Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 135
Chapter 135 - Gentleness in His Eyes
Chu Hongyu was so consumed by jealousy that his eyes were practically turning green.
Yun Zhenjiang suddenly felt that this brat was a bit pitiful; not only did he lack a birth mother, but there probably weren't many people in the imperial palace who treated him with genuine sincerity.
And yet he had just scammed this very brat out of a flying whirl-fork.
With no small amount of reluctance, he pulled out the flying whirl-fork and tossed it back to him. "I'm sick of playing with it. I'm returning it to you."
Chu Hongyu hurriedly caught it. "You're the one who didn't want it anymore, you hear? You're not allowed to regret this later on."
Yun Zhenjiang gave a soft huff.
Yun Chu couldn't help but chuckle; these children were all simply too adorable.
At that moment, a voice sounded from behind her. "Madam Xie."
She turned around and saw a tall, slender figure standing at the entrance of the small courtyard.
Clad in dark black brocade robes, his hair secured by a jade crown, and a jade pendant tied to his belt, his imposing aura was exceptionally strong.
Feeling somewhat guilty, Chu Hongyu hid behind Yun Chu. He had promised his Prince Father that he would only take a single look at Mother, yet he had secretly arranged to meet Mother here instead.
His Prince Father would surely never agree to such requests from him ever again.
"There is a matter I wish to seek Madam Xie's permission for." Chu Yi's voice was very calm. "Madam Xie must know that my young daughter, Changsheng, suffers from congenital deficiencies and has always had a very weak constitution. I had a physician travel to the hot spring estate, and the physician said the estate's hot springs would benefit Changsheng's health. Therefore, I was wondering if we might separately open up a bathing pool for Changsheng within the estate... Madam Xie can rest assured, I won't fall short by a single coin of the expenses that ought to be paid."
Without a moment's hesitation, Yun Chu nodded. "The hot spring estate is jointly operated by the Prince and myself; talking about money is stretching things too far..."
"The preparations over at the hot spring estate are nearly complete," Chu Yi stated. "There are some matters that require Madam Xie's final decision. If Madam Xie has time tomorrow, why not make a trip over?"
Yun Chu nodded in agreement.
After reaching a cooperative partnership with Chu Yi, Chu Yi had appointed an estate manager for the hot spring estate.
Uncle Chen had reported that this manager was a loyal servant who used to manage Consort Yin's properties and was extremely capable. Once the hot spring estate got its manager, progress on all fronts had been very rapid.
Since she intended to run a hot spring business, she couldn't simply be a hands-off boss, so she naturally needed to go and take a look.
"Prince Father, can Changsheng and I go to the estate tomorrow then?" Chu Hongyu tugged on Chu Yi's sleeve, looking pitiful as he pleaded, "Besides, Changsheng's medical treatment isn't until the day after tomorrow anyway, so going a day early doesn't hurt, right? Prince Father, I'm begging you! I promise to write ten sheets of large characters—twenty rows, okay? Prince Father, just say yes!"
Chu Changsheng remained silent, her misty eyes wide as she gazed mutely at Chu Yi.
Chu Yi was already starting to yield.
Seeing the anticipation in Yun Chu's eyes, his last remaining bit of insistence melted away entirely into nothingness.
He spoke, "You may go, but you must behave. If you misbehave, I'll have someone send you back to the Prince's Manor."
"Prince Father, you're the best!" Chu Hongyu leaped three feet into the air with joy. "Prince Father, I like you the most!"
Chu Changsheng broke into a smile, her eyes curving like crescent moons.
Chu Yi stroked the little girl's head and looked toward Yun Chu, seeing that the woman before him was also smiling, her eyes curved like crescent moons.
Yun Ze, who had just walked into the courtyard, happened to catch this exact scene.
He saw the Prince of Pingxi gazing at his younger sister. The normally unapproachable, coldly chilling, and icy Prince of Pingxi actually had gentleness dwelling within his eyes.
Yun Ze thought he must have seen wrong. Looking closer still, that gentleness was undeniably in his gaze.
He then looked back toward Yun Chu.
The young heir and princess of the Pingxi Prince's Manor were smiling, Yun Chu was watching the children, and the Prince of Pingxi was watching Yun Chu—it looked precisely like a family of four.
Only his own silly son, Brother Jiang, was squatting off to the side playing with mud.
"Ahem!"
Yun Ze cleared his throat.
This broke the brief tranquility of the small courtyard.
"Your Highness," he spoke up. "Earlier, Official Fang was searching everywhere for Your Highness's whereabouts."
Chu Yi's expression remained calm and indifferent. "What is he looking for me about?"
"It seems to be..." Yun Ze paused for a moment. "I saw Official Yin and Official Fang chatting for quite a while. It appeared they might have the intention of having the eldest young lady of the Fang family become the Princess of Pingxi."
Chu Yi's expression shifted by an imperceptible fraction.
Ever since the incident with Second Miss Tan last time, he had already made things clear to his imperial mother: he was not considering taking a primary consort for the time being.
Why was his imperial mother still having her maternal family handle such arrangements?
Seeing that his eldest brother had begun chatting with the Prince of Pingxi, Yun Chu took the children by the hand and walked to the other side of the courtyard. There stood a swing that her grandfather had personally built for Brother Jiang. The three children took turns sitting on it while Yun Chu pushed them, their joyful laughter echoing throughout the entire courtyard.
"Aunt Yun, higher, even higher! Wow, I'm flying!" Chu Hongyu wasn't afraid in the least and even wanted to stand up on the swing.
Puffing out his cheeks in displeasure, Yun Zhenjiang crossed his arms. "We agreed on ten times each! Get down, hurry up and get down!"
"Aish, you're so stingy!" Chu Hongyu stubbornly refused. "This is your family's swing, you can sit on it every day, why are you fighting me for it?"
"Changsheng, let's ignore him." Yun Zhenjiang took Chu Changsheng's hand. "There are other fun places over there. Come, Brother Jiang will take you to play."
Seeing that his younger sister was actually following Yun Zhenjiang away obediently, Chu Hongyu instantly felt like he was facing a formidable enemy.
Without even waiting for the swing to steady, he hopped down and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Changsheng!"
Acting out of mischief, Yun Zhenjiang deliberately held Chu Changsheng's hand and ran faster and faster.
Unable to catch up, Chu Hongyu ran over to find Yun Chu and complain. "Aunt Yun, Brother Jiang won't play with me anymore."
Yun Chu squatted down. "Then think about it carefully: why won't he play with you?"
Hanging his head, Chu Hongyu used his two feet to stomp on a small pebble on the ground.
"Before playing on the swing, we already agreed: ten times per person. But you hogged the swing all by yourself—isn't it completely normal that he doesn't want to play with you?" Yun Chu patted his head. "Brother Jiang isn't a petty person. If you go apologize to him, he'll let you play with them again."
Tilting his head in thought for a moment, Chu Hongyu turned around and shouted loudly, "Brother Jiang, I was wrong! I promise I won't be a lazy cheat ever again!"
The three children were soon playing together once more.
Happy times are always brief. Yun Chu felt as though she hadn't spent much time with the children before the banquet came to an end.
Chu Yi led the two children over to bid farewell.
Fortunately, they would be able to see each other again tomorrow at the hot spring estate, so there wasn't quite so much lingering reluctance at parting.
After sending off the guests, Yun Ze called for Yun Chu and headed into Old General Yun's courtyard.
"Chu'er, this is the secret imperial edict the Emperor issued to me this morning." Yun Silin placed the imperial decree on the table. "Just as you said, the Emperor has instructed me to make a trip to the southern border to execute the Chariot and Cavalry General. Because the Emperor received a secret letter stating that the Chariot and Cavalry General is colluding in secret with the King of Southern Yue, attempting to seize several of our southern border cities..."
Yun Ze had only just learned of this matter and wore a look of utter astonishment. "Has the Chariot and Cavalry General lost his mind? He is the Empress Dowager's own blood nephew; why would he commit treason?"
Old General Yun spoke up, "You younger juniors probably do not know this, but the current Empress Dowager is not the Emperor's biological mother."
Yun Ze's expression was shaken to the core.
It was also the first time Yun Chu had heard of this.
"Because the Empress Dowager holds heavy military power, and because she has constantly been questioned by the Emperor, he has never returned to the capital all these many years. It is no surprise that he has bred rebellious intentions," Yun Silin stated. "None of these matters are the main point. The main point is, Chu'er... you said in your dream that more than a dozen years from now, our Yun family will face execution of our entire clan…”