Chapter 91 Going to the border with the child back to her parents' home
The next morning, when Xiu Yu woke up, Xuan Ye was still asleep. She hadn't been able to see clearly by candlelight the previous night, but now she could see how exhausted Xuan Ye's face looked. Yin Zuo's departure must have been a significant blow to Xuan Ye.
"You're awake? So early?" Xuanye felt a tingling sensation in his left arm. He endured the pain and held Xiuyu close. "Sun Zhiding said that from now on, your sleep and rest will return to normal."
Xiu Yu noticed the change in Xuanye's expression. She sat up and rubbed Xuanye's arm. "You were a little dizzy yesterday, but you're much better today."
"You must get better soon." Xuanye said with a smile, "You don't know, during the two days you were asleep, Kejing and the others ignored me. I'm afraid they think it's my fault."
"Isn't it you who made me like this?" Xiu Yu lowered her eyelids and avoided Xuanye's gaze.
"Yes." Xuanye actually admitted: "It's not just you who's afraid. Kejing, Yinqi and the others are afraid, and I'm afraid too. Besides, we already have a princess and three princes, which is enough."
Xiu Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of her heart. Xiao Jiu and Xiao Shiyi had really made her miserable.
Xuanye continued, "Last night, you said you missed your mother. I thought it had been a while since you entered the palace, and it was time for you to go home and visit her."
"Huh?" Xiu Yu had never expected Xuanye to come up with such a suggestion. "Before I came to Beijing, I had made up my mind that I would never return to the Forbidden City."
"After all, the land of white mountains and black waters is where our roots lie." Xuanye found a perfect excuse for himself. "When you feel better, I will take you, Kejing, and Yinqi back to the border areas."
Xiu Yu joked, "Others must be jealous of such preferential treatment from the Emperor."
"Are you still afraid of other people's jealousy? You're not afraid, are you?" Xuanye touched Xiu Yu's still pale cheek. "You, the servants in Yikun Palace, are walking around the Forbidden City with impunity now, aren't you?"
"Uh..." Xiu Yu felt a little overwhelmed: "They are still restrained."
"I am willing to give you this special privilege, this preferential treatment." Xuanye helped Xiuyu lie down slowly. "Rest well. I will discuss the trip to the border with the Royal Madam in advance. If you are not well on the day of departure, don't blame me for regretting it."
"Yu'er will not give you a chance to regret."
With Xuanye's promise, Xiuyu quickly regained her spirits. Of course, her body was still somewhat weaker than her spirit. However, Kejing and Yinqi could sense that their mother was in a good mood recently, and the two siblings naturally felt better too.
By October, the leaves had fallen from the trees in the Forbidden City, and Xiu Yu was finally able to brush up on her gun and stick. In the parade grounds, Xiu Yu rode her little purple horse for a few vigorous laps before finally feeling relaxed.
Xuanye saw Xiuyu dismount, walked over to her, wiped the sweat off her forehead with his handkerchief, and said, "The imperial physician said you're fine, so you're showing off your skills now?"
"Didn't you say that we would set off for the border in a few days? If I don't get in better shape, I'm afraid you'll change your mind and not take me with you." Xiu Yu's cheeks were flushed and the corners of her mouth were slightly raised.
Xuanye couldn't remember how long it had been since he last saw his little daughter Xiuyu. He felt that the idea of taking her back to the border areas couldn't be better: "I said I would take you, and I will definitely take you. Otherwise, I, the emperor, would be considered to be breaking my promise."
"That's good." Xiu Yu rolled the whip in her hand into a circle, and then let her tied-up hair down.
Xuanye took off his cloak and put it on Xiuyu's shoulders, saying, "You just worked up a sweat. If you get frozen again, it will be terrible."
As Xuanye held her arm around him and walked out of the training ground, Xiu Yu smiled and said, "Why do you seem to be more worried than I am that I can't go outside the Great Wall with you?"
Seeing through his thoughts, Xuanye argued, "I was born in the Forbidden City, and you're more familiar with the Forbidden City. Besides, I need a place to stay outside the Forbidden City. After much thought, staying at your house is the most suitable. If I don't bring you along, I'll be embarrassed to meet your father and mother."
Xiu Yu was a little surprised: "Are you really living in my house?"
"Isn't it true that I can't live in Zuoling's house?"
"Of course I can!" Xiu Yu and Xuan Ye had already entered the warm sedan chair. She held Xuan Ye's hand tightly and said, "Your Majesty..."
"You're welcome." Before Xiu Yu could say thank you, Xuan Ye blocked her mouth and said, "I want to know, your cooking skills are so good, how good must your mother's cooking skills be?"
"My mother..." Xiu Yu thought of her mother, Dong E, and said, "My mother's cooking skills are naturally unparalleled in the world! If she hadn't been my father's wife, if she had been a cook, I think her restaurant would have been famous all over the world."
Xuanye smiled and said, "Become a cook? Have you ever thought about being a cook?"
"I'm thinking about it!" Xiu Yu raised her head slightly, and she really thought about it: "If you can pass this test, I will open a restaurant in the capital and cook once or twice a month. I will also compile recipes for the dishes I can make and recruit a few apprentices. I think there will be great development."
"I told you you're fat, and you're still panting! I made this food specifically for me, and you're also planning to make it for everyone in the world?"
Xiu Yu was immediately struck by this idea. She looked at Xuanye seriously and said, "How about you allow me to open a restaurant in the capital? I can cook the best food in the world for everyone in the world. Who knows, I might be able to improve it!"
Xuanye snorted, "My concubine has run off to the capital to open a restaurant. Aren't you afraid that those gossipy censors will report you?"
"I'm not afraid." Xiu Yu waved his hand. "As long as I have the Emperor's support, I really don't believe any censor would dare to write a letter to accuse me. Even if they did, they couldn't accuse me while you're in court. If they accuse me privately, I still have your support."
Seeing that Xiu Yu had said so much, Xuanye probably really wanted to open this restaurant. Before the sedan chair landed, he said, "You open that shop in Beijing..."
"Are we profitable already?" Xiu Yu had thought of a way to make money and naturally refused to give up: "I looked at the account book yesterday. The shopkeeper is doing a good job. I also sold my drawings at a good price."
The sedan came down, but Xuanye didn't get up. His face was a little gloomy, and he suddenly said, "From now on, when you draw blueprints, send them to Lei Xiaozi, and don't send them to that shop anymore."
Xiu Yu didn't understand Xuanye's meaning: "Lei Family..."
"Tell them to make a sample and build it in Changchun Garden." As if declaring his sovereignty, Xuanye said, "I don't want anyone else to see your drawings except me."
Xiu Yu raised the corner of her mouth slightly, but turned her head away and said, "Stingy."
"I am just stingy!" As he said this, Xuanye held Xiu Yu's hand and pulled her out of the warm sedan.
With Xuanye's departure date fast approaching, Xiuyu's idea of opening a restaurant was naturally put on hold. However, since he had thought of it and knew it would be a good idea that could make money, Xiuyu refused to give it up. So, when Xuanye wasn't visiting Yikun Palace, Xiuyu had already started writing a teaching material, a version with illustrations. Even Xiao Tao, upon seeing it, thought the recipes looked delicious and tasty.
Not long after, Xuanye took Xiu Yu, Ke Jing and Yin Qi and set off to the outside of the Great Wall. Xiao Tao stayed in Yiku Palace. Xiu Yu naturally did not forget to go to Chengqian Palace to ask the Imperial Noble Consort to take good care of Xiao Jiu and Xiao Shiyi. After all, they were two breastfeeding babies who were left behind with no one to take care of them, and she was somewhat worried.
Inside the carriage, seeing Xiu Yu's slightly furrowed brow, Xuanye said, "Don't worry, Xiao Jiu and Xiao Shi Yi. You've personally gone to find your cousin, and she will definitely take good care of the two children. Besides, with the support of the old ancestor and the Empress Dowager in the palace, no one dares to cause any trouble."
Xiu Yu nodded slightly and said with a smile: "Now that it's out, I don't want to think about it anymore."
"That's it." Xuanye took a weapon manual from the bookshelf and handed it to Xiuyu: "If you're bored, read a book. It won't take you a blink of an eye to get home."
After autumn, the further north you go, the stronger the wind and the colder the weather. After leaving Shanhaiguan, Kejing rubbed his hands and said, "Mother, is it so cold outside the pass? How did you survive the winter when you were there?"
Xiu Yu smiled and said, "There's a stove in the house, it's very warm. Outside the Great Wall, mother usually doesn't go out much in the winter."
"Then the capital is better, right?" Ke Jing looked out the window at the increasingly desolate road. "Outside the Great Wall, there seems to be nothing."
Xiu Yu hugged Ke Jing and said, "Outside the Great Wall is where my mother grew up. There are her relatives, delicious game, and a vast world that you can never run away from. If you ask me which place is better..." She hesitated.
Although Xuanye's eyes were on the book in his hand, his ears were listening carefully to Xiu Yu's evaluation of the Forbidden City and the area outside the Great Wall.
I only heard Xiu Yu say again: "In my mother's heart, each has its own merits."
Yinqi put down the book in his hand and asked Xiuyu: "Mother, when we get to Guoluomafa's house, can we go hunting?"
When Xiu Yu was young, she often went hunting with her father in winter. However, Yin Qi was a prince after all, and it was difficult for her, as his mother, to make the decision: "If you want to go, ask your father."
Yinqi immediately came to Xuanye's side and said, "Father, when we get to the Forbidden City, why don't you take me hunting with you? I've heard that there are many prey outside the Forbidden City that we haven't seen in the Forbidden City. I want to see them too."
Xuanye hummed softly, "Let's talk about it when we get there. It's not safe in the deep mountains and forests."
Xiu Yu smiled and shook her head, knowing Xuanye had said that on purpose, so she didn't expose him. After all, when they got there and he couldn't help but want to go up the mountain to hunt, Kejing and Yinqi only needed to say a few nice words, and this father would probably soften his heart.
After traveling for many days, the area outside the Great Wall was covered with white snow. After Xiu Yu got off the carriage, he breathed the air outside the Great Wall. In a trance, he seemed to have returned to many years ago, to the most carefree days.
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