"Ouch!" Green Willow, who was suddenly bumped into, hurriedly protected the tray that was about to fall.
"Feel sorry!"
She felt a gust of wind pass by, followed by a familiar voice reaching Green Willow's ears. Still a little annoyed from being bumped, she immediately shifted her attention. After she picked up the tray again, she looked up and saw that the running figure was clearly Little Hezi.
With a sudden jolt, her heart leaped into her throat. All the anger from being hit vanished, replaced by a heart full of worry fueled by her own imagination—something was wrong with Xiao Hezi; had something terrible happened to him?
Jiaming, who had just put her child to sleep in the main room of Taoyuan, suddenly sensed something and looked up through the screen at the entrance.
Sure enough, after a short while, she saw Xiao Hezi, whose clothes were somewhat disheveled, appear at the doorway through the screen.
Xiao Hezi is acting strange, what's wrong with him?
Just as they were wondering, they suddenly heard Xiao Hezi's hurried and panting voice, "Master!"
Just as Jiaming was about to answer, she noticed that Xiao Hezi had rudely rushed in, but when he turned the corner of the screen, he bumped into its edge because he was in such a hurry.
"What's the rush? Luckily it's just a light screen, not some big, sharp object, otherwise you'd be in real trouble," Jiaming said disapprovingly to Xiao Hezi.
Hongtao, who was standing to the side, also looked at Xiao Hezi with disapproval. Of course, she was afraid that Xiao Hezi's movements would be too loud and wake up the young prince who had just fallen asleep.
However, both Jiaming and Xiao Hezi, the master and servant, ignored Hongtao's disapproving look. Xiao Hezi was preoccupied with something on his mind, while Jiaming knew that with her by her side and her familiar scent, Xiao Hezi was sure he was still sleeping soundly.
Moreover, for some reason, after her postpartum period, Jiaming found that her emotions had returned to normal and she was no longer as easily agitated by external factors as before.
Therefore, she was able to calmly continue talking to Xiao Hezi, saying, "No matter how bad things are, there's no need to rush. Look at you, your face is all red from worry."
He Zi, panting and wiping away sweat, paused, “…”
Noticing Xiao Hezi wiping his sweat, Jiaming continued, "Oh, look at you, you're sweating even in this cold weather. Come on, take a break, don't rush to speak, stay calm, solving problems requires composure."
"Oh no, Master..." Xiao Hezi, who was in a hurry to explain, was suddenly interrupted by his panting.
Jiaming disagreed, saying, "What do you mean 'no'? It means 'no rush.' Look at you, you're panting heavily from running so much, you can't even speak clearly."
Panting, Xiao He wanted to explain, but he was too weak to do so, and could only look at Jia Ming speechlessly. At the same time, he thought to himself, "Forget it, I'll explain after I catch my breath. Let the master misunderstand."
By the way, why does Red Peach look so pale? What's wrong with her?
His thoughts lingered on the red peach, and then, feeling his breathing calm down enough to allow him to speak smoothly, Xiao Hezi immediately said, "Master, your younger brother, Prince Guarjia, passed the imperial examination, ranking seventh. It's not the bad thing you think it is."
As for the second half of the explanation, seeing his master suddenly stand up after hearing the first half of his sentence, Xiao Hezi couldn't help but lower his voice. He suspected that his master hadn't really listened to the second half of his sentence at all.
Xiao Hezi was right. Jiaming's attention was focused on the first half of the sentence. She was so surprised and couldn't help but ask again, "Jiaheng passed! He passed the imperial examination and ranked seventh?"
Hongtao, who was standing nearby and was afraid that the conversation would disturb the young prince, stopped looking sullen when she heard the good news and also showed a happy expression.
Before Jiaming could react, she realized what was happening first, exclaiming, "Congratulations, Master!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Hezi immediately realized what was happening and hurriedly congratulated her, saying, "Congratulations, Master!" In his heart, he reflected that he was the first to learn that his master's brother had achieved good results in the imperial examination, and he was always quicker to react than the not-so-bright Hongtao. He should have been the first to congratulate his master, so his slow reaction now was somewhat inappropriate.
Jiaming, who had just received the congratulations, immediately realized what was happening and tried to suppress her uncontrollable grin. Of course, it didn't work very well; her mouth was still wide open, just not as wide as when she had consciously tried to suppress it.
"Hehe, this is indeed great news. Seventh place is a very good result. If nothing unexpected happens, after the palace examination, Jiaheng will definitely be among the top three in the first class, or at least among the top in the second class."
That makes sense, and Xiao Hezi and Hongtao beside him nodded in agreement.
Jiaming, who was still feeling pleased with herself, suddenly remembered something. "Hmm, Xiao Hezi, Hongtao, could you help me prepare some congratulatory gifts to send to my younger brother? Oh, and please also pass on a message to him: don't get too cocky before the palace examination, and be careful, in case he gets schemed against by those jealous people and fails the examination..."
Jiaming was talking non-stop when suddenly, the sound of a baby crying came from behind her.
The originally joyous atmosphere was instantly shattered by her incessant chatter. Everyone in the room immediately realized that they had forgotten about the little one and that their loud talking had woken her up.
Jiaming quickly suppressed her joy and worry for her younger brother, turned around, bent down and picked up her second son Hongjing, who was crying with his mouth open but his eyes closed as if he was searching for something, from the warm bed. She then held him and rocked him while gently coaxing him, "It's alright, don't cry, Mother is right here with you."
Xiao Hongjing immediately stopped crying.
The little girl's name was given to her by Fourth Master himself on the night of the full moon, when he stayed overnight at Jiaming's place. Thus, from that night on, the little girl had a formal name—Hongjing.
Seeing that the young prince had stopped crying, Hongtao, who was standing nearby, immediately smiled and said, "It seems that the young prince can understand what you are saying, Master."
Jiaming shook her head. "You're overthinking it. He just stopped crying because he felt the familiar presence of me as his mother."
Knowing that her master was right, Hongtao immediately smiled sheepishly.
Jiaming wasn't paying attention to Hongtao; her attention was now focused on Xiao Hongjing.
The little guy doesn't resemble the Fourth Prince as much as Hongxuan; he's probably seven parts like the Fourth Prince and three parts like himself.
She tapped Xiao Hongjing's little nose, which resembled her own, and said affectionately, "Crybaby, no wonder I thought you were a girl. Only girls cry so much."
Compared to his older brother Hongxuan, who always has a warm smile, little Hongjing is indeed more prone to crying. But Hongxuan is different; he is not an ordinary child. Compared to ordinary little children, little Hongjing is not prone to crying at all.
Moreover, the reason why the Fourth Prince thought that Xiao Hongjing was a girl was because Jiaming, who was his mother, liked to eat the vegetarian meat she made during her pregnancy, but it was not real "meat" but vegetarian food.
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