Wu Deshun knew who Miss Yu was. She was an ordinary little girl from a farming family and had a good hand at cooking. She was a bit more bold than other little girls and also more clever. Nothing more than that...and that was his previous impression of her. Now, he saw her in a completely different light. With one sentence, the little girl had the ability to bring his master back from the depths of brutality back into reason. This was something that only her royal highness, the princess consort, was capable of! Perhaps, that little girl had a special place in his master's heart? A place that almost came up to the princess consort's?
As soon as that thought popped up, Wu Deshun felt horrified! His master had only seen this little girl a couple of times before, right? Could it be the legendary 'love at first sight'? That couldn't be true. The little girl only looked around ten years of age. Could his master possibly have tastes that ran towards the youthful??
As for Yu Xiaocao, she was actually not as serene and ignorant as she seemed on the outside. Her heart was thumping in her chest as if it was about to jump out. She had truly thought she was one step from losing her life in that earlier scenario. The murderous aura that came out of the young royal prince seemed like an implacable wave, one that she could instantly drown in. His bloodshot eyes didn't look like eyes that belonged to a human. They more closely resembled the eyes of a savage beast!
Regardless, she wasn't a true ten year old girl. Her previous life had been hard and she was well versed at dealing with difficult situations. Thus, she knew that it was important to stay calm and cool. During that instant when everything was about to suffocate her, she battled fiercely to keep her voice as natural as possible. She did so because she had a hazy feeling that the sound of her voice had the ability to placate a person's heart. Luckily, she had gambled correctly and managed to save not only her own life but also all of the lives of the people around them!
That pair of fierce eyes, which still faintly emitted a crazed aura, fixedly stared at Xiaocao's slightly wan little face. Drops of sweat bloomed onto his forehead. Had he almost lost control of himself in front of her? He truly didn't want to hurt her yet the opposite effect had occurred.
He did his best to recall what had happened in those moments when was about to lose control. He had always thought that ability of his, the one that he detested bitterly yet had no choice but to accept, shouldn't be allowed in this world. Perhaps he was wrong, perhaps the thing that shouldn't exist in this world was himself? The more he tried to become closer to a person, the easier it would be for him to hurt that person. That little girl had given him moments of light and freedom, and he didn't want to destroy her in a pique of insanity. Perhaps the right choice would be to stay far away from her!
Zhu Junyang hadn't yet realized that he had finally found another person that he wanted to protect, other than his parents and his siblings. Perhaps his heart, which didn't know what love was, only wanted to protect that girl who was so precious and sincere…
Wu Deshun noticed that his master wasn't speaking, so he secretly wiped his forehead that was crowded with sweat. He whispered, "Miss Yu, my master was only joking with you earlier…"
Eh? Such a grim and unfeeling master could actually crack a joke? That seemed...not right!
"You...should quickly leave!" Zhu Junyang reinstated his usual cold and apathetic demeanor. His icy eyes didn't dare to look towards that other pair of clear, limpid eyes that seemed to see right through a person's soul.
Yu Xiaocao lightly curled her lips as she thought, 'Even if you didn't try to shoo me away, I would still gladly leave now! With that unpredictable temper of yours, the more time I spend with you, the more likely I'll get hurt! This little baby was truly scared to death earlier!!'
"Alright! I still need to cook some medicinal cuisine for my godmother, so I'll take my leave now! Feel free to shop around." Yu Xiaocao did her best to keep a natural looking smile on her face as she lightly conversed with the young royal prince before she left. Although her movements looked unhurried, she was actually thinking, 'I need to get away from this crazy dinosaur!'
Zhu Junyang watched as that slight figure on a tiny horse slowly disappeared into the distance. His heart felt as if it had a hole in it, and he wasn't quite sure why he was feeling so irritable. Once his uneasy emotions surfaced again, Zhu Junyang didn't dare to spend any more time on the streets and went directly back to the residence.
That night, Princess Consort Jing found out what had happened from Wu Deshun. Her youngest son had almost lost control of himself on the streets. She felt both anxious and joyful at the same time. When she found out that Yu Xiaocao was able to calm her son down from the brink of snapping with a single sentence, her hands suddenly froze.
In these past ten years, she was well aware of what her youngest son was like when he lost control of himself and fell into the influence of negative emotions. Other than herself, no one else had the ability to bring him back into reason.
Ever since her youngest son started studying martial arts with the estate's private tutor, he progressed quickly. Zhu Junyang had a natural talent for this and also had Steward Liu privately instructing him as well. By the time he was twelve to thirteen years old, he was able to fight a match with his martial arts teacher, who was going all out, and let it go to a draw.
Since he was such an expert, whenever he lost control, he would naturally cause rivers of blood to flow. Although all of the people Zhu Junyang harmed deserved it in his eyes as they all harbored bad intentions, no one else knew that. If it wasn't for the people in Prince Jing's Estate doing everything they could to suppress the rumors, his bad reputation for being indiscriminately violent would have long spread throughout the capital. However, there weren't any walls in this world that didn't let in wind. She really didn't know what sort of consequences her son would face once one of these situations became known to the public.
Her youngest son was almost seventeen years old, so he was already at the age to talk about engagement and marriage. She had her eyes on a couple of well-bred maidens in the capital, but she truly didn't dare to suggest a marriage with any of their families. It was because her youngest son's temper was like a bomb that was about to explode at any time. As his mother, she also couldn't stay by his side all the time, what if...she didn't even want to contemplate what might happen!
In addition, her youngest son didn't seem to be very interested in any of the eligible young women in the capital. Some of the bolder maidens have tried to get closer to him, but he never seemed to have a stable mood at those times. If this continued, what could be done? Zhu Junyang's future marriage prospects was a problem that truly worried Princess Consort Jing a lot!
However, today she had heard from one of her son's personal bodyguards that the Yu Family's young girl was able to bring her youngest son back to reason with one sentence. Princess Consort Jing's eyes lit up. It was as if she was someone who had previously lost her way in a maze but now knew which direction to go.
The Yu Family's daughter eh? Uh huh! That little girl was quite likeable! Although she was born in a farmer's family, she didn't have the airs and pettiness of someone from a lowly birth. When she was interacting with her, the little girl was neither servile nor overbearing. Her manner was naturally cordial and made people feel comfortable. She was also talented at cooking medicinal cuisine...the most important part was that she was able to calm her youngest son down! The more Princess Consort Jing thought the more she thought that the little girl was the perfect person to become her son's future wife.
What about her status? That absolutely wasn't a problem!! Prince Jing's Estate wasn't a family that was mired in tradition and insisted on a bride with a high position!! That being said, wasn't the little girl the adopted daughter of General Fang? The emperor himself highly trusted and valued General Fang. Once construction on the Tanggu Harbor was finished, General Fang was naturally going to get a promotion. Then that little girl would also have her status rise. She would become the daughter of a third ranked official. In the eyes of outsiders, that was more than enough to match with her son, and it would actually be a very good match!
What about age? A man being five to six years older than his wife wasn't considered outrageous, right? There were couples in the capital that had a twenty to thirty year gap between the man and woman! Furthermore, wasn't General Fang almost ten years older than his wife ah? The two of them had a great relationship and were a loving couple envied by many people. That being said, having the man being older was a good thing; he would know how to take care of his wife then!
However, the little girl was only ten years old right now. If her son wanted to bring this bride back, he would have to wait a few more years. Waiting was fine. As long as he had a goal, it was still much better than waiting around with no goal and despairing!
Now that she had a solution to her youngest son's marriage problems, Princess Consort Jing felt as if a weight had fallen off her shoulders. She felt giddy and light inside. She didn't worry about whether these two had any feelings for each other! She knew her son's personality. If he really didn't care about that little girl, why would he snap back into reason after hearing one sentence from her?
As for whether Yu Xiaocao wanted to marry her son, Princess Consort Jing also didn't think this was a big problem. Familiarity bred fondness. In the future, she was going to create more opportunities for them to meet more frequently. Her son's looks were similar to hers, so he was quite handsome ah! She was quite convinced that there wasn't anyone in this world who could resist such a stunningly handsome face!
Your Highness, was this called self confidence or narcissism?
Before Princess Consort Jing could make an opportunity for her youngest son to meet the little girl again, Zhu Junyang sped back to the capital with a few of his bodyguards. He had neglected his duties back at the capital in order to take a break to visit his lady mother. If a resolute person wanted to take ahold of this, then he would be in a lot of trouble. Even being a relative to the emperor might not save him from something like that.
Luckily, his trip to Tanggu Town wasn't without any progress. The Yu Family's astonishing ability to grow the new plants was more than enough to get him out of this problem. Zhu Junyang lowered his head to look at the corn seedling that was wrapped with some cloth at the bottom of its roots. He had taken this from the Yu Family's fields. When that little girl found out that he was bringing it back to the capital, she especially gave him a bottle of water and reminded him repeatedly to water the roots with a few drops from time to time. This was to avoid the corn seedling from dying of thirst.
Zhu Junyang couldn't help but smile whenever he remembered that little girl reminding him. She had such an adult expression on her tiny little face. Eh? Why was he thinking about that little girl again? Didn't he already make a decision to stay far away from her and that the best thing to do was to stop thinking about her too? Zhu Junyang frowned fiercely. What was going on with his emotions?
Since he was afraid that the corn seedling wouldn't survive the journey, Zhu Junyang spent all of his time traveling, eating and resting on the road. The route that usually took three days to complete ended up only taking them less than two days. He had just gotten back home, washed up, and changed when the emperor summoned him to the palace.
Inside the imperial study, Jianwen Emperor pointed at the table full of notebooks accusing the royal prince for misconduct. A faint smile was on the emperor's face as he remarked, "Junyang ah, look at this! It hasn't been half a month and you've already caused this much trouble for me! Some of these are accusing you of taking advantage of my favor while others are accusing you of neglecting your duty. A few even accuse you of not regarding me, the emperor, with respect...do you have an explanation for me?"
Zhu Junyang didn't feel any displeasure coming off of the emperor. He calmly looked around the imperial study. Among the few trusted aids and officials was the Minister of Revenue, who looked quite worried. Zhu Junyang stayed expressionless within this atmosphere that smelled faintly of malice. He placed the flower pot within his hands lightly on the table in front of the emperor.
The emperor looked at the vigorous plant within the pot and then cracked a joke, "What is this? Are you giving me a present in front of all of these officials? And in such a grandiose and confident manner? I don't think there's another person as bold as you, Zhu Junyang. If you want to bribe us, then you need to tell us just what this precious plant is, right?"
"Corn!" Zhu Junyang cherished each word that came out of his mouth like it was worth gold. His love of silence really made the emperor want to smack him a few times. Do you dare to say this even more abruptly?
The Minister of Revenue's eyes lit up and he scurried closer to look at the plant carefully, "Royal Prince Yang, are you saying that this stalk is a corn seedling? Prince Yang, you were able to plant and grow corn?"
The few plots of land that were set aside on the imperial farms did not have their experiments go well. In some of the plots, the corn seedlings grew sparsely and were quite fragmented. Those fields had a very low yield. The other plots of land produced plenty of corn seedlings, but they weren't vibrant and lively. All of them were yellowing as if they didn't get enough nutrition. Some of the more experienced farmers sighed when they saw this and then said that it looked as if they might not even produce enough corn to get the seeds they used back.