Yi Yi and Zhuo'er still weren't able to crawl, making Xiao Hua incessantly worried.
According to Matron Xu, children should be able to crawl at this age, but the two of them weren't able to. Apart from this, they were quite normal in all other aspects. They were quite familiar with flipping over and sitting, and as they grew their actions became extremely agile.
Xiao Hua was extremely worried, which made the Jing Prince start to worry as well.
It was still Matron Xu who found out what the problem was in the end. It turns out that it was because whenever the children wanted something, someone would hand it over. When they wanted to be held, they just needed to stretch out their hands and someone would come hold them. This made the two rather unwilling to move. They could just reach their arms out, why would they move themselves?
After understanding the reason, Xiao Hua changed how things were done.
During the day when the children were playing on the kiln, she purposefully used a toy to lure them over. She didn't put it far, at most a couple of feet. Zhuo'er had a calm personality. If you didn't let him play with it he would forget it. Yi Yi wasn't able to do so. Her personality was much more overbearing, and she would cry out at you demandingly. If you didn't give it, she would get impatient. Her impatient appearance was extremely cute, energetically warbling at you and waving her little arms continuously. Before long her porcelain white face turned red.
When Yi Yi saw that it didn't seem to be working, she would try another method, using pitiful eyes to look at you.
Ding Xiang and the others had been ordered by Xiao Hua not to help, so they could only watch with aching hearts.
"Come quick Yi Yi, the toy is here by mom. Come get it yourself." Xiao Hua shook the toy in her hand and put it back on the kiln.
Yi Yi used her eyes to say "mom, hurry and hand it over". Seeing Xiao Hua pretending not to notice, and seeing everyone else ignoring her, Yi Yi got angry. Her little face twisted and she scooted her little butt around, turning her back on Xiao Hua.
"Ha, the little thing even got angry." Xiao Hua laughed in spite of herself. "Alright, you guys leave first. With everyone standing around, she still expects help from others."
"Yes."
Ding Xiang and the rest filed out.
At the same time, Yi Yi glanced at them and saw they had all left. She then looked at her mom but her face couldn't be seen either.
Xiao Hua used a book in her hand to half cover her face, leaving only a small opening so she can observe the children.
"Ah ah....." Yi Yi let out a couple more cries, and seeing her mom's face fail to appear, she turned to look dejectedly at her brother. Yi Yi pulled at him with her hand.
That toy looked really fun and she really wanted it. What to do?
She looked at the toy once more. It was a five-colored little ball. This little wooden ball was a replacement after the one she usually played with broke, and the colors looked much prettier.
Yi Yi used her eyes to stare at her brother. She stared at him and then at the ball. Zhuo'er also looked at the ball, and then at his sister.
His little face wrinkled and he seemed a little helpless, but he still changed his posture and tried to reach his hand out to fetch the ball for his sister. Unfortunately, Xiao Hua had chosen the distance. How could it be within his reach?
At his wit's end, he decided to try something new. Zhuo'er lay prone on his stomach and inched forward bit by bit, kind of like a military crawl. He soon got closer to the ball, and even closer, and finally it was within reach.....
Zhuo'er reached his hand out, but didn't grab it firmly. Instead, the ball rolled farther away.
Xiao Hua could clearly see her son frowning from the gap in her book. He stopped for a bit before doing his best to keep crawling forwards. This time he seemed to realize he can't use too much force on the ball, and moved in close before carefully trapping the ball under his little hand.
He then used a lot of effort to sit up. This movement was no longer a problem for Zhuo'er. After he sat up, he first held the ball for a while and looked at his sister. Yi Yi cried out across from him a couple of times. Zhuo'er smiled a little but ended up not handing it over and started playing with it himself.
Ah?
Yi Yi was stunned. Her brother was too mean. Mom was also too mean, letting brother bully her.
She cried out angrily a couple of times and turned her head to look for her father.
Her father was good to her, she remembered.
Unfortunately father wasn't there.....
She then looked at the ball in her brother's hands. He was playing with her ball!
Xiao Hua's stomach was about to burst from laughing, but she covered her mouth and didn't dare to make a sound.
She watched as her daughter imitated her son's crawl, using her little hands and stomach to inch forwards. The curve on her mouth grew larger and larger. Who said that the children couldn't crawl? They just needed some training.
Yi Yi soon reached her brother's side. She struggled to sit up while also pulling at Zhuo'er's hand to make him hand the ball over. Trying to do two things at once, she failed both to sit up and to get the ball. Perhaps because she pulled too hard, Zhuo'er fell over and the ball rolled away once more.
Yi Yi was fed up at this point, and directly sprawled there and started crying.
Her upset crying was loud enough to raise the roof. It was like a thunderstorm without the rain.
Ding Xiang and the rest watched from outside the door and didn't dare come in. They saw the little young mistress sprawled there looking extremely wretched without anyone caring, and their hearts ached until their eyes turned red.
Yi Yi cried for a while without anyone responding to her. She finally whined a few words and turned around to look for the ball.
When she finally had the ball in hand, Yi Yi let out a gratified sigh, and then started playing happily.
A chorus of greetings came from outside and the Jing Prince walked in.
"Yi Yi was crying?"
The Jing Prince had heard his daughter crying while he was still in the corridor. He looked in from the window and saw Xiao Hua'er bullying their daughter while the tiny person crawled all over looking for the ball.
"Training her to crawl. Otherwise she never moves."
Yi Yi turned and saw her father had come and reached out her little arms. The Jing Prince walked over and picked his daughter up. That little fellow started tattling, pointing at the ball in her hand, then at her brother and at her mom, making little cries with her mouth.
"Our daughter is smart." The Jing Prince said.
"That's right. Already knowing how to tattle at such a young age." Xiao Hua looked at her tattling daughter with a half-smile.
As she spoke, Zhuo'er inched over to her and crawled by her leg. Xiao Hua put the book in her hands down and picked him up.
"Our Zhuo'er is also smart, more impressive than sister, right?"
Zhuo'er rolled around in his mom's arms, and revealed a bashful smile to Xiao Hua.
***
Chun Xiang's house was within the Jing Province's borders, and she could return once a year.
The time given wasn't that long, and didn't really account for the distance. Chun Xiang had seven days off this time.
Chun Xiang left from the Tiren Gate. After her belongings were inspected, she went and changed under the eyes of an old palace maid. The Jing Prince Estate's standard clothes weren't allowed to be taken outside. Those leaving the estate also weren't allowed to bring anything, only silver or some trinkets bestowed by the master.
Chun Xiang's monthly salary was two taels of silver a month, and after these two years she had several tens of taels. The silver she brought out would be matched with what was recorded last time, and then back calculated according to her salary. The amount shouldn't exceed what she would make. Any excess amount required someone to prove that it was bestowed by the master. It was truly strict.
Stepping out of the Tiren Gate, Chun Xiang felt her chest area before slowly letting out a breath.
Luckily the underwear didn't need to be changed, otherwise there really wasn't anywhere she could hide this thing. Chun Xiang didn't dare delay and hurriedly found a carriage service and rented a mule carriage.
The carriage left the city, circled once around and returned to the city again, stopping in front of a pastry shop.
"Uncle, wait a moment. I suddenly remembered my younger brother likes the pastries here. I'll be right back."
"No hurry, lass."
Chun Xiang walked inside. There was a person who looked like the shopkeeper sitting behind the counter.
"Boss, give me a peach pastry, one with a softer shell."
The old person behind the counter raised his head and gave her a glance, asking: "Miss, you are?"
Chun Xiang hurriedly took a letter out from her robes and handed it over, "The consort wants to send this to her family."
That old man didn't say anything, and received the letter before putting a pastry into Chun Xiang's hand.
Throughout this exchange, Chun Xiang was so nervous she didn't know what to do. She left the shop and hurriedly got onto her carriage.
***
Right after New Year's, the Jing Prince completed two things.
One was to find a post for Li Hong Chang and Li Hong Qian, The second was to have Eunuch Chang collect a list of young nobleman and have Xiao Hua sort through them before sending it to the Li family.
Eunuch Fu was the one who personally found the jobs for the Li brothers. Eunuch Fu used his silver tongue and made everything sound incredible to the Li family, who were endlessly grateful. The Li brothers were so riled up by Eunuch Fu's words that they no longer insisted on bringing their concubines to "work" anymore and packed up earnestly, allowing Eunuch Fu to send them on their way. They were off to the military, where it was said they could achieve great things.
Qi-Shi was reluctant to part and had tears in her eyes, "Husband, do you think our sons can endure this suffering?"
Li Xue Bing frowned and scolded: "What are you crying for? What's a little hardship to us manly men? It's like Eunuch Fu said: official postings are based on experience, but military postings are based on hard work. Our nephew is clearly offering excellent prospects for our sons, why are you afraid they would suffer? Just based on his highness's face, no one would dare make things difficult for them."
"That's true. His highness is really warm on the inside despite his cold exterior. He didn't seem to be listening to our words, but he actually kept them all in mind. As a matter of fact, New Year's had just passed when he finished arranging things."
Qi-Shi felt a little ashamed, thinking of how she misunderstood him.
Li Xue Bing stroked his beard and nodded, "That's really the case. If he could then arrange a good posting for me, it would be even better."
Concubine He interrupted on the side, "Lord, you're thinking too much. If the two young masters have good prospects, what would their father have to worry about?! Considering your age, how many more years can you work? Might as well give this opportunity to the young masters. Wouldn't you still be the father of two major officials? Especially since Eunuch Fu has said that there wasn't a suitable post for you at the moment, and if something comes up you'll be the first to know."
Concubine He stroked the golden ornament on her head and smiled like a flower.
Everyone in the Li family entered the New Year in high spirits. Beforehand, people had already sent over some clothing for the celebration, as well as all sorts of ornaments and trinkets. The food and drink were also the highest quality.
Concubine He's head ornament was sent over by the estate, and she loved it to death. She marveled how it was her first time seeing such a heavy yet good looking ornament. She had followed Li Xue Bing for so many years, but had at most seen a couple of golden hairpins. Who knew that after their family fell into dire straits and had to rely on their relative that their days would be better than the past?
She naturally had to return the favor and speak up for the estate's master. Especially since that person's actions had no faults to pick at. Everything had been perfectly taken care of.
"It's just the matter of Miao Lian's marriage—-" Qi-Shi suddenly said.
At the mention, Li Xue Bing and Concubine He both frowned. This thing was truly difficult to handle. His highness never gave a response and they didn't dare bring it up again.
The Li family all knew what the reason was.
These days they had heard quite a lot about Madam Hua's past deeds, most of it coming from the consort or Senior Concubine Qiao.
That western pavilion's Madam Hua was bossy and willful, and she would get extremely jealous. Her methods were also extremely good, and after occupying his highness she didn't let him out anymore....
Speaking of the devil, at this time, a palace maid came in and reported that the western pavilion's Madam Hua had sent someone over.
What did she send someone over for?
Author's notes:
Repressed Jing pulled a quick one on his "cousins".
This author is hesitating what to write about in her next book. One is about an evil woman, and the style will be a little dark. There is still some pampering, but it won't be the main topic. The male lead isn't kind and the female lead isn't good. This sort of pairing. But the male lead is tall, rich and handsome and the female lead is beautiful. The two of them fight monsters and level up together.
Another one is a small sweet novel about a barbarian and a little white rabbit pairing. The male lead is a muscular, tall and sturdy man with unkempt beard and a bearish appearance. The female lead is a lovable tiny person. The difference is quite huge. Don't know which one the readers prefer, but both stories will be written. Just deciding which one to write first.