Since they were going to stay for two more days, Yinzuo was naturally very happy and couldn't wait to take his brother to go boating on Lake Taihu.
"Brother, let me tell you, although I really didn't want to go back at first, I later decided to go back because I was really short of money."
Yinzhen frowned slightly and asked him, "The Queen Mother said that you had a lot of silver on you, so it shouldn't have happened like this, but what happened during this time?"
"Although Jiangnan is a wealthy place, there are still bandits. After all, Shunfeng Shunshui and I are few in number and weak in strength. When we encounter a situation where the strength is very different from ours, we have no choice but to give up some money in exchange for safety. But don't worry, brother, I am doing well."
"How good can it be? Can't you write me a letter when you have no money? No wonder you look much thinner today." Yinzhen began to feel distressed.
"Although I look a little thinner, I have gained muscles and am very strong. I am almost twenty years old. How can I let you worry about me everywhere? I am not a child. It is so embarrassing to go home crying.
Later, I learned stone carving from a master who lived in seclusion in the mountains. My finished products were quite popular in Suzhou, and I would occasionally sell paintings as well. So I really didn't suffer any hardship and was even saving money for travel expenses.
But you know me, I love to eat, and I want to go to the pub for a good meal every three or five days. Plus the cost of renting a house, the weather is getting colder, and it costs a lot of money to buy clothes. I have never saved enough money, and it has been delayed until now. I really didn't mean to not go back!"
Along the way, Yinzuo kept talking about the people and things he had encountered during his solo travels in Jiangnan over the past few months. His tone was light and his expression was happy. Yinzhen knew that he was very happy, so he listened quietly, only occasionally joining in and asking a follow-up question.
The two brothers were chatting when suddenly a drizzle began to fall and fog rose over the lake. It was like a dream, real and unreal. Yinzhen looked at his brother, whose face was a little blurry, and could not help but grab his arm.
Yinzuo looked at him puzzledly.
"elder brother?"
Yinzhen was distracted for a moment before he said, "It's raining, let's go back."
"No, I haven't caught any fish today. Brother, wait for me for a while. I'll ask Shunfeng Shunshui to bring two raincoats over and we'll continue."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shunfengshunshui, who was waiting nearby, came over with a very simple-looking straw raincoat.
Su Peisheng was in a dilemma. How could he help put it on? He had never touched it before. In the end, Yinzuo helped his brother put on the raincoat, which was not very beautiful but did keep out the rain.
"Okay, brother, listen carefully. The sound of rain falling on the lake is very pleasant, like a melody in itself. Every time I listen to it, I feel calm from the inside out, and all my worries and sorrows are forgotten. You can try it too."
"Yeah." Yinzhen replied softly.
The two brothers stopped talking. There was only the sound of the rain, accompanied by the occasional singing of birds from the woods on both sides of the river, and the rustling of leaves in the wind.
Yinzhen quietly looked at his brother who was smiling and immersed in the mountains and rivers. At this moment, he was very sure that even if they were born in the royal family, some people could indeed live without being tainted by the world and enjoy such a simple life without distraction.
Suddenly, there was a sound of something heavy hitting the water on the lake.
Yinzuo's fishing rod moved, and he began to reel in the rod with great skill. After a moment, a large silver-white fish was caught in his hand. Yinzuo easily took it off the hook and put it into a small wooden barrel beside him.
"Brother, you are in for a treat today. This is one of the three white fish of Taihu Lake. It has fine bones and scales, tender meat, and an extremely sweet taste. However, it is very easy to die after being taken out of the water, and even the taste will be greatly reduced. Therefore, it is best to cook and eat it right here by the Taihu Lake. Let's have lunch on this boat today."
"It's up to you."
Of course, just this one fish was not enough to fill the stomach, so the boatman also used a fine net to catch some other fish and shrimp.
In addition to boating and fishing, Yinzuo also took his brother to the surrounding areas to taste what he thought were the most delicious food, appreciate the most interesting customs, and play with local unique toys. Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
When they set off for Beijing, Yinzhen stood at the bow with Yinzuo, looking at the prosperous place gradually going away, feeling emotional.
“No wonder the literati and scholars who have visited Jiangnan throughout the ages have praised it as ‘Heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below’. It is truly a place that makes people linger and indulge in it.”
"Brother, are you beginning to feel like you're not going back to your hometown? Why don't we go to Shandong for a while? I really miss the Confucius Mansion cuisine there." Yinzuo teased his brother deliberately.
"It's almost the end of the year. If you're not afraid that the Emperor will personally send someone to arrest you and take you back to the capital, go ahead."
Yinzuo immediately grasped the key point and asked, "So, it wasn't the Emperor who sent you to arrest me this time?"
"But my father, the Emperor of Lijing, knew about this, and he did not ask anyone to stop us. You should understand what he meant."
"Oh." Yinzuo then gave up the idea of going out for a walk.
"Brother, are the elders in the family healthy recently? Has anything major happened in the palace?"
Yinzhen told him in detail about the recent situation of several elders.
"Everything is fine. Everything in the palace is the same as before. It's just that everyone misses you and asks about you often."
Yinzuo felt even more guilty now.
"I will apologize to the elders one by one. By the way, brother, is sister-in-law okay? Has Honghui grown taller again?"
"Well, fortunately, she is in charge of the house, which saves me a lot of worries. Honghui is a little weak, and he has always been afraid of me and not close to me. I think he should have grown a little, but he is still young and can't see it."
"Brother, how could you do this? He is your own son. You should care about him and play with him. He is still so young, but you scold him with a stern face all day long. Of course he will be afraid of you, so how can he dare to get close to you?"
"But when you were little, you were not afraid of me and were very close to me." Yinzhen looked at him with a smile in his eyes.
Yin Zuo was speechless and could only mutter quietly, "That's different."
"How are Fourteen, Qionghua, Yaohua and the others?" Yinzuo did not ask about the other brothers.
"He is still naughty and gets into trouble everywhere, but he has mother protecting him and the emperor indulges him, so he is fine. But when he got into trouble, someone blamed me, and it was almost... Forget it, let's not talk about him. Qionghua will get married in the spring of next year, and the date is set for February. Yaohua is by mother's side, so everything is fine."
Yinzhen's words seemed objective, but they actually belittled the Fourteenth Prince and elevated himself.
"This Fourteenth only knows how to get into trouble. When I get back, I will definitely give him a good scolding to prevent him from causing trouble for you again."
Along the way, Yinzuo did not ask about other people's recent situation, but Yinzhen mentioned it many times inadvertently, and of course, none of them were good.
For example, the ninth and tenth brothers frequently went in and out of the eighth brother's house, spending their days eating, drinking, having fun, and visiting prostitutes. They lived a very happy life. The implication was that they did not care at all about the sixth brother who raised them, and did not even ask a question.
The fifth brother now has a lovely wife and a beloved son. He stays at home all day and rarely goes out.
As for the older ones in front, they are now busy fighting for power, killing each other in the court, and repeatedly hurting innocent people like him.
After listening to this, Yinzuo's expectations for his brothers decreased a little. He leaned on the railing, looking at the endless blue waves, not knowing what he was thinking.
"Yinzuo, what exactly happened in Hangzhou? Why did you suddenly leave in the middle of the night?" Yinzhen finally asked.
Yinzuo did not hide anything. He sighed and slowly recounted what happened on the night he ran away from home.
"That day, after accompanying the Emperor to review the troops, there was a banquet in the evening. The Empress Dowager had always wanted me to marry. She felt that the women in the capital could not control their fate, so she first found a woman from the south of the Yangtze River to put by her side to test the waters.
Since the Empress Dowager had this idea, the local officials and their families were all staring at me. As a result, other people were naturally left out. I avoided it as much as possible and hid in the dark. Unfortunately, I happened to hear my eldest brother and others talking together. They said, said that I..."
When Yinzuo said this, he laughed at himself.
"They say I'm deep-minded, that I don't seem to fight for anything, but I actually love to be in the spotlight, and that I've been able to please my elders since I was a kid. They also say that my mother's scheming methods were passed down to me, so one of you, brother, will become a dull person who only knows how to work, and the other a playboy who only knows how to cause trouble.
There are many more unpleasant things, I don't want to talk about them anymore, I know they were all drunk, so they said what they had been holding back, I was very sad for a while, and just walked away in the middle of the night, brother, am I being a little hypocritical?"
Yinzhen walked up to him and hugged him without saying a word, somewhat regretting asking about this matter. In fact, he already had a guess in his mind, but he just hoped that Yinzuo would say it himself so that he would be completely disappointed with those so-called brothers, so as to avoid being hurt more deeply in the future.
"Brother, I understand. I know what kind of person you are. You are definitely not what they say. I raised you by myself. Also, whether it's Grandma Ukuma, the Emperor's Father, the Emperor's Mother, or Mother, they have experienced so many things in their lives and have seen all kinds of people. If you are really the kind of person they say you are, how could the elders not know that and how could they dote on you so much.
So don't care about those who don't understand you at all and only hurt you and slander you. Only I am your brother, the only one who understands you, knows you, and cares about you."
Men don't shed tears easily. After growing up, Yinzuo rarely cried in front of others. After his brother said this, he could not suppress the grievances in his heart and burst out. He rested his head on his brother's arms and vented his sadness.
From then on, Yinzuo became more dependent on him and regained his talkative nature as a child, saying a lot of things in front of him, but not a single word of complaint or accusation against other brothers.
The two brothers slept in the same bed like they did when they were children. Yinzuo's breathing gradually became calm, but Yinzhen did not fall asleep.
Seeing that Yinzuo was shrinking his neck and was very cold, he tucked Yinzuo's quilt tightly and personally added some charcoal to the charcoal basin in the room to make the room warmer.
Yinzuo is soft-hearted, so he is more easily hurt. Perhaps it is not a good idea to force him to stay in the capital all the time. When the time comes, it will be more appropriate to let him go out and travel. When everything is settled, he will not be so sad.
The author has something to say:
There is one more chapter, I will post it after I finish writing it.
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