Sheng Residence was very quiet.

Yun Chu looked at the account books for a while, but felt it was too quiet.

She frowned: “How long has Yu Brother been out?”

Tingshuang was also startled. She had been so focused on assisting Madam with business matters that only now did she realize the Young Lord had been gone to relieve himself for far too long.

At that moment, Tingxue came in drenched in sweat: “Madam, the Young Lord has disappeared. This servant searched all around Sheng Residence but couldn’t find him…”

Yun Chu’s heart tightened. She stood up abruptly, then calmed herself down: “First go to the front courtyard and see if Amao is still there.”

That child had come secretly when he arrived. Perhaps he had also taken the opportunity to leave secretly.

Amao was temporarily staying in a side room in the front courtyard under the identity of Tingshuang’s distant cousin. Tingxue hurried over and returned with a pale face: “Amao is still there.”

Meaning the Young Lord hadn’t left the Xie Manor, but they just didn’t know where he had gone.

“It’s all this servant’s fault!” Tingxue knelt down. “Please punish this servant, Madam.”

Tingshuang spoke up: “Now is not the time to punish people. Quickly think carefully about exactly where you lost the Young Lord.”

“When the Young Lord was using the privy, I stood guard at the door. After waiting a long time without seeing the Young Lord come out, I went in to look and discovered the window was open. The Young Lord must have climbed out through the window.” Tingxue was so anxious she was nearly crying. “The small path outside the window leads to the Xie Family’s rear garden. This servant quietly searched around but didn’t see the Young Lord’s figure.”

Yun Chu’s heart sank a bit. There was also a small lake in the rear garden. If the child had fallen into the lake…

Just thinking about this possibility made her heart suddenly constrict.

She steadied herself and said, “Tingshuang, find any excuse and clear everyone out of the garden.”

Tingshuang received the order and left.

Yun Chu led her dowry maids and old servants to the garden. The Xie Family’s rear courtyard wasn’t large, and the garden was even smaller. One artificial lake, one artificial mountain—the original flowers and plants had all been replaced with jujube trees. One could see the entire garden at a glance, but the lake had grown many water plants and water lilies, so the situation couldn’t be clearly seen at once.

Tingxue’s whole body trembled.

If the Young Lord had drowned in the lake, her lowly life couldn’t possibly compensate for it. She would definitely implicate Madam…

She tied up her skirt hem and was about to enter the water when a voice suddenly came from behind her.

“Sister Tingxue, why are you going into the water? Are you catching fish?”

Yun Chu whirled around.

She saw Chu Hongyu, dressed in brocade, actually climbing out from inside a large tree trunk. For some reason, that tree trunk was hollow inside. Hiding a child was completely not a problem, no wonder they couldn’t find him no matter how they searched.

However anxious and frightened Yun Chu had been moments ago was how angry she was now.

She suppressed her anger and said, “What were you doing hiding here? Do you know how long we’ve been looking for you? Do you know how worried we were?”

“I didn’t let anyone discover me. I only climbed out of the tree hollow after I saw there was no one else in the garden.” Chu Hongyu tugged at her sleeve and shook it. “Mother-dear, please don’t be angry anymore, okay? I know I was wrong. I’ll never sneak off alone again…”

Yun Chu took his little hand and led him back to Sheng Residence. She handed everything over to Tingshuang to handle and personally took the child to read.

“You don’t recognize this character? You don’t recognize this one either?” Yun Chu’s face cracked. “You’re four years old. Your father-king hasn’t had you start your education yet?”

Chu Hongyu wore a bitter little face: “I-I started, but I don’t understand what the tutor lectures about. I can’t learn it… Mother-dear, if you teach me, I’ll definitely be able to learn.”

How could Yun Chu not see that this little fellow had neglected his studies because of playfulness?

But he was only a four-year-old child. With no one at home to discipline and guide him, being somewhat playful was quite normal.

However, if he was too playful and couldn’t keep up with his studies, lacking knowledge and not understanding principles, he would suffer great losses when he grew up.

“Yu Brother, why do we read books? Because books contain many great principles. The more books we read, the more principles we understand,” Yun Chu said gently. “Before learning to read books, we must first recognize characters. Recognizing characters actually isn’t a boring matter. Look at this ‘chu’ character—the ‘chu’ in ‘human beginning,’ and also the ‘chu’ in my name. It’s written like this…”

She held the little fellow’s hand and wrote stroke by stroke on the paper.

Chu Hongyu began learning earnestly.

Characters that had been so difficult before—after teaching for less than half a quarter-hour, he actually recognized them all and had even learned how to write them.

“Mother-dear, you’re so amazing!”

Yun Chu smiled: “It’s because you yourself are very clever. Remember the feeling of recognizing characters now. Follow this feeling in the future.”

Chu Hongyu nodded vigorously.

Looking at Yun Chu’s gentle smile, the little fellow suddenly felt sad.

When he was hiding in that tree hollow, many Xie Family servants had passed by the tree in groups. He had heard many secrets about Mother-dear.

So Mother-dear had previously given birth to two children, but those two children had died as soon as they were born, and Mother-dear had been ill for a very long time because of this.

So Mother-dear and that Xie something-or-other Yu had a very poor relationship. That man never spent the night at Mother-dear’s place. The Xie Manor servants all felt sympathy for Mother-dear.

So those children who called Mother-dear “Mother” were not Mother-dear’s children at all…

So Mother-dear’s days were very difficult…

Yet Mother-dear smiled so gently, as if she had no worries at all.

“Madam, a young servant inquired around outside the city and heard that Prince Pingxi’s bandit suppression was successful,” Tingfeng came in to report. “Last night Prince Pingxi led people to capture alive over a hundred mountain bandits. Some fled upon hearing the news, and Prince Pingxi is in hot pursuit. He should return to the capital the day after tomorrow.”

“Those mountain bandits are too pathetic,” Chu Hongyu frowned. “How could they have no ability to resist at all and be captured alive by my father-king so easily!”

“Yu Brother, it’s not that the mountain bandits are too pathetic, but that your father-king is too formidable,” Yun Chu looked at him and said. “The longer these mountain bandits exist, the more countless common people’s lives are threatened. Your father-king taking down the mountain bandits in one day—this accords with the people’s hearts.”

Chu Hongyu nodded with half-understanding. He pressed his lips together: “Then I have to go back the day after tomorrow.”

Yun Chu touched his head: “While your father-king is outside suppressing bandits, you should study well. When your father-king returns, you can recite the entire Three Character Classic to him. Your father-king will definitely be very happy.”

“Really?” A smile appeared on Chu Hongyu’s face. “Will Father-king praise me?”

Yun Chu nodded: “He should.”

The little fellow took the book and sat to the side, earnestly reciting. For characters he didn’t recognize, he would proactively come to inquire. If he didn’t understand the meaning of a sentence, he would also ask until he understood before continuing to memorize.

Tingshuang said softly, “The Young Lord is so well-behaved. Why do outsiders all say the Young Lord is terribly unruly?”

Yun Chu said, “A child is a blank sheet of paper. Whatever adults write on it is what it becomes. Prince Pingxi is a stern person, and there’s no princess consort in the household to provide guidance, so naturally the Young Lord is somewhat willful and rebellious.”

For the next half day, Chu Hongyu earnestly memorized his lessons.

In the evening, Tingxue had people carry in a very large screen embroidered all over with various styles of the character for “longevity.”

“Oh, the characters on this are so ugly,” Chu Hongyu glanced at it with a face full of disdain. “Who sent this screen to Mother-dear? There’s not a bit of sincerity.”

Yun Chu laughed with a snort: “This is a birthday gift Mother-dear is using to give to someone.”

This child kept saying “Mother-dear” with every breath, and Yun Chu had unconsciously started referring to herself as Mother-dear too.