In the quiet study room, the green smoke of birds is rising from the incense burner, and the warm afternoon sun shines through the window. Various carpenter tools are scattered on the bookcases, and the sound of knocking is occasionally revealed. It means tranquility.
Yongle sat beside the eucalyptus, holding her chin with both hands. Her eyelids were already trembling up and down, and her vision was even more hazy, as if she was about to fall asleep in the next second.
Lu Hanjiang was beside her, playing with the puppet in his hand with great interest. After a while, Yongle swayed and fell on Lu Hanjiang's shoulder.
A calm breathing soon came over his shoulder, and Lu Hanjiang broke away from the ocean of interest. He glanced at Yongle, then put down the things in his hands for the time being, and waved to the maid outside the door.
The maid understood, and immediately brought a thin quilt, and carefully came forward to put it on Yongle, but she didn't expect that this girl's sleep was very light, and she woke up all of a sudden.
Yongle rubbed his eyes, summoned up his energy and ordered the maid to step back. He continued to hold his chin and watch Lu Hanjiang playing with the blocks.
Lu Hanjiang paused in his movements and said helplessly: "Princess, if you feel tired, you can go and take a rest."
But Yongle stubbornly shook his head, and she muttered: "I'm just watching you here."
"..." Lu Hanjiang was helpless. Ever since he noticed that he had a habit of disappearing suddenly, Yongle stayed in his sight for longer and longer.
But it may also be because Shangluo is not around and Yongle has no friends, so he seems to be so dependent on him.
Speaking of Shangluo, this girl didn't wander around alone. She did have some serious business to do when she left. When her adoptive father Li Guishou died, he was buried in the south of the Yangtze River by Lu Hanjiang. This time, she happened to go to pay homage to him. Pay your respects.
Anyway, Lu Hanjiang has no plans to return to Beijing immediately. They have been wandering around for more than a month and are still staying in Jiangnan, so they are not worried about this girl getting lost alone.
When Shangluo was there, Yongle seemed to be more lively, but after the girl left, the changes in the little princess were almost visible to the naked eye.
Speaking of which, Yongle is actually quite similar to Lu Hanjiang, especially in terms of interpersonal relationships. Neither of them seem to have many friends. In a sense, they are so lonely that it makes people feel a little pitiful.
But this was just Lu Hanjiang's wishful thinking. In fact, in Yongle's heart, her consort was far more pitiable than she was.
Although Yongle has very few friends, it's not so bad that he can't find any. But Lu Hanjiang is different. He really has no friends.
Recalling the banquet when the two got married, the guests who came to congratulate him were not only colleagues but also elders. Moreover, at that time, Lu Hanjiang was still out of the clan, and the elders had to be replaced by Meng Yuan. It was really sad to see it.
But on the other hand, Yongle felt that it was fortunate that Meng Yuan was present instead, otherwise the scene would have been... indescribable if someone from the Lu family had come.
Years ago, Lu Shangshu presided over a grand ceremony and allowed Lu Hanjiang to return to the Lu clan. Since he recognized his ancestors and returned to the clan, it was natural to visit his parents who had been away for many years.
As a passing wife of the Lu family, Yongle, even though she was from the royal family and had a very noble status, she still had to go and meet Lu Hanjiang's parents.
One day in the first lunar month, Lu Hanjiang did take her back to the Lu family, and then Yongle finally met her consort's family——
They were a very ordinary middle-aged couple. When he saw them, Yongle once again had doubts about Lu Hanjiang's mysterious age, but this was all a trivial matter.
In addition to Lu Qinian and his wife, Lu Hanjiang actually has a younger brother who is eight years old this year. He is cute and very lovable. This surprised Yongle because the other party never mentioned this younger brother.
To this, Lu Hanjiang's answer was that he didn't know that this ridiculously bad excuse sounded strangely credible to Yongle.
After that, the family had a meal together. During the dinner, Yongle felt uncomfortable all over. They sat together, not like a family at all, and the atmosphere was even more reserved and awkward than a banquet in the palace.
Yongle was the most favored royal princess and had a respected status, so even if she married into the Lu family, Lu Qinian and his wife were still very respectful in attitude. This was expected but also helpless.
But immediately afterwards, Lu Qinian and his wife's attitude towards Lu Hanjiang became very puzzling.
If Lu Qinian and his wife were just in awe of Yongle, then they were incomprehensibly afraid of their own flesh and blood, Lu Hanjiang.
During the dinner, Lu Hanjiang sat next to his younger brother. Once, when his younger brother accidentally soiled his sleeves, Lu Hanjiang handed over a handkerchief. Unexpectedly, this move aroused a fierce reaction from Mother Lu.
As if he had seen some ferocious beast, the other party almost subconsciously hugged his unknown brother tightly into his arms. This made Lu Hanjiang's hand in the air feel very awkward.
The atmosphere at the table was almost stagnant at that time. Except for the younger brother who was still unaware and complained that his mother's belt was too tight, no one spoke. It seemed that each other could hear each other's breathing.
Even if Yongle was not distracted, he could still sense that something was very wrong with the relationship between Lu Hanjiang, the Lu family, and even his biological parents.
The meal ended in such an unpleasant silence. On the way back, Lu Hanjiang rarely talked nonsense with Yongle.
Lu Hanjiang is not a person who likes to talk. Although sometimes he seems to be talkative, most of his words have necessary meaning and are not unnecessary.
So in his normal state, Lu Hanjiang was actually mostly silent and playing with building blocks alone. This was also the way Yongle saw him most often.
But that day, Lu Hanjiang talked nonsense to Yongle for the first time.
Yongle still remembered that Lu Hanjiang was sitting in the carriage that day. The expression on his face seemed very complicated, as if he wanted to laugh but couldn't.
"It's strange," he said with a distressed look: "I clearly remember that they liked me very much when I was a child. They often took me out and never forgot to bring me gifts when they went far... But this is true after all. Memories are still just conjectures on my part, tsk, it seems a little unclear."
On that day, Yongle rarely disagreed with Lu Hanjiang. She just listened silently to the other person's ramblings.
Lu Hanjiang talked a lot of nonsense that day and shared many beautiful memories of his childhood with Yongle.
It's a pity that those things were described in Lu Hanjiang's mouth as perfectly as fairy tales. After seeing the attitude of Lu Qinian's family towards Lu Hanjiang with his own eyes, Yongle could not help but think that these were memories imagined by the other party.
After returning that day, Yongle was always a little restless. She was used to taking a nap in the afternoon, but she couldn't fall asleep after tossing and turning. She got up and walked outside the house, where she saw the hurried-looking housekeeper, Lao Qian.
Under her serious questioning, the other party finally revealed Lu Hanjiang's order to pack his luggage in advance.
Yongle finally knew why she felt uneasy. It turned out that Lu Hanjiang planned to leave the capital secretly again, and he didn't plan to take anyone with him, but to go alone.
After knowing this, Yongle was so angry that she stamped her feet. She was holding back her anger. She wanted to have a good talk with the other party, but suddenly she remembered everything that happened at the Lu family banquet today.
After a long silence, Yongle took away Lu Hanjiang's luggage from Lao Qian, and then waited for him to return in the room.
After Lu Hanjiang returned to the room, he saw Yongle holding his luggage. He was stunned for a moment, then smiled helplessly, as if he wanted to explain something, but Yongle said first, "I'm going too!"
The little princess had a serious tone and a firm attitude, giving Lu Hanjiang no chance to retort. Her little face was bulging with anger, like an angry squirrel. She obviously looked ridiculously weak, but her serious aura was impressive. Look away.
Lu Hanjiang stared at Yongle for a long time, then finally relaxed and replied, "Okay."
