Chapter 31

TRANSLATED BY MYPEN_22

I had a fight with my mother the night she left. She said everything she did was for me, but did she ever ask me if that was what I wanted? The position of Prince of State was never mine, and I did not want what was not mine, and I did not dare to ask for it. I told her that it was for my own good, but not for her own. She slapped me, the first time I had spoken back to her in all those years, and the first time I had been hit by her."

    "It's funny to say," Hua Xu snorted, his fingertips gently rubbing his glass, "she wanted me to be her pride and joy, but I just became a fop, spending my days wandering the streets, eating, drinking and loitering."

    "Second brother," Hua Ling suddenly spoke out to interrupt him, his eyes fixed on the glass in Hua Xu's hand as he said softly, "You've always been good, and big brother hopes you'll always be like that."

    After bidding farewell to Hua Xu, Yan Shi, fearing that Hua Ling was unhappy, said some comforting words to him and took him for a stroll around, waiting until it was dark before returning to the royal residence.

    A few days passed in this way, and Yan Shi stayed in the palace all day, and did not go out again.

    "Brother, the purse is ready." Hua Ling put the purse in his palm and showed it to Yan Shi with a look of anticipation.

    Yan Shi put the book in his hand on the stone table and picked up the purse from Hua Ling's hand. The embroidery on it was a pair of mandarin ducks playing in the water, and the workmanship was truly exquisite and unparalleled in the world. On the purse was a plum blossom loop, which Hua Ling had probably made up himself.

    "Mingting is so deft, the mandarin ducks seem to be real." Yan Shi looked at it with great delight. As if in response to the scene, two mandarin ducks that were kept in the lake happened to swim over from afar.

    "It's good that brother doesn't mind being ugly." Hua Ling was a little embarrassed as he sat on the stone bench next to him with a hint of shyness on his face, "I just embroidered it after Little Red and Little Grey."

    "Little Red and Little Grey?" Yan Shi was unsure.

    "Yes," Hua Ling looked towards the two mandarin ducks that had swum over, "the one with a redder mouth is called Little Red, and the one with a greyer mouth is called Little Grey."

    Yan Shi couldn't control a snort of laughter, "Mingting is really cute." The two mandarin ducks were already in the house, and he had lived in the house for more than half a year, but only occasionally looked at them to relieve his boredom. To be honest, he hadn't even taken a close look at what the two mandarin ducks looked like, but Hua Ling had given them a name after just a few days of his arrival.

    Hua Ling asked nervously, "Do you think the names are bad?"

    "Mingting has overthought it," he had already thought that the little wife was cute and silly, but now he found it even cuter, so he couldn't help but stroke the top of Hua Ling's head, "I'm just a little surprised that Mingting has observed them so carefully and named them both."

    "It's nothing," hearing Yan Shi's words, Hua Ling's earlier nervousness was swept away, he put his hands on his cheeks and craned his neck to look at Yan Shi, "since they are kept in our house, they are part of the house and should have a name. Even the dog in front of the warehouse and the cats that catch rats in the house, I have also given them names."

    Hua Ling's big, watery eyes blinked and blinked, and his face had an innocent expression.

    "Brother, don't move!" Hua Ling looked at Yan Shi face suddenly became very serious.

    Yan Shi was stunned and really didn't dare to move at all.

    Hua Ling slowly stood up from the stone bench and gently tiptoed towards Yan Shi. When he was close to him, he even put his index finger up on his mouth and gently "shh". As he did so, Yan Shi's breathing even slowed down.

    At this time, Hua Ling had already quietly walked to Yan Shi's side and suddenly reached out his hand towards Yan Shi's arm and grabbed it, "Haha, I got it! I've got it!"

    Hua Ling showed the dragonfly he had just caught to Yan Shi, "Brother, look, I've caught it!"

    It was a dragonfly with a red tail, not too big, and it was held in Hua Ling's hand, with its legs stirring in the air.

    "Mingting is really something." Yan Shi had never caught a dragonfly since he was a child, and to say the least, he had never had the kind of childhood where he played and fought with children of his age at all. Looking at Hua Ling's happy face as he held the dragonfly in his hand, his heart was moved to play with it, "Mingting, can I hold it?"

    "Of course you can," Hua Ling carefully brought the dragonfly to Yan Shi's hand, "Brother, you have to be careful, the dragonfly's wings are a bit fragile, so be gentle and don't hurt it."

    When Yan Shi's hand also squeezed the dragonfly's wings, Hua Ling breathed a long sigh of relief and took his hand off the dragonfly's wings.

    Yan Shi did not dare to use too much force, for fear of hurting the wings, but also did not dare not to use too less force, for fear of letting it go.

    Hua Ling seemed to be able to see that "Brother, you don't need to be nervous, just use the same force you used to hold the book."

    Yan Shi slightly relaxed, grew up to see a lot of dragonflies, but it is the first time to hold, this feeling is very wonderful. This dragonfly in his hand, together with Hua Ling's childish face, made him seem to find the feeling of being a child.

    "We call this red dragonfly the little pepper," Hua Ling proudly explained to Yan Shi, "This dragonfly is more cunning than the others and is less easy to catch."

    Hua Ling's face was full of praise, and Yan Shi laughed lightly, "Mingting is the best."

    Hua Ling was also shy, "You're too kind, brother."

    Yan Shi put the dragonfly in his hand and examined it for a while, then offered to give it back to Hua Ling. Hua Ling refused, "Brother, please let it go."

    Yan Maki asked, "Why?"

    "I was just catching it for fun," Hua Ling explained with a smile, "why hurt its life again, it probably has a wife and children waiting for it to come home."

    Yan Shi slightly loosened his fingers and the dragonfly flew away from his fingers. Hua Ling's eyes kept following the dragonfly as it went away, but Yan Shi's eyes kept following Hua Ling.

(Oops too much 'awwn' moment 😂😂😂 and oh my God who is cutting onions 😢😢😂😂)

    Today was a good day, and it seemed that every moment he was with Hua Ling, his mood was so good.

    "Brother, don't you have one more day before you go to court?" Hua Ling looked at Yan Shi, his eyes full of reluctance, "You have been accompanying me in the mansion for the past few days, if you are going to the court I am really a bit uncomfortable."

    Yan Shi naturally knew what Hua Ling had in mind, "The ten-day break will be over in a flash, if Ming Ting is bored in the house, he can ask Qing Yue to accompany him for a walk outside."

    "Then he's not a brother either." Hua Ling slumped on the stone table, wilting a little.

    Yan Shi thought for a moment and then said, "I've heard that there's a lot of interesting things at Doctor Qu's place, so you might want to go and have a look."

    "He has big bugs there, I'm afraid." Hua Ling shivered at this point.

    "If you go, send someone ahead to tell him to put the bugs away." Yan Shi said, "He now spends his days in the medicine hut making medicines, and yesterday he told me that a few medicines were about to be ready. If I can't get away, would it be good if Mingting went to see them on my behalf?"

    Only then did Hua Ling lift his head, "Then I will listen to my brother."

    "That's a good boy." Yan Shi couldn't resist rubbing his hair again.

    "Can I play with other things then?" Hua Ling asked as he sat up.

    Yan Shi nodded "As Mingting likes." In all the days since he had been married, he hadn't really seen Hua Ling playing with anything, and judging from the way he looked just now, it was probably just child's play.

    "You are the master of this royal residence." Yan Shi added.

    "Your Majesty, Young Warrior Sang has returned." Qingji walked over from a distance and saluted Yan Shi.

    Ever since finding out that Wu Huai Shuo, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, was involved in the disappearance case in the Imperial City, Yan Shi had asked Sang Yu to keep an eye on him. Sang Yu had not returned for several days in a row, but now he was back, so he must have found out something again.

    "Let's go," Yan Shi stood up from the stone bench and ordered Qing Ji, "Call Qing Yue to come too."

    Qingji left first, and Yan Shi looked at Hua Ling, "Can Mingting come along?"

    "Yes, yes, yes." Hua Ling nodded repeatedly and followed Yan Shi, fearing that he would not take him with him.

    When they arrived at the main hall, Sang Yu and Jiang Qingyue were already there.

    "Your Majesty."

    Yan Shi nodded "Please sit down and talk."

    After sitting down, Sang Yu told them what he had discovered in the past few days.

    In the past few days, there was nothing suspicious about Wu Huai Shuo, he went to court as usual and handled his business as usual. But the more he did so, the more suspicious he became. Later, after Sang Yu's patience, he discovered that there was something suspicious about the housekeeper. He would go out almost every night, and he would go to a place called the Bujinkan (NIGHTLESS PAVILLION).

    Incidentally, Zhao Wenju had interrogated the Imperial Hospital for two days without finding anything out. The Imperial Hospital was no longer a place to be seen, as eunuch doctors came into the palace almost every day. The hospital was closed down again, and in order to close the case, Zhao Wenju arrested the medicine boy who had been guarding the hidden marrow sand, who had died and was close to him. If there is another case of disappearance in the future, he will have a different story to tell.

    "Brother, what is the Nightless Pavilion?" Hua Ling blinked his big innocent eyes and looked at Yan Shi with an innocent face as he asked.

    Yan Shi's face reddened slightly and he coughed lightly, not saying anything.

    Hua Ling looked at Jiang Qingyue again, "Mr. Qingyue, what is the Nightless Pavilion?"

    "I'll tell you," Sang Yu's face was slightly red, but he took over, "Bu Nyan Pavilion is the biggest brothel in the Imperial City."

    Hua Ling nodded as if in a daze, but then he had a new question, "Isn't it normal for a man to go to such a place?"

    Sang Yu said, "It is indeed normal to go to such places, but he has never looked for a girl when he was there."

    Hua Ling had a look of understanding, "Then he was looking for a young gentleman."

    Sang Yu coughed lightly "He didn't look for a young gentleman either, he was always met by the pimp herself when he entered the Nightless Pavilion. Then the two of them would find a quiet place and mutter about something, each time not for too long, at most for a cup of tea."