"Your Highness, you treat Jing'er so well, but what about me?" Jiaming clutched her handkerchief, looking as if she was about to cry.
Fourth Master narrowed his eyes, a smile flashing across them, then feigned confusion and said, "What's so pitiful about Ming'er? You're a good cook, you can make whatever you want to eat, that's great!"
Jiaming was speechless. "Master, can't you cooperate with your concubine for a moment?"
Fourth Master, still puzzled, said, "They've already cooperated!"
Jiaming: "..." This wasn't the kind of cooperation she wanted, was it? What she wanted was for her to be on the verge of tears, and for the master to feel sorry for her...
"Oh, you want me to play the chivalrous role?" Fourth Master seemed to have guessed Jiaming's thoughts.
Jiaming nodded.
Fourth Master glanced at Jiaming and said indifferently, "This won't do. If I pity you, who will cook for me?"
Jiaming was speechless. "It's just acting?"
Fourth Master: "I'm afraid you'll take it seriously."
Jiaming was furious and glared angrily at Fourth Master with great audacity.
Fourth Master didn't take it to heart, but he still changed the subject to prevent Guarjia from doing anything even more audacious later.
For example, it would be bad if they stopped cooking for me!
"You've trained the people from Peach Blossom Courtyard quite well?"
Jiaming looked at Fourth Master, puzzled. "Hasn't it always been like this?" The people in her Peach Courtyard have never changed, they've always been like this. Why didn't you praise them before? Why are you praising them now? It's so strange!
Fourth Master glanced at Jiaming before saying, "When you first started playing the guzheng, their expressions weren't so calm. Although you've made significant progress, it still doesn't sound good."
Jiaming understood immediately and smiled.
When Fourth Master saw Jiaming smile, he assumed it was because of his praise, that she was happy to see him praising her for her ability to train servants.
But after Jiaming said something, he was stunned.
"It's not that my servants trained me well, but rather that they used some methods to prevent my noisy zither playing from disturbing my ears."
Coming to his senses, Fourth Master subconsciously looked at Green Willow and the others. Upon closer inspection, he finally noticed something amiss with their ears; it seemed as if something was plugging them.
Upon noticing the subtle change in Fourth Master's expression, Jiaming immediately understood, "I didn't expect you to find out so quickly, Your Highness."
Fourth Master was not pleased with himself either, and said calmly, "With a little careful observation, one can discover it."
"Your observation skills are truly remarkable, my lord!" Jiaming said, "Since you've discovered it, let me introduce it to you!"
Fourth Master didn't actually need Jiaming's introduction; after seeing the general appearance and purpose of the object, he basically understood.
Sure enough, Jiaming began to introduce "earplugs".
Just then, a childish voice came from over, "Mother, Father is here, where is Father?" Along with the voice came a round ball that rolled over quickly.
The ball rolled very close before stopping, revealing a three-headed figure dressed in thick clothing, Little Hongjing. Upon seeing his father, as the servants had reported, Little Hongjing was overjoyed. He immediately called out "Father" to Fourth Master in his childish voice and rushed over.
Fourth Master picked up Hongjing, and the father and son began to talk.
It was Fourth Master asking Hongjing what he had been doing these past few days. The question-and-answer session between father and son was quite normal. But the adult was holding the child and patting his head from time to time. The child, unfazed by the adult's stern, expressionless face, affectionately wrapped his chubby little arms around the other's neck. The scene and atmosphere were heartwarming.
However, Jiaming felt a little too warm and cozy, and kept muttering to herself, "Hongjing is such a little traitor. Humph, he plays with him every day, teaches him to read and takes care of him, but as soon as he sees his father, he forgets about her."
The little traitor, Xiao Hongjing, still didn't even glance at his mother, continuing to talk to his father.
“Father, you know, watching Mother play the zither, Mother plays it every day.”
Fourth Master patted the little guy's fluffy head and said gently, "Yes, Jing'er did well, keep going."
"Okay!" the little guy happily agreed. Then, he added, "It sounded bad at first, but it didn't sound bad later."
When Fourth Master heard what the little one meant by "not bad," he smiled and glanced at Jiaming, saying, "Yes, your mother's guzheng playing is indeed not bad."
Jiaming immediately realized that Fourth Master was teasing her! Humph, did she think she didn't know that when Hongxuan said it wasn't unpleasant to hear, he didn't mean it was unpleasant; he just meant that it wasn't unpleasant because it couldn't be heard?
However, feeling a pang of jealousy, she said that she had no idea, and humphed, she would just take that as the original intention!
Thinking about it, she glanced at the little guy who was chattering away to his father, completely forgetting about her and not giving her a second glance, and his ears. Then she looked at the Fourth Master who had been smiling and teasing her earlier, and a malicious glint appeared in her eyes.
"Oh my, I never expected my guzheng playing to improve so much! It doesn't even sound bad anymore!" Jiaming exclaimed happily, then excitedly suggested to Fourth Master and Hongjing, "But I'm still a little unsure. Let me play it again, and you can listen and see if I've really improved."
Upon hearing this, Fourth Master and his son Hongjing were stunned. After regaining their senses, they exchanged a glance and then turned their gaze to Jiaming (his mother).
At this moment, Jiaming was beckoning to Lvliu, asking her to bring the guzheng over again.
The expressions on Fourth Master's and Hongjing's faces changed instantly, and the father and son spoke at the same time.
"It's about time, time to get to the kitchen and get busy." Fourth Master's tone was indifferent, but he spoke quite quickly.
Hongjing blurted out, "Mother, no rush, are your earplugs in or not?"
Jiaming paused in her waving motion, her expression instantly stiffening. She slowly turned her head and glared at Hongjing. The Fourth Master's words had already passed her ears and gone from her mind, but Hongjing's words kept echoing in her head.
Jiaming said, somewhat annoyed, enunciating each word clearly: "No rush, are your earplugs in or not! You little rascal, you just said your mother's guzheng playing wasn't bad!"
That's a slap in the face, but why does it feel like it's her face that's being slapped, not the little brat's, or even the master's?
Thinking about this made her feel incredibly frustrated!
Fourth Master glanced at Hongjing, then at Jiaming's stiff face, and a smile appeared on his lips and in his eyes.
At this moment, Xiao Hongjing said with an innocent look, "Mother, it's not bad. It's just that I have earplugs and can't hear it. No, it really isn't bad."
Jiaming's stiff face suddenly contorted. This little rascal, he really doesn't know how to talk! He's much more annoying than his father's teasing.
Fourth Master looked at the innocent Hongjing, then at Jiaming whose face was contorted in a grimace. The curve of his lips and eyes widened, and his dark eyes were clearly filled with amusement.
Jiaming immediately noticed the obvious smile.
Suddenly, the object of her anger, the Fourth Master, was elevated to the level of Xiao Hongjing.
Hmph, father and son, they're both equally annoying. One of them innocently criticizes her, while the other always laughs at her.
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