“Go play, everyone, but be careful!”
With her decree, the children cheered, even the children from Elder Fan’s family joined in with laughter, eager and anticipating the coming night!
In the afternoon, Xiao Ce and Zhang Heng also arrived. Within the inner city, neither of them had a family.
Zhang Heng was a little better off, having married Bai Lu at least, but his wife had been gone for several days, saying she would return after the New Year. Now, he was alone.
So, the two of them discussed it in the military camp and decided to spend the festival at the prince’s mansion. It was livelier, and they wouldn’t be lonely!
Fan Zehao saw two more busybodies had arrived. His wife often said, “Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang.” Perhaps if they put their heads together, they could come up with a plan about whether to build city walls in the inner city!
In the study, the three men sat down. They were all rough, tough characters, and Fan Zehao immediately felt something was off. He couldn’t help but look at Xiao Ce and Zhang Heng with a sense of unease.
He waved his hand, “This won’t do. We’re all military men, with no civil officials. Anything we discuss will likely be violent!”
Xiao Ce heard this and agreed.
“We still have an old fellow in the inner city. He’s the cornerstone of the civil officials in our Yun Kingdom. Inviting him is sure to be right!”
Zhang Heng laughed at him, “Aren’t you afraid Old Master Song will hear and flay you alive when he gets back?”
He was sixty years old and had been a stable prime minister for thirty years. Facing such a person, calling him an old man with a single breath felt quite audacious!
He chuckled sheepishly, scratching his head, “It’s just the three of us in here. If you don’t say it, and the Prince doesn’t say it, how will Old Master Song… Old Uncle Song know!”
The two of them started to bicker with him shamelessly, and a vein throbbed on Fan Zehao’s forehead.
With a kick, he sent Xiao Ce tumbling off his chair onto the ground. “Go quickly! You’re never serious all day!”
Seeing this, Zhang Heng quickly chimed in, “Exactly! You’re over thirty, go quickly!”
Xiao Ce scrambled up from the ground. He wouldn’t dare defy Fan Zehao, but he could certainly retaliate against Zhang Heng. But before he could make a move, he heard a cold cough. At that, he bolted, his speed comparable to a rabbit!
Within half an hour, Xiao Ce personally escorted Old Uncle Song back, but he brought a few more people with him.
Song Xin’s ostensible reason was that it was the New Year, and it would be livelier to gather together!
Zhou Qiangwei had come, and her sister’s family naturally couldn’t be left out. Thus, the study became a huddle of men: civil officials, military generals, Fan Biao, who tilled the land, Song Fei, the former top scholar, Fang Mingjiang, who achieved the third-place title, and even a merchant like Li Yi. The originally quite spacious study became crowded with the addition of so many people.
Meanwhile, in the side hall of the Peony Garden, Zhou Baihe finally saw Zhao Jiaqi. However, she dared not ask about the Consort’s miscarriage. She merely said lightly, “Your Highness’s complexion is a bit worse than a few months ago. In winter, we women should pay more attention to keeping warm, and don’t stop taking tonics!”
Her words were very tactful. Zhao Jiaqi knew she was afraid that directly comforting her would cause her too much pain.
However, she had come to terms with it. She smiled and replied, “I lost a lot of blood from the miscarriage a while ago. I only dared to get out of bed a few days ago. I’ve been taking tonics daily, and we even have several charcoal braziers burning in this room. It’s just a pity about my unborn child; it was also my carelessness as a mother. But, it’s all in the past now, and I won’t be that heartbroken!”
Whether she was heartbroken or not, only she herself knew!
When the Zhou sisters heard this, they both breathed a sigh of relief. It was only because the Consort brought it up herself that they were hesitant to ask, fearing they might upset her.
“When I came, I saw the children dividing fireworks in the courtyard. Is the prince’s mansion setting off fireworks tonight?” Li Lan changed the subject, but she was also looking forward to watching the fireworks!
They had all seen fireworks before, but none compared to the ones the prince’s mansion set off. Those huge bursts blooming in the sky, colored in all sorts of hues, were a beautiful sight!
They could set them off continuously for an hour, lighting up the entire inner city as bright as day. Such a spectacle had only been seen once in the past few years.
“The children want to play, so let them. They only get to do this once a year!”
Li Lan felt that the Consort doted on her children, and the children were all well-behaved and sensible, which made things much easier for the Consort.
The Zhou sisters chatted with the Consort in the side hall for a long time. As dusk gradually fell, the men in the study finally emerged, laughing heartily.
In the dead of winter, eating stir-fried dishes felt rather unappealing, so everyone unanimously agreed that hot pot was the way to go, especially spicy hot pot. Eating it made one feel warm all over, and it was satisfying to slurp it down!
The kitchen received the news and immediately began preparations. At this time, Fan Zehao called for Sen Sen and led him out of the mansion on horseback.
No one knew what the father and son talked about, but at dinner that night, Sen Sen was noticeably attentive to Yu Meng.
He always offered Yu Meng the first bite of any delicious food, which made Tian Tian envious and Xue Yao jealous of Yu Meng having such a good younger brother!
Zhao Jiaqi watched this with suspicion in her mind. This child had seemed indifferent that morning, so why had his personality changed so drastically by evening?
After dinner, the children ran to the martial arts training ground. The open space was large enough for the group of children to play to their hearts’ content!
Boom, boom, boom!
Brilliant fireworks bloomed in the sky, each of a different color, a stunning sight!
The common folk of the entire city came out of their houses, gazing up at the sky, watching the beautifully blooming fireworks, their faces split by wide smiles!
With children, wives, warm beds, and no worries about food or drink, especially with money in hand, the common folk felt this was truly living!
The children ran wild for over an hour, and when the fireworks were gone, they finally calmed down, gathering together to roast sweet potatoes.
In the dining hall, it seemed that Fan Zehao was the only one who hadn’t had too much to drink. The others had certainly indulged. Seeing this, Fan Zehao directly arranged for them to stay in the guest rooms within the mansion.
They were all sprawled about. To have such an ordeal in the cold winter, right before the New Year, he didn’t want them to fall ill from this!
That night, after returning to their room and washing up, Zhao Jiaqi tugged at Fan Zehao, who was about to sleep, and pressed him for answers: “What’s going on with Sen Sen? I heard you handed him over this evening. What did you two talk about?”
Fan Zehao initially wanted to keep it a secret, but since she had already noticed the child’s issues, he decided not to hide it from her.
He half-sat up, leaning against the bed, and pulled the quilt over her. “Sen Sen is good in every way, except that he’s learned some business shrewdness from Ying Xiong, wanting to be good to everyone on both sides. This is a manifestation of selfishness. I took him out tonight to have a heart-to-heart talk with him, but he’s quite clever. He quickly realized his mistake, so there’s still hope for him.”
Zhao Jiaqi nodded and nestled into his embrace, sighing softly, “I was originally going to talk to him, but I didn’t expect you to get there first!”
Oh well, the child is growing up. It’s better for him to guide him than for me to intervene.