Xie Shiguan rode to the town early this morning. He first went straight to the ready-made clothing store in the town, intending to buy some seasonal clothes for Chen Que. However, this was just a small town after all, and even after going to several ready-made clothing stores, he couldn't find two pieces that His Highness would like.
So in the end he had no choice but to reluctantly ask for a few sets of clothes in suitable sizes to pack up.
On the way back, Xie Shiguan passed by a pastry shop. He stopped his horse and Guyu tried to guess his master's intention. He asked in a low voice from behind, "Master, do you want to take some pastries back? Master Shen lives a poor life here. I guess he rarely uses these on weekdays."
So Xie Shiguan got off his horse and entered the shop. The shop owner immediately greeted him, "Dear guest, please take a look. We have all the popular snacks and fruits here."
Xie Shiguan was too lazy to look at it, and just said, "Whatever you have, just give me one."
"Okay," the shop owner said happily, "I'll pack it for you right away."
After a moment of silence, the prince suddenly remembered that the mute liked sweet things and loved sugar cakes, so he said to the shop owner, "My wife likes sweet things. The more sugar, the better. Just pick as many as you can."
The shop owner nodded repeatedly, and seeing that he was dressed in fine clothes, he didn't bother to be polite with him. He simply took out the cake boxes that he had sent to the masters' houses during the New Year, and filled three large boxes with cakes and snacks for him.
"You are from the north, right?" The shop owner said as he packed cakes and sizing up his face. "It's rare to see someone as tall as you here, and you don't have eyes as strange as yours. You look a bit like a Hu person, but not quite."
Xie Shiguan didn't want to talk to him any more. He just stared coldly at the half-filled box of cakes in his hand.
But the shop owner was kindhearted and still wanted to talk to him: "You want so much this time, did it make Ling Zheng unhappy?"
Xie Shiguan gave him a cold look.
"I didn't mean to offend you," the shop owner was a little frightened by his look and quickly explained, "It's just that my wife also loves sweets, and it was precisely to please her that I opened this shop. Sometimes I'm not careful and make her angry, so I bring these freshly baked shortbreads to her to appease her, and she immediately loses her temper."
When this man talked about his wife, he couldn't hide his smile, especially the two words "my wife", which were full of praise.
Xie Shiguan's mind moved, and he suddenly thought of the mute again: "Can this snack really make him happy?"
"Why not?" The shop owner immediately spoke, "What she cares about is not how much money this thing is worth, but whether you are willing to spend time on her and whether you think about what she likes. As long as she can see that you care about her, how can she not be soft-hearted?"
His Highness was pleased with his words, and when he paid the bill, he asked Guyu to give him a gold ingot. The shop owner had never seen anyone so generous in his life, and his jaw dropped: "This, this, this, this is not possible..."
Xie Shiguan smiled and said, "Take it back to comfort your wife."
Noon, Qingyuan Village.
Xie Shiguan pushed the door open and walked in. Xiaoman, who was watching from the eaves, immediately ducked down and stepped forward, saying, "Master, Lord Shen just left the house and is now in the main hall."
His Highness then turned around, took a lacquered food box from Guyu's hand, and took Guyu, who was carrying a bunch of things, to the main hall.
While still outside the main hall, I heard a female voice from far away: "An old man came to get medicine in the morning, and asked me about you in a strange way..."
"I heard that Fang Lang is gone. He was the little scoundrel who broke your leg. Someone found him on the mountain yesterday. Wild beasts in the forest had eaten him till only bones were left. And his shrewish mother was hanged last night for unknown reasons. Why did they choose the old tree at the entrance of the village when they hanged her? A night watchman passed by and was so scared that he almost peed his pants."
"And their whole family, somehow, was involved in a case. The scholar was stripped of his title, some were imprisoned, some were beheaded."
…
Xie Shiguan stood outside the door and listened for a while. These people suddenly started chatting about something in low voices, and then burst into laughter.
Amidst the laughter, Xie Shiguan pushed the door open and walked in.
As soon as he appeared, the originally warm atmosphere in the room suddenly became cold, and the old lady's bamboo chopsticks that were adding food to Shen Que's bowl were still in the middle of the process.
The mute was originally smiling, and his cheeks showed a little dimple, which he had not seen for a long time.
But as soon as she saw him, the smile fell, and she became stiff and at a loss in an instant.
Obviously no one in the hall welcomed him, but Xie Shiguan didn't care. He brought a box of cakes and squeezed in next to Shen Que to sit down. Guyu followed closely behind him, took a step forward, and put down the other two boxes of snacks in his hand.
The small table in front of him was immediately filled with people. The bowl in front of Shen Que was pushed aside, leaving only the three cake boxes in front of him.
"I bought it especially for you," Xie Shiguan said, "Would you like to take a look?"
Cai promised him to be obedient, but Shen did not dare to disobey, so he slowly reached out his hand to push the lid, and when the sliding lid was pushed open, he saw that it was filled with all kinds of snacks and fruits.
But when he opened it, he only took a quick look, with a hint of surprise between his brows, but no joy at all.
"Don't like it?" Xie Shiguan put his hand on the table and tapped it lightly with his index finger.
But Shen shook his head, afraid that he would be angry, so he gestured again: "I like it."
"Is that so? Then why don't you eat?" Xie Shi looked into his eyes, his eyes slightly curved, as if he was smiling, but also as if he was angry. "Eat."
Shen Que then picked one out at random and took a bite. His face still had that indifferent expression, full of joy and happiness. Everything that Xie Shiguan thought he would see was not there.
The prince raised his eyebrows impatiently and asked him, "Is it delicious?"
The mute nodded immediately.
"It's delicious, why don't you smile?" He was clearly showing his drunken brows to others just now. Now that he has condescended to please him, how dare he give him a cold shoulder?
So Shen laughed, but it was not from the heart, so it looked very stiff. If Xie Shiguan had not seen the smile on the dumb man's face when he was not there just now, he probably would not have thought that his smile was so ugly now.
His Highness came back with gifts full of joy to appease the man, and everyone thought he would be happy, but the mute could barely even smile.
He has been so tolerant, why is this mute still not content?
Everyone at the table was happily eating together, just like a family of four, except for him, who was left out.
He couldn't fit in and just wanted to pull the mute out.
In order to prepare luggage for the mute, he didn't even have time for breakfast and lunch. He rushed all the way back and forth, but the mute didn't even ask him if he had lunch.
His Highness has never felt so wronged. He is the high and mighty King Yan, the all-powerful assistant of the emperor. Everyone tries to please him in every way, even the emperor in the Mingtang, the supreme ruler, has to bow down to him.
Why does this mute have the right?
But he really wasn't disobedient, and Xie Shiguan really couldn't find a reason to get angry. If he got angry with anyone at this time, it would be like being angry out of shame, which would be too embarrassing.
So His Highness was sullen for a while, then left without saying a word.
However, Shen couldn't help but look at the direction he left. He guessed that he might be angry, but he had clearly been agreeing with him just now... Maybe he didn't kneel down to thank him for the reward?
Tao Yiru saw the sadness in his eyes again, so she reached out and patted his shoulder gently: "Don't look at him anymore, it's better if he leaves. We will all be free when he leaves."
After saying that, she stood up and moved all the cake boxes that Xie Shiguan brought to the table. She was afraid that the man would hear her, so Tao Yiru could only whisper, "Who cares about these..."
"Eat, eat."
After lunch, Shen wanted to help them clean up, but was rejected on the grounds that it was inconvenient for him to hold the baby.
But Chen didn't want to go back to the side room, so he just stood there watching them busying around. Before they finished, someone came outside. It was Xiaoman, who always spoke in a very serious manner.
"Sir Shen," Xiao Man said, "the master is coming down to tell me something. He said, 'Is it time for the mute to come back? What is there to say to those two women?'"
He was born with a lack of common sense. If Guyu had not gone to the county to pick up the spacious carriage that had been ordered, Xie Shiguan probably would not have sent him over to deliver the message.
"He's not an unweaned baby," Tao Yiru said sarcastically while picking up the dishes, "Why is he so clingy to Chen Lang? Doesn't your master know why he doesn't want to go back?"
Xiaoman immediately stepped forward with a knife in hand: "Please be respectful. My master is not someone you can slander casually."
Shen Que hurriedly stopped in front of Tao Yiru, stretched out his hand to press down the handle of his knife, and opened his lips silently: "Go back, go back."
Xiaoman then put away the knife, and heard Tao Yiru say, "Don't forget to bring these three boxes of cakes. If we forget such precious gifts, it will ruin the fortunes of lowly people like us!"
After saying that, he stuffed the three boxes of snacks into Xiaoman's hands.
Xiaoman's hand felt heavy and she had no place to put the knife, so she had to tuck it under her armpit and walk with her body hunched.
Tao Yiru laughed behind him, then pulled Chen Que's sleeve, tiptoed close to his ear, and whispered, "When you go back later, you must be tough. You gave birth to this kid with great difficulty, and this is your confidence. Don't let him bully you, understand?"
Shen nodded, but a bitter smile appeared on his face.
His Highness probably doesn't care about this kid, let alone him. Where does he get the confidence to put on airs in front of Xie Shiguan?
In the side room, white smoke rose straight up from the incense burner on the table.
The whole room was filled with the scent of agarwood that His Royal Highness Prince Yan usually used. However, Chen had not expected that His Royal Highness would go on a long journey and still have everything prepared so neatly. Chen was caught off guard and was pulled back into his memories by the scent of incense.
The year when he was forced to leave Kyoto seemed like just an absurd nightmare to him. Without "Linxie" and Silai, this water town in the south of the Yangtze River was just a foolish dream he compiled in his dream.
He was also His Highness' personal guard, an inconspicuous mute who lived an ordinary life accompanying the person he secretly loved.
Even if I never get his attention.
But the crying sound from Huai Lisi pulled him back to reality. The kid was probably hungry again, and started to cry and whimper. When he saw that Chen didn't pay attention to him immediately, the kid stopped whimpering and just started to cry loudly.
He kept shouting until his face turned red, but there was not a single tear in the corner of his eye.
Xie Shiguan was currently sleeping on the couch. With the curtain drawn, he didn't know whether he was asleep or not, for he was afraid that the brat would wake him up with his shouting. His Highness had a bad temper to begin with, and if he didn't get enough sleep, all the servants in the room would suffer if he woke up.
Therefore, Shen hurriedly inserted the bolt, half-rolled down his front collar, and fed it into the kid's mouth.
The crying was blocked, but the sound of the curtain being pulled apart came from behind, followed by a cold voice: "Come here."
Shen didn't move immediately, and then he heard the voice say again: "I told you to roll over here, but you're not listening again?"
Only then did Shen Que slowly walk to the couch. Xie Shiguan was annoyed with him, but he didn't know what to make him angry about. He called people over but didn't say anything.
He asked the person to sit on his lap and held her in his arms. He didn't say a word, but his hands were restless. He rubbed the person through the clothes and kneaded her into a puddle of water.
Chen held Si Lai in his arms, unable to struggle. He trembled, and the kid in his arms hummed twice in displeasure. His face was flushed with embarrassment, and no matter where he shrank, he would fall into his arms.
Once the man was aroused, His Highness would not move.
"We will go back tomorrow morning," he said coldly, "We will leave at daybreak."
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