Chapter 23: Peach Blossom Festival

  "Offering greetings to the Crown Prince." Yongzheng and Yongxiang exchanged a glance before preparing to kneel down in respect.

  "We're family, no need for formalities. What's the point of this?" Yongzheng pretended to be warm and stopped the two from bowing, "Besides, Fourth Brother is still injured, he should rest as soon as possible."

  Yin Rong's sudden display of brotherly affection caused both Yin Zhen and Yin Xiang to furrow their brows subconsciously. What kind of person was Yin Rong, how could they not know? When had he ever truly considered the well-being of his own brothers? It seemed that today he had come with an ulterior motive.

  Yin Zhen and Yin Xiang furrowed their brows, Yin Ruo felt a little displeased in his heart. Although he had indeed come with a purpose, he had put aside his dignity to get along with them, but they didn't give him any face at all. Yin Ruo's dissatisfaction with Yin Zhen and Yin Xiang grew even more, but he still suppressed it, after all, this was not the right time to turn against them.

  "Thank you, Prince, for your concern. My brother is fine now. He just needs to drink the medicine for a few more days and he'll be completely fine." Yongzheng said with his usual cold face.

  "That's good, I'm relieved." Yongzheng nodded, and for a moment the atmosphere in the house was a bit awkward. No one spoke again, and Yongqi and Yongxiang didn't know what Yongzheng wanted to do. Since birth, Yongzheng had been made crown prince and had always been high above, cold and distant, and really didn't know how to put himself on an equal level with his two younger brothers.

  "What instructions does the Crown Prince have, please speak directly, my brother will definitely accomplish it." Finally, Yinxiang couldn't help but open his mouth. After taking the medicine, Fourth Brother was already very tired, but now that the Crown Prince is here, Fourth Brother obviously can't lie down and sleep well, and Yinxiang couldn't help but give a "get out" signal with his eyes.

  Noticing Yongxiang's gaze, Yongzhao's anger grew even more. "Actually, there was nothing to instruct, just came to see the fourth brother, fulfilling a big brother's responsibility, it seems I disturbed the fourth brother's rest." Yongzhao smiled self-mockingly and stood up, "I'll go back to my room to rest, fourth brother should also get some rest early."

  "Thank you, Prince." He watched as Yongzheng left, and then let out a sigh of relief. With Yongxiang's help, he lay down on his side, closed his eyes, and in a daze heard Yongxiang say, "Fourth brother, do you like that little girl from the Lin family?" In his haze, Yongzheng didn't know how he responded, but soon lost consciousness.

  Several days passed, and the assassin was not found. The atmosphere in Yangzhou should have been depressing, but as the annual Peach Blossom Festival approached, the atmosphere in Yangzhou gradually became lively.

  "Ah, Peach Blossom Festival... I remember the last time..." Kangxi opened his mouth but didn't continue. Just then, Lin Ruhai, who was playing chess with Kangxi, had a sudden tremble in his hand and the chess piece rolled onto the board, disrupting the original layout. "Your Majesty..."

  "It's just the two of us here, like the ocean." Kangxi interrupted Lin Ruhai's words, his thoughts had already wandered far away. The last time he went on a southern tour, it coincided with the Peach Blossom Festival. At that time, Jia Min was still there, and he and the three members of the Lin family admired the flowers together, which had its own charm. However, the scene is still there, but the people are no longer there. This is something he caused, whether intentionally or unintentionally, a great mistake has been made, and it can never be recovered. Just like his friendship with Ruhai, it's gone forever.

  "Is His Majesty going to Peach Blossom Festival again this time?" Lin Ruhai's face also showed a nostalgic expression.

  "Why not go? My brothers have been living in the capital for a long time and haven't seen such peach blossoms yet." Kangxi thought of those peach blossoms, and his heart had the spirit of his youth when he fought against Wu Sangui.

  "I suppose Jade also wants to go." Lin Ruhai thought of Daiyu secretly planning things behind his back in the past few days, and couldn't help but furrow his brow. Who knows what this child is thinking about? Sometimes she really has too much guts.

  Seeing Lin Ruhai furrowing his brow, Kangxi thought that Ruhai was worried about Daiyu's body. "Ruhai, you don't have to worry about Yuanyuan, her medical skills are so advanced..." As soon as he mentioned Daiyu's medical skills, Kangxi stopped, medical skills, neither Daiyu nor Lin Ruhai had explained it to him, but let him guess like that, and slowly took the guess as the truth. "Ruhai, what about Yuanyuan's medical skills?"

  "Your Majesty can rest assured, it has nothing to do with that person. As for where it came from, Yu'er never said, and I don't know very clearly either." Lin Ruhai explained vaguely, after all, he couldn't say that his daughter was a person from the future, learning in the future.

  "Since you said so, I believe you. Let's have someone arrange for us to go to the Peach Blossom Festival two days later." Kangxi didn't mention the doubts in his heart, he believed that Lin Ruhai wasn't deceiving him.

  "I understand." Although Kangxi changed his tone to refer to himself as "I", Lin Ruhai still addressed him with the honorific "your minister". Kangxi was momentarily at a loss, but also had no other choice.

  On the other side, in Daiyu's boudoir, Daiyu was practicing calligraphy. The ancient complex characters were really troublesome. Although she had Daiyu's memories, it would still take time to truly master them.

  "Miss, your words..." Xueyan looked at Daiyu with some disbelief.

  "What's wrong? Written very ugly?" Daiyu self-deprecatingly smiled, this calligraphy brush thing is really troublesome.

  "No, Miss is getting more and more like the old master." Xueyan looked at Daiyu with admiration in her eyes. Originally, Miss's handwriting was as elegant as a small jade, matching her personality perfectly. But now it has acquired the majestic aura of the old master.

  "Is it?" Daiyu stared at her own writing, carefully checking if it wasn't too ugly. Daiyu couldn't help but laugh, Xueyan on the side was stunned, Zijuan who had just entered was also stunned, and for a moment no one spoke.

  "What's going on? Why is the young lady staring blankly?" A mischievous voice rang out, and Xiang first pushed open the door to enter, followed closely by Yan. These past few days, using all sorts of excuses, these princes had almost come to report to Daiyu once every day.

  Feeling a strange aura, Daiyu's smiling face quickly disappeared and was replaced with an indifferent expression. Yongzheng couldn't help but feel some regret, that smile was beautiful, so beautiful it seemed like a dream, but also as fleeting as a dream, shattering at the slightest touch.

  Xiang also couldn't help but roll her eyes, what was wrong with this Dai Xin county mistress, why did she have to learn how to put on a cold face from her fourth brother every day, it really didn't match her lovely appearance.

  "What brings the Fourth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince here?" Daiyu walked around the desk to greet them, while Xueyan cleverly went to brew tea. Zijuan stood beside Daiyu to attend to her. These past few days had been like this, with tasks such as brewing tea completely avoided by Zijuan. At first, Zijuan was unwilling and mentioned it several times, but now she had thoroughly learned her lesson and didn't dare say anything, fearing that Daiyu would drive her away.

  "It's actually nothing, the Empress Dowager and Lord Lin have decided to go to the Peach Blossom Festival tomorrow, I wonder if the Princess will be going?" asked Yongzheng, looking at Daiyu.

  "It turned out to be this matter, Ama has already mentioned it to me, I will go, it's been two years since I saw the peach blossoms in Yangzhou, and I really miss them a bit." As Daiyu recalled the peach blossoms in her mind, she suddenly felt warmth in her heart, knowing that the warmth came not from the peach blossoms, but from the strong family bond of three generations on Peach Blossom Festival.

  For a moment, no one spoke.