Clan House

Zhu Qiyou didn't delay much, and returned to the Hou Mansion together with Zhu Qiming.

Yongdinghou is not too old, but he has retired from his post in order to pave the way for his two sons, and stays at home with his hysterical wife.The old couple went to bed early, and went to bed before their sons came back.

Zhu Qiyou chatted with Zhu Qiming all the way, asking about some changes in the family.Knowing that his mother's illness had improved under the company of his father, Zhu Qiyou was relieved a lot.

After saying goodbye to his elder brother, Zhu Qiyou returned to his courtyard and found that his son hadn't slept yet.The eight-year-old daughter dressed up specially, and stood gracefully at the gate of the yard to meet her father.

"Good girl!" Zhu Qiyou approached quickly, hugged and lifted her daughter over her head, only to realize that she was taller and heavier than she remembered. "The child has grown up!"

The child's intimacy with his father was not as close as before, although he did not reject Zhu Qiyou's intimacy.Zhu Qiyou couldn't help but kissed his daughter on the cheek, and the child was stabbed in the face by his father's hard stubble, so he just smiled reluctantly.Zhu Qiyou's heart sank, but he could only live in the future.

Zhu Qiyou put the awkward little girl down, took her hand and walked into the room.After being away for several years, the furnishings at home have maintained a familiar look, which shows that there are still people taking good care of him during his absence.The little boy pushed Zhu Qiyou's arm and told him to take the seat, while he knelt down in front of his father and performed the etiquette he had just learned.

"Congratulations to Dad on his triumphant return..."

Zhu Qiyou subconsciously wanted to help her up, but realized that this was the first time his daughter saluted him, and the child had really grown up.When his daughter kowtowed to the head, Zhu Qiyou hurriedly bowed to help her up, and gently hugged her in his arms.

"You're old, I'll take you to worship your mother someday." Zhu Qiyou's eyes were moist, "You shouldn't remember her, but she worked so hard for you, you can't forget that."

"Yes." The child obediently agreed, looked up at his father, and hesitated to speak.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Qiyou asked.

The girl shook her head and said: "It's okay, I just want to tell Daddy that Daddy has worked hard today, so let's change and freshen up earlier, my daughter will leave first."

Seeing his daughter's well-behaved behavior, Zhu Qiyou was not used to it.I don't know if it is because of living in the palace these few years, the child who was fine before leaving is not as lively as before.

"Daddy knows, you should go to bed earlier when you go back." Zhu Qiyou said.

The child nodded, and looked behind the screen with anxiety, and couldn't help reminding: "The hot water has been prepared, and Daddy returned to the house a little later, so I don't know if it's cold. Daddy, try it, if the water is cold , I ordered the kitchen to send some more.”

Zhu Qiyou smiled "puchi", rubbed the child's head, and gently pushed her out of the room: "Go to sleep, you worry so much at such a young age. Dad takes cold showers every day at the border, and the water is too hot. Not used to it."

The child frowned delicately, showing disapproval.She pouted, but finally returned to the room without saying anything.

After the child left, Zhu Qiyou waved away the servants who came forward to serve him.He parted his hair, untied his belt, and stripped himself naked in two strokes.After stepping into the bathtub, he sat down, let the warm water flow over his muscular chest, and let out a comfortable sigh.All the way back to Beijing, I haven't had a serious bath for several days.Zhu Qiyou thought of the intimacy in the Qianqing Palace, and wondered if Song Yi had smelled the sour smell on his body.

There are criss-crossed scars on the chest, all the way down, this body is no longer as white and flawless as it used to be.Just now Song Yi wanted to untie Zhu Qiyou's belt, but he stopped him.He didn't want Song Yi to see the many scars on his body, he was afraid that the other party would feel distressed, and he was also afraid that the other party would express indifference indifferently.

Song Yi is a person who is very good at pretending, even if he is sad in his heart, it is difficult to detect Ni Duan on his face.This made Zhu Qiyou distressed, he couldn't guess how much Song Yi cared about that he didn't show.He is not a meticulous person, and when he meets a pretender, he has to think about many things.

Thinking about it this way, Song Yi hasn't changed much, but Xiao'er has changed a lot.

Zhu Qiyou raised his hands to make a gesture, and muttered to himself: "In the blink of an eye, I have grown so big."

After soaking in the water for a long time, Zhu Qiyou finally washed off his exhaustion and climbed out of the tub.The weather was still hot at the end of summer, Zhu Qiyou opened his coat, with his half-dry hair loose, pushed open the bedroom door and walked down to the porch.

The lady's room was still lit.Zhu Qiyou closed his shirt, approached and knocked on the door lightly.

"It's Daddy, are you still awake?"

"Ah... going to sleep!" There was the sound of objects falling to the ground from the room, Zhu Qiyou looked at the shadow, and saw his daughter sitting at the desk, as if bending over to pick up something.

"what happened?"

"It's okay, the pen stand fell down." The child replied.

"Don't pick it up, get up tomorrow morning and ask the girl to clean it up." Zhu Qiyou said.

"Hey." The child responded, blew out the candle, and jumped onto the bed. "I slept with Daddy, you go back quickly!"

Looking at the darkened window, Zhu Qiyou shook his head and sighed.

On the second day, Zhu Qiyou got up very early, and when he came out, he saw the little girl who was next to the child waiting outside the door, so he waved to her.

"Second Master." The girl's name is Caiqing, she is twelve or thirteen years old, much older than Xiaoer.Because of her age and stability, Zhu Qiyou specially selected her to serve in the palace.It was only after Song Yi opened the back door that Xiao'er was able to bring his girl into the Forbidden Palace.

"Why did you wake up so early?" Zhu Qiyou asked her.

"Reporting to the second master, the girl told the servant girl the day before yesterday that the second master got up early, and asked the servant girl to wake her up earlier, and don't snooze on the first day when the father returns home." Cai Qing replied with a low eyebrow, pleasing to the eye, "After breakfast in a while, the girl will accompany the second master to greet the master and wife."

"Master and Madam haven't woken up yet, so there's no need for that." Zhu Qiyou waved his hand and beckoned Caiqing into his room, "Your girl slept late yesterday, don't bother her, call her It would be good to sleep a little longer. She is a little girl, if she doesn't sleep well, she might not grow up. During the years I have been away, how have you been living in the palace, you can tell me..."

This Caiqing is quite sensible, and she already knew that the master's family would have this question, so she replied neatly: "Reporting to the second master, I beat the girl into the Forbidden Palace, and have been living with the imperial concubine in the West Palace. I only return to the mansion every ten days. Madam greeted her once, and the imperial concubine had prepared things for the girl early to honor her wife, and she never lost courtesy. In the West Palace, in addition to the servants and maids, the imperial concubine also assigned two palace servants and one servant to the girl to send for daily food and clothing. They are all compared to the share of the five princesses, and there is no shortage. Moreover, the imperial concubine often cuts clothes for the girl in private, but the girl is afraid of attracting people's eyes in the palace, so she dare not make it too public. His Majesty is also very concerned about the girl, and from time to time he will call The girl goes to Qianqing Palace to ask questions, and every time she returns, she will be rewarded."

The imperial concubine is gentle and meticulous, and has raised three children before she was a child.Zhu Qiyou remembered the thoughtfulness of his adoptive mother when he was young, presumably it was because he took good care of the child.Besides, Nishinomiya is lonely, so having such a child by his side can also be used as comfort.Song Yi loves Wu and Wu, and he loves children to the utmost.At first Zhu Qiyou was worried that his daughter would be wronged if he was not around, but now he realized that his worries were unfounded. With the imperial concubine compared with Song Yi, he, the father, might be the one who can't take care of the child.

Zhu Qiyou asked again: "Is life in the palace boring? Whose girls do you usually get closer to?"

"The emperor's grandson and all the princes and ladies are still young, and the master does not leave much homework on weekdays. The year before last, His Majesty gave the girl a pony. The girl loves to go to the school grounds to watch horses, and she also learned to ride and shoot." Cai Qing Said, "Young lady is not close to the boys and girls of her classmates. Except for the fifth princess, she plays more with His Highness the emperor and grandson on weekdays."

Zhu Qiyou didn't have a deep impression of Song Jingye, he only remembered that he should be more than a year younger than Xiaoer, and he should be six or seven years old now.

"What books do they usually read, and what did the master teach?" Zhu Qiyou asked.

"I never went to the school with you, but I heard that I have already learned the Four Books." Cai Qing said, "A few days ago, I lectured on "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", but later on, His Majesty stopped teaching it. It is said that the teacher taught too much. Hurry, I haven't even learned "The Analects of Confucius" well, so there is no need to rush to study history."

When Zhu Qiyou returned to the capital for the first time, he naturally couldn't understand the way.He asked Caiqing again: "Yesterday I saw that the girl was still working hard late at night, did she work so hard in her studies on weekdays? Why didn't you persuade her?"

Caiqing hurriedly knelt down to plead guilty: "Second Master forgive me, it's because of the servant's fault. In the past, when the time comes, the servant will remind the girl to rest early. But a few days ago, the girl made a mistake and was punished by His Majesty to copy "The Analects of Confucius" ten times. It happened that the second master returned to Beijing triumphantly, the girl probably wanted to spend more time with the second master during the day, so she worked hard at copying books at night. This servant realizes his mistake, and next time he must advise the girl well."

Zhu Qiyou still wanted to ask Cai Qing what mistake he had made, but he never thought that the child next door woke up by herself. Seeing that there was no one waiting beside her, she called Cai Qing's name.

Cai Qing hurriedly got up and walked out, suddenly remembered that the second master was still in front of her, and hurriedly turned around to ask for instructions.

"You go first and tell her not to be in a hurry." Zhu Qiyou ordered.

The father and daughter had breakfast together, during which Zhu Qiyou asked clearly about the whole story of the child's punishment.

"My daughter's name is Jing Ye, who got involved." After a night of relaxation, the child was not as restrained as he was the night before, and he stuck out his tongue at his father after speaking. "Daughter can be regarded as having copied "The Analects of Confucius"!"

Zhu Qiyou was often punished by Song Yi in the past, but he never thought about the reason why he punished people. Anyway, the emperor's uncle always had a reason for wanting to torment people.Hearing the child say this, he was also a little curious, so he asked, "How do you say it?"

"Because of 'benevolence'," the child put down his chopsticks, "Many people have asked Confucius what is 'benevolence', and there are only two things most discussed in the entire "Analects", 'benevolence' and 'li'. Jing Ye lost 'Ren', and 'li' as a cover, His Majesty didn't like him, so he punished him."

"Then you are not the only one who has been implicated." Zhu Qiyou stretched out his index finger and tapped his daughter's nose, "Didn't the little servant also be punished for copying ten times?"

"He was going to be executed, but now he just needs to be punished to write, I'm afraid he will go back to burn incense." Xiao'er said, "Besides, there is a reason for him to be punished. He mentioned the Analects of Confucius in his self-defense, but His Majesty Tell him that 'a gentleman should not stand under a dangerous wall', and say that he has not read it thoroughly, so he was punished to write it."

"The emperor's grandson insisted on execution, and no one else dared to persuade him, but you insisted on taking the lead." Zhu Qiyou remembered something, and asked again, "Are you familiar with that little servant?"

The child shook his head: "Why are you asking the same question, Daddy? Well, a person who is going to be killed for nothing, even a stranger, shouldn't my daughter just ignore him?"

"Father is not blaming you," Zhu Qiyou said, "I just think that your father can't take care of you in the palace. Since the little servant has won your life-saving grace, if you like him, father will go and tell His Majesty to transfer him. How about serving by your side?"

"Although my daughter sees him often, she has never spoken to him, so she is not familiar with him." Xiao'er refused, "Besides, my daughter sees that His Majesty admires him a lot, so Daddy should not be foolish, it is useless to delay people's future."

"You know so much!" Zhu Qiyou laughed from ear to ear, he ordered his servants to withdraw from the banquet, and took the little girl by the hand to send her back to the room.

"That little servant is indeed different. He said he wanted to be a gentleman, and His Majesty didn't blame him." The child raised his head, "Daddy, can a servant also be a gentleman, then why does His Majesty set strict rules to restrain him?" They? Jing Ye said that eunuchs are not human beings, they are just domestic slaves serving the Heavenly Family, and are not worthy of being taught by a gentleman. I think what he said is wrong, but I don't know how to refute him..."

"Father didn't think about this question." Seeing that his daughter was serious, Zhu Qiyou replied cautiously, "Father usually meets eunuchs and servants, but he only thinks that they work in the palace. Even if they earn some money in the palace to support their families, they are no different from the servants outside. Some servants are unruly and some are kind, and there should be good and some bad inside servants. As long as the personal cultivation has been achieved, everyone should be able to To be a gentleman is not to stick to one's status."

"What about the daughter, can a daughter also become a gentleman?"