Chapter 39 Chapter 39 With the word "Daddy", she could answer anything...

Chapter 39 Chapter 39 With the word "Daddy", she could answer anything...

He was dressed in a white shirt, as if sitting on the boundary of time and light, as if left at the end of the world. He looked back unexpectedly, and the vastness in his eyes was like the endless chill of deep winter.

Cheng Yian's heart tightened, "Father..."

This kind of Cheng Mingyu made her feel very strange, but somehow she felt that this was the real him.

The old servant handed Cheng Yian a lantern, then closed the door behind him. Cheng Yian walked slowly forward with the lantern in hand.

She didn't know there was such a corridor behind the building. It was covered by lush vegetation on the outside, but there was a different world inside.

As I got closer to him, his face became clearer, and I couldn't see any sign of old age on him.

This is just a wooden piano room, two meters square, with unremarkable furnishings, except for a square glazed window on the north side. Outside the window, the snow is flying in the sky like goose down, and the wooden house looks like an isolated little world that is out of this world and not disturbed by the hustle and bustle of the world.

Cheng Yian retracted his gaze, put the lantern on the table, put the lunch box on it, and smiled at Cheng Mingyu.

"It's a sin to disturb you at this late hour."

Mingyu has been too busy lately and I can hardly see him during the day.

At this time, Cheng Mingyu had regained his usual expression, probably because he had enjoyed playing the piano too much just now. Now his brows and eyes seemed to be resting on the warm sunshine. He sat upright on a wooden stool under the wall, with a temperament like the bright moon and fresh breeze.

"Ping Ping sit down."

In fact, there was no second seat here. Cheng Mingyu could only sit on a wooden stool for placing clothes. If Cheng Yian wanted to sit, he could only move the brocade stool next to his piano table.

Except for the old servant who came in to clean it every day, no one had ever entered this piano room. This was Cheng Mingyu's forbidden area, and even the other children had never entered.

But Cheng Yian can.

If he had been following the rules all his life, then Cheng Yian's existence was his only indulgence, the only window of opportunity in his otherwise disciplined life.

There is no forbidden area for his little daughter here.

Cheng Yian folded his hands in front of his stomach, sat properly, and looked around the piano room quietly. It was a primitive wooden house without any decoration. It would be considered shabby in other people's homes, but with Cheng Mingyu here, it took on a sense of returning to nature.

"Do you often play the piano here?" Cheng Yian asked him curiously, her watery almond eyes were clear and bright, unable to conceal the innocence of a young girl.

"yes."

Cheng Yian sat facing him, not far to his side was the Jiaoweiqin.

This is an ancient zither. The strings are covered with pulp, which shows that it is often plucked. Cheng Yian also loves zither. In her previous life, she accidentally got an excellent Luqi zither in Yizhou. Although it was a replica, it was made of high-quality wood and strings, and the sound quality was very good.

Seeing that Cheng Yian was ready to make a move, Cheng Mingyu encouraged her, "Why don't you give it a try?"

"Can I?"

Cheng Mingyu laughed out loud, "With Daddy, there is nothing you can't do..."

Cheng Yian knew that he always doted on his daughter, so he grinned, adjusted his sitting posture, and began to try out the piano.

The girl had a slender and graceful figure. In Cheng Mingyu's eyes, she was like a flower in early spring, full of vitality yet a little immature. Even the sound of her piano was brisk and bright, just like her.

After playing for a while, he probably felt not quite used to it, so he started again. This time, his hands played faster and faster, and the posture was the same as when he played the piano just now. Cheng Mingyu was slightly puzzled. Could this be the tacit understanding between father and daughter... It was a pity that it was still far from his skill. To him, it seemed disorganized and childish.

Cheng Yian had a great time playing the piano, and smiled back at him, "Nice piano."

Cheng Mingyu shook his head inwardly, but said, "You play well."

Suddenly I remembered the first time I saw Cheng Yian in the piano room.

She was five years old that year and had just started attending the clan school. There was a piano room in the school specifically for the younger members of the Cheng family to practice.

She somehow found her way to the piano room that day, touched the nearest piano, and casually plucked the strings. A string of notes popped out that startled even her. Then out of curiosity, she couldn't help but pluck again, just like she did before, playing randomly.

The housekeeper saw this and told him excitedly when he greeted him that he had just come out of the government office and was about to go to the Governor's Mansion. After hearing this, he dropped his official duties and rode back home at full speed. When he rushed to the piano room, he saw the little girl messing around there, trying this piano and touching that one. She seemed to be looking for the sound quality she liked best. What's more adorable is that she can even talk to those pianos.

Cheng Mingyu called her to his side and taught her to play the piano himself.

She was timid at that time, but had a strong addiction.

Pingping's mentor has always been her biological father.

Cheng Yian was not in a hurry to state her purpose, and neither was Cheng Mingyu. She was not so presumptuous in front of him yet, and she needed to be in high spirits before speaking. Cheng Mingyu poured her tea.

Cheng Yian hurriedly stopped him, "I made you a midnight snack, please wait."

then

He quickly opened the lid of the food box and took out the bird's nest porridge from the first layer of the food box.

"I didn't add anything else, just lily bulbs to soothe your inner heat. I thought you were busy with court affairs every day, and drinking this would calm your mind and help you sleep."

The bird's nest is served in a milky white porcelain bowl with a red plum pattern. Lilies are sandwiched between the snow-white bird's nest and embellished with a few bright red wolfberries, which complement the red plums on the rim of the bowl.

The bird's nest is not dense and is very light.

It was obvious that she came here to find out his taste.

Cheng Mingyu looked at the porcelain bowl quietly without moving. Instead, he asked Cheng Yian with a smile,

"Have you arranged all the household affairs at Ping Ping's house? How long can you stay at home?"

Cheng Yian thought to herself that she had no intention of staying at the Cheng family. If things worked out, she would be eager to go back soon, but she obviously couldn't say that. She smiled lightly and said, "The arrangements are pretty much right. I can stay for three to five days."

Yan Jue politely pushed the porcelain bowl towards his elbow, looked at him with her big black and white eyes, and said with a smile, "Try it. If it tastes good, your daughter will give it to you in the future."

Seeing this, Cheng Mingyu retracted his arm, leaned back against the wall, and replied calmly,

"Ping Ping, I appreciate your kindness. Don't work hard in the kitchen in the future. That's not something a delicate girl like you should do."

Look, that bastard Lu Xusheng is still expecting her to cook, but daddy is reluctant to bother her here.

After all, daddy is dearer to me.

Cheng Yian's face fell, and he pointed at the bowl of bird's nest porridge and said aggrievedly, "Why don't you try it? My daughter spent a lot of effort to make it."

It took her a lot of effort to run around the city to pharmacies to find this medicine. Once he took it, his limbs became sore and weak, and he could not get up for three days and could not attend the morning court. With this "illness", Lu Xusheng would show the military warrant again, and the court officials would have to agree to it even if they didn't want to.

Cheng Mingyu said calmly, "Okay, let's put it aside for now. Dad will drink later. It's getting late. Pingping, do you want to go to bed?"

Cheng Yian's disappointment was almost written all over his face.

But she is not the kind of girl who gets discouraged so easily.

"You don't like bird's nest, right?" Cheng Yian smiled softly, stood up again, opened the second layer of the food box, and took out the Wubai Guixin soup she had made for him. "This soup is the most nourishing in winter. If you drink it, you will sleep all night long."

I'm afraid he won't be able to sleep for three days.

Cheng Mingyu was not fooled. Facing his daughter's "aggressive" attack, he could not stand it anymore and said guiltily,

"An An, be good. Winter nights are cold, and the piano room is even colder. Go back soon."

Cheng Yian looked around stubbornly, "It's not cold here..."

It wasn't really cold. Cheng Yian couldn't help but get up and look out the window. The snow was even heavier, with clusters falling on the branches of the plum trees, on the roofs, and on the wooden eaves outside the window frames. It was so lovely.

"By the way, why isn't it cold here?" She turned around and asked Cheng Mingyu.

In such a cold winter month, Cheng Mingyu only wore a middle-length coat and a robe on the outside, which showed that the piano room was very warm.

Cheng Mingyu looked at his daughter who was racking her brains here and laughed, "There is a spring underneath."

Cheng Yian understood.

She wandered around for a while, then sat down next to him, looking at him with her pretty eyes and speaking coquettishly.

"You really don't want to drink?"

Cheng Mingyu decisively stopped her from thinking this, "No."

Cheng Yian knew, of course, that her father had seen through her tricks. She also knew that she couldn't hide it from him. He was so smart and had such great connections that he must have seen through her plans.

So what?

The psychological strategy has reached its final stage.

Cheng Yian stared at him intently.

Cheng Mingyu glanced at her and held back his laughter.

Cheng Yian still looked at him.

Cheng Mingyu couldn't bear it any longer.

The eldest daughter is dignified and generous. She will listen when you explain things to her or analyze them.

Although the second daughter was very persistent, once he got serious, she would be defeated.

Only the little daughter didn't cry or make a fuss. She was gentle and frail, but her attacks were so persistent that it was really unbearable.

She had worked so hard for so long, even if it was poison, he had to drink a bowl of it. But thinking of the situation in Jiangnan, Cheng Mingyu stopped thinking, "Ping Ping..."

Just when he was about to tell her how amazing Jiangnan was, Cheng Yian suddenly reached out and grabbed the bowl of soup, pouring it into his mouth without hesitation.

"Ping Ping!"

Cheng Mingyu's face turned pale, and when he reached out his hand, Cheng Yian had already filled his mouth with the drink, his cheeks were bulging, and he blinked at him.

Cheng Mingyu stood up, snatched the bowl from her hand, threw it on the table, and said urgently, "Spit it out!"

Instead of spitting it out, she swallowed it all in one gulp.

Cheng Mingyu: “…”

There is no other way except to use the strategy of self-torture.

Cheng Yian moved too hastily just now and choked himself. He covered his throat and coughed violently.

Cheng Mingyu's face turned blue with anger.

"Someone, call the doctor!"

Then he bent down, picked up Cheng Yian, who was coughing and gasping for breath, and quickly went to the study.

The old servant outside the house was also panicked when he heard the words. He ran out quickly and asked the guards to call a doctor. When he came back into the house, Cheng Mingyu had already carried Cheng Yian on the couch, with the thick mattress leaning against her. Cheng Yian was hunched over like a shrimp and still gasping for breath. The medicine was indeed that strong. After drinking it, she felt dizzy as if she had drunk alcohol.

In his previous life, Cheng Yian had run a medicinal materials business in Yizhou.

Yizhou is surrounded by deep mountains and old forests, and rare medicinal herbs are everywhere. Once these medicinal herbs are transported to the four places of Dajin, the profit can be a hundredfold.

After dealing with herbal farmers for many years, Cheng Yian has developed some talent in diagnosing herbal medicines.

Lu Xusheng came to the princess today to pick her up and told her that as long as she could delay his father for three days, he would definitely get the emperor's edict within three days. So she remembered a kind of medicinal material she had come into contact with in Yizhou, called Jin'eduan. Although the name of the medicine sounds a bit scary, it is actually a very rare tonic medicine that specializes in treating insomnia. Once you drink it, you will sleep soundly within three days and will not want to fall down.

Of course, there are some disadvantages, that is, the limbs will feel sore and weak, and the whole body will not have the strength to move.

Cheng Yian thought that if Cheng Mingyu was successfully fooled, then he would let his father rest for three days. If he couldn't be fooled, he could only resort to the strategy of inflicting pain on himself.

The medicine took effect very quickly. Not long after Cheng Yian lay down, his bones seemed to go soft and his face started to turn pale.

Cheng Mingyu regretted so much that her eyes turned red. Jinwu, who was sitting in front of her, stared at her.

"Yian, if you want to persuade your father, go ahead. Why are you making fun of your own body?"

He should have finished the drink in one gulp and not given her a chance.

Seeing his little daughter feeding herself poison in order to force him to stop doing anything, Cheng Mingyu felt a pain in his heart.

Cheng Yian refuted in a low voice, "Lu Xusheng has been advising you for so long, did you listen? You knew my purpose clearly, but you never fell for it."

"You're right!"

Cheng Mingyu rarely gets angry because he always has a way to deal with it, but today he has no way to deal with Cheng Yian.

He underestimated his little daughter's determination.

At this time, the mansion's doctor hurried in. He was an old doctor who had retired from the Imperial Medical Bureau. Cheng Mingyu quickly made way and let him check Cheng Yian's pulse.

Cheng Yian hid in the quilt, shaking his head.

"Don't waste your energy. This medicine has no cure."

The imperial physician looked at the father and daughter blankly.

"What medicine?"

"Golden Goose Diagram." Cheng Yian said.

The imperial physician held his forehead and said nothing.

This is a very strong tonic medicine, and strictly speaking it is not poisonous.

Cheng Mingyu looked very unhappy and asked the imperial physician,

"Is there really no other way?"

The doctor smiled bitterly and said, "It's not that there is no way. We have to give her acupuncture, but..." After all, she is a girl, and it is obviously inconvenient for her to take off her clothes and give acupuncture to a male doctor like him.

The imperial physician could only persuade Cheng Mingyu, "It's not a serious illness. Let her rest for three days. I'll come back and give her a few more needles on her fingers. She'll be back to health and full of life."

Seeing that Cheng Mingyu was still frowning, the old doctor stroked his beard and said, "If you are worried, I will boil a bowl of white radish water for her to drink, which can slow down the effect of the medicine."

Cheng Mingyu waved his hand and let him go.

After everyone left, he sat down in front of Cheng Yian, looked at his triumphant little daughter, and said to her angrily,

"Why don't you let Dad go?"

Cheng Yian slowly sat up in the corner wrapped in quilt, looking at him awkwardly.

"If I tell you that I had a nightmare and dreamed that something happened to you in Jiangnan, would you believe it?"

Cheng Mingyu believed it, but it was not enough to stop him from heading south.

"An An, Daddy has guards around him who will protect him and keep him from getting hurt."

Cheng Yian glared at him, "You are not injured, you are sick from overwork. You fell ill when you returned to the capital, so..."

Cheng Yian didn't dare to say the following words. As soon as he opened his mouth, his eyes were red and tears welled up.

He really can't die. The Cheng family can't live without him, Dajin can't live without him, and she absolutely can't lose this father.

The Master did not speak of strange things, supernatural powers, or spirits.

But the fact is that many people are controlled by ghosts and gods.

Although Cheng Mingyu did not agree, he could see that this nightmare had caused his daughter a lot of trouble.

He is actually very weak now.

Today she could drink the Golden Goose Judgment, if he didn't agree, what else could she do?

This made him more confused than feeding him poison.

He couldn't tie her up, could he?

Cheng Mingyu was still making his final struggle, exhausted.

"An An, if Daddy doesn't go, then Lu Xusheng will go, and I'm more confident than him..."

Cheng Yian was already crying like rain.

"So, it's hard enough for me to choose between you two, Daddy, is he going to make it harder for me?"

Cheng Mingyu was stunned.

What did she call him?

Daddy....

Yi Xin was smart since she was young, but she started speaking very late. Others could call daddy and mommy before they were one year old, but she didn't call out "daddy" until she was one and a half years old. Cheng Mingyu will always remember that day when she suddenly jumped into his arms while chewing candy and spoke without any warning.

He cried with joy and hugged his daughter for a long time, refusing to let go.

When it came to Cheng Yiqiao, the little girl became very eloquent, calling him "daddy" all day long and following him around. No matter how busy he was, he would always accompany her and teach her to read and play the piano.

Only Cheng Yian... racked his brains to see her, but her calling him "cousin" hit him on the head, and he couldn't even pronounce these three words correctly. Every time she called him "cousin", it was like a knife stabbing his heart. Once, he accidentally heard her calling "father" after Cheng Mingyou, and it was like a thousand arrows piercing his heart.

Her call of "Daddy" became his lifelong obsession.

And now she finally spoke.

The cold of winter turned into syrup, wrapping around a hint of bitterness that filled his heart.

With just this one call of "Daddy", he really could agree to anything she asked.

"Okay." Since he had made the decision, Cheng Mingyu was not a hesitant person. He told the old servant at the door,

"Let Lu Xusheng come over."