Chapter 75

 

When Chen Jingzong returned to Siyi Hall, he first asked the servant to bring two buckets of cold water, and then sent someone to tell the kitchen to prepare dinner for him.

After entering the main room, he grabbed the teapot and poured three cups of tea in a row, drinking them all without a drop left.

Fu Gui stood at the door wiping his sweat, swallowing saliva while wiping, and gasping for air at the same time.

For an hour he was jolted on the horse, which made him dizzy and his legs weak when he got off the horse! Last year, the master thought he had gained weight, but now he had lost that weight in one day!

And he hadn’t eaten yet! When he set out in the morning, his master clearly said that he would stay at the guard station tonight. However, when the soldiers who had been training had just been dismissed, and he was wondering what the kitchen made tonight, his master ordered him to fetch the horse, saying that he was going back to the city!

Fu Gui didn’t want to come back at all. His master came back because of the princess, but he was just running with him. He was just eating ashes on the road and there was no benefit at all.

Chen Jingzong put down his tea cup and looked back to see Fu Gui’s disgraced look, and couldn’t help but think of his former self.

Even he disliked Fu Gui, then Hua Yang, a noble and refined person, would only despise him even more.

“Go down and have a rest. You’re not needed here.”

Glancing at Fu Gui’s hand still covering his stomach, Chen Jingzong was half gracious and half disgusted.

Fu Gui no longer care. He was also thirsty, so he turned around and ran to the servants’ room.

The servants brought the water over and sent it to the inner room.

Chen Jingzong could even take a cold shower in winter, let alone this time of year. He rubbed his body and then washed his hair. Only when both buckets of water were used up, his body was finally refreshed.

After getting dressed, Chen Jingzong went to the back yard. While walking on the corridor, he saw her comfortable figure leaning on a wicker chair under the shade of a tree. Next to her was a small table with fruits and tea. Chao Yun and Chao Yue sat on two small stools, one fanned her head and the other fanned her legs.

Chen Jingzong walked in that direction.

Chao Yun and Chao Yue looked at the princess, and upon receiving her look, they tacitly put down their fans, bowed their heads and retreated.

Chen Jingzong sat on Chao Yun’s small stool and reached for the fan. His eyes had already fallen on Hua Yang’s face.

Hua Yang glanced at his damp hair and asked strangely: “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t come back tonight?”

Chen Jingzong: “You have just left the palace, how could I let you stay alone in the empty room. If His Majesty and Niangniang found out, I’m afraid they will blame me.”

Hua Yang snorted: “Whatever you say. Anyway, tonight don’t even think about that.”

It was not that she still disliked Chen Jingzong and deliberately refused to cooperate with him, but he was too… If Hua Yang indulged blindly and always followed Chen Jingzong’s whim, her body would probably fall apart in less than half a month.

Besides, that thing had to be done in moderation. She didn’t know about others, but her father emperor was a living example. He was obviously the same age as her father-in-law, but her father-in-law still had a sage-like air even though he was so busy. On the other hand, her father emperor, no matter how well-dressed he was, he seemed a little weak and in low spirits. To used vulgar words, her father emperor had been hollowed out by the women in the harem.

“You have already set the rules, what can I think about?” Chen Jingzong said nonchalantly.

Hua Yang didn’t want to mention this again: “Dalang is sick. They said he vomited violently not long after arriving at school in the morning.”

Chen Jingzong frowned: “What did the doctor say?”

Hua Yang: “It’s nothing serious. He prescribed a supplement. But listening to Wan Yi’s meaning, Dalang may have been frightened by Father.”

She briefly mentioned the incident yesterday where Dalang made a mistake while reciting and was reprimanded.

Chen Jingzong sneered: “That’s the Eldest Brother’s son. It’s not my place to interfere, and he also won’t appreciate me going there to tell him what to do. But if we have children in the future, the old man will never be allowed to come over and put on his grandfather’s score.”

His expression at this time was almost the same as when he mentioned an enemy.

Hua Yang was about to ask again when he caught a glimpse of someone coming from the kitchen. They were two eunuchs under Feng gonggong, each carrying a tray.

Hua Yang said to Chen Jingzong: “You go eat first.”

Chen Jingzong was indeed very hungry and didn’t want to eat slowly beside her, so he left and went to the main room.

Hua Yang’s wicker chair actually faced the main room. Chen Jingzong glanced at her and deliberately sat on the south side, and ate with his back to her.

Hua Yang was not interested in watching him. She shook her fan and admired the fading clouds on the horizon.

Chen Jingzong finished eating quickly.

Hua Yang then moved to the inner room and took the evening bath. Now she washed her hands, face and feet, and lie down on the bed.

There was an ice cauldron placed in the babu bed. A large piece of ice was placed inside, exuding wisps of cool air.

Even so, Chen Jingzong still took off his middle coat, revealing a strong chest with tight and firm texture.

Hua Yang looked at it and then closed her eyes, as if it was nothing special.

Chen Jingzong came over and half-pressed her down.

Hua Yang pushed him.

Chen Jingzong: “Even a kiss is not allowed?”

Hua Yang nodded at the collar of her middle coat: “This is the boundary. Upward is okay, but downward is not allowed.”

She didn’t want to follow him and get sweaty, which would cause trouble later.

Chen Jingzong only kissed her on the lips.

But he also had a pair of hands, just now she didn’t say that his hands couldn’t cross the line.

Isn’t it better to have the delicate and soft princess in his arms than to sleep alone in the guard station?

This fooling around lasted for a long time. It wasn’t until Hua Yang’s lips felt a little uncomfortable that Chen Jingzong finally agreed to stop.

Hua Yang was very thirsty, so she leaned on his arm and drank a full cup of warm water before she felt alive again.

While Chen Jingzong went to put the tea cup outside, Hua Yang wrapped herself in the quilt and made it clear that she wanted to be separate from him.

Chen Jingzong didn’t care, turned off the lights and lay down, ready to sleep.

Hua Yang still had something on her mind and said to him: “When we were still in Lingzhou, I once heard Mother mention that you didn’t like to study when you were a child because Father and the people around you liked to compare you with Eldest Brother and Third Brother?”

Chen Jingzong tilted his head: “Why did you suddenly asking this?”

Hua Yang: “Because of Dalang I become a little curious about what you were like when you were a child.”

Chen Jingzong: “I am much smarter than Dalang.”

Hua Yang: “I think you don’t know how to write the word humility at all.”

Chen Jingzong: “Look at you, you want to ask something but you don’t believe what I said, so what we need to talk about? Just g to sleep.”

Hua Yang: “Okay, I believe you are smart. Since you are so smart, why are you afraid of competing with your brothers?”

Chen Jingzong: “Who said I’m afraid? I don’t want to study. It has nothing to do with them. I just don’t want to see the old man blew his beard and glared his eyes. He is a Zhuangyuan and a famous scholar, but he doesn’t know kung fu. I want to see it how can he lecture me after I learn martial arts?”

Hua Yang: “Did Father also very strict with you at that time?”

Chen Jingzong was silent.

Hua Yang inexplicably thought of the poor Dalang lying in bed, and asked in disbelief: “Did you also get sick from being frightened by Father?”

Chen Jingzong’s tone was very bad: “No.”

He was smarter and bolder than Dalang. When he was three or four years old, he might have been a little afraid of the old man. But when he was seven or eight years old, Chen Jingzong was no longer afraid. He was hateful and fed up and didn’t want to see the old man showing his cold face, didn’t want to listen to the old man’s scolding. When the old man asked him to go to the study, he didn’t go, and just ran around all over the garden. No matter how many servants there were, they couldn’t catch him. Until one time he was forced to run to the rockery, and his mother got scared, she scolded the old man, so the old man could only give up.

But this was not something to be proud of. Naturally, Chen Jingzong would not tell the princess beside his pillow.

“I just don’t want to see him, and I won’t listen to him obediently. Just like when you disliked me at the beginning, why should I listen to you?”

That is to say Hua Yang was beautiful, so Chen Jingzong still compromised to some extent, and just called her the ancestor. But if Chen Jingzong had no choice but to marry someone with average appearance, he would not rush to wait on her. The princess did not want him to sleep with her, then he would not touch her!

Hua Yang:…

She pinched him before she continued: “Tell me how strict Father is.”

Chen Jingzong looked over suspiciously: “Do you want to confirm that Dalang is too timid and the old man is right, or do you want to confirm whether the old man is too harsh?”

Hua Yang: “What’s the difference?”

Chen Jingzong: “If it’s the first, I’m too lazy to tell you. If it’s the second, I can still tell you.”

Hua Yang remembered some of his previous weirdness, always saying that she loved the house and its crow because of her father-in-law, so she said helplessly: “Father is not only your and Dalang’s teacher, but also my brother’s teacher. I am a little worried that he will teach my brother equally harshly.”

Chen Jingzong paused: “He dares?”

It seemed to be a matter of course for a father to teach his sons strictly. In the words of his eldest brother, how the old man treated them, they as sons should accept without complaint.

Chen Jingzong always thought that the old man was only so strict at home. Even if he was strict with the crown prince in the palace, there would be a limit.

Hua Yang: “Anyway, my brother complained to me about Father before. I didn’t take it seriously at that time. I just remembered it when I saw Dalang today. You don’t know, Mother Empress is also a very strict person. If she asks Father to be a strict teacher in front of my brother, why should Father restrain his strict nature?”

If mother empress doted on her brother, even if her father-in-law acted like a strict teacher, her brother could cry or acted coquettishly, then mother empress would help her brother to reprimand her father-in-law, not to mention there was still father emperor. How could her father-in-law not be afraid?

She was just afraid that because of her mother’s strictness, she would ask her father-in-law to treat her brother only as a student, not as a crown prince.

Emperor Jingshun and Empress Qi appeared in Chen Jingzong’s mind.

It had to be said that in terms of majesty and momentum, Empress Qi was far superior than Emperor Jingshun.

Hua Yang inherited the beauty of Empress Qi, but her majesty was far inferior. Otherwise, Chen Jingzong would probably put a respectful distance between them and would not be able to tease her.

“Why bother giving harsh examples? Look at how he treats me now—always ready to scold without a trace of kindness. I’ve long gotten used to it. As adults, what do I have to fear from him? But Dalang and the others are different, they’re just children. When the old man’s face turns serious, they all tremble. If the old man scolds them, they’ll think they’ve committed a grave mistake. In reality, it’s just a matter of making mistake in reciting the book, not worth mentioning at all.

“It’s fine if it just once or twice. He does this every day. Who can stand it?”

Seeing that Hua Yang remained silent, Chen Jingzong thought for a moment and said, “You may not understand, because since you were born, probably no one has ever shown a cold face to you.”

She was a princess, and the only two people who dare to teach her a lesson were Emperor Jingshun and Empress Qi. But facing such a beautiful daughter, who was willing to say harsh words?

Hua Yang tried to recall, but the only cold face she could remembered was Chen Jingzong in her previous life, but she was not afraid of him.

But Hua Yang quickly thought of a way.

The tenth day of Seventh Month was another day for court officials and students to rest and relax.

Chen Tingjian rarely slept in late in the morning. When he was having breakfast with his wife, his granddaughter Wan Yi came over with a smile.

Sun shi: “Wan Yi, have you eaten? Do you want to eat with your grandpa and grandma?”

Wan Yi shook her head and said to her grandfather: “Grandpa, Mr. Qiu took a half-day leave yesterday because he had something to do at home, but we don’t want to miss that half-day class. Can we ask Grandpa to teach us later?”

Sun shi rushed over and said, “Grandpa is too tired. Ask your father or your Third Uncle to go.”

Wan Yi: “But Grandpa is the most outstanding. Father and Third Uncle are not as good as Grandpa.”

Chen Tingjian smiled. Among his grandchildren, this eldest granddaughter was the most sensible. Look, she was so eager to learn, and she also knows to learn from the best teacher!

“Okay, you go to the school and wait. Grandpa will go there after eating.”

Wan Yi said goodbye happily.

Sun shi looked at her granddaughter’s back worriedly. This child was usually very smart, why did she act stupid today? She could have played all day long, but she came to the old man to look for trouble. Could it be that she was led by the Old One to become pedantic?

On the side, Chen Tingjian finished eating, rinsed his mouth, straightened his long beard, then walked to the school with a sage-like air.

In the school, Dalang, Erlang, and Sanlang all looked at their sister with resentment.

Wan Yi smiled and said, “Just listen to the class and I will take you out to play in the afternoon.”

Erlang: “What do you mean? Grandfather is at home, it’s impossible to let us go out. My father won’t even dare to make the decision.”

Wan Yi: “I helped Fourth Uncle last time, and Fourth Uncle promised to fulfil one of my conditions.”

The three boys immediately believed their sister’s promise.

When Chen Tingjian walked in with his hands behind his back, he saw four good children sitting upright with expectant faces.

Chen Tingjian first asked about the children’s homework progress. Wan Yi, Dalang, and Erlang were all the same. Sanlang was younger and still in the stage of reading.

Sanlang was assigned homework, then Chen Tingjian devoted himself to teaching the three older children.

His attendants and the children’s maids and servants were all waiting outside.

Suddenly, they saw the princess and prince consort walking side by side.

As soon as everyone was about to salute, they saw the prince consort motioning for them to be silent. With the princess around, no one dared to disobey, so they continued to stay in a shady place.

The window in the school was made of paper. Chen Jingzong led Hua Yang to the window where she didn’t need to bend down, and quietly poked two finger holes.

It was the first time that Hua Yang had done such a sneaky thing. Her face was a little red and she asked him: “Did you see?”

Chen Jingzong: “Only you who will appreciate such a dreadful old man.”

Hua Yang:…

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