in2ebook Chapter 93 contains a bit of personal grudges.
Chapter 93 contains a bit of personal grudges.
Although playing mahjong is addictive, it is never an easy activity. After an afternoon of playing mahjong, not to mention someone as pampered as Yinzuo, even Yinti and Yinreng felt stiff all over.
"Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, you guys stop wasting my fish food. Go find Dexi over there and have him take you to pick a few more lotus leaves. Sixth Brother is taking some men to dig some soil now. We'll bury the beggar's chicken in a bit."
Twelve, Thirteen, and Fourteen had been feeding the fish all afternoon and had long since lost interest in it. As soon as they heard they could go boating and pick lotus leaves, they immediately put down the fish food and ran towards Dexi.
Yinzhuo had someone come and put away the mahjong tiles, served his brothers hot tea again, and then took his men and tools to work on the open space by the lake. Yinti and the others sat and drank tea for a while. When they saw Twelfth and Thirteenth return from picking lotus leaves and rowing back, they all got up and walked towards Yinzhuo. Although Yinreng and the others had heard about how to make beggar's chicken before, they had never seen anyone make it themselves, so they were inevitably curious.
When the brothers reached the open space by the lake, Thirteen and Fourteen had already come ashore with lotus leaves. Yinzhuo also directed the palace servants to dig several small pits in the ground and light fires on them. When they saw Yinti and the others coming over, they showed no politeness whatsoever.
"Big brother, second brother, now that you're all here, don't just sit around. See that pile of dirt over there? Who of you can turn it into mud?"
As the saying goes, no child can resist the temptation of mud. Even children as young as ten, such as Yinzhen and Yinzhen, were no exception. Although they had never played with mud before, they were very enthusiastic.
"Sixth Brother, leave this job to me and Tenth Brother. Don't worry, we'll handle it perfectly."
Yinzhen glanced at Yintang and Yin'e, who were running off with the water buckets. He opened his mouth but ultimately just shook his head and didn't say anything to stop them. It was a rare occasion for everyone to be so happy, and there was no need to spoil the mood by talking about rules and etiquette.
"Sixth Brother, Big Brother has never known that Ninth and Tenth Brothers can mix mud. Are you sure they can do this?"
Upon hearing Yinti's words, Yinzuo looked up at Yintang and Yinji, who were already engaged in a lively activity not far away, and nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry, brother. Mixing mud isn't a technical job. It's just a matter of adding soil if you add too much water, and adding water if you add too much soil. Let them do it themselves. Even if the mud they make in the end is unusable, we can just have someone mix some more. Now that Thirteen and Fourteen have brought back the lotus leaves, I'll have someone bring out the chicken we prepared earlier. Once the lotus leaves are washed, we can start wrapping the dumplings."
Yinti had only asked the question casually before, but after hearing what Yinzuo said, he felt it made a lot of sense, so he stopped paying attention to Yintang and the other two, and followed Yinzuo toward the thirteenth and fourteenth brothers and the other younger ones.
"Sixth Brother, Dexi said that wrapping lotus leaf chicken requires larger and thicker leaves. I just spent a long time selecting them in the lake to make sure that the leaves I picked were all large and thick."
Yinzhuo took the leaves from the thirteenth prince's hand and examined them carefully. He found that, as the thirteenth prince had said, each leaf was almost the same size, and it was clear that they had been carefully selected.
"Indeed, Thirteen is very meticulous. The lotus leaves you chose are also excellent, just the kind I needed."
Fourteenth Brother was never one to be left out. Seeing his Thirteenth Brother being praised, he quickly grabbed the lotus leaves he had picked and squeezed next to Yinzhuo.
"Sixth Brother, look at these I picked. Aren't they big and good too?"
Yinzhuo knew the importance of treating everyone equally. Upon hearing this, he took the leaf from the Fourteenth Prince's hand, examined it carefully, and then nodded.
"Indeed, the leaves picked on the fourteenth day are indeed large and of good quality."
Since he had already praised Thirteen and Fourteen, Yinzhuo naturally wouldn't leave out Twelve, so he beckoned him over, took the leaf from his hand, looked at it, and praised him.
"The leaves picked by the twelfth are also good. In a little while, Sixth Brother will use the lotus leaves you picked to make beggar's chicken for you."
Since they were the ones who picked the lotus leaves, Yinzhuo didn't intend to leave the task of washing them to others. He had someone bring over a bucket of water and called over a few of the younger ones.
"See that bucket over there? You guys go over there, wash the lotus leaves you're holding, and then bring them back to me."
What child doesn't love playing in the water? Upon hearing Yinzhuo's instructions, the three of them didn't hesitate at all and immediately grabbed lotus leaves and headed towards the bucket. Seeing how enthusiastic they were, Yinzhuo was happy to have some peace and quiet. He found a rock by the lake and, without caring about getting dirty, instinctively sat down. Yinti was even more unconventional. Seeing that the open space next to Yinzhuo was relatively clean, he simply didn't bother looking for a rock and plopped down on it.
“I didn’t realize before, but you’re actually quite good at taking care of kids. That’s great. If Ihana ever gets annoyed by your older brother again, just send her over here. You have a big place here, so I think she’ll like it.”
Is this even human language? You complain about your daughter being noisy, but I don't? I keep getting the feeling that what you're saying is tinged with personal resentment.
Yinzhuo and Yinti were chatting idly when they suddenly heard a gasp from not far away, followed by the excited voice of the fourteenth prince.
"Sixth Brother, Sixth Brother, come here quickly! Look, this leaf can spray water!"
Yinti and Yinzuo were initially startled by the commotion over there, but upon hearing Fourteen's words, they were puzzled. They exchanged a glance, got up, and walked towards Thirteen and Fourteen.
Once the two got closer and saw what was going on, they understood why Fourteen and the others were so excited. It turned out that when they were washing lotus leaves with water ladles, they accidentally poured water into the stems of the lotus leaves, and then they discovered that the water could spray out from all around the leaves. This made the children feel like they had discovered a new continent.
"I thought you guys had discovered something amazing. Twelve, you're a few years older than Thirteen and Fourteen, you should have learned 'On the Love of Lotus,' right? Come and recite a few lines for them."
Twelve was quite obedient. His sixth brother asked him to set an example for his younger brother, and he did so without hesitation.
"Among the flowers of land and water, many are lovely. Tao Yuanming of the Jin Dynasty alone loved chrysanthemums. Since the Tang Dynasty, people have greatly admired peonies. I alone love the lotus, which rises from the mud unstained, is washed by clear ripples without being seductive, has a hollow stem and straight growth, does not spread or branch, its fragrance grows more pure as it spreads, stands tall and clean, and can be admired from afar but not touched..."
When Twelfth reached this point, Yinzhu raised his hand to stop him, took a lotus leaf from the side, and beckoned Thirteenth and Fourteenth to come over as well. Then he asked the three of them.
"The article says that the lotus rises from the mud yet remains unstained, is washed by clear ripples yet is not seductive, is hollow inside yet straight outside, and does not spread or branch out. Do you know what this hollow inside yet straight outside refers to?"