Chapter 102
The last main system hadn’t been released yet, so Li Yu didn’t have to rush about for missions. King Jing’s mansion was well managed by Wang Xi, so he didn’t have to work too hard. He only had to raise the children every day and give King Jing some ideas from time to time. From this point of view, life was still the way he liked it and hadn’t changed because he became a princess.
This kind of life was his original intention, and it was also because King Jing spoiled him.
King Jing always obeyed his every word. Just because he said he wanted to eat it, King Jing opened a roast duck restaurant for him. Now, it had become a famous specialty snack. Even the heir of Duke Chengen, who came from the Imperial City, praised it endlessly.
The days flew by quickly. Under King Jing’s efforts, the plague of locusts, which was a major threat in the western border, had been eliminated, and the bandits, which was another major threat, were either dead or injured.
Now the situation in the western border was stable, and even the chaos near the border was much less.
In the blink of an eye, the little fish cubs had been born for a hundred days.
King Jing held a grand celebration for them, just like a wedding. He held a big banquet and invited many guests. It was lively.
After a hundred days, Ye Qinghuan came to say goodbye.
Ye Qinghuan’s visit this time was the intention of Duke Chengen’s mansion, and he came openly after asking for leave in front of the Emperor. Because his wife was pregnant, and the bandits in King Jing’s territory were almost cleaned up, Ye Qinghuan stayed for a hundred days and helped King Jing a lot, so it was time for him to leave.
Before he left, King Jing had a deep talk with Ye Qinghuan and told him that he wanted to write a letter of gratitude and asked Ye Qinghuan to deliver it on his behalf.
Ye Qinghuan, who had a good relationship with King Jing, didn’t refuse.
When King Jing wrote the letter, Li Yu and Wang Xi each came to visit him with two babies. Other than Dabao, who was still a little uneasy, the other fish cubs who had turned into human form had all accepted reality and were living decently. Every day, other than eating, sleeping, sleeping, and pooping, Dabao, who wanted to grow up, felt that he was about to become numb.
Anyway, no matter how unhappy he was, he could only cry. If he cried too much, his father would start feeding him milk again. Da Bao hated drinking milk from the bottom of his heart and missed the fragrant and sweet peach blossom cake very much.
But according to the wet nurse, the baby had to drink milk for six months before he could eat anything else. Da Bao couldn’t even finish counting six months after counting his fingers and toes. He felt that the peach blossom cake was getting further and further away from him.
No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand why his younger brothers accepted it so easily, especially Si Bao. This fish never had to worry about anything.
Da Bao was beside Si Bao. Si Bao, who was being carried by his father, was eating his hand vigorously. Da Bao was envious. His baby instincts made him want to raise his chubby fingers and stuff them into his mouth.
No, no, no. Da Bao kept telling himself that he was a sensible fish brother and could not eat hands like his younger brother.
But … his mouth was so itchy. He really wanted to eat.
The most serious baby in history, Da Bao, was holding it in until tears were about to come out.
Si Bao was eating his hand happily when he realized that Da Bao had been looking at him. Si Bao gave his big brother a warm smile and kissed his big brother’s face with saliva before continuing to eat his hand.
Da Bao, “!!!”
Da Bao was about to cry. He felt that Si Bao’s saliva was so dirty, but why did he want to eat it too?
Li Yu hugged the brothers and peeked at them for a long time. He couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Seeing that King Jing was writing a letter, Li Yu had an idea. “Da Bao, Er Bao, San Bao, Si Bao, can you also write a letter to Grandpa?”
The fish cubs still didn’t know what an emperor was. In front of them, Li Yu simply called the emperor “Grandpa”. In any case, in terms of seniority, he was indeed Grandpa.
Da Bao hurriedly nodded and was extremely excited. After so long, his father finally didn’t ask him to drink milk!
Si Bao was confused and didn’t know what to write a letter. However, Si Bao liked his father, so he would do whatever his father asked him to do. Si Bao and Da Bao nodded together.
“Tianchi, can we?” Li Yu tugged at King Jing’s sleeve and asked.
Recently, King Jing especially liked to hear Xiaoyu call his name. He smiled and gave up his seat. Li Yu placed the two babies on the table. The other two babies in Wang Xi’s arms also cried out “ah ah” and wanted to join them.
The fine rice paper on the table was crumpled by the babies’ small bodies. The owner of the rice paper, King Jing, didn’t feel bad at all. The children probably couldn’t touch the ink that was placed together with the rice paper, but King Jing was very resourceful. He ordered the kitchen to mix some dark and harmless juice and send it over.
Li Yu asked the wet nurse, and with the wet nurse’s permission, she smeared some of the juice on the babies’ hands.
Li Yu heard that the emperor would often ask about his babies. Therefore, she felt that the emperor would probably like things that were made by children. Moreover, the emperor had conferred titles to Da Bao and Si Bao, so the children could receive a salary at such a young age. They didn’t have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of their lives, so they should thank the emperor.
Instead of thinking about what to give in the name of the children, it was better to let the babies write a letter with their father.
The babies were placed together and greeted each other with “ah ah” in front, behind, left, and right.
Their hands were stained with a lot of “ink”, and they were all on the rice paper. Therefore, there was no need to distinguish who to write first. The babies started to write together.
When Da Bao was a little fish, he had seen many words with his father. Da Bao thought carefully and felt that he should be able to write “big”.
Da Bao began to use his fingers to write “big”.
Er Bao and San Bao didn’t know what to do. Seeing that Da Bao was the first to move, Er Bao and San Bao copied their older brother and also “wrote” “big”.
Da Bao was instantly unhappy. “Ah ah ah!” No way!
Only Da Bao has this. If the younger brothers don’t have it, they can’t write!
Da Bao used both his hands and feet to randomly write “two” and “three” and pushed them to his younger brothers.
Er Bao and San Bao didn’t like it. They still felt that “big” looked better.
“Ah ah ah ah!” They want older brothers!
Er Bao widened his glass-like eyes. San Bao stretched out her chubby fingers and shouted in unison.
Li Yu almost laughed out loud. He turned Da Bao, Er Bao, and San Bao’s small bodies around and let them do their own things.
What kind of letter could a baby of this age write? At most, he would leave some handprints.
Looking at Si Bao, he actually became sleepy at the sight of the rice paper. At this moment, he had already fallen asleep on the paper with his butt sticking out.
Li Yu: “…”
Who exactly did this baby fish resemble!
In the end, Da Bao “wrote” his impression of “big”. Er Bao and San Bao each left a handprint. Si Bao was in a daze. His face was wet and he accidentally left half of his grandfather’s face.
Li Yu carefully blew dry the children’s letters. He folded them neatly and handed them to King Jing.
“Will the Emperor really not be angry?” Li Yu asked worriedly.
King Jing laughed and shook his head. This fish, he was the one who came up with the idea. He was also the one who was afraid.
King Jing stuffed the children’s “letters” and his memorial of gratitude into a huge envelope and handed it to Ye Qinghuan.
Heir Apparent Ye, who was entrusted with such an important task: “…”
This envelope completely refreshed Ye Qinghuan’s understanding. King Jing said that it was a memorial of gratitude. How could it be so thick?
In the past, he thought that King Jing was cold and disdained to curry favor with the Emperor. Who would have thought that this person would write such a huge stack of letters? He was clearly a chatterbox like Eunuch Wang!
Li Yu prepared a gift for Princess Jinjue and asked Ye Qinghuan to pass it on.
The princess was pregnant. He and King Jing were far away in the west. Ye Qinghuan probably couldn’t personally congratulate her after the baby was born. Li Yu wanted to send gifts to the princess and the baby in advance.
He asked a craftsman to remelt the small golden bracelets that Da Bao and the others had worn and make a beautiful pair of safety locks.
Duke Chengen’s Residence shouldn’t be lacking in these children’s items. However, Li Yu heard from Aunt Xu that the items worn by children would be blessed. He felt that his four children were safe and healthy. Together, it was four blessings.
For a pregnant woman, there was nothing more important than the safety of the mother and child.
Ye Qinghuan accepted the gift on behalf of the princess. His eyes were a bit red.
“Many thanks, cousin-in-law.” Ye Qinghuan respectfully cupped his hands in greeting.
Because Ye Qinghuan and the princess were acquainted with Li Yu, they usually called him Young Master Li Yu or Wangfei. Li Yu was slightly taken aback by this “cousin-in-law,” but he immediately reacted. Ye Qinghuan approved of him and treated him as one of his own. Li Yu also happily replied to him.
King Jing glanced at Ye Qinghuan. This cousin that he always disliked was finally a bit more pleasing to the eye.
Ye Qinghuan spurred his horse to return to the Imperial City. The Emperor received news from King Jing. To be exact, he discovered that there were several pieces of xuan paper that came with King Jing’s letter. They were “written” by the children. The Emperor was so excited that his hands were trembling.
Counting the days, King Jing’s children were only a hundred days old. Could they write letters after a hundred days?
The Emperor was very curious and expectantly opened the “letter”.
The first piece of paper had a crooked character. The Emperor thought it looked like rice.
The second and third pieces of paper had small handprints.
And the fourth piece was …
The Emperor couldn’t control the smile at the corner of his mouth. Wasn’t this the face of a baby? There were even a few drops of saliva.
Although he had never met King Jing’s children, he seemed to be able to see the children’s lively personalities through these pieces of paper.
“Luo Ruisheng, what do you think this means?”
The Emperor turned to the first piece of paper and asked Steward Luo.
Steward Luo looked at it for a while and shook his head.
The Emperor then looked at King Jing’s letter. Sure enough, at the end of the letter, King Jing mentioned that these four pieces of paper were written by the children.
The Emperor then understood that the first piece of paper must have been written by King Jing’s eldest son. He had already conferred the title of Heir Apparent to this child.
Luo Ruisheng immediately said, “Your Majesty, although this servant doesn’t know the meaning of the Young Heir Apparent’s words, this servant has never seen such a young child who can write. The Young Heir Apparent will definitely be knowledgeable in the future!”
Luo Ruisheng was very good at reading the Emperor’s mind. He immediately spoke good words for King Jing’s Heir Apparent. He couldn’t say that the Emperor’s little grandson had a bright future. It was best that he was knowledgeable.
This resounding flattery simply hit the Emperor’s heart. The Emperor was quite pleased. He admired the “rice” character for a long time. At one point, he even wanted to have Luo Ruisheng frame it and hang it on the wall of the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
King Jing’s Heir Apparent was so promising that it reminded the Emperor of the Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince in the palace.
The two princes were still studying in the Imperial Study. The Emperor personally came to the Imperial Study and gently encouraged them. He also gave them a lot of homework, including writing.
It couldn’t be that the Emperor’s Uncles were inferior to the Emperor’s Nephews who weren’t even one year old yet, right?
The little princes who were suddenly hit by a huge pot: “…”
Not only was the Emperor pleasant to the Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince, he also decided to select the two most knowledgeable scholars from the Hanlin Academy to be responsible for teaching King Jing’s children in the future. King Jing had already invited several good teachers from the Imperial City, but in the end, they weren’t of any use.
The Emperor’s arrangements were spread to the western border. Li Yu was speechless when he heard about it. Wasn’t the Emperor too fond of these little guys?
“Tianchi, what’s the profound meaning of the ‘rice’ character that Dabao wrote?”
Li Yu couldn’t help but quietly ask King Jing. Wasn’t it just rice? Why did the Emperor like it so much?
King Jing shook his head. He didn’t know either.
Dabao, who had inadvertently overheard his two fathers’ conversation: “…”
