Lanqin lowered her head and gently flicked Hongli's nose, saying, "You're the older brother, so what's wrong with your mother showing some affection to your younger brother?"
Hongli thought about it and realized that his mother's words seemed to be right, but also seemed to be a little wrong.
Meanwhile, Geng led Hongzhou back, with Lülan carrying Hongzhou the whole way, while Geng remained silent, her face cold, ignoring Hongzhou.
"Mother, are you angry?" Hongzhou couldn't help but ask Gengshi, who was walking beside him.
Madam Geng continued to ignore Hongzhou. She had gone to great lengths to prevent him from contacting the South Courtyard, but unexpectedly, he had already gone there so quickly. If this continued, would he soon be calling her "Mother"?
Hongzhou knew that Madam Geng was angry. He pouted, looking unhappy as well.
Back in Geng's courtyard, Geng saw the food basket in Lulan's hand, which contained the cream cake given by Lanqin, and it irritated her.
"Take that stuff down and divide it among yourselves. It's all sweet, and it's not good for children to eat too much of it," Geng said to Lülan, meaning that she wanted her maids to go and distribute the food.
Upon hearing this, Hongzhou said aggrievedly, "Mother, this was given to me by Hongli."
Geng felt a pang in her heart. She had painstakingly raised Hongzhou for two and a half years, making him remember only her, but unexpectedly, he was easily defeated by this piece of cream cake.
"Since you like Hongli so much, why don't you move in with him?" Geng shouted angrily. Hongzhou had no idea what he had done wrong, but he knew Geng was very unhappy. Hearing Geng shout like that, tears immediately streamed down his face.
"Princess, it's time to serve dinner. Didn't you specially order the kitchen to prepare the Fifth Prince's favorite sesame oil-dressed shredded chicken today?" Seeing that the mother and son were about to quarrel, Lülan quickly spoke up to persuade them.
Geng said angrily, "He only cares about Hongli's cream cake now. The South Courtyard has its own kitchen, where he can get whatever he wants to eat. How can my place compare to that!"
Hongzhou burst into tears, feeling wronged, and went to Gengshi's side, saying, "Mother, if you don't want Hongzhou to play with Hongli, Hongzhou won't go."
When Madam Geng saw Hongzhou crying, her heart softened. Hearing what he said, her anger also flowed out along with her tears. She pulled Hongzhou into her arms and hugged him, saying, "Hongzhou, your mother is afraid that if you see how good Hongli's mother is, you will feel that nothing here is good enough. Hongzhou, you are my life, I cannot live without you."
Hongzhou didn't understand what Geng was saying, but he quickly comforted her, saying, "Hongzhou won't abandon his mother."
Geng hugged Hongzhou and wept. She was so worried that Lanqin would take the child back.
Meanwhile, Lady Fucha already knew about what had happened today. She said to Hongqiao, "Hongqiao, you said that Lady Geng goes to that peach grove in the garden every day?"
“Yes, she accompanies the Fifth Prince to that peach grove to practice archery every day!” Hongqiao said.
Fucha said, "Continue to observe. I need to know the time she takes the Fifth Prince to that peach grove every day."
In the following days, Hongzhou deliberately avoided Hongli, not wanting to upset Gengshi. After Hongzhou returned home, Gengshi would take him to the peach grove in the garden to practice archery before his evening meal. Because Gengshi didn't want Hongzhou to have much contact with Hongli, she wouldn't allow him to practice at the manor's training ground.
"Mother, why can't we practice archery at the training ground?" When Hongzhou was in elementary school, he heard Hongli and Hongsheng arguing about who could shoot more arrows. Only then did Hongzhou realize that they were practicing archery at the training ground.
Madam Geng had never mentioned to Hongzhou that there was a training ground in the manor. Seeing Hongzhou looking at her with a puzzled expression, she could only say, "Hongzhou, we can practice archery in the peach grove and still become an expert archer."
Hongzhou nodded as if he understood, and followed Geng to the place where they usually practiced archery.
Geng and Lülan stood behind Hongzhou, watching him shoot the arrows from his quiver one by one. The maid who served Hongzhou was responsible for picking up the arrows.
“Princess, now that the Fifth Prince is going to school in the front courtyard, he has already come into contact with the Second Prince, the Third Prince, and the Fourth Prince. It won’t work if you just prevent him from having contact with them,” said Green Orchid.
“What can I do? One day Hongzhou will find out that I am not his biological mother,” Geng Shi said. Ever since Hongzhou went to the South Courtyard that day, Geng Shi had been restless, always feeling that it was just the beginning and that Lanqin would definitely take Hongzhou back.
“Princess, the Fifth Prince is very loyal and affectionate. I don’t think he would disown you. You’re overthinking it,” Green Orchid comforted her.
“Once he finds out that Lanqin is his mother, will he still be loyal to me?” Geng asked.
“Consort Niu has never said anything about it. I think that perhaps Consort Niu doesn’t intend to tell the Fifth Prince either. You are overthinking it, Princess.” Green Lan said.
"Is that really the case? But I feel like she wants Hongzhou back. She insisted that Hongzhou go to school in the front courtyard, and now she's making the Fourth Prince take Hongzhou to the South Courtyard," Geng said.
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