The next day, Luo Qingqing decided to drop her daughter off at school, allowing Auntie Yu to stay at home while she waited for a chance to see and meet the mother of the friend her little dumpling mentioned last night.

  She needed to make sure that her daughter and Auntie Yu would be safe wherever they were going. This was the only thing she could do to make sure the two would be safe.

  Luo Qingqing didn't think they arrived too early today as some of the students had already scampered in front of the school's gate, bidding goodbye to their parents and nannies who dropped them off.

  She and her daughter waited at the side, sitting on a bench, where they could see those who come and go.

  "Have they arrived?" She asked her daughter, who was eager to see her new friends in the crowd.

  "No, not yet, Mommy." The little dumpling looked around, a bit nervous with every second passed that she didn't see Little Star and her other friends. Then, her eyes spotted a shiny clack car stopping at one of the parking spaces.

  Her eyes lit up once she saw Little Star and Feiyu alighted the car with a very beautiful woman. Lan Yunru hadn't seen a lot of beautiful women aside from her mother, but Little Star's mommy was a beauty that she had never seen before.

  Little Star waved a hand in her direction when she spotted Lan Yunru with her mommy. She supposed the woman covering half of her face was Lan Yunru's mother, but why was she covering her face? Was she sick or something? Little Star wondered.

  "Mommy, they are here!" Lan Yunru jolted up from her seat and ran towards her new friends.

  Luo Qingqing rose from her seat, following her daughter's lead. She adjusted the scarf around her neck and made sure that her mask and sunglasses were in place before going with her daughter.

  Her steps halted when they got closer. Her knees trembled as she had the sudden urge to run away from where she was standing, but it was too late as the empress, as regal as ever, had already laid her eyes on her.

  "Oh, what a surprise." Tang Moyu removed her sunglasses, her lips curling to a smile. "At least this time we meet doesn't require me to save you once again."

  Luo Qingqing blushed under her cover and pursed her lips.

  "Miss Tang, I didn't know you would be here." She'd never imagined that the mother of her daughter's friend was the empress herself. Her eyes then looked at the pair of sweet buns standing next to Tang Moyu.

  Tang Moyu then glanced down and saw a little girl holding one of Luo Qingqing's hands.

  "Your daughter?" She asked the actress. So this was the new girl her twins took a liking to and befriended?

  "En…" Luo Qingqing hesitated, but it wouldn't be easy for her to deny her daughter in front of Tang Moyu, especially if the children had already started to bond with each other as friends.

  "But please… Can you keep it a secret, Miss Tang? I hope you understand why I need to do this." She hoped that as a mother too, Tang Moyu would be able to understand where she was coming from. She was doing this not only to protect her career, but also for her daughter's safety.

  Also, she wasn't ready to face the reality or the fact that the man who fathered her daughter was still somewhere out there and she was definitely not looking forward to seeing or meeting him again.

  She and Yunru had led a peaceful life without him. Luo Qingqing also didn't want to give her daughter false hopes that she could have a complete family, with a mom and a dad beside her.

  Tang Moyu remained silent for a moment as she looked at the mother and daughter standing in front of her. The girl had taken her eyes and nose from Luo Qingqing. She vaguely remembered Feng Tianyi once mentioning that this woman was once in a relationship with Song Fengyan.

  Was this Lan Yunru, Song Fengyan's daughter, or was she overthinking? The empress pondered to herself. However, she was aware that it wasn't her place to poke her nose into their private affairs. She could only watch from the sidelines how the events would unfold.

  She could think of several reasons why Luo Qingqing wanted to keep Lan Yunru's existence hidden from everyone. However, as she looked at Luo Qingqing's serious expression, she knew that she wouldn't be able to deny Luo Qingqing, especially when she was asking her like this. She looked like a lioness, ready to pounce on anyone who would dare to take her cub away from her.

  Tang Moyu would do the same and she understood that it was Luo Qingqing's top priority to keep her daughter safe from everyone.

  "Fine." She didn't question Luo Qingqing for her reasons. It wasn't Tang Moyu's place to ask her for the reasons. The woman had secrets to keep, so did she.

  They continued their walk and watched the three kids hurriedly run towards the hallway leading to their classrooms with smiles on their faces. Luo Qingqing's heart was filled with warmth as she watched her daughter from the sideline, enjoying her time and conversing with other kids her age.

  Lan Yunru rarely went out with Auntie Yu, and even if they visited the local playground, the girl always ended up crying at the end of the day. Other kids refused to play with her because she was an outsider.

  "Toddlers. You wonder where those energies are coming from." Tang Moyu commented, burying her hands in the sides of her coat as she walked alongside Luo Qingqing.

  "I only have one and we are having a hard enough time to keep up with Yunyun. I can't imagine you having a pair of twins with the same ball of energy as I have." She agreed with the empress.