Jiaming, who had returned to Peach Garden in a display of great prowess, quickly put the incident that had occurred during her greetings out of her mind.
She didn't care, but the people around her did.
Those who hadn't gone with her to the main courtyard to pay their respects immediately pressed Green Willow, who had gone with her, to tell her what had happened that day.
Upon hearing how Master Li provoked the master and was then reprimanded by the Fujin, and how their own master displayed great power by intensifying Master Li's punishment, a series of exclamations of surprise rippled through the crowd.
Jiaming let these people chatter on, as if she hadn't heard a thing.
She and Hongjing sat together on the mat, playing with toys and teaching him to look at the little pictures...
Time passed slowly, and Jiaming's days were peaceful and quiet. She took care of the flowers, trees and plants in her yard, and her youngest son, Hongjing. As for the affairs of her own yard, nothing major happened, and she had her own established system to operate and manage them.
Two days later, it was Hongxuan's day off.
However, he had something to do in the morning, so he didn't return to Peach Garden until after lunchtime, when he came back from the front yard.
Jiaming gestured to Hongtao to bring out the pastries she had made herself. After pouring tea for Hongtao, she poured herself a cup of tea and then they ate pastries and drank tea together and started chatting.
After asking about his recent life and studies, she gestured to Hongtao and the maid to go out and guard the door. Once she and Hongxuan were alone in the room, she asked him, "Why were you punished by your father?"
Because of the reason why Hongxuan was punished and the matter was suppressed by the master, Jiaming was careful to keep it a secret when she asked Hongxuan.
She knew she couldn't reveal the reason.
Hongxuan calmly swallowed the pastry in his mouth and took a sip of tea. Seeing that only he and his mother were left in the room, he did not hide anything and answered very frankly, "It's nothing, I just taught my third brother a little lesson."
Jiaming: "..." It was because of this!
Hongxuan snorted and continued, "Who told him to be so arrogant and ignore his younger brother? This is my way of teaching him to be a good older brother. It's not good for a younger brother to be disrespectful to his elder brother."
Jiaming: "..." Xuan'er has inherited his master's petty nature.
"Mother, why aren't you saying anything?" Hongxuan looked at Jiaming and asked somewhat cautiously, "Don't you think your son is too vindictive?"
Jiaming didn't answer Hongxuan, but instead asked, "You didn't go too far, did you?"
Hongxuan shook his head. "My son knows what he's doing. After all, he's my son's third brother, and he didn't really do anything to his younger brother. So, he just teased him a little and made him lose face in front of the teacher and Haha Zhuzi."
Jiaming asked with some concern, "Does your third brother know that you were the one who did it?"
"I don't know." Hongxuan said confidently, "Mother, don't worry. Apart from Father, only Teacher Wu, who teaches, can probably guess. Third Brother and Mother Li will just think it was an accident and won't think it's my fault."
“In that case, your mother doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with what you did.” Jiaming praised, “Actually, your mother is also quite angry, but he is a prince and so young. Your mother is not your legal mother, so it’s not appropriate for me to discipline him. Your protective behavior towards your younger brother is excellent. This action has won your mother’s heart.”
Hongxuan immediately smiled.
Ke Jiaming was still unhappy and complained, "What's wrong with your father? It was clearly your third brother's fault. You were just protecting your younger brother and getting a little revenge. How can you be punished?"
Hongxuan, however, did not complain about the Fourth Master at all. Instead, he said as a matter of course, "On the day Father returned, he had already taken charge for his younger brother and punished the Third Brother."
Jiaming was still somewhat unhappy after hearing this.
Hongxuan continued to chuckle and persuade, "Mother, it's alright. Father's punishment wasn't really a punishment at all. Don't you know that I learn quickly? I've already learned what needs to be copied, and I have good wrist strength, so copying it three hundred times is just homework assigned within the scope of my normal calligraphy practice."
Jiaming knew this too, but she was still unhappy that the Fourth Master used the excuse of punishing Hongxuan to assign homework. She snorted coldly, clearly still displeased.
“Mother, after all, I did lay a hand on my elder brother. This is the same as my third brother treating his younger brother badly. Father is right to punish me. Besides, compared to how Father punished my third brother, he has already gone easy on me.”
Jiaming's complexion improved considerably.
At the same time, what Hongxuan couldn't have imagined, she was now thinking about even more.
Fourth Master said he was punishing his son, but it was really just to shut him up and seize the initiative.
After all, actions leave traces; it's just a matter of whether they can be found.
Although the Fourth Prince had gone to great lengths to keep it a secret, there was always a chance of something going wrong. If it were discovered, it wouldn't necessarily mean Li Shi and the Third Prince. The son's little tricks towards his elder brother, the Third Prince, could very well be exploited and used to make a big fuss.
That would have put us in a passive position, and the punishment then would never have been so lenient.
Now that things are fine, the punishment has been carried out, which means it's out in the open. Even if it's discovered in the worst-case scenario, Li Shi will just hate her and the two children even more.
The mother and son stopped talking about this topic and moved on to other things.
This time, it was Jiaming's turn to tell Hongxuan about Taoyuan. Every now and then, Hongxuan, who was listening attentively while eating snacks and drinking tea, would ask questions if he wanted to know more about a certain point, and Jiaming would answer accordingly.
After the mother and son talked for a while, Xiao Hongjing woke up.
Immediately, the two stopped talking. Jiaming remained seated without moving, while Hongxuan jumped up and went straight to hug his younger brother who was being held by the wet nurse.
Then she quickly picked him up. Little Hongjing, who had just gotten up and was still a little drowsy, immediately woke up as soon as he was in "Guoguo's" arms.
"Guoguo!" The little guy was very happy to see his older brother Hongxuan. After calling out, he put one chubby little arm around Hongxuan's neck, brought his little mouth close to Hongxuan's cheek, and kissed him.
Hongxuan was overjoyed and returned the kiss to his younger brother Hongjing, whose face was as tender as tofu.
Soon, the two brothers sat together on the mat and started playing around.
Watching the two brothers having fun, and thinking about some things that still needed to be dealt with at her own estate, Jiaming walked away with peace of mind.
Jiaming was quick to handle things; in just one hour, she had arranged and resolved everything.
Even so, she still found it troublesome. If she could just leave it to Hongxuan to handle, like accounting, she would be even better.
Thinking of this, Jiaming's eyes flashed, and she felt that this seemed like a good idea.
In the evening, during dinner, Hongxuan found the food tasted even better, especially the vegetarian dishes. Even the dishes made with vegetables tasted more delicious.
"Mother, tonight's dinner doesn't taste like what you made, but it tastes much better than before. Has the chef in the small kitchen improved his skills?"
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