Chapter 53: Perilla Leaves and Thorn Buds
Seeing Li Gan pointing at the crown prince calmly and saying that he was his brother, the two Jinyi Yunqi widened their eyes in surprise and thought: The commander is indeed not an ordinary person! Just looking at his courage, he is definitely not comparable to them!
The two men managed to maintain a serious expression on their faces as they listened to Li Gan continue to perform and talk nonsense without restraint.
The crown prince felt somewhat warm in his heart, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
Since childhood, Li Gan always protected him and even fought with other noble children for him.
His father appointed him as the heir, and his friends could not help but become reserved in front of him. His restrained appearance often made him feel awkward and boring, and gradually, his old friends inevitably became distant.
Only Li Gan still protected him like his own brother as before.
Li Gan was very polite in front of her, and never neglected her because of their close relationship. But he made her feel the real care from the bottom of his heart.
Perhaps, he was not only thinking of the childhood friendship, but also of the affection between Concubine Yu and Princess Jingyi.
The crown prince's eyes were slightly filled with tears.
Thinking of Yupin and Jingyi, he suddenly recalled many childhood memories.
My mother and Concubine Yu were both part of the same batch of beauties selected to enter the palace.
At that time, Togo-no-boru had not yet been conferred the title of boru, but was just an ordinary middle-ranking general in the army. His mother was only the daughter of a sixth-rank official, but fortunately she had a fourth-rank cousin, otherwise she might not have been able to pass the selection.
Yupin and her mother got along very well. Neither of them had strong personalities, so they got along very harmoniously. Amid the swordplay in the harem, the two loved each other and supported each other, and finally made it through step by step.
Later, my mother and concubine Yu successively became favored.
My mother gave birth to me and was promoted to concubine; Concubine Yu gave birth to Jingyi and was promoted to imperial concubine.
When Li Gan was seven years old and Li Qiao was a little over one year old, Jingyi unfortunately died.
Concubine Yu was heartbroken over the loss of her beloved daughter and fell seriously ill.
For more than a year afterwards, Concubine Yu had no appetite, cried all the time, and even couldn't sleep at night. She became extremely thin and haggard, and eventually became terminally ill and died.
At that time, she was just Concubine Li.
Her father posthumously conferred the title of Jade Concubine on her.
The Crown Prince was particularly fond of Jingyi because his mother and Concubine Yu were like sisters.
Li Gan has always been caring for his younger sister. Whether it is Li Qiao or Jingyi, they are both very important relatives in Li Gan's mind.
And because Chu Jun had a very good relationship with Jingyi and was called the "Sixth Brother" who was the best to her by Jingyi, he became someone Li Gan couldn't help but protect under his wing.
About half a year after Yubin passed away, Dongxiangbo was granted the title of Dongxiangbo for his bravery and repeated meritorious service in the battlefield of pacifying Southern Tang.
Less than a year after Dongxiang Earl became Earl, Li Gan's biological mother died of illness.
Only two motherless children, Li Gan and Li Qiao, were left.
Dongxiang Bo soon remarried while in mourning and married Li Gan's stepmother.
The stepmother was young and beautiful, and had a harmonious relationship with Dongxiang Bo. She had two children in three years.
The eldest son Li Gan and the eldest lady Li Qiao soon became known among the servants as spoiled, willful, reckless and unreasonable bad kids.
“Daddy…”
A chubby little white hand tugged at the crown prince's clothes, and he instantly came back to his senses from his memories. It turned out that it was the prince who came over at some point, with a somewhat timid look on his face, and gently tugged at his clothes.
The crown prince felt a little strange and asked gently, "Hong'er, what's wrong?"
"Daddy, your face is wet..."
The prince then realized that he had been so absorbed in his recollections that he had shed tears without realizing it. He quickly turned his back and wiped away his tears with a handkerchief.
When he turned back, he saw the little girl who had come to the old man who was willing to show him the way and look at the portrait together. She was not at all shy, but very familiar and chatting with Li Gan:
"Who are you? You don't look like a Chu person! We Chu people are either white, yellow, black, or red, but none of us are as blurry as you."
Li Gan was stunned by the question and was speechless for a moment.
This outfit of his is extremely useful when he travels around the world and investigates cases.
Who would have thought that the flaw would be pointed out by a young lady!
Xia Daohua tilted her head and blinked her big eyes, looking innocent, as if this question was just childish talk.
But in fact, she was very nervous and was carefully observing Li Gan's micro-expressions.
She wanted to confirm Li Gan's identity and whether he was worthy of her trust.
After all, if Li Gan was actually a member of that group of barbarians, then he would rather leave the defense map in his hand in the space or simply destroy it than let it fall into their hands.
But if Li Gan is one of his own, then all he needs to do is find a way to guide him to "accidentally encounter" this defense map, "discover" it, and "find" it, and that would be enough.
I have done my best to live up to the great Chu Dynasty.
Li Gan didn't know that the innocent and curious young lady opposite him was secretly observing his reaction. While thinking about how to adjust the skin color dye to make it more natural, he responded casually:
"Young lady, you are so good at joking. My skin is not good enough for public appearance. But this is what my parents gave me. What can I do? Besides, those Hu people are very fierce. Among the Tartars, are there any people with good tempers like us?"
Master Shen Qi nodded. He thought the young man was right.
It’s not like he hasn’t seen living Tartars before.
Even when asking for directions, the Tartar was very aggressive and overbearing and would not speak politely at all.
Moreover, no matter whether they are from the south or the north, all foreigners, when speaking the language of the Great Chu people, sound a little awkward and strange.
Xia Daohua smiled slightly. She knew that the reason why Master Shen Qi was respectfully called Master Shen Qi was mainly because this old man was of high generation and had a warm heart.
Mr. Shen Qi has loved to chat and inquire since he was young, so since he thinks these strangers are not Tartars, it should be somewhat credible.
However, Xia Daohua could not tell from the micro-expressions of the person in front of her whether he was lying or not, and she was not actually an expert in lie detection or psychology.
It’s just because starting a supermarket requires me to come into contact with many different kinds of people, which has made my eyes become “poisonous”.
So, she realized that the monkey in front of her didn't seem to be telling her the truth.
But she inexplicably felt that although this monkey was ugly, he was a trustworthy person. Or, in other words, he had an aura that made people feel trustworthy.
Xia Daohua was even willing to swear on the life of the Hu man who was almost stripped naked by her that she was willing to give the monkey in front of her a few more chances, and it really wasn't because his body was too good!
The naive young lady Xia Daohua tilted her head, blinked her big eyes like black grapes, and said with a smile:
"It's time for dinner now. Are you tired or hungry? I'd like to invite you to my house for dinner! My mother has steamed millet flour buns, and also made cold-mixed perilla leaves and stir-fried young thorn shoots."
Replaced. I didn't stay up late again...
(End of this chapter)
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