Chapter 537. Change (1/2)
”This subject has a cream that can promote the blood circulation of the body. If Your Majesty doesn’t mind, this subject will have a servant go and fetch it at once.” To have such self-discipline at the age of seven, Yu Xiaocao admired yet felt her heart ache for the child.
The empress was well aware of her prowess in medicine. Her smile widened as she nodded, “Even if you didn’t mention it, I would still shamelessly ask you for some medicinal remedy for my son. Those mediocre doctors in the Imperial Hospital…ahem, the imperial physicians are sometimes too careful with their prescriptions, so the effects are slower…”
“Imperial Mother, Imperial Mother!” A clear and bright childish voice sounded from outside the palace hall, glee prominent in his tone, “I heard that Older Sister Yu has entered the palace! Is it true?”
Hearing this, the empress grinned and said to Xiaocao, ”I've just praised him for his steadiness, and immediately, he comes and slaps me in the face.”
'Face slapping' was a phrase that the emperor had brought up to her in private. She had even specially asked the meaning behind it, and now she was putting it to practice.
”He is still a child, so it’s in his nature. Besides, it’s good that he’s lively! His Highness sometimes handles matters even more maturely than this subject, and he only shows such a lively side in front of you, Your Majesty.” Yu Xiaocao did not have much resistance towards little children, so once she heard the eldest prince’s voice, a smile crept up her face without her even realizing it.
Seeing this, the empress’s gaze was filled with even more sincerity. As long as you treat others sincerely, it would eventually return in the form of a true friendship.
“Older Sister Yu, it really is you! I thought Little Zhuozi, that servant, was lying to me!” Zhu Hanwen’s affectionate attitude and address of Xiaocao made her feel somewhat uneasy.
She hurriedly stood up and bowed towards the eldest prince, “Your Highness, you mustn’t address this subject as such, I can’t accept this!”
The empress pulled Xiaocao to sit beside her, saying, “You ah, you’ve been ‘wrongly’ taught by your godmother. What can you not accept? You’ve saved his life twice and you’re also older than him by a few years, so what’s wrong with him calling you ‘older sister’? I still remember that when Wen’er was still small, his imperial father had asked him if he wished for me to give him a little brother or sister. Do you know what his answer was?”
“Imperial Mother!” Zhu Hanwen was unhappy now. His imperial mother once again was finding enjoyment out of his embarrassing incidents.
Seeing the eldest prince’s exasperated and flustered reaction, Xiaocao asked with slight curiosity, “How did His Highness answer?”
The empress disregarded her son’s various attempts to obstruct her and said, stifling a laugh, “He said that he wished I could give him an elder sister because the older sisters of other families always leave a portion of the good food for their younger brothers, and they would also embroider a nice pouch for their younger brothers. Older sisters are so gentle and considerate, so he wanted such an older sister.”
“Imperial Mother…” Zhu Hanwen was full of resignation as he made a long face. His whole demeanor screamed that he was an unhappy little baby. Older Sister Xiaocao was his ‘idol’, but his imperial mother was ‘tarnishing’ his good name in front of her! It was too embarrassing! He couldn’t face the world anymore!
“Sometimes, the words spoken by a child can be really surprising. When my little brother was small, he also said a lot of funny things. I remember that there was a time when he plucked a fat caterpillar back from the vegetable farm. My hair was nearly standing on end when I saw the caterpillar wriggling on his palm! But seeing him excitedly toying with the caterpillar, I didn’t have the heart to tell him to throw it away, and only said, ‘Shitou, the caterpillar’s mother will be anxious if she doesn’t find it!’ Do you know what he did afterward?” Seeing the eldest prince enjoying her story, Yu Xiaocao couldn’t help but leave him in suspense.
Zhu Hanwan promptly responded, “Your little brother immediately released the caterpillar?”
Yu Xiaocao pretended to breathe a long sigh, “Ah, he took off toward the vegetable farm again. I thought he was only going to release the caterpillar, who could’ve expected that within moments, when he returned, there would be a larger caterpillar on his palm! He even gleefully said to me, ‘Older sister, look, I’ve brought the caterpillar’s mother here!’”
Both the empress and the prince were so amused they could not stop laughing. Yu Xiaocao continued to talk about a few of her little brother’s embarrassing stories when he was younger, not expecting that the eldest prince would, because of this, become very interested in this young county official who was only older than himself by a few years. Many years later, the eldest prince who had already ascended the throne to become the emperor, would often use these stories to tease his trusted aide, Little Shitou, who was then already a first-ranked official.
Once she finished having lunch with the mother and son, Yingchun, who had gone back to retrieve the cream, had also returned. Little Zhuozi brought his master to the side hall and helped Zhu Hanwen to apply the cream. He did not know whether it was just a psychological effect, or if it was really the cream that had wondrous healing properties, but after applying the cream, Zhu Hanwen felt the burn in his arms suddenly replaced with a cooling sensation.