Chapter 179
"Sprouted?"
Emperor Yongzheng walked up to the pot of Pengyu and looked down at it carefully. The Pengyu looked completely different from the dead branches from some time ago.
Jiaojiao followed over, reached out and carefully touched the tender leaves, then looked up at Emperor Yongzheng and said, "Jiaojiao took care of it."
Emperor Yongzheng's gaze shifted from Pengyu to Jiaojiao, and he asked with a half-smile, "Really? How did you take care of Jiaojiao?"
"Jiaojiao watered it and put it indoors with Brother Shi'an so that it wouldn't be cold, and then it sprouted." Jiaojiao said while gesturing with his hands, vividly telling Emperor Yongzheng how he took care of the pot of Pengyu.
Is that so? Just like that, a dying plant was revived and sprouted new buds in the cold winter?
Emperor Yongzheng lowered his eyes and looked straight into the bright, dark eyes. These eyes were so clear, with a vague expectation floating in them, like the ripples on the lake, so beautiful that it attracted people's attention.
He bent down slightly and stroked the back of Jiaojiao's round head with his big hand. Heavy snow was floating in the sky, and his lightly closed eyelids hid the many emotions in his eyes.
Should he marvel at Pengyu's incredible vitality, able to return to life in the dead of winter? Or should he marvel at the fact that there are people in this world who can suppress the bloodthirsty nature of out-of-control beasts and give dying plants new life?
Emperor Yongzheng's hand slid down and gently rested on Jiaojiao's slender and fragile neck, which seemed to break at the slightest touch. He spoke slowly with a strange charm: "Jiaojiao has taken good care of this pot of Pengyu. It's great!"
Jiaojiao, who was praised as she wished, curved her eyes and nodded in agreement: "Yeah, Jiaojiao is great, and uncle is great too."
Emperor Yongzheng chuckled: "Well, uncle is great too."
Xie Shuyu, who was standing outside the door, saw this scene. His gaze fell from Emperor Yongzheng's hand on Jiaojiao's neck to the pot of Pengyu in front of them, which had sprouted new buds and looked particularly conspicuous under the heavy snow. The little finger hanging by his side suddenly curled up for no reason.
The Xie family owns two hot spring villas in the suburbs of Beijing. Madam Xie is a flower lover. She is inevitably a little sad when the flowers and trees are withered in winter. In order to please her master, the servants in the mansion came up with an idea. They transplanted the flowers to the hot springs in winter and took good care of them. Some plants actually survived and bloomed beautiful flowers in the dead of winter. Madam Xie really rewarded the servants in the villa for this.
Although flowers are rare in winter, they do exist. However, I have never heard of a plant that looks like a dead branch blooming with new vitality in winter, and sprouting new buds by the care of a one or thirteen-year-old child, not by the hot spring.
"Huaizhi!" Emperor Yongzheng looked at Xie Shuyu through the snow curtain, his eyes deeper and darker than usual.
Xie Shuyu sensed danger. Emperor Yongzheng was like a beast that had rested well and was about to enter the hunting state. The aura around him made people feel nervous.
Xie Shuyu didn't choose an emperor who stood at the pinnacle of power. He looked away and called out, "Brother Huo." He walked into the yard and handed the food box to Jiaojiao. "A few days ago, a chef from Jiangnan came to our house. He made delicious cloud cakes. Brother Yu likes it very much, so I thought of bringing it to you to try."
Jiaojiao carefully took the specially made small food box to the side and placed it on the low table. Then she ran back with her short legs, raised her fair little face and waved her little paws: "Uncle Huaizhi, squat down."
Xie Shuyu was thinking about something. After hearing Jiaojiao's words, although he didn't understand what she meant, he squatted down and asked, "What's wrong?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiaojiao moved forward into Xie Shuyu's arms, raised her little hands to hold Xie Shuyu's face, then stood on tiptoe and rubbed her face against Xie Shuyu's face.
The child's unique tenderness went straight to the heart through the place where their cheeks touched, softening the whole heart. He gently raised his hand and put his arm around Jiaojiao: "What's wrong?"
Jiaojiao held his face and rubbed it, then looked up at Xie Shuyu: "Jiaojiao misses Uncle Huaizhi!"
The child's love was direct and warm. Xie Shuyu, who seldom felt cared for like this, felt his heart tighten slightly.
"Besides Dad, Uncle Huaizhi is the best. Jiaojiao likes Uncle Huaizhi the most besides Dad. Uncle Huaizhi hasn't been here for so long, Jiaojiao misses him."
As she said this, Jiaojiao raised ten fingers to show him, as if to prove that he really hadn't been here for a long time.
After Jiaojiao finished speaking, she pulled Xie Shuyu's trouser leg and ran to the side to let Xie Shuyu sit down. Then she ran into the house with her short legs, took out something and put it in Xie Shuyu's hand.
Xie Shuyu looked down and saw that there were exactly nineteen pine nut candies wrapped in oil paper.
Among all the candies, Jiaojiao likes pine nut candy the most. Xie Shuyu found out about this because he often visited Jiaojiao recently.
Because Xie Shuyu was worried that Jiaojiao would rot her teeth if she ate too much candy, he had strictly restricted Jiaojiao's candy intake back in Lijia Village. Jiaojiao was very well behaved, and even though she looked anxious every day, she still controlled herself and only ate one candy.
Since he could only eat one candy himself, Jiaojiao would give more candies to Yin Zheng, Xie Shuyu and others, as if he could feel the sweetness when they ate them, and his eyes curved with joy.
Xie Shuyu felt a slight weight in his hand, he lowered his eyes and looked, and found that there was an extra piece of cloud cake in his hand.
The chef from Jiangnan had exquisite skills, and the cakes he made were almost exactly the same size. However, if you looked closely, you could still see that the cloud cake in Xie Shuyu's hand was bigger than the one in Emperor Yongzheng's hand, and the one in Emperor Yongzheng's hand was bigger than the one in Jiaojiao's hand.
He turned his head to look at Jiaojiao, the color of his eyes was a little lighter due to the light reflected from the snow on the ground, and it felt as transparent as glass. He reached out and poked Jiaojiao's chubby face, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. This smile was like the first snow melting, and the clear snow in the sky was so bright that people couldn't take their eyes off it.
Emperor Yongzheng glanced at the slightly larger piece of cloud cake in Xie Shuyu's hand, and said "tsk" with a little displeasure, but he didn't say anything. After all, the piece in Jiaojiao's hand was the smallest among the three of them.
Putting aside those strange things, Emperor Yongzheng was actually a little curious about Jiaojiao herself. He didn't understand where the love for such a young child came from?
In fact, anyone who is close to Jiaojiao can feel that they are loved, loved by a three-year-old child.
He would give them all the delicious food and his favorite and best things. When he noticed that they were unhappy or irritable, he would drag a small stool and sit beside them with a serious face, telling stories or humming tunes to coax them. When they deliberately teased him and said that someone was bullying them, he would angrily drag a broom to help them vent their anger.
It is said that children's love is direct and passionate, and Jiaojiao's love is even more so.
Although they all had to rank behind Yin Zheng in all these things, they could more or less feel that this three-year-old child was giving everything he had and trying his best... to love them.
Rather than saying that they are good to Jiaojiao, it is better to say that they are using some harmless actions and things to exchange for the child's most sincere love.
But… I still feel very unwilling to accept this. Why is Yin Zheng always ranked ahead of them in everything? Is it just because he met Jiaojiao first?
Emperor Yongzheng reached out and poked Jiaojiao's cheek, which was moving as she ate.
Jiaojiao, whose cheeks were puffed up like a little hamster, felt her face being poked. She looked at Emperor Yongzheng with her round eyes, then reluctantly moved the other side of her face closer.
Emperor Yongzheng, who felt inexplicably indulged, was stunned. After he came to his senses, he poked the other side of Jiaojiao's face, but still felt it was not enough. He simply put the cloud cake in his hand into his mouth, and used his free hands to rub Jiaojiao's face like dough.
Yin Zheng, who came out of the kitchen carrying Laba porridge, saw this scene and quickly stepped forward to rescue Jiaojiao from the clutches of Emperor Yongzheng.
Emperor Yongzheng looked at Jiaojiao's chubby face with a bit of regret. Although children are soft, he always felt that Jiaojiao's face felt better when rubbed.
When he first met Jiaojiao, he went back and ordered people to bring the princes and grandchildren to him. Emperor Yongzheng rubbed his face all over and sighed like this.
"Dad." Jiaojiao, who was twisted by her father, shook her little hands and feet, looked up at her father and said, "Jiaojiao, come down."
After Yin Zheng put him down, he couldn't wait to tiptoe and take out the cloud cake that he had picked out and placed aside from the food box and handed it to Yin Zheng.
Emperor Yongzheng took a glance and found that the cloud cake was indeed slightly larger than Xie Shuyu's. He didn't know how Jiaojiao found the slightly less regular cloud cake from so many cloud cakes.
Yin Zheng took the cloud cake and put it in his mouth, then began to distribute Laba porridge to Jiaojiao and the others.
Shi'an, who followed Yin Zheng out of the kitchen, took the cloud cake handed to him by Jiaojiao and sat next to Jiaojiao waiting for the porridge to be distributed.
Ever since eating Laba porridge on the 18th, Jiaojiao, the little glutton, has been thinking about it. Yin Zheng, who dotes on Jiaojiao, made Laba porridge every day during those days. After finally stopping for a few days, she pestered Yin Zheng to make it for her again today.
Laba porridge contains lotus seeds, red dates, longan, coix seed, peanuts and other ingredients. It tastes sweet, no wonder Jiaojiao likes it.
Emperor Yongzheng ate a bowl of Laba porridge, then leaned aside to admire the snow while watching Jiaojiao drinking it with her head down.
At the end of the You hour, after having dinner from Jiaojiao and returning to Xie Mansion, Xie Shuyu stayed in the study for a long time. Recalling the look on Emperor Yongzheng's face today, he always felt that something was wrong, something was beyond his expectations.
After thinking for a while with his eyes lowered, Xie Shuyu, feeling uneasy, decided to ask someone to investigate carefully what had happened to Yin Zheng and Jiaojiao during the time he was away, and to investigate every detail concerning the two of them.
Lijia Village is very far away from the capital. It would take at least a month to go there and back by horseback. Now it is the end of the year and the road is blocked by heavy snow. It is estimated that it will take another half a month. I just hope everything can be done in time.
New Year's Eve came in a blink of an eye. Jiaojiao and Shi'an got up early and took paste to paste couplets inside and outside the house. Qin Mianmian came specially to give him New Year gifts and the couplets he wrote. Seeing this, he rolled up his sleeves and ignored the servants' obstruction, and pasted couplets with Jiaojiao and the others. Youyou, carrying the couplets on his back, followed them happily, and looked up and said "Youyou--" from time to time.
As the hour of You arrived, firecrackers crackled in every household, and the sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner was served on the table. Jiaojiao ate so much that her belly was full, and she lay in her father's arms, holding her father's hand and letting him rub her stomach which was a little uncomfortable.
Yin Zheng rubbed Jiaojiao's belly, feeling a little worried. He knew that eating too much was not good for her, but seeing the satisfied look on Jiaojiao's face while eating, he couldn't say anything to stop her.
When it comes to Jiaojiao, Yin Zheng completely loses his principles. Sometimes he spoils her so much that even Shi'an can't stand it.
Really, he had never seen any family spoil their children as much as Uncle Yin did in his life, although he hadn't seen many families either.
Halfway through the night watch, Jiaojiao and Shi'an fell asleep. Yin Zheng covered them with a quilt, held Jiaojiao in his arms, and kept watch silently all night.
Jiaojiao is different this year than last year. Last year he only got money from his father to ward off evil spirits. This year he got one, two, three, four and five pieces of money. These money came from his father, Uncle Huaizhi, Uncle Xingzhi, Uncle Qin and his uncle.
However, since Xie Shuyu and Emperor Yongzheng were busy with matters in the palace and the mansion, only Liu Xingzhi saw the naive look of Jiaojiao, who was dressed in red and wrapped up like a dumpling, when she came to pay New Year's greetings.
Just after the New Year, news came from the palace that Emperor Yongzheng was ill. Since then, for almost a month, Emperor Yongzheng has not come to Suiyu Bridge.
It was not until the beginning of February that Jiaojiao visited Emperor Yongzheng again. Compared to the previous year, Emperor Yongzheng looked much paler. He was wearing an elegant green cloak with gold edges. There was a faint smell of medicine around him, and he coughed from time to time.
Jiaojiao worriedly pulled at his robe and led him into the house, even giving him her hand warmer. Emperor Yongzheng didn't want the hand warmer, but reached out and took Jiaojiao into his arms, leaning back against the low table with a look of weariness on his face: "Jiaojiao is warmer than the hand warmer."
Upon hearing this, Jiaojiao stayed obediently in his arms, acting as a large hand warmer with due diligence.
On the other side, Xie Shuyu, who had just returned from court, was in the study looking through everything about Jiaojiao and Yin Zheng since he left.
Xie Shuyu had no expression on his face after reading it from beginning to end. When he raised his hand to pick up the teacup beside him, his fingers trembled and the teacup slipped from his hand and fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.
He lowered his eyes to look at the tea that had splashed onto the hem of his robe, the dark color in his eyes so intense that it seemed to be about to overflow.
The servant who heard the noise knocked on the door: "Master?"
"fine."
Xie Shuyu came back to his senses and calmed down. His eyes fell on the letter on the table again. Thinking of the pot of Pengyu that sprouted new buds in winter and the look on Emperor Yongzheng's face that day, his heart tightened. In the end, he couldn't help but curse, "Stupid!"
If he were Yin Zheng, the first thing he would do when he discovered that Jiaojiao was different from ordinary people is to take him away from the capital, and he would never bring him to the capital, a place where people are eaten without being seen.
The thing we fear most in this world is being lost in the crowd and being ordinary. On the contrary, the thing we fear most is being outstanding and extraordinary...
Xie Shuyu took a deep breath, and a hint of bitterness appeared between the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.
If he had not left Lijia Village at that time... or had left Lijia Village two months later, things would never have come to this point.
He gathered his thoughts and walked out of the study, left Xie's house, and headed towards the Broken Jade Bridge.
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