Chapter 10 The morning breeze blew in through the window...
A morning breeze lifted the gauze curtains through the crack in the open window, and Xie Baoqiong inhaled a faint scent of incense. She opened her eyes to find it was already broad daylight.
The gauze curtains above the bed seemed a little different. Staring at the ceiling and blinking, Xie Baoqiong's consciousness gradually cleared. He vaguely remembered that he needed to take blood while Xie Rongjing was sleeping, so he was now on Xie Rongjing's bed.
He immediately reached to his side, only to find a bundle of bedding. He sat up, and the quilt slid down to his waist. He realized that he was the only one left on the bed; the spot where Xie Rongjing had been lying was now empty.
Hearing the commotion inside, Xie Rongjing, who was outside, went around to the inner room from the side of the screen.
As soon as he entered the inner room, he met Xie Baoqiong's stunned gaze. He took a few steps forward and gently pressed down Xie Baoqiong's sticking-up hair with a smile in his eyes.
"Has Qiong'er fallen asleep and gone dazed?"
Xie Baoqiong felt the hand on her head, and as she stared at Xie Rongjing's neatly dressed appearance, disbelief gradually appeared in her eyes, and her words contained a hint of complaint:
"Why did you get up so early, brother?"
Xie Rongjing had just finished instructing the maid to come in and help Xie Baoqiong wash up when he heard the latter muttering something. He smiled and said:
"It's getting late, Father will be back from court soon."
—
After Xie Zhuo returned to his residence from court and changed into his court robes, he went to Biyuxuan. At this time of day, Xie Baoqiong would usually have just finished breakfast and was strolling around the courtyard.
Today, Lord Xie had a rare moment of free time to go look for his son, but he found him empty-handed.
"Young Master stayed in the Prince's courtyard last night, and the Prince sent someone to collect Young Master's clothes this morning." After Si Xi finished reporting, he secretly glanced at Xie Zhuo's reaction.
But Xie Zhuo raised an eyebrow slightly, said nothing, and turned to leave.
Upon entering Xie Rongjing's courtyard, they saw that the main gate of the flower hall was open, and the two brothers were sitting at a table having a meal.
Xie Baoqiong accepted all the food Xie Rongjing put in his bowl. In the past few days at the Marquis's residence, the food was indeed the best he had ever eaten since he took human form.
He buried his head and picked up the bun that Xie Rongjing had fed him again, putting it to his mouth. Naturally, he ignored the extra figures in the courtyard.
Xie Rongjing was sitting in a spot where he could see outside clearly. As soon as he looked away from Xie Baoqiong, he noticed Xie Zhuo walking into the flower hall.
He put down his chopsticks and stood up: "Dad, you're back."
Xie Baoqiong looked up with a steamed bun in her mouth, just as Xie Zhuo entered the flower hall: "I heard that Qiong'er stayed here with you last night."
...
Xie Rongjing and Xie Baoqiong had just started their meal when they asked for another pair of bowls and chopsticks.
Xie Zhuo took the seat of honor, while Xie Baoqiong glanced at the person sitting next to her and continued to focus on eating the bun in her bowl.
Xie Zhuo assumed he was still angry about yesterday's events. He glanced at Xie Baoqiong's profile, washed his hands, and picked up his chopsticks.
There was no rule of not speaking while eating in the Marquis's residence, so Xie Zhuo and Xie Rongjing discussed the political situation for a few minutes.
Xie Baoqiong listened for a couple of minutes, feeling dizzy from the conversation, and seeing that it had nothing to do with Princess Huayang, she shifted her attention and practically devoured all the food on the table.
After finishing her meal, Xie Baoqiong took her usual walk in the courtyard.
Xie Rongjing looked at Xie Baoqiong's slightly bulging belly from afar, his brows furrowed slightly, clearly worried: "Will Qiong'er feel unwell after eating so much?"
After hearing his subordinates' report, Xie Zhuo knew that Xie Baoqiong had been eating no less at each meal these past few days than she had today. Unlike Xie Rongjing, he wasn't worried at all, and even offered a few words of defense for Xie Baoqiong:
"At this age, people are still growing, so it's normal for them to eat more. It was the same when you were this age, Jing'er."
Xie Rongjing glanced at Xie Zhuo, who was staring at Xie Baoqiong with loving eyes, with some suspicion, but decided to believe Xie Zhuo's explanation for the time being, since Xie Zhuo had experience in raising children.
However, thinking back to how Xie Baoqiong looked when she came to see him last night, he felt it was still necessary to mention it to Xie Zhuo.
"Dad, I have something to tell you."
Xie Zhuo withdrew his gaze from the window and turned it to Xie Rongjing, whose brows were once again furrowed with worry, gesturing for Xie Rongjing to speak.
Xie Rongjing's gaze remained fixed on the view outside the window.
A few apricot branches leaned across the window frame, their white blossoms dotting the tender green, while fallen petals landed on the carefree boy beneath them.
The scene was full of vitality, yet it couldn't dispel the sorrow in Xie Rongjing's eyes.
"What's making Jing'er so worried?" Xie Zhuo straightened his expression and asked with concern, "Did your brother do something to upset you?"
The boy outside the window, who had just been reaching out to catch falling flowers, has now collapsed into the grass and lies down.
A faint smile appeared in Xie Rongjing's eyes as he looked out the window at the figure. He pursed his lips, softening the smile: "Qiong'er is very good, it's just that last night..."
Xie Rongjing explained to Xie Zhuo about Xie Baoqiong's visit to him last night.
“Father, Qiong’er has just returned home and is not yet used to it. You were also busy the past two days. If this continues, Qiong’er may not want to accept you.”
At this point, Xie Rongjing said with a resentful tone, "I was implicated by my father. My younger brother is clearly lovely, but he is not close to me, his older brother."
Xie Rongjing was perceptive and naturally noticed that Xie Baoqiong had been deliberately avoiding him for the past two days.
Xie Zhuo tapped the small table on the couch with his index finger and said with a smile, "It is your father who has upset you."
The gaze follows the winding branches of the apricot tree to the moonlit white shadow beneath it.
When Xie Zhuo spoke with Xie Baoqiong yesterday, he noticed that Xie Baoqiong was avoiding the conversation. However, since Xie Baoqiong had just returned home, he did not want to push her too far. He intended to gently guide her, but he did not expect that the seemingly cheerful person during the day also had something on her mind.
It seems that if we don't talk things out soon, the rift will only continue to widen.
"Father will have a good talk with Qiong'er later."
—
The moon-white figure in the grass opened its mouth, intending to catch the petals that were about to fall from above.
But a hand reached out from above and intercepted it.
Xie Baoqiong watched as the petals, which he was supposed to taste, drifted gently into Xie Zhuo's palm.
"The ground is covered in dust. Get up quickly, and Dad will send someone to make you apricot blossom pastries."
The stone was lying on the ground, Xie Baoqiong thought to herself, then pursed her lips and got up anyway, since she was now in the form of a person.
"But I want to taste the flavor of this flower." The years she spent as a stone were so boring that when Xie Baoqiong tasted the wild fruit picked by Su Xiaochun for the first time after transforming into human form, she developed a curiosity about the flowers and plants of this world.
Of course, it's out of curiosity about their taste.
This flower doesn't grow in Sishui Mountain, but seeing it today makes me want to try it.
"Then it has to be washed clean before it can be eaten," Xie Zhuo said, placing the apricot blossom from his palm behind Xie Baoqiong's ear.
The boy had bright, lively eyes, clear and bright, free from worldly worries. Now, with apricot blossoms adorning his hair, he didn't seem like an ordinary person, but rather like a flower fairy who had transformed from the forest, with a youthful face and a carefree, ethereal appearance.
Xie Zhuo smiled and said, "The apricot blossoms do suit my son."
A plate of apricot blossom pastries and a small cup of apricot blossoms were placed on the table. The apricot petals were still covered with water droplets, like morning dew, and looked even more tempting than when they were on the branches.
Xie Baoqiong ignored the apricot blossoms beside her and took a piece of apricot blossom pastry instead.
It wasn't that he suddenly didn't want to taste the apricot blossoms, but rather that the apricot blossoms that had fallen into Xie Zhuo's palm had already entered his stomach.
The apricot blossom that had been pinned to his temple was stuffed into Xie Zhuo's mouth the moment he turned his head.
A faint scent of soap mixed with a light, slightly sweet aroma wafted past her nose for a moment, followed by a delicate fragrance in her mouth. Before Xie Baoqiong could savor it, Xie Zhuo seemed to notice something and suddenly turned to look at her.
In the end, only the unique bitterness of herbs remained on the tongue, but the culprit in front of him paused for a moment, then squinted and smiled.
All that remained of Xie Baoqiong's memory of apricot blossoms at this point was their bitterness, and she immediately lost all desire for them.
Sitting to the side, Xie Zhuo, ever the one who would bring up a sore spot, asked, "Why doesn't Qiong'er try these apricot blossoms?"
Xie Baoqiong paused in her bite of the pastry, smelling the honey aroma, and said perfunctorily, "The apricot blossoms are sweet, just right for Lord Xie. Let's save them for you."
Xie Zhuo noticed the perfunctory tone in Xie Baoqiong's words. Recalling Xie Baoqiong's expression after secretly tasting it, he figured it wasn't the sweet taste she had described. However, he didn't expose her and accepted his son's "filial piety" with a smile.
Then she brought up the events of the previous night: "Qiong'er stayed at your brother's place last night?"
These words reminded Xie Baoqiong of his failed plan. Holding the pastries, she nodded, preparing to find out a different way.
Xie Zhuo in front of me seems like a good candidate. After all, the storybooks mention that even the most powerful person would panic when they heard about their beloved.
"Qiong'er, is it something troubling you that you went to see your brother in the middle of the night? Or are you missing your mother?" Xie Rongjing had mentioned Xie Baoqiong's inquiry about Princess Huayang. Could it be that what he had mentioned during the day made Xie Baoqiong miss her mother?
Xie Baoqiong avoided answering, and Xie Zhuo found it difficult to respond to either of her two questions.
His biggest concern was cultivation, but he couldn't mention it to Xie Zhuo. As for Xie Zhuo's second question, he was a stone with neither father nor mother, but his thoughts were related to Princess Huayang, so he could only resort to deception.
He shook his head and then nodded, and to avoid Xie Zhuo pressing him for answers, he simply changed the subject:
"My brother told me last night that he misses Mother, but I haven't seen her at the manor."
As expected, Xie Zhuo paused for a moment when he heard him mention Xie Rongjing's mother before slowly saying, "Your brother's mother remarried when he was still young."
After he finished speaking, the room fell silent.
Xie Baoqiong stared intently at Xie Zhuo's changing expressions, not missing a single detail. Xie Rongjing seemed to have mentioned remarriage last night, so Xie Zhuo probably wasn't lying to him.
However, Princess Huayang is dead, and the two have a child, Xie Rongjing, who is also the heir apparent. Why would they remarry?
But Xie Zhuo stopped talking after that one sentence, so Xie Baoqiong had no choice but to continue probing: "Why did Brother's Mother remarry? Could it be that Lord Xie did something unfaithful?"
Even the slowest person could understand the meaning behind Xie Baoqiong's words.
Xie Zhuo, who was immersed in the guilt of not only leaving her own child out in the world but also not realizing that her other child at home missed her mother, suddenly came back to her senses. Her eyes widened slightly and her lips tightened.
Seeing Xie Zhuo's expression of having his secret exposed, Xie Baoqiong felt a secret thrill. This was a perfect opportunity to subtly imply that Xie Zhuo had betrayed Princess Huayang without involving her.
Xie Zhuo understood the meaning behind Xie Baoqiong's words. He suddenly realized that the latter's cold and evasive attitude over the past few days had become clear to him, and he began to explain.
...
A note from the author:
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