As the night deepened, the sound of fireworks in the distance gradually stopped.
You Jiamu was not sleepy at all. He lay on the windowsill, staring at a dead tree in the courtyard for a long time. Although he was young, his brows were knitted together, as if he was in great trouble. He suddenly stood up, turned around and ran out to You Heng's room.
On the way to You Heng's room, he was still worried that Brother Yuan Yi would have fallen asleep at this late hour. But he still wanted to try his luck. When he arrived at the door, he saw Cousin Yu Shu coming out of Brother Yuan Yi's room. He breathed a sigh of relief and asked anxiously, "Is Brother Yuan Yi still asleep?"
"Just about to lie down. Do you have something to ask him?" Jiao Yushu said with a smile.
In the room, You Heng had heard the conversation at the door and called out to You Jiamu. You Jiamu and Jiao Yushu said goodbye in a hurry and pushed the door open.
You Heng had already lain down, but on New Year's Eve it was customary to keep the lights on, so the room was bright.
You Jiamu rushed to the bed, kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed. He said, "Brother Yuanyi, I want to sleep with you!"
You Heng saw through You Jiamu's worries, patted his shoulder with his big hand, and said with a smile: "Is there anything you want to say?"
You Jiamu's dark, bright eyes rolled around twice, and he lay on the bed, looking at You Heng, and said seriously: "I heard that Brother Yuan Yi will go to the battlefield in a few days!"
You Jiamu said "hmm". This afternoon, he and several other generals were summoned to the palace by His Majesty, and it was almost certain that they would go to war after the New Year. Although His Majesty had not issued an order yet, he would probably not only go to war, but also be promoted to the position of deputy general.
"I want to go too!" You Jiamu said anxiously.
"You are still young." You Heng disagreed.
You Jiamu quickly retorted: "It's the New Year, I'm already twelve years old!"
He sat up suddenly, rolled up his sleeves and showed his arms to You Heng: "Brother Yuanyi, look, I'm really strong! I'm tall too! The brother from the Lin family next door is five years older than me but he's not as tall as me!"
His words were not an exaggeration, the You family members were all very tall. Not only the men, but even the women were not petite, almost all the girls had a pair of long legs.
You Heng put away the smile on his face, replaced it with a slightly more serious expression, and then said: "The battlefield is a place of no judgment. Even if a brave man is on the battlefield, his life and death are left to fate."
He paused, and then said, "Jiamu, I know what you're thinking. But you can't rush into anything. Fame and fortune are not something you can earn by going to the battlefield as a teenager. You might die there, and even if you come back alive, the most likely scenario is that you'll be a mediocre soldier, and you'll come back with injuries. Even some minor illnesses will accompany you for the rest of your life."
“I know this… Whenever it’s cloudy or rainy, my father’s knees will feel sore…” Thinking of his father, You Jiamu lowered his head in frustration.
His father, who was like a great hero and omnipotent in his mind, also died on the battlefield.
"But," You Jiamu raised his head, "fame is something you won't get if you don't work hard to earn! If you work hard, you'll have a one in ten thousand chance of becoming famous. If you don't work hard, you'll have nothing!"
"Famous throughout the world?" You Heng smiled, "You are really ambitious."
"I have to be like my father. Only then can I..." Only then can I become a towering tree for my mother and elder sister to lean on. Yes, he was anxious, how could he not be anxious. He was so anxious!
You Heng rested his head on his arm, looking at the boy with amusement as he lowered his head and muttered to himself.
"Go to sleep." You Heng yawned and turned over.
You Jiamu stared at the back of Brother Yuan Yi's head suspiciously, wondering in his heart whether Brother Yuan Yi agreed or not. Hearing Brother Yuan Yi yawn again, You Jiamu couldn't help but yawn. He rubbed his eyes, lay down on the outside of the bed, and closed his eyes because he was sleepy.
Just as You Jiamu was about to fall asleep, he began to regret running here to sleep.
—Brother Yuanyi’s snoring is so loud! It’s even louder than thunder!
On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the sky was clear and the warmth of the morning sun was everywhere.
Having slept late last night, You Yuji woke up in the morning but was too lazy to open her eyes. She lazily turned over and lay flat, wanting to change her position to continue taking a nap, but Si Que's arm behind her held her shoulders again and pushed her to turn over. Then, he pressed his hand on You Yuji's abdomen and pulled her into his arms.
He always liked to hug You Yuji from behind, with their two bodies slightly curled up on their sides, tightly hugged together, and his face buried in the back of her neck.
Si Que's breath gently brushed over the back of You Yujie's neck, and after a night's rest, the two bodies, tightly pressed against each other, began to stir again.
No, not this morning.
You Yuji curled her lips, touched Si Que's hand in front of her, and gently held it. She said lazily: "I have guests this morning, so I can't sleep in."
Her lazy and gentle tone was lingering, wrapping Si Que in it.
He began to miss her, and missed waking up with her in sight.
"Want to go back?" Si Que asked. His voice was slightly hoarse with a hint of tiredness from not waking up yet.
If You Yuji was really the Crown Prince's Consort of the Jinnan Palace, then she would have to rush back immediately, and she shouldn't have left the palace last night. Now that the Princess was injured like that, the Crown Prince's Consort must be there to receive the female relatives who came to pay New Year's greetings. However, since the day You Yuji signed the divorce agreement, she no longer considered herself a member of the Jinnan Palace.
"Some of my father's old subordinates will come this morning." You Yuji had become a little more sober, and his soft voice gradually became clearer.
Father has some loyal subordinates who will definitely come to pay New Year's greetings this morning, even if father is not here. Originally, You Jiamu could have received them, and now that the second brother is here, the second brother will also take on this matter.
Outsiders didn't know that she was no longer a member of the Jinnan Palace, so she didn't have to get up early to entertain guests. But Zhao Sheng and Jiang Chun would definitely come this morning, so she should go and see them.
Si Que kept his eyes closed, stroking You Yuji's collarbone with his fingertips over and over again. He suddenly fell in love with the only part of her body that was not soft. Especially when his fingertips stroked the hard collarbone and his palm was against the softness, the contrast made him even more fascinated.
You Yuji thought about things for a while, gradually getting rid of his confusion and becoming completely sober.
She patted the back of Si Que's hand that was resting in front of her and said softly, "Okay. I have to get up."
Si Que's fingertips gently stroked her collarbone leisurely and there was no intention of stopping.
"Sister." He called out slowly, but didn't say anything else.
Si Que's voice against her neck drifted into her ears. It was obviously a very common name, he had called her that countless times. But somehow, You Yuji suddenly felt a little uncomfortable when she heard it. Probably... it was because he bit her ear and called her sister every time he entered her in the last two nights, which made her blush a little. This name that he had called her countless times was tainted with a bit of ambiguity.
"Madam, are you awake? Madam Zhao is here." Zhenxu stood outside the door and knocked on it to report.
Jiang Chun's words came next. She smiled and said, "It's so late, and you haven't woken up yet?"
She seemed to want to push the door open and go in directly, after all, she was used to doing so before. Zhenxu quickly stopped her and said, "Madam Zhao, why don't you have a cup of tea first? I will help you get up first. You went to bed late last night."
You Yuzhi's voice soon came from inside.
You Yuji sat up and put on her clothes while smiling and saying, "You came so early, are you deliberately staying in bed? Get up now."
"Nonsense! I clearly didn't know you were at home before I came here!"
You Yuji turned around and let down the bed curtain, saying to Jiang Chun outside, "Come in."
The bed curtain fell and slowly closed. Just before Jiang Chun came in, You Yuji lightly grasped one side of the bed curtain and lifted it slightly, leaned down, and placed a light kiss on Si Que's forehead.
Si Que opened his eyes somewhat unexpectedly, only to see You Yuji's gentle smile. She had quickly turned around and lowered the bed curtain.
The bed curtain blocked Si Que's view and he could not see her.
Si Que raised his hand and gently touched the place where You Yuzhi had kissed with his fingertips.
He frowned, a hint of unhappiness emerged in his eyes, and he thought to himself, what a vixen - did she see someone coming and knew he couldn't do anything else, so she teased him on purpose
This fox is so cunning that he must punish him.
Si Que slowly raised the corner of his lips, and a brilliant idea came to his mind.
You Yuji saw that the bed curtains were already tightly drawn, and turned to walk towards the dressing table. She and Jiang Chun were so familiar with each other, as familiar as a family, that she didn't care about the etiquette at all. She smiled and asked in a gentle voice, "Why are you here so early?" She sat down in front of the dressing table, took a comb and began to comb her long hair.
"It's not that I came early, it's that you got up too late!" Jiang Chun said as she walked towards You Yuji. When she walked to You Yuji, You Yuji turned sideways, gently pulled her hand, raised her eyes and smiled at her: "Okay, okay, I got up late."
Jiang Chun winked at You Yuji, lowered his voice, and asked mysteriously, "Is there any good news?"
You Yuji was stunned, and looking at Jiang Chun's slightly protruding belly, her eyes couldn't help but dim.
Jiang Chun bit his lip and frowned as he said, "Is that little boy you secretly raised reliable? Is he not good enough?"
Inside the bed, Si Que, who was just happy because he had thought of a wonderful way to punish the vixen, froze his smile instantly. He turned his head and looked through the bed curtain in the direction where the sound came from.
You Yuji was worried that Si Que would be unhappy after hearing this, so she said hurriedly, "They say that the fate of children is very strange, maybe it's not fate."
"What do you mean by fate? We had one the night Zhao Sheng and I got married!"
She and You Yuji talked about everything, and she looked uncomfortable talking about such things. But Si Que was still in the dark, and You Yuji coughed lightly and changed the subject: "Let's not talk about this, are you and Zhao Sheng okay?"
"Why don't you say this?" Jiang Chun stamped his feet anxiously, "If it doesn't work, just find some folk remedies! If that doesn't work, try someone else! Is that person you secretly raised not in good health? Are you really not considering asking Zhao Sheng to find you a strong and healthy young man in the army?"
You Yuji looked past Jiang Chun and towards the bed covered by the curtains. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, imagining the expression on Si Que's face at this moment. She swallowed the words she was about to stop Jiang Chun from saying, combed her long hair slowly, and gave Si Que on the other side of the curtains a silent response.
Jiang Chun's maid knocked on the door outside and told Zhao Sheng that he was looking for her.
Jiang Chun said, "I have to go to the front with Zhao Sheng to pay New Year's greetings to your mother. I should have gone directly there, but I heard that you went home, so I came to your place first."
You Yuji nodded: "Go ahead."
The two groups smiled at each other, shook hands, and then Jiang Chun walked out quickly.
You Yuji looked at Jiang Chun's back and said, "Walk slower."
Jiang Chun waved his hand without even turning his head.
You Yuji looked at the bed, the curtains were hanging quietly, and there was no sound from inside. She put down the comb in her hand and walked slowly towards the bed. She lifted the curtains lightly with her bare hands and looked at Si Que in the light of the day.
Si Que lay there with an expressionless face.
He looked at You Yuji and asked, "What reaction does sister want me to have? One, hug sister and cry and beg sister not to abandon me. Two, lose my temper and ignore everyone and ask sister to comfort me. Three, get angry and tie sister up and beat her up."
"Pick one," he ordered.
The corners of Si Que's lips slowly curled up, revealing a strange and cunning smile.
The author has something to say: Little Princess: Choose one, you have to choose one. I am not angry at all, hehe
Second update after 12 o'clock