174. Disputes over gardens

Qu Zijin straightened up under the surprised gazes of the palace servants, straightened his clothes, cupped his hands to the old prime minister, and said calmly, "I am just a little emotional because of the prime minister. I have no intention of killing myself. Thank you for your concern. I am fine now."

The old prime minister was taken aback, clearly not expecting him to suddenly change his attitude. He looked at him suspiciously and said, "Is the Grand Tutor really alright? If anything is wrong, please don't keep it to yourself."

“It’s really alright,” Qu Zijin said, avoiding his gaze. “I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave now.”

After saying this, he broke free from the palace servants' support, turned around and left quickly, leaving the old prime minister standing there, looking at his back with a face full of doubt.

The old prime minister was indeed very puzzled.

That shouldn't be the case. When people are caught up in those emotions, they are very irrational and easily manipulated.

Add to that a clever and stubborn man like Qu Zijin, and it shouldn't be difficult to take advantage of him.

Why... am I suddenly so wary of him?

They shouldn't have had any contact before, right?

Could it be that Xie Wenling said something to him? He remembered that they had a pretty good relationship.

The old prime minister's mind raced with countless thoughts, but on the surface he showed disappointment because Qu Zijin was ungrateful.

"Forget it, these young people nowadays..." He shook his head and walked towards the Imperial Study.

Never mind, these things aren't important.

The important thing was that he had to find out what the emperor was thinking.

He needed to know why there had been no response to the impeachment memorial submitted by the Duke of Anguo.

-

Today is a day off.

The little dumpling slept soundly until the sun was high in the sky before waking up. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and heard her mother's gentle voice in her ear: "Yue'er, wake up quickly. Today is a day off. Mother will take you and Lizhi to play in the garden on the outskirts of the city."

A new garden has opened in the suburbs. It's very lively, with lush vegetation, flowers blooming in all four seasons, and many cute little animals.

Little Tuanzi also longed to go, but unfortunately she had to study at the Wenhua Hall at other times, and there was a banquet during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Now, I finally have some free time.

Upon hearing this, the little dumpling instantly woke up, jumped out of bed, and her eyes sparkled with anticipation: "Really? That's great! Are there lots of pretty flower ducks in the garden?"

Jiang Xiyue smiled and nodded, helping her tidy up her clothes: "Yes, there are not only flowers, but also little rabbits and squirrels, and there are many plump koi in the lake waiting for Yue'er to feed them."

Today's outing was led by Jiang Xiyue, who brought her second brother and Xiao Tuanzi.

Jin Qizhi had to study, and the Marquis of Beiding had to attend court. After court, they also had to go to work to report for duty.

Jin Qizhi didn't react much, but the Marquis of Beiding, who couldn't get a leave of absence, was a little sad and reluctantly saw the three off.

The three of them chatted and laughed as they left the house and boarded the carriage.

The little dumpling leaned against the car window, curiously gazing at the world outside.

The streets were bustling with traffic and people.

"Mommy, look! Sugar painting!" the little dumpling exclaimed excitedly, pointing to a stall on the street.

A crowd of children gathered in front of the sugar painting stall. The stall owner was skilled and created various lifelike shapes.

Seeing this, Jiang Xiyue instructed the driver to stop the car by the roadside, and then walked a few steps with the two children to the stall.

She took a look and found that the stall was quite clean, all kinds of tools were polished to a shine, and the pot for boiling sugar was also on display, boiling amber-colored maltose.

She felt relieved: "Boss, please give us two sugar paintings."

"Okay!" the stall owner replied.

Before long, the little dumpling and her second brother received their own sugar paintings.

The little dumpling took a small lick, and the sweet taste instantly spread in her mouth. She squinted her eyes in satisfaction.

Jiang Xiyue, holding the little dumpling's hand, led her second brother back.

"Mommy, can Yue'er go feed the fish today?" The little dumpling asked, tilting her head up while eating candy, her voice soft and her eyes full of anticipation.

Jiang Xiyue didn't always allow her to feed the fish; she was always a little worried that the child might accidentally fall into the water.

"Of course you can. Mommy even brought your favorite fish food. Mommy will feed them with you then." Mommy smiled and ruffled her hair.

It is permissible to feed the fish when an adult is present to supervise them.

Jiang Xiyue then looked at her second brother: "Lizhi, don't run around later. There are a lot of people in the garden, so don't get lost."

The second brother waved his hand: "Don't worry, Mother, I'm all grown up now, I definitely won't get lost!"

Just then, the crisp sound of horses' hooves came from behind, and an exceptionally luxurious carriage slowly drove by. The curtain was blown up by the wind, revealing the people sitting inside.

It was Dou Shichen.

He wore a brocade robe adorned with jewels, his hair was tied up with a jade crown, his chin was slightly raised, and his eyes held the usual arrogance, like a proud little peacock.

The carriage stopped beside them. Dou Shichen turned to look at the three of them, his gaze first falling on the little dumpling: "Princess Fukang, are you going to the garden too? Why do you still look like you've just learned to walk, needing your mother to lead you?"

The little dumpling blinked her big eyes and looked up at him: "Shining Bean Prince, Yue'er is going to feed the fish, are you going to the garden too?"

"I'm going to the horse farm over there to ride horses, not to play in that kind of place like a little kid." Dou Shichen, who was only six years old, deliberately straightened his back.

He glanced at his second brother next to him, feeling a little unfamiliar with him.

A haughty, arrogant young master usually has no memory for people.

Moreover, he hadn't had much interaction with his second brother; he only knew that this was Xiaotuanzi's second brother.

The second brother couldn't stand his appearance and was about to speak when Jiang Xiyue stopped him.

Jiang Xiyue smiled and said to Dou Shichen, "Is the Prince of Zhennan also going to the garden? Then don't be late, or there will be too many people. We won't disturb the Prince."

She didn't really want to deal with the Crown Prince, lest she get involved in unnecessary trouble.

Dou Shichen grunted in response and said nothing more, only instructing the driver, "Let's go, don't waste time here."

The carriage quickly drove away.

The second brother curled his lip and muttered under his breath, "What kind of person is he, so arrogant?"

The little dumpling didn't care, and holding her mother's hand, she skipped and jumped, saying, "Mother, let's go quickly, Yue'er wants to see Yu Yu soon!"

The three boarded the carriage and continued on their way, soon arriving at the garden.

The park was indeed bustling with activity, divided into many different sized areas, with stalls on both sides of the road displaying all sorts of trinkets, and shouts of vendors rising and falling.

The little girl was attracted by a vendor selling windmills. Jiang Xiyue bought her a colorful windmill, and she ran ahead holding it. The windmill spun around, and she laughed very happily.

They first went to the lake to feed the koi, and then played for more than an hour.

The brother and sister were still full of energy, but Jiang Xiyue was a little tired.

She went to rest in the pavilion first, telling the little boy and his second brother to wander around nearby and not to go too far. She also instructed the servants to keep an eye on them.

The brother and sister agreed and walked hand in hand toward the nearby vendor area.

I had only walked a few steps when I heard a quarrel coming from ahead.

That's the path between the park and the horse farm.

The little boy curiously pulled his second brother through the crowd, only to see Dou Shichen standing in front of a kite stall, his face as dark as a storm cloud.

The stall owner, a middle-aged man, stood helplessly to the side, his eyes red and his hands tightly clutching a kite with a broken string.

A crowd of onlookers had gathered around.

The little boy and his second brother squeezed into the crowd. The second brother, true to his nature, started asking the adults around him, "Uncles and aunties, what's going on? Has something happened?"

The onlookers, eager to share the gossip, immediately started chattering away—

"We don't know exactly what happened, but we saw this young master's carriage suddenly stop in front of the stall, and then he got out and yelled at the vendor, scaring him so much that he couldn't speak!"

"Yes, yes, this vendor looks honest and simple. He probably offended this important person by accident, but there's no reason for him to be so fierce!"

"Look at what this young master is dressed like, he's obviously from a wealthy family. What kind of skill is it to bully a mere street vendor!"

The stall owner, increasingly terrified by the whispers of the crowd, turned pale and repeatedly bowed to Dou Shichen: "Young master, I'm so sorry, so sorry! Did I do something wrong to offend you? Please forgive me, I'm so magnanimous..."

As he spoke, he wiped his eyes, gripping the kite in his hand even tighter: "These kites, but I just finished making them today... I wanted to sell them for a good price to buy medicine for my sick child... I don't know where I offended you, young master, and made you so angry..."

Dou Shichen ignored his apology and explanation.

His brows furrowed even more, his tone filled with anger: "Don't you know what you did? My carriage was moving perfectly fine, how did it suddenly break down? If you can't give me an explanation, this isn't over today!"

His words only fueled the discontent of those around him.

"They've already apologized, what more do they want?"

"Exactly, they bully people just because they're rich and powerful!"

"I think he's just deliberately picking a fight to extort money from people!"

"That wasn't a kite, that was clearly hard-earned money for someone's child's medicine! And one of them broke as soon as he arrived, and now he's still making a fuss..."