Chen Mieyue and Shangguan Xuan led their troops to attack three cities on the border of Yue State. When the news reached Prince Yan's mansion, Prince Yan was in the study with Shen Wei and Li Yao.
Shen Wei is practicing calligraphy.
Li Yao is looking at the old account books.
The tiger guards brought in the secret letter. Prince Yan quickly read through the contents of the letter, and a hint of pleasure appeared in his handsome eyes.
This Shen Xiuxing was truly brave and incomparable, with the heroic spirit of "one man guarding the pass against ten thousand men". What is even more commendable is that Shen Xiuxing is loyal to the court and has not joined King Heng's party, but remains neutral.
When Shen Xiu returns to the capital in the future, he will find a way to bring him into his ranks, and he will surely become one of the strongest blades under King Yan.
King Yan threw the letter into the incense burner, and the letter paper turned into black ash and disappeared completely.
"Father, do you think Yao'er has made the right calculation?" Li Yao's voice was sweet, her beautiful eyes curved into crescents, and she waved happily to King Yan.
Prince Yan sat on the couch between Shen Wei and Li Yao and picked up the account book handed to him by Li Yao.
King Yan was very satisfied: "Very good, everything is correct."
Li Yao happily shook her head and said, "Then Yao'er will do a few more calculations and ask father to check them later."
Prince Yan is at home "recuperating", and Li Yao has a rare chance to spend time with her father. She is very happy and cherishes every minute she spends with her father.
Outside the house, the princess came to visit with a bowl of medicinal food. Since the Prince of Yan was recuperating at home, the princess naturally had to take on the responsibilities of a wife and take care of him every day.
It was a hot summer day, so the door of Prince Yan's study was open.
The princess stood at the door and took in the scene in the study: Shen Wei was dressed elegantly and refinedly, holding a thin wolf-hair brush, writing and drawing on rice paper. Li Yao held the booklet in her left hand and fiddled with the abacus with her right hand, her little face full of concentration.
Prince Yan sat between the two of them. Sometimes he came close to Shen Wei, held her hand and taught her how to write; sometimes he took the rice paper handed to him by Li Yao and looked at it with a frown.
The sunlight is warm and the flowers are faintly fragrant, creating a very cozy scene in the study. The princess was in a trance and thought she saw a harmonious family of three.
In an instant, bitterness, jealousy, disappointment, unwillingness...a thousand emotions surged in the princess' heart.
"Your Highness, the princess is here," Shen Wei reminded Prince Yan softly.
King Yan raised his eyes.
The princess clearly saw that the look King Yan gave her was cold and distant. The princess felt as if her heart was stabbed by needles. She tried to maintain a smile: "Your Majesty, I asked the kitchen to make ginseng chicken soup."
King Yan replied calmly: "Thank you for your hard work."
It’s not that Prince Yan didn’t want to pay attention to the Princess, but he and the Princess had long been alienated. The two had no common topics, and every word they spoke was dry.
When drinking with a close friend, a thousand cups are not enough; when talking to a stranger, even a single word is too much. The Prince of Yan lost the desire to communicate with the Princess.
The young eunuch serving outside the room respectfully took the food box from the princess.
The princess smiled stiffly, and said with her neck stiff, "Cheng Ke and Cheng Zhen have returned from school. I still have to take care of the children. I will come to visit the prince tomorrow."
King Yan nodded casually, his attention diverted to the account book in Li Yao's hand. The King of Yan pointed to a place on the account book and said in a friendly manner, "It's wrong."
The princess took a deep breath and turned to leave.
Walking out of the main house, the princess rested her hands on the pillars of the gazebo, trying to dispel the depression in her heart.
Aunt Liu was fanning the princess at the side, saying, "Princess, that Shen is so ignorant that she doesn't know how high the heaven is and how deep the earth is. She doesn't want to stand and serve the prince, but has the audacity to sit on the chair."
The princess shook her head. "The prince has always been like this. He doesn't care about the details when it comes to who he favors. In the past, Liu Ruyan was favored and accompanied the prince in reading and writing. She even stayed in the prince's study."
The princess didn't even take Shen Wei seriously. She is the second daughter of the Tantai family, and Chen Wei is a farmer's daughter, not worthy of competing with her.
The princess is more concerned about Li Yao's outrageous behavior.
Prince Yan's eyes were full of love for Li Yao, but he rarely had a good face towards his two sons.
The princess was very disappointed and said to herself, "Yao'er is my child who I carried for ten months. She goes to Liuli Pavilion every now and then and forgets about me, her biological mother. She doesn't come to pay her respects to me every day. She has become an ungrateful person at such a young age!"
"The prince is too spoiled with his child. There are so many files in his study that even I, the principal wife, rarely get in. Yao'er is an eight-year-old girl, at the age when she is most noisy. What if she damages the files in the study?"
Unfortunately, the Prince of Yan was completely unaware of the princess’s good intentions, and the princess was very disappointed.
Madam Liu comforted her, "Master, Master Yao is still young, you just need to teach her more. The child has not gone astray yet, and you can correct her in time."
The princess' eyes were gloomy.
The princess wanted to keep the child firmly in her hands. She becomes anxious once the child is out of her control.
...
When it was dark, Li Yao skipped out of the Liuli Pavilion, holding two bags of soft and fragrant chestnut cakes in her hands.
She actually wanted to sleep here with Shen Wei.
Li Yao once took a nap at Shen Wei's place and slept on Shen Wei's bed. The bedding was fluffy and soft, the mat was cool and had a faint scent of mugwort, and the pillow was also soft.
Li Yao instantly fell in love with Shen Wei's house.
Unfortunately, Prince Yan often stayed in Liuli Pavilion at night, so Li Yao had to return to her own courtyard alone.
"Mammy, Yao'er is back. Aunt Chen bought me two bags of chestnut cakes, and Yao'er gave one bag to Mammy." Li Yao happily returned to her yard, holding the chestnut cakes.
There was no response from the old lady.
The candlelight was bright, and Li Yao saw the princess in the room. Li Yao's eyes lit up instantly. Her mother actually came to see her on her own initiative!
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