Chapter 17 Don't Move After dinner, Xiao Siliang is in Zhao Linzhang's arms...
After dinner, Xiao Siliang was drowsy in Zhao Linzhang's arms. He had been playing all day and only slept for a short while in the carriage. He must have been exhausted, but he was reluctant to fall asleep. He clung tightly to Zhao Linzhang's clothes, his eyes almost closed, afraid that he would leave.
"Sleep peacefully, your godfather won't leave." Zhao Linzhang's deep and gentle voice comforted the child in his arms. He had never slept with such a small child before, and he felt a sense of novelty and satisfaction from being relied upon.
Just as Zhao Linzhang had said, Xiao Siliang wanted to follow him tonight. Shen Yunrong was both amused and exasperated. This child had learned to recognize people and truly regarded the prince as his father.
Wherever the young master goes, she naturally has to follow, even if it means spending the night in the same room as Zhao Linzhang.
Steward Tan hadn't anticipated this situation. There weren't two beds in the manor's bedroom, so in a moment of panic, he moved in a low couch. Shen Yunrong, being slender, had more than enough room to lie on it.
Despite her inner resistance, Shen Yunrong dared not say no and took over the work from Steward Tan, making up the bed for Zhao Linzhang. She watched as he clumsily placed the child on the bedding, lay on his side, propped his head up with one hand, and gently patted the child's bottom with the other.
Xiao Siliang fell into a deep sleep in no time. Zhao Linzhang turned to look at Shen Yunrong, his eyes questioning her.
Shen Yunrong understood and said softly, "Your Highness, the young master is asleep. I will take him to another place so as not to disturb you."
"Don't worry, let him sleep here. Don't wake him up." Zhao Linzhang looked at the sleeping child, a faint fragrance wafting from his nose, like feathers gently tickling his heart, sending shivers down his spine.
Shen Yunrong stepped back from behind the screen and listened to Zhao Linzhang rustling as he took off his clothes. She then lay down on the low couch fully clothed.
She was so reserved that she even breathed cautiously, straining her ears to listen to the sounds behind the screen, hoping that the young master would wake up so she could carry him back to the house next door to sleep.
The expected cries did not come; instead, Zhao Linzhang's voice rang out, low and hoarse in the silent night.
"Aren't you asleep yet?"
Shen Yunrong was startled. Had she disturbed the prince? She didn't dare to move, her legs feeling numb.
"Did this servant disturb Your Highness?"
"I have practiced martial arts. A sleeping person breathes evenly. Is it uncomfortable to lie on a low couch?" Zhao Linzhang's voice was lazy, quite different from his usual majestic tone.
"No, no, I'm afraid the young master will wake up." Shen Yunrong was so frightened that she tried to get up.
"He's tired from playing today, he shouldn't wake up so soon, you can sleep peacefully!" Zhao Linzhang's lazy voice was slightly hoarse, carrying a hint of weariness.
"Mmm!" Shen Yunrong replied softly, closing her eyes and forcing herself to fall asleep quickly.
After a long while, the slight drowsiness I had was gone.
Zhao Linzhang's voice drifted over from behind the screen again: "I can't sleep, can't you sleep either?"
Shen Yunrong, who was trying to fall asleep quickly, did not notice that Zhao Linzhang did not refer to himself as "this king". She opened her eyes in annoyance: "This servant really wants to sleep."
“Your father was a scholar, so you should have married into a scholarly family.” Zhao Linzhang heard from Xiao Zheng that she had married the butcher’s mentally challenged son.
"My father died early and only had one daughter. My mother was often sick." Shen Yunrong thought that if it weren't for her mother's shrewishness, she would probably have married early like Rongniang.
"Your father must love you very much."
"Yes, when I was little, he would take me up the mountain to collect herbs to treat my mother's illness." My father's love was always intermittent; he mostly just sat alone.
"You had a lot of fun when you were a child. I had to get up at dawn to memorize books from the age of six." When Zhao Linzhang was a child, let alone going to the mountains, even playing around in the palace would get him a beating from the Grand Tutor.
"Yin hour?" Shen Yunrong was very surprised. At Yin hour, it was still dark. Zhao Linzhang, a prince, lived a life that was even more miserable than that of poor people like them.
"Back then I was naughty, climbing trees to steal bird eggs, and the Grand Tutor punished me by making me copy the Classic of Characters a hundred times." Zhao Linzhang recalled that it was his elder brother who made him climb the tree, and he was the one who was punished.
He's the one who's now holding the official position that offends people; he's the one who's clearing the way for his elder brother, the one who's been through thick and thin for him.
Shen Yunrong had no idea that a prince like him could live such a miserable life. She cleared her throat and said, "Back then, I went up the mountain and collected a lot of bird eggs and wild chicken eggs. Father threw them into the fire to roast them. They were so delicious."
The two talked for so long they forgot the time. Shen Yunrong recounted amusing anecdotes from her childhood, while Zhao Linzhang spoke of the hardships he endured as a prince. They were like two close friends, their lives vastly different yet always having something to talk about. As dawn broke, Zhao Linzhang, worried that she might be too tired from staying up all night, smiled and said, "Go to sleep!" Only then did Shen Yunrong drift off to sleep.
It is said that Zhao Linzhang's birth mother died early and he was raised under the Empress's name, so he must have suffered a lot.
In a daze, all he heard was a surprised gasp, followed by Zhao Linzhang's helpless voice: "You little rascal!"
Shen Yunrong heard it clearly, and her dazed mind immediately cleared: "Your Highness, has the young master woken up?"
She rushed straight to the inside of the screen, stopped in her tracks, and asked with concern.
"That little rascal peed all over me!" Zhao Linzhang was covered in sweat, while the culprit was still fast asleep.
Shen Yunren couldn't help but laugh out loud: "I put a diaper on the young master, but he probably kicked it off."
Seeing that she rarely showed such a girlish smile, Zhao Linzhang also smiled and said, "He's sleeping soundly."
Touching his soaked clothes, Zhao Linzhang had no choice but to get up and change.
Shen Yunrong hurriedly helped Zhao Linzhang find some clothes to change into. When she turned around, she saw the high bulge between his legs. She was no longer a naive girl who knew nothing about sex. Compared to the blurry outline last night, she could see it much more clearly at this close range, which made her blush even more.
For a moment, her fingers, which were holding her clothes, clenched tightly in embarrassment, and she didn't know where to look.
Zhao Linzhang belatedly realized the magnificence of his daily morning awakenings, and his breathing grew increasingly intense.
"Help me!" Shen Yunrong looked up sharply upon hearing this, her eyes meeting his expectant and longing gaze.
She didn't know if Zhao Linzhang wanted her to help him change his clothes, or something else. She shook her head, avoiding the hand that was about to touch her face.
Zhao Linzhang realized he had lost his composure. He tried to speak with difficulty, his voice restrained, "I didn't dare to turn over last night for fear of crushing the child. My arm is numb. Can you help me change?"
Shen Yunrong then stepped forward, put down the clothes, and reached out with trembling fingers to untie the belt of Zhao Linzhang's inner garment.
Zhao Linzhang grasped her icy hand, his grip different from the light touch last time; this time it felt like he wanted to intertwine their fingers: "I..."
Shen Yunrong was so startled that she pulled her hand away forcefully. Just then, the young master on the bed started groaning and was about to wake up. She rushed to the bed and said, "Young master is awake. This servant will go and call Steward Tan to help the prince change his clothes."
When Xiao Siliang first woke up, he saw his adoptive father and wet nurse in front of him. He looked at them with curiosity, then at them.
Suddenly, he clapped his little hands and laughed in Shen Yunrong's arms. His childish laughter dispelled the idyllic scene.
After Shen Yunrong helped the young master get dressed, Zhao Linzhang also changed into clean clothes and sat down in the front yard to have his meal.
"Your godfather will take you horseback riding later!" Zhao Linzhang gestured for them to sit down. In front of him was a bowl of steaming jade noodles. The young master was given a bowl of porridge and a bowl of the same emerald green noodles as Zhao Linzhang.
"You should eat more too, you're so skinny you'd fall over in the wind."
Zhao Linzhang lowered his head to eat noodles, but Shen Yunrong knew he was talking to her. In front of Steward Tan, her face flushed red, and she lowered her head to feed the young master some gruel to cover her burning face.
"You eat slowly, I'll take Siliang out first." Zhao Linzhang finished his noodles in a few bites, got up and picked up the child.
"Mmm!" Shen Yunrong responded faintly, her head lowered. After the footsteps faded away, only the aroma of food remained in the quiet dining room.
She looked at the dozen or so dishes on the table, and only recognized one plate of golden-brown flatbread with butter and another plate of snow-white honey paste.
If she doesn't avoid the prince's hand today, she will have such exquisite breakfasts every day from now on. But what about the future?
From then on, she was like the two twin flowers, trapped in a small courtyard, waiting to be remembered by chance, or to be forgotten for the rest of her life.
Unlike the twins, she had a daughter. She couldn't let herself be blinded by this wealth and luxury. Shen Yunrong simply picked up the bowl of jade-green noodles. The noodles were warm, but she still broke out in a light sweat while eating.
Wiping the light sweat from her forehead, she hurried out to find the young master. All she remembered was that she was just the young master's wet nurse in the Prince's mansion.
The other delicate pastries on the table remained untouched.
Without even asking the servants on the estate, she could hear the young master's giggling as soon as she stepped out of the courtyard. Following the sound, she saw Zhao Linzhang carrying the child and riding a horse galloping towards her in the distance.
"Would you like to try riding?" Zhao Linzhang gestured to his men to bring a small, long-haired horse to her.
Shen Yunrong took a step back and quickly waved her hand, "This servant wouldn't!"
The last time she rode a horse, Zhao Linzhang had her encircled in front of him; she wouldn't dare to ride on her own.
“This horse is gentle and even children dare to ride it. I’m taking Siliang into the woods, so you can ride it and follow along.”
Hearing Zhao Linzhang say this, Shen Yunrong mustered her courage and, with the help of the guards, mounted her horse. The horse neither neighed nor flinched, just as Zhao Linzhang had said, and her tightly clenched heart slowly relaxed.
She followed slowly behind Zhao Linzhang, who was holding a child in one arm and a short crossbow in the other. Wild rabbits were common in winter when they came out to forage. Shen Yunrong had seen several plump wild rabbits dart into the snow while riding a horse.
Zhao Linzhang suddenly stopped his horse. With a whooshing sound, the guard exclaimed in surprise, "Your Highness, you hit the target!"
Shen Yunrong, who had been following slowly behind, couldn't help but crane her neck. The guard picked up the gray rabbit from the ground and shouted happily.
"We'll have this roasted rabbit for lunch!" Zhao Linzhang's hearty voice rang out, mixed with his little nickname's giggles.
"Your Highness, there's a litter of baby rabbits here!"
Fearing that Xiao Siliang would get cold, Zhao Linzhang returned to the manor as soon as he hunted the rabbit. The guards had already prepared the rabbit and placed it on the fire to roast it.
Zhao Linzhang handed the child to Shen Yunrong: "It's been a long time since I've roasted a rabbit. Today, I'll show you my skills."
After saying that, he took the rabbit from the guard. Soon the aroma wafted out. Xiao Siliang didn't want to stay in Shen Yunrong's arms, so she struggled to sit on the soft cushion next to her and quietly watched Zhao Linzhang skillfully turn the roasted rabbit over.
Zhao Linzhang enjoyed Xiao Siliang's adoring gaze. While teasing him, he broke off dry branches and threw them into the fire. In a moment of carelessness, he cut his finger on a splinter, and a bead of blood the size of a soybean instantly appeared on his fingertip.
Shen Yunrong was right beside him. In a moment of panic, she put his injured finger in her mouth, just like her mother always did to stop the bleeding.
The man's turbulent gaze snapped her back to reality. She panicked and tried to explain, but Zhao Linzhang's hoarse voice boomed above her: "Don't move!"
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