After the mother and daughter boarded the carriage, the little girl couldn't help but ask, "That was my grandmother!" she blinked.
Li Chenjiao said yes, and then whispered a few more words to the little girl.
Today, Li Chenjiao left the manor accompanied by guards, all of whom were people close to the Fourth Prince. This was something Li Chenjiao did on her own initiative, sending Xiao Luzi to relay the message and make the arrangements.
She had seen her mother a few times in the past two years, but she hadn't seen her father for many years. Her father was like that; every year in his letters he would only say "good things" and say the same things. Li Chenjiao really missed her father.
Because the guards were standing around her, even though Li Chenjiao saw her father when she entered the restaurant, she had to pretend that she didn't see him.
Even after leaving the village, she could only hold her mother's hand and catch a glimpse of her father from afar.
When they arrived at the estate, Li Chenjiao still had a smile on her face.
There will always be opportunities to see my mother and father in the future.
Fourth Master had already given instructions. In the past two years, the estate had changed two groups of people, and now everyone on the estate was Fourth Master's own confidant, so there was no need to worry about any news leaking out.
The weather was nice today, and with Fourth Master not around, Li Chenjiao was even more interested in riding a horse. There were female instructors at the estate, and the mother and daughter learned to ride a horse once. However, after learning for a while, the little girl took Chen Shi and Lüju to fly kites in the woods.
The weather is indeed fine today. His Majesty first dealt with some important memorials from various regions in the Southern Study. Then, after hearing from Liang Jiugong that the princes and grandsons of the emperor were waiting outside to offer their birthday wishes, His Majesty put down his vermilion brush and said, "Let's go to the Empress Dowager to pay our respects first."
Liang Jiugong agreed.
The Emperor then got up and walked outside. The princes and grandsons stood in a circle outside. He glanced at them, but before he could finish looking at them all, he stretched out his hand in a certain direction and said, "Baocheng, be with Father Emperor."
Yinreng's expression remained unchanged. He turned around and told Hongxi to take his two younger brothers, while he quickly followed beside the Emperor.
In the past two months, most of the princes have taken on extra duties, except for Yinreng.
Since Yinreng was deposed, he hasn't taken on any extra duties and spends most of his days fishing in Yuqing Palace. However, His Majesty has been thinking about Yinreng in everything he does these past two months.
The Third Master stood beside the Fourth Master, and upon seeing this, he curled his lip and said, "Now, what's this all about..."
Fifth Master stood on the other side, and before Fourth Master could finish speaking, he spoke first: "Alright, Third Brother should drink less today. He doesn't look like he's drunk even though he hasn't had any alcohol yet."
This was about Third Master getting drunk during the first month of the lunar year. Eighth Master, who was standing nearby, had a somewhat distorted expression after hearing this. He didn't say anything and quietly moved a little further away from Third Master.
The Fourth Prince, caught in the middle, was getting a headache. He pulled the Fifth Prince aside, gave the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Princes a wink, and then followed his father, the Emperor, towards the Cining Palace.
The three children were led by the thirteenth and fourteenth princes. The thirteenth prince held the hands of the second and third princes on the left and right, respectively, while the fourteenth prince went forward and hooked his arm around the fourth prince's hand.
"You've grown taller again, kid..." Fourteenth Prince patted Fourth Prince's head.
The Fourth Prince wasn't afraid at all. He huddled together with his Fourteenth Uncle, and the two of them whispered something to each other.
Upon arriving at Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager was preparing lunch. However, knowing that it was His Majesty's birthday, she did not invite him to have lunch at Cining Palace.
She wasn't the emperor's biological mother, so naturally she wouldn't go out of her way to cause trouble at this time.
However, His Majesty still had lunch with the Empress Dowager before leaving Cining Palace. The family banquet was held in the West Warm Pavilion of Qianqing Palace.
The grandsons of the emperor sat at two tables, and the princes sat down in order of seniority at the front, while the emperor himself remained in the most prominent position.
The princes took turns offering their birthday wishes, just as they had in previous years.
The Emperor was bored, his mood neither too good nor too bad.
Princess Wenxian would only come to dine with him at dinner time, but His Majesty had already seen her at Cining Palace; she was already a princess about to be married...
Another year has passed, and His Majesty has an indescribable feeling about the changing years, just like watching his children grow up year by year.
He longed for them to grow up, yet wished it could be slower.
However, at least the children's smiles were more genuine than usual at such times, which slightly eased the Emperor's melancholy.
“Son (grandson)... I wish Father Emperor well…” A voice entered my ears, slightly cold, but with the respect due.
However, this is not unusual; what is unusual is the familiarity of the voice.
The Emperor paused in his tossing of the wine cup, then looked up, his eyes sharp as an eagle's.
It was the voice of the fourth prince. Lately, the fourth prince had been frequently coming to him to report on official business, but His Majesty did not find the voice to be similar to the one in his dream that day.
More than two months have passed, and His Majesty has actually forgotten what the voice in his dream sounded like.
But as soon as the fourth brother's voice entered his ears, the shout from his dream on the Lantern Festival seemed to echo in his ears again.
The Emperor was struck dumb. He looked down and saw his fourth son and three children wishing him a happy birthday.
All three children had their heads slightly lowered, except for one child who, perhaps because he had been silent for a long time, slightly raised his head but still kept his eyes down, only glancing at the child out of the corner of his eye.
Little face...
The Emperor smiled, suppressed his doubts, casually offered a couple of compliments, and then waved his hand.
Fifth Master followed closely behind.
However, His Majesty had no interest in listening.
Was that voice in my dream the fourth brother's? Now that I think about it, it does sound somewhat like him, but just now it sounded especially like him.
The Emperor thought for a moment and suddenly realized that it wasn't just the fourth prince who had spoken earlier; there were also three other imperial grandsons.
His Majesty remembers that the eldest child was born to the fourth prince's primary wife, and the youngest child was born to a secondary wife; the youngest was a clever child.
Yes, it was the children's voices mixed with the fourth brother's voice that overlapped with the voice calling him in his dream.
The Emperor's eyes darkened, but he did not show any favor to the fourth prince because of a dream. He waited until all the princes and grandsons had finished their birthday wishes and the wine had been drunk several times before he began to call on the grandsons to come forward and test their knowledge.
This was not unusual for the princes and grandsons.
The princes were trained by their father, the Emperor, from a young age, and now the Emperor isn't testing them, but the children.
For the imperial grandsons, there would be several such occasions each year, and they would go up one by one, either dejected or full of energy.
The Fourth Prince was one of the most energetic.
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