Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2663 Still Vigorous in Old Age 47.0
After hearing the whole story, Master Jiang looked at Chu Han and then at the other children. He didn't rush to answer them, but gently closed his eyes.

The children exchanged glances, then looked at Chu Han, and winked at Master Jiang.

Chu Han glanced at Master Jiang, then gently shook his head at the children, signaling them to be calm and not disturb him.

Master Jiang closed his eyes to rest for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. Song Yaojia and Xia Chen exchanged a glance and moved closer to Master Jiang without prior arrangement. After getting close, they looked at each other again and moved closer to Master Jiang once more.

Just then, as if sensing something, Master Jiang suddenly opened his eyes, startling the two of them.

"Aaaaaaaaaaa!"

Xia Chen's voice was honed through sea voyages, and it could carry far without any aids. In addition, the jolt he was in made his shout even more deafening.

Everyone in and around the flower hall was stunned by Xia Chen's shout, their heads buzzing. The Shadows on duty couldn't help but peek out to check the situation. Seeing Merlin, who was also covering his ears, gesturing to them that nothing serious was wrong, they returned to their positions. But in their hearts, they all silently complained that the Prince's voice was really good. If he were on the battlefield, he might scare the enemy's horses to death and throw them into disarray.

"Oh my god, that scared me to death!"

After shouting, Xia Chen felt much better. He patted himself to calm his fragile heart.

"We weren't scared, but we weren't." Song Yaojia and Master Jiang picked at their ears and slapped Xia Chen at the same time. "Your shout almost deafened us. Our ears are still ringing."

"It's not that loud!" Xia Chen turned his head, wanting to seek support from others, only to see that others were also picking their ears. He looked at them helplessly and innocently, and said, "Is it really that loud?"

"You should go out and ask Merlin and the others, or..."

Before Xue Ruitian could finish speaking, there was a knock on the door of the flower hall, and then Merlin poked his head out from outside.

"My lord, they sent Steward Mu over to ask if anything has happened and if you need any help."

"Listen to this, listen to this!" Xue Ruitian rolled his eyes at Xia Chen. "You said the sound wasn't loud, but even the Marquis's mansion could hear it!"

"This..." Xia Chen touched his nose sheepishly and grinned at Merlin, "I'm really sorry, did I disturb your afternoon nap?"

"I don't know then. Should we have Butler Mu come over?"

"Since we're already here, let's meet them." Chu Han waved his hand at Xue Ruitian, who was about to refuse. "I need to meet the young people from the Wang and Yelü families, so I can have him pass on the message."

"Yes!" Xue Ruitian nodded, then turned and beckoned to Merlin, "Let Xue Mu in."

Upon receiving the message, Xue Mu first straightened his clothes and then his hair. After confirming with Merlin that everything was in perfect order, he entered the flower hall in a proper manner.

After entering, he first greeted Chu Han and Master Jiang with great courtesy, and then bowed to Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, Xue Ruitian, Song Yaojia and Xia Chen.

"Is this the steward of your household?" Chu Han looked at Xue Mu, examined him carefully, and said, "He's Chen Yun's son, right?"

"Yes, young master!" Xue Mu mustered his courage and looked up at Chu Han, then froze, stammering, "You...you..." Chu Han saw his reaction and grinned mischievously, saying, "What's wrong? Suddenly stuttering? You weren't like this when you were little!"

For some reason, Xue Mu's tears suddenly started falling.

"Hey, why are you crying?"

"After all these years, how come you still look the same!" Xue Mu wiped away his tears and explained to Xue Ruitian, who was looking over, "I met you when I was very young. You even bought me a sugar figurine. That was the first time I ever ate a sugar figurine."

"Chen Yun is too strict with this kid. He's already three years old, and she still won't let him eat a piece of candy, saying it'll ruin his teeth." Chu Han said with a look of disgust, "A two- or three-year-old brat will lose his teeth whether he eats candy or not, okay? I felt so sorry for him, so I secretly bought him a sugar figurine and watched him finish it before we went home. But the sugar figurine wasn't very big, just a tiny little thing." He gestured, looked at Xue Mu, and said, "Alright, stop crying. It's kind of ugly for a pretty kid to cry like that."

Xue Mu responded, wiped away his tears, and looked at Xue Ruitian, "Just now..."

"It's nothing," Xue Ruitian waved his hand. "The Prince was just bored and shouted. Did he disturb the two elders' rest?"

"No, they were just playing dominoes in the garden and got really into it when they heard that shout, so they sent me over to ask them."

"That's good!" Xue Ruitian nodded, glanced at Chu Han, who nodded back. He sighed softly and said, "If Third Master and Madam Ning are not resting, please ask them to wait a moment." He thought for a moment, "Come over for dinner."

"Alright!" Xue Mu responded, and seeing that no one had any further instructions, he bowed and left the flower hall.

After this unexpected little incident, everyone's attention returned to Master Jiang.

Xia Chen leaned closer to Master Jiang, grinned at him, and said, "What were you just thinking about?"

Master Jiang glanced at him indifferently, stretched out a finger, pressed it against Xia Chen's forehead, and pushed his face away a little.

"When people live a long time and experience a lot, it's not easy to remember things from a long time ago." He looked at Chu Han sitting in the middle, smiled, and said, "However, I just thought about it, and I do have some recollection of it."

"You've really seen him?"

Before Chu Han could speak, Xue Ruitian immediately moved closer to Master Jiang, looking at him expectantly.

"I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush, let me explain slowly." Seeing Xue Ruitian looking like a puppy, Fourth Master Jiang patted his shoulder and then turned his gaze to Chu Han. "That year, on the Lantern Festival, we made an appointment to go see the lanterns together. Besides Xiao Shen and Xiao Xue, my imperial brother and his wives were also with us."

"Grandfather too." Upon hearing Fourth Master Jiang's words, Song Yaojia's brows furrowed, and she said, "Aren't my father and uncle also...?"

“They weren’t in the capital at that time, it seems,” Master Jiang thought for a moment, “they were probably traveling and spending the New Year away from home.” He looked at Song Yaojia, “At that time, your father was not yet married, and he didn’t know your mother. Your mother hadn’t even come to the capital yet!”

"What does this mean?"

“The selection of consorts for the Crown Prince and adult princes usually begins in the summer. Only then will the selected women from good families come to the capital from all over the country, and they can only meet each other in the spring of the following year,” Master Jiang explained. He waved his hand at Song Yaojia, “These things are not important. What is important is that everyone who went to the lantern festival and saw them that time has more or less run into some problems.”