Just after the Lantern Festival, Yin was preparing to begin his court duties, but on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, news arrived that the Crown Prince had been ordered to stay at home.
Qingyan was in a great mood, sitting cross-legged on the carpet, playing around with the children without any regard for their image.
None of the royal sisters-in-law were as uninhibited as Qingyan.
Su Lan and Su Zhu stood respectfully at the door, keeping watch for their master.
“Yiken’e, come here to your mother, come over here and your mother will give you bean paste!” Qingyan noticed that Yiken’e liked to crawl a lot and walked much less than Hutulifengshengzhalafen.
To help her son get proper exercise, she tried many methods, and finally decided to train Yikene herself.
Every afternoon, Qingyan would play with the children, with Yikene being the main focus.
The daily exercise was conducted according to the amount of activity discussed between Qingyan and Imperial Physician Yuan. After each exercise, Qingyan would prepare food that Yiken'e liked as a reward. For the first few days, Yiken'e would throw a tantrum and not cooperate with Qingyan's arrangements. In the end, Qingyan changed the reward after exercise to fruit puree from Hutuli Fengsheng Zhalafen.
Yiken'e's stubborn temper flared up, and she stubbornly twisted her little body, refusing to eat dinner. When Yin returned, Yiken'e hurriedly went to him to complain.
Yin first coaxed Yiken'e into having dinner, and then personally coaxed her to sleep.
Later that evening, Yin and Qingyan had a conversation in the study. Yin scolded Qingyan for not paying attention to his son's emotions and hurting Yiken's fragile little heart.
Qingyan saw Yiken grinning at her mother.
A few days ago, the struggle between the mother and son was resolved by satisfying Yiken'e's appetite, thus resolving a small misunderstanding between them.
Upon hearing what Qingyan said, Yiken'e quickly took off with his short legs and headed towards Qingyan's direction.
A bowl of fruit puree almost made Yiken cry for days. The sweet and cloying taste of the fruit puree was really not to his liking.
At the entrance, Yin stood backlit, watching his beloved wife and children playing inside the main hall.
Being in the government office was unpleasant, but returning home and hearing the sweet voices of the twins made me feel much lighter.
“Father…” Yiken’e looked up and saw Yin, stretched out her hands, and walked directly towards him. With steady little steps, she walked up to him step by step, hugged Yin’s legs with her little hands, and looked up with a happy smile.
Qingyan quickly got up from the carpet, turned around and saw a warm smile on Yin's face.
"You're back?" Qingyan asked softly.
Normally, Yin would not return until close to dinner time, so today was considered early.
"There's not much to do. I came back to see the two little ones." Yin was worried that Yiken'e was throwing another tantrum.
Qingyan smiled. Yiken'e valued reality highly, and once he had given him what he liked, the little guy was determined not to cause any trouble.
"I'm being a good girl!" Yiken said, covering her head with her hands, looking reluctant.
Yin glanced at him sideways, and Yiken shrank back and shrugged.
"Fourth Brother, stop scaring Yiken'e." Qingyan couldn't bear to see her son being scolded, so she quickly addressed Yin.
Qingyan protected Yiken'e, and every time they made a fuss, the mother and son disliked each other even more.
"Change your clothes, let's go for a walk outside!" Yin liked to take his wife and children out to the street. The two children were confined to the courtyard and were very curious about the world outside the mansion. Sometimes, the two little ones would pester Qingyan to go out.
The twins clapped their hands and shouted, "Go out! Go out!"
Yin took his youngest daughter and prepared to take his children to change into their travel clothes.
Even though the weather is still not warm, the children have to be wrapped in thick onesies to go out. Despite feeling restricted by these layers, Yiken still hopes to go out.
"Master, should we take the Dragon Guards with us?" Su Peisheng asked Yin as Qingyan left.
The capital has been rather unsettled lately, with some unidentified individuals entering. Emperor Kangxi dispatched imperial guards to accompany the princes when they went out. Qingyan, focused on caring for the children, didn't want her to be stressed, so he secretly had someone follow her.
"Yes, don't let the Fujin see this." Yin glanced at Su Peisheng, then carried the children to the side room.
Qingyan changed into a light blue casual winter outfit and swapped her flowerpot-soled shoes for deerskin boots.
Later, the family of four sat in a carriage, preparing to head to the bustling market. Throughout the first month of the lunar calendar, people would stay at home peacefully, waiting for the spring of the following year before they would begin their busy work.
Qingyan looked at the fields on both sides of the road, which were now barren and no longer had the bustling scene of autumn.
"Little darling, I've had someone inform your father-in-law. We'll go out for a meal together in a bit!" Yin often found various excuses to bring Qingyan to meet with Fei Yanggu and his two sons.
Fortunately, there were only the two of them in the mansion. The palace maids sent by the concubines and princes were all sent by Yin to a remote corner of the mansion to fend for themselves, so as not to trouble the little guy.
"Okay!" Qingyan nodded. "However, have someone prepare an extra serving of mashed potatoes."
Forehead!
Yin booked a private room at the roast duck restaurant, but they don't serve mashed potatoes there.
"Is it roast duck?" Qingyan asked, turning her head quickly after not hearing Yin's reply for a long time.
Yin nodded, looking down at Yiken, who was gazing up at him.
"Yiken'e, what did you learn today?" Qingyan often tells the children interesting little stories, and as the stories unfold, she teaches them some knowledge, such as mathematics.
"Multiplication table." Qingyan discovered that the twins were very sensitive to numbers, so she started letting them get involved in arithmetic from a young age.
He glanced at her in surprise, wondering if he had been pushing her too hard.
“The children love it.” She was also surprised, as Ikene would ask about the following formula every day.
Yin patted Yiken'e's little head and asked, "Does Yiken'e like it?"
Yiken'e nodded and said, "Father, Yiken'e likes it!"
Now, Yiken'e can say more and more, and Qingyan has gradually begun to set rules for Yiken'e's speech.
Yin nodded in satisfaction. Yiken'e had learned quite a bit. During the New Year, the Crown Prince's words struck a nerve with Yin. Although Yiken'e was young, he had already reached the age where people would find fault with him.
Royal children start competing as soon as they can speak. In ordinary families, if such a young child makes a mistake, it's simply because the child is still young. But if a royal child makes the same mistake, it will bring shame to the royal family.
“Father, Yiken’e wants to eat bean paste!” Yiken’e gradually got used to the way she spoke and would often make her requests to Qingyan.
“Yiken, let’s have roast duck. They don’t have bean paste over there, but they have yam paste. Is that okay?” Yin looked at Qingyan, wondering if they could use it.
"Using a little less should be fine, right?" Qingyan wasn't sure either; the strawberry jam and yam puree was a signature dish of the roast duck restaurant.
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