Xiao Shen was confused by what he heard and couldn’t help but chase after his master, pestering him and asking, “Who is the mantis and who is the cicada?”
“You’ll know when the time comes.” Shen Qingzhuo took the wet towel handed to him by Xiao Dezi and wiped his hands. “Good disciple, just be at ease and be the oriole.”
“Master.” Xiao Shen called him again, his tone unconsciously carrying a hint of anxiety: “Master, what exactly are you going to do? Is it dangerous?”
Shen Qingzhuo paused for a moment, then smiled calmly, “Don’t think too much, what danger can Master have?”
But the wolf cub’s natural keen intuition told Xiao Shen that this matter was definitely not that simple.
He walked forward quickly, put his arm around his thin shoulders, and said in a cautious and flattering manner, “Master, I’m grown up now. No matter what happens, I can share your burden.”
“Master has his reasons for not telling you.” Shen Qingzhuo was silent for a moment, raised his hand, and touched his sweaty cheek on the side of his neck. “Don’t you trust Master?”
“Of course not!” Xiao Shen hastily retorted, suddenly tightening his strong arms, wishing he could point to the sky and swear, “In this world, I only trust Master!”
Xiao Dezi, who was serving beside him, couldn’t help but let out a low laugh.
A knife-like sharp gaze instantly shot at him. “What are you laughing at?”
Xiao Dezi raised his head and replied innocently, “The servant didn’t laugh ah, Your Highness. You heard it wrong.”
Xiao Shen: “Do you think I’m deaf?”
“Alright, what did Xiao Dezi do to you?” Shen Qingzhuo took away the arm that was wrapped around him and coaxed him softly. “Go wash up, change your clothes, and stay here for a meal.”
As expected, the youth immediately turned from cloudy to sunny: “Then I’ll go take a shower first, Master, wait for me!”
Shen Qingzhuo smiled and shook his head. After all, he was just a teenager, and his attention could be easily diverted with just a few words.
However, the moment Xiao Shen turned around, the joyful smile disappeared without a trace.
If his master didn’t want to talk, he certainly wouldn’t press him any further. He would also try to maintain the image of the simple and innocent boy in his master’s eyes.
The haze that shrouded his heart gradually dissipated when he got into the wooden bathtub.
This is the bathtub that his master usually uses. Every time he takes a bath in this bathtub, he always feels that he is also contaminated with his master’s scent after getting up.
In the steam, he seemed to be able to smell his master’s fragrance, like red plum blossoms after the snow, both cool and fragrant, fascinating.
It was clearly early spring, but Xiao Shen suddenly felt his cheeks getting hot. The burning heat quickly spread from his slender neck down until it sank into the water.
“Xiao Dezi!” He shouted helplessly, as if he had been bitten by something, “The water is too hot, give me some cold water!”
“Yes!” Xiao Dezi responded from outside, “Wait a moment, Your Highness, coming soon!”
Xiao Shen sat in the water, with the familiar scent of plum blossoms lingering at his nose. He felt uneasy and restless, so he closed his eyes and tried to regulate his disordered breathing.
As a result, when he closed his eyes, a vague figure appeared in front of him, walking towards him slowly. The sound of water splashing suddenly pulled the youth out of his hysteria. At the same time, the cold water poured into the wooden barrel brought a cool breeze, which finally relieved the inexplicable heat in his body.
“The water isn’t hot.” A pleasant voice like the sound of jade colliding rang in his ears. Xiao Shen was startled and suddenly stood up from the water.
“What are you doing?” Shen Qingzhuo had no time to dodge and was splashed with water. He shook his sleeves with a little disgust and looked up at his little disciple.
The next moment, Xiao Shen dived back into the water with a “plop”, covering his lower body tightly.
Shen Qingzhuo, who was standing next to the bathtub, was splashed with water again.
“Master, you, you, you…” The youth was so nervous that his tongue was out of control. “Why did you get in here?”
Shen Qingzhuo wiped the water off his face with his sleeve and replied expressionlessly, “It’s obvious. I’m bringing you some cold water.”
“I clearly called Xiao Dezi.” Xiao Shen subconsciously hunched his body and leaned towards the edge of the wooden barrel.
Seeing his little disciple looking like a decent woman being taken advantage of, Shen Qingzhuo couldn’t help but feel angry and amused: “Why are you hiding? A few years ago, when you had a fever, it was Master who washed you with his own hands.”
“That was a few years ago.” The youth’s face was so red that it was about to burst into smoke. “Now I’m grown up!”
Shen Qingzhuo disagreed: “As the saying goes, girls should avoid their fathers when they grow up, and boys should avoid their mothers. Your master is of the same gender as you, so what is there to be shy about?”
Xiao Shen was speechless for a moment.
“Besides, how have you grown up?” Shen Qingzhuo lowered his eyelashes slightly, his eyes fell on the water, and said slowly, “From Master’s point of view, you are still very small.”
Xiao Shen: “?”
With the words “it’s very small”, the youth was upset for several days.
Shen Qingzhuo tried to recall what he was like when he was fifteen, when his parents died in a plane crash. He became an orphan overnight and was forced to grow up.
But if he thinks about it carefully, his little disciple should have entered normal puberty.
After all, the first major characteristic of adolescence is that children think they have grown up and begin to exhibit rebellious behavior.
However, before the young father had time to worry about his child’s adolescent education, the spring hunting trip arrived as scheduled.
This spring hunting was held at the Shangchuan Hunting Ground outside the southern suburbs of Shengjing. This hunting ground was exclusively for the royal family of Dayong. It was vast and full of life, with many kinds of animals raised in the forest.
The imperial army expanded the hunting grounds several months in advance, transported in relevant supplies and equipment, and set up a heavily guarded royal camp.
After everything was prepared and guaranteed to be foolproof, the team led by Emperor Guangxi marched towards the Shangchuan Hunting Ground in a mighty manner.
In previous years, Emperor Guangxi wore a military uniform and rode on horseback, but this year his health was not good. After Concubine Yuan’s gentle persuasion, he agreed to ride to the hunting grounds on the dragon chariot.
The rest of the entourage either rode on horses or sat in sedan chairs.
Unfortunately, Shen Qingzhuo couldn’t ride a horse, so he sat high on the horse’s back, with a Jinwu Guard holding the reins and walking forward.
Xiao Shen followed behind him, not far away.
Since receiving the order from Emperor Guangxi, the Seventh Prince has entered the martial arts arena openly to receive training in riding and archery. In just a few days, he was able to ride a horse on the road.
Shen Qingzhuo knew that the little guy was still sulking, so he wanted to take this opportunity to coax him, so he turned his head and called out, “Your Highness the Seventh Prince.”
Xiao Shen’s ears twitched, and his dark and bright eyes looked straight at his master.
“My horse goes too slowly. Could Your Highness give me a ride?” Shen Qingzhuo asked with a smile.
Xiao Shen was pulling the reins to control the speed of the horse. Hearing this, the corners of his lips curled up unconsciously, but he deliberately suppressed them and replied loudly, “Won’t Master be afraid of falling on my horse’s back?”
Shen Qingzhuo made a “tsk” sound. Why didn’t he notice that his little disciple was so arrogant and vindictive in the past?
He signaled the Jinwu Guards to help him down from the horse, then stood in the middle of the road and asked again, “Is Your Highness going to take me with or not?”
Xiao Shen stared at him intently, but he couldn’t help himself. He squeezed the horse’s belly with his feet, and the horse ran towards his master.
At this moment, the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from behind, and after a burst of dust, a shiny black horse galloped past.
“Qingzhuo, how long are you going to ride this unsteady horse?” His Highness the Crown Prince laughed loudly, then he leaned sideways and pulled the person onto the horse’s back.
“Ah!” Shen Qingzhuo was caught off guard and let out a soft cry, “Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
“Qingzhuo, don’t worry. Gu won’t let you fall.” Xiao Yichen held his slender waist with one hand, turned him around to face forward, and then squeezed the horse’s belly hard. “Go!”
And Xiao Shen could only watch his master being abducted, with a murderous look in his dark and beautiful eyes, and his eyes were so cold that it seemed as if there were ice chips.
He clenched his back teeth, raised the whip in his hand high, and then whipped it hard. The horse neighed loudly and ran wildly.
“Qingzhuo, long time no see. How come you look thinner and thinner?” Xiao Yichen held his waist in his hand and asked in his ear, “Do you know that Gu feels very disappointed after being rejected by you time and time again?”
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, I… cough, cough.” The horse was galloping too fast. Shen Qingzhuo leaned on the horse’s back, hugging the horse’s neck tightly with both hands. The wind was whistling in his ears, and he started coughing as soon as he opened his mouth.
“After all, you have been in the Eastern Palace since you were sixteen years old. Gu has always treated you as his own, so Gu won’t blame you.” Xiao Yichen smiled to himself and said meaningfully, “Look, Gu even took you for a horse ride today. Qingzhuo, don’t hurt Gu’s heart ah.”
Shen Qingzhuo was dizzy and dazed by the galloping horse. He couldn’t hear what he was saying at all. He had a thousand greetings to his ancestors in his heart but couldn’t say them out loud.
Fortunately, Shangchuan Hunting Ground was not too far from the imperial palace, and they arrived at the outskirts of the hunting ground half an hour later.
“Xu!” His Royal Highness the Crown Prince tightened the reins, and the sound of horse hooves gradually stopped.
Shen Qingzhuo was still lying on the horse’s back, motionless.
“Qingzhuo’s physical strength is not good, you need to practice hard.” Xiao Yichen teased, turned over, and got off the horse. Just as he was about to carry the person down, he was caught off guard by a brute force from the side.
Xiao Yichen was stunned when he found out that the person who bumped into him was Lao Qi.
Xiao Shen didn’t even look at him, but carefully carried his master down from the horse.
The moment he held him firmly in his arms, his heart couldn’t help but tremble slightly.
It turns out that his master is so light.
“Lao Qi, Emperor Father has been kind enough to let you come to the hunting grounds. Are you ready?” Xiao Yichen stood there, hypocritically concerned, “Don’t let yourself fail to catch any animals and become someone else’s prey.”
The veins on Xiao Shen’s neck bulged, but he held back and didn’t say anything back.
“I’m fine.” Shen Qingzhuo recovered a little and replied in a cold tone, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, you should worry about yourself.”
Xiao Yichen’s expression changed, and he forced a smile and said, “We were talking nicely just now, why are you quarreling now?”
Shen Qingzhuo said “Pei1A spat sound” in his heart, steadied himself, and pushed away the youth who was supporting him.
A dark tide surged in Xiao Shen’s eyes. His empty hands clenched into fists, his back straightened, his limbs stiffened, and his whole body was like a bowstring that was fully charged and ready to explode at any moment.
“You look very bad.” Xiao Yichen took a step forward. “How about Gu help you go over there and rest for a while?”
Shen Qingzhuo’s face turned pale as he gently reminded, “Your Highness the Crown Prince, the minister advises you not to come over.”
Xiao Yichen didn’t understand and continued to walk towards him, “Qingzhuo, Gu still has something else to say to you.”
Shen Qingzhou: “yue2Yue is vomit, since the author uses Yue, so I’ll keep it as Yue..”
The author has something to say:
Shen Qingzhuo: Dear disciple, Master has avenged you.
