Auspicious snow indicates a good harvest.

After the New Year, Jiang Shi celebrated his 19th birthday.

Because Jiang Shi's reputation in the Imperial College and the capital had improved last year, the emperor had always treated him very kindly, and there was the Autumn Examination this year, many people had their own plans.

Starting from the second half of last year, the emperor's health suddenly began to deteriorate.

Now, the only ones who have the hope of ascending to the throne of crown prince are the eldest prince born to the queen and the sixth prince born to the virtuous concubine.

Originally, the eldest prince was the eldest and the legitimate son, and should have been the only choice for the crown prince. However, the sixth prince was raised by the emperor himself and was the most beloved by the emperor. Therefore, the ministers did not know who to support for a while.

As the prince of Wu'an who was favored by the emperor, if Jiang Shi expressed his support for a certain prince, it would probably be the emperor's intention. Therefore, some ministers who were afraid of choosing the wrong person wanted to come to Jiang Shi to test the emperor's intention.

On Jiang Shi’s birthday this year, many people came to his house to send him gifts.

However, the doorman stopped them all outside.

Everyone was very surprised to learn that Jiang Shi didn't hold a banquet to celebrate his birthday.

The doorman said very politely, "My prince was not aware of the arrival of so many distinguished guests, and the mansion was not prepared at the moment. Therefore, I cannot invite you all into the mansion for a feast. I hope you will forgive me."

What else could they say? They could only put down the gifts, put on a smile and say that they were understanding. But in fact, they were secretly cursing Jiang Shi for being so ignorant of etiquette. How could such a big Wu'an Marquis Mansion not have a place to entertain guests?

However, they all knew that they wanted to curry favor with Jiang Shi, but Jiang Shi did not accept it, so he did not let them in.

These people went home in disappointment.

Chi Li was also turned away.

He looked at the vermilion gate of Wu'an Marquis Mansion and remembered that he was also turned away in the same way two years ago.

It had never been so difficult for him to see her in Chen County before.

Yun Xuan stood beside him and whispered, "You see, Jiang Shi is such a hypocrite. He imprisoned Yu Tanqi in the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion. In the past two years, Yu Tanqi has been able to leave the mansion only a few times.

Jiang Shi clearly treated her like a canary in captivity, not allowing her the chance to leave him. Yu Tanqi certainly wasn't willing to stay by his side."

Chi Li knew what a canary was. It was a kind of bird that noble families liked to raise. It was beautiful and small. It should have been flying freely in the sky, but they kept it in cages just to entertain themselves in their spare time.

Chi Li whispered: "She is a human, not a bird."

How could I be treated so lightly by Jiang Shi?

Yun Xuan curled her lips slightly.

"So, we have to find a way to rescue her quickly."

…

After Jiang Shi’s nineteenth birthday, Yu Tanqi received a letter from Yu Shangheng.

This was the first letter from home that Yu Tanqi received after he knew that he was the original owner.

Looking at the letter, she was a little stunned and had a strange feeling in her heart.

The person who wrote the letter was her father.

It's an indescribable feeling.

She suddenly felt a little hesitant to open the letter.

Linlang and Taohua were a little surprised by her reaction.

Tao Hua subconsciously urged: "Miss, don't you want to open the letter from home and read it?"

"Ah? Oh." Yu Tanqi came back to his senses and opened the letter as if nothing had happened.

With a wonderful feeling, she read the letter from home word by word silently.

Yu Shangheng is a serious person. Even when writing letters to his daughter, his words are very rigorous and do not seem to have much warmth.

In Yu Tanqi's memory, her father only showed a gentle expression to her mother, and even to her, he was more strict than loving.

After her mother died, her father devoted himself to his work, so he sent her to live with her maternal grandparents.

Jiang Shi had previously asked Yu Tanqi if she wanted to see her father again. She thought about it seriously and finally shook her head and said no.

They had not seen each other for only six years in this life, but to her, it felt like two lifetimes. She didn't know how to be a daughter, so she could only choose to avoid meeting him.

However, in this letter home, Yu Shangheng expressed his desire to come to the capital to meet her and Jiang Shi.

Yu Tanqi almost thought he had seen it wrong.

After carefully reading it over and over again three times, she called Linlang and Taohua, who could read, to come and look at it together. "Come and take a look. Is this my father's handwriting?"

After reading it, Linlang and Taohua nodded in unison, looking excited.

"It's the master's handwriting. It's a family letter. There can't be any mistakes."

"The master is coming to the capital to see you, young lady. That's great. Aren't you happy, young lady?"

Looking at the happy expressions of the two, Yu Tanqi quickly smiled happily.

"Happy, of course I am happy, how could I not be happy."

She was so happy that she didn't know where to put her hands and feet.

Linlang said happily, "Miss, it has been nearly six years since you last saw me. When I see you now, I'm sure you will be very surprised."

Tao Hua nodded in agreement: "Yes, the master sent the young lady to Chen County so that she could receive better care. Now that the young lady has grown up to be so charming, the master will definitely be very pleased to see her."

The more they said this, the more nervous Yu Tanqi became.

Even though he was her father, she felt nervous like an ugly daughter-in-law about to meet her parents-in-law.

So when Jiang Shi came back from the Imperial College, he saw Yu Tanqi sitting in front of the window with his hands on his face, in a daze.

He walked over and asked gently, "What is Tan Qi thinking about?"

Yu Tanqi came back to her senses, staring at him with her beautiful big eyes without blinking, and said, "I'm thinking about my dad."

"Your father?" Jiang Shi was slightly startled. "Do you want to see him?"

Yu Tanqi shook his head and said in distress: "No, he wants to see me."

After a pause, she added, "And you."

She can't be the only one who is nervous, he has to be nervous too.

However, Jiang Shi remained calm. "Uncle, can you tell me when you will come to the capital?"

"He said he would come to see us on his way to the capital in a few days to report on government affairs to the emperor."

The Wanjin Kingdom had a regulation that governors from all regions had to come to Beijing to meet the emperor at least every two years and report to him on recent major events.

Yu Shangheng did not come to the capital to meet the emperor in the past two years, but this year he must come to the capital to meet the emperor.

As Yu Tanqi's biological father, he naturally wanted to meet his biological daughter after not seeing her for many years. Otherwise, some people would definitely say that Yu Tanqi was a poor child who was not loved by her father and had no mother.

Jiang Shi thought for a moment and said, "Uncle Yu always comes to the capital to meet the emperor on the second day of the second lunar month. It's only a few days away, so we must make good preparations. Does Tan Qi know what Uncle Yu likes and dislikes?"

Yu Tanqi thought about it carefully. "My father doesn't seem to have any hobbies. On weekdays, besides being busy with government affairs, he accompanies my mother in copying Buddhist scriptures. Oh, and he likes drinking tea."

Jiang Shi noted one of his father-in-law's preferences and then asked, "Anything else?"