Shen Xiangzhi did not publicize the matter of selecting a wet nurse for the young prince in a big way, but instead secretly hired someone to do it.
During this period of time, the situation in the court was unclear, and Prince Yan was entangled in many troubles. Shen Xiangzhi followed him around and was also busy with a lot of things.
Besides, His Highness didn't say clearly how to deal with Chen Que and that kid. Even if he did, it would not be a good thing to expose them now.
So Shen Xiang thought about it and did it quietly.
Just because we can't mobilize a large number of people doesn't mean we have to keep it simple. After screening out hundreds of people, only seven people were left who couldn't be ranked. Shen Xiangzhi couldn't make up his mind, but it was not a good idea to trouble His Highness with such trivial matters at this time, so he couldn't hand it in for a long time.
Xie Shiguan had been reviewing memorials at his desk for more than an hour. The little emperor had been ill for many days, and the memorials were left unread, so he had to do it all for him.
His eyes were tired from reading, so he closed them and rubbed the bridge of his nose. His Highness had not slept well these days, and after reviewing the memorials for a while, he felt his headache getting worse.
Shen Xiangzhi came forward with a bowl of strong tea, thinking about how to start, but saw Xie Shiguan at the desk put down his pen, suddenly turned his head and asked him: "What is the mute doing recently?"
Shen Xiangzhi was stunned. There was only one mute person in the whole mansion. It was self-evident who His Highness was asking about. "In the past two days, he got up early as usual to go to the training ground for morning training. At the end, he returned to the courtyard to look after the young master. You are not allowed to assign him a duty. He has nowhere to go. These days, he seems to have asked Shen Luo to bring a few books into the mansion, as if he was leaving them for him to read when he had free time."
Xie Shiguan glanced at him after hearing this, and after a while, he asked again, "Has his leg injury healed? Why did he go to morning training? Why can't he just sit there?"
Chen Xiangzhi was a little unsure of Xie Shiguan's attitude towards Shen Que, so he could only say humbly: "Your Highness knows Chen Que's temper. If you don't allow him to do anything, he will be unable to sleep or eat."
Xie Shiguan sneered: "You cheap bastard."
But after scolding, His Highness felt an inexplicable bitterness in his mouth. After a while, he asked anxiously, "Well...how was the meal? The weather has been getting colder these days. Did you put on more clothes?"
He asked this question without any context, and it was only because Shen Xiangzhi was used to him that he could quickly come to his senses.
"This..." Shen Xiangzhi would not deliberately inquire about these trivial matters. Serving King Yan closely these days has exhausted him mentally and physically. How could he be so meticulous in investigating these matters?
"I'm afraid I'll have to ask the little slave in his yard."
Xie Shiguanfu picked up the blue book again and glanced at him: "Then why are you still standing there? Go and ask."
Shen Xiangzhi turned around in confusion and was about to go out, but he heard the man behind him speak again: "Don't let that kid know that it was the king who asked him to ask."
Shen Xiangzhi turned around quickly: “Yes.”
He paused, then struck while the iron was hot and said, "Your Highness, the young prince's wet nurse has been almost selected..."
"Then announce it and let this king have a look."
When he went out, Shen Xiangzhi still felt a little dizzy. When did His Highness... become so concerned about these trivial matters?
In just an incense stick of time, Shen Xiangzhi led the seven wet nurses into the hall again. When these wet nurses came in, they all lowered their heads and followed all the rules and etiquette. A quick glance at them showed that they were all fair and well-proportioned with plump bodies.
When Xie Shiguan saw people, he first looked at their faces. He found that among these wet nurses, there were no particularly eye-catching ones, but there were also no ones who were so ugly that they were unbearable to look at.
Therefore, His Highness looked around and couldn't pick anything out, so he said, "Since they are all clean, just send them over. There is no need to choose."
"If the kid likes one, he will serve him. If he doesn't like one, he will send him to serve the mute..."
At this point, His Highness paused, remembering that the mute always liked to get entangled with those women. The young widow from the southern countryside might still be on his mind.
What's more, each of these wet nurses has a stunning figure, and they have all just finished their confinement period, with a unique mature charm.
The mute gets along very well with the young widow, and who knows, he might like her. When he spends every day with these wet nurses in the courtyard, it is hard to say whether he will not develop some feelings for them.
When Xie Shiguan thought of this, he became very angry, so he stood up again, walked to the group of wet nurses, lifted up the chins of the wet nurses with the handle of his fan, and looked at them carefully. Only then did he reluctantly choose one who was slightly inferior in appearance and figure.
Finally, he was still worried, so he asked the nurse, "Can you understand sign language?"
The wet nurse didn't expect the master to ask this. She was obviously stunned for a moment and then shook her head.
Thinking of the time when the mute was still in the south, he would often write on Tao Yiru's palm. Xie Shiguan's face turned cold and he asked again: "Can you read?"
This question made the young nurse even more confused. She was hired as a wet nurse, not to take the entrance exam. During the selection process, they clearly asked how long she had been out of confinement, how many babies she had taken care of, and whether the child at home was a boy or a girl...
But the master in front of her was no ordinary man, and even if the questions were tricky, she dared not refuse to answer.
"To reply to your Majesty, I am illiterate."
After answering this, she was still panicking, thinking that this noble master would look down on her. Unexpectedly, after hearing her words, the prince's expression looked better.
"Then it's you," Xie Shiguan said again, "Since you are going to be a wet nurse, just do your job well and don't talk to the mute in the yard."
Having received such a good job, the wet nurse had no reason to refuse. She quickly knelt down to thank the master, saying "yes" repeatedly.
Three quarters past ten.
Holding the palace lantern, Xie Shiguan finally stepped into the Lansheng Courtyard again. Fearing that he would scare the mute again, this time he raised his hand and knocked on the door in a pretentious manner.
But this time the door was only half-closed. When His Highness raised his hand and knocked, the wooden door opened a crack by itself.
There were a few white candles lit on the tables in the room, and when the mute heard the noise, he suddenly stood up from the stool and stood there at attention.
After a long while, he raised his hand: "Your Highness."
However, after not seeing each other for such a short time, the mute became quite distant from him. When he gestured, he didn't even dare to raise his eyes, and his hands' movements were chaotic.
Xie Shiguan turned to look at the two books on the table, one was "Er Ya" and the other was "Meng Qiu". Both were enlightenment books and were not difficult to read, but the mute seemed to have a hard time reading them. The white candle on the table had burned out for most of the time, but he hadn't turned over a few pages of the book.
"Why do you want to study again?" Xie Shiguan put the palace lantern in his hand on the table. "Do you want to take the exam to become an official? If you have this ambition, I will recommend you with just a word."
Shen quickly shook his head. How could he dare to have such ambition? He couldn't even understand a book. If he was really recommended, wouldn't he be laughed at to death?
"Then you don't want to study and become an official, so why waste your time?"
However, Shen could not answer, nor did he dare to answer, because he did not want to let His Highness know. He knew that he came from a humble background, and there was no reason why he wanted to read more books, but he subconsciously wanted to be closer to the prince.
Unfortunately, he was not very talented and learned very slowly, not even as good as a child who had just started to learn. He had read these few things with difficulty, and this was the result of his hard work for several days in a row.
Seeing that the mute was silent, His Highness simply pushed him to sit down, then gently turned his face and asked him to look at the lamp, then changed the subject: "Do you recognize it?"
Shen nodded hesitantly.
"Why did you send the lantern that day?" Xie Shiguan whispered in his ear, "Do you want to see me?"
But Shen didn't shake his head, so Xie Shiguan knew his answer. He sat down next to him and deliberately got so close to him that he pushed him to the side and forced him to rub his ears against his.
However, Shen rarely dodged, but carefully touched the wound on his right wrist. The teeth marks there were so faint that they could not be seen clearly, and the wound was scabbed.
He reached out and gently touched the wound, but Xie Shiguan frowned pretentiously: "Hiss, it hurts so much..."
The mute was indeed distressed. His Highness felt relieved when he saw his eyes. The anger that had made him want to chop anyone in half for many days suddenly disappeared.
After a while, the mute suddenly raised his wrist again and put it to His Highness's lips, as if asking him to bite it back to vent his anger.
After Xie Shiguan understood his intention, he couldn't help but curl his lips: "Are you really willing to let me bite you?"
Shen pursed his lips and nodded firmly.
"Then I'll bite you," Xie Shiguan looked at him with a half-smile, "If it hurts, don't cry, and don't hide. If you hide, it won't count."
Shen did not hesitate, still nodding obediently, so His Highness slowly moved closer, but when his lips were about to touch his wrist, Xie Shiguan suddenly stopped, as if he was very kind, and asked him: "Are you afraid? Otherwise, close your eyes?"
It was just a bite, not a stab, but after he said that, the mute really felt his heart pounding, as if he was really scared.
So Shen Que simply followed suit and closed his eyes.
But the imagined pain did not come. The next moment, he felt a little burning and wet feeling on his wrist, and the warm breath fell on his skin, making it a little itchy.
Maybe it was because he had kept his arm raised for too long, but now his forearm was unable to support itself and was trembling slightly.
Xie Shiguan just pecked and bit gently, leaving a shallow white mark after each bite, but after a while, it disappeared. His behavior didn't seem like revenge at all, but more like flirting.
Shen Que kept his brows tightly closed, trying to endure it. However, when he felt his fingertips being taken into his warm mouth and his fingertips touching the tip of his tongue, he couldn't help but shiver at the wetness and itchiness, and subconsciously retracted his hand.
"Why are you hiding?" The instigator pretended to be innocent and said with a low laugh, "Do you think it's dirty?"
Chen Que's face turned red again for no reason, and the hand he took back was wet. Afraid that His Highness would be angry again, he did not dare to take a handkerchief to wipe it.
"I haven't bitten yet. I was just picking the place," Xie Shiguan looked at him aggrievedly, his face not reddening and his heart not beating, "My teeth have been bad lately. I can't even bite you, but you still want to hide from me."
"Do you dislike me so much?"
"No," Chen lowered his head and answered, "I don't mind."
"Why don't you eat properly?" Xie Shiguan changed the subject and approached him again, looking into his eyes, "Is it not to your liking?"
Shen quickly shook his head.
He didn't know where His Highness heard this from. He had clearly eaten well, but his appetite had not been good recently, so he ate less.
"If the food is to your liking, why do you eat so little?" His Highness leaned very close, but his face was serious. "Are you worried? Are you sad?"
His thoughts were exposed, but the mute refused to admit it and was still as stubborn as ever: "I'm not sad."
Xie Shi was very angry when he saw him like this, and looked at him seriously: "Just go ahead and argue, but you are not telling the truth. From today on, you will have three meals with me. If you eat less, you will be punished."
As for what the punishment would be, he did not specify.
The mute raised his hand anxiously, but was held down by His Highness: "Don't say no!"
After a while, His Highness took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, covered his hand with it, and then rubbed his dirty fingertips. After wiping, he took out an exquisite little box and placed it in his palm.
This is a jade rouge box, which is polished to a very transparent state and feels smooth to the touch. This small box alone looks to be of great value.
Shen raised his head and stared at His Highness in a daze.
"Open it and take a look." Xie Shiguan urged.
The mute then hesitantly twisted the screw, and inside was a box of soft cream, like the rouge that women would use, with a light pink color.
"This is a light rouge specially formulated for men," His Highness coaxed him with a smile, "Try it."
But Shen was stubborn and refused to move, so His Highness used his fingertips to apply some, then moved forward and twisted his face: "What's there to be embarrassed about? Minister Chen also puts on powder when he goes to court."
The more prominent the family in Kyoto, the more they value appearance. Even young men will put something on their face to improve their complexion when they go out.
But this mute had never been to school, and had not even read two books, yet he was more pedantic than those scholars for no reason and kept turning his face away and refused to let him rub his face.
After what happened last time, Xie Shiguan didn't dare to force him easily this time, so he had to take a step back and ask him to help him rub it.
Shen was holding the small box, a little at a loss. In his eyes, His Highness's face was already perfect and flawless. He slowly rubbed some rouge on his fingertips, but didn't know where to rub it.
"What are you standing there for? Can't you even apply rouge?"
Only then did Shen Que timidly reach out his hand, put his fingertips on the thin lips of His Highness, and rubbed them carefully. After rubbing them, his eyes were glued to it and could not move away.
Xie Shiguan was so handsome that with this touch of rouge on his face, he looked even more charming, like a ghost in a storybook who came to suck the essence of a scholar.
His Highness caught a glimpse of the infatuation in his eyes, chuckled, then leaned over and kissed him, rubbing the mute's lips with rouge.
"Do you like it?" he said, "I'll give you some."
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(Some of the dog's honey traps
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