Chapter 126 – The August 15th moon is very round
Because they had to partic.i.p.ate in the palace feast at night, the prince"s manor"s reunion meal was set in the late afternoon.
And because the weather had entered the autumn season, the autumn heat wasn"t as sweltering hot as the summer heat, so the venue was set in the middle of a s.p.a.cious courtyard.
Everybody sat in their seats, almost filling a whole table.
Huang Yi brought servants to serve the meal and the table was immediately filled to the brim with all kinds of fresh dishes.
Chu Qing-Yan was next to Xiao Xu, then it was Mother Chu and Daddy Chu. On one side of Xiao Xu was Chu Qing-Yan while the other side was Wood, Fire, Earth, and Air, the four Spirits as well as Housekeeper Bai.
And the seven colored Senior maids and the other servant girls were at one table. The other manservants had several of their own tables.
Because it was a reunion meal, there was no master and servant separation. Everyone was harmonious and happy.
In the past, the manor also held reunion feasts but it was basically only servants who partic.i.p.ated, Xiao Xu simply didn"t appear. He was originally a cold and cheerless person, with him there, the servants basically didn"t dare to make any movements. Since it was like that, it was better to let them go play on their own.
This time, Chu Qing-Yan strongly requested that he be present, as a result, he also didn"t evade it.
Moreover with Daddy Chu, this clown present, as well as Fire Spirit who was talented in creating a good atmosphere, the entire reunion meal was full of laughter and cheers.
Xiao Xu held a gla.s.s of wine and swirled it, as if through the light from the wine, he could see himself being painted with the warm colors of sunset, the coldness in both of his eyes were washed away.
Chu Qing-Yan saw everybody drinking wine and couldn"t help but stretch out her hand to pour herself some. But her hand was stopped midway.
Chu Qing-Yan turned her head to look at the person at the side who made the move. "I want to drink one mouthful."
"Not allowed. Little children should not drink wine." Xiao Xu said in a manner that brooked no refusal.
"I"m not a child, I"ve already grown up!" Chu Qing-Yan felt that sometimes, her 10 year old ident.i.ty was great, when she did something wrong she could always use it as a cover. However, sometimes she felt this ident.i.ty was awkward, every time she wanted to do something, she was always limited, like how she just wanted to try this fruit wine, and was not allowed.
Xiao Xu lightly shot her a glance. "Wait until you reach a marriageable age of fifteen, then you can say these words to this king."
Chu Qing-Yan very angrily put down the wine cup and shoved in big mouthfuls of food, Big Block of Ice really spoiled all the fun!
Daddy Chu who was yelling out drinking games with Fire Spirit also heard this with his sharp ears. He turned his head around and shouted to his own daughter. "What son-in-law said is right, Cai Cai, you must listen to him!"
Chu Qing-Yan heard this and buried her head even deeper, even Daddy was standing on Big Block of Ice"s side. How was she going to continue to live?
Mother Chu shook her head and laughed in spite of herself. She said towards her daughter who had her head buried as she ate bitterly. "Don"t eat so much or else when you enter the imperial palace later, you"ll be too full to eat."
Xiao Xu replied back. "No matters. The palace banquet only has exquisite looking food, it"s not enough to fill the gaps between her teeth. Now it"s also good to pad the stomach in the manor, or else she won"t be able to bear it before returning to the manor."
Mother Chu was astonished that Prince Ying replied to her. Originally, she was worried her daughter would be wronged in the prince"s manor, after all, the rumors outside about Prince Ying weren"t that nice to hear. However, seeing with her own eyes how he cherished her daughter, she suddenly felt that the rumors outside were all actually not true. You really needed to personally see for yourself to be sure.
With regards to this bestowed son-in-law, Mother Chu was always respectful and distant. Today, don"t know if it was because of it being reunion day or because she was influenced by his words, Mother Chu felt pity towards this child who was unloved since young.
"Highness, you should also eat a little more, otherwise you"ll be hungry since the banquet will be very long."
Xiao Xu felt Mother Chu"s concern and nodded slightly towards her.
Daddy Chu also chimed in at this moment. "Son-in-law, I heard that the Chrysanthemum Viewing Banquet has a lot of beautiful chrysanthemums, remember to help me stealthily bring some pots when you return!"
Xiao Xu automatically ignored him, acting like everything he said was a figment of his imagination.
Very quickly, it was almost nightfall, the carriage to enter the palace was already prepared. Chu Qing-Yan and Xiao Xu were the first to get up and leave, the rest of the people continued to eat and drink wine.
Sitting in the carriage, Chu Qing-Yan let out a burp from being full. Afterwards, she pulled up the window curtains and looked at the gradually setting sun outside. She somewhat lamented, adding it up together, she had come to the ancient period for half a year. Time seemed to flow by quickly like flowing water that couldn"t be grabbed.
"Big Block Of Ice, can you help me with something?" Chu Qing-Yan turned her head and seriously looked at the person with his eyes shut to recuperate.
Rarely did she use such a serious tone, Xiao Xu slowly opened his eyes. "What is it?"
Chu Qing-Yan said the matter she had been thinking about for a long time. "My dad hit his head a long time ago and lost his wisdom. I want to ask for your help to ask Air Spirit to take a look at my dad."
Before, she had mentioned this request to Air Spirit but he seemed to have prejudice towards her and ignored her. Daddy"s sickness had already persisted for 10 years, she felt that it couldn"t drag on any longer.
"Your dad"s sickness, I"m afraid Air Spirit does not have a way to cure it." He had already discussed this matter with Air Spirit before.
Hearing this, Chu Qing-Yan"s expression immediately turned downcast. She heard Air Spirit"s medical skills were so outstanding that even the imperial physician in the palace couldn"t reach his level. She originally placed her hopes on him, but today her hopes were once again destroyed. She felt her headache, was there anyone under the heavens that could cure her daddy"s sickness?
Seeing her expression become downcast, Xiao Xu muttered to himself for a moment before recounting the words Air Spirit had told him in the study room today. "However, Air Spirit has a Junior Sister from the same master who is adept at treating the complicated illness inside the body. Maybe she will be able to cure your father."
He would never spill things easily unless he could guarantee it, but when he saw her brows knotted in worry, he couldn"t help but want to see her always filled with liveliness.
Originally, he wanted to wait until he found Air Spirit"s junior sister before telling her. Now, waiting until that time, she would still be joyous and live without worries.
"Really? That"s great! Can Big Block of Ice help me find Air Spirit"s junior sister?" Simply like riding a roller coaster, it goes down, then up. Chu Qing-Yan grabbed his sleeves and impatiently asked.
"This king has already sent people to search, once she"s been found, I"ll let you know" Xiao Xu stroked her long hair in comfort and said softly.
With these words from Big Block of Ice, she felt at ease.
When they reached the doors of the palace, the two people got off the carriage and walked towards the imperial gardens. They had just arrived at the entrance, when a palace maid bowed towards Xiao Xu and told him that Mother Empress had important matters to discuss with him.
Xiao Xu thought for a moment before lowering his head to say to Chu Qing-Yan. "You head on in first, this king will arrive in short while."
"En, en." Once Chu Qing-Yan heard Empress Liang was looking for him with important matters, she obediently agreed.
Xiao Xu left several sentences of instruction to the eunuch guide before turning around to follow the palace maid to leave.
But after he took several steps, he stopped and turned around to beckon towards Chu Qing-Yan.
Chu Qing-Yan, puzzled, walked forward. "What is it?"
Xiao Xu slightly bent down and told her firmly. "You must remember your ident.i.ty, you are Princess Consort Ying, which means you represent this king"s ident.i.ty. If anybody dares to bully you, just bully them back, no need to be polite! If you stir up some disaster, don"t be afraid, this king will deal with the aftermath for you!"
Chu Qing-Yan"s eyes immediately glittered like stars.
Giving off such domineering manner, okay!
This kind of man was the most attractive!
"As you bid!" Chu Qing-Yan placed her hand with fingers straight against her temples, imitating a soldier at attention.
Watching Big Block of Ice"s leaving figure, Chu Qing-Yan rubbed her hands. Having these words from Big Block of Ice, she felt rea.s.sured, her spine also straightened up!
Come, little hussies!
I have a backer so I"m not afraid of you guys!
She roared this several times in her heart, it seemed like a gathering command had been sent, and a high pitched girl"s voice rang beside her ear.
"Oh you guys, look who is this?"