective mothers.
Chen Mo squats down, pats Chen Jia’s little head, and says with a smile, "All are good-looking, but the best among them is your sister Youyou’s."
Upon hearing this, Chen You instantly raises her proud little face, imitating her aunt’s posture with an air of maturity, looking at her three brothers, saying, "I told you, my snowman is the best-looking."
Speaking, Chen You walks up and gives Chen Mo a peck on the cheek, laughing as she says, "I’m going to call mom over, she will surely like it."
With that, she runs off to find Xia Zhiqing.
Chen Mo watches her depart, knowing palace maids and eunuchs are around, he’s not worried about Chen You getting lost.
Chen Jia pouts, dissatisfied: "Why, mine is obviously the best? Daddy is biased."
Chen Mo pinches his little face, pointing to the snowman saying, "Little rascal, does your daddy’s nose look this big?"
"Haha, Daddy’s big nose," Chen Nuo and Chen Zhong laughed at the scene.
Chen Mo pretends to be angry, playing along with their antics.
At this time, Chen You returns with Xia Zhiqing, along with Wu Mi and others.
From the perspective of the adults, the four children’s snowmen are quite ugly, but to humor the kids, they have to praise them.
Seeing their sister receiving compliments from their mother and aunts, Chen Jia, Chen Nuo, and Chen Zhong immediately express envy, and say they want to redo theirs.
But Wu Mi stops them, coming forward to hold Chen Jia’s little hand: "It’s freezing; look how cold you are. If you keep playing, your hands will swell and you’ll be crying later."
She then blames Chen Mo, saying it’s unwise to have them build snowmen in such cold weather.
Chen Mo knows Wu Mi is educating the children, so he doesn’t argue back, patting Chen Jia’s head, saying, "Your mom is upset; let’s warm our hands inside, no more playing."
"Auntie is so fierce..." Chen You whispers, hugging Xia Zhiqing’s leg.
"Exactly," Chen Nuo echoes.
Then both are pulled by their ears by Xia Zhiqing.
"You think you’re completely right if I don’t say anything to you? Listen to your aunt," Xia Zhiqing says with a feigned stern face.
Seeing the kids deflate, Chen Mo, behind Wu Mi and others, quietly says, "When your mom’s not looking, Daddy will sneak away with you to play."
Chen Mo’s antics, naturally, don’t escape Wu Mi and the others, and they overhear his words, but pretend not to know since he’s coaxing the children.
The four children break into wide smiles.
"By the way, where’s the Empress?" Chen Mo glances at the women, noticing Empress Zhao is not present, casually asks.
"The Empress went to relieve herself," Wu Mi replies.
Chen Mo responds with an "Oh," asking if they are almost done playing. Once the Empress returns, he says they’ll inform her they are leaving the palace.
At that moment, Chen Mo suddenly hears a splash from not far away, followed by the panicked voices of palace maids.
"Someone fell into the water," Yue Ruyan says.
"?" Wu Mi and the others haven’t realized, as their skills don’t let them hear from such a distance.
"Oh no, the Empress fell into the water."
Upon hearing the commotion not far away, Chen Mo’s expression shifts, he quickly heads towards the sound.
The noise grows louder, Wu Mi and the others soon hear it too, rushing to the source of the sound.
"Aunt, slow down; be careful of the baby in your belly," Xiao Ya, more concerned than Xiao Yunxi, says.
...
Empress Zhao went to relieve herself without company.
Returning, she reflects on King Wei’s familial harmony, which temporarily fills her with sorrow, thinking about when Your Majesty started to neglect her, still searching for reasons.
Lost in thought, her mind wandering, she steps on air and falls into the Royal Garden’s artificial lake.
The weather is cold, but the lake isn’t frozen. Although not deep, the cold, combined with the fact that Empress Zhao is only an ordinary person, causes her to panic, inhaling several mouthfuls of water in that instant.
In just a brief moment, Empress Zhao feels her consciousness slipping away.
Just as she’s losing consciousness, a figure darts over the water, fishes her out, and carries her ashore.
The palace maids and eunuchs on the shore are terrified, pale-faced, not daring to approach. Even though the royal family is now a puppet, they don’t dare to offend; if anything happens to Empress Zhao, they, the caretakers, wouldn’t fare well either.
Chen Mo remains calm, ordering everyone to summon the Imperial Physician, while calling Wu Mi over for inspection.
Wu Mi steps forward, examines Empress Zhao, reaching a quick conclusion: "The Empress drank quite a bit of lake water; first, we need to expel the water."
