Chapter 272 273. Damn you! No premature love allowed!
Fifteen-year-old boy.
His figure grew like a bamboo shoot. After not seeing him for a year, he had grown a lot taller. He was tall and straight. His simple aqua green robe brought out his bamboo-like appearance.
His childish appearance has also grown a lot, and he has gained a bit of maturity and majesty.
However, his black eyes were bright and lively, his jade-like face had two blushes due to running, and his lips were red and his teeth were white, which was a good color unique to young people.
Her long black hair was tied into a high ponytail, neat and free-spirited, she was in the prime of her life.
Compared to when Lei Li was fifteen, he was even more brilliant and more confident. This was the result of his wealth of gold, silver, pearls, jade, poetry, and books, as well as the love and encouragement he had received since childhood.
Lei Li looked at his baby Zhou Zhou, his heart and eyes filled with pride. He was proud that his family had raised the child so well, and he was also proud that his child had worked hard and grown up to be so generous and dazzling.
Zhou Yi looked at Lei Zhouzhou and felt both happy and regretful.
I regret that I haven’t been with Zhou Zhou for more than a year and haven’t spent enough time with him.
I am happy that Zhou Zhou takes good care of himself and is growing up well. When he misses his daddy and grandpa, he will come thousands of miles to find them.
etc--
Come all the way to Qingyuan to find them?
Did Zhou Zhou come here alone?
"You came here on your own?"
Zhou Zhou frowned slightly in worry. "Does your family know you're coming to Qingyuan? Do you have enough money with you? Is your journey smooth?"
"I know."
Zhou Zhou explained, "Didn't Daddy and A'dad write a letter to Brother, asking him to find someone willing to come to Qingyuan to be a teacher?"
"My brother submitted a memorial saying that Qingyuan lacked teachers and educational resources. He originally wanted to be transferred far away to follow Daddy and Grandfather to Qingyuan to be a teacher."
"But His Majesty did not approve it and even promoted my brother two levels, making him a Bachelor of Imperial Reading."
"On the contrary, several colleagues in the Hanlin Academy heard about my brother's lofty ambitions and resolutely resigned from the court, volunteering to come to Qingyuan to serve as officials and study."
There is also a chain of contempt in officialdom.
Officials with real positions have power and are superior to officials of the same rank but with empty titles; officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War are highly regarded by the emperor and are superior to officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works.
Officials in the capital, who are close to the emperor, are of a higher rank than officials from other places who are far away from the center of power; officials from wealthy and prosperous places are also of a higher rank than officials from remote and secluded places.
Going from the noble Hanlin Academy to the remote grassland, it can be said that he will never be able to return to Kyoto in this life, and will not be able to appear in front of nobles and the emperor, which is tantamount to cutting off his own future.
Therefore, many people would rather be an eighth or ninth rank official in Kyoto, doing idle things every day, hoping that one day a pie will fall from the sky, than go to the grassroots to do practical work and construction.
It is very admirable that Lei Shengjiang's colleagues in the Hanlin Academy dared to request to be transferred out of Beijing to teach children in the vast grasslands.
Lei Li and Zhou Yi were also impressed when they heard this.
Lei Li thought about it and asked with a smile, "So Zhou Zhou came here with some gentlemen from the Hanlin Academy?"
"Um."
Lei Zhouzhouzhou nodded. "Those adults are riding in carriages. I can ride faster on horseback than them. They shouldn't have entered the city yet."
There are many horses in Qingyuan.
Riding a horse into the city was prone to accidents, so riding was prohibited. Lei Zhouzhou could only walk into the city and only ran away when he saw his father and uncle on the street.
"Jingsheng didn't come?"
"Here I come."
When Lei Zhouzhou heard his father mention his aunt, he laughed, "My aunt just said that when my father saw me, he would definitely ask if she was here, and he did ask."
"My aunt and uncle are here, but my uncle is having trouble acclimatizing and can't ride a horse, so my aunt and uncle are accompanying him in a carriage. We've fallen behind and we'll have to wait a while before we can see him."
"Grandpa and grandma wanted to come too, but they were old and tired from the journey, and they were worried about not being able to acclimate to the local climate. My brother and aunt persuaded them, saying that Daddy and Daddy would be back in Beijing soon, so they could relax."
"My brother is detained by His Majesty and cannot come, so my sister-in-law and Xiao Yuzhu have to stay in Kyoto. However, my brother, sister-in-law and Xiao Yuzhu are all doing well. Xiao Yuzhu is now walking very steadily and can even call people good."
Lei Zhouzhou said a lot in one breath.
He is a reserved person and not a talkative person, but he just spoke the important points to reassure his father and grandpa.
Xiao Yuzhu is the daughter of Lei Shengjiang and Miao Yurui. Her nickname is Miao Jiangjiang, or Miao Baobao, and her full name is Miao Yuzhu.
Priceless jade.
The apple of the eye.
It was a name that Lei Shengjiang and Miao Yurui had racked their brains and carefully selected.
Lei Shengjiang was still complacent, thinking that he was very talented and could come up with such a nice-sounding, easy-to-remember and meaningful name.
Miao Yurui looked at the name that her young husband had pondered over and then thought about, and felt a little amused. He thought to himself, could it be that Jiang was thinking of him when he wanted to call Yuzhu?
Just like the little thought that Lei Shengjiang had in giving Miao Jiangjiang a nickname, he would think of Lei Shengjiang when he called Miao Jiangjiang.
At the end of September last year, Lei Shengjiang had his birthday, and Lei Li and his wife decided on the date when they returned to Kyoto, so they knew Xiao Yuzhu's name.
At that time, Lei Li even joked, "Sheng Jiang really took after your father when naming his children. He named his children after his father, Zhou Zhou and Yu Zhu."
Zhou Yi, Zhou Zhou.
Miao Yurui, Miao Yuzhu.
At first glance, they sound like real brothers, but in fact, both the father and the son are bad at naming, and they can only use their own names and their partners' names to create names.
"Xiao Yuzhu can walk steadily now, right?"
Lei Li imagined Xiao Yuzhu walking steadily with her short arms and legs, and immediately thought she was so cute and laughed.
"The last time I went back to Kyoto, little Yuzhu was less than a year old and couldn't speak. She would sometimes fall backwards while sitting, but she would get up pretty quickly..."
Lei Li said this with a touch of regret and indignation, "It's all that bastard's fault... that wise and powerful man, for sending us this arduous task, running around to all the prefectures and cities, but not to Beijing."
As a result, they didn't even see their granddaughter walk for the first time. They don't know what Xiao Yuzhu looks like now, and whether she can still recognize them.
Wanqi Xia, this dog emperor.
Is it because she herself can't bear children and has no successor, so she deliberately makes things difficult for him, a subordinate who has a large family and grandchildren and enjoys the company of children? This is naked envy and jealousy!
"Of course."
Lei Zhouzhou nodded and said, "Auntie drew portraits of Daddy and Grandpa, and often taught Xiao Yuzhu to recognize you. Xiao Yuzhu is also very smart and can remember people she has only met a few times."
"When Daddy and Grandpa return to Beijing Capital from Qingyuan, Xiao Yuzhu will definitely recognize you when she sees you."
"What a commotion..."
Lei Li muttered, "It feels like we're both gone. I still have to rely on portraits for Xiao Yuzhu to recognize me..."
“…”
Zhou Yi was a little speechless when he heard his words, and he also felt a little bit of agreement and upset. He also wanted to go home and play with the lovely little Yuzhu instead of being busy dealing with official business in Qingyuan.
To be honest, as the wife of a marquis rather than a marquis, he shouldn't have so many official duties.
Lei Li just threw his work to him. As husband and wife are one, Lei Li's business is his business.
But Prefect Duanmu, General Wu, and Meng Yao came to see him every now and then, either asking him when they were looking for Lei Li, or catching them both to ask together, which invisibly added a lot of official business for him to do.
The most infuriating thing is that General Wu, Meng Yao and Prefect Duanmu, if they do their job well, at least they get salary and performance, but he gets nothing. Lei Li has already surpassed the first rank, and there is no room for promotion even if he has performance.
“…”
They seem to have been taken advantage of.
Zhou Yi now also wants to scold the emperor.
"Zhou Zhou!"
"Seventeen!"
Lei Zhouzhou suddenly spoke, interrupting Zhou Yi and Lei Li's resentful complaints.
The couple followed Zhou Zhou's gaze and saw a handsome young man in the direction of the city gate, which was the direction Zhou Zhou had just run from.
The young man was wearing a long robe, smoky blue in color, also simple, but a closer look revealed that the style was similar to the one worn by Lei Zhouzhou. He also tied his hair up, without a crown, and simply tied it with a headband of the same color.
He had a handsome face but a rather cold air, like the snow and the biting wind in winter. He had a pair of starry eyes and light-colored, thin lips that he habitually pursed, making him look quite unkind.
But his eyes were always on Lei Zhouzhou, chasing Lei Zhouzhou's figure. When he saw Lei Zhouzhou looking back at him, his eyes were like melting ice and snow, and in an instant thousands of pear trees bloomed.
"Zhou Zhou."
The young man in blue robe led two horses and soon came in front of Lei Zhouzhou. He shifted his gaze from Lei Zhouzhou to Lei Li and Zhou Yi, and bowed respectfully.
"Junior Lin Zhong greets the Marquis of Changning and his wife."
"No need to be so polite."
Lei Li smiled and was very friendly. He held up Lin Zhong's hand, and his eyes moved away from Lin Zhong's face. With a look of satisfaction from a beauty-loving person, he walked around his Zhou Zhou and turned back to Lin Zhong.
His tone was very meaningful. "It's been more than a year since we last met. Seventeen has grown taller and has a much more handsome face. I wonder which girl will marry him in the future."
"Not a girl."
Lin Zhong looked straight at Lei Zhouzhou with a firm tone.
Unfortunately, the wink he gave to the blind man didn't register with Lei Zhouzhou at all. He even looked at him curiously, "You don't like girls?"
"Um."
Lin Zhong still looked at Lei Zhouzhou.
“…”
Zhou Yi also looked at Lin Zhong with scrutiny, his eyes glancing at the two horses he was leading. "Did you come from Beijing with Zhou Zhou?"
"Seventeen heard me say I was coming to Qingyuan and was worried about me, so she came with me."
Lei Zhouzhou said, "Seventeen took good care of me on the way. He's much better at horseback archery than I am. He shot a lot of rabbits and pheasants. He also knows how to roast chickens and rabbits."
"Is it better than Dad's?"
Zhou Yi raised his eyebrows and spoke in a more serious tone.
"No."
Lei Zhouzhou shook his head and spoke frankly, "It's not as delicious as Daddy's. Seventeen's is probably... 70% as good as Daddy's, right? But Seventeen just learned how to grill meat, so he should be as good as Daddy's in the future."
"yes."
Lin Zhong said humbly and sincerely, "I am working hard. If there is a chance in the future, I hope to learn from my uncle how to roast a rabbit."
“…”
Zhou Yi stared at him coldly.
Just now she was the Marquis' wife, now she's the uncle. Even without any help, she would still climb up the ladder. What a damn bastard! His Zhou Zhou is only fifteen years old!
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