Long Yue's legs had always been small and stubborn, like two young saplings refusing the wind. Now, under the patient choreography of Aunty Lin and the low-voiced encouragement of Scholar Zhao, those saplings began to find bravery.
SYSTEM: Motor milestone: Toddler—ambulation module unlocked. Recommended training: assisted standing, short ambulation drills. XP multiplier +12 for daily practice.
He wobbled first, like a ship testing shallow water. Bodyguard Shen's large hands were always nearby, a promise of catch. The nursery staff cheered with the tiny, immediate joy of people who had watched too many lives nearly slip and were thrilled when one steadied.
[Bodyguard Shen:] "Take the wooden horse, little one. Walk toward the sun."
Long Yue gripped the painted horse with both hands. In his previous life he had never learned to balance on a wooden horse, but the feeling of progress made him oddly giddy. He took one step—then a second. Then he tumbled, erupting into bright baby fury for one breath, then surprise at success.
[MC / Long Yue:] (spoken, slurred) "Da—da!"
Aunty Lin's smile spread as if she had seen a spring thaw. The sound was small, but it detonated into the nursery like fireworks.
[Aunty Lin:] "He said 'da.' He looks for 'dad' or 'big'—or perhaps 'dumpling'?"
SYSTEM: Language progress: first spoken syllable registered. Context detection: likely proto-word. Suggest: reinforce with repetition. Unlock: Child Vocabulary Module I.
Scholar Zhao laughed softly, and the Empress leaned closer, one hand on the cushion as though testing a future's weight.
[Empress Wu:] "Long Yue, syllables anchor memory. Teach him names of men and their deeds."
[MC / Long Yue:] (thought) "Names are useful. Dumplings are usefuler."
He practiced, and the system fed him corrections like a patient teacher. "Da" expanded into a half-word that suggested "dame" and "dad" both, useful ambiguities. The court remarked at his first sounds as at the first growth of a sapling: hopeful, slightly superstitious.
[Minister Li:] (observing, dry) "Early speech is a good omen. It may mean a sharp mind or merely a trick of luck."
SYSTEM: Minister Li: cautious approval. Social variable adjusted +3 to neutral observers.
Beyond the sweetness, the new mobility had tactical implications. The toddler who could toddle toward a favored servant got attention; a child left unmoving might be forgotten. Long Yue's system suggested using motion as social currency—arrive where favors accumulated.
SYSTEM: Tactical recommendation: utilize mobility to increase low-tier ally interactions. Expected loyalty growth: +6 monthly.
So Long Yue walked—toward Aunty Lin when she had been up late at soup, toward Scholar Zhao when a new couplet was on the table, toward the stable hatch when Shen nudged a handkerchief. Each small motion spun gratitude and small protective rituals.
At night after practice, he found himself exhausted in the best possible way: tired because he had used muscles and brains together. The system rewarded him with a quiet analysis.
SYSTEM: Physical adaptation rate: +9%. Neuroplasticity window optimal. Suggest: introduce simple balance drills twice daily for three months.
The Empress watched these reports in silence, like someone reading a map of future storms. She permitted extra practice, understanding that first steps could become the first moves that mattered later.
[Empress Wu:] "Train him firmly. Little muscles hold large responsibilities."
[MC / Long Yue:] (thought) "Firm training, soft porridge. Got it."
And then, one morning as the courtyard lanterns sighed with early mist, he found another small miracle: a two-syllable attempt, clearer than yesterday's mutter, stretched toward meaning.
[MC / Long Yue:] (spoken, clearer) "Ma—ma."
Aunty Lin's face folded into a kind of private worship. The Empress' eyes, however, flickered with a tiny, strange light—pride braided with calculation.
[Empress Wu:] "He'll reward the hands that raise him."
SYSTEM: Language milestone: Basic nouns recognized (mother, father, dumpling). Social tie increase: Aunty Lin +8 emotional loyalty. Recommended next: basic command comprehension.
Long Yue's first walking and speaking were small wars won. He had traded sheer helplessness for the power of mobility and the ability to call for things. In a palace where names were currencies and steps were statements, both mattered.
He went to sleep that night with a wooden horse tucked beside him and a new internal itch—words now had taste. He thought, in the brief and curious way toddlers do, that later he might make ministers listen to his definitions of "dumpling" as law.
SYSTEM: Quirk logged: culinary diplomacy preference. Side quest updated: 'Teach tentatively political culinary terms'. Reward: +80 XP on completion.
The nursery was quieter, the palace older, and the little boy who had once been a man with regret now had two syllables he could use as weapons or warmth. Either way, they were his.
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