The Prime Minister’s Daughter and the Marquis’s Fool – Chapter 234
by Little PandaExtra 9
Fruit Wine
Zhu Ming’an was, as ever, the steady one. A merchant’s bearing mattered as much as their words, but Jin Mingyi paid such things no mind — the moment she saw Qu Sheng, she began to pout. “Cousin, how could you go out traveling without telling us?”
She already had a child, yet carried on like a young girl still. Qu Sheng was helpless with this cousin of hers. She let out a breath and didn’t answer, but Lin Xizhao smiled and explained, “We decided on the spur of the moment that day. You and Ming’an were still out of town, so we didn’t send word.”
Jin Mingyi pursed her lips. Well, that was true — they had been away. It was only when the elders at home wrote to tell them the children had left the palace that they had hurried back, only to hear from the Empress Dowager Jin Yunfei that several families had gone traveling. Qu Ting’s child was still small, and Qian Shuangying wasn’t comfortable leaving the baby behind, so she hadn’t come along.
“There now, you’re here, aren’t you?” Qu Sheng said, offering a perfunctory comfort.
Zhu Ming’an’s whole family wore the dust of the road. Qu Sheng glanced at them and noticed the little girl they held by the hand, and something in her expression softened within moments.
“Auntie.” Little Zhu Qianjie saw Qu Sheng looking at her and offered a bright greeting.
Qu Sheng had never been fond of children, but ever since Qu Zhimu was born, she no longer pushed them away. Her patience had grown steadily. A few years later, when Qu Ning arrived, she had come to love children even more.
Lin Xizhao had noticed the dramatic change in Qu Sheng, but she had always known Qu Sheng to be a deeply attentive person at heart. Her patience with children was, in large part, because of Lin Xizhao herself.
She loved children, and children loved to cling to her. They always showed her their most endearing side, so Qu Sheng had come to love children just as much.
Qu Sheng smiled and bent down to scoop up Zhu Qianjie. Looking at the little one’s face, she could see something of her mother Jin Mingyi in it.
Everyone had always thought Jin Mingyi bore a resemblance to Qu Sheng, so it was only natural that this little girl had something of Qu Sheng’s look about her too.
Her own daughter didn’t look like her — but this little niece did.
The Liang family’s reunion feast had already concluded, but since the group had gone out and come back, a good while had passed. Lin Xizhao had someone prepare more wine and dishes, and in their courtyard, the adults and children sat together to admire the moon and drink.
Jin Mingyi and Zhao Jiayu were always of one mind. Even when it came to drinking, a single glance between them said everything.
They set up a game and had everyone roll dice — everyone except Qu Sheng.
Qu Ning sat beside Qu Sheng, who was drinking alone, and whispered to Lin Xizhao, “Mother, why didn’t Fourth Aunt let Mother play?”
Lin Xizhao glanced at Qu Sheng — who was taking small sips of wine and looking up at the full moon from time to time — and whispered something in Qu Ning’s ear.
Qu Ning’s round eyes went wide. “Really?” she asked in amazement.
Then her gaze turned toward Qu Sheng. Lin Xizhao curved her brows and nodded. “If you don’t believe me, go ask your mother.”
Qu Ning already adored Qu Sheng. To hear her own mother say that Qu Sheng could tell the value of dice just by listening to the sound — that astonished her.
Qu Ning slipped down from her seat, went to Qu Sheng’s side, eyes full of stars, and whispered, “Mother, could you teach Ning’er to roll dice?”
Qu Sheng held her wine cup, a touch tipsy. She looked up at Lin Xizhao and saw her brows curve in a smile. She lifted Qu Ning onto her lap and asked gently, “What would Ning’er do once she learned it?”
Qu Ning hadn’t really thought it through. It just seemed exciting. After a moment’s reflection, she answered honestly, “If Ning’er learned it, Ning’er could win against Mu-jiejie and the others.”
Qu Sheng heard the honest truth of it and smiled. “And what else?”
Qu Ning blinked and shook her little head. “Ning’er hasn’t decided yet.”
Qu Sheng didn’t scold her or press her to have a purpose. She leaned down and whispered something in her ear. Qu Ning’s eyes blinked rapidly, as if afraid of missing a single word, and when Qu Sheng finished, the child walked off alone out of the courtyard.
Listening to dice1 was not merely a matter of technique — it demanded exceptional hearing. And Qu Sheng’s eyes could see in the dark; her hearing was equally acute.
Qu Ning slipped away to fetch a set of dice and practiced on her own for a long while. When Zhao Ningying couldn’t find her, she went to her room.
“Ning-jiejie, what are you doing?” Zhao Ningying knocked on the door, with little Zhu Qianjie in tow.
Qu Ning opened the door and, with a mysterious smile, pulled them both inside. She passed on the dice-listening technique she had just learned from Qu Sheng.
The three little ones sat at the table and watched Qu Ning roll the dice. She called out her guesses, and when the dice were uncovered, the other two gasped in astonishment.
But even knowing the technique, they couldn’t hear it themselves.
Qu Ning, pleased with her progress, led her two younger companions back to the moon-viewing table. By then, Zhao Jiayu, Jin Mingyi, and the others were deep in their game. Only Lin Xizhao and Cheng Xi noticed the two girls come over and pull Qu Zhimu away.
“Why are you dragging me off? I have to watch Mother so she doesn’t get drunk again,” Qu Zhimu protested as she was led along.
Once inside the room, Qu Ning closed the door and produced the dice from her hand.
Qu Zhimu looked at the dice in Qu Ning’s palm. She had been thinking about Zhao Jiayu, but the next moment, she broke into a grin.
The Liang household had fruit wine for the children. Several little ones shut the door and, mimicking the adults, began rolling dice in the room.
By the time the adults outside had drunk their fill, they noticed the moon had already begun to sink westward.
The night was beautiful, and someone recalled the old days of their ensemble performance. This courtyard was quiet enough not to disturb the main courtyard. Among their group, three women’s dancing was the most unforgettable.
Zhao Jiayu had someone bring out instruments to play. She arranged for Lin Xizhao, Cheng Xi, and Jin Mingyi to dance, while Qu Sheng, Xiao Bingying, and Zhu Ming’an would perform a sword dance to accompany them.
After all her arranging, Xiao Bingying laughed and asked, “We all have something to do. What are you doing?”
Zhao Jiayu grinned. “Me? Naturally, I’ll be enjoying it with the children.” She started looking for the children, but glanced around and saw no sign of them. “Where are they?”
Lin Xizhao replied, “They went back inside a while ago. They should be at Ning’er’s room by now.”
Xiao Bingying had gone to check earlier — the children were all sitting inside, chatting. Zhao Jiayu heard this and turned with a smile toward Qu Ning’s room.
But the moment she went in, she came flying back out in a panic, clutching Zhu Qianjie in her arms.
Qu Sheng and the others saw Zhao Jiayu’s flustered state. Before she could even speak, they all rushed toward Qu Ning’s room.
Inside, two children were slumped over the table. Qu Zhimu had toppled onto the carpet beside it, and when they entered, she smacked her lips once.
Qu Sheng and Xiao Bingying hurried to help the children up. Cheng Xi went to check Qu Zhimu’s pulse. Qu Sheng picked up the wine jar and cups from the table and sniffed them. “It’s fruit wine.”
Cheng Xi saw the flush on Qu Zhimu’s cheeks and confirmed the diagnosis — the child was simply drunk. “Just drunk. It’s all fruit wine. Nothing serious.”
Cheng Xi and Xiao Bingying checked each child’s pulse in turn, and finally let out a breath of relief.
The children were carried to the bed. Zhu Qianjie, seeing how tense the adults were, clung to Zhu Ming’an’s neck and didn’t dare speak.
Jin Mingyi looked over and asked, “Jie’er, why didn’t you drink?”
Zhu Qianjie turned at the sound of her mother’s voice and replied in her soft little voice, “Mu-jiejie said I was too little and shouldn’t drink. She only let me have sweet soup.”
Everyone looked at the table — there was indeed a bowl of sweet soup.
“At least she has a conscience,” Zhao Jiayu said, her heart still pounding.
A little fruit wine wouldn’t hurt the children — the problem was that they had managed to get themselves completely drunk.
The three little ones were laid out on one bed. Cheng Xi prepared a hangover remedy soup and brewed an extra batch for Qu Sheng and the others as well.
They each fed their children the remedy. Worried that the children’s intoxication might last too long and harm their heads, Cheng Xi administered acupuncture.
Qu Sheng looked at the two spots of red on Qu Ning’s flushed cheeks and quietly closed her hand around the dice she had picked up from the table.
“You should all go rest. I’ll handle things here,” Cheng Xi said, turning to look at everyone after finishing the acupuncture.
It was already very late, well past the children’s bedtime. Even without the wine, they likely wouldn’t wake up tonight.
Lin Xizhao and the others still felt uneasy. By now, Zhu Qianjie had fallen asleep in Zhu Ming’an’s arms. Lin Xizhao said to Jin Mingyi, “You should go back and rest. The journey was exhausting to begin with, and the children are fine now. They’ll be back to normal by morning.”
Zhu Ming’an looked at everyone, then down at the child in her arms, and nodded. “All right, we’ll head back first. If you need any help, come find us.”
Everyone nodded. Zhu Ming’an took one more glance at the little girls sleeping soundly on the bed, then took Jin Mingyi by the hand and left.
Early the next morning.
Qu Ning was the first to wake. When she opened her eyes and saw the bed curtains, she sat bolt upright in alarm. She clearly remembered playing dice and drinking fruit wine with the others last night — how had she suddenly ended up in bed?
But as her vision cleared, she saw her mother sitting by the table, holding Lin Xizhao nestled against her chest.
Xiao Bingying and Cheng Xi hadn’t left either.
Qu Ning was about to call out to them, but then realized there were others beside her. Zhao Ningying lay next to her, stirred by her movement and slowly opening her eyes. Qu Zhimu was shaken awake by them.
“Mmm… stop it…” Qu Zhimu didn’t want to wake up. She batted Zhao Ningying’s hand aside without any real force.
Shaken awake, Qu Zhimu half-opened her eyes, still groggy. The moment she woke, she was seized by a burning thirst. She climbed off the bed to find water — but hadn’t gone more than a few steps before she toppled straight to the floor.
At the same time, Zhao Jiayu’s cry of pain rang out — mother and daughter had crashed into each other.
Qu Sheng and the others woke to the commotion and saw Zhao Jiayu, who had been sleeping on a floor mat, pinned under Qu Zhimu. They hurried over and lifted Qu Zhimu up.
By now Qu Zhimu was fully awake. Seeing Zhao Jiayu wrapped in a blanket beside her, she furrowed her little brow and asked, “Mother, why are you in my room?”
Zhao Jiayu was still half-asleep herself. She looked around in confusion at her daughter’s question.
Lin Xizhao saw that mother and daughter were both equally muddled and laughed in helpless amusement. “This is Ning’er’s room. You all got drunk last night.”
Qu Zhimu froze for a moment, then turned to look at the two little ones still on the bed.
Qu Ning and Zhao Ningying, under the gaze of several adults, drooped their eyes.
Zhao Jiayu got up to make room, and Cheng Xi and Xiao Bingying went over to check the two girls’ pulses.
The author has something to say:
Zhao Jiayu: “No wonder they say, dragons breed dragons, phoenixes breed phoenixes, and a mouse’s son is born knowing how to dig holes!”
Qu Zhimu: “Then you can’t blame me. I’m just taking after my roots — I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Zhao Jiayu: “!!!”
Over on the next novel, 《Raising Her to Be a Wife》 the ranking issue — roughly one update every three days.
It’s still because my bookmarks aren’t enough, boohoohoo…
0 Comments