Chapter 249: with translation of chapter title

The spring rain drizzled continuously for six or seven days, pausing then falling again, falling then pausing, and the ground stayed perpetually damp.

Prince Qi thought the wet roads were hard to walk on, so he simply stayed at the Residence, playing with Sui Sui.

Bamboo leaf dragonfly, enough?

Then let's play Five Wood.

Five Wood, not liked either?

Then let's play chess.

If chess isn't liked either, then let's glue paper kites.

…

In short, each day there's something fresh to try.

As for studying?

Princess Consort of Qi urged twice, Prince Qi was reluctant, and personally gave Sui Sui a primer.

Princess Consort of Qi was somewhat worried.

After all, how could she not know her own Prince's learning?

However, thinking it was only a primer, it was still fine.

In the end, while giving the primer, they started playing.

Princess Consort of Qi:.

Not surprising at all.

At night while sleeping, Princess Consort of Qi couldn't help muttering: "Sui Sui is already five years old; if we don't start the primer now it'll be too late. Next month is Brother Chen's birthday, and we'll definitely have to take the child there. By then she won't know a single character, and people will inevitably mock her behind her back. Some children are young and ignorant, and their words can be the most hurtful; Sui Sui hearing that would be painful."

The older children are fine; the adults advise, not wanting to offend the Residence, they dare not speak directly.

But the younger children can't remember anything, they say whatever they see, and when Sui Sui hears that, it will surely be distressing.

Princess Consort of Qi worried about the child.

Prince Qi was also worried.

However, he just couldn't bring himself to make Sui Sui endure the hardship of studying.

When it came to his own hardships of studying, Prince Qi had something to say: "Back then, I would get up at the third watch to read, never having a moment of leisure all day, exhausted to death, and in the end I was still a half‑baked scholar. I thought that suffering wasn't absolutely necessary."

At the end, he sighed deeply: "Alas… even without studying one must endure hardship. Fine, tomorrow, tomorrow I'll definitely steel myself and send Sui Sui to the school."

Recently it's been raining, and Shen Hua Tang and Liu He Meng have not come to the Wangfu.

Day by day, Prince Qi is the one playing with Sui Sui.

The father and daughter have now cultivated a deep bond, and Prince Qi increasingly loves this little daughter.

Especially after eating the medicinal feast, his body has recovered considerably.

Prince Qi thought……

He might still live another thirty to fifty years, becoming an old demon.

Not living is not an option!

He must stay alive to protect Sui Sui.

If he were gone, Sui Sui would have to rely on her brothers later.

If the brothers are still unmarried, that's fine; once married they'll have their own families to look after, and won't be as considerate toward their sister as before.

So it still falls on this old father to worry.

The husband and wife talked at night; after speaking about Sui Sui for a while, they turned to the young masters of the Residence.

While talking, Prince Qi suddenly thought of something and lightly sighed: "In a few more years, our brother Ze will also have to perform the coronation ceremony."

After the coronation ceremony, he can be granted the title of heir apparent.

Feng Xuanze's heir apparent status is a done deal; unless something happens to him, no one can snatch it away.

Being both legitimate and senior, if we don't confer the title on him, who else could we confer it on?

And the whole Residence has only this one top scholar; we can't let anyone else take his place.

Would we have to let those damn underachievers take it?

Then the Qi Wang Fu would sooner or later be ruined!

When Feng Xuanze was mentioned, Prince Qi thought of his marriage: "It's also time for us to look at brother Ze's prospects. Do you have a family in mind? Later I'll discuss it with the imperial brother or the Empress Dowager."

Feng Xuanze's marriage, of course, is the top priority of the Qi Wang Fu.

The Princess Consort of Qi had been paying attention for two years, but the social relations in Jing Cheng are rather complex, and many matters keep changing over time.

It's not that she's optimistic now; it will be the same later.

So she still needs to constantly adjust her thoughts according to the changes.

Now that Prince Qi asks, Princess Consort of Qi softly replies: "I previously had high hopes for Master Shen's great‑granddaughter; she just came of age this year, only a year younger than brother Ze, similar in age, and she is gentle and refined, good at studying, a great match for brother Ze, but …"

At this point, Princess Consort of Qi sighed lightly: "When a family has a daughter, a hundred families seek her. I heard Aunt also has high hopes for Miss Shen, and there's already a falling out with the Shen family; I'd rather not say more."

Prince Qi, after listening, furrowed his brows and asked in confusion: "…That's not right, that youngster of yours is only twelve this year, and Aunt is already anxious?"

Princess Consort of Qi chuckled at Prince Qi's tone and quickly said: "It's not that; I heard it's to match with Brother Chen."

Lu Yinchen performed his coronation this year, and his fiancée is still undecided; indeed he needs a fiancée more than Feng Xuanze does.

However, a good daughter is indeed sought after by a hundred families.

It was fine when Princess Consort of Qi didn't bring it up, but now that she has, Prince Qi is truly pondering.

Especially since she had previously interacted with Shen Hua Tang, that little girl is quiet and refined, and her sister would also be even more gentle and elegant.

Prince Qi felt a bit moved, but competing with his aunt for a person doesn't seem very proper…

In the end he could only sigh: "Alas, it's our brother Ze's fault; being younger makes it hard to compete."

If they're all of coronation age, Prince Qi thought, I'm not unable to snatch a bit of Aunt's favor, huh.

At most he'd get a beating, though; it's not like he hasn't been beaten before, and he's not afraid of pain.

However, never mind.

For such a matter, hurting harmony would be bad, and it would also drag the Shen family girl into gossip, which is not good for the young lady's family.

Prince Qi quickly gave up on that idea and asked, "Any other young ladies you have your eye on? This time we need to make the first move!"

The Princess Consort of Qi was amused by him again: "There really is one, the eldest daughter of the He family. Although she rarely goes out, I've seen her twice at usual banquets. However, she's too young—five years younger than our Ze Ge'er. By the time she comes of age, our Ze Ge'er won't be so young either."

The He family?

Prince Qi thought for a while before realizing which He family, and he couldn't help but wonder aloud: "Wasn't it said that her health is poor?"

The Princess Consort of Qi fell into a strange silence for a moment; after a long while, she softly said: "... That's the second daughter, who gets along well with our Sui Sui. Don't keep saying such things—Sui Sui probably doesn't like hearing that."

Prince Qi realized he had mixed things up, gave an embarrassed smile, and said: "If she really is a good young lady, we're not in a hurry—when Ze Ge'er returns in a couple of days, we'll ask him if he's willing; if not, we'll look at other options. If we can't find a suitable match in the capital, we'll look elsewhere."

The Princess Consort of Qi meant the same thing; she actually had someone else in mind.

The other party is the crown princess's sister, but given the current situation at court, the Princess Consort of Qi fears that truly choosing the Lin family would cause His Majesty or the crown prince to hold a grudge again, which wouldn't be worth it.

After thinking it over, the Princess Consort of Qi didn't bring it up further and turned the conversation back to Sui Sui.

The couple's nighttime chat about Sui Sui felt endless; the prince didn't think much of it and happily made plans for tomorrow's visit to the palace to give thanks.

The weather has cleared up now; before, either Sui Sui was unwell or the weather was bad, making it inconvenient to go to the palace, but now that the weather is fine, we should definitely go to the palace to give thanks.

At this moment, Sui Sui was listening attentively to a story.

She rarely gets up at night, but now she can listen to a story; her big eyes in the darkness are almost sparkling!

Second watch