Chapter 23 Makes sense
When it was almost lunchtime, Zhu Zhanji arrived at Kunning Palace, but there was a little tail following him, and that was Zhu Qizhen.
As soon as Zhu Youtong saw Zhu Qizhen, he subconsciously moved his chair closer to his sister. It was only when Zhu Yuhuan coughed lightly that Zhu Youtong pretended nothing had happened and secretly tugged at the corner of his sister's clothes.
Zhu Yuhuan gave his sister a soothing look, then took her hand and went with Hu Shanxiang to pay their respects to Zhu Zhanji.
Zhu Zhanji couldn't help but laugh when he saw the three of them, mother and daughter, moving in unison. "Why are you all so reserved? I don't usually see you two sisters behaving so well."
Zhu Yuhuan said jokingly with a smile: "Daddy specially asked the Shangshenjian to prepare food to welcome Huanhuan, so naturally we have to perform the etiquette of a subject."
Zhu Zhanji was amused by her words and said, "You are the only one who has a lot of reasons."
Zhu Qizhen, on the other hand, didn't care at all. After greeting Hu Shanxiang, he ran to Zhu Yuhuan and asked casually, "Did you bring anything interesting back from the imperial farm this time?"
Zhu Yuhuan deliberately showed an embarrassed expression and said, "What could the Crown Prince lack in the palace? What my sister has in the imperial farm, is there not also in the palace? Whatever good things Daddy has, he always gives them to Grandma and the Crown Prince first."
Seeing Zhu Yuhuan acting so seriously, Zhu Qizhen thought she really didn't bring anything back, and immediately became depressed. He said, "Sister usually brings me gifts..."
Whenever Zhu Yuhuan left the palace, he would always bring some fashionable gadgets with him. Although Zhu Qizhen already had all of them, he couldn't help but feel a little excited every time he saw Zhu Yuhuan coming back from the palace.
Zhu Youtong picked at the pattern on his cuffs, resisted the urge to speak, and said nothing.
Seeing him like this, Zhu Zhanji said helplessly, "You are the only one who is young and believes your sister's jokes. She is always thorough and has always brought you something fun."
Zhu Yuhuan was exposed by Zhu Zhanji, so he said: "It's not really a gift. It's just that the two horses sent to the imperial farm earlier have given birth to foals. When these two foals grow up, I will give a few more to you and Yu Ge'er. Then I will give one to you and Yu Ge'er for practicing riding and shooting, okay?"
Children have short memories. Zhu Qizhen had long forgotten the incident in which he almost fell off his horse. When he heard that there was a foal for him, he immediately jumped for joy and said, "Sister, you must not forget that you promised to teach me how to ride."
Zhu Yuhuan smiled and said, "When the time comes, we'll have the Duke of Ying to teach us. Why would we need my sister? The Duke of Ying was a great general who once conquered Jiaozhi, and his horsemanship is even more outstanding."
Zhu Qizhen curled his lips and muttered, "I don't like them..."
The last time he met the ministers in Wenhua Hall, he remembered how these old men flattered their own father, so naturally he had no interest in them at all.
Zhu Zhanji coughed, and Hu Shanxiang, who was standing beside him, said, "Let's have lunch first."
After the family had lunch together, Zhu Zhanji asked the two sisters how their visit to the imperial farm went. Zhu Youtong took out her sketch, and Zhu Zhanji looked through it carefully. He couldn't help but praise her repeatedly and said with a smile: "Tongtong is much more talented in painting than all of you."
Zhu Youtong raised his chin and said proudly, "Of course. Grandma also liked the folding fan I drew before."
"Shang Xi's painting skills are good. Your sister has been going to Renzhi Hall frequently recently. If you follow her, you will learn a lot."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuhuan said, "Great, it's a good opportunity for me to improve my painting skills as well."
Zhu Zhanji jokingly said, "If you could really 'improve', you would have made progress long ago. I could tell at a glance that the fan you gave me last time was painted by you."
Zhu Yuhuan pretended to be helpless and curled his lips, saying: "Since I already have two masters in my family, Daddy and Tongtong, I will be satisfied with just looking like them."
Zhu Youtong was even more proud now, and continued, "I have already promised my sister that I will make these paintings into a long scroll and hang it in the princess's mansion so that my sister can see it at any time."
Zhu Zhanji's brows twitched when she mentioned the Princess Mansion. This expression happened to catch Zhu Yuhuan's eye. She sneered inwardly and took the opportunity to ask, "Daddy, why did you suddenly think of renovating the Princess Mansion? I heard from Ruan Banban that they want to rebuild the garden of the Princess Mansion." She looked sincere and said, "It's just a garden. Why mobilize such a large force?"
Zhu Zhanji didn't hide it and said, "Don't you like those flowers and plants? The waterway built in the imperial farm before was very good. Father thought of asking Ruan An to build a similar one in the princess's mansion. Although it can't be used for weaving, it looks beautiful on weekdays and it will be convenient for watering those flowers and plants, making you comfortable living there. Besides, it's just a garden, why mobilize so many people? The money is all from the inner treasury. The emperor is building a mansion for his daughter, so why should he care about what others say?"
Zhu Qizhen was originally holding the draft of the painting that Zhu Yuhuan had brought from the Renzhi Hall. He was just looking at it with great interest when he suddenly heard the father and daughter mention the Princess's Mansion. He came over curiously and asked, "What is the Princess's Mansion?"
Zhu Zhanji was in a good mood and said with a smile: "It is your sister's own mansion. When she gets married and leaves the palace, she can live in it."
When Zhu Yuhuan saw that he did not mention the matter of Concubine Sun and talked about "getting married in the future", he knew that he probably had this consideration, but felt that it was not right to let Zhu Yuhuan leave the palace unmarried, so he simply evaded Concubine Sun.
When Zhu Qizhen heard the word "leave the palace", he was a little confused and asked, "Why do you want to leave the palace?"
"What kind of daughter will never marry? When your sister leaves the palace in the future, you can still go out incognito and play with her."
Zhu Qizhen scratched his head and asked in confusion: "Sister, can't you stay in the palace? Or go out and come back like you did to the imperial farm..."
Zhu Youtong curled his lips and said, "Once I leave, I'll never come back. All the aunts are like this. They only come back during festivals."
She didn't even care that her sister couldn't always go home after leaving the palace, so why did the prince have an opinion first?
Zhu Zhanji was helpless and said, "No ordinary girl would live at home after getting married, let alone the royal family."
Zhu Qizhen was unhappy about this. He immediately ran to Zhu Zhanji, stretched out his hand and grabbed his sleeve, saying, "If you leave the palace, who will teach me how to ride a horse, help me with my homework, and bring me things from outside? Dad, can't you just not get married? Or... or let someone else marry you? Isn't it the same anyway? You don't have to leave the palace and live a hard life..."
Zhu Youtong was quick-witted and immediately took away the drawings he had placed on the table to prevent them from accidentally "dying tragically".
But this time, what the prince said seemed to make some sense...
Zhu Yuhuan was almost amused by Zhu Qizhen's words, and was waiting for Zhu Zhanji's response with some gloating attitude.
Zhu Zhanji was speechless after hearing this set of twisted logic. Annoyed by Zhu Qizhen, Zhu Zhanji could only helplessly say, "You should learn more from your sister and concentrate on learning to read and write. You can talk about it after you are able to go out and study." He was afraid that Zhu Qizhen would say something else, so he changed the subject and said, "Daddy asked Wang Zhen to urge you to learn to read. Have you finished learning today?"
He doesn't focus on his studies all day long, and only wants his sister to play with him. What future can he have...
"I've recognized her..." Zhu Qizhen muttered a few words, still worried, and asked: "Father, you won't let my sister leave the palace now, right?"
Seeing him making such a fuss, Zhu Yuhuan patted Zhu Qizhen's shoulder and said comfortingly: "Don't worry, sister is not old enough yet. Daddy won't let her leave the palace so soon."
Zhu Zhanji also echoed Zhu Yuhuan's words and said, "Did you hear that? Your sister told you that herself, so it can't be a lie."
Zhu Qizhen uttered an "oh" but couldn't help but hug Zhu Yuhuan's waist and said, "Sister, can you get married later?"
Zhu Yuhuan half-jokingly said, "Wait until you have a child in the future, and then I'll get married, okay? By then you'll be a man of integrity, and naturally you won't be as clingy to me as you are now."
Zhu Qizhen thought for a long time, probably feeling that he was still a long way from getting married and having children, so he nodded willingly.
Seeing that Zhu Yuhuan had coaxed Zhu Qizhen into submission in just a few moves, Zhu Zhanji couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Worry... Worry...
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