The Empress of Tea

Empress Ming, Empress Xiaochunxian, of the Gu'erjia clan, from the Manchu Plain White Banner, younger brother is Grand Scholar Gu'erjia Jiahuan. When Shizong Yongzheng was a prince, she gav...

Chapter 389 Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

"Brother?" Little Hongjing shifted his small body nervously, his eyes following his brother Hongxuan's every move.

Hongxuan noticed his younger brother Hongjing's nervousness. He patted the boy's fluffy head to calm him down and then smiled at him, saying, "It's not that you can't, but you're still too young. Don't blame your older brother if you can't get up there yourself."

Xiao Hongjing immediately shook his head and said, "I don't blame you."

"That's good!" Hongxuan said, putting down his hand that was patting Hongjing's head.

Little Hongjing immediately jumped up excitedly, "Brother, teach me!"

Hongxuan shook his head.

Xiao Hongjing: "..."

Hongxuan explained, "It's a bit dangerous, so we need to take precautions first."

Xiao Hongjing was no longer confused. He straightened his head, which had been tilted, and watched intently as his brother Hongxuan took precautions.

Hongxuan turned to face the servants who had come with him and instructed Xiao Hezi, whom his mother had sent to watch over them, saying, "Steward He, please bring back the mat that you brought when I was a naughty child, in case you were afraid I would get hurt."

Xiao Hezi could pretty much guess what the Fourth Prince was going to teach the Fifth Prince, so he hesitated a bit.

Hongxuan: "Don't worry, as long as we choose a suitable place to teach and take good safety measures, nothing will happen."

Xiao Hezi gave Fourth Prince Hongxuan a heavy look, "Fourth Prince, as long as you know your limits, that's good."

Hongxuan nodded to Xiao Hezi to reassure him that he was indeed acting with discretion.

"Oh, and bring another rope, a longer one."

Xiao Hezi didn't quite understand why the Fourth Prince had ordered him to get the rope, but he still obeyed.

After Xiao Hezi left, Hongxuan's thoughts began to surge uncontrollably.

The reason he planned to teach his younger brother this was because he realized the influence he had on his brother. According to his mother, his younger brother was a brother-obsessed brother who was interested in everything about his older brother.

A few days ago, some people with ulterior motives took advantage of this to get close to my brother.

Fortunately, Mother discovered it in time, stopped the man from getting any closer, and sent him away. She also taught her younger brother not to easily trust strangers and not to approach strangers indiscriminately.

The mother was afraid that she would feel guilty if she found out, so she asked someone to keep it from her.

Actually, more than a year ago, after her younger brother was born, she was worried that her weak mother and brother might be taken advantage of, so she secretly made some arrangements in the Peach Garden.

Now, what was originally a small arrangement has become much larger, so even though his mother Jiaming ordered him to keep the news about Taoyuan a secret, Hongxuan still has a general grasp of it.

He felt guilty, but he was even happier that his younger brother cared about him. He couldn't distance himself from his brother just because his brother cared about him and liked being taken advantage of. Cutting off that care and affection was not a good idea, in his opinion.

Thinking about it, Hongxuan clenched his fists angrily, a flash of anger quickly appearing in his eyes.

"Brother, are you being naughty?"

Hearing his younger brother's soft, curious voice, Hongxuan subconsciously suppressed his anger and looked at Hongjing with a warm, gentle smile that was quite captivating.

Even though he had seen his brother Hongxuan's warm and captivating smile many times, the brother-obsessed Hongjing was still momentarily lost in thought.

Therefore, he understood the words his brother Hongxuan said next, but he couldn't understand the meaning of the whole sentence.

"That's right. When your brother was as little as you, he was very active and mischievous. You're curious about how mischievous he was? Haha, wait a minute, you'll find out when the mat arrives."

After speaking, Hongxuan saw the little guy nodding in confusion, and he knew perfectly well that the little guy hadn't understood what he had said at all. As for the reason, he continued to smile brightly at his younger brother Hongjing.

Sure enough, Hongjing, the younger brother, was looking at him with a silly smile. Hongxuan couldn't help but chuckle at his brother's adorable behavior.

When Hongjing came to his senses, he was a little confused when he saw his brother Hongxuan's speechless smile.

My mind was still a bit dazed, but I gradually started to recall some things. It seemed like my brother had just said something to me.

"Oh right, what did my brother just say?" Little Hongjing immediately lowered his head in annoyance, rubbed his chubby little hands on his head, and secretly glanced at his brother.

Unexpectedly meeting his brother's knowing gaze, the caught-in-the-muddled Hongjing immediately hugged his brother Hongxuan's leg shyly and said in a coquettish tone, "Brother!"

Hongxuan patted Hongjing's fluffy head again and repeated what the little guy had said earlier, which he hadn't understood because he was distracted.

This time the little guy understood. He opened his mouth, about to say something, when suddenly he saw Xiao Hezi leading several servants, carrying a thick cushion over.

The little guy quickly changed his tune, saying, "Brother, I'm here, I'm here! Tell me quickly, teach me quickly!"

Hongxuan paused his hand on Hongjing's head. "No rush, let's wait for them to come over first."

The little guy had no choice but to suppress his eagerness.

As Xiao Hezi and the others approached, Hongxuan pointed to a relatively low peach tree and said, "Just put it under that tree."

Xiao Hezi looked in the direction the finger was pointing. The tree wasn't tall, and the trunk was quite large. Even an adult like him could climb it without being unable to withstand the pressure. In short, the danger was relatively low.

After silently nodding to himself, he turned around and said something to the people beside him. Then they took their mats and followed him to the designated tree to get busy.

“Come on, let’s go over there.” With that, Hongxuan put down his hand on Hongjing’s head and took his little hand in his.

Hongjing couldn't help but squeeze his brother Hongxuan's hand, his face beaming with a bright smile. He took small steps to follow his brother's pace, walking step by step towards the tree where Xiao Hezi and the others were busy.

When the two brothers reached the tree, Xiao Hezi and the others had already surrounded the peach tree with two thick layers of mats, and the mats were already laid out.

"Your Highness, this is such a dangerous matter, are you just going to watch from afar without stopping the Fourth Prince?"

Ever since Xiao Hezi sent back a message about Fourth Prince Hongxuan's plans, Hongtao has been extremely anxious and worried.

Sure enough, when she saw that her master, after hearing the news, was just standing leisurely by the window where she could see the two young princes in the peach grove, without doing anything else, she was getting anxious.

Hongtao couldn't help but have the illusion that the Fifth Prince wasn't her master's biological son; otherwise, she wouldn't have shown any worry or anxiety about such a dangerous situation.

You should know that when the Fourth Prince did such dangerous things when he was young, the master was not so calm and was also worried and anxious.

However, she saw it with her own eyes, so she was certain that the Fifth Prince was the master's biological son.

But why is the master so calm when it comes to the Fifth Prince?