Chapter 490: Quite Scheming
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
After Duke Jingguo left the palace, Xiao Jin returned to Conjugal Phoenix Palace.
“How is Duke Jingguo’s health?”
“He’s an old man after all. One of his kidneys was removed previously, and his foundation was damaged. In addition, he’s been working hard recently, so his condition is indeed not very good. However, he can still recover. Let him rest first,” Su Ying explained truthfully.
Xiao Jin nodded. If it weren’t for the fact that he couldn’t find anyone else in the Imperial Court more suitable to restrain those civil officials, he wouldn’t have let Duke Jingguo work so hard.
As the two of them were talking, the two little fellows woke up. When they opened their eyes and didn’t see Su Ying, they came running out of the inner hall in a panic.
“Mother, Mother…”
“I want Mother!”
Su Ying and Xiao Jin heard the commotion and walked into the inner hall. They saw the two children standing there barefoot with panicky expressions.
When they saw Su Ying walk in, the two children rushed over and hugged her body tightly.
“Mother, I thought you left again,” Ji wailed.
“Mother, hug me,” Ling whined.
Su Ying couldn’t bear to see them like this. She squatted down and picked them up. “Be good, don’t cry. Mother is here. I went to give Duke Jingguo a medical check-up just now. I just came back with your father.”
Only when they saw Su Ying did the two little fellows feel at ease. They were worried that Su Ying would disappear after they woke up.
Su Ying carried them into the inner hall and helped them put on their clothes.
The two little fellows cooperated and enjoyed Su Ying’s service. Their large eyes were glued to her body, unwilling to look away for even a moment.
“Mother, you said you would take us fishing.”
“Mm-hmm. We’ll go there in a while.”
“Father, are you going too?”
Xiao Jin adjusted Ji’s belt and said, “Yes. Father will accompany all of you.”
Ji looked at Xiao Jin and smiled happily. Ji had been working too hard recently. He was working so hard that he didn’t look like a toddler. Xiao Jin also didn’t want him to be under too much pressure. The child had to relax when he needed to.
After dressing them up, Su Ying told Bai Shuang to prepare the fishing tools. Thereafter, the family of four headed for the Imperial Garden.
There was a man-made lake in the Imperial Garden. There were many fish in the lake, but these fish were used for ornamental purposes in the past. No one had ever tried to catch them.
Su Ying didn’t like fishing. She found it boring. In the past, whenever she wanted to catch fish, she would simply toss dynamite into the water like blast fishing. Once it exploded, the fish would float to the surface. However, during the apocalypse, the fish had been contaminated by chemicals and were basically inedible.
Xiao Jin put the bait on the hook and cast the fishing line out.
Ji mimicked Xiao Jin’s every step and sat on the shore to wait for the fish to take the bait. Su Ying and Ling sat on a soft cushion and ate snacks in boredom.
“Mother, I have already mastered the celerity skill.” Ling swallowed the snack in her mouth and reported to Su Ying her training accomplishment during this period of time with a hint of pride. “I also learned many big words. It’s only a little bit less than what Big Brother knows.”
Su Ying nibbled on melon seeds as she listened with an expression of joyful surprise. “You have mastered the celerity skill?”
Ling nodded proudly. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you, Mother.” As she spoke, Ling threw the snack in her hand out. Su Ying then saw her stand up. She braced her tiny body a little before leaping at a small tree trunk at the side. She then used it to propel herself into the air. The piece of snack that had flown into the sky was caught in her hand.
Then, she gracefully returned to Su Ying and spread out her small hands as if she were presenting a treasure. “Mother, look!”
Su Ying was truly surprised to see the undamaged snack. She had only been away for a few months, and Ling had already mastered the celerity skill.
Although she was still at the beginner’s level, it was already a huge improvement for a child. “Awesome!” Su Ying wasn’t stingy with her praise and gave the child a thumbs-up.
Ji was a little tempted when he saw Ling being praised, but he still tried his best to suppress his competitive spirit.
“Ji, the fish has taken the bait.”
Ji came back to his senses and felt something tugging strongly at the fishing rod in his hand. Delighted, he held the fishing rod tightly and slowly pulled the fishing line in his hand back. Even though his heart was beating so fast that it was about to jump out of his throat at this moment, his movements were still very firm and steady. He was so calm that he did not look like a child who was less than six years old at all.
Su Ying and Ling walked over curiously. They didn’t have the patience to fish, but they liked to watch the moment the fish were caught.
The fish that Ji caught did not look small. As he slowly pulled the line in, the fish gradually emerged from the water.
Xiao Jin was already waiting at the side with a fishing net scoop. When Ji was about to pull the fish to the shore, he whipped out the fishing net scoop and scooped up the fish.
“Wow! Big Brother is so amazing. What a big fish!”
Ling cried out in delight. Ji also displayed a rare childlike smile.
“This fish must be quite a few pounds, and its head is so big. Tonight, I’ll get Uncle Hea to use it to cook chopped chili fish head.”
“Mother, can we not eat it? I want to raise it,” Ling said.
Young children had no resistance to these small animals.
Su Ying didn’t have to eat it, but it would be a pity if she couldn’t eat such a big fish head.
“Father’s fishing line is also moving.”
Upon hearing Ji’s words, they all turned to look at Xiao Jin’s fishing rod.
Sure enough, the fishing line was bobbing up and down in the water.
Xiao Jin stepped forward and picked up the fishing rod, slowly pulling the fish caught on the hook in.
“The fish that Father caught is even bigger than the fish that Big Brother caught. It’s so big!”
Su Ying didn’t know what species of fish the late emperor had reared in this lake. Why did their heads look so big?
“We’ll leave that one for Ling to raise. We’ll cook this one for you tonight,” Xiao Jin said as he pointed at the fish and looked at Su Ying with affection.
Zhang Shuming craned his neck to take a look, and his heart ached so much that he cried out. This fish was bought by the late emperor with a huge sum of money. It was said that it cost more than a thousand taels of silver. If the Empress knew about it, she probably couldn’t bear to eat it.
“Alright. I’ll eat that one.” Su Ying felt that all fish were the same, and she wouldn’t really take into consideration whether they were valuable or not.
Xiao Jin instructed the eunuch to bring the fish to the Imperial kitchen straightaway.
“Mother, Ji knows how to write poems now.” While Ling and Xiao Jin were fishing, Ji ran to Su Ying’s side and whispered to her. After saying that, he looked at her with anticipation.
What was the use of knowing how to write poems?
Su Ying quickly shut her mouth before these words slipped out of her mouth. Cough, cough. She didn’t really have much understanding of this era’s poetry. To her, it was something useless.
“What poem did you write? Why don’t you recite it for me?”
Ji blinked. “Mother, do you understand poetry?”
Su Ying was utterly speechless.
“I understand. Tell me.”
“Forget it. Father said that instead of reading poems and articles for Mother, it would be better to leave two pieces of delicious snacks for Mother.”
Su Ying secretly glared at Xiao Jin. “I must really thank you!” she thought.
“Then… what snacks did Ji leave for me?”
Ji’s big eyes sank. “So Mother really doesn’t want to listen to me recite poetry.”
Why was this little fellow so scheming?
“Not really. Go on, recite it.”
Ji gently shook his head, his tiny face full of dejection. “I have forgotten. Tonight, when Mother sleeps with me, I will recite it for Mother, okay?”
Su Ying agreed without thinking. “Okay.”
Ji raised his tiny face and said in delight, “Really? Mother will sleep with me tonight?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Su Ying had just nodded when she felt a strong glare boring into the back of her head..
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