Jiang Yuanjun, who had traveled far and wide, suddenly said, "This land belongs to the Jiang family..."
At the hanging flower gate, Tao Qingyun suddenly coughed lightly. The women looked in the direction of the sound but could not see the person, only knowing that it was a male voice, which caused a stir.
At this moment, Zhao Shuhan suddenly bypassed the crowd and bowed to Jiang Yuanfu, saying, "Your Highness, Xiaoxing's sleeves are soaked, she may have been burned. We should find a female doctor to take a look."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuanfu closed the wooden box and asked in surprise, "When did this happen?" She glanced in the direction Pei Qing had just hurriedly left and immediately said to Zi Shu, "
"Quickly! Go and fetch the female doctor. My height is similar to Xiaoxing's. Also, fetch another set of clothes that the weaving and dyeing bureau sent over the other day for Xiaoxing to change into."
Zi Shu hurriedly agreed.
She looked at Qin Weixi: "Would you like to come to my palace? I'll go with you."
Qin Weixi smiled and politely declined, saying, "There are still many women in the pavilion attending the banquet. Sixth Sister, you must make sure the banquet is well-organized. I can go by myself."
Jiang Yuanfu took her arm, about to say something more, when she heard Qin Weixi say again, "Keep warm in spring and cool in autumn. Although lychees are warm, don't eat too many."
Jiang Yuanfu looked up at her.
Qin Weixi and Liang Xi brushed past each other. In the early years of the Kang Le reign, after the new emperor ascended the throne and Jiang Yuanjun entered the Eastern Palace, the group gathered in Penglai one day. Liang Xi also came with A Fu. She was flying kites in the peach garden with Xiao Xing, and the place was filled with laughter. Her elder brother, Luo Ling, stood quietly to the side, watching with a smile.
The kite fell and landed on a peach branch. Her brother climbed the tree to retrieve it, and she inadvertently saw where he had been standing. Behind a large rock, Liang Xi stood there, stunned, for an unknown amount of time. Liang Xi's gaze was unfocused, fixed on the peach tree where the kite had fallen, as if she had lost her soul.
Luo Ling? She couldn't help but ponder.
That was the only time she witnessed Liang Xi lose his composure.
Zi Shu took her to the palace where the princess lived to find a female physician, and also found clean clothes for her to change into.
Over the years, no noble family in the capital, or even a court official, has been able to marry the princess. Having lived in Jiangnan for so many years, she once asked her brother, who told her that, in A-Fu's opinion, she did not want to marry.
She had no intention of finding a suitable husband yet, implying that it wasn't the right time yet. However, the Emperor and Empress doted on this straightforward eldest daughter, and before she even came of age, they allowed her to reside in a palace and become its mistress.
The female doctor carefully removed Qin Weixi's inner garment, revealing a warm blush on her snow-white skin, extending from her right arm all the way down her back.
Zi Shu exclaimed "Ah!"
The female doctor remained calm and composed, though a fleeting look of surprise crossed her face. She then quickly applied the medicine to her.
Zi Shu asked cautiously, "Should we invite the princess to come down?"
Qin Weixi said calmly, "If we were to find the princess now, everyone at the waterside pavilion would know. It would probably alarm the Empress and even the small garden."
The small garden was filled with princes and nobles today, adhering to the principle of "better to avoid trouble than cause it." Zi Shu listened, thought it made sense, and nodded.
"Then shall I go and fetch some ice?"
Qin Weixi nodded.
After the female physician left, Zi Shu asked her, "Miss, should this soaked dress be washed in the palace and sent to your residence another day?"
Qin Weixi thought for a moment and said, "I'll trouble Miss Zishu to put it in the box and I'll take it back and wash it myself."
Zi Shu hesitated for a moment, but having learned of her decisiveness over the past few days, she agreed.
So Qin Weixi left, carrying the box in one hand. At this point, she could no longer return to the waterside pavilion, nor could she go to the small garden to find her brother Tao Qingyun and the others. As for the ladies-in-waiting, it would be inappropriate for her to go there at this time, and she had no desire to linger there. So she thought it best to go around to the Jinshui River, watch the fish swimming in the pond, and gaze at the birds soaring in the sky to pass the time before leaving the palace.
On the narrow path, someone came towards us, dressed in a light green ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), followed by a young man in brocade robes.
It was Zhao Shuhan. And the young man, if she remembered correctly, should be her younger brother from the same mother—Zhao Ziqi.
His childhood name was Ping An.
He was born weak, just like Xiao Xing when he was young. When Ping An was six years old, he started to be a little slow to speak, often unable to speak, and disliked strangers, gradually becoming somewhat withdrawn. His grandmother sent imperial physicians to his mother's home many times to treat him, but the results were not very good.
In her youth, Zhao Shuhan had met these girls several times between Kunning Palace and Cining Palace. Her father would address her grandmother as "Aunt." Among the fragmented memories from her childhood, she remembered that her grandmother seemed to be murmuring to herself as she watched Zhao Shuhan walk away, holding her father's large hand.
"This poor child has been dragged down by my Zhao family."
At that time, she was still young and confused, unaware of the implications. It wasn't until she returned to the capital, trying to connect everyone in the city and the myriad gates, piece by piece, to find even the slightest clue, that she learned that this young lady was still unmarried, raising her younger brother alone.
Zhao Shuhan's father, Muna, was nearly swindled out of the entire family fortune left by their ancestors. Zhao Shuhan's mother spent her days arguing with him in tears, eventually withdrawing from the world and confining herself to the courtyard, devoting herself to Buddhist practice. From then on, Zhao Shuhan shouldered the heavy burden of the Zhao family alone.
The Zhao family's glory began when Grandmother Zhao ascended to the summit of Xiaguang Peak. However, with the passing of her brother, the once-glorious imperial uncle, the entire family began to decline.
She and Zhao Shuhan nodded to each other in greeting, while Ping An tilted his head and stared intently at her.
She asked with a smile, "You remember me?"
She remembered that he was two years younger than her, and was only sixteen years old this year.
"Sister?" Ping An murmured to herself.
Qin Weixi nodded.
With a helpless smile, Zhao Shuhan gently reminded, "It's Xiaoxing, sister."
A pang of sadness welled up in Qin Weixi's heart. After thinking for a moment, she took off the purse from her waist, then opened her palm and poured all the Tongling crisp candy inside into her hand.
She said, "Little brother Ping An, have some candy..."
Before she could finish speaking, Ping An suddenly interrupted her, mumbling indistinctly, "No, it's not."
Zhao Shuhan asked, "What?"
However, Qin Weixi could still hear it clearly even though they were only inches apart. Her hand, which was suspended in mid-air, almost dropped a few of the candies.
She bent down to pick it up.
Ping An gently pushed her away with one hand and said urgently, "No, you can't eat it, it's dirty."
She met a pair of innocent and bewildered eyes, suppressed her doubts, and smiled, "I know, I threw it into the river to feed the fish?"
"Mm." Ping An pursed her lips and nodded.
Zhao Shuhan smiled and approached her, saying, "Thank you for earlier. I think you were burned. Is it serious?" She paused, then asked with a slightly hesitant expression, "It's been many years since we last met. Xiaoxing, have you been happy in Jiangnan all these years?"
Qin Weixi was taken aback.
Are you happy? Instead of politely saying "It's been a long time" or asking her, "What's in Jiangnan? Is it a land of blooming flowers, or is it truly known as a land of fish and rice?"
How many people know that this is the tenth year of her inner turmoil?
Qin Weixi looked at Zhao Ziqi, who was throwing small stones into the Jinshui River, and smiled slightly: "Everything is fine."
"Sometimes, if you don't want to attend these banquets, you might as well find another way. Enjoying flowers at home and basking in the sun under the eaves is much more fun than this."
Zhao Shuhan seemed to sense something and said gently, "Over the years, Ajun often invited me and Ping'an to the palace. Ajun would often talk to him for a whole morning. Gradually, in the last two years, Ping'an has started to get better and has become more talkative. He has also started to be willing to go out with me for a walk."
Qin Weixi turned his gaze to her, somewhat surprised.
Sometimes, when I look at A-Jun, I suddenly feel a daze, as if I'm seeing my grandfather. When my grandfather was about to leave, Ping'an and I sat by the small window in his study. My grandfather's eyes reddened, and he said to me, "Little Shu, you must eat well, grow up well, and live to be a hundred years old with Ping'an. If one day you really can't stay in the Zhao family anymore, then leave the capital and settle down somewhere else. If all else fails... if there's really no other way, then you can take Ping'an and go find your great-aunt."
"If you don't want to get married, then don't get married. It's not easy being a woman in this world, but our little Shu will definitely grow strong."
Qin Weixi lowered her eyelids. Her mother, who had once braided her hair when she was young, had said to her, "Xiaoxi, you must eat well, sleep well, and grow up well."
Even the most ordinary words contain the most heartfelt expectations.
Zhao Shuhan told her without reservation, "You could say that my grandfather raised us. I was young at the time and didn't know that his words were somewhat of a promise to entrust us with his care."
Suddenly, her cheeks flushed red, as if she realized she had talked too much that day.
Qin Weixi smiled at her: "Xiao Shu, I've been away from the capital for ten years, and I've gradually forgotten many things. I'm very willing for you to tell me these things."
Zhao Shuhan was taken aback, then smiled back at her. The handkerchief in her hand twirled between her fingers, her eyes reddening. But Qin Weixi's heart was already churning with turbulent emotions because of her words.
One year on Tao Qingyun's birthday, Chu Yening brought out a jar of strong liquor to celebrate. Young people always want to surpass their elders, and the group secretly drank cup after cup. That was Jiang Yuanjun's first and last time drinking alcohol.
It was always fun for the boys to get together. They still stood head to head and shoulder to shoulder, climbing to the top of the Tao family's roof to look at the stars.
After getting drunk, Tao Qingyun talked nonsense, pointing at stars as the moon and trees as people. Chu Yening's eyes were bright and clear, as if he was not drunk, but Jiang Yuanjun seemed to have become a different person.
He laughed freely, revealing a row of white teeth under the moonlight. He said, "When I die, I will never enter the imperial family again, never be the crown prince again. I will shed these shackles and travel the world with you, Qingyun."
Tao Qingyun hiccuped several times, and upon suddenly hearing his words, she stared wide-eyed, feigning surprise: "Ah, who are you? Who possessed the body of my Great Xia Crown Prince?"
He pointed to his companions beside him, his tone solemn and commanding: "You capable men, why don't you quickly seize this wicked disciple and bring him before your master!" He laughed loudly: "If you're not the crown prince, who will? Your second brother, your third brother? Just look at them and see if they're even cut out for it!"
Jiang Yuanjun remained noncommittal.
Tao Qingyun continued, "From what he said, it sounded like an ordinary family whose child had passed away and they were worried about leaving the child behind, so they sought someone else to entrust the child to." He then pushed Jiang Yuanjun forcefully, "Old blockhead, wake up!"
The night is deep and the moon is bright.
Jiang Yuanjun suddenly said, "This land belongs to the Jiang family, but it can also belong to the Zhao family. When I wish to return someday, the Zhao family will still be there..."
After a few drunken words, the group suddenly sobered up.
Tao Qingyun seemed about to jump up, and hurriedly said, "Old blockhead, what's wrong with you today? You can't say things like that." As he spoke, he kicked Chu Yening beside him and said, "Go, carry him down and give him some hangover soup. Otherwise, we'll all be dead before dawn!"
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