Chapter 63 Striving for Success and Face Cheng Yexing entered the West Garden through the side gate and...
Cheng Yexing entered the West Garden through a side gate and parted ways with his mother, Lady Xitala. He was led to the front gate by a young eunuch from the gatehouse, and then another eunuch came to escort him inside. Cheng Yexing kept a straight face, determined not to let anyone see his fear. Once inside, he immediately knelt down with great fanfare and said in a booming voice, "This servant Cheng Yexing greets His Majesty."
Yinreng said, "Rise," and then said, "We're all family, no need for such formalities."
Cheng Yexing was about to get up when these words knocked him to the ground. "This servant dares not. This servant is always ready to serve his master."
Yinreng nodded almost imperceptibly and smiled, "Alright, alright, get up."
Cheng Yexing then dared to stand up, but since Yinreng had not given any orders, he did not dare to sit down and just stood there with his hands at his sides, waiting for instructions.
Seeing that his skin was slightly dark, his face was thin, and he looked somewhat stern, Yinreng asked him, "I heard you work in the police force?"
"Yes, this servant is on duty at a patrol post under the police battalion, responsible for patrolling the streets inside and outside Chaoyang Gate in the east of the city," Cheng Yexing replied.
Yinreng then said, "The sun is strong right now, no wonder people get so tanned from patrolling outside for so long."
Cheng Yexing raised the back of his hand and rubbed his chin, grinning as he replied, "Replying to Master, this servant is thin and dark-skinned due to two reasons: firstly, from being exposed to the sun, and secondly, from practicing martial arts. For the past two years, this servant has been diligently practicing riding and archery at home, hence the thin physique and dark yellow skin."
"Oh?" Yinreng suddenly became interested, wanting to see if he was telling the truth. "Would you like to come with me to run around in the garden?"
Cheng Yexing knelt down again without stopping and answered loudly, "This servant obeys."
The western side of the West Garden was a long, narrow strip running north to south, with a flat and wide road in the middle. A stable was located at the northernmost end of the western side. Yinreng and Cheng Xingye each rode in a sedan chair there, and then picked out horses at the stable. Yinreng then asked Cheng Xingye, "Which horse in this stable do you think is the best?"
Cheng Yexing looked at each horse one by one, then walked to a pure black horse and examined it carefully before saying, "This servant dares to say that this horse is the best."
"Why?" Yinreng asked.
Cheng Yexing said, "This servant sees that this horse's limbs are more robust than the others, and its hooves are large, so I think its speed and endurance must be quite good."
Yinreng was quite satisfied with his answer and began to speak of his horse classics: "A high forehead and a sun-like head, hooves like piled-up grains of rice. This is a good horse."
Cheng Xingye said, "Master is very learned; this servant is ashamed of his own inferiority."
Yinreng chuckled twice, "Since you say it's good, then ride it." He then ordered someone to bring over his Chasing Sun.
And so, the two men, each on their own horse, began to race, running from the northernmost point to the southernmost point, repeating this three or four times before stopping. Once Yinreng dismounted, he realized that Cheng Yexing hadn't been bluffing him earlier; the fact that he could keep up with him for three steps without falling behind showed he had some skill.
Cheng Yexing dismounted, his face covered in sweat from the sun, but he didn't wipe it away. He said in a deep voice, "This servant only has two horses at home. If we want to ride, we can only go to the countryside and fields. Thanks to Master, this servant can finally ride a good horse today."
Yinreng casually pointed to a young eunuch who brought him a handkerchief. He wiped his face and then asked, "What other skills do you have?"
Cheng Yexing knew that this was a deliberate consideration by his master, and he was eager to use all his skills, so he said, "This servant has been practicing for two years and can hit the bullseye with an arrow from eighty paces away."
Upon hearing this, Yinreng immediately ordered someone to bring bows and arrows and set up targets. Cheng Yexing took eighty steps to stand still, then pulled back several good bows that were brought to him one by one, finally choosing one with arm strength similar to his usual training strength. He then nocked an arrow, drew the bow, calmed his mind, and shot the arrow.
Soon, the servant guarding the target shouted, "Bullet hit!" Cheng Yexing breathed a sigh of relief, and a hint of pride appeared on his face.
Yinreng clapped his hands twice and said, "Not bad."
Cheng Yexing immediately bowed and said, "Throughout history, there have been many talented and extraordinary people. This servant is unworthy of such praise."
Yinreng told him to get up and said in a deep voice, "With your abilities, it's a waste of your talent to be in the patrol camp."
Cheng Yexing hurriedly replied, "This servant begs for your grace, Master." Although he was kneeling, he boldly raised his head, revealing a pair of bright and piercing eyes. "This servant is willing to be sent to serve the Great Qing Dynasty."
Yinreng thought he was asking for a favor and a promotion, but he didn't expect him to want to be transferred to a post outside the capital. Did he want to make a name for himself through his own abilities? Yinreng smiled with satisfaction. He liked people with such ambition. However, he still said, "War is not just about brute force."
"Yes," Cheng Yexing said. "This servant will definitely study military strategy diligently after returning home."
Yinreng nodded and said, "You're very thoughtful."
Just then, Lin Quan'an strode over from a distance, followed by a young eunuch carrying an umbrella. Reaching a few steps in front of them, Lin Quan'an bowed and said, "Greetings to Your Highness. Master Cheng heard that you and your uncle were riding horses and were worried about the heat, so he instructed me to bring you an umbrella."
Yinreng took out a pocket watch from his pocket and looked at it: "I didn't expect it to be this late." Then he said to Cheng Yexing: "Your Master Cheng must be getting impatient."
After tidying up a bit, the two arrived at Donglizhai, where a meal had already been prepared for them as they approached.
At the dinner table, Cheng Qianyue was particularly happy, constantly serving food to Yinreng and Xitala, and urging Cheng Yexing to eat more. Because Yinreng was at the table, Xitala and Cheng Yexing were unsure whether to kneel down to express their gratitude, but they breathed a sigh of relief when Yinreng said there was no need for such formalities.
After the meal, Yinreng left to have a good talk with the family.
Cheng Qianyue looked at Cheng Yexing and said, "Mother was right. I almost didn't recognize my brother when he came in." Before, although her brother wasn't as fair as mutton fat jade, he was still yellowish-white. Who knew he would be so dark now? But it wasn't pure black; it was more like a deep bronze color. Moreover, his face was thinner than before, and his figure seemed to be a bit more robust, making him look like a handsome man.
Cheng Yexing touched his face: "Is it really that dark? The Crown Prince just said so, and now you're saying the same thing."
Cheng Qianyue laughed and said, "You can't even say anything about getting darker? But it's good to be darker, it makes you look thinner."
When Cheng Yexing saw that Cheng Qianyue was talking to him the same way as before, the slight sense of distance in his heart dissipated, and he laughed and said, "I just learned it from practicing martial arts."
Hitara, standing nearby, added, “Your brother is much more motivated than before. When he comes back from his shift, he doesn’t complain about being tired. He practices boxing and horse stance in the yard for an hour at a time. When he’s not on duty, he runs to the fields, saying he wants to practice riding and archery. He even set up a lot of straw targets in the open space where the tenant farmers are threshing rice.”
Cheng Qianyue was quite surprised, as it was the first time she had heard of her brother working so hard.
Cheng Yexing said, "Don't listen to Mother's nonsense. I've always been very ambitious. Although I got into the police station through connections, I still trained with a master for many years before I went in. Besides, I can't slack off once I'm in the police station. In addition, I did this because I wanted to advance further."
“That’s true,” Cheng Qianyue nodded, then casually changed the subject: “I guess the Third Prince will be waking up from his afternoon nap soon. I’ll have someone bring him over for you to see. You haven’t met your nephew yet.”
Before long, the sleepy-eyed Third Prince was brought over by the wet nurse. Cheng Yexing gestured with his arm but didn't dare to touch him. In the end, he only patted the prince's head. "Oh my, look how well my eldest nephew has grown up." He said and laughed, revealing his gap-toothed smile.
Hitara scolded him with a stern face: "You have no manners. This is your young master."
Cheng Yexing readily agreed with Xitala's words, saying, "Yes, you are the little master born to our family by our little aunt. If I want to call you nephew, I'll have to wait until I make something of myself."
This remark itself wasn't anything special, but Cheng Qianyue suddenly found herself thinking about what happened at yesterday's first birthday banquet. Her throat tightened, and the smile on her face slowly faded. Seeing this, Xitala and Cheng Yexing's expressions also lowered.
Cheng Qianyue asked softly, "Are you blaming me? Blaming me for not inviting you to my Third Prince's first birthday banquet?" She pursed her lips and said, "It's not that I didn't want to, but..."
“I understand, I know.” Cheng Yexing said seriously, “I heard that many princes and nobles came to the Third Prince’s first birthday banquet. What are we doing here?” He paused, lowered his head and said, “We will only embarrass you and the young master if we come here.”
Hearing him say that, Cheng Qianyue's eyes immediately welled up with tears. When she looked up again, she noticed that Xitala's eyes were also red. She wondered if she had made a mistake by not calling them yesterday.
Cheng Yexing hadn't expected that his few words would make his mother and sister cry. He quickly apologized, "Look at my mouth! I deserve a slap." He pretended to slap himself twice, then sighed and said in a deep voice, "It's a blessing that our family produced someone like you. But I don't want people to only know that our family produced a Crown Princess. I have to earn some face, not only for our family but also for myself."
Hitara took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and said angrily, "Who's stopping you from being ambitious? But making your sister cry is unacceptable. If you don't watch your mouth next time, I'll beat you up."
"Alright, then I'll just slap myself a couple more times," Cheng Yexing said, raising his hand again.
Just then, the Third Prince, who was in Cheng Qianyue's arms, cried out twice and reached out to him. Cheng Yexing immediately said, "Oh dear, look, the young master wants me to hold him." He got up and went over, only to have the Third Prince slap him across the face.
Cheng Qianyue: ......
Cheng Yexing: ......
Hitara immediately smiled and said, "That's right."
Cheng Yexing said, "He's so young and he already knows how to stand up for his mother. No wonder he's the young master."
After their playful banter, Cheng Qianyue stopped crying. The family then sat and talked for a while longer until the sun began to set, and Cheng Qianyue knew it was time for them to leave. However, she was reluctant to let them go and wanted them to stay another day, but Xitala refused.
“Don’t forget your dad’s still at home,” she said.
Cheng Qianyue had no choice but to have someone move the prepared items to the doorway. She had instructed someone to prepare a carriage to take them back early that morning. Then, Xitala and Cheng Yexing slowly left under Cheng Qianyue's reluctant gaze.
After returning to the room, Cheng Qianyue suddenly felt a sense of peace and quiet. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked around the room, then noticed a small box on the table on the couch. This box had also been brought by Xitala, but she hadn't had a chance to open it yet. Picking it up, she found a gold-plated jade ruyi inside.
Cheng Qianyue stared blankly at the object, thinking that such a jade ruyi must have cost the Cheng family at least half a year's rent. She touched it, thinking of how the Eighth Prince's wife had openly and subtly implied her lowliness at yesterday's banquet, and then of Cheng Yexing saying that they didn't want to embarrass her and the Third Prince.
......
Cheng Qianyue waved her hand, telling everyone in the room to leave, and then she couldn't hold back any longer and covered her mouth to cry.
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Author's Note: Breaking news! We've reached chapter 450,000, and Yinreng has ascended the throne! Hehe!
I've been trying my best to do 6 days a week, but because I need to organize the plot lines and I'm feeling a bit irritable and depressed due to my period, the progress isn't great, cough cough...
But I'll keep writing! Double updates next month too! [Starry eyes] As for the month after that, well... I can only say I'll try my best, I'll try my best! [doge]
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