The Royal’s Cute Little Wife

Taking each of his sisters’ hands, Xie Rong brought them back, saying, “Don’t heedlessly run around, if not, you might end up falling down”.

Xie Zhen nodded her head and held onto her elder brother’s hand tightly. However, she had never been well-behaved. In a moment, she struggled free from Xie Rong and ran to the pondside to gaze at the colourful carps.

Both Xie Rong and Xie Liqing couldn’t control her; only when Leng shi put on a serious face and called her name did she then obediently follow behind the adults. Afraid that Leng shi was angry, she went forwards and held Leng shi’s hand. Raising her hand, she said, “Ah Niang, don’t be angry.”

With her mouth set in a pout, she looked very pitiful and cute.

After seeing this scene, no matter how bad her temper was, Leng shi couldn’t help but soften her heart. Her daughter was just too adorable, causing her to feel reluctant when teaching her a lesson.

Leng shi sighed, and stroking Xie Zhen’s nose said, “Ah niang isn’t angry”.

Hearing her words, Xie Zhen’s eyes brighten. Regaining her vitality once again, her eyes were full of laughter and formed two crescents. However, this time round, she was well-behaved and followed the adults obediently to the main room of the house without any mishaps along the way.

The fu’s chief steward Wang got people to prepare tea but because no children like drinking tea, he specially prepared yogurt pudding and some pastries for them. One might as well say that housekeeper Wang dealt with all matters, big and small.

As Xie Zhen and Xie Xun took turns to take a mouthful each to finish a bowl, Xie Xun, smacking her lips, commented, “Not as tasty as home”.

The home that Xie Xun was referring to was the Xie branch of Duke Ding’s residence in the capital. As she was still young, she could not get used to moving from one place to another.

Without showing any mercy, Xie Zhen immediately saw through her and said: “Why did you eat so much then?”

The three-year old Xie Xun’s face immediately reddened, unable to come up with a rebuttal. After what seemed like half a day, she puffed up her cheeks and said “That’s because I was hungry…”

Xie Zhen tiptoed and took one piece of milk roll from the eight immortals table, passing it to her younger sister.

“For you”.

Although the journey wasn’t overly arduous, it was nevertheless still exhausting. The food and drink had been below their usual standard so it was obvious that all three children had lost weight. Feeling sorry, Leng shi told Xie Liqing “Let’s get the kitchen to prepare lunch. Don’t let the children go hungry”.

Xie Liqing didn’t have any objections and let chief steward Wang make the arrangements.

During this period, Xie Xun had eaten even more pieces of honey cake and milk rolls. As they had come from the capital, Xie Liqing, worried that they wouldn’t be accustomed to Qing Zhou’s cuisine, had specially invited a chef from the capital. After so long of not being able to have a proper meal, the three children ate quite a bit and even Xie Rong had one extra bowl of rice.

Pleased, Leng shi patted and kissed each of them in turn, feeling endless love for them.

Afer lunch, the children were all tired so Xie Liqing had the servants bring them to their rooms to rest.

Worried, Leng shi accompanied them, taking the chance to observe the situation of the rear yard. The rear yard was adequate, with the main room reserved for Xie Liqing and Leng shi, while Xie Xun and Xie Zhen would live in the East wing, with Xie Rong residing in the West Wing. Besides these rooms, there were several other side rooms which could serve as the study and the embroidery room. Seeing this, Leng shi felt quite satisfied.

The house was was well-arranged, furnished with all the necessary items, and there was nothing that she needed to worry about.

In the wings, there were yellow pear wood tables and chairs and a red sandalwood wardrobe. Several kinds of antiques were displayed on the shelves, and the bedroom was behind a folding screen with twelve magpies drawn on it.

Upon arriving in the new surroundings, Xie Zhen’s drowsiness completely disappeared. Looking everywhere at least three times, she finally committed her new home’s appearance to memory. Afterwards, Madam Leng assigned two maidservants to bring Xie Xun and Xie Zhen to the east area so they could have a rest. The moment her head laid on the pillow, Xie Xun immediately fell asleep. On the other hand, Xie Zhen tossed and turned on the bed for a good while before falling asleep silently.

Leng shi called all the servants to the main room’s entrance. Including the maids and the old female servants she had brought from Duke Ding’s household, there were altogether 30 to 40 servants in the residence.

As the house had only recently been set up, the servants were also new. Previously, as there had been no principal wife, no rules and customs had been put in place. But now, with Leng shi’s arrival , they knew they couldn’t be as relaxed as in the past. It was time to step up.

Sure enough, Leng shi redistributed the duties and set several rules in place, leaving them to do their respective duties. Anyone who violated the rules would be punished.

Leng shi was naturally a stern and indifferent person, and only in front of her husband and children would she become gentler. Unfortunately, it was precisely because of this natural disposition that the elders in Duke Ding’s residence disliked her. They thought that she had a naturally unkind face that was lacking in luck. In actuality, she was not unkind, she was simply aloof, which gave people the impression of arrogance.

However, Xie Liqing was fond of this arrogance of hers. In front of others, she would be distant and cold, however, only in the night would he know of her passion.

Having not seen each other for a long time, they spent a lot of time showing their affection to each other. If they had not had to consider their three children, the movements would definitely have been earth-shaking.

At night, when it was dark and silent, Xie Zhen suddenly felt the sky flash brightly, with a ray of light passing through the windows. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she got up from the bed asking, “What happened?”

The maidservant Shuang Yu had likewise been awakened. Wearing her shoes hurriedly, she came to find her, asking, “Second miss?”

Xie Xun was still sleeping deeply.

As Xie Zhen wanted to get out of bed, Shuang Yu went to help her put on a pair of embroidered shoes and lead her out of the building.

Once outside, they found out that it wasn’t their residence that had been lit up. Rather, it was the neighbouring courtyard that was brightly illuminated. Xie Liqing and Leng shi had also changed into their clothes quickly and had people find out if anything had happened. Surely there wasn’t a thief next door?

Xie Liqing had just moved in recently, and was usually busy with work. As such, he wasn’t very familiar with the neighbouring household. Even when Leng shi asked him whose household it was, he was unable to give her an answer.

Soon enough the servant returned, and reported what they had heard. “The young master of the Li Household is sick, with a terribly high fever. Right now the Li household is busy finding a physician to treat him.”

As there was no thief, several people sighed in relief. Rubbing her eyes, Xie Zhen returned to her room sleepily. In a daze, she thought. It was merely a fever, yet they had made such a big fuss. Their young master was surely even more delicate than her.

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Definitions:

八仙桌 Eight immortals table: an old fashion square table that seats eight奶卷 : milk roll