Chapter 328: A Letter from Qingzhou
Chapter 328: A Letter from Qingzhou
Feng Xuansheng, the Third Prince, didn't rush to leave. He chatted with Prince Qi for a while before joining Suisui and the others in their playful antics.
Feng Xuansheng lacked the arrogance often associated with royalty. Instead, he was gentle and excellent at coaxing children.
Suisui was initially shy around the Third Prince, but it didn't take long for his soft words to win her over, and she began calling him "Third Brother" repeatedly.
Listening from the side, Feng Xuanrui felt a twinge of jealousy. "Sister, you should address him as 'Third Prince,'" he said with a hint of sourness.
Suisui looked at him with confusion. "But Brother said I could call him Third Brother too. There are no outsiders here right now."
The little girl looked perplexed.
Feng Xuansheng immediately understood that Little Six was feeling a bit left out.
He couldn't help but laugh. "It's fine, Little Six. When we're alone, it doesn't matter. We're all family here, brothers and sisters." As he spoke, he reached out and ruffled Feng Xuanrui's hair affectionately.
Feng Xuanrui: ...
Alright, the Third Prince was just too gentle. He couldn't bring himself to argue further.
After playing for a while, the children started feeling tired.
With the rain still falling outside, Feng Xuansheng soon took his leave.
He planned to visit the Royal Retreat early the next morning.
Feng Xuanrui's curiosity got the better of him, and he suggested, "How about we go too?"
Suisui was also quite curious, but she followed her father and mother's lead.
Where they went, she would go.
Prince Qi didn't intend to go.
If his royal brother wasn't planning any activities at the Royal Retreat, it would be rather quiet there.
Aside from the servants, there wouldn't be many people around, perhaps just a few deer and sheep kept as pets. It wasn't the most exciting place.
However, Prince Qi soon realized that Suisui had never been there before!
This place...
...was worth visiting.
The only issue was that they were still in the middle of their wish-fulfilling ceremony.
With these thoughts in mind, Prince Qi discussed the matter with the princess.
Feng Xuansheng agreed that it would be nice to pay a visit.
The Royal Retreat was built amidst the mountains, providing a pleasantly cool environment during the summer.
When the capital city became unbearably hot, the Emperor often retreated there to escape the heat.
Although there had been heavy rainfall over the past two days, spending a few days there would still be quite enjoyable.
After some deliberation, Prince Qi and the princess decided that they would go to the Royal Retreat early the day after they finished offering incense and fulfilling their vows.
Feng Xuansheng needed to collect herbs and would be away for about three to five days. It was convenient that Prince Qi's family could go to the Royal Retreat during that time as well, and they would need to request permission from the palace, which would take a day.
After everyone agreed on the plan, they returned to their respective rooms to rest for the night.
Suisui, tired from a full day of play, quickly fell asleep.
Feng Xuanrui and his brothers were already snoring softly.
In the cool rain of the night, everyone slept soundly.
The next morning, Suisui woke up to bright daylight.
After a night of rain, the air felt especially fresh and clean.
She got up, tidied herself, and had a light snack before going to offer incense.
Prince Qi and the princess, along with their three children, devoutly offered incense and listened to the sutras being chanted.
They were occupied until noon before finally having some free time.
Feng Xuansheng had risen early and departed for the Royal Retreat on horseback.
He was in a hurry and only exchanged greetings with Prince Qi before leaving.
Upon hearing that the Third Prince had already left, Suisui felt a bit sad.
She had grown fond of this Third Brother of hers.
Moreover, the gifts he gave were beautiful.
Feng Xuansheng had presented her with two exquisite jade pendants—one made of green jade and the other of mutton-fat jade—two lovely sachets filled with calming medicinal herbs, and a pair of stunning golden bracelets.
Suisui was wearing one of the sachets that Third Prince had given her. It smelled wonderful, and she felt like insects stayed far away from her.
Out of curiosity, Suisui mentioned this to her brothers.
Feng Xuanrui proudly boasted, "Third Prince is amazing, but I've heard that Jingfei, the Noble Consort, is even more skilled. Still, Third Prince's sachet is good enough. With it, mosquitoes don't dare to bite us at all!"
Feng Xuanrui received a small box containing six sachets.
Thinking that his sister received fewer gifts, he continued, "I'll give them all to my sister. Don't be afraid, little sister. No insects will dare to bite you now!"
Feng Xuanbin didn't want to be outdone either. After some thought, he softly said, "I'll give half of mine to my sister!"
It wasn't that he was stingy and didn't want to give more.
The truth was that he was just too attractive to mosquitoes.
Although the sachets given by Royal Physician Liu were useful, Feng Xuanbin still felt that the ones from Third Prince were superior.
Thus, he couldn't bring himself to part with them.
Suisui was unaware of the sachet's magical properties. Nonetheless, she happily accepted them from her brothers and thanked them.
After lunch, Suisui and her brothers played for a while before retiring for a rest.
Meanwhile, Prince Qi once again entered the palace to request permission to visit the Royal Retreat.
The Emperor, busy at the moment, readily granted his request with a wave of his hand.
After leaving the palace, Prince Qi stopped by the Empress Dowager's palace to pay his respects and also picked up some items on his way back.
Passing by the mansion's front gate, he collected some items from the gatehouse before returning home.
When Prince Qi returned, Suisui and her brothers were busy playing with fresh grass.
Of course, none of the three children knew how to braid grass.
However, this didn't stop them from trying.
"If we don't know, we'll just have to learn!" they reasoned.
The three children fumbled with the grass, ending up with grass juice on their hands and grass clippings in their hair, looking both messy and adorable.
Prince Qi couldn't resist picking up Suisui and carefully cleaning her hair. He then asked, "By the way, we received a letter from Qingzhou. Would you like to see it, my dear?"
"Why would I want to see a letter from Qingzhou?" Suisui tilted her cute little head in confusion.
This made Prince Qi feel even more doting towards his dear daughter.
He struggled to suppress the urge to smooth out her adorable tuft of hair. With a smile, he explained, "It's a letter from your brother Rong Lin and sister Ruo Yi from Qingzhou."
Previously, Suisui had written a letter to them, and Princess Qi had asked Aunt Xiang to prepare some gifts to send along with the reply.
The letter hadn't been sent via express delivery but rather through normal channels, so they probably hadn't received it yet.
The letter they received now likely wasn't a reply but a proactive message from them, as they must have missed Suisui and sent a letter early.
"A letter from Brother Rong Lin and Sister Ruo Yi?" Suisui's eyes sparkled with surprise and delight. "Really? Can I see it, Father?"
"Of course, my dear. Shall I read it to you?" Prince Qi gently stroked her head as he asked.
Suisui didn't know many characters yet, so she probably wouldn't be able to understand the letter.
Just as she was about to nod, Feng Xuanrui butted in, "There's no need to trouble Father. They're my friends, so I'll read it to my sister."
Prince Qi: ...
Why was it so hard for a father to get a word in edgewise with his own children?
The second update will be at 7 p.m.
(End of Chapter)
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