Jiang Shu and Zhuang Yun listened with interest to Yu Zheng's interesting childhood stories.
When the two of them wanted to hear more, Yu Zheng couldn't sit still.
"Yun'er, how are you doing with your homework this year? Uncle will test you."
Zhuang Yun stopped laughing when he heard this, and said with a flat mouth: "Uncle, it's the New Year."
After receiving Zhuang Yun's look of help, Yu Lan said: "No, it's the Chinese New Year. You will be disgusted with this. You can't be like this when your own child is born in the future."
Hearing 'his own child', Yu Zheng glanced at Jiang Shu, his dark eyes softening.
"Come here, uncle will teach you how to play chess." Yu Zheng changed his words.
"Uncle is so kind." Zhuang Yun smiled happily and sat next to Yu Zheng.
Yu Zheng is busy with work, and Zhuang Yun also has to go to school. It is difficult for the two of them to get together to play chess, so Zhuang Yun is very curious about it.
The palace maid quickly brought the chess equipment and set it up. Yu Zheng taught while playing. Zhuang Yun studied very seriously.
It was still early for lunch, and Concubine Yu knew that Jiang Shu and she didn't have much to say, so she asked someone to bring a leaf play, and she and Jiang Shu Yulan chatted while playing.
In the past, at the Jing'an Marquis Mansion, Mrs. Shen and Mother Shen would often ask Jiang Shu to play leaf play when they had nothing to do. However, the winnings for them were a bit big, and they only felt happy when Jiang Shu lost to them.
As time passed, Jiang Shu became a little disgusted with Ye Zixi.
But Concubine Yu and Yu Lan were both in high spirits, and Jiang Shu couldn't bear to let them down, so he had no choice but to play with them.
Jiang Shu was a little nervous at first, thinking hard about how to lose to them.
After a few games, Concubine Yu and Yu Lan sensed the clues, and said somewhat speechlessly: "This is gambling, and it's pointless to let it go."
Yu Lan also said: "We are all members of the same family, there is no need to play the favor card, just relax and have fun."
Jiang Shu blushed and nodded, took a deep breath and became serious.
After playing a few more games, the three of them each had a win or loss. Concubine Yu said with a smile: "That's right, that's what's interesting."
"That's what my mother said." Jiang Shu also curled his lips and relaxed.
"Come again, come again." Concubine Yu was very interested in playing with them for a rare time.
Although the emperor was not here, Concubine Yu was very happy as Jiang Shu and the others were with them.
Yu Zheng, who was playing chess with Zhuang Yun, glanced at Jiang Shu from time to time and felt happy to see them playing harmoniously.
The royal family relationship is the coldest. It is really good that their family can be like this.
The sky outside the hall was gloomy, as if a wind and snow were about to come. There was joy and laughter in the hall, and the mother was kind and the son was filial.
Since it was Chinese New Year, warm wine was prepared for lunch. Jiang Shuzhuangyun couldn't drink, so he prepared goat's milk for them to drink.
Concubine Yu was very happy. After drinking a few glasses of wine, she looked at Yu Zheng and Jiang Shu and said, "When your child is born, there will be one more person at next year's reunion dinner, which will make it even more lively."
Zhuang Yun licked the goat's milk from his mouth and asked expectantly: "Is your aunt pregnant with a younger brother or a younger sister?"
Although he has a precocious mind, he has never been exposed to many things and still retains his innocence.
Concubine Yu asked him with a smile: "Yun'er, do you want a younger brother or a younger sister?"
Zhuang Yun said: "I want my younger brother first, then my younger sister."
"Oh? Why?" Several adults looked at Zhuang Yun curiously.
Zhuang Yun said seriously with a small face: "First I want a younger brother to play with me, and then I want a younger sister. My younger brother and I can protect my younger sister together."
"Hey, our Yun'er is really thoughtful." Concubine Yu said with a smile.
Yu Lan and others were also amused by Zhuang Yun's children's words. They gave Zhuang Yun some goat's milk and said, "Yun'er will definitely be a good brother."
Compared with the harmony in Zhongling Palace, Yongning Palace seems dull and depressing.
The emperor and the queen sat on the main throne, Cao Muxue sat beside the queen, Yu Cheng and Xie Wanruo sat on one side, and several children sat around the bottom.
This was an auspicious reunion banquet, but there was only a slight sound of cups and chopsticks being exchanged, and there was no laughter or chatter.
Several young children did not dare to move or run around after eating, and watched the adults cautiously.
After finally finishing the meal and putting down his chopsticks, Yu Cheng couldn't bear that Xie Wanruo and her son were being humiliated and looked down upon, so he asked Xie Wanruo to take Yu Haolin back to the East Palace on the grounds that the child was taking a nap.
"Mother, Yongning Palace is not fun at all." As soon as he returned to the East Palace, Yu Haolin began to complain.
"Don't Lin'er want to see the emperor's grandfather?" Xie Wanruo asked.
Yu Haolin curled his lips: "But the emperor's grandfather looks so fierce. Doesn't he like me?"
Xie Wanruo said warmly: "I like it, but the emperor's grandfather is the emperor, and he must have the majesty of an emperor. Only in this way can he intimidate the civil and military officials of the dynasty."
"Is everyone afraid of Grandfather Emperor?"
"Um."
"Grandfather is so powerful."
"Yes, the imperial grandfather is very powerful."
The emperor, whom both mother and son said was very powerful, was sitting on pins and needles in Yongning Palace.
After forcing himself to play a few games of chess with Yu Cheng, the emperor stood up and said, "I'm tired. There is a palace banquet tonight, so you should all take a rest."
The queen hurriedly said: "The bedding has been changed long ago. I will accompany the emperor to have a rest."
The emperor knew he couldn't leave, so he walked towards the queen's palace with his hands behind his back and a stern face.
Not only today, but also during the New Year, he has to stay in Yongning Palace.
What an annoying rule.
The emperor and the empress had rested, and Yu Cheng and Cao Muxue had no need to stay, so they took their children back to the East Palace.
Like the emperor, Yu Cheng could only sleep in Cao Mu's snow house these days.
The father and son, who had the same experience, had very similar approaches. He always used fatigue as an excuse and closed his eyes to sleep immediately after going to bed.
Although the Queen and Cao Muxue were frustrated and unwilling, there was nothing they could do.
They are all the masters of the main palace, and they cannot be shy about asking for sex.
The ancestral stay is their last dignity.
The sky is getting darker and darker, and the cold wind is howling.
Jiang Shu was used to napping, and Yu Zheng stayed with her to sleep for a while in the dormitory where he lived when he was a child.
Lying on the bed where Yu Zheng had slept when he was a child, Jiang Shu finally understood how Yu Zheng had felt before.
I know that Yu Zheng has not lived here for many years, but I always feel that I can feel Yu Zheng's breath and touch his past.
"How old will your husband live here?" Jiang Shu asked while lying in Yu Zheng's arms.
Yu Zheng tucked the quilt for her and said, "Five years old."
When he officially entered school, he moved to the prince's residence and lived with his brothers.
Jiang Shu sighed after hearing this, it is not easy to be a prince.
"Go to sleep, the dinner will be long." Yu Zheng stopped talking.
Jiang Shu yawned a little and found a comfortable position to sleep.
At Youshi, several people set out from Zhongling Palace to attend the banquet at Qingde Palace.
This was Jiang Shu's first time attending a palace banquet and also her first time meeting the queen.
Originally she was supposed to meet the empress after she and Yu Zheng got married, but the empress and Concubine Yu were not on good terms and had stopped visiting each other a few years ago.
Although the two of them live together in the palace, they rarely meet except for palace banquets.
The queen, dressed in yellow palace attire, sat luxuriously beside the emperor. Although she is fifty years old, it is not difficult to see from her graceful face that she was a beauty when she was young.
"My concubine is to Your Majesty. Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty and Your Majesty, Your Majesty and Your Majesty, may you be blessed with peace and happiness." Concubine Yu was the first to salute.
Yu Zheng and others followed: "My son, please give my regards to my father, the queen, and my mother."
Seeing them, the emperor's solemn expression softened a little, and he waved his hand and said: "They are all members of the family, there is no need to be formal, please take a seat."
"What the Emperor said is that today is a family reunion banquet, so it should be more casual." The Queen said with a rare smile.
