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 414 The Petty-Minded Fourth Master

In the Peach Garden of the Fourth Prince's Mansion, over half a month, and then a month, Jiaming's guzheng playing went from being unbearable to barely passable.

In the outside world, in March of the 48th year of Kangxi's reign, Yinreng was reinstated as the crown prince, and an edict was issued to the ancestral temple and the whole country.

It seems that with the reinstatement of the crown prince, the turmoil in the court has subsided.

When the Fourth Prince was in the manor, he seemed to have returned to his old ways, and in January, the number of times he went to the backyard clearly returned to what it used to be.

However, it is clear that the Peach Courtyard is now the most favored by the Fourth Prince, and he visits it frequently.

Not only because the Fourth Prince himself liked the relaxed atmosphere of Peach Garden, but also because he was very interested in teaching Jiaming the guzheng.

One afternoon, two months after Jiaming began learning the guzheng, Fourth Master led Hongxuan and Su Peisheng to a pavilion in Peach Garden.

When Xiao Hezi, who was outside the pavilion, saw that the Fourth Master and the Fourth Prince had arrived, he hesitated whether to interrupt his master's playing and tell him that the master and the Fourth Prince had come. Just then, he saw the Fourth Master give him a look and gesture.

Xiao Hezi immediately understood. He quietly bowed to the Fourth Prince and the Fourth Prince Hongxuan without making a sound, but instead silently gestured to the servants beside him to bring chairs for the Fourth Prince and the Fourth Prince to sit on.

And so, the Fourth Prince and Hongxuan stood quietly outside the pavilion, watching the zither music emanating from within.

In the pavilion where the light gauze swayed in the breeze, Jiaming knelt on a carpet, playing the guzheng on the table with deep emotion. Beside her, on the carpet, Hongtao embraced the Fifth Prince Hongjing, who was wrapped in a fox fur cloak and had his eyes closed, listening quietly to her mistress play.

The zither music flowed smoothly, no longer the noisy and unpleasant melody it had at the beginning.

As the piece ended, Jiaming removed her fair and beautiful hands from the guzheng, and a deep, pleasant male voice reached her ears.

"I didn't expect that in just two months you could use the fingering so skillfully and play the pieces so well. I didn't realize you had such a talent for the guzheng."

It's the master's voice! The master has arrived! When Jiaming turned her head in the direction of the voice, she indeed saw the Fourth Master and Hongxuan outside the pavilion through the light gauze.

Fourth Master and Hongxuan stood up and walked towards the pavilion.

In the pavilion, after a series of ordinary greetings and conversations, Hongjing, who had fallen asleep in Hongtao's arms, was awakened.

He was overjoyed to see his beloved father and fourth brother as soon as he woke up.

He immediately jumped out of Hongtao's arms and started snuggling into his father's and fourth brother's arms, wanting hugs.

Jiaming smiled as she watched the father, son, and brothers being close, and personally poured milk tea that she had made herself for Fourth Master and Hongxuan. The milk tea was still warm and steaming when it was poured out.

When Xiao Hongjing saw that his mother had poured milk tea for his father and fourth brother but not for him, he became anxious and said, "Mother, I want some too."

Jiaming glanced at Xiao Hongjing and said, "Don't worry, I've got you covered. I was just about to pour you some." As she spoke, she immediately grabbed a cup and poured one for Hongjing, then poured one for herself.

Seeing that Xiao Hongjing was eager to drink milk tea and didn't have time to bother the Fourth Master, he brought up the topic from earlier to the Fourth Master.

"You just said that I have a natural talent for the guzheng and played the piece quite well?" As you spoke, your expression was full of disbelief. "Really? You weren't just saying that to comfort me, were you?"

After all, in her opinion, it was far inferior to the piece her grandfather had played back then.

Besides, it's clear that she made some mistakes during her performance. Although they weren't basic errors, even the most advanced ones are still mistakes.

"Comfort? No way!" Fourth Master held his cup of milk tea and looked at Jiaming seriously, saying, "This performance, though flawed, was full of emotion."

“Yes! Mother, you played very well this time, you’ve improved a lot!” Hongxuan nodded in agreement.

Upon hearing this, Jiaming's face was no longer filled with doubt, but instead radiated a bright smile.

"Mother is in a good mood today. Well, since you said nice things about Mother, tell me what you want to eat, and Mother will cook today."

Upon hearing this, Hongxuan immediately burst into laughter and hurriedly ordered two dishes.

It wasn't that he didn't want to order more, but rather that his younger brother wasn't happy about it.

"Mother, Jing'er wants to order some dishes too."

Jiaming raised an eyebrow at Hongjing, "Your fourth brother just praised your mother, but you—" She paused, looked Hongjing up and down, and continued, "You fall asleep as soon as your mother plays. Do you think your mother's playing isn't nice and you're using it as a lullaby?"

Xiao Hongjing felt a dangerous aura pressing down on him. The little guy rolled his eyes and said in a clever, childish voice, "It's not that it doesn't sound good, it's that I closed my eyes because it sounds good. I had to listen carefully. Mmm, it's very comfortable, so I fell asleep."

Upon hearing such a survival-oriented answer, both Fourth Prince and Hongxuan raised their eyebrows as they looked at Hongjing.

This little guy is really clever!

Jiaming thought the same way, but, "Since what you said makes sense, Mother agrees. Hmm, you can order some dishes too!"

Without thinking, Xiao Hongjing blurted out several dish names. Just as he was about to continue, Jiaming immediately interrupted him, "That's enough! Ordering so many dishes, can you even finish them all? And do you want to tire out your mother?"

When the little guy met Jiaming's rather intimidating gaze, he quickly said, "That's enough, I wouldn't dare."

"Hmph, at least you know what's good for you, little guy." With that, Jiaming tapped Hongjing's forehead with her index finger.

Hongjing didn't dare to dodge and obediently let his mother poke him. Fortunately, his mother didn't use much force, so it didn't hurt.

After poking Hongjing, Jiaming turned to the Fourth Master and asked, "Master, what would you like to eat?"

Fourth Master took a sip of milk tea, and holding the cup, he raised an eyebrow at Jiaming and said, "I thought you had forgotten about me."

Jiaming: "..." Didn't I just ask Hongxuan and Hongjing first, and not you? Was it really necessary?

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