As Chen Xiufu and Lei Tengfeng exited the main gate, two figures emerged from the corridor intersection. One wore snow-white robes, the other dressed in fiery red. Feng Zhiyao frowned as he gazed at where the two had been standing and asked, “Will there be any issues with His Highness entrusting the Western Ling matter to Master Xiuting?” It wasn’t that he doubted Chen Xiufu’s loyalty to Prince Ding’s manor, but rather that Chen Xiufu was originally from Western Ling. Giving him this task was inherently more complicated than assigning it to a regular subordinate of Prince Ding’s household. It might put Chen Xiufu in an awkward position.
Xu Qingchen slightly shook his head and said calmly, “With Master Xiuting’s capabilities, handling such a matter is certainly within his ability, and his character is trustworthy. That’s why Prince Ding entrusted this matter to him. Once he manages this well, his position as Left Prime Minister will be secure, and no one will be able to say anything against it.”
Feng Zhiyao nodded. When it came to reading people’s hearts, he was far inferior to Mo Xiuyao and Xu Qingchen. Since these two felt there was no problem, then there truly wasn’t one. “The birthday ceremony is about to begin, yet these two parents are nowhere to be seen. Let’s go remind them, lest we keep the guests waiting.”
Xu Qingchen smiled faintly and said, “They’re in the study. I’ll go to the inner courtyard to bring Lin’er and Xin’er out. Please trouble Third Young Master Feng with notifying them.” Feng Zhiyao watched as Young Master Qingchen gracefully departed, then shrugged and turned toward the study.
The first birthday ceremony at Prince Ding’s manor was scheduled for after the noon meal. Guests could watch the two young princes and the princess select their objects, rest briefly, and then directly participate in the evening banquet. For one-year-old children, the evening banquet wasn’t particularly important—it was mainly for the adults. The object-picking ceremony was what mattered most.
In the inner courtyard, Hua Tianxiang and others surrounded the two babies. Worried they might become drowsy, everyone had coaxed them into taking a nap in the morning. When Xu Qingchen arrived, the babies had just awakened and were full of energy. The more active Lin’er especially was crawling everywhere, even trying to climb up and down. The young ladies and the wet nurse had to watch him constantly, fearing he might bump or hurt himself.
Xin’er was quieter, sitting obediently on the soft couch, watching her brother toddle about and crawl around while clapping her tiny hands and babbling happily. Hearing his sister’s calls, Lin’er became even more excited and active.
“Ya ya… Un…cle…” On the soft couch, Xin’er pointed at the doorway and called out happily. Everyone looked toward the door to see Xu Qingchen standing there, smiling at Xin’er. Mo Wuyou pinched Xin’er’s little face and smiled, “You clever little girl, already able to call uncle and recognize people.”
Xu Qingchen entered and bent down to pick up Xin’er, smiling, “Xin’er, are you calling uncle?”
“Giggle giggle. Un…cle!” Xin’er adored her uncle, sitting in Xu Qingchen’s arms and giggling non-stop. Beside them, Lin’er looked at his sister, then at Xu Qingchen standing before him, and toddled over to tug at Xu Qingchen’s clothes, “Carry… Sister…”
Xu Qingchen looked at Xin’er in his arms, then at Lin’er pulling at his clothes and gazing up expectantly, his expression stiffening slightly. Seeing the elegant and otherworldly Young Master Qingchen holding one child while another tugged at his clothes, everyone found the scene rather amusing. Young Master Qingchen and holding children seemed completely at odds with each other.
Mo Wuyou leaned on Hua Tianxiang’s shoulder, covering her mouth to stifle her laughter.
Xu Qingchen looked somewhat helplessly at the two little ones before him. Though Young Master Qingchen was famous throughout the land, he wasn’t very good with children. For instance, the Xu family’s Xu Zhirui and the little genius Cold Jun Han didn’t particularly like being close to Xu Qingchen. But clearly, the children of Prince Ding’s manor all greatly liked this uncle.
Helplessly, Xu Qingchen had to put Xin’er down and crouch down to embrace both excited little ones in his arms, smiling as he comforted them.
“Big Brother, you’re here too?” At the doorway, Ye Li smiled at everyone. Behind him, Mo Xiuyao glanced at the two children frolicking in Xu Qingchen’s arms, stepped forward, and reached out to Xin’er, “Xin’er.”
Xin’er blinked her bright eyes and gave Mo Xiuyao a pure smile, “Father… carry… Mother…” Mo Xiuyao proudly took his daughter in his arms. Lin’er leaned against Xu Qingchen’s embrace, blinked at Mo Xiuyao, pouted sadly, and turned around to face his bottom toward Mo Xiuyao. Young children, especially those always together, tend to want to do whatever the other does. Lin’er may not have truly wanted Mo Xiuyao to hold him, but seeing Mo Xiuyao only hold his sister and ignore him still made him unhappy.
Mo Xiuyao bent down and lifted Lin’er from Xu Qingchen’s arms, laughing, “You little rascal, so young and already jealous of your sister?” Being held up by his clothes, Lin’er didn’t feel uncomfortable but rather found it fun, wiggling his little body and giggling. Mo Xiuyao always held his daughter gently and lovingly but wasn’t so careful with boys. Even Mo Xiaobao was carried around the same way when he was little. Ye Li stepped forward to take Lin’er from his hands, giving him a reproachful glance before smiling at Xu Qingchen, “Big Brother has free time now, to come here?”
Xu Qingchen gave Mo Xiuyao an exasperated look and said, “How could I be as free as you two? Outside, Father, Second Uncle, and Manager Mo are watching things. I came in to rest a bit. Also, it’s almost time, so I came to see if Lin’er and Xin’er were ready.”
Mo Xiuyao was unconcerned, “What do they need to prepare for?” Isn’t the object-picking ceremony just putting them at a table full of items and letting them grab whatever they want?
Xu Qingchen smiled without speaking and sat down to one side, looking around the room and asking, “Weren’t Xiaobao and the others here?”
Hua Tianxiang said, “They just said the inner courtyard was boring and wanted to go out to see the excitement.”
Xu Qingchen frowned slightly and nodded, “Tell them to be careful, there are quite a few people today.”
Mo Xiuyao smiled, “We’ve sent people to watch them, they’ll be fine.”
Soon, the auspicious time for the object-picking ceremony arrived. The ceremony was set in the main hall of Prince Ding’s front courtyard. When Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li arrived carrying the two babies, the hall was already full of guests. Lei Tengfeng, Mo Jingyu, Yelü Hong, and envoys from various countries were all present. Even Pu’a, who was recently injured and pale with worry about Princess Anxi and the young prince’s safety, was there. The civil and military officials of Prince Ding’s manor who were of sufficient rank and in Lichieng were all present, with the white-haired Master Qingyun sitting in the place of honor.
Seeing Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao arrive together, everyone quickly rose to pay their respects.
“Grandfather.” Ye Li approached Master Qingyun with a gentle smile. Master Qingyun smiled and took Lin’er from her arms, saying, “It’s been a month since I’ve seen them, these children have grown a bit.” Ye Li nodded and smiled, “Children grow quickly, before long they’ll be running everywhere. Lin’er, call Great-grandfather.”
Though Lin’er was still small, he was very clever. Having seen Master Qingyun plenty over the past year, he naturally recognized this white-bearded elderly man. He happily grabbed Master Qingyun’s snow-white beard and called out, “Great-grandfather…”
Master Qingyun’s wrinkled face broke into a kindly smile, “Good child, Lin’er is well-behaved…”
“Great-grandfather!” Xin’er in Mo Xiuyao’s arms also called out, not to be outdone.
Master Qingyun’s smile deepened. Girls were quite rare in both the Xu family and Prince Ding’s manor, so they were naturally more cherished. Master Qingyun nodded repeatedly and said, “Good children, both Lin’er and Xin’er have grown well.” Master Qingyun took out a pair of jade pendants and gave one each to Lin’er and Xin’er.
Ye Li looked down and saw they were a pair of qilin and phoenix jade pendants. The jade was of the finest mutton-fat white jade, pure white and lustrous without a trace of impurity. The carving was extremely exquisite, and Ye Li found it somewhat familiar. She remembered having a similar jade pendant, though hers was green jade carved with magnolia flowers. It was given by her grandfather when she was born and is said to have been carved by him. The world knew Master Qingyun for his supreme talents, but few knew he was also skilled in many other arts. Even in carving, an art most scholars weren’t particularly interested in, he could be called a master. These two jade pendants were carved by Master Qingyun himself. Master Qingyun was now over eighty years old, and carving such delicate jade pendants must have been especially difficult. Ye Li’s eyes reddened slightly as she looked at Master Qingyun and said softly, “Grandfather, Lin’er, and Xin’er are still young, you needn’t have…”
Master Qingyun shook his head, playing with Lin’er in his arms while saying, “It’s not good for young children to wear antique jade. This jade is fine, perfect for making pendants for the children, what’s wrong with that?”
Xin’er was still in Mo Xiuyao’s arms, waving one hand and holding the jade pendant excitedly toward Master Qingyun, “Grandfather… Great-grandfather… Xin’er wants a hug…” As she spoke, she kicked her little legs wanting to go to Master Qingyun. Mo Xiuyao had no choice but to put her in Master Qingyun’s seat as well. Fortunately, the seat was very wide, and because of Master Qingyun’s advanced age, it was specially padded with thick cushions, so there was no worry about her getting hurt.
Seeing his great-granddaughter so affectionate toward him, even someone like Master Qingyun couldn’t help but break into a broad smile.
The crowd seated below, watching this family, couldn’t help but feel deeply moved. Whether it was Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao or the Xu family, they were all extremely pleasing to the eye. Now with so many of them standing together around Master Qingyun, talking and laughing harmoniously, it made people feel that heaven truly showed favoritism. Looking at the two delicate children sitting beside Master Qingyun, everyone couldn’t help but show expressions of both envy and admiration.
Standing beside Master Qingyun, when Ye Li looked down, she suddenly started. She saw Ye Wenhua standing alone in an inconspicuous corner not far from the hall, looking at her—or rather at Lin’er who was constantly babbling while holding her hand—with a complex, indiscernible expression. Since coming to Lichieng, Ye Wenhua had rarely gone out or seen outsiders, so not many people knew him.
Seeing Ye Li’s startled expression, Mo Xiuyao followed her gaze and also saw Ye Wenhua. Gently embracing Ye Li, Mo Xiuyao said softly, “A’Li, if you have something to say to him, go ahead.” Regarding Ye Wenhua, Mo Xiuyao didn’t have strong feelings either way. His greatest displeasure was over the hardships Ye Li had suffered in the Ye family. Though it couldn’t be said to be entirely Ye Wenhua’s fault, at the very least, as a father, he hadn’t treated Ye Li, his only legitimate daughter, very well. These past few years, Ye Wenhua had behaved himself in Lichieng, not harboring any delusions due to his status as the Princess Consort’s father, so Mo Xiuyao’s attitude toward him had improved somewhat. During festivals and holidays, he would occasionally have gifts sent to the Ye family. After all, no matter how close Ye Li was to the Xu family, she still bore the surname Ye. Compared to having Princess Consort’s natal family destitute and unable to make ends meet, spending some money to let Ye Wenhua live out his later years in comfort was better for Ye Li’s reputation. Of course, all this was predicated on Ye Wenhua knowing his place and maintaining proper boundaries.
Ye Li sighed slightly and nodded.
Regarding her father Ye Wenhua, she truly had no particular feelings, neither love nor hate—she only felt some regret for her mother. Ye Li’s impression of Ye Wenhua was even less significant than that of her parents from her previous life, though that was already more than twenty years ago. Even though her previous life’s parents had also been busy, and she hadn’t spent much time with them in childhood, rarely seeing them once a year after entering military school and enlisting, they still left a far deeper impression and emotional connection than Ye Wenhua had.
“Father.” In the quiet side hall, Ye Li calmly looked at the now somewhat aged Ye Wenhua before her. Ye Wenhua was only in his early fifties, but his temples were already full of white hair. Wearing an unremarkable scholar’s robe, he looked more like a scholar now than he had in Chu Capital over a decade ago. In just over a year of not seeing him, Ye Wenhua had aged considerably. Indeed, over the past year, with the successive deaths of Ye Yue and Ye Ying—both daughters he had cherished—he couldn’t help but be heartbroken.
“Li… Li’er…” Seeing Ye Li enter, Ye Wenhua’s expression became somewhat embarrassed. His once unremarkable legitimate daughter, the daughter he had resented, the daughter he had tried to forget, had grown into a legendary figure admired throughout the world without relying on him as a father. Actually… as a father, he had never been able to help much anyway. Ye Wenhua smiled bitterly.
“Please sit, Father.” Ye Li said softly. Speaking of which, Prince Ding’s subordinates had been somewhat thoughtless this time, forgetting to send invitations to the Ye family for Lin’er and Xin’er’s first birthday celebration. Of course, this was largely due to Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao’s attitude. Ye Wenhua nodded and sat down, and immediately a maid came to serve tea before withdrawing.
After drinking tea in silence for a while, Ye Li finally asked, “It’s been a long time. Has Father been well?”
“Well, all is well. Your grandmother is also well.” Ye Wenhua nodded. Ye Li smiled faintly—if she had no feelings toward Ye Wenhua, she had even less toward Old Madam Ye. At least Ye Wenhua had shown her some affection when she was young, and occasionally helped her after her mother’s death, but Old Madam Ye had disliked her mother even while she was alive, and had never looked at her with anything but calculation and indifference.
Ye Wenhua also understood Ye Li’s lack of interest in this topic. He took out a wooden box from his sleeve, placed it on the table, and said, “Today is the children’s birthday. This… this is my gift for them.”
Ye Li took the box from Qin Feng’s hands and opened it, looking at Ye Wenhua in surprise. In the somewhat old rosewood carved box lay a piece of warm jade and a pair of jade bells. She had seen the warm jade before—it was said to be a Ye family heirloom, indeed a precious piece of exceptional quality. Old Madam Ye had once shown it off, claiming the Ye family’s ancestors had been a prestigious clan. Later, when Wang Shi gave birth to Ye Rong and wanted the jade, Ye Wenhua hadn’t given it to her. Though she hadn’t seen the jade bells before, their value was certainly no less than the warm jade. The exquisitely carved bells made of snow-white mutton-fat jade had intricate openwork patterns with one or two jade beads inside, making a pleasant tinkling sound when shaken.
“This is too precious…” Ye Li said. The Ye family was no longer the same Ye family from Chu Capital, and the family’s resources had never been abundant. These two gifts Ye Wenhua was giving probably cost more than all of the Ye family’s current assets combined.
Ye Wenhua waved his hand, refusing the box Qin Feng tried to return, “These are the only two things I have left that are presentable. Given to the children, they can at least serve as playthings. Left in the Ye family, who knows when they might disappear. Besides… these jade bells were your mother’s belongings, let them be Xin’er’s toys.”
Seeing Ye Wenhua’s insistence, Ye Li had no choice but to accept them and said softly, “I thank Father on behalf of the children.” Ye Wenhua shook his head without speaking.
After thinking for a moment, Ye Li asked, “How is Xunyun?” The last time Xu Qingchen returned from Jiangnan, he had brought Mo Xunyun back. However, Mo Xunyun was physically weak and timid. Neither Prince Ding’s manor nor the Xu family had anyone specifically to care for him. Previously, Ye Li had discussed with Xu Qingchen about sending the child to the Ye family.
Ye Wenhua sighed and said, “He’s alright. He goes by Ye Xu now. That child has suffered much hardship and is truly very timid. Also, his health…” Mo Xunyun’s health had been so badly damaged that even when Shen Yang and Doctor Lin personally took his pulse, they both shook their heads, indicating they weren’t confident he would live past twenty. These past six months, Mo Wuyou had been visiting to examine him once every half month, but could only keep him stable without improvement. Mo Wuyou didn’t know that Mo Xunyun wasn’t Mo Jingqi’s son, so she was very sympathetic toward this pitiful half-brother.
Ye Li said, “If he needs any medicine for his health, feel free to have Wuyou come to Prince Ding’s manor to get it.”
Ye Wenhua nodded, and father and daughter suddenly found themselves without words. After a long while, Ye Wenhua finally said softly, “Li’er, about Ying’er’s funeral…” Ye Li lowered her eyes and said quietly, “Fourth Sister didn’t want to leave Prince Li’s manor. After her death, Prince Li gave her a grand burial befitting a princess consort.” Ye Wenhua let out a long sigh and said, “That’s good… that’s good…” In the first half of his life, he had desperately pursued fame and fortune but ended up failing to properly raise his only son. Among his daughters, except for one concubine-born daughter who lived an ordinary life, only Ye Li, his legitimate daughter, had found happiness. But even this happiness came after Ye Li had gone through so much. These years, though Ye Wenhua rarely left his house, he knew what he needed to know. The things Ye Li had experienced these years were difficult for not just ordinary women, but even most men to endure. As a father, he could feel nothing but pride.
Seeing Ye Wenhua looking so old and dejected, Ye Li couldn’t help but feel a bit sad. Sighing, she asked, “Father, do you remember Concubine Zhao?”
Ye Wenhua was startled, and after a while finally remembered this once-favored concubine. Concubine Zhao had indeed been quite favored for a time, otherwise, Wang Shi wouldn’t have seen her as a threat. But her status had been too low, and her time by Ye Wenhua’s side too brief. After more than a decade, Ye Wenhua’s impression of her had grown faint.
“She… didn’t she go to Yunzhou?” Ye Wenhua asked somewhat confusedly, not understanding why Ye Li would bring up this woman who hadn’t been heard from in over a decade.
Ye Li nodded and said, “Yes, but at that time… when she left, she was already three months pregnant.”
“What?!” Ye Wenhua couldn’t help but stand up in shock, only realizing his loss of composure after receiving Qin Feng’s warning glance. But the news about the child was too shocking for him, “Li- Li’er?”
Ye Li calmly nodded and said, “Yes, I knew about it back then. She came to me saying Madam Wang would harm her and the child, but I was about to marry into Prince Ding’s manor and had no time to help her. So I advised her to go to Yunzhou. The Xu family there could look after her somewhat.”
“Then… that child is…” Ye Wenhua asked carefully. Ye Rong had already thoroughly disappointed him. If that child was a boy, he would naturally be Ye Wenhua’s only hope. But if it was a girl… Ye Wenhua felt uneasy.
Ye Li lowered her eyes and said calmly, “It’s a boy, twelve years old now. When the child was born, Concubine Zhao wrote to me asking about the name, and I named him Ye Zi’an.”
“Zi’an… Zi’an is good… Li’er, thank you… I as a father have always…” Ye Wenhua looked at Ye Li with reddened eyes, full of guilt. Ye Li shook her head and said, “That child is now studying at Lishan Academy. Not long after the Xu family came to Lichieng, Concubine Zhao also sold her villa in Yunzhou and came to Lichieng. She now lives near the bottom of Lishan, having acquired some farmland there.”
“Thank you, Li’er.” Ye Wenhua didn’t know what else to say, could only repeat his thanks. Ye Li smiled gently and said calmly, “What is there to thank? He is also my brother. Father, if you have time, you can go see Concubine Zhao and Zi’an. I’ve also heard… Madam Wang has been causing more trouble these past two years.” Ye Wenhua started, hurriedly saying, “Don’t worry, I will keep them in check. I won’t let the Ye family damage your reputation outside.”
Ye Li silently shook her head, saying nothing more.