Yinzuo washed his brother very carefully, from wrist to palm and then to fingers. He suddenly noticed that there were a few white spots on his brother's exposed arm, which looked like fresh scars from chickenpox.
He heard from Lianxin that chickenpox would be very itchy, but if the chickenpox broke, it would not only be painful, but would also leave white scars. His brother was alone in the West Third Institute before, and he must have been scared and uncomfortable.
Yinzhen felt a cool breath brushing against his arm. He looked closely and saw the little guy in front of him lowering his head and blowing air at him. Yinzhen's eyelashes trembled slightly and his heart felt warm. Xiaoliu was really a kind-hearted child.
"Brother...it doesn't hurt~"
"Yeah." Yinzhen thought for a moment, and added two more words to comfort the little guy in front of him who was worried about him, "It's fine now, it won't hurt."
Yinzuo nodded his head obediently, but Yinzhen couldn't see the expression on his face.
Nanny Cheng took a clean handkerchief and squatted in front of the two young princes. She wiped the hands of the Fourth Prince first and then the Sixth Prince. However, she made an unexpected discovery.
She exclaimed, "What happened to Sixth Prince? His eyes turned red in just a short while? Are you feeling unwell?"
Little Yinzuo raised his head, tried to smile, and replied: "No~"
Yinzhen then saw the little fellow's red eyes as big as a rabbit's. Yinzhen suddenly heard a voice in his heart: Is Yinzuo...feeling sorry for himself?
He was a real loner in his previous life, and he never expected that there would actually be someone who would feel sorry for him because of his little pain. Thinking of this, Yinzhen's eyes flickered twice.
"Isn't Yinzuo hungry? Let's go eat something." Yinzhen changed the subject.
"Okay~" Yinzuo let Nanny Cheng wipe his hands while responding to his brother's words obediently.
After wiping his hands, Yinzuo took the initiative to stretch out his chubby little hand towards his brother and looked at him expectantly.
Yinzhen hesitated for a moment, then stretched out his hand and held the little hand in front of him. Little Yinzuo smiled immediately. He pulled his brother towards the small kitchen. Lianxin had just said that their mother was cooking delicious snacks for them.
"Mother~" The person hasn't reached the door yet, but the voice has already been transmitted inside.
Depin looked at the snacks being served on a plate in front of her, chuckled, and said to herself, "This little greedy cat, he came here at the right time, could he have come here just because he smelled the food?"
The threshold of the small kitchen stopped the two little guys. The older one was fine and stood straight, but the younger one just grabbed the threshold and tried to stick his head inside.
Even from such a distance, Depin could see the little guy slightly raising his chin, moving his little nose, which was more sensitive than anyone else's, and sniffing the fragrance inside like a puppy.
“Smells so good~~”
"Okay, okay, I know you're hungry, so I'll bring it out so you can eat it right away. Look how greedy you are. Can't you learn from your fourth brother?"
Yinzuo turned his head to look at his brother who seemed to have no reaction, and thought unconvincedly: My brother just doesn’t show it, he must like to eat it too!
"Brother~"
"Hmm?" Yinzhen looked at him.
"Want to eat?" Yinzuo asked him, pointing inside.
Yinzhen was about to say no when his stomach growled. It was a very awkward situation because his mother had fed him at noon and he was not used to it, so he ate less. Then he played with Yinzuo for a long time, which took up a lot of his energy, and then he took a nap, so he must be hungry.
Yinzuo wanted to laugh, but he felt it was impolite to laugh in front of his brother at this time, so he stretched out his hands and covered the lower half of his face, but he didn't know that his eyes, which were smiling like crescent moons, had completely betrayed him.
"Brother, I'm hungry~" Yinzuo said in a very low voice.
Depin, who happened to be at the door, happened to hear what he said, so she smiled and knocked on his head, then said, "You little rascal, you are obviously greedy, but you insist on pushing it onto your brother. Don't you think your mother knows?"
Yinzuo quickly protected his head with his two little hands and looked at his mother aggrievedly.
This time it’s really my brother who is hungry, but mom doesn’t believe it!
"Okay, mother will take you back to sit and eat the freshly made snacks."
She extended her hands to the two children, inviting them.
Yinzuo only remembered to eat and not to be beaten, so he put his little hand on it immediately. Yinzhen was stunned. This action of his mother was so familiar. Xiaoliu did the same thing just now. They seemed like a real mother and son, and he... felt like an outsider.
"Little Four?"
"elder brother?"
The mother and son tilted their heads in the same way, looking at him, and asked the same question in the same puzzled tone.
"I can walk by myself." He put his hands behind his back, and it was unclear who he was competing with.
The corners of Depin's mouth, which were originally upturned, drooped down, as if Xiaosi was still unwilling to get close to her.
Yinzuo looked at his brother, then at his mother, and stretched out his other hand towards his brother.
"Brother, hold my hand~" Since my brother doesn't want to be held by others, then just let him hold your hand. It's not a big deal that can be solved.
Depin originally wanted to hold one child in each hand, but now she was holding her younger son's hand, and the younger son was holding his older son's hand. This was not bad. Her slightly depressed mood became cheerful again.
"Let's go."
The mother and her two sons walked slowly from the small kitchen towards the main hall. Little Yinzuo in the middle walked briskly, seeming impatient. Depin and Yinzhen at both ends looked at him with smiles, and the scene was full of warmth.
After returning to the palace, Depin smiled and asked the two of them to sit on the couch, while she sat at the other end. The palace maid who was carrying the snacks behind her put the plates on the pit table and then tiptoed out.
"The freshly baked snacks are still hot, so don't burn your hands. Can mother feed you some?" Depin looked at them with interest.
As expected, the two little ones gave her completely different answers. The older one shook his head to avoid it, while the younger one nodded impatiently.
"I'm just kidding. Take it and eat it yourself. It's been left out for a while and is only warm now. It tastes the best when you eat it now."
She personally took the snacks from the plate and handed one piece to each of the two children.
Yinzuo took it first with great joy, opened his little mouth, and took a bite, and a corner of the snack was gone.
“Delicious~”
"Eat slowly, as if someone wants to compete with you." Depin said to the youngest son with a smile, then turned to the eldest son and whispered, "Little Four, eat quickly, too, otherwise, your brother will probably eat it all by himself."
"Mother~" Yinzuo became unhappy immediately after hearing this. How could he become that kind of person? If his brother wanted to eat him, how could he take it all by himself!
Yinzhen then reached out to take the snack handed to him by his mother. He slowly put it to his mouth and took a bite. It tasted very sweet. His mother's cooking skills had improved a lot. It was much more delicious than a year ago. It made sense. Xiaoliu was picky about food and loved to eat. His mother would have to practice more for him.
However, Yinzhen remembered that in his previous life, his mother rarely cooked herself. This did not change until the birth of the fourteenth prince. But the fourteenth prince did not like sweet food. He had never tasted such sweet and delicious pastries in his mother's palace, and his mother did not seem to remember that he had a sweet tooth.
"Brother?" Yinzuo was stunned when he noticed his brother took a bite of the snack, thinking that his brother didn't like the snack.
"What's wrong with Xiao Si? Don't you like sweet food? Mother also made a salty snack. How about you try this?" Depin asked with concern.
"It's not that I don't like it." Yinzhen said this dryly, and as if to prove that what he said was true, he took another bite of the snack in his hand.
"That's good. Mother likes sweet food, so the food I prepared for you was also sweet. Fortunately, you don't dislike it."
It was also the first time for Depin to be a mother. Moreover, Xiaosi left her very early. She was only 19 years old at the time and had no idea how to get along with a child. It was not until she raised Xiaoliu that she accumulated some experience and knew that she should communicate more with children and ask about their ideas.
"Hmm." Yinzhen responded softly. Although the food his mother sent him was not very delicious, he ate it every time. After all, it was a rare show of care from his mother for him.
Depin accompanied the two children to have some tea and snacks. It was still early, and she was reluctant to let Xiaosi go back to Chengqian Palace so soon, so she let the two of them continue to play in the palace, and she watched quietly from the side.
With his mother watching over him, Yinzhen felt even more restrained.
When Yinzuo asked him to continue playing with the little turtle with him, he was rejected, and Yinzuo's cheeks were puffed with anger.
"Let's play, brother~~" Unwilling to give up, Yinzuo pouted and acted coquettishly, starting to persuade him with all kinds of tricks.
"No." When playing with the little turtle with Yinzuo, he had to lie on the ground. It would be fine to indulge him this time when no one was around, but now that my mother was watching, how could this be allowed?
The servants in Yonghe Palace looked at the cold Fourth Prince and then at the soft and lovely Sixth Prince. They all felt a little sympathy for the Sixth Prince and thought: This is too inhumane of the Fourth Prince. He is so repulsive that even the Sixth Prince is unhappy.
"Well, if you don't want to play, then don't play. Not everyone likes your two little turtles like you do. Why don't you ask them to give you two a tangram puzzle to play with?"
The Tangram puzzle is made up of seven small wooden boards of different shapes. The shapes can be changed at will to form various animals, different human movements, and even spell out words. However, all of these depend on personal ingenuity to achieve. It is a toy suitable for all ages.
This time Yinzhen finally did not refuse.
Both children lowered their heads, immersed in the world of puzzles. Depin had an idea and asked someone to bring pen and ink. She wanted to try to record this picture. Even though her painting skills were not good, she was attentive and every stroke was very vivid.
When the painting was finally completed, even she was surprised.
"Your Majesty's painting is so beautiful. I can tell at a glance that these are the Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince!" Lianxin said with a smile.
"Really? It's a pity that my father didn't hire a teacher to teach me how to paint at home, otherwise I would have been able to paint better." Depin brushed the faces of the two children on the rice paper and said with some regret.
"Mother?" Yinzuo, who was suffering from a headache due to the puzzle, was about to raise his head to breathe some fresh air when he saw his mother chatting and laughing with Lianxin, so his mind flew over there.
He glanced at his brother, who was concentrating on making a little man according to the shape of the drawing with his head down, puffed out his cheeks, and stretched out his hands to ask Nanny Cheng to carry him down.
"What happened to Sixth Prince?"
"Thirsty~"
"Then I will go and pour you a cup of tea. Please wait a moment, Sixth Prince." After saying this, Nanny Cheng was about to turn around, but unexpectedly she was grabbed by the Sixth Prince's little hand.
"Myself!" Yinzuo raised his little face and tried his best to express his meaning to Nanny Cheng.
"Sixth Prince, do you want to go there by yourself? Then I will carry you there right away."
Yinzuo nodded his head and let Nanny Cheng hold him and slowly move towards his mother.
"Why are you here, Xiaoliu? Aren't you going to play Tangram with your brother?" Depin said to him with a smile.
"Sixth Prince just said that he was thirsty and wanted me to carry him over to drink water." Nanny Cheng helped the Sixth Prince answer Concubine De.
"Really? Since he's thirsty, quickly pour Sixth Prince a cup of tea." Without giving it much thought, Depin instructed Lianxin beside her.
Yinzuo was indeed thirsty. He held the teacup and gulped down the whole cup in a short while. Then he trotted to his mother with unsteady steps and grabbed her clothes.
"Mom, hold me~~" Yinzuo certainly knew where his advantages lay. He swayed his little body slightly, blinked his big eyes, and acted coquettishly to his mother.
"You little clingy girl, you're always acting like a spoiled brat. You've only been one year old now, and I can hardly hold you anymore." Although she said she couldn't hold you anymore, there was a smile on Depin's face. She bent down and picked up the little guy beside her legs.
"Wow~~" Yinzuo, who was sitting in his mother's arms, finally saw clearly what his mother was doing just now. She was painting for him and his brother. The painting was so beautiful!
In his previous life, after Yinzuo dropped out of school, he stayed at home and became fascinated with the two-dimensional world. He even invited a teacher to his home to teach him how to paint. When he saw his mother's painting, his hands suddenly became itchy. His mother's painting gave him a hint of inspiration, and he wanted to immediately paint the picture in his mind.
So he reached out and grabbed the brush that his mother had just placed on the pen holder after using it.
When Depin saw this, her eyelids jumped. She had a bad feeling in her heart. She patiently persuaded the little one in her arms: "Little Six, put down the brush! Mother will find you a clean one to play with, okay?"
Yinzuo shook his head and refused. He would not do that! How can I paint if it is clean? Oh, the brush must be dipped in ink first.
He lay on the table and stirred the brush in his hand into the inkstone which contained some ink. The child had difficulty controlling his strength and some of the ink spilled onto the table.
Lianxin was quick to act and quickly picked up the painting that her mother had just drawn from the table and held it in her hand.
Baji!
Yinzuo poked the brush on the blank rice paper in front of him, and a hole appeared on the paper. Hmm...
He scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed. He had never used rice paper before, and this paper was too fragile. The same thing happened with the brush. The tip of the brush was so soft and it was not easy to use at all!
Yinzuo, who had wanted to show off his skills and amaze everyone, complained angrily in his heart.
Whenever he got angry, he would habitually spin the pen. In an instant, ink splashed everywhere, and Yinzuo felt cold in several places on his face.
"Uh...Mother!" Yinzuo panicked. He knew that the ink must have splashed on his face, so he immediately pouted and asked his mother for help.
But when he turned around, he found that there were several ink spots on his mother's face.
"Hehe~" Yinzuo couldn't help but laugh.
Depin, who was so angry that she laughed, snatched the brush from the little guy's hand.
"You are still making fun of me, you bad guy. Look, it's all your fault. Not only can you no longer wear the clothes you are wearing, but you also stained my face. I want revenge!"
After saying that, Depin smiled and picked up the brush she had used before, drew three whiskers on the little guy's face, and then put a dot on the tip of his nose.
Yinzhen didn't know what was going on. When he heard his mother's angry voice, he walked over and wanted to ask.
He saw that the always gentle, quiet, dignified and self-possessed mother was holding Xiaoliu hostage, and her tone was somewhat vicious. Yinzhen thought something had happened, so he hurried forward anxiously.
"Ah~ bad guy!" Yinzuo's tone was a little frightened.
"Mother? Yinzuo? What are you doing?"
"Brother, help me~~"
A small painted face that looked like either a tiger or a cat suddenly came into view. Yinzhen was surprised. At this time, he raised his head slightly and found that there were also black ink spots on his mother's face.
“This…what is this?”
When her eldest son saw her in such an undignified state, Depin blushed, shoved the little guy into a chair, covered her face with a handkerchief, and walked out quickly.
While ordering, "Quick, prepare water! I need to wash my face!" When she reached the door, she said to Lianxin who was following behind her, "Go in and help Nanny Cheng bathe and change clothes for the Sixth Prince."
"Yes." Lianxin bent her knees slightly, turned around and walked in again.
"What's wrong with the queen?" Nanny Cheng was standing far away and didn't know what was going on.
Lian Xin burst out laughing.
"It was our Sixth Prince who was naughty and splashed ink everywhere. The Queen went to wash her face. Before she left, she asked me to help you, Madam Cheng, bathe and change the Sixth Prince's clothes."
"What?" Nanny Cheng had never expected this to happen.
When she walked into the inner room, as expected, she found the desk in a mess. The most eye-catching thing was the Sixth Prince who had turned into a little cat. She heard the Fourth Prince asking the Sixth Prince.
"This... was drawn for you by your mother?" Yinzhen couldn't believe it. This was something his mother would do.
Yinzuo nodded aggrievedly.
"Yinzuo, poor thing~" He slid down from the chair, stretched out his two little arms and ran over, wanting to cuddle with his brother and comfort his wounded young heart.
But he didn't expect that his brother would move away from his approach!
"Ahem, Madam Cheng, please take Yinzuo to take a bath and change into clean clothes as soon as possible." Yinzhen said to Yinzuo's wet nurse as he backed away, and silently hid behind Madam Cheng and Lianxin.
He didn't have any extra clothes to change, and Yinzuo was now covered in black ink stains, so it would be better to wait until he washed clean before getting close to him.
"Brother... Mother... I dislike you... Wow!" Yinzuo was suddenly disliked by his two most important relatives. His emotions were out of control for a moment. After all, he was just a one-year-old child at this moment, so he burst into tears.
The author has something to say:
There were 3,000 words added to this chapter last night~
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