Chapter 544: Playing Too Much Saps One’s Will
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation | Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
When Su Ying finally saw Xiao Jin, she realized that it was getting late. She Stopped and told Ji and the rest of the kids to gather around. The little fellows were having too much fun. Their tiny faces were flushed and they were so tired that they were panting. Yet they were unwilling to stop.
“That’s enough. It’s getting late today. All of you have to go home. You can come here to play after school tomorrow.”
“Your Imperial Highness, can we still come over tomorrow?” Nie Jun asked as he rubbed his nose a little foolishly. His face was covered in mud and he appeared quite dirty.
“Sure, but don’t forget today’s homework. Go back now.”
These children’s attendants had been waiting at the entrance for a long time, but they didn’t dare to say anything when Su Ying was inside. Now that they ‘ saw their little charges had been playing so hard that they looked like dirty monkeys, they were extremely worried. They were afraid that they would be punished by their masters when they returned.
“Ouch! My tummy hurts.” Nie Jun had just walked up to the attendant when he clutched his stomach in discomfort.
“Young Master, what’s wrong?” The attendant’s expression changed at once when he saw the child’s state.
Nie Jun clutched his stomach. His stomach twitched momentarily, but the pain passed quickly. “Huh? It doesn’t seem to hurt anymore.”
Upon seeing this, Ji walked up to him. Nie Jun was his study partner, and the two of them had always been on good terms. When he saw that the reddish hue on his face had faded, he could not help but ask with a puzzled expression, “Nie Jun, what’s wrong?”
Nie Jun wiped the sweat off his forehead with some embarrassment. “I’m fine, I’m fine. I only had a tummy ache just now. It’s fine now.”
When Ji saw that his friend appeared to be his usual self now, he did not ask further. “Go back quickly and eat something. You’re probably hungry.” “Mm-hmm. Then I’ll take my leave, Your Highness.”
The attendants of the various noble families led their young charges away.
Su Ying and her attendants also led the two little ones back to the Conjugal Phoenix Palace.
The trio of mother and two kids were all sweating profusely. In order to avoid catching a cold, they changed their clothes as soon as they came back. Aunt Zhao even instructed someone to boil some mugwort water. The weather was already cold now, and it was particularly easy to catch a cold after sweating. Soaking in mugwort water was very good for dispelling the cold.
I m so hungry. Bai Shuang, get them to serve the food. See if Uncle Hea has finished preparing the food.”
“Your Imperial Highness, please wait a moment. Your servant will go at once.”
Xiao Jin looked at all the rosy faces around him. “Was it so fun?”
“If you’re curious, why don’t I bring you to try it at night when there’s no one around?”
Xiao Jin imagined himself sitting on the slide…He would really slide down.
Just before nightfall, Nie Jun returned to his residence.
Before returning to the residence, the servant helped him change into a set of clean clothes and even wiped his dirty little face clean. He looked no different from his usual self after that.
Incidentally, it was dinner time at the General’s Residence, so Nie Jun went straight to the dining hall.
General Zhenbei was guarding the border and not in the capital city. There were only the General’s wife, the Old Mistress, and the General’s two younger brothers in the capital city. However, the younger brothers had already left home to set up their own families and did not live here with them.
“Grandmother, I’m back.” Nie Jun threw himself into the Old Mistress’s arms like a birdling returning to its nest.
Just as he was about to act coquettishly, he heard the General’s wife clear her throat lightly. His tiny round face tensed up and he quickly got out of the Old Mistress’s arms and stood up in a proper manner to bow to the old lady.
“Grandmother, Mother, I’m back.”
The Old Mistress’s hair had already turned white, and she doted on this little grandson the most. Just as she was about to ask him some questions, the child pulled himself out of her arms. She couldn’t help glancing at the General’s wife, Madam Pang. “Why do you have to be so particular in your own house?”
Madam Pang had a pair of slender eyes and arching upslanting eyebrows. Her facial features looked a little plain, but she had two high cheekbones. Coupled with her dull face, it made her appear somewhat nasty.
Madam Pang lowered her eyes and replied, “Mother, Jun’er is now the First Prince’s study companion. If he doesn’t pay attention to the rules in the palace and is discovered by the Empress, won’t Jun’er be skinned alive?”
The Old Mistress’s hoary eyebrows knitted at once. She was very displeased, but she did not say anything.
However, Nie Jun was not pleased. “Mother, Her Imperial Highness the Empress is a very nice person. She’s not fierce at all. She even played with us for a long time today and said that we could go to the playground again tomorrow. It’s really fun.”
Madam Pang frowned when she heard that. “So you’re not studying hard, but playing? I was wondering why you only came back at this hour. How old are you now? Yet your heart is only focused on having fun. How can you become a capable person in the future?”
Nie Jun was afraid of Madam Pang, so when he heard her harsh words, he was so scared that he shrank back and did not dare to say anything else.
When she saw her grandson suffering in silence, the Old Mistress defended him. “That’s enough. Isn’t it normal for children to play? When his father was this age, he was still rolling around in the mud. You raise him in such a precious manner as if this is such a good thing.”
Madam Pang’s face clouded over after being reprimanded, but the Old Mistress was an elder, so she couldn’t talk back.
“Jun’er, tell Grandmother. What did all of you play with?”
Nie Jun perked up when he heard the Old Mistress’s question. “Grandmother, there’s a lot of fun stuff to play with. It’s the playground that the Empress said she would build for the First Prince and the others. It’s completed now, and it’s really fun.”
“Her Imperial Highness is indeed different from us. Children at this age are at a critical stage of development. It would be fine if the First Prince and the others studied hard, but to think she actually led them to play so wildly. Isn’t she worried that playing too much will sap their wills?”
“Shut up!” The Old Mistress barked sternly. “Madam Pang, have your etiquette been eaten by the dogs? Is the Empress someone you can talk wantonly about? If anyone hears this, you can forget about staying in the General’s Residence anymore.”
Madam Pang paled at the thought of Su Ying’s reputation. Fortunately, everyone here was her people, or else she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.
The family took their dinner in the General’s Residence in a gloomy silence. Nie Jun did not dare to utter a sound anymore. Madam Pang had requested that he not speak while eating or sleeping. If he did not follow her instructions, he would be punished again later.
After falling asleep that night, Nie Jun felt a sudden sharp pain in his stomach that made him roll all over the bed.
When the maidservant on night duty heard the commotion, she quickly entered the house to check on the situation. When she saw that Nie Jun was in so much pain that his back was drenched in cold sweat, she became so frightened that her face turned pale. She did not dare to delay any longer and woke up the people in the residence.
In the middle of the night, everyone in the General’s Residence was woken up.
Madam Pang hurriedly sent someone to look for a doctor.
After the doctor checked on the child, he said that it was a stomach upset. He felt that the child’s intestinal movements were not smooth, so he quickly prescribed medicine.
After taking the medicine, Nie Jun felt a little better. However, it didn’t take long for the excruciating pain to return.
“Boo hoo hoo… Argh! It hurts so much. My tummy hurts…”
“Gosh, my little precious one! What exactly is going on? Go. Take my token and look for the Imperial Physician. Hurry!” Old Mistress was a first-grade noble lady conferred by Imperial edict so she was qualified to request an Imperial Physician’s attendance.
Madam Pang was extremely anxious when she saw her son rolling all over the bed. However, she quickly thought of something and took out a talisman paper from her pocket. After burning it and putting it into some water, she fed it to Nie Jun.
“What… what did you feed Jun’er?”