53. National Master Dad 4
The autumn weather is clear and cool, and the slightly cool breeze makes people feel comfortable and cool.
Beneath the willow trees by the green lake, there were three lounge chairs, one large and two small. Cheng Jiu lazily sat on the large lounge chair, resting his head on one hand and holding a fishing rod on his knee with the other, closing his eyes and resting, looking quite comfortable.
Beneath another willow tree not far away, two little heads leaned against each other, whispering. A child, wearing a yellow brocade robe with gold trim and a small white jade hair crown, said, "Cousin Ye, I think we're probably going to lose if we keep going like this." He gently squeezed the fishing rod in his hand and glanced in frustration at the float, which hadn't moved all morning.
Cheng Ye squatted beside the Fifth Prince An Chixu, holding his fishing rod. He glanced at Cheng Jiu, who was standing under a willow tree a few feet away, and whispered, "I don't want to be punished by writing ten long characters."
An Chixu: "...I don't want to either." No wonder his father told him that betting with the imperial teacher was risky.
After the Wanshou Festival, the emperor packed up An Chixu and sent him directly to Wanli Wuyun, under the pretext that the cousins could play together while they were still young and strengthen their relationship. As for their lessons, the imperial teacher would teach them together.
Cheng Jiu understood the Emperor's thoughts perfectly, but he didn't mind. After all, his son was still young and needed a playmate. The Fifth Prince was the next Emperor, so a little friendship between them wouldn't be a bad thing. With a playmate, his son's disposition had indeed brightened considerably, and he was full of ideas. This morning, the two of them had been clamoring for a fishing competition with him, promising to take them out of the palace if they won.
Since there are rewards, there must be punishments, and so the competition began.
Seeing the bait gone, Cheng Ye's round face wrinkled into a pucker. After the attendant baited the hook, Cheng Ye gripped the rod with both hands, puffed out his cheeks, and, imitating the casting posture Xiao Taozi had shown them, took a deep breath and swung it hard. With too much force, he lost his balance and fell to the ground.
Cheng Ye: ???
An Chixu: ???
Xiao Taozi: ...
Servant: ...
Hold it in, don’t laugh!
Xiao Taozi quickly stepped forward to help the man up and said, "Young Master, are you okay? Did you fall?"
Cheng Ye reacted with a red face and said shyly: "I'm fine, you go back and don't disturb me fishing." As he said that, he looked in the direction of his father and found that his father didn't seem to notice this side, and he felt relieved.
Luckily, Dad didn’t see me make a fool of myself.
Of course, the innocent boy didn't see the slightly raised corner of his father's mouth.
An Chixu was concentrating on fishing and didn't see his friend's magic operation. He just thought his friend was not
Be careful not to fall. He patted the dead leaves off his friend and asked in confusion, "Why is Cousin Ye's fishing rod stuck in the tree?"
Cheng Ye: "...the fish hook accidentally got caught on a tree branch." Don't ask how it got caught accidentally.
An Chixu: "Oh, it's okay. Just take it down and put new bait. We will definitely catch fish." He encouraged his friend who accidentally fell.
After the servant took the fishhook off the tree and re-baited it, Cheng Ye obediently put the fishing rod into the lake and didn't dare to cast it again.
After seeing Cheng Jiu catch another fish, An Chixu said enviously: "The Imperial Master had his eyes closed, how did he know the fish was hooked?" And the fish was so big, it could be braised.
Cheng Ye scratched his head and said, "I don't know either." He only knew that his father was very powerful.
An Chixu whispered, "Do you think there might be more fish where the National Master is?" Otherwise, why couldn't they catch any fish even though they were so serious, but the National Master could catch some even though he was not serious?
Cheng Ye disagreed and said, "We fished there just now, but we didn't catch any fish." They had been fishing with his father from the beginning, but they didn't catch any fish either. Sigh. Thinking of this, Cheng Ye sighed.
An Chixu: "That's because our bait is not as good as the national master's." He tried to quibble.
Xiao Taozi next to him couldn't help but speak up and said, "Fifth Prince, Young Master, the bait at the Imperial Master's place is from the same batch as the bait here." There is no better or worse.
Xiao Taozi's harsh words left the two children somewhat discouraged. It wasn't the location or the bait, so why couldn't they catch any fish? Did the fish look down on the children? That couldn't be right.
Cheng Ye looked at their empty buckets and said, "How about we switch places?"
An Chixu was tempted. They had been fishing at this spot for a long time, but hadn't caught a single fish. How about changing positions? With half an hour left until the agreed time, perhaps they still had a chance?
So, children’s thoughts are sometimes so naive.
"Okay, let's go over there." He pointed to the willow tree opposite.
They left as soon as they said they would, and the two of them changed positions with their fishing rods in hand.
... Half an hour later, the two brothers squatted on the ground, cupping their little faces in their hands as they stared at the empty buckets and sighed simultaneously. An Chixu said, "It looks like my plan to leave the palace has fallen through."
Cheng Ye: "We not only have to make up for today's homework, but also write ten more large characters." The little face wrinkled into a bitter face. Ten large characters are a lot.
This time was the time they had agreed on.
They didn't catch any fish, so they had already lost. They lost the reward and got the punishment. They were so sad.
By this time, the sun had risen to mid-air, the temperature began to rise, and the two children had some sweat on their foreheads.
Cheng Jiu walked over, followed by an attendant holding a fishing rod and a bucket. He came to the two children and said calmly, "Did you catch any fish?"
"father!"
"National Master."
The two children said with bitter faces, "No."
Cheng Jiu used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his son's forehead, and the servant also wiped the sweat from An Chixu's forehead.
Cheng Jiu: "Remember what you said."
The two brothers looked at each other and said dejectedly, "Yes."
Cheng Jiu's bright eyes were filled with a smile, and he said, "If you do it well, I will take you out of the palace tomorrow."
The two brothers' eyes lit up instantly and they responded loudly: "Yes, we will finish our homework well!" Their two little faces were immediately filled with joy.
************************************
The streets of the imperial city were prosperous and bustling. The wide streets were long and straight, and there were carriages, pedestrians, sedan chair porters, vendors at the stalls, and shops and restaurants on both sides, some of which were three or four stories high. The sounds of conversation, shouts, and wheels were mixed together.
Cheng Jiu walked slowly to the back in simple casual clothes, with Xue Chong, Xue Yan and other four guards guarding him diligently on both sides.
Xiao Taozi and several other guards followed closely behind the two young masters who were running around everywhere.
The two children were amazed by the lively scene, especially Cheng Ye, who had never left the small world of the imperial palace. He found everything particularly new. His expression of wonder and admiration was so strange that he almost wrote "I am a country bumpkin" on his face.
"Look, cousin Ye, this mask is so ugly!" An Chixu exclaimed as he picked up the mountain ghost mask on the mask stall.
There were a few blood-red lines painted on the black mask, and the bloody mouth baring the sharp fangs was terrifying.
Cheng Ye was caught off guard and was startled. He stammered, "What, what kind of mask is this?" His little ears turned red with fright.
Xiao Taozi: "Young master, this is a mountain ghost mask." Mountain ghost masks are generally masks worn by chieftains and wizards during various folk celebrations and sacrifices. However, the ones on this stall are just playful props, which are very different from real mountain ghost masks.
Cheng Ye picked up a small, round, red mask and asked, "What is this?"
Xiao Taozi: "This is Huo Tong, one of the three little ghosts beside the mountain ghost."
Seeing that he liked it, Xiao Taozi said, "If you like it, buy them all."
An Chixu: "Then I
Choose this monkey face, it’s so interesting.”
After paying, Cheng Ye grinned happily and held the mask tightly, feeling fresh and new. An Chixu shouted from the front: "Hurry up, I see a sugar man over here."
The two brothers ran over with a clatter.
Cheng Ye opened his eyes wide and watched the sugar figurine master skillfully and quickly mold a majestic horse.
"Wow!" Cheng Ye exclaimed with her mouth open.
The sugar figurine maker was so delighted by the children's pure and undisguised admiration that he worked even more skillfully and quickly made a set of Tang Monk, his disciples and their entourage of four, along with a horse, right in front of the two little guests.
The sugar figurine master then successfully sold the set of the Master and Apprentice Journey to the West, and even received admiring glances from the two little customers. He couldn't hide his pride any longer, and tonight he would go home and tell his child's mother that his craftsmanship had improved again.
…
Seeing that the two children were walking around excitedly for a long time and showed no sign of stopping, Cheng Jiu stopped in front of a restaurant.
"Go follow them, and bring them here when they've had enough fun."
Two of the guards answered, "Yes," and followed the team in front.
Cheng Jiu took a look and then took Xue Chong and Xue Yan into the Huicui Building next door.
Cheng Ye and his group came to the stage where the acrobatics were being performed. An Chixu said excitedly, "That girl is standing so high up. Isn't she afraid of falling? Wow! She stacked the bowls so high and they didn't fall down..."
Cheng Ye was more interested in the funny monkey, which actually stood up and tossed three balls around, and seemed to be doing it very easily. It also made faces at the audience from time to time, making everyone laugh.
Seeing that everyone was throwing money to it, Cheng Ye also opened his small purse and threw a piece of silver to it. The big silver fell at his feet and successfully made the little monkey grin at him with a half-smile.
After a round of performances, An Chixu pulled Cheng Ye out of the crowd, but just as they were out of the crowd, they were hit hard from behind.
"oops!"
"oops!"
Cheng Ye stumbled forward a few steps, and before he could react, the other party started shouting, "Who is so blind as to dare to bump into me?"
As soon as he finished shouting, he recognized An Chixu among the two people in front of him, and was so scared that he quickly saluted.
After An Chixu helped Cheng Ye steady, he looked at the person who bumped into someone and was still yelling "little master". It turned out to be Zhao Si from Cheng'en Marquis Mansion. So he laughed and said: "Who are you calling blind? Zhao Si, it was obviously you who bumped into me, and you are the first to complain." He turned to the man in dark blue brocade clothes next to Zhao Si and said: "Third brother, why don't you restrain yourself?
If you bump into someone you shouldn't one day, don't let your Third Brother get involved. After all, everyone knows Zhao Si is his son-in-law."
The Third Prince, An Chiyan, was eleven years old this year. He had gone out of the palace today under the pretext of celebrating the birthday of Lord Cheng'en. Unexpectedly, he ran into an acquaintance here. Lord Cheng'en was the Third Prince's grandfather and Concubine Lan's biological father.
An Chiyan was a little surprised to see An Chixu, but soon she was annoyed by what An Chixu said and said, "Fifth brother, you should use evidence when you speak. You said it was Zhao Si who bumped into you, but I said it was the short guy next to you who bumped into you."
An Chixu: "Third brother's ability to tell lies with open eyes is still as outstanding as ever. People who don't know him would think that he is a writer for the book pavilion. We were walking in front and you came out from behind. How could we bump into you? What? You are blind and you blame others for being blind behind your back. Aren't you afraid of being laughed to death?" The title of the little bully in the palace is not false. After An Chixu was six years old, he rarely lost in the daily "chat" with his brothers and sisters.
"You!" An Chiyan said fiercely, "Fifth brother is the same, still so sharp-tongued."
He glanced at Cheng Ye, who looked up arrogantly, and said, "Who are you? You don't even show respect to this prince when you see him!"
Cheng Ye blinked, thought about it, and finally bowed to An Chiyan.
An Chixu pulled Cheng Ye and said, "This is outside the palace, don't show off here. Besides, even if cousin Ye doesn't salute you, what can you do? I advise my third brother to take it easy, study hard and read more, so as not to lose sight of your own weight."
After saying that, he pulled Cheng Ye away, completely ignoring the other person's angry expression.
Xiao Taozi, who witnessed everything, kept it all in mind.
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