After having lunch, Honghui went to rest for a while with his wife. However, Fu Weiting, Zhang Rongyuan, and the others waited in the front yard, but the eldest prince was late in arriving at the agreed time, and they were getting a little impatient.
"What's wrong with my elder brother? Why hasn't he come yet?" the five-year-old Third Prince asked, but no one could answer his question.
"Perhaps he's been held back by something," Da Yu A said.
Fu Weiting, Zhang Rongyuan, Tong Jia, and Fei Yanggu exchanged glances but said nothing more.
The group continued to wait, but as time ticked by, the eldest prince never appeared.
"Why don't you go check with the Princess Consort and see if the First Prince is coming or not? If not, we can go skate in the garden ourselves!" The Third Prince was finally getting impatient and didn't want to wait a moment longer.
"Why are you calling me? Why don't you go and see for yourself!" Da Yu was actually a little afraid of his aunt, the Fujin. Every time he went to her place, he would inevitably be scolded by her.
“You are more suitable than me. Isn’t the Fujin your aunt?” Although the Third Prince was young, he was very clever with words, perhaps inheriting Li’s silver tongue.
When Da and A saw that everyone was looking at him, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and agree.
As he walked to the main courtyard, the gatekeeper, recognizing him, didn't ask any questions and let Da Yu'a in; it was indeed more convenient for him than for the Third Prince. Others coming to the main courtyard would inevitably have to inform the Princess Consort, but since Da Yu'a was her nephew, there was basically no need for that. Just as he entered the courtyard, he saw Xia He drying osmanthus flowers, so he quickly went to her side and asked, "Aunt Xia He, is the First Prince here?"
Xia He was focused on spreading out the osmanthus flowers in the winnowing basket to dry, and didn't notice anyone behind her. Da Yu's question came suddenly and really startled her. When she turned around and saw it was him, she softened her tone and said, "Young Master Da, you really gave me a fright."
Da Yu scratched the back of his head sheepishly and chuckled awkwardly, "Excuse me, Aunt Xia He, is the eldest prince in the main courtyard?"
Xia He nodded and said, "The eldest prince is taking a midday rest. Are you here to ask him to go skateboarding?" She had witnessed the temper that the princess consort had thrown at the eldest prince at noon, and when she saw Da and A coming to find her, she knew it was about that matter.
Da and A looked surprised, thinking to themselves, "This eldest prince, didn't we agree on this? Why is he taking a midday break? Why didn't he go and tell everyone?"
Seeing that Da and A were lost in thought, Xia He kindly advised, "You'd better not bother the First Prince. The Princess Consort had a big argument with him at noon about this, and he's not allowed to play with that thing anymore."
Upon hearing this, Da Yu was naturally startled. He glanced at the door of the main room and said to Xia He, "Thank you for your advice, Aunt Xia He. I'm going back now." With that, he turned and left.
Meanwhile, the Third Prince and his entourage were waiting in their small courtyard in the front yard. Bored, they were standing on skateboards and wandering around the courtyard. Finally, they heard footsteps coming in at the gate. They thought it was the First Prince and Da Yu'a, but when they saw it was just a few eunuchs carrying things in, they were filled with disappointment.
However, Da and A did not keep them waiting for long before they returned.
"How is it? Where is the eldest prince?" The third prince couldn't help but ask anxiously when he saw that only the eldest prince had returned.
"Why didn't the eldest prince come? Isn't he in the main courtyard?" Fu Weiting couldn't help but ask.
Da and A shook their heads, walked to a stone bench in the courtyard, sat down, and told Xia He what she had said in detail.
"Why won't the eldest brother come to play, Princess Consort? Does that mean he won't be allowed to play at all in the future?" The Third Prince knew that without Honghui's participation, the rest of them lost their enthusiasm. After all, they were all Honghui's little bead, and it wasn't good for the little bead to act on their own without Honghui.
"I don't know either. I'll ask Honghui during class this afternoon," Da Yu A said, looking disappointed and dejected.
"So, are we still going to the garden now?" the Third Prince asked reluctantly, but was met with silence.
In the end, Da and the others went back to their rooms to rest for the afternoon. The Third Prince, feeling frustrated, did not rest there but returned to Li's small east courtyard. Before leaving, the Fourth Prince also granted him special permission to visit his mother and have meals there from time to time, just like the First Prince.
When the Third Prince came in, Lady Li was with the Fourth Prince taking a midday rest. When Mingyan came to report that the Third Prince had arrived, she got up, put on her clothes, and went outside. She saw the Third Prince sitting in a chair, looking sullen and unhappy.
"Hongjun, why are you here at this hour? Why didn't you rest in the front yard?" As soon as Li Shi saw the Third Prince, she knew he had something on his mind. As a mother, she could see right through her son.
"Mother, may I also come here to rest for lunch, like the eldest prince?" the third prince said.
"Of course it's good, your mother thinks about you every day. Come here~" Madam Li sat on the main couch and gestured for the Third Prince to come forward.
The third prince walked up to Madam Li and immediately snuggled into her arms. Being so young, he couldn't resist clinging to his mother for comfort when something was bothering him.
Madam Li raised her hand to stroke the back of the Third Prince's head, smoothing his little braid, and asked softly, "Hongjun, tell your mother, what happened?"
Hongjun was still upset that the eldest prince hadn't come to the appointment for no reason and that he didn't plan to play on the skateboard anymore. When he heard Li say this, he said aggrievedly, "Mother, I had originally agreed with the eldest prince, Da and A to go to the garden to play on the skateboard, but the eldest prince didn't come today. Not only that, he also said that we can't play on it anymore."
When Li knew that Lanqin had made such a strange toy for the children, she saw that the Third Prince liked it and the First Prince also played with it, so she naturally didn't say anything.
"Why?" Madam Li asked gently, wiping the sweat from the Third Prince's forehead with a handkerchief.
“Perhaps they’re afraid that the eldest prince will become obsessed with playing games and neglect his duties, that’s what Da and A said. But, Mother, we’re not being obsessed with playing games and neglecting our duties. We’re really happy playing those games together,” the third prince hurriedly explained, fearing that Li Shi would also try to stop him like the Fujin (the princess consort).
"Mother knows. You can talk to the eldest prince about this again and pressure the wife a little," Li said with a smile, her eyes flashing slightly.
“But my elder brother has to have lunch at his wife’s place every day, and that’s when he has a little time to play.” When the Third Prince heard Li’s suggestion, he started thinking about whether there was any time during the day besides noon when he could play on his skateboard without his wife’s help. But after thinking for a long time, he still couldn’t come up with a solution.
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