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She gave one to Xiao Qing, and Lian Hua had only four left.

One was a deep cyan Little Tree Demon, with a simple flower stitched on its forehead and several thick branches growing out of its body; this was the initial sachet pouch.

Another was a round, chubby Little Snowman with round eyes on its face and a small hat on its head, sporting a very silly, cute expression.

Another was a big-bearded little doll, with a fierce expression on its face.

The last one was shaped like an Ingot, stuffed plumply, sinking down when squeezed; this Ingot was Lian Hua’s favorite, a good omen.

Once they were done, she felt relaxed, finding the sight pleasing to the eye.

Lian Hua, hands on her hips, admired her work for a while, growing more and more satisfied, and lined up the dolls on the dressing table.

The Emperor entered carrying a food box, and this was the scene that met his eyes.

His Little Concubine stood in front of the dressing table, doing who knows what, hands on her hips, looking very pleased with herself, while the little maid beside her laughed, holding something in her hand.

The Emperor set down the food box on the table in the hall; inside were several exquisite pastries, prepared by that rascal Cao De.

Speaking of these pastries, that rascal Cao De was truly insidious, planning to pocket them all when they were ready from the Imperial Kitchen; he thanked with a smile on his face and was about to spoil them.

Fortunately, he intercepted quickly, had a portion packed into the food box, and chased away the guy whose face turned as black as the bottom of a pot, thus managing to bring them back.

After dealing with some state affairs, he finally found time to come back and personally deliver pastries to his Little Concubine.

This Shichen Chinese Time should be just right, the time for his people to have an additional meal.

Xiao Qing laughed naively for a while before noticing a noise in the hall; she turned her head, quickly bowed, and said, "Your Majesty."

Upon hearing the voice, Lian Hua turned and exclaimed in surprise, "Your Majesty, you’re back?"

It was perfect timing for her Majesty to see her creations; saying so, she walked over to greet him.

Xiao Qing bowed her head and exited the Side Hall, remaining outside to await instructions.

The Emperor also walked over and pinched her face, asking, "What makes you so happy?" Your smile reaches all the way to your ears.

Lian Hua pulled his hand, leading him to the dressing table: "I made a few dolls, do they look good to you, Your Majesty?"

Saying so, she picked up the dolls one by one and presented them to the Emperor, like treasures.

Upon inspection, the Emperor found each one really intriguing and quirky, much like her, typical of something she would make.

The Emperor smiled slightly and praised, "Not bad."

Each looked very cute, and it was clear what they represented, but the cyan-colored one looked somewhat familiar, though he wasn’t sure what it was.

He took the cyan doll in his hand and asked, "What is this?"

"It’s a Little Tree Demon from the mountains, Your Majesty. Haven’t you heard the story of the Little Tree Demon?" When she was little, her father used to tell the story to lull her to sleep.

The Emperor raised an eyebrow. Was this a folk tale familiar to everyone?

He had read plenty of historical texts and the teachings of the sages; as for these folk tales, he had indeed never heard them or paid them any attention.

Lian Hua felt sorry for Your Majesty, seemingly having never played much as a child. She patted her stomach, feeling a great sense of responsibility, realizing that teaching these things in the future would have to be her task.

She secretly decided, determined to push her big plan up the agenda soon.

She pulled His Majesty down to sit and began to tell him the story of the Little Tree Demon.

Long, long ago, a little pine nut fell from a large tree, was blown far away by the wind, and happened to land beside an old ginseng, enjoying the essence of sun and moon.

The wind blew and the sun shone, time flew swiftly, and a thousand years later, the little pine nut had absorbed countless essences of the sun and moon, and began to sprout roots and grow into a sapling.

Another thousand years passed, and as the seas shifted and the fields changed, the sapling gained its own consciousness and became a Little Tree Demon, while the old ginseng beside it had long turned into an essence.

From then on, the Little Tree Demon and the Ginseng Essence were companions, absorbing the light of the sun and moon together, cultivating and playing together.

But one day, the Little Tree Demon woke up from cultivation and discovered that the Ginseng Essence was gone. It panicked and felt lonely, searching all over the mountains.

It asked the deer in the mountains, who shook their heads saying they hadn’t seen it; it asked the fish in the streams, who wagged their tails saying they hadn’t seen it; it asked the mimosa in the grass, who closed up their leaves saying they hadn’t seen it.

Days passed, and the Little Tree Demon was very sad, unable to find the Ginseng Essence anywhere.

Later, it encountered a Scholar from the human world. It had never seen a human before and, curious, asked the Scholar, who, seeing a tree with branches that could talk, was so startled he turned and ran.

The Little Tree Demon didn’t know what had startled the Scholar so much, but thought he was handsome and thus secretly followed him down the mountain, quietly pretending to be a little tree in front of the Scholar’s house, listening day by day as the Scholar read and studied.

Gradually, the Little Tree Demon didn’t understand what was happening to itself, each day wanting to see the Scholar, and feeling deeply longing when not seeing him for even a moment.

Later, the Little Tree Demon learned to take the form of a human and, using a thousand years of cultivation, transformed into a young woman, befriended the Scholar, and married him.

Days passed one after another, and the Little Tree Demon was very happy and joyful, but one day the Scholar said he had to go to the Capital to take the imperial examination and asked the Little Tree Demon to wait for his return.

The Little Tree Demon sadly saw the Scholar off and became alone once more, very lonely, waiting and waiting, but no matter what, it couldn’t wait for the Scholar to return.

It grew more and more anxious as it waited, fearing the Scholar had disappeared like the Ginseng Essence, and grew increasingly thinner.

The neighborly old lady couldn’t bear to see it like this and told it to stop waiting; the Scholar had passed the highest examination and married into a wealthy family—everyone in the village knew about it, except for it.

The Little Tree Demon didn’t believe it and hurried day and night to the Capital, only to witness the heart-breaking scene where the Scholar didn’t recognize it and had married someone else.

At this point, Lian Hua shook her head sadly, sighing deeply.

"And then?" the Emperor asked.

Lian Hua was stunned, "What do you mean, and then? That’s it."

The Emperor was somewhat speechless; the story was only half told—the Ginseng Essence and what happened next with the Tree Demon were completely left out.

Suddenly, Lian Hua remembered something: "Oh right, there’s one more thing, father says that unfaithfulness is mostly found in scholars, and that one should not be swayed by beauty and get taken away, especially be wary of those who are good-looking!"

This story, her father always ended with that significant line, and she deeply agreed.

"..."

The Emperor touched his face and did not ask further, finally understanding that the story was secondary; the intent of his father-in-law in telling this story was his concern that Xiao Lian Hua, being na?ve, might be deceived by someone as she grows up.

No wonder his Little Concubine was so cautious around him at first, never dazzled by his looks.

It turned out to be the result of her father’s teachings from a young age, hm...

Suddenly, he felt a bit of a headache, unsure of how his appearance, shaped this way, appeared in the eyes of his father-in-law. He hoped it wasn’t considered deceitful towards Nannan?

It seems that all sons-in-law, when meeting their fathers-in-law, invariably feel restless, even an Emperor is no exception, always worried about not meeting the father-in-law’s expectations.