Chapter 89 Stealing Half a Day of Leisure

"Fourth Brother."

"Father!"

"Fourth Brother, are you really a farmer?"

Yinxiang, carrying Honghui, and Yinzhen, playfully bickered along the way until they found Yinzhen. At that moment, Yinzhen was planting rice seedlings in the field, dressed in coarse cloth.

"You're here, have a seat for a while." Ignoring Yinzhen's shock, Yinzhen nodded and gestured for Su Peisheng to lead the three of them to a newly built thatched pavilion to rest. Then he bent down and began planting rice seedlings again.

To be honest, this scene was a stark contrast to Yinzhen's usual image. Even though they knew beforehand that their fourth brother was farming, the thirteenth and fourteenth brothers still found it hard to accept when they actually saw it.

Having been forced to follow the Crown Prince during this period, Yinxiang quickly realized what was happening and rolled up his sleeves, wanting to step forward to help. "Fourth Brother, let me help you."

Yinzhen, who was standing to the side, turned his head in shock and stared at the eager Thirteenth Prince. His eyes widened. "Good lad, trying to impress Fourth Brother, huh? Do you think I can lose to you?"

"Fourth Brother, I'll join too!"

"Stop!" Yinzhen quickly straightened up and reached out to stop him. "Honghui, take your two uncles inside."

"Okay," little Honghui nodded obediently as he was put down, taking on the important task entrusted to him by his father. He tugged at his two uncles' clothes, his eyes clearly saying "You're being naughty." "Thirteenth Uncle, Fourteenth Uncle, be good. This isn't something you can play with. I'll have someone bring Second Brother and Third Brother over for you to play with. Be good, okay—"

Hearing Honghui's words used to coax a child, the two brothers were speechless.

“Honghui, we’re not playing around, we want to help.” Yinxiang squatted down to be at Honghui’s eye level, trying to explain their actions.

"Mmm, Uncle Thirteen is so great! Shall we play with Second Brother and Third Brother later?" Honghui habitually spoke to Yinxiang in a tone that praised his younger siblings, but he just wouldn't let him get down from the ground.

Yinzhen, who was standing to the side, laughed and stopped rushing to get down. He picked up Honghui and pretended to tease him, "Little Honghui, why are you playing with Hongyun and Hongshi? What's so fun about them?"

Upon hearing this, Honghui frowned slightly with a troubled expression and said, "Fourteenth Uncle, Bu'erhe is a girl, she's timid, and it's not good for you to play with her."

"What does Guan Bu'er have to do with this?" Yinzhen chuckled. Was that what he meant?

“Fourth brother is too young, he can’t even walk yet, he’s not fun to play with.” Honghui sighed helplessly, as if he were a child who didn’t understand, and continued to explain to Yinzhen.

"Am I here to play with children?" Yinzhen was speechless. What kind of image did he have in Honghui's eyes? Yinxiang, standing to the side, laughed heartily, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Completely unaware that in Honghui's eyes, who was already used to playing with Yinzhen, adults just liked to play with children.

"Alright, Honghui, your fourteenth uncle doesn't like playing with children." Taking advantage of the fact that the two brothers' attention was drawn to Honghui, Yinzhen quickly walked to the edge of the field, not daring to let the two brothers go into the field and ruin his rice seedlings.

"Huh? Fourteenth Uncle doesn't like playing with children?" Honghui's tone was very shocked, as if he had imagined something, and his eyes were full of pity and sympathy for Yinzhen.

"Hahaha, yes, your fourteenth uncle doesn't like playing with kids, hahaha..." Ignoring Yinzhen's dark face and understanding the meaning in Honghui's eyes, Yinxiang laughed uncontrollably, all the pent-up resentment in his heart dissipating in Honghui's childlike words.

Feeling like he'd been tricked by Honghui, Yinzhen, his face flushed, stuffed Honghui into the arms of the laughing Yinxiang and, pretending nothing had happened, strolled over to Yinzhen's side.

"Fourth Brother, let me help you." Taking the towel from Su Peisheng's hand, Yinzhen helped wipe the mud off Yinzhen's body.

Before Su Peisheng could stop him, he saw the Fourteenth Master, who had never served anyone before, act swiftly and ruthlessly, smearing small stains all over his master's body.

"Fourteenth Brother, your intention is enough." There's no need to take action. Yinzhen grasped Yinzhen's arm, gently refusing Yinzhen's help.

"Ha, ha." Realizing what he had done, Yinzhen looked at his "masterpiece," chuckled dryly, tossed the cloth to Su Peisheng, and strode into the pavilion to drink tea, as if a dog was chasing him.

"Hiss... The tea is good, the tea is good..." Having accidentally chipped his tooth in his panic, Yinzhen squeezed his eyes shut. He'd completely lost face today...

After Yinzhen finished washing and changing, Yinzhen had already returned to normal and was teasing Honghui with Yinxiang.

"Father..." Seeing that Honghui was so tired from playing that he could barely keep his eyes open, yet still wanted to come closer to Yinzhen, the hearts of the several grown men present softened.

"Honghui, be good, go back to sleep, okay?" Yinzhen held Honghui in his arms and comforted him softly.

The sight of their beloved father made Yinxiang and Yinzhen turn their heads in surprise. No matter how many times they saw it, they couldn't get used to it. The fourth brother, who always had a cold face in the face of great storms, was gentle with Honghui.

"Honghui... hasn't played with Father yet..." Little Honghui leaned against the warm and familiar embrace, his sleepiness becoming more and more obvious, but he still insisted on murmuring softly.

"It's okay, you can come and keep your father company after you wake up, okay?"

"Okay...okay..." Upon receiving a satisfactory answer, Honghui smiled sweetly, unable to hold on any longer, and leaned on Yinzhen's shoulder, falling into a deep sleep.

Yinzhen gently patted Honghui's back to make sure he was asleep before handing him to the nanny beside him and carrying him away.

"Fourth Brother likes Honghui?"

Yinzhen raised an eyebrow, as if he didn't understand what nonsense the Fourteenth Prince was talking about.

Yinxiang glanced at Yinzhen with amusement and said, "Fourteenth Brother is such a grown man, yet he's still jealous of Honghui?"

"Who, who's jealous? Don't talk nonsense!" Yinzhen stammered as he answered, his eyes darting around, avoiding eye contact with Yinzhen. He picked up his teacup and took a big gulp.

Yinxiang smiled and didn't say anything more, afraid that his fourteenth brother would get angry. Yinzhen didn't seem to notice either, and casually changed the subject: "What brings you two here today?"

Upon hearing the question, Yinxiang and Yinzhen exchanged a glance, their expressions slightly grave. Yinxiang replied, "Recently, the court has been embroiled in a heated debate over whether or not to ban mining... Too many people are getting involved, and we two, having nothing better to do, came to Fourth Brother's place to relax."

Yinxiang's explanation wasn't very clear, but Yinzhen understood his meaning and had heard about the "mining ban." This was because there had been several riots by miners recently, leading some officials to propose a "ban on mining."

Logically speaking, this matter should be easy to handle regardless of the outcome. However, because both the Crown Prince's faction and the Eighth Prince's faction are involved, it involves factional struggles, making the situation complicated and difficult to resolve in a short time.

"Very well, then you can stay here on the estate for a few more days if you have nothing else to do. If you want to farm, I'll teach you how." Yinzhen didn't comment on this. Since he had chosen to withdraw from the court and become a free man, then politics was no longer his concern.

"Thank you, Fourth Brother."

"Really farming?"

The two spoke at the same time, but Yinzhen's question was so prominent that it immediately caught Yinzhen's attention.

"Living at my estate requires labor." The moment Yinzhen spoke, Yinzhen became dejected and dared not say another word.

"Fourteenth Brother, are you scared?" Yinxiang provoked.

“Who’s afraid? It’s just farming. You might be afraid, but I’m not. Don’t believe me? Let’s have a contest!” Yinzhen was always right when provoked, and he immediately challenged Yinxiang to a duel.

Are you sure you can handle it?

"Anyone who can't do it, I can do it! Let's go, we'll go right now!"

"Sit down, don't ruin my rice seedlings!"

"Fourth Brother, don't underestimate me. Planting rice is a piece of cake!"

...

An hour later, Yinzhen, trembling and supporting his aching back, stood up from the muddy water, tears welling in his eyes. He probably really wasn't up to it...