Chapter 280

Sunshi, upon hearing that the Grand Princess was not in the room, felt her vision go dark again.

How come we find one and then lose another?

Although Sunshi had no idea in her heart, she didn't panic, smiling as she replied, "I'll go in and take a look."

The Grand Princess is not a child; she surely wouldn't have gone overboard playing, and we don't know where she hid.

The Princess Consort of Qi wasn't particularly worried either.

So, she quickly bade farewell to Sunshi, and together with Lu Xing Lan, she also headed toward the lotus pond.

By the pond, a crowd had gathered, mostly children.

Children like liveliness and enjoy seeing new things.

This spring in Jing Cheng was a bit chilly.

Therefore, these lotus plants also bloom later.

Under normal circumstances, one has to wait until mid-to-late May for them to gradually bloom.

It's only early this month, yet they have already bloomed, so the children are curious and want to come see.

Feng Xuanrui is Jing Cheng's prominent young lord, the legitimate second son of the Wangfu; just from that title one can see his noble status.

So, many children, upon seeing people, cheerfully came over to greet them.

When there are many people, it becomes crowded.

However, by mutual understanding they avoid bumping into adults, and the children gather together, chattering away.

Princess Shunyang, at a spot farther away from them, had her attendants mark off an area, keeping others out and letting Princess Shunyang sit there peacefully to enjoy the flowers.

Two of the attendants, fearing the sun would soon shine, held up umbrellas and followed Princess Shunyang's movements.

The children couldn't sit still, running here one moment and looking over there the next.

In the time it took the Princess Consort of Qi to glance over, Princess Shunyang had already moved to several spots, and the two attendants with umbrellas chased her from one end to the other and back again.

Watching this scene, the Princess Consort of Qi felt moved, turned her head slightly and whispered to Aunt Xiang: "Later we'll add two more people to hold an umbrella for Sui Sui; the sun is getting stronger, and the child is delicate—we mustn't let her get sunburned."

Aunt Xiang nodded in agreement, wanting to take the child, but the Princess Consort of Qi refused: "I'll hold her a little longer."

The Princess Consort of Qi holding the child herself, as opposed to an attendant holding her, meant two different things to outsiders.

Whether one is favored and to what extent can be observed through details.

Therefore, the Princess Consort of Qi must hold the child longer in public, so everyone knows she values and dotes on Sui Sui.

Sui Sui was at this moment curiously craning her neck to look at the lotus flowers in the pond.

The lotus flowers at Lu Fu are pure white as snow; even though they have just begun to bloom, a hint of holy light can already be seen.

The flowers themselves are not large, but the lotus leaves spread out widely, almost covering half the pond.

Layers of green overlap, looking quite spectacular, and the viewing appeal is still strong.

Sui Sui looked at these flowers with great curiosity and murmured softly, "We don't have any at home."

At our home.

Those four words, heard by the Princess Consort of Qi, sounded like heavenly music.

This represents a kind of acknowledgment.

Sui Sui has already, deep in her heart, acknowledged the Qi Wang Fu, acknowledged her mother and her father, Prince Qi!

The Princess Consort of Qi felt that the nicest words she had heard today were nothing more than this.

She happily lifted the child a bit, smiling and saying, "If you like it, Sui Sui, when we go back I'll have your father arrange it."

Actually, there are also lotus flowers in the pond at the residence, but their number is not large.

Actually, there used to be many, but the residence has many children who are very mischievous; even if adults repeatedly warn them, there are times when supervision slips and they mischievously jump onto the lotus leaves.

The load-bearing capacity of that thing is hard to say…

So, falling into the water and then drowning are both easily occurring incidents.

Feng Xuanbo had previously fallen into the water once; afterward investigation revealed no conspiracy or scheming, simply because the child was mischievous.

Fortunately, there were many people nearby who promptly fished him out, and it caused no serious harm.

Otherwise…

Going by Lady Ren Ce Fei's temperament, she could have stirred up a huge commotion in the Qi Wang Fu.

Not long after Xiao Wu fell into the water, the Princess Consort of Qi had people clear away most of the lotus flowers in the pond, leaving only a little, barely enough as a summer viewing spot, and moreover it was a pond farther from the southern courtyard.

However, if Sui Sui likes it, then it's time to arrange it.

The Princess Consort of Qi has already been pondering whose lotus variety is good, blooms beautifully, and is easy to tend; when the time comes she'll request a few plants, bring them back to the residence and lay them out a bit—perhaps then they'll be visible in summer.

Just as she was pondering, she heard Feng Xuanrui shouting from behind, "Come on, come on, let's go play!"

Feng Xuanrui said he wanted to go play, but his mother consort hadn't agreed, so he didn't dare run off; at this moment he lifted his head, looking pleadingly at his mother consort.

Princess Consort of Qi: …

At this moment, those playing rough with Feng Xuanrui were all the youngsters from the Grand Princess's residence.

Everyone is relatively familiar with each other, and their relations are not bad.

Although they sometimes argue, children's squabbles are just that; more often, they'll be arguing one moment and the next moment happily eating pastries together.

As for these people, the Princess Consort of Qi still felt at ease; she nodded and signaled Feng Xuanrui: "Go ahead, look after your younger brother."

Upon hearing his mother consort's agreement, Feng Xuanrui, unwilling to give up, asked again: "I'd like to bring my sister along as well."

The Princess Consort of Qi hesitated a moment, then shook her head: "First take your younger brother out to play, keep an eye on Little Seven, and don't cause trouble."

Upon hearing this result, Feng Xuanrui felt a bit disappointed: "Oh, all right."

Although he couldn't bring his sister along, Feng Xuanrui still happily waved at Sui Sui: "Big brother will go play first; once we're familiar, I'll bring you along too—sister, wait for me!"

Feng Xuanbin, standing beside him, refused to lag behind even a bit: "There's also Seventh Brother; we two will be back shortly."

A group of older children were preparing to find an open space to spin tops.

What's the point of just looking at Flower?

They definitely don't want to look!

They want to do what a real man should do!

So, pull up!

Feng Xuanrui and the others quickly left with a wula-wula sound, a group of over ten children. The Princess Consort of Qi carefully looked, wanting to confirm who was among the children together, to feel more at ease.

Seeing her like that, Lu Xing Lan couldn't help but laugh: "Don't worry, the lord is here, he'll watch over the younger brothers."

The Princess Consort of Qi looked for a while, withdrew her gaze, hesitated a bit, then asked softly: "I see a child in the crowd who looks unfamiliar; whose family is he from?"

Hearing the Princess Consort of Qi say the child looked unfamiliar, Lu Xing Lan, after hearing, turned her head and took a few more looks.

Unfortunately, the children were mischievous and ran fast; their silhouettes soon bumped together, and besides, they were all facing away, so it was really hard to see clearly.

Lu Xing Lan was puzzled, turned her head to ask the maid beside her.

The maid looked for a moment and then recognized them: "The madam said the unfamiliar one is likely the young master of the Wei mansion."

The young master of the Wei mansion?

Marquis of Huaiyang's Wei mansion?

After hearing that, Lu Xing Lan furrowed her brows slightly, puzzled, and said: "The young master of the Wei mansion, I remember he should be about eleven or twelve, but that child doesn't look like that—he seems only four or five. I'm afraid he's too small and will get squeezed by the older brothers."

The second watch is at 19:00.