Chapter 198 Chapter 198 Cousin
I went to see the temple fair on the second day of the New Year and started visiting relatives on the third day.
But now Fu Wenxiao is just a scholar from the south, and they don't have many relatives in the capital to visit. In addition, he will take part in the imperial examination in February and he has to prepare for the exam. So apart from visiting the Wang family for the New Year and visiting a few scholars from Nanjun Province, the Fu family rarely went out.
On the seventh day of the New Year, Chu Shaoyu came to wish everyone a happy new year with gifts.
Seeing Chu Shaoyu, Zhou was very surprised, "Mr. Chu, long time no see."
Chu Shaoyu felt a little embarrassed and explained, "I've been busy lately and haven't been able to find time to visit you. I hope you can forgive me."
Zhou naturally understood that there would be a lot of work to do before the New Year, and during the New Year period, she had to go around visiting elders to pay New Year's greetings, which also kept her busy.
It's thoughtful of him to take the time to come and wish us a happy new year.
Chu Shaoyu and Zhou were sitting in the hall talking. Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao, who had received the news, also came over from the study.
When Chu Shaoyu saw the two people, he looked a little unnatural for a moment, but he quickly smiled and greeted them, "Brother Fu, Miss Yu, sorry to bother you."
Fu Wenxiao glanced at him, smiled and asked him to take a seat.
There is a custom of drinking New Year wine in the capital. Since Chu Shaoyu is coming here today, Zhou asked someone to prepare New Year wine.
The Fu family is small and there are not many rules. Everyone sits together drinking and chatting, and the atmosphere is very harmonious.
Since Yu Li couldn't drink, only Fu Wenxiao accompanied Chu Shaoyu to drink.
Chu Shaoyu is not very old, but after drinking some wine, his face started to turn red and he seemed to be tipsy. He sat there drunk.
Zhou asked Fu Wenxiao to help him to the guest room to rest, and asked the kitchen to prepare some sobering soup.
Chu Shaoyu was actually not too drunk. He was helped by Fu Wenxiao to the guest room, where he sat with his head down, looking a little dejected.
Fu Wenxiao stared at his head and asked, "Brother Chu, do you want to go to bed and rest for a while?"
Chu Shaoyu said nothing.
At this time, Zhou brought a bowl of hangover soup. She stood at the door and said to Fu Wenxiao, "Brother Xiao, how is Mr. Chu? Is he feeling uncomfortable? Let him drink a bowl of hangover soup first."
Fu Wenxiao agreed and took the sobering soup.
He put the sobering soup on the table and was about to help Chu Shaoyu to bed to rest, but he turned away.
"Brother Chu?" Fu Wenxiao called out.
Chu Shaoyu raised his drunken face and looked at the man in front of him with a complicated expression. He whispered, "Brother Fu... should I call you Fu Wenxiao or Fu Xiao?"
Fu Wenxiao was not surprised to hear this, and said calmly: "You know?"
Chu Shaoyu smiled bitterly.
When he returned to Beijing last year, he informed his father of the attack, and his father naturally wanted to get to the bottom of it.
However, he did not expect that the investigation would reveal the true identity of Fu Wenxiao, who had come to Beijing with him. When he learned from his father that Fu Wenxiao was the son of the Duke of Zhenguo, he was completely stunned.
When Chu Shaoyu was born, he was born prematurely and was very sickly, and there was a possibility of death at any time.
Later, an imperial physician said that the climate in Jiangnan was mild and suitable for him to recuperate. At that time, his grandmother, Concubine Rui, missed her hometown and wanted to return to Jiangnan for a visit. After discussion, his parents decided to let him accompany his grandmother, Concubine Rui, to Jiangnan to recuperate. He stayed in Jiangnan for more than ten years.
Sure enough, his health gradually improved and he grew up smoothly. He only returned to Beijing a few years ago.
Chu Shaoyu was not familiar with the people in the capital, and had never met the Prince of Zhenguo before. When he returned to the capital, the Fu family had already fallen, and Princess Yuan'an took refuge in the palace in the western suburbs. Normally, no one mentioned the Prince of Zhenguo in front of him.
So when he met Fu Wenxiao in Nanjun Province, he didn't know his identity.
He was deeply impressed by the fear on his father's face when he found out that "Fu Wenxiao" was the prince of the Duke of Zhenguo. His father even specifically told him not to get too close to Fu Xiao to avoid getting into trouble.
Fu Wenxiao asked again: "When did you know?"
"Before the twelfth lunar month." Chu Shaoyu said slowly, "I didn't expect that you were the son of the Duke of Zhenguo, and your mother was Princess Yuan'an. So, I should call you cousin."
His father was Prince Rui, who was the son of the previous emperor and was the sister of Princess Yuan'an.
Fu Wenxiao understood. No wonder he hadn't come over during the twelfth lunar month.
He said: "It was only later that I guessed your identity."
The legitimate son of Prince Rui had been recuperating in Jiangnan and had little presence in the capital, so when they first met, he did not expect Chu Shaoyu to be the prince of Prince Rui's mansion.
Later, when I saw a certain obscure symbol on the ship that Chu Shaoyu was on, I finally understood.
Chu Shaoyu was surprised and said, "You knew my identity so early? No wonder you agreed to go to Beijing with me."
It turns out that it’s not because I consider him a friend…
He thought that they were friends, so Fu Wenxiao invited him to be a guest on the boat, and even later they shared hardships together. This friendship was even more rare.
Chu Shaoyu suddenly felt a little lost.
He admired Fu Wenxiao's literary talent and knowledge, and also liked his open-mindedness and the way he dealt with people. When he communicated with him, he felt like he was in a spring breeze, and it was difficult to refuse such a friend.
He sincerely regarded him as a friend, but unfortunately...
The expression on this man's face was so easy to understand. Fu Wenxiao could tell at a glance what he was disappointed about and said, "Not really. I think you're a good friend and worth making friends with."
"Really?" Chu Shaoyu immediately perked up and looked at him with burning eyes.
Fu Wenxiao nodded with a smile, sat down leisurely, and said: "Since you know my identity, you still come to pay New Year's greetings today, which shows that you recognize me as a friend, and I naturally recognize you as a friend as well."
Chu Shaoyu's mood suddenly brightened. He chuckled, scratched his hair, and said, "Although my father told me some things about your past, I think that seeing is believing. I am more willing to believe what I saw and heard on the way to Beijing, and I am willing to believe the Brother Fu I know..."
Fu Wenxiao smiled, pushed the hangover soup over, and said, "Drink some first."
Chu Shaoyu obediently took the sobering soup and drank it.
After drinking, he looked at Fu Wenxiao again and suddenly said, "So should I call you Brother Fu or Cousin Fu from now on? Oh, in this case, isn't Miss Yu my cousin's wife?"
This realization made his eyes light up.
Miss Yu is such a powerful person, and yet she is his cousin's wife, so they must be relatives.
Fu Wenxiao's eyelids twitched slightly. Seeing that he looked overjoyed, he coughed lightly and said, "You can call me whatever you want."
Chu Shaoyu accepted it quickly and said with a smile: "Okay, I will call you Cousin Fu in private, and Brother Fu outside." Then he complained, "In fact, I thought you knew my identity a long time ago, but deliberately concealed your own identity and didn't want to recognize me. You dislike me, so I..."
Speaking of this, he felt a little embarrassed.
The young man's thoughts were simple. After learning about Fu Wenxiao's identity, he thought that he was deliberately hiding it from him, so he was very unhappy.
Of course, he also cared about his friend Fu Wenxiao, otherwise he would not have come to pay New Year's greetings today.
Fu Wenxiao said: "It is indeed my brother's fault. I apologize to you here."
As he said this he stood up to acknowledge the greeting.
Chu Shaoyu quickly supported him, smiling brightly, "Cousin Fu, you don't have to be polite, you didn't mean it, and you..."
Thinking about his experience, I felt a little sympathetic and felt that it wasn't easy for this cousin either.
I heard that what happened back then was too complicated, even his father couldn't explain it, so he was told not to delve into it any further.
Chu Shaoyu didn't care what other people thought. He believed more in what he saw with his own eyes and experienced personally. He thought Fu Wenxiao was a very good person, and Yu Li was also a very good person. He liked them very much.
In that case, there is no need to pay attention to what people outside say.
Fu Wenxiao could tell what he was thinking and couldn't help but laugh.
It is rare to have such a character and still be sincere.
Chu Shaoyu had almost finished resting in the guest room. When he was about to leave, he called out to Yu Li, who was seeing him off, a little embarrassedly: "Miss Yu... No, it's my cousin's wife."
"Cousin's wife?" Yu Li was puzzled.
Chu Shaoyu first turned to look at Fu Wenxiao, and realized that Fu Wenxiao had not told Yu Li about his identity, so he told her his identity and said, "My father is the King of Rui, and my father and Princess Yuan'an are siblings. Brother Fu is my cousin."
Yu Li blinked and suddenly asked, "Do you have many half-brothers?"
Chu Shaoyu answered honestly, "There are three." Then he continued, "After my mother married my father, there was no news of pregnancy for several years, so the concubine gave birth to a concubine's son first. Later, my mother gave birth to me, and I had three more concubines."
Or are his half-brothers with evil intentions, all of them want him dead.
Yu Li said, "I see!" Seeing that he called her cousin, she said, "If someone bullies you in the future, tell me and I'll beat them up."
Chu Shaoyu: “…”
Chu Shaoyu's face flushed with excitement, and he said happily: "Okay, thank you, cousin!"
Thinking of her feat of smashing the boat with her bare hands, anyone who wasn't stupid would not refuse. If those brothers dared to covet his position as the crown prince again, he would let his cousin's wife deal with them.
This time when he came to the Fu family, he not only had a new cousin Fu, but also a powerful cousin-in-law. Chu Shaoyu was very happy and his steps became lighter when he left.
Yu Li watched him leave happily, turned to look at Fu Wenxiao, and said, "He looks quite... innocent."
"I don't hate him, do I?" Fu Wenxiao said with a smile, "I think this cousin is pretty good."
Yu Li nodded, indeed he didn’t hate it.
When Zhou learned of Chu Shaoyu's identity, she was also surprised and said, "I thought he was a member of the royal family, but I didn't expect that he was actually the prince of the Rui Palace."
If he was an ordinary member of the royal family, it would be fine, but Prince Rui was extraordinary.
I heard that when the saint was still a prince, he also experienced a brutal struggle for imperial power.
After he ascended the throne, he took the opportunity to imprison several brothers who were against him, or sent them to guard the imperial mausoleum. Prince Rui was left in the capital because of his young age, and later gained the trust of the saint.
The current Prince Rui is a rare prince with real power in the capital, and those princes want to win him over.
When Zhou thought of this, she couldn't help but look at Fu Wenxiao. She wanted to say something but stopped herself silently.
She knew that Xiao Ge'er always acted in an orderly manner. He was on good terms with the Prince of Rui. Even if Chu Shaoyu knew his identity, he had no intention of distancing himself from him. He must have his own intentions.
**
The Lantern Festival is here in a blink of an eye.
During the Lantern Festival this year, Yu Li and Mo Yuchan made an appointment to go watch the lanterns together. They heard that there would also be iron flower making, which would be quite lively.
As it got dark, Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao packed up and went out together to see the lanterns.
When they got to the street, Fu Wenxiao bought her a rabbit lantern and said with a gentle smile, "This rabbit suits you very well."
Yu Li held the lantern in his hands, looked at it, thought it was very cute, and gladly accepted it.
Then Fu Wenxiao went to buy some food for her to fill her stomach, and then he took the lantern so that she could have her hands free to eat.
Yu Li said happily: "Xiao brother, this crispy cake is good, and the fried dough twist is also good."
She ate with great relish, and passers-by saw her, their eyes fell on the food in her hands, and they couldn't help but buy some to try.
The two walked and strolled until they came to the restaurant where they had agreed to meet Mo Yuchan.
They arrived at the restaurant's private room and Mo Yuchan was already there.
"Yuchan!"
"Leave my mother!"
The two of them greeted each other happily. Yu Li looked at them and asked, "Why are you the only one here? Where's your fiancé?"
During the Lantern Festival, unmarried men and women can make an appointment to go out together to watch the lanterns. At this time, engaged men and women will also make appointments to meet.
Mo Yuchan was a little shy, "He has something to do, so he will come over later. We agreed to meet at the bridge head."
Yu Li said, "Okay, come with us to see the lanterns first, and we'll take you there later."
"OK."
There was one more person in the group of two, and it became a group of three.
Yu Li took Mo Yuchan and took her to see the lanterns, while Fu Wenxiao silently followed them with a rabbit lantern, looking like a flower guardian.
The three of them had outstanding looks and attracted a lot of attention.
Seeing this, Fu Wenxiao bought two masks, wore one himself and gave the other to Yu Li.
Yu Li reached out and touched the mask on his face, thinking it looked good, so he turned around and asked Mo Yuchan, "Yuchan, do you want to wear a mask?"
Mo Yuchan waved her hand to indicate no.
Even if she wanted a mask, she could buy it herself. How could she let Li Niang's husband buy it for her?
After finishing her shopping, Mo Yuchan went to find her fiancé.
Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao stood not far away, watching her walk towards a young man. After confirming that she and the young man knew each other, they turned and left.
The two went to watch the iron flower making.
There were quite a few people making fireworks at the iron flower forging site. They could see the fireworks rising into the sky from afar. It was so beautiful that Yu Li couldn't help but pull Fu Wenxiao's sleeve, wanting to get closer.
"A-Li." Fu Wenxiao pulled her back with his hand, "Don't get too close, or you'll be splashed by the molten iron."
Yu Li responded, his eyes still fixed on the exploding fireworks, and exclaimed: "It's so beautiful!"
After watching the iron flower show, they went to watch a circus.
Gradually, more and more people came to the street, but Yu Li never got tired of it and was always amazed. The Lantern Festival in the capital was indeed lively and there were so many things to see.
Of course, there is also a lot of food.
Passing by an alley, she was attracted by the food in the alley and pulled Fu Wenxiao along to eat.
While eating, she pushed the mask to the back of her head, revealing a delicate and beautiful face. Under the dim light, her skin was so white that it seemed to glow.
Attracted a lot of people's attention.
Fu Wenxiao was not hungry, but he still wore his mask and helped her get things, or sat there watching her eat.
Yu Li wanted to feed him fire cake, but he shook his head, his eyes full of smiles under the mask: "I'm not hungry, you eat it."
After finishing their meal, the two went for a walk by the river to digest the food.
There were many people releasing lanterns by the river, and in the distance there were pleasure boats sailing on the river, and the sound of stringed instruments could be heard faintly.
"Ali, do you want to light lanterns?" Fu Wenxiao asked.
Yu Li took a look and said, "Okay, write down your wishes as well." She saw many people writing down their wishes when they released lanterns, but whether they could come true or not was another matter.
The two went to buy a lantern. When they were writing their wishes, Fu Wenxiao tilted his head and asked, "Li Niang, what do you want to write?"
Yu Li said without thinking: "Of course I wish you success in the imperial examination!"
She hasn't had any wishes recently, and this is the only wish she can think of.
Fu Wenxiao's smile deepened. He picked up a pen and wrote down his wish on a piece of paper, then rolled it up and placed it in the lantern.
After writing, the two went to the river to release lanterns.
There are many lanterns on the river, floating in the dark water.
Yu Li squatted by the river and put the lantern in his hand into the river. He watched the lantern float away with the water and merge with the other lanterns in the river. Gradually, he could not tell which lantern was which.
She asked: "With so many lanterns in the river, will it pollute the environment?"
This is a very unromantic question. Who would think about this when setting off lanterns?
Fu Wenxiao said, "Tomorrow there will be people who will fish out the lanterns and will not let them block the river."
"Is that so?" She added, "Then there's no point in making a wish. After all, the lanterns will be taken away by someone."
Fu Wenxiao: "..."
As he was speaking, there was suddenly a noise not far away.
The two looked over where the sound was coming from and discovered that someone had fallen into the water.
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