Chapter 31 Making Friends

"Brother Bamboo, are you going out?" Sheng Sheng waved to him. "Then hurry up and go, Sheng Sheng is leaving now~"

This nickname always made Pei Ji's forehead twitch. Seeing the little dumpling turn around to leave, Pei Ji said softly, "Pei Ji."

"Um?"

I turned around and heard the voice, but I couldn't quite hear it.

"My name is Pei Ji." Pei Ji chuckled.

Sheng Sheng paused, nodded vigorously, and smiled, "Brother Pei Ji, my name is Sheng Sheng!"

The sky is high and the clouds are light; the falling leaves herald autumn.

On a calm and uneventful autumn morning, Pei Ji made his first friend in the State of Yu.

Even after sitting down in the Wenhua Hall, Pei Ji was still thinking about the jade pendant he wore at his waist.

Afu was very confused and asked him, "Young master, do you really believe that little dumpling wants to be your friend? Putting aside whether she's a princess or not, she..."

“Afu,” Pei Ji interrupted him, “there’s no need to worry.”

Pei Ji remained calm, a rare faint smile playing on his lips. Seeing this, Afu awkwardly shut his mouth.

Pei Ji sat in a corner as people gradually arrived at the Wenhua Hall. In addition to the royal family members, there were also a few young masters from top aristocratic families.

Xie Yunchuan arrived late, sitting down just a second before the Grand Tutor arrived.

Xie Yunchuan had never done anything like this before. Someone asked him a question out of curiosity, and Xie Yunchuan smiled, his eyes filled with tenderness: "I was having breakfast with my sister. Children eat slowly, so I'm a little late."

"Oh, right, right, right." The man suddenly realized, "We haven't yet congratulated Your Highness on this matter. The Second Princess Mingzhu has returned to the capital. This is a momentous occasion! Congratulations, Your Highness!"

Xie Yunchuan smiled, clearly pleased.

Afu was skilled in martial arts and had better hearing than Pei Ji. He overheard the conversation and relayed it to Pei Ji: "Young Master, didn't the Second Princess say that she died in a series of fires five years ago? What's going on?"

Pei Ji stared intently at the book in his hands, lost in thought.

After Shengsheng finished her lunch at Jinxiu Palace, Consort Rong enthusiastically wanted to take her somewhere.

"Mother, where are we going?"

Consort Rong held Sheng Sheng's little hand, feeling her soft and warm breath, and felt very content.

"It's right over there, come on, make a sound."

Consort Rong led the little boy to a side hall, where Lü Ping pushed open the door and the two stepped inside.

Inside the side hall, the place was filled with children's toys and various gifts in wooden boxes, neatly stacked to one side.

In the center of the hall was a wooden bed, painted a lovely pink, with bedding still laid out on it.

This is the wooden bed that Shengsheng slept in after she was born.

This is where Sheng Sheng once lived.

Everything in the room was a testament to Consort Rong's longing for her daughter.

Even though it was Sheng Sheng, he finally realized what was going on.

Sheng Sheng looked up at Consort Rong and asked, "Mother, may I take a look?"

Consort Rong released her hand: "Go."

Sheng Sheng started walking around earnestly, and some images vaguely came to mind.

The images of her sitting on the wooden bed, reaching out her hands to Consort Rong; the images of her crawling on the softly cushioned floor; the images of her playing with a rattle drum while sitting in Consort Rong's lap...

Even a fleeting glimpse was enough to touch Sheng Sheng's heart.

"These things all seem to belong to Shengsheng." Shengsheng picked up a shuttlecock and looked at it for a long time.

Consort Rong walked over and stroked her hair: "This was given to you by your fifth brother. The day your fifth brother first came to see you, he liked you very much and gave you this shuttlecock, saying that when you grow up, he would take you to play shuttlecock together."

Sheng Sheng laughed: "Sheng Sheng has grown up now, she can play shuttlecock!"

The mother and daughter smiled at each other, everything understood without words.

In the autumn of the sixteenth year of Chongde's reign, the Second Princess Xie Yunsheng was found and brought back by the Second Prince Xie Yunchuan. The Emperor was overjoyed, granted a general amnesty, and the whole country rejoiced.

If you were to ask who's been the busiest person in the palace these past few days, it wouldn't be His Majesty, who's been dealing with countless memorials every day, but rather the constant stream of people meeting with this person today and that person tomorrow.

Consort Rong had lost her daughter for five years, and now that she had finally found her, she naturally doted on her.

Everyone knew that the Second Princess was deeply favored by His Majesty and the Imperial Concubine, so they were naturally eager to curry favor with her.

Ever since Xie Yuxiao announced the news of the Second Princess's return to the palace, in addition to the gifts that kept coming to her door, Consort Rong also took her to meet many people.

In the past few days, he had met with most of the concubines who had come to visit him from various palaces. According to the rules, he should have taken the initiative to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager first. However, the Empress Dowager had gone to Putuo Temple for a period of quiet meditation, so he could only write a letter to inform her of the situation and would pay his respects to her after she returned to the palace.

Consort Rong's maternal family was the Zhenguo General's Mansion. Zhenguo General Rong Kuangzhi was stationed at the border, and his eldest and second sons, who were Consort Rong's elder and younger brothers, also followed Rong Kuangzhi to serve in the army.

Several of Consort Rong's nephews also began to get involved in military affairs a few years ago.

With all the men in the family serving in the border army, the Rong family simply moved to Liaocheng, leaving only the old steward to look after the Zhenguo General's Mansion in the capital.

Liaocheng is far from the capital, and news has not yet reached there.

Otherwise, Sheng Sheng would have to go back and forth for several more days, visiting his maternal grandparents today, his eldest uncle's house tomorrow, and his second uncle's house the day after tomorrow.

Sheng Sheng was a little depressed. Although everyone was very kind to her, they all liked to pinch her cheeks because they thought she was cute.

Her face is so small, it's not good for her to keep having it pinched.

Having grown accustomed to living in Yuqing Palace, Shengsheng had no intention of moving back to Jinxiu Palace. Although Consort Rong was somewhat disappointed, Shengsheng promised to visit her often, so Consort Rong let her have her way.

That day, Sheng Sheng finally gained her freedom. After returning from Jinxiu Palace, she thought about going to Jingyue Pavilion to play with her brother Pei Ji.

As they passed through the Imperial Garden, the little dumpling was racking her brains trying to figure out how to get Zijuan away when she suddenly heard a noisy commotion.

The little boy curiously followed the sound and saw a large group of eunuchs and palace maids surrounding a little boy, trying to dissuade him.

The little boy wore a golden crown, and his clothes were also incredibly shiny, with gold thread embroidered on them covering half of the area.

Sheng Sheng exclaimed in amazement at the flashing light, "What a whimsical little oil lamp!"

Zijuan was amused by her words and bent down to remind her, "Princess, this is His Highness the Fifth Prince, your fifth brother."

"Oh, he's the fifth prince who gave me the little shuttlecock."

Sheng Sheng remembered him; wasn't he the fifth prince whom her mother had mentioned who was going to teach her how to play shuttlecock?

Hearing Consort Rong say that day, Sheng Sheng automatically imagined her fifth brother as a lively and mischievous older brother.

Seeing you today, hmm...

He is lively and mischievous, but...

Her fifth brother, dressed in glittering gold, was fiddling with a long, thick wooden stick at a large tree, shouting, "Today, Your Highness will definitely knock down this beehive and take back the honey to eat!"