Harem Daily Life

Chapter 1040 We Can't Ignore He Xiaoqi's Life

In another carriage, He Yanran was with He Xiaobao and He Xiaoliu, along with a talkative bird.

A few people were playing checkers. He Xiaoqi first watched from the sidelines. After he understood the rules of the game, he opened a square and rushed in to fight with the others. Don't underestimate this bird just because it's a bird. Its chess skills are by no means weak. With a quick grab of its little claws, it steadily picked up a ball and placed it neatly on the square.

But humans and birds are different in intelligence. In nine out of ten games, He Xiaoqi came in last place. But it refused to admit defeat and encouraged the others to start another game, until the number of games increased and the birds lost more and more miserably.

"Xiao Qi, we've already lost sixteen games in a row, how about... we take a break?" He Yanran said, feeling sorry for Xiao Niao who was so engrossed in the game.

He Xiaoqi raised his bird head: "Who do you think you are? Let's go again, I don't believe I'll lose again next time!"

He Xiaobao reached out and touched its head: "Losing is fine, but you can't be allowed to develop this gambling habit. Here's what we'll do: one last game, win or lose, you have to stop, or I won't give you any bird food for today."

He Xiaoqi tilted her head: "I've already lost so badly, and you still won't even feed me? Are you going to take care of me or not?"

People, can't you be less cruel?

He Xiaobao helplessly spread his hands: "You have to listen to everything I say. What I mean is that you can't be addicted to gambling. Let's start a game, just one game, okay? We'll eat after that."

He Xiaoqi kept her mouth shut and jumped to He Xiaoliu's side: "Sixth Brother, this time it's my turn to take the red card. The red card has won seven games, so it's very lucky."

He Xiaoliu shook his head and swapped his red ball with its green ball.

The four players began placing their pieces, and soon He Xiaobao firmly secured first place, sending his yellow ball to the opposite square. He Xiaoliu followed suit in second, his green pieces also thriving. He Yanran secretly glanced at the bird on the opposite side and deliberately made two wrong moves, but she let him win, ultimately securing third place.

He Xiaoqi fluttered her wings, hopped twice, and then kicked her little feet: "I'm not playing anymore. Red and green are my enemies. Next time I'm going to use a purple ball."

After saying that, he turned around and flew out of the carriage curtain without looking back, not wanting to see his opponents.

"Ahem, is it angry?" He Yanran hadn't spent much time with this talkative little bird and still didn't quite understand its temperament, so she couldn't help but chuckle.

He Xiaobao shrugged: "You're young and impetuous. You'll calm down after you've stumbled a few times."

He Xiaoliu obediently tidied up the chessboard: "Let's think of something else to have fun this afternoon. I'm afraid if we keep playing, Xiaoqi will get so angry that she'll die. Saving the bird's life is the most important thing."

The three nodded in unison; they couldn't disregard He Xiaoqi's bird life.

They have a lot of fun with it around, so they can't bear to upset it.

He Xiaoqi flew around a few times, then landed on the horse's head to cool off and calm its irritable mind. Later, it found that the north wind could not quell its anger, but only give it headaches. So it flapped its wings and flew into the Queen's carriage.

Seeing the Empress and Emperor being so affectionate, and realizing that the world of three was too crowded, it hopped around and flew into the Empress Dowager's carriage.

He Yinuo, whose belly was round from eating, saw He Xiaoqi come in and quickly took out a small piece of pastry, broke it into pieces, and fed it to her: "You finally knew to come to me when you were hungry, huh? Eat up, I saved this especially for you."

He Xiaoqi tilted her head: "Are you sure it wasn't because you couldn't finish it and that's why you left it?" I'm a smart bird, don't try to fool me!

He Yinuo smiled sheepishly: "You and I are the best of friends in the world. I specially saved this for you. Look, it's your favorite chestnut pastry."

He Xiaoqi lowered its head and pecked at the food until it finished half of the pastry. The anger in its heart finally subsided a little, so it squatted on He Yinuo's lap to rest.

The Empress Dowager raised an eyebrow and glanced at it: "It seems like something's missing?"

The birds aren't chirping much today, so they seem a bit bored.

"Would you like to hear a tune?" In the past, when the little bird was not in a good mood, the Empress Dowager would have someone play a tune for it. It would hop around a few times to stretch its muscles and bones, and then it would be happy for a long time.

He Xiaoqi turned her head and closed her eyes: "I'm tired, let's skip the music."

The three of them were speechless.

This bird is definitely in a bad mood.

"If you have any grievances, tell me, and I will uphold justice for you."

He Xiaoqi turned her head back, stared blankly for two seconds, then got up and flew to the Empress Dowager's arms, hiding the bird's head in the folds of the Empress Dowager's clothes, so that only her voice could be heard: "Waaaaah, red is not good for me, green is not good for me either, I have lost seventeen times in a row, my heart hurts so much."

The Empress Dowager was completely bewildered, but thanks to He Yinuo's translation of the bird's language: "It means that they were playing checkers. It first used the red pieces and suffered a crushing defeat. Then it switched to the green pieces that everyone else had been winning with, but it still suffered a crushing defeat. Fortunately, it only suffered seventeen crushing defeats."

When she first learned to play checkers, didn't she also have a record of losing sixteen games in a row? It's really not a big deal.

He Yinuo was easygoing and had a good appetite; he calmed himself down in less than a second.

"Waaaaah, Empress Dowager, please help me! I want to win!" Even birds have their own aspirations.

"Alright, alright, I'll help you this afternoon, I'll make sure you win a game."

He Xiaoqi poked his head out and stared at the Empress Dowager: "Remember to use purple chess pieces. Red is not good for me, and neither is green."

The Empress Dowager's lips twitched. What did this have to do with the chess pieces? It was clearly a matter of inferior skill.

However, considering it was just a little bird, and not wanting to hurt its delicate heart, he nodded in agreement.

The group ate lunch at a post station. After the meal, the Empress Dowager sent Mu Yu to another carriage, leaving several of her grandchildren and a bird to ride with her, preparing for a fierce battle.

The Empress Dowager took the purple chess piece, He Xiaobao still took the yellow one, He Xiaoliu took the green one, He Yanran took the red one, He Yinuo took the white one, and He Xiaoqi stood on the Empress Dowager's shoulder, head held high and chest puffed out: "Go for it, purple!"

The Empress Dowager played her pieces steadily and gained the upper hand.

The children took turns placing their pieces, and now there were five people playing, making the situation tense all of a sudden.

He Xiaoqi had initially appeared confident of victory, but as the Empress Dowager walked, He Xiaoqi began to lose her balance.

"...Purple...isn't it also unlucky?"

"Auspicious purple clouds coming from the east" is a very auspicious phrase!

The Empress Dowager frowned, glanced around, and coughed lightly: "It's only the first round, what's the rush? Let's play again!"

He Yanran, He Xiaobao, and He Xiaoliu exchanged glances and finally realized where He Xiaoqi got her competitive nature from. Sure enough, the bird raised by the Empress Dowager was just as strong-willed as the Empress Dowager.

The Empress Dowager played three rounds with the purple pieces, then switched to red; the red pieces played three rounds, then the green pieces; the green pieces played three rounds, then the yellow pieces; the yellow pieces played three rounds, then the white pieces. Finally, the white pieces played three rounds, then the black pieces, which hadn't had a chance to be used yet, were replaced. After the three rounds of black pieces, the Empress Dowager and He Xiaoqi stared at each other, both wanting to go outside for some fresh air to calm down.

"How about we stand by the roadside for a while?" He Xiaoqi asked, tilting his bird head. The horse's head was too small for the Empress Dowager to stand on.

The Empress Dowager took a deep breath: "Do I need to go out for some fresh air? I'm perfectly fine!"

As soon as she finished speaking, He Yinuo lifted the curtain and told the coachman to stop the carriage.

"Grandma, I want to go out for some fresh air. Would you like to keep me company?"

He Yinuo was sweet and obedient, looking at the Empress Dowager with anticipation. The Empress Dowager snorted and said, "Fine, what can I do? I love Nuo'er."

A large, a small, and a bird got off the carriage and stood by the roadside.

The three remaining people in the carriage were so embarrassed that their faces turned red, and they dared not utter a single laugh.