If You Need Something, Go to Little Dumpling

Sweet Dumpling once privately asked Serena if Lance Quinn had almost killed her, and whether everyone surnamed Lan was a villain.

At that time, Serena was quarreling with Prince Nolan, so she didn’t reveal Lance Quinn’s true identity to Sweet Dumpling. Instead, she went along with her daughter’s words and said a few bad things about Lance Quinn. So...

In Sweet Dumpling’s little heart, anyone surnamed Lan was a big villain—the one who bullied her mother.

In this world, aside from her father the emperor, anyone who bullied her mother, she would dislike.

Sweet Dumpling’s dislike isn’t something that can be resolved with just a few words. At least, with Miles Lan’s presence, there’s no way she’ll let it go.

Just as love can extend to a house, so can hate. Sweet Dumpling hated the Lan surname, and so she hated Miles Lan as well. No matter how Miles pleaded, Sweet Dumpling was unhappy every time she saw him—let alone treating him as her Little Treasure brother.

The Valley Master’s disciple watched the two children quarrel. At first, he found it amusing, but after a while it just got dull. After consulting the shadow guards, he asked Sweet Dumpling if she wanted to send Miles Lan away.

"Do you have any relatives?" This was the first time Sweet Dumpling spoke to Miles Lan after learning his surname.

Miles Lan was delighted and wanted to nod, saying he had an uncle and a grandfather—his mother told him to find his uncle. But when he saw the coldness in Sweet Dumpling’s eyes, Miles realized that if he answered, he’d surely be sent away.

Miles Lan didn’t want to leave Sweet Dumpling, so he lied: "I don’t know."

Those three words—'I don't know'—were much more useful than simply saying he had no one. Sweet Dumpling looked to her senior brother, who just spread his hands, helpless.

Of course, the Valley Master’s disciple knew exactly who Miles Lan’s relatives were. But since neither the Emperor nor the Empress intended to hand the child over to Ezra Phoenixfield, he didn’t dare interfere.

"So what now? Should we just give him to Grandpa Valley Master?" In Sweet Dumpling’s mind, Mystic Healer Valley had become a shelter.

Uncle Si didn’t want to raise Marshal Steele, so he dumped him at Mystic Healer Valley. Uncle Zhai didn’t want to raise Elder Zhai, so he dumped him at Mystic Healer Valley.

Her father the emperor and mother the empress didn’t want to raise Brother Ziluo and Sister Anping, so they dumped them at Mystic Healer Valley too.

"No way. This kid is too small and skinny—he wouldn’t be able to do any work at Mystic Healer Valley." The Valley Master’s junior brother shook his head firmly, instantly coming up with dozens of reasons to kill Sweet Dumpling’s idea.

"Then what about sending him to Jiangnan for Uncle Zizhao and Uncle Zitian to raise?" Sweet Dumpling tried hard to find somewhere for Miles Lan, but every suggestion was vetoed by the Valley Master’s disciple.

In the end, Sweet Dumpling had no choice but to try pleading with her senior brother again. But this time, he didn’t help her—he insisted that she figure it out herself.

"You made this mess, you clean it up yourself."

"Senior brother, you’re so mean!" Sweet Dumpling cried, tears streaming down her face. After racking her brain, she finally came up with a good idea.

"If you have a problem, go find my brother. Senior brother, when we head back, we’ll pass by Skyvault Palace, right? Let’s just give Miles Lan to my brother." This time, Sweet Dumpling wouldn’t let her senior brother refuse. After speaking, she clapped her hands and walked away.

"Senior brother, it’s settled then."

"You little brat..." Her senior brother was both amused and exasperated, thinking to himself: No matter how clever this kid is, she’s still walking the exact path the Emperor and Empress planned for her.

Even the Monkey King couldn’t escape the Buddha’s Five-Finger Mountain.

And just like that, Miles Lan’s fate was decided. Sweet Dumpling didn’t tell him in advance, afraid he’d get depressed and refuse to go. Only when they reached the foot of Skyvault Palace did she finally say:

"Miles Lan, my brother is up there. I’m going to gather herbs with senior brother, so you stay here and help me look after my brother."

Miles Lan hesitated. He wanted to meet Sweet Dumpling’s brother, but he also wanted to stay with her. Sweet Dumpling didn’t care—she just wanted to get rid of this annoying trouble: "When you see my brother, you must behave. If you make him angry, even I won’t be able to save you."

Thinking about the cruel punishments she suffered at Skyvault Palace, Sweet Dumpling felt like crying.

Even now, when she saw bugs, she’d get goosebumps. Whenever she saw a bunch of bugs together, she just wanted to grab tweezers and pick them out one by one...

She was poisoned. Wuwuwu...

Sweet Dumpling didn’t go up the mountain at all. She handed Miles Lan over to the people at Skyvault Palace, then slipped away—afraid Little Dumpling would catch her and make her suffer at Skyvault Palace.

Little Dumpling, confused, ended up accepting someone for Sweet Dumpling—without knowing the first thing about him.

"What’s your name?" Little Dumpling wasn’t particularly pleased, and it showed on his face.

Miles Lan glanced at Little Dumpling, then quietly replied, "Miles Lan."

"Miles Lan? Where are you from?" The Lan surname was too unusual. Sweet Dumpling didn’t know, but Little Dumpling certainly did.

As the imperial heir, Little Dumpling might not know everything about the Former Dynasty, but he knew most of it. Especially with William Wang Jinling, who used Prince Nolan’s exploits as teaching material, breaking them down point by point to instruct Little Dumpling.

That’s why Prince Nolan left Little Dumpling in William’s care—he couldn’t very well use his own stories to teach his son, could he?

Miles Lan didn’t want to mention the Imperial Mausoleum or the underground palace, but since this was Sweet Dumpling’s brother, he didn’t dare hide anything and obediently explained his origins.

A Lan-surnamed boy from the Imperial Mausoleum’s underground palace, with an uncle named Adrian Phoenixfield—how could Little Dumpling not understand what that meant?

Sweet Dumpling had actually handed him a pretty interesting person.

"Since you’re Sweet Dumpling’s friend, you can stay." Little Dumpling didn’t even need to check—he knew this boy was sent by his father and mother.

"Someone, please take Young Master Lan to rest, and look after him well." Little Dumpling really meant it, because—

The boy named Miles Lan standing before him was actually older than Little Dumpling, but looked even smaller than Sweet Dumpling. Clearly, he’d suffered a lot over the years.

"Thank you." Miles Lan wasn’t sure how to address Little Dumpling, so he just let it slide.

Little Dumpling waved it off, every gesture radiating noble charm—enough to make anyone envious.

Once Miles Lan left, Little Dumpling immediately wrote a letter to Prince Nolan and Serena Feng.

No matter why Miles Lan was sent to him, the fact remained: he’d helped Sweet Dumpling solve a big problem.

Dear Father and Mother, shouldn’t you give me a little reward to soothe my wounded heart?

Of course, as a loving brother to my little sister, I really don’t ask for much. But I’ve heard there’s a treasure in the Former Dynasty Lan Imperial Mausoleum, and only you two have the map. Could you give me a copy?

And if Father and Mother could also send me the Heaven-Son Sword, I’d be even more grateful. After all, I really don’t want to have come all this way for nothing.

Little Dumpling made his request very politely, and at the end, didn’t forget to add: It wasn’t easy to find a direct-line heir of the Former Dynasty, so he really didn’t want to waste the opportunity—and hoped his mother would understand.