Lin Zikui didn't know how to face him. He never thought that Xiao Zhaoling would use a child to threaten him.
Xu Er buried herself in Lin Zikui's arms and said coquettishly, "Master, please allow him to come with us. My brother said that he will not listen to anyone else but you, Master."
Lin Zikui retracted his gaze and looked at Yuwen Yan, asking, "Did your brother teach you to say that? Yan'er, tell me, what else did he teach you?"
Xun'er was still young. Xiao Fu taught him to lie and conceal his identity. He was already guilty. When Lin Zikui asked him this, he hesitated: "Brother said in the carriage that Xun'er should make you happy. As long as the master is happy, Xun'er can... play with the master often."
Lin Zikui: "Leaving the palace so late, the maids around you will be worried."
Yuwen Yan shook his head: "I told the nanny that I was with the royal father, and she wouldn't..." At this point, he suddenly realized that he had said the wrong thing, and immediately covered his mouth with his hands and secretly glanced at the royal father.
The Emperor's father did not speak, but just walked closer. He did not look angry or scold him. He just stood there, as if he did not dare to sit down. He stood in front of him. The Emperor's father was tall, like a mountain, and the Master was sitting like water within reach.
Yuwen Xuan looked at Lin Zikui: "Master, do you know..."
Lin Zikui nodded, his expression calm as he faced the child: "Well, the teacher knows that your name is Yuwen Yan, not Yun Yan. Your brother..." He paused and said, "He taught you to lie for your safety, but lying itself is a wrong thing, right?"
Yuwen Xun also nodded and couldn't help biting his fingers: "Yes, Xun'er doesn't want to do it either. The teacher has guessed it. The teacher is so smart!"
Lin Zikui smiled very lightly, but did not look at Xiao Fu. He still stared at the child, stroked his soft hair and said, "But the Master has only seen you three times, so it is understandable that Yan'er concealed his identity and lied to the Master. You are a member of the royal family, and it would be dangerous to reveal your identity to strangers. You... your father did not teach you wrongly."
Xiao Fu, who was standing aside: "..."
How could he not understand? There was something else behind the words, and they were talking to him.
It would be good if he wasn't afraid of me. Xiao Fu thought that his reputation wasn't that bad. It was definitely better than Yuwen Duo's. How could he treat me like a jackal or a tiger?
Xiao Fu couldn't help but say: "Well, I can forgive you for that."
Lin Zikui said nothing, just picked up the child. The child had gained weight and grown taller after not seeing him for a few months. Lin Zikui hasn't eaten yet. He didn't eat much in the morning. He was afraid that the palace examination would take too long and he would need to go to the toilet. What if he had to hold it in? Now it was equivalent to not eating for the whole day, and it was a little difficult for him to hold him.
"Let's go fly a kite in the yard."
Xun'er hugged Lin Zikui's neck: "Okay, okay! Let's fly a kite! The emperor is coming too!"
Xiao Fu quickly picked up the kite on the ground: "I'll hold the child, Zikui, you take the kite."
"No need, Xun'er is only four years old, I can hold him."
——Although he didn't look at him, Lin Zikui answered his questions. Xiao Fu's heart was relieved a little. He dismissed all the servants in the yard. He went to fly the kite first, and slowly let the swallow kite fly out with the wind, and then handed the kite string to Yuwen Yan.
Yuwen Yan looked up and held the kite string. Lin Zikui taught him, "We need to let it go little by little. We will go in the direction the wind blows."
A colorful swallow like a pair of scissors floated in the sky. Lin Zikui asked him, "Did Xun'er make the kite himself?"
Yuwen Xuan looked up at the kite in the sky and said softly, "I made it with my mother. Before we could fly it, my father passed away and we couldn't fly kites in the palace anymore. My mother said we could wait until the beginning of next spring to fly it... Then, she got sick."
Lin Zikui looked at him and sighed inwardly. Before he could even fly the kite, the child's mother passed away.
Lin Zikui's arms were weak from hugging him, but he still held him. He was completely focused on Yuwen Yan at this time, and didn't care about Xiao Zhaoling. He forgot about him for a short time, even though Xiao Fu came up to him from time to time to move around and talk, saying, "Yun'er, can we make autumn kites with Master Lin tonight?"
Yuwen Yan was really an honest child. He asked whatever Xiao Fu asked. Lin Zikui said, "I have to read in the evening."
He also repeated: "Father, the Master needs to read books."
Xiao Fu asked: "Xun'er, what book are you reading?"
Yuwen Yan: "What book are you reading, Master?"
"Books of sages." Lin Zikui was a little tired, so he lifted Yuwen Yun up and changed his hand.
Xiao Fu stretched out his hand: "Let your father hold the child for a while." He took the child without saying anything: "I'll do it, you take a rest." Lin Zikui looked up at him.
Xiao Fu was relaxed, holding the child in one hand, letting him fly the kite by himself. He even had time to turn around and say to Lin Zikui with a smile, "I've also been reading sage books lately, and there are many things I don't understand. Would you mind if Mr. Lin explained it to me?"
Lin Zikui lowered his head and said, "There are so many great scholars around the Regent. I am insignificant."
Xiao Fu frowned inadvertently: "We have been married, and promised each other life and death together, and you say that you are insignificant?"
Before he could answer, Xiao Fu said to himself: "It is wrong for me to hide it from you, but it is understandable. If you knew who I was earlier, how could we have met, known each other, and fallen in love? How could you have been so affectionate with me..."
Lin Zikui was concerned about Xun'er, so he looked up and interrupted him, "The child is here, stop talking."
"Xun'er is only a few years old, how can he understand? What if he hears it?"
Yuwen Xun held the kite string in one hand and covered his ears with the other: "Xun'er can't hear you."
Xiao Fu stared at him persistently and said, "Besides, you still have to take the exam. How can you take it with a normal mind?"
Xiao Fu had many reasons, and Lin Zikui knew them all. He had his reasons and he had no choice, but this sudden change of identity was unexpected. Now...how could he face Xiao Fu calmly, with what identity and attitude, as a disciple of the emperor? The etiquette between the monarch and his subjects? A husband-wife ceremony?
Lin Zikui could even guess how he faced the identity of "Huaiyuan" and what his ranking in the palace examination would be.
Xiao Fu said that night that he would win three prizes in a row. He was confused and dazed. It was not because of his own ability that he asked the Prime Minister to be his teacher. He relied on Xiao Zhaoling's face. He passed the imperial examination by relying on the Regent's efforts to eliminate cheating in the imperial examination. He also relied on him to escape death in the palace examination.
Lin Zikui read many books. When Brother Huang was killed, he felt that he was incompetent and could not save Brother Huang because he was not the son of a high-ranking official or a prince or noble. When he was blind, he did not feel that he was useless. He only hated the bureaucracy and the darkness of the aristocratic families. One day, he would overthrow these aristocratic families and give all the scholars in the world a fair opportunity in the imperial examinations!
Now he suddenly realized that he had also relied on aristocratic family. Unknowingly, he had taken the shortcut of being a child of aristocratic family.
The palace examination was held in the early morning, his identity was known at noon, and now the sun has just set.
Yuwen Xun's kite was tangled in a tree, so Xiao Fu flew up the tree to pick it off for him.
The sun and moon alternated, the sky darkened, Xiao Fu put away the kite and said, "Master is hungry, Xun'er, let's not play anymore, call Master to eat."
Lin Zikui was also very silent while eating. Xiao Fu saw this and kept picking up food for him. Since Xiao Fu didn't like to eat, he usually liked to watch him eat. He knew what Lin Zikui liked to eat. He normally ate two bowls of food. He liked to drink soup before and after meals, and preferred beef bone soup. He didn't eat much fatty meat, and liked to eat young sprouts when eating vegetables, but he was not picky. He always ate what he liked first and then finished what he didn't like. He knew everything.
Perhaps Lin Zikui himself didn't realize that there was not a single dish on the table that he didn't like.
He didn't even have an appetite today, so he let Xun'er eat more. Xun'er was sensible and wanted to accompany Lin Zikui to read, but Xiao Fu refused: "The Master will have to accept the imperial edict and go to the palace tomorrow, so you have to go to bed early today."
Yuwen Xun clapped his hands and said in celebration: "Master, are you going to accept the imperial decree to enter the palace? That's great. From now on, Master will enter the palace every day, and Xun'er will be able to see Master every day!"
Xiao Fu was still worried, so he let Yuwen Yan sleep next door. With him around, even if Lin Zikui was angry, she would not quarrel with him.
Arguing is not Lin Zikui's character, but maybe an argument would be better.
However, Xiao Fu just wanted to let the matter pass calmly. In his opinion, Lin Lang was so soft-hearted that he just needed to be coaxed a little more.
Lin Zikui washed his hands and face, changed his clothes and went to bed. He had no way to stop Xiao Fu from coming in. After locking the door, he went out the window. Lin Zikui had not forgotten that the mansion, room and bed where he slept were all given by Xiao Zhaoling.
How could he sleep when he was in such a tangled mess?
Xiao Fu walked in through the window holding a lamp and lit up the Lantern Festival lantern in the room: "Is Lin Lang asleep? Look at the Peony Lantern, the one you gave me."
Lin Zikui closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep - the Peony Lantern. He remembered that night when he and Zhao Ling had a night tour of Qinhuai. Zhao Ling did not take Minister Pang's son seriously and called him a pig-brained man.
Remembering the sweet sugar cakes that night, Zhao Ling kissed him under Mi Li's soft gauze.
It is still vivid in my mind, and I can even remember the thrilling feeling I had at that time.
"Lin Lang is asleep--" Xiao Fu could hear his disordered breathing, obviously he was pretending. He whispered, "Then I won't bother you." He put down the lamp and undressed quickly, taking off his outer clothes and leaving only his inner clothes. He saw Lin Zikui sleeping on the edge of the bed, obviously not intending to let him get on the bed. Xiao Fu simply stepped in and slept on the inner side of the empty bed.
Lin Zikui's tricks didn't stop there. He also wrapped himself in the quilt, very tightly, like a radish in the ground, which could not be pulled out without great effort.
Xiao Fu muttered, "No quilt? Why is it so cold tonight? Oh, it turns out to be the White Dew."
"Oh, it's so cold."
Lin Zikui's eyelids trembled.
Xiao Fu: "A-choo!"
Lin Zikui wanted to tell him that White Dew is on the sixth day of August, and today is not White Dew. He knew that Xiao Fu was shivering, but he didn't know whether it was real or not. It was probably fake, but Lin Zikui couldn't confirm it. He thought he was cold, so why didn't he ask someone to bring a quilt? There was one on the couch. If he is cold, why is he wearing such thin clothes? He is a martial artist, a veteran of many battles on the battlefield. How can he be cold in August?
Lin Zikui couldn't bear it any longer. Hearing him muttering "weakly" that it was so cold, he said, "There is a clean quilt on the couch."
Seeing that he could no longer pretend, Xiao Fu raised his lips accordingly: "I want to sleep with Xiao Langjun. Xiao Langjun said that when it's cold, we need two people to keep each other warm. I'm so cold already. I want to feel your hands and feet to see if they're cold."
He openly pulled Lin Zikui's carrot quilt and untied him by twisting him around in circles. Lin Zikui rolled into his arms. He suddenly opened his eyes and met Xiao Fu's eyes that were shining brightly in the moonlight.
Xiao Fu grabbed his curled fingers and placed them on his chest: "Let me feel them, they're so cold."
——It’s really cold.
But it’s not cold that day.
Xiao Fu was a little surprised. Lin Zikui's body was strangely cold, while he was still warm. Lin Zikui knew it as soon as he touched him. He was lying again. Why did he always get fooled, always?
"Young Master, are you still angry?" Xiao Fu clamped his legs and rubbed his feet. It turned out that the instep and toes were all cold to the bone. It was only August, but he already needed a hot water bottle! Xie Laosan never said that Lin Zikui had a cold, and he didn't notice it on weekdays, but he was particularly abnormal today.
Xiao Fu knew where this abnormality came from.
Xiao Fu could tell clearly that his breathing was abnormal.
Lin Zikui had no choice but to look at him and said, "If I get angry, will you punish me?"
"I'm not even the regent anymore, what crime can I be punished for?"
Lin Zikui sat up in shock when he heard this: "What did you say?!"
"You want Xiao Zhaoling, not the Regent, right?"
Xiao Fu then sat up, his black hair disheveled and his collar open, revealing his white collarbone and strong chest, and said, "Before leaving the palace, I wrote a letter to the Empress Dowager, asking her to rule the country on my behalf. Now that you have passed the palace examination, I have dealt with the corrupt officials who committed favoritism and fraud in the examination hall for you. Now that you have achieved success and fame, you can abdicate. You know it is not easy to be the regent. You always have to go to court. How can you serve my young master? And he has misunderstood that I am not going home. Have you changed your heart? Alas." Xiao Fu wiped away his tears.
Lin Zikui was so angry that she pushed him away and said, "You, you are ridiculous! Xiao Zhaoling, go back to the palace and get your letter back!"
A single move can affect the entire body. Without the deterrence of the Regent, the apparent peace in the world will collapse in an instant.
Lin Zikui knew very well that internal and external disturbances would lead to national turmoil and chaos in an instant, and the people would be displaced.
Xiao Fu's clothes became even more messy because of him pushing them. He had no intention of tidying them up. He supported himself with his elbows, gently pushed Lin Zikui and said, "Are you still angry? You won't divorce me, will you? Do you still want me? If you want me, I'll go back for a while."
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