Three-and-a-Half-Year-Old Quick Transmigrator: The Sweet and Soft Little Milk Bun is Everyone's Favourite - Chapter 1

“Presumptuous!”

The emperor’s roar was charged with anger. It resounded through and beyond Mingguang Hall, and startled the young girl who was peeking in at the entrance of the hall. The young girl quickly retracted her head.

A muffled clanging sound, followed by the crisp sound of something shattering, echoed from within the hall.

“Are you my subject, or are you Prince Ning’s subject!?”

The low, rumbling roar sounded both furious and dangerous.

‘Oh, no!’ Nanzhi thought. Her imperial father must be angry right now!

Brother System had told Nanzhi that her imperial father suffered from a mental illness. Apparently, whenever he got angry, he would lose his sanity. [1]

Nanzhi, the little dumpling, used both of her hands to lift her skirt and started running. Her hair was tied into buns on her head, and the silver bells on them made crisp, jingling sounds as she dashed towards the hall.

She was getting closer…

Nearly, she was about to get in now!

“Oh, dear, Your Imperial Highness, why have you come?”

Nanzhi was swiftly stopped just outside of the hall. Eunuch Li had lowered his voice, but if one listened carefully, one would’ve still been able to hear the slight tremble in his voice.

The wrath of the emperor could make anyone’s heart chill with fear.

“Imperial Father is angry. I want to go in,” Nanzhi said, her voice dripping with anxiety. She looked up and showed her delicate face and her black, grape-like clear eyes. Her face seemed both very innocent and very anxious at the same time.

Eunuch Li: ‘…’

Whenever the emperor was angry, he would fail to recognise even his closest kin. Why would she want to approach him right now?

Firmly, Eunuch Li denied her wish. “Your Imperial Highness, please go back. His Majesty has not summoned you—ah! Stop her, quickly!”

Eunuch Li’s heart nearly popped out of his throat.

He didn’t expect the little princess to be so courageous. She just bent down and slipped past him from under his arm.

The threshold of the hall was a bit high for a little child. The small, rosy-cheeked child first climbed on the threshold with one of her feet, then the other. She then crawled over the threshold and tumbled into the Mingguang Hall.

Eunuch Li was in a dilemma. Should he go in, or should he not?

Eunuch Li was terrified and dumbfounded at the same time. He stood, stupefied, outside the hall.

Inside the hall, there was chaos. The emperor’s table had been overturned. Memorials were scattered about, and brushes were strewn everywhere. The inkstone had been shattered to pieces. The ink had met a similar fate; it had been splattered everywhere, forming blotchy stains on the floor, and smudging the carpets. Not a single vase or porcelain in the hall had remained intact.

The emperor wore a black robe with red trimmings that resembled congealed blood. He was standing on the steps between the throne and the floor below, engulfed by a turbulent and violent air. His eyes were bloodshot, and his pupils were pitch black. He appeared like a wild beast on the verge of losing reason, glaring intently at the kneeling official before him.

“Imperial Father, Imperial Father!”

Nanzhi scrambled on her short little legs and ran towards him.

Her childish and soft voice caused a momentary pause in the tense atmosphere of the confrontation. It made some of the people who heard her wonder if their extreme nervousness had finally made them lose their minds and hallucinate.

“Imperial Father, I missed you so much!”

Nanzhi hugged the emperor’s leg. She looked up at the emperor with her pair of clear, bright eyes.

Nanzhi’s words were genuine. At this moment, her heart was filled with intense and complicated emotions. She couldn’t dissect these feelings, and they eventually converged into feelings of longing and grief.

She felt as if she had reunited with her real dad.

“Li Zhongquan, get in here! Where did this little animal come from? Drag it out!” the emperor roared. His eyes were still bloodshot. His roar frightened Eunuch Li, who was standing outside the hall and shaking like a leaf.

Nanzhi: ‘…’

How could he get so angry to the point that he couldn’t even recognise his own daughter?

Stinky Imperial Father!

She hugged his leg tightly, as if she was a koala, and refused to let go.

“Imperial Father, it’s me! It’s me, your daughter!” she yelled in her attempt to bring the emperor back to his senses.

In turn, the emperor swung his leg in an attempt to get rid of the child clinging to his leg. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get rid of her. He gritted his teeth as he endured the excruciating pain that was hacking at his mind. With a forceful motion, he finally flung the child away.

“Ah!” 

The little rosy-cheeked child plopped down on the ground. Her chubby face wrinkled like a real steamed bun, and she truly looked pitiful.

Her butt hurt so much!

Official Zhang, the high-ranking court official who had been kneeling on the ground, suddenly straightened his upper body. He glanced at the little princess, then at the emperor, who was panting like a wild beast.

A faint smile appeared on his lips. It wouldn’t matter that much to the people if the emperor killed him. However, the princess was here now…

If the emperor could go so far as to violently kill his own child, then the emperor would undoubtedly be considered a wild beast.

Official Zhang stood up tall and acted out as a loyal subject as he said, “Your Majesty, rumours have spread in the streets that you are a bloodthirsty tyrant, a malevolent ruler who would kill anyone without the slightest hesitation. They say that divine punishment will fall upon you, harming your descendants and ending your bloodline. They say that the empire will be doomed because of you!

“I implore Your Majesty to release those innocent people that you have imprisoned. Your Majesty, you have killed so many already. It is enough. I beseech you to stop!”

“Haha…” The emperor had a chilling smile on his face. His crimson eyes fixated on Official Zhang. “Yes, I’ve killed so many people. What’s one more? It is not as if I will miss you. If you have a death wish, then I shall grant it to you.”

The emperor pulled out the sword that was hanging on the wall. The bright and glaring blade shook, slightly.

Ah!?

Nanzhi was stunned. Did her imperial father intend to kill Official Zhang!?

That couldn’t happen!

Nanzhi quickly got up and rushed to hug the emperor’s leg again. She yelled, “Imperial Father, wake up!”

Nanzhi hung on his leg and caused him to have to drag the leg she clung to as he walked.

He had a terrifying expression on his face as he said, “Let go, or I’ll kill you.”

“Wuaaah, Imperial Father, Imperial Father!” Her cries penetrated the emperor’s eardrums as she sobbed and whimpered. Despite the throbbing headache he was feeling, the childish voice saying the words ‘imperial father’ pierced into his already splitting head.

“Your Majesty!” Official Zhang raised his voice with a tone full of grief and indignation. “You are going to bring ruination to Great Zhou. You are going to be an emperor who brings about the destruction of your own empire and the downfall of your own nation!”

“Hah!”

The tip of the sword scraped sharply against the ground as the emperor walked toward the death-seeking Official Zhang. He carried his sword and dragged Nanzhi, who was still clinging to his leg, along. There was a murderous look on his face.

“Imperial Father!” Nanzhi also raised her voice and frantically hit the emperor’s leg. “Imperial Father, huaah!”

The emperor felt as if he was being split in two directions, by the yelling of Official Zhang in one direction and the screaming of the child in the other. He was annoyed to the point where he didn’t even want to kill anyone anymore. He just wanted to get rid of this annoying little child. In anger, he shouted, “Li Zhongquan, drag him out!”

Eunuch Li hurriedly had the guards take Official Zhang away. The guards went so far as to use a handkerchief to cover his mouth, silencing the ‘loyal remonstrance’ that he wanted to express.

Official Zhang struggled indignantly as he was dragged away.

Nanzhi looked around with her round eyes. She let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew! That was scary.”

When she lifted her head, she met Emperor Hui’s bloodshot eyes. His expression still was somewhat mad. He was looking at Nanzhi with suspicion, as if she was a stranger to him.

The wrinkles between his eyebrows were deeply etched from years of frowning. He’d also often rubbed his temples, leaving dark imprints on them, which made him appear evil and terrifying.

Nanzhi released the emperor’s leg and used her small fist to gently hit his leg. With her soft childish voice, she said, “Imperial Father, don’t be angry.”

The emperor’s voice was hoarse and low as he replied, “You’re Consort Xian’s child?”

“Ah.” Nanzhi nodded. “Yes, I’m her child.”

He seemed to have regained some composure.

“Get lost,” said the emperor.

Translator’s Note:

[1] Here, Nanzhi calls the system as 哥哥 (gege, older brother). The use of this term doesn’t necessarily imply blood relations.