Spring House 032 A Child's Heart (Second Update Seeking Adoption)

  Ning Yi Fei Yang's eyebrows hooked and lips curled, snatching the jade cup from his hand, tossing it into the washing basin, the bamboo clip holding the thin cup wall, in the scalding hot water for a quick rinse, clipped and placed on the tea table, "The Crown Prince personally brews tea, how could Ning not seize the opportunity."

  "That's my cup, don't take it without asking, you rascal." Ling Feng slanted her eyes.

  "Who made this pair of mandarin ducks jade cups only one pair. I can only take what others love." Ning Yifei chuckled to himself.

  Ling Chao Huan smiled, poured the tea up and down, the fragrance of tea filled the air, the jade cup was half full. "Let you drink your fill, as long as Ling Feng Huang doesn't mind his precious tea leaves."

  Ling Feng smiled deeply, as if with a hint of promise, and a touch of arrogance. "I've said it before, don't call me 'imperial uncle', you're making me old! She said the tea leaves are enough, you can all drink to your heart's content."

  The three of them burst out laughing.

  The three were of similar age, with Ling Chao Hua being four years older than Ling Feng, but in terms of generation, Ling Feng was still the uncle of Ling Chao Hua.

  Ning Yifei half-closed his eyes and smiled at Ling Feng, "Hey, I'm telling you, little brother, if you impersonate my brother, aren't you afraid that she'll mistake him for someone else in the future and give the tea to the wrong person?"

  "It's just lending a helping hand, what's wrong with that?" Ling Feng smiled and picked up his cup.

  "Is it just a coincidence? You've been holding onto that bamboo tube and caressing your shadow for quite some time, what's the meaning of this? I think you're not interested in the wine, but rather the person who carved it."

  "Nonsense! She's only 8 years old!" Ling Feng's face turned slightly red as she punched Ning Yifei in the chest.

  "Ah yo, look, Ling Feng, you also have a time when your face turns red. What did I say?" Ning Yi Fei made a gesture of rubbing his chest, and then clapped his hands in laughter.

  Ling Chao looked at Ling Feng with a slightly embarrassed expression, and also smiled. "How old are you again? She's 8 years old, you're 14, I think it's just right. Otherwise, I'll let the Emperor issue an imperial decree to arrange your marriage, occupy her first and talk about it later? Such intelligent and exceptional girls are rare."

  "That's right, that's good. It's better to get it over with early and avoid going back and forth between Ning Manor every day, making my mother ask all day which noble family's daughter is writing to you and how you know her."

  Ling Feng suppressed a smile and said seriously, "No way, if she misunderstands that I intentionally deceived her, hurting...". He coughed once, "...her innocence." This remark made him feel quite embarrassed.

  "Hmph... " Ning Yifei almost spat out his tea, and couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Hehehe, innocence? I wonder who it was that risked violating the rules to deliver the exam papers, sending a high-ranking official from the imperial court to personally investigate her case."

  Ling Chao also couldn't help but laugh and shake his head, "You'd better not tease Ling Feng, don't look at the majestic young general being fierce like a wolf on the battlefield, he's never been so considerate of girls before."

  "Yes, yes, yes. Every time my aunt returns to Ning Fu, she sighs and says that Ling Feng doesn't know what's good for him. He looks down on every girl from a good family. Is he waiting for the 4th Miss of Qin Fu to grow up slowly from 8 years old?"

  "Ning Yifei, you dare to spout nonsense again! Next time we have a duel, I'll definitely break both your arms and make it so you can't be so carefree in the Rouge Flower Alley!" Ling Feng glared, shaking her fist.

  Ning Yifei pretended to be very afraid and shrugged his shoulders, "Okay, I'm scared."

  "Hey, your Xingyun was able to write letters at the age of 8? Is he a prodigy?"

  Ling Feng punched Ning Yifei's chest with one fist. "What's with 'my family', are you looking for a beating by spouting nonsense?"

  Ning Yifei burst out laughing and patted his chest.

  Ling Chao Huan smiled as she watched them laugh and play, "Girls usually don't understand until they're 7 or 8 years old. Being able to write letters at the age of 8 is indeed extremely intelligent."

  Ling Feng was somewhat proud, and handed over a pale yellow Xuan paper with a faint fragrance, "She's not just literate."

  Ling Chao Hua took it over, raised an eyebrow, and on the letter was only a few simple words, but they were elegant and well-structured. She sincerely praised, "This small script is in the style of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, calm and serene, with a balance of strength and gentleness. To recognize people by their handwriting, to have such elegance at the age of 8 is truly remarkable."

  Ling Feng smiled and nodded, "If it weren't for this, I wouldn't be curious."

  Ning Yi Fei curiously took a look and raised an eyebrow in surprise, "I'm also curious what kind of little girl this is."

  Ling Feng snatched over a letter, carefully folded it and said, "Drink your tea."

  Ning Yifei seriously came over, solemnly held up his cup, tasted the tea, drank it all, and frowned.

  Ling Chao's smile faded, and she looked at him with a profound gaze, "What, have you figured something out?"

  The fashion of good tea among the nobles has been popular since the previous emperor, and now among the young men in the imperial family, Ning Yifei and Crown Prince Ling Chaohuang have the highest attainments in tea. However, Ling Feng is a free-spirited person who doesn't pay much attention to these things.

  Ning Yifei hummed with a cold smile, "The best tea is not something that can only be found in the palace, right? It seems that from now on, if I want to drink tea or compete in tea-making, I'll have to move to Ling Feng's place. The ones in the palace are all just tea dregs."

  Ling Feng's sword-like eyebrows slightly furrowed, "You say that the tea in the palace is far inferior to this tea?"

  "The difference is as vast as the distance between heaven and earth." Ning Yifei picked up a cup, slowly drank it empty, put down the jade cup, looked at Ling Chao Hua, "Gong Guo Gong has been in charge of the imperial court's affairs for many years, his own wealth accumulated over the years is estimated to exceed the national treasury."

  Ling Chao didn't say a word, poured out the tea dregs and put them in a Han white jade tea pot.

  Refilled the tea, re-washed and re-brewed...

  "I'm telling you, Your Highness, you're still so calm and composed, but Second Brother's momentum has been much stronger than yours lately. The ambition of the Marquis of Chu is already well-known to everyone, not to mention that his Divine Might Army has been recruiting new soldiers all along." Ning Yifei straightened up and said seriously.

  Ling Feng's thin lips curled up, and he said in a cold voice, "What does that have to do with anything? The Crown Prince has you, Ning Jia Rong, the old Duke of Guang, in charge of the Imperial Secretariat, and our Ruiqin Wangfu's 300,000-strong Divine Strategy Army. Could it be that the Chu family dares to support the second son in usurping the throne? If not...” He glanced at Ling Chao Hua, “There are also the 50,000 fierce Shu soldiers under the command of the old lady of Shuzhou, each one capable of taking on ten opponents.”

  "Stop worrying, all of you. Even if the Chu family is bold, they would still need to take down one by one before they can rise to power. With the current situation, it's impossible for them to do so in just a decade or two. Now that war is ongoing, the God-Strategy Army led by Prince Rui is the most trusted force of Father Emperor. The Chu family doesn't have such great abilities yet. You'd better worry about the northern battle instead, Father Emperor should listen to Duke Xun's words and send the western God-Strategy Army north to resist the enemy." She poured a cup of tea and looked at Feng with her phoenix-like eyes.

  "According to the Ministry of War, the northern Tujue wants to unite with various tribes and surround our border with a large army of 100,000. The situation seems very serious. That cunning old man, the Duke of Yun, is letting the commander of the Divine Might Army pretend to be ill at this time, with malicious intentions!" Ning Yifei said indignantly.

  Ling Feng's eyes shone like stars, and he smiled brightly, saying, "Just right, come however many you want, kill however many you want, let's have a good fight!"

  "The Turks and the Tubo kingdom in the west are not the same, they are barbarian tribes that have been fighting for years. The west has not been completely pacified, the last battle the Imperial Guards lost 50,000 men, and have yet to recover, if we go north again now, I am worried." Ling Chao Hua slightly furrowed his brow.

  "Isn't this what Duke Xun and Duke Wei have been hoping for?" Ling Feng smiled.

  "They would have liked nothing more than for the entire Divine Strategy Army to be annihilated, and then the Divine Might Army under General Xun's command could reign supreme!" Ning Yifei said coldly.

  "It's hard to defy the imperial edict, let alone the fact that the Divine Strategy Army only has 200,000 troops outside, while there are still over a million in Shengjing under my father's control. Can he really destroy it just because he wants to?" Ling Feng's eyes sank slightly.

  "How is Prince Rui's body?"

  Ling Feng saw the Crown Prince ask, a hint of gloom flashed across his eyes, and then he smiled and said, "My father the King is fine, Your Highness can rest assured."