Chapter 43
Two days after the turmoil subsided, Ling Huanchen and his party set off back to the palace. Ji Yunlou followed behind the carriage, riding a horse like the guards.
Ling Huanchen hadn't noticed it before he left, but once he finally set off, he suddenly missed the Palace of Youcheng. The moment he stepped into the Jade Luan Palace, he felt a sense of belonging, like he was home.
During his time out of the palace, some urgent matters were sent by secret guards via carrier pigeons for instructions, and ordinary memorials were given to Zuo Xiang and Yu Zhao for joint discussion.
After they entered the palace, Yu Xi went to Ziyi Palace to handle government affairs first, and Ling Huanchen arrived at the bedroom accompanied by Yun He and others.
"Meet the Master!"
The palace servants of Yuluan Palace knelt in front of the palace, shouting in unison, and even kowtowed in unison.
"Everyone, get up."
While not as close as he was to Yun He and Xiao Qi, they were all regular servants in Yu Luan Palace, and Ling Huanchen had long since treated them like his own, often exempting them from many formalities. These palace servants had never seen a master so kind, and despite the rumors circulating within the palace, they knew their master was a good person.
"Hurry up, hurry up, the master has spoken."
Xiao Qi waved her hand, and the palace servants all stood up. The smiles on their faces were real. After they stood up, they immediately dispersed. After a while, they served the new tea and freshly baked cakes.
Upon hearing the news, Nanny rushed over, carrying Qi Xian. After not seeing her for so many days, Ling Huanchen was overwhelmed with longing when he saw his daughter.
"Has Xian'er been crying these days?"
The nanny handed the child to Ling Huanchen and reported every detail. "The little princess cried several times, and I followed your instructions and brought her to your room to comfort her. And surprisingly, once she lay on your bed, she stopped crying in no time."
Ling Huanchen looked carefully at the child in his arms and pinched her waving hands. No matter how he looked at her, she seemed thinner than before she left the palace.
Qi Xian had been plump and white since she entered the palace, but now she has lost some weight.
"Are you not eating your milk properly?"
He seemed to be scolding the child, but in fact he was just teasing her. Qi Xian blinked her big eyes and just laughed foolishly.
"Daddy."
Hearing his daughter's words become clearer, Ling Huanchen felt an inexplicable throbbing in his heart.
"I teach the little princess to speak every day. Now she can say simple words, and these two are the best she says." The nanny looked at the two lovingly.
"Our Xian'er is awesome."
Ling Huanchen hooked the child's hand and played with her. The palace servants kept silent consciously. They knew that when Ling Huanchen was around, things like rattles were useless.
"Your Highness, the little princess' birthday is just a few days away."
When Ling Huanchen heard the nanny say this, he remembered that the child died in his previous life when he was less than one year old.
They came back just in time.
"Let the Sixth Department take full charge of the event and give our Xian'er a good first birthday."
Upon hearing this, the nanny thanked her profusely and said, "I will pass on the message right away."
Ling Huanchen gently rocked the doll in his arms, "Xian'er will definitely like this birthday party."
Xiao Qi immediately became excited when he heard there was a banquet. "I heard that children draw lots at birthday banquets. Let's draw lots for the little princess as well."
Yun He scolded lightly, "Stupid, that's the Hundred Days Banquet."
"Oh, I remembered it wrongly." Xiao Qi pursed his lips and dared not say a word.
Ling Huanchen thought for a moment, "Who says you can only draw lots at the Hundred Days Banquet? Xian'er missed the Hundred Days Banquet, so we can make it up to her at her birthday party. It's all for the sake of happiness and good luck."
"Leave it to me!" Xiao Qi volunteered. This kind of thing was what he was best at.
Ling Huanchen looked at Yunhe and said, "Ahe, please help with the purchase." He knew that Yunhe also liked Qi Xian, but was just too embarrassed to show it too obviously.
Yun He was stunned for a moment, then showed a hint of joy, "As you command."
Although Ling Huanchen was happy to be a father, he also experienced the subtleties of being a new father. He couldn't help but sigh that children grow up quickly and learn things quickly. Before the birthday party, he secretly taught Qi Xian to review two Chinese characters, hoping to give Yu Xi a surprise at the birthday party.
On the actual day, the entire court, civil and military officials, entered the palace, and the emperor and his ministers drank and chatted joyfully together in the Yougan Palace. Halfway through the birthday banquet, the actual birthday girl was brought up. Upon seeing Qi Xian, the usually solemn and serious officials' expressions softened, even a hint of kindness lingering in their glances.
The singing and dancing stopped, and a blanket was spread from the door to the front of the hall. The palace servants quickly put the things they had prepared in advance on it, in a disorderly order, and Qi Xian just took it at random.
Seeing Yu Xi nod, Fu Changshi signaled the nanny to put Qi Xian on the blanket. Qi Xian had made rapid progress in the palace during these days. She had not even learned to roll over before, but now she could crawl smoothly like an ordinary child.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the little baby, and Ling Huanchen also looked sideways curiously.
"Little princess, quickly choose something that suits you." Xiao Qidun whispered beside her.
Qi Xian crawled around on the blanket, seemingly addicted to the activity. She passed by books, hairpins, night-shining pearls, and other objects, but didn't catch any of them. She was not afraid of strangers, and ignored Xiao Qi's words. She kept crawling towards the front of the hall, suddenly stopping at the last row, grabbed something with her bare hands, and sat there laughing.
Ling Huanchen took a closer look and saw that she was holding a palm-sized peach wood sword.
The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment. Someone suddenly said, "The young princess will definitely be a master swordsman in the future. She will be a martial arts prodigy, a woman who is as good as a man!"
One person spoke up, and all the ministers followed suit, praising Qi Xian's action to the sky.
Ling Huanchen was naturally happy that his daughter was praised, but he also knew in his heart that even if Qi Xian had picked up a stone today, they would still praise her to great lengths, all for Yu Xi's sake.
Yunhe carried Qi Xian up, and Qi Xian still held her peach wood sword tightly.
"Do you really want to be a heroine?" Ling Huanchen pretended to snatch the peach wood sword from her hand.
Qi Xian, who had just refused to give it to anyone, gave it to Ling Huanchen without hesitation when she came to him.
Ling Huanchen fiddled with the small peach wood sword and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, would you like to hold Xian'er?"
Even after entering the palace for so long, Yu Xi has never really held her in her arms, so little Qi Xian is basically just a daughter in name only.
Facing Ling Huanchen's smile, Yu Xi couldn't say no. Even though her body was a little stiff, she still took little Qi Xian.
The little baby was so soft and tender that it would get hurt if you used even a little force. Yu Xi held the baby very carefully, as gently as he could.
This was the first time that the father and daughter had such close contact, and they both seemed to be uncomfortable with it.
Ling Huanchen saw her turning her head to look for him and deliberately didn't answer.
Qi Xian had nowhere to turn to, so she lay obediently in Yu Xi's arms and opened her mouth, "Father...King."
Yu Xi's already stiff arms froze completely. He looked up at Ling Huanchen, and saw his little mermaid smiling so beautifully. He also heard Qi Xian calling him "Father", and finally confirmed that he was not hallucinating.
"When you grow up, your father will personally teach you swordsmanship." Yu Xi made a serious promise to the child.
I don’t know if the little girl understood or not. This time she didn’t go looking for Ling Huanchen, but took the initiative to hold Yu Xi’s arm and laughed happily.
Yu Xi was no longer as stiff as before. Recalling the time when she took care of Yu Zhao when she was a child, the way she held her daughter became more and more skillful.
Yu Zhao couldn't sit still anymore, so he took a few steps forward and said bitterly, "Xian'er can already call you 'brother king' and 'father king', when will she be able to call me 'uncle king'?"
Yu Xi handed Qi Xian back to Yun He, "Why rush? Xian'er is so young, she has to learn step by step."
"I'm not saying anything, brother Wang, why did you change sides so quickly? You weren't like this before." Yu Zhao pretended to be sad. "Xian'er, you see, your father no longer loves me, your uncle, now that he has you. Why don't you call me uncle Wang and comfort me? As long as you call me uncle Wang, I will give you any gift, even the stars in the sky."
Yu Xi scolded him lightly, "You're not doing anything serious all day long."
Yu Zhao curled his lips and focused on amusing Qi Xian.
After sending the others away, Yu Xi stopped the palace servant and personally filled the two people's glasses with wine, "It's Xian'er's birthday. Huanchen and I will drink together."
Ling Huanchen didn't want to drink at first, but considering it was his daughter's birthday party, he drank it without hesitation. He drank more than one glass of wine. After drinking the fifth glass of wine, he felt his vision was a little blurry.
"I'm a little drunk." I can't drink anymore.
Yu Xi helped the man up, and after telling the chief attendant something, he helped him out of the hall through the side door and directly carried him onto the sedan chair.
Ling Huanchen was dizzy and only knew that he was carried back to the bedroom by Yu Xi again.
Just hold me, it’s not the first time I’ve been held in and out.
Just as he fell into the soft bedding, Yu Xi followed him. Unlike the past, this time Yu Xi did not quietly hold him to sleep, but made him unable to fall asleep.
First he was drunk, and then Yu Xi took his breath away. Ling Huanchen felt his brain go blank and he was unable to think.
After finally finding a chance, Ling Huanchen asked with difficulty, "Your Majesty, what are you doing..."
Yu Xi leaned over and whispered in his ear, "We'll have fun every night."
Ling Huanchen thought, wasn't this a line said by a storyteller?
But he didn't have time to think carefully, and was dragged into the downfall by Yu Xi.
It was already very late at night. The banquet in Yougan Palace had been over for a long time, but the noise in Yuluan Palace had not stopped.
"Your Majesty..."
"What's your name?"
"Little brother..."
The voices were replaced by other sounds and gradually faded into the deep night.
The next day, Ling Huanchen woke up at noon. He opened his mouth to call for help, but the sound he made made him give up the idea. He wanted to get out of bed by himself, but just as he moved, he stopped.
At this moment, the door creaked open a crack. Xiao Qi poked his head out, looked around, and tiptoed in. Seeing Ling Huanchen half-lying, half-sitting on the bed, he hurried over and said, "Master, you're awake. The king has instructed us not to disturb you before he goes to court."
Xiao Qi accidentally caught a glimpse of the marks on Ling Huanchen's neck, rolled his eyes, and immediately laughed, "Master, do you want to prepare some hot water?"
Ling Huanchen took one look at him and knew what was in his mind, but he really needed hot water this time.
His body was soothed in the hot water. Ling Huanchen closed his eyes and exhaled gently. He couldn't help but think of last night. He didn't know if it was because of the heat or something else, but his whole body turned pink, and his cheeks were especially rosy.
As expected, hidden beneath Yu Xi's frivolous appearance is something even more frivolous.
"Master, do you want more water?" Xiao Qi was guarding outside the door and asked close to the door.
Ling Huanchen coughed twice and managed to regain his voice, "No need for now. Hasn't the king left the court yet?"
"I heard that an envoy came to visit today. Yes, it's an envoy from Xiancheng, accompanied by the prince and princess of Xiancheng. I heard that the princess was sent here to discuss marriage with the prince."
The author has something to say:
Thank you "Bai Shiba" for the nutrient solution encouragement!
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