Chapter 187

In early autumn, the leaves on the trees begin to curl, as if they are baked by the sun, which is no less scorching than in summer. The sun remains as powerful as ever in autumn, but when the sun sets in the evening, the cold comes back.

Jiaojiao was happily sweeping the fallen leaves in the yard with a broom. Xie Shuyu and Liu Xingzhi were sitting in the corridor, drinking tea and chatting, while squinting their eyes and looking at Jiaojiao.

Since Yin Zheng came back, Jiaojiao has been obviously more lively than before, smiling more often, and no longer has a stern face trying to pretend to be an adult.

The biggest reason why Xie Shuyu and Liu Xingzhi get along so well, besides being Jiaojiao's uncles, is that they have very similar experiences. Both of them had weak feelings in their childhood, and their parents were very confident at the beginning that their long-term and uninterrupted closeness would make their sons gradually become normal.

The reason they were so confident was that, firstly, they felt that their son had a disease that could be cured as long as he cooperated with the treatment and hired famous doctors.

Secondly, they feel that they are the child's parents. There is no child in the world who is not close to their parents. His child is just a little weird. As long as they work hard and don't give up, the child will one day be close to them and gradually become normal under their guidance.

Until later, as time went by, when the extremely overflowing maternal and paternal love in their hearts disappeared, they looked at their children as if they were looking at a stone that could not be warmed.

Especially when looking at the child, I found that his eyes could not reflect the changes in light and shadow, and there was no emotion expressed. There was only darkness, like two holes punched out on the face of a paper man as eyes. After staring at him for a long time, I couldn't help feeling scared, so I turned away in a hurry.

When a stone that has not yet been warmed up, or is about to be warmed up, is abandoned, the residual warmth remaining in it will quickly fade away.

But people are not stones, they can be ignorant and insensitive. The feeling of being discarded halfway through being warmed up is really hard to swallow.

Xie Shuyu often watched his younger brother and his parents playing and acting coquettishly from afar. In fact, he didn't feel anything in his heart, but he would always look over there for no reason.

He knew that his parents loved him, and he was their son after all, but he always felt that something was missing, which led to an indescribable sense of alienation between him and them.

He didn’t understand before, but he understood later.

What he lacks between him and his parents is the certainty and dependence that will never be abandoned at any time.

Just because he had been abandoned before, he ended up wandering around the place where he was abandoned countless times without understanding anything, and refused to get any closer.

That step is their pride and their bottom line.

It’s not that we haven’t gotten close, nor that we haven’t tried.

It's just that their emotions are too weak, and they are too slow and insensitive in accepting and responding. It's so slow that their relatives who can't wait give up before they have a chance to respond.

They knew that it was not their relatives' fault. No one would hold a piece of ice that showed almost no signs of melting year after year, but they were too proud to admit that they were wrong.

This pride and bottom line ultimately led to an invisible alienation between them and the world for many years, like wandering ghosts between the underworld and the human world, knowing where they came from but unable to find their home.

As for Jiaojiao, the moment she noticed him, the first thing she noticed was his passionate and pure love for Yin Zheng.

The love that was willing to give away all the treasures and candies that he had carefully accumulated bit by bit without reservation was too pure, too passionate, and too... eye-catching...

If you examine every extreme paranoia and desire carefully, you will find that behind it is often an extremely scarce and unsatisfied love.

And the love that Jiaojiao holds in her arms is to them like a candle flame to a moth.

They approached Jiaojiao out of curiosity and attraction, and then unknowingly held this little girl in the apple of their eyes, becoming extremely protective of her.

As Jiaojiao was sweeping, she picked up a leaf with a very special shape. She puffed out her cheeks to blew away the dust on the leaf, held it up to the sky, looked at it, and put it aside with satisfaction, preparing to put it away after she finished sweeping the floor.

Seven-year-old Jiaojiao no longer wears clothes with a belly pocket.

When Yin Zheng was appointed as the general, he was awarded a mansion as his residence. However, Yin Zheng had no intention of living there. He hired some servants and housekeepers to look after the yard, and brought Jiaojiao to live in Suiyu Bridge. Compared with the huge mansion, Yin Zheng and Jiaojiao preferred this small three-entry courtyard.

The pot in the corridor was bubbling with steam. Yin Zheng in the kitchen brought out sliced ​​mutton and some vegetables. Jiaojiao put away the broom and was about to go to help when she heard a knock on the door.

The knocking sound of "Knock knock knock..." on the door felt weak.

"Who is it?" Jiaojiao asked loudly.

Hearing the familiar voice coming from the door, Emperor Yongzheng's heavy mind suddenly relaxed for a moment. He leaned against the door and replied slowly, "I."

"Uncle!" Jiaojiao's eyes lit up when she recognized Emperor Yongzheng's voice, and she ran forward to open the door.

Emperor Yongzheng looked down at Jiaojiao, and seeing his curved eyebrows, he reached out and poked his face: "Are you happy to see me?"

"Yeah, I'm happy." Jiaojiao nodded hurriedly, holding the hand of Emperor Yongzheng and walking inside: "Uncle, we are about to eat, have you eaten yet?"

"not yet."

"Then uncle, can you eat with us?"

“Not impossible.”

"By the way, uncle, where are Shi'an, Mianmian and the others? And Yoyo."

Emperor Yongzheng blinked, then remembered that he had forgotten to call them when he left the palace. He lied calmly, "Doctor Chang is removing the poisonous insect from Shi'an's body."

It's not really a lie. Doctor Chang was indeed removing the poisonous insect from Shi'an's body. For some reason, the poisonous insect in Shi'an's body had never been activated in the past few years, nor had it moved towards his heart meridian. It had even moved away from his heart meridian on its own initiative. No one knew what was going on.

Emperor Yongzheng glanced at Jiaojiao. Although he knew it was unlikely, he always felt that this matter was related to Jiaojiao.

"Okay." Jiaojiao nodded. If Shi'an Ge didn't come, she would definitely not let Youyou come.

Emperor Yongzheng suddenly paused. Oh, that's not right. Shi'an and Youyou are fine, but what about Qin Mianmian? He doesn't live in the palace.

He put his hand on Jiaojiao's shoulder and raised an eyebrow at her: "Hmm?"

"Mianmian has been confined by Uncle Qin and can't go out." Jiaojiao looked as if she had just remembered something. Meeting her uncle's disbelieving eyes, she pursed her lips and smiled, then ran to the corridor.

Emperor Yongzheng quickly pulled him back and rubbed his head: "You are actually teasing me."

Jiaojiao held her dizzy head, pursed her lips and smiled.

Emperor Yongzheng also laughed. It was rare to see Jiaojiao so lively.

Xie Shuyu and Liu Xingzhi, who were in the corridor, saw the Emperor Yongzheng and his wife stand up and salute.

Emperor Yongzheng waved his hand: "No need."

Upon hearing this, Xie Shuyu and the others sat down again.

Thanks to Jiaojiao, several years of getting along have made them more casual when facing Emperor Yongzheng. At least they don't have to be worried all the time. But at the same time, they have also seen what kind of bad temper Emperor Yongzheng has in private.

Although they dared not say that they understood it 100%, at least at this time they were sure that Emperor Yongzheng would not deliberately find an excuse to punish them for being disrespectful in front of the emperor.

Yin Zheng, who had brought out a lot of dishes from the kitchen, stopped when he saw Emperor Yongzheng, and his heavy eyes fell on Emperor Yongzheng.

Emperor Yongzheng's eyebrows jumped, and he turned his back, pretending not to see Yin Zheng.

He didn't want to argue with Yin Zheng in front of Jiaojiao, because he knew that Jiaojiao would definitely stand on his father's side. When Emperor Yongzheng thought of this, he felt a little sad, after all, she was the child he had raised for three years.

Seeing that he turned his back and refused to communicate, Yin Zheng withdrew his gaze and said nothing.

On the night that Emperor Yongzheng took Jiaojiao away, Yin Zheng sensed something was wrong. In just one night, four or five waves of people came to Yin's house to inquire about the situation.

He quietly followed those people and finally found that they were all from the big families in the capital. He thought about it and felt that something was wrong. Although these big families were very secretive and he could not find out anything, it did not prevent Xie Shuyu from finding out.

After the two of them discussed it, they found that it was not only Emperor Yongzheng who was targeting Jiaojiao, but also these noble and aristocratic families.

There were countless aristocratic families and nobles in the capital, and each one of them was a big trouble for Yin Zheng at that time. He was not afraid of those who dealt with him openly, but he could not guard against those secret secrets.

Unless he could tie Jiaojiao to his belt at all times, he would not be able to protect Jiaojiao at all.

From this perspective, for Yin Zheng at that time, Emperor Yongzheng taking Jiaojiao away was not a good thing, but it was not a bad thing either.

He later placed Shi'an and Youyou with Xie Shuyu, and turned around and headed straight for the border.

In recent years, through Jiaojiao's letters and Xie Shuyu's letters, Yin Zheng gradually became suspicious of Emperor Yongzheng's purpose in bringing Jiaojiao into the palace.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, putting aside some factors, apart from Emperor Yongzheng, no one in Dayong can protect Jiaojiao.

He can't do it, Liu Xingzhi can't do it, and Xie Shuyu, who also comes from a noble family, can't do it either. Only Emperor Yongzheng can do it, and only he has this ability because he is the emperor of Dayong, because... All under heaven is the king's land, and all the people in the world are the king's subjects.

The final result confirmed Yin Zheng's speculation. Yin Zheng was grateful to Emperor Yongzheng for trying every possible way to protect Jiaojiao and eliminate the threats to Jiaojiao. He wanted to find an opportunity to express his gratitude to Emperor Yongzheng, but Emperor Yongzheng seemed unwilling to pay attention to him?

Thinking about this, Yin Zheng walked to the corridor, put down the food in his hand, and waved for Jiaojiao to come over.

Jiaojiao quickly pulled Emperor Yongzheng and ran towards her father.

Today they had mutton hotpot. When Emperor Yongzheng saw it, his eyes lit up slightly. You know, before this, he had been eating vegetarian food for several days under Jiaojiao's supervision. Emperor Yongzheng, who had a stronger appetite than before, was now a little craving for meat.

He was so greedy for meat that he didn't care about Yin Zheng. He sat down next to Jiaojiao under Yin Zheng's gaze. As soon as he picked up the dipping sauce dish, he met Jiaojiao's gaze. Emperor Yongzheng subconsciously held the sauce dish tightly in his hand and blurted out, "Doctor Chang said I don't have to avoid any food in the future."

Hearing his words blurted out without thinking, Yin Zheng, Xie Shuyu and Liu Xingzhi looked at the two in surprise.

Judging from the situation, it seems that Emperor Yongzheng is controlled by Jiaojiao?

Jiaojiao opened her bright and clear eyes and said doubtfully, "Really?"

Emperor Yongzheng looked calm: "Don't believe it? I'll send someone to call Doctor Chang, and Jiaojiao will ask him in person." After saying this, he made a gesture to call someone.

Seeing this, Jiaojiao finally believed it. Thinking that her uncle's health had finally improved a lot, she happily added some more dogwood juice to her uncle's dish.

Seeing Jiaojiao adding dogwood to himself, Emperor Yongzheng was also very happy and kept asking Jiaojiao to add more.

He had a strong taste and liked spicy food, but the imperial physician told him to avoid spicy food. Coincidentally, Jiaojiao was someone who could control him, so he had to eat lighter food.

This was just a sign of weakness. If Jiaojiao knew the true condition of his body, wouldn't he be unable to eat anything except medicinal food?!

Emperor Yongzheng was frightened at the thought of this and decided not to let Jiaojiao know the true condition of his body.

Anyone who can become an emperor has eight hundred tricks in his mind. When he used these tricks to deal with Jiaojiao, Jiaojiao was almost fooled. This led to Jiaojiao never knowing the true physical condition of Emperor Yongzheng. In his eyes, his uncle was just a little weak and was prone to coughing when the seasons changed or the temperature dropped, just like Qin Mianmian's new sister.

Qin Mianmian said that this was a weakness she had in the womb, and it was nothing serious. She would get better slowly if she took good care of herself.

Emperor Yongzheng was injured, his hands were wrapped in gauze, and there was a strong smell of medicine on his body. Although he kept his hands hidden in his sleeves, he could not hide it from anyone present.

It is common sense to avoid spicy food when injured. As for what Doctor Chang said about not avoiding food, there is no need to think that it was said by Emperor Yongzheng to fool Jiaojiao.

Xie Shuyu and the newly appointed fourth-rank doctor Liu Xingzhi exchanged a glance, recalling the many times they had been teased by Emperor Yongzheng's evil taste over the years. They turned their heads to look at Jiaojiao and then at Emperor Yongzheng, and suddenly an idea popped up in their minds. But just as they were about to speak, they met the threatening look that Emperor Yongzheng gave them after noticing it.

Emperor Yongzheng's gaze fell on Liu Xingzhi. "I heard a few days ago that Xingzhi's cousin had a fight with Prince Yu at Jinfang Tower. I don't know the extent of his injuries."

Liu Xingzhi, who was caught with the handle, chose to bow his head.

Xie Shuyu, who thought he had no leverage, straightened his face and was about to speak out like a loyal minister, when he was mercilessly kicked under the low table by Emperor Yongzheng.

He spoke calmly despite the pain: "Your Majesty..."

But he was interrupted as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Some time ago, I heard that Lord Xie and his wife were very anxious about Huaizhi's marriage. If Huaizhi can't find someone he likes, why don't I ask the Queen to help you keep an eye on it?" Emperor Yongzheng said, picked up a piece of mutton with chopsticks, dipped it in the sauce and put it into his mouth, looking at Xie Shuyu with a smile.

Xie Shuyu swallowed his unfinished words as if nothing had happened: "That's not the case. I guess the messenger misrepresented the message, causing Your Majesty to misunderstand."

"Really?" Emperor Yongzheng slowly picked up another piece of mutton with chopsticks and put it into his mouth.

Due to the threat of marriage, Xie Shuyu shamefully bowed his head.

As for Yin Zheng? He wasn't the type to enjoy seeing others suffer, so he calmly chose to remain silent.

Jiaojiao knew that his uncle was injured, but he trusted Doctor Chang very much, because when they were in the palace, Doctor Chang often worked with him to enforce his uncle's dietary restrictions. The Coptis chinensis in his uncle's medicine was the bitterest Coptis chinensis picked by Doctor Chang himself. Although he later lowered the bitterness of the medicine because of the death sight of His Majesty, he still stood firmly on Jiaojiao's side in terms of dietary restrictions. Anyway, with Jiaojiao around, His Majesty would not punish him.

But this time... there is no need to avoid certain foods this time.

Looking at the gauze wrapped around her uncle's hand, Jiaojiao felt distressed and kept putting food into her uncle's bowl. Soon, a small mountain of food was piled up in Emperor Yongzheng's bowl. Of course, Jiaojiao did not forget to put food into her father's bowl.

Xie Shuyu, who was sitting opposite, did not receive such treatment. He glanced at the meat in Emperor Yongzheng's bowl, slowly raised his own bowl and plate, and placed his hand in front of Jiaojiao. The meaning was self-evident.

Jiaojiao pursed her lips happily and filled her plate with dishes for Uncle Huaizhi. After returning the bowl to him, she also filled some for Liu Xingzhi, trying not to be partial and treating everyone equally.

The leaves in the yard swayed and fell. Five people sat under the porch, eating mutton hotpot and chatting. Jiaojiao, who had a small stomach, was already full, so she sat aside with a smile on her face, happily busy picking up food for her father, uncle and other uncles.

The small courtyard has no carved beams and painted rafters, nor pavilions or waterside terraces, but it makes people nostalgic for some reason, and even gives them an inexplicable feeling of home.

After returning that day, Emperor Yongzheng began to reward the army that returned to the court the next morning. Yin Zheng, who had made the greatest contribution in defeating the Huns, was awarded the first-rank Marquis of Jing'an. When some court officials objected to this, Emperor Yongzheng deliberately showed his injured left hand to them, and credited Yin Zheng with the credit of saving the emperor.

As for how and what was done to save the emperor, it was naturally all nonsense made up by Emperor Ren Yongzheng.

Fortunately, Yin Zheng reacted quickly and was stunned for only a moment before he answered the question. Otherwise, all the civil and military officials of Dayong would know that their Majesty had made up some nonsense about saving the emperor to give him a reward.

For Jiaojiao, the days gradually settled down. His father came back and his uncle's health was slowly improving. Apart from going to school every day, he happily spent the rest of his time accompanying his father, uncle and other uncles.

However, Emperor Yongzheng was getting busier and busier, and Yin Zheng, Xie Shuyu, Liu Xingzhi and others were all busy as well. However, no matter how busy Yin Zheng was, he could still find time to go to the Imperial College every day to pick up Jiaojiao and take her home.

This made the friends in the Imperial College extremely envious. They went home and pestered their fathers to come and pick them up. As expected, they got scolded.

Emperor Yongzheng, Xie Shuyu and others would also take time out to have dinner at Suiyu Bridge. Shi'an and Mianmian would also come. As for why Shi'an came instead of coming back directly, it was because he was recognized as a descendant ten days ago.

Before this, no one could have imagined that Shi'an was actually the youngest son of Prince Yong'an's legitimate son Huo Chenke who had survived by chance. In other words, Emperor Yongzheng was now Shi'an's uncle.

When Huo Chenke was about to die, a huge fire broke out in Liangyiyuan, which not only burned Huo Chenke's body, but also killed several people, including Huo Chenke's three legitimate sons.

As for the fire that seemed sudden at the time, it was actually set by Emperor Yongzheng. He didn't want his eldest brother's corpse to be made into some elixir of immortality and then eaten by the late emperor. The thought of it made him feel sick and want to vomit, so he simply destroyed his eldest brother's body and took the opportunity to send his eldest brother's sons away.

He sent all three out, but all the people who escorted them out were hunted down and killed, so that in the end he was not sure if anyone survived.

He didn't take it seriously when he first met Shi'an, but later when he saw him playing with Jiaojiao and his face occasionally showing, he began to guess something.

The scars on Shi'an's face and body were caused by a poison, which was unique to Liangyiyuan. Emperor Yongzheng had also been infected with this poison in Liangyiyuan. Once the poison took effect, his body would crack into numerous wounds, making it easier to draw blood. However, as their bleeding stopped more and more slowly, this method was abandoned.

Shi'an, who successfully found his ancestral home, was detained in the palace and could not return. Yoyo, on the other hand, returned happily and did not miss Shi'an in the palace at all.

After Shi'an returned to his ancestral home, news came from the palace that Emperor Yongzheng was seriously ill. It was said that Kongchen, who was proficient in Buddhism and medicine, was invited into the palace to seek medical treatment for His Majesty.

The court officials and princes did not believe it at first, but they gradually became suspicious when Emperor Yongzheng fainted several times during court sessions and often took a long time to react to things.

Although Emperor Yongzheng tried his best to cover it up, the court officials and princes could still see his ugly face through the powder on his face.

No one knew what method they used in the end, but the court officials and princes were all very sure that Emperor Yongzheng was seriously ill and would soon die.

Once the news was confirmed, undercurrents surged throughout the court. Seeing that the emperor was seriously ill and the crown prince had not yet been appointed, the court officials who had some ideas in their minds became uneasy and began to move around privately.

Emperor Yongzheng, who was pushing all matters in private, was eating dates bit by bit while the court officials and princes were getting agitated. He was racking his brains to explain to Jiaojiao why he was pretending to be sick.

Fortunately, the news of his serious illness has not yet reached Jiaojiao. Due to his previous cruelty, the court officials did not dare to discuss his illness in private, let alone publicize the fact that he was about to die. It was normal that Jiaojiao, who was in the Imperial College, did not know about it.

Thinking of this, Emperor Yongzheng suddenly had an idea. Why not just not explain it? He could just keep it a secret until he finished what he was about to do. Then, he would close his eyes and not care about anything else. The only ones who would have a headache would be Yin Zheng and Xie Shuyu!

The more he thought about it, the more feasible the idea seemed to Emperor Yongzheng, and he finally made up his mind to do it.

Jiaojiao, who had been picked up by her father from the Imperial Academy, saw Emperor Yongzheng eating dates in the corridor. She ran back to the house, fetched a blanket, and covered Emperor Yongzheng with it. She frowned and said seriously, "Uncle has just gotten better. Please take care of yourself."

"I know, I know." Emperor Yongzheng responded lazily and stuffed a handful of winter dates into Jiaojiao's mouth.

Jiaojiao happily took the food and shared it with her father.

Jiaojiao came back, and soon Xie Shuyu and Liu Xingzhi also came to the house one after another. They made crucian carp and half a venison for soup.

Jiaojiao rolled up her sleeves and went to the kitchen to help, but was dragged out by Emperor Yongzheng, who then kicked Xie Shuyu and Liu Xingzhi, who were eating white rice, in to help.

But in the end, he and Jiaojiao could not escape the fate of helping, because Jiaojiao was so happy that he wanted to run to the kitchen, and Emperor Yongzheng let him slip into the kitchen without paying attention. Thinking it would be boring to sit alone, Emperor Yongzheng walked into the kitchen leisurely, squatted beside it with condescension, and started peeling garlic with Jiaojiao head to head.

The cold wind was still howling outside, but the courtyard was as lively as usual.

Two-in-one