There was a rustling sound, as if Zhao Jingyu was getting up. Xie Nanjia nervously grasped the dagger hidden under the pillow, lifted the quilt and sat up, shouting at him, "Don't come over!
After shouting, I realized that Zhao Jingyu didn't get up, but just sat there hugging the quilt.
Xie Nanjia was a little embarrassed and secretly put the dagger back under the pillow.
In order to prevent Zhao Jingyu from doing anything bad to her, she asked Feng Lun to prepare a dagger, cartilage powder, aphrodisiac, and a bag of chili powder for her before coming. She carried them with her all day long in case of emergency.
During these few days of getting along, Zhao Jingyu didn't do anything inappropriate except holding her hand and saying a few joking words. It seemed that she was overthinking it.
Zhao Jingyu snickered over there: "Do you know how many women in Beijing are willing to throw themselves at me? Now I take the initiative to throw myself at you, and you are still not happy."
"Who cares!" Xie Nanjia muttered softly.
"Then who do you care about? Feng Lun?" Zhao Jingyu asked.
"Don't talk nonsense." Xie Nanjia said hurriedly, "Feng Lun and I have nothing."
"Or maybe it could be Xiaofu, Xiaoxi? Wei Jun and Huangfu? It can't be Zhao Jingping, right? Or do you have a lover in the manor?" Zhao Jingyu was talking nonsense.
Xie Nanjia was speechless and simply shut up without giving him any response.
Zhao Jingyu was still interested and guessed, "Could it be that you have a crush on Xie Nanfeng?"
Xie Nanjia: “…”
"Or maybe the little prince of Nanzhao?" Zhao Jingyu said with a click of the tongue, "You are quite ambitious. You even want to marry into the royal family!"
Xie Nanjia: "Are you still asleep or not?"
"No." Zhao Jingyu said, "If you don't say you like me, I will keep guessing. Could it be that you like my father? Do you want to be the Marquis's wife?"
Xie Nanjia almost went crazy. She lay down with her back to him and pulled the quilt to cover her head.
Zhao Jingyu was still chattering: "Don't tell me you want to enter the palace to serve the emperor. With your small body, you will be torn to pieces by those concubines if you go in... Don't even think about becoming the crown prince. The queen pays attention to family background. You are not even qualified to warm the crown prince's bed..."
Xie Nanjia couldn't stand it anymore, so she sat up again and said to him, "I like you, okay, can you stop nagging me?"
Zhao Jingyu immediately smiled happily: "Look, I told you that you like me, but you are too embarrassed to admit it."
Xie Nanjia: "…Can you sleep now?"
"Yes." Zhao Jingyu lay back obediently.
Xie Nanjia breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that she could finally have some peace and quiet, but Zhao Jingyu said, "My quilt is loose, come and tuck it in for me."
Xie Nanjia: “…”
She knew that if she didn't tuck him in, he would not be able to sleep a wink that night, so she had no choice but to get up, grope to his bedside, and tuck the quilt in for him again.
After tucking in every corner and about to leave, Zhao Jingyu suddenly grabbed her hand.
Xie Nanjia was startled, and his first reaction was to reach into his arms for the drug.
But then I heard Zhao Jingyu say faintly: "You remind me of my mother."
Xie Nanjia paused.
Zhao Jingyu continued, "When I was a child, I was very restless when I slept and loved to kick off the quilt. My mother had to get up several times every night to tuck in the quilt for me. Later, my mother died and I was taken to the Marquis' Mansion. There was no one to tuck in the quilt for me anymore. I got sick from the cold several times because of this, and I learned my lesson. I never kicked off the quilt again since then."
Xie Nanjia's heart softened unconsciously. She sighed, sat down at the head of his bed, put his hands under the quilt and covered them, and then tucked the quilt tightly around his shoulders, leaving only his head outside. She patted the quilt and said softly, "Go to sleep!"
"Wait until I fall asleep before leaving." Zhao Jingyu said.
"Okay." Xie Nanjia agreed and patted the quilt to coax him to sleep.
At this moment, she was thinking of her son. Zhao Jingyu at least had his mother to accompany him through his childhood, but her son was destined to lack his mother's company. Even if she could always stay with him in the mansion, it would not be maternal love for him, because he would never know that she was his mother, and she would never be able to hear her son call her mother.
When she thought of this, she couldn't help but feel sad and tears silently rolled out of her eyes.
Zhao Jingyu slowly fell asleep under her patting, and his breathing became even and long.
She stood up and tiptoed back to her bed.
The moonlight dimly illuminated the tent, the entire camp, and the distant mountains and forests, and the world was silent.
…
The next day, the emperor began to review memorials and handle state affairs in his tent, and left the task of leading the hunting team to the crown prince.
This was a great opportunity to prove his leadership ability to his father. Song Jingxing had been eagerly waiting for this day, so he dressed up early in the morning and set off with a large group of people.
After last night's heart-to-heart talk, Zhao Jingyu looked at Xie Nanjia with an especially gentle look. Because she was going to prepare a dinner for the emperor today, he specially left two guards to help her. Before leaving, he patted her on the head and said, "Be good and wait for me at home. I'll bring you a living thing to play with today."
Xie Nanjia agreed with a smile and watched him leave. While there was no one in the camp, she asked two guards to help her carry two buckets of hot water from the kitchen so that she could take a bath in the tent.
Both guards knew that the second young master treated her differently, so they obediently stood guard for her outside.
After taking a bath and dressing himself, Xie Nanjia went to the emperor's tent.
Since I'm cooking for the emperor, I have to ask him about his preferences and dietary taboos.
The emperor was reviewing memorials and forbade any outsiders to approach. Two teams of imperial guards were guarding the tent. As soon as Xie Nanjia approached, he was stopped by the commander of the guards.
Coincidentally, this majestic and dignified young commander was the eldest son of her aunt Sheng Qingyun, her cousin, and the eldest grandson of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, Su Jincheng.
When Xie Nanjia first saw Su Jincheng, a lot of thoughts came to her mind.
When she was young, she often went with her mother to visit her aunt at the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. The old duke had four sons but no daughters. When the four sons grew up, got married and had children, all of them were sons, not a single girl. The whole family rarely had girls, and every time Xie Nanjia went there to play, she was surrounded by a large group of cousins like a star.
When Xie Nanjia was three years old, her aunt became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter to the anticipation of the whole family. It is conceivable what kind of joy the arrival of this girl brought to the Duke's Mansion. The old Duke held a seven-day banquet for her and asked the emperor to give her a name.
The emperor, considering that the old duke was a founding father and her four sons were all pillars of the Great Zhou, made her a county princess and gave her Jinping County, the richest county in Shangjing, as her fief. Her name was Su Jinping.
Apart from the royal family, Su Jinping was the first person to be conferred the title of county lady at birth since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty. It can be said that she was favored incomparable and was the envy of others.
However, accidents happen all the time. Su Jinping, who was loved by everyone, went to see the lanterns with a dozen brothers when she was three years old. She was accidentally separated from the crowd and has not been heard from since.
Everyone in the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion went crazy and sent out a large number of people to search the entire Great Zhou. They have not stopped searching to this day, but unfortunately the child has disappeared without a trace, and no one has ever seen him, alive or dead.
The old Duke's wife and the young lady cried all day long, and there was no laughter in the Duke's Mansion for several years. In order to prevent her aunt from being saddened by the scene, her mother seldom took Xie Nanjia to the Duke's Mansion. Whenever they went there during the holidays, her aunt would definitely hug her and cry.
Su Jincheng felt deeply guilty for losing his sister, and since then he became silent and serious.
When he saw Xie Nanjia, he also had a cold and distant expression on his face. He stopped her and asked, "Who are you?"
Xie Nanjia suppressed his excitement at seeing his relatives again, bowed, and explained his purpose.
"Wait!" Su Jincheng spat out two words coldly and entered the tent alone. After a while, he brought Si Fangzheng out and told Xie Nanjia to ask Si Fangzheng if she had any questions and not to disturb the emperor.
Xie Nanjia asked Si Fangzheng about the emperor's food preferences and who would be having dinner with the emperor tonight.
Si Fangzheng told her that in addition to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Zhao Jingyu, the Emperor had also invited General Wu'an and his son, as well as the Prince of Nanzhao and his son, the Prince of Dongshan and his son, and the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Wei and their sons. As there were so many people, they would have to sit at separate tables, so he asked Xie Nanjia to only pick a few of her specialties to cook, and leave the rest to the cook to prevent her from getting tired.
When Xie Nanjia learned that his father and brother would be attending, he was very happy. He said goodbye to Si Fangzheng and Su Jincheng and went back to prepare the ingredients.
She doesn't care what other people like to eat. What matters is to cook a few dishes that her father likes.
Su Jincheng held his sword in his hand and stared at her back for a long while, then turned back and whispered to Si Fangzheng, "This boy is a woman in disguise, so I'm afraid he's lying."
Si Fangzheng chuckled and whispered to him, "Commander Su has good eyesight. This girl is the cook of the second son of the Zhao family. The emperor knows about this."
Su Jincheng was slightly surprised, and said calmly, "That's good."
What I mean is that since you all know and it proves that she is not dangerous, then I feel relieved.
Si Fangzheng was already accustomed to his silence. He smiled, shook his head, and returned to the tent.
In the evening, the prince returned with a large group of people.
The emperor came in person to greet them, checked the prey, praised them all, and selected some prey to be sent back to the palace for the empress dowager and concubines to taste.
Zhao Jingyu had a little rabbit in his arms and was anxious to return to the camp to give it to Xie Nanjia. The emperor kept speaking and he couldn't walk. The little rabbit kept nudging in his arms, so he kept covering it with his hands, fearing that the little rabbit would run away.
Song Wanji noticed his movements and asked him curiously: "Zhao Jingyu, what are you holding in your arms?"
The others followed and looked over to him.
"To reply to Your Majesty, there is nothing." Zhao Jingyu denied it flatly.
Zhou Yuncheng, who was standing by, exposed him mercilessly: "Your Majesty, Zhao Jingyu has a little rabbit in his pocket."
"Zhou Yuncheng, do you want to die?" Zhao Jingyu glared at him fiercely.
Everyone burst into laughter.
Song Wanji walked over and asked, "What kind of little rabbit is it? Take it out and let me see it."
Zhao Jingyu reluctantly took the little rabbit out of his arms.
This is a baby rabbit with a shiny black body and four snow-white paws. Its eyes are as bright as red agate and it looks very cute.
"A rabbit with this fur color is rare." Song Wanji said, "What do you want with it as a grown man? Why not ask someone to bring it back to the palace and let the Ninth Princess raise it for fun."
"No, that won't do." Zhao Jingyu refused and put the little rabbit back into his arms. "This is a gift for my nephew. If the Ninth Princess likes little rabbits, she should ask the Crown Prince, her brother, to catch them for her."
Song Jingxing couldn't stand seeing Zhao Jingyu talking to the emperor in such a disrespectful manner, and the emperor never got angry. As his son, he didn't dare to be so casual.
Song Wanji was indeed not angry. He reached out and poked Zhao Jingyu's forehead, and said with a smile: "Okay, you kid don't even give me face, I'll ask your father to spank you later."
Everyone laughed and secretly envied Zhao Jingyu.
Looking at the entire Great Zhou, he is probably the only one who dares to go against the emperor.
After the team disbanded, Zhao Jingyu ran back to his tent immediately and gave the little rabbit to Xie Nanjia.
Xie Nanjia didn't expect that Zhao Jingyu actually brought back a living creature. Even though she already had a son, she still couldn't resist this furry little thing. She held the little rabbit and looked at it again and again, feeling a sweetness in her heart that she didn't even realize.
"Does it look good?" Zhao Jingyu asked.
"It looks good." Xie Nanjia nodded.
"Do you like it?" Zhao Jingyu asked again.
"I like it." Xie Nanjia nodded again.
"Do you like it more, or me more?" Zhao Jingyu leaned close to her, his eyes full of teasing.
Xie Nanjia's girlish heart suddenly woke up, she suppressed her joy and said calmly: "I will go to accompany the emperor for dinner later, and I will help the second young master change his clothes."
Zhao Jingyu: “…”
Xie Nanjia handed the little rabbit to Huangfu and asked him to find a cage or a wooden box to put the little rabbit in first, while she was busy helping Zhao Jingyu wash his face and change clothes.
While changing clothes, she asked Zhao Jingyu, "Why does the Second Young Master like red so much?"
Zhao Jingyu was slightly startled and his smile gradually faded.
Xie Nanjia hurriedly apologized to him: "I have overstepped my authority."
Zhao Jingyu stared at her in a daze for a while, then said slowly, "It's okay to tell you, my mother's name is Mu Hongyi."
"..." Xie Nanjia was shocked. She didn't expect that she had touched his sore spot, and she didn't expect that he would be so honest.
The name Mu Hongyi was quite special. She could hardly imagine that there would be someone with such a name in a small border town. She must be a very special woman, so the general who was feared throughout the nine states would fall at her feet.
It's a pity that the general was ruthless and the beauty was short-lived, and all their love was in vain. I wonder if she would regret her reckless sacrifice when she had to live a hard life with her child in the lonely border.
A woman who is too infatuated will never have a good ending.
Thinking this way, she felt that something was wrong. Even if she was not infatuated, wouldn't she still not have a happy ending
It can be seen that there are few reliable men in the world, and women still have to rely on themselves in the end.
…
In the emperor's tent, Xie Nanjia finally met her father and brother. Seeing her father holding up the Gastrodia elata and pigeon soup she had made herself to his mouth, she was so nervous that she clenched her fists and stared at it.
Her father had been fighting in the battlefields for many years and had been busy with border wars, so he suffered from severe headaches and insomnia. The imperial physician said that stewing pigeon with Gastrodia elata could improve his condition, so she often cooked the same for her father. This was also the initial reason for her to learn cooking.
Xie Zhanting took a sip of the soup and was suddenly stunned. After hesitating for a moment, he tried to take another sip. When this sip went into his throat, he seemed to be choked and started coughing violently.
"What happened to General Wuan?" Song Wanji asked with concern.
"I was impolite, Your Majesty, please forgive me." Xie Zhanting put down the soup bowl, wiped the tears that choked him, stood up and left the tent.
Xie Nanjia burst into tears instantly, turned her back and covered her mouth with a handkerchief.
Xie Nanfeng saw his father seemed unwell at another table, so he put down his chopsticks and followed him out.
When he got outside the tent, he saw his father standing in the open space in front of the tent, hunched over and coughing. He walked over quickly, held his father's arm and asked, "Father, what's wrong with you?"
Xie Zhanting waved his hands, as if there were thousands of words stuck in his throat.
"Did you choke?" Xie Nanfeng patted his back considerately, "Did you eat anything spicy?"
Just one sentence brought tears to Xie Zhanting's eyes.
Xie Nanjia chased after them under the pretext of bringing tea to General Wu'an to rinse his mouth. As soon as he walked behind the two of them, he heard his father holding his brother's shoulder and saying, "Son, I suddenly miss your sister, and my heart aches."
Xie Nanjia's hands shook and she almost couldn't hold the tray. The teacup fell over and made a slight sound when it collided with the teapot.
When the father and son heard the noise, they turned around at the same time and saw Zhao Jingyu's servant standing there with a tray, his little face full of tears.
(End of this chapter)