It wasn't until the child was carried out by the maid that Xia Xi finally released his tension. He was humiliated and refused to sleep in Chu Lan's arms. He had to be hugged and coaxed by him for a long time, and promised that it would never happen again. Only then did Xia Xi slowly retract into the man's arms. Chu Lan contentedly kissed him on the forehead and then joked, "Didn't Xi'er feel very good?"
Xia Xi buried his head in embarrassment and whispered: "Stop talking..." He was a little uneasy, "Yue'er shouldn't have seen much, right? If he remembers; if he talked about it casually; I... I don't think I'll have the face to see people anymore... "
Chu Lan smirked but then quickly comforted: "How can he still remember this after getting a bit older? Besides, he didn't see anything. He came to you half-awake, he'll definitely not remember tomorrow, maybe he won't even remember that he was here." Xia Xi whispered: "I hope so."
His two sons had different personalities. The older child might've followed after him, but he was much more outgoing than him. He was extremely friendly to people, always smiling and extremely kind, the kind that refuses to hurt even ants. But Chu Lan didn't like his character. He always felt that he wasn't bloody enough. When he grows older, he may become weak and timid. The younger was still young and his personality wasn't obvious, but he was very active. It seemed that his hands were always free, he had to grab something before he was satisfied. He was also curious about everything. One time Xia Chun and others hunted a she-wolf, whose patriarch hadn't yet died, they came back and brought back a little wolf. He dared to touch it and was almost bitten, he wanted to raise the little wolf but the little wolf was brought back especially by Chu Lan for the little Prince to kill.
The males of the Barbarians practised hunting skills from an early age, usually by the age of ten. They believed in the wolf god, but they killed wolves and drank wolf blood. Among the male members of the royal family, almost all their first killings were wolves. In fact, the little Prince was still too young. He was just five years old and was still a few years away from hunting, but Chu Lan thought that he was too timid, so he especially found a little wolf to give him a trial.
At that time, the little Prince was very excited when he saw the little wolf. He was too young to tell whether it was a wolf or a dog. He thought it was a pet caught by his father. While he was exhilarated, Chu Lan drew a sharp dagger and handed it to him, saying indifferently: "Kill it."
The little Prince was stunned. After a while, his beautiful eyes filled with tears. He cried and shook his head, sobbing and refusing. He hugged the little wolf pup who was scared enough to tremble and said: "I don't want to kill it, I want to raise it. Father, please withdraw your order."
Chu Lan frowned and threw the knife at his feet, he said: "Kill it!"
The little Prince still refused. He wasn't even willing to trample ants to death, how could he dare use a knife on a living thing. But he knew that his father and the King were different sides of the same coin, so he immediately thought of his mother and quickly sobbed: "I'll beg my mother, my mother will definitely help me." Chu Lan immediately shouted, "Don't go!" The little Prince was startled, he went to see Xia Chun who was standing aside and stretched out his hand to pull on his sleeve, whispering: "Brother, help me..."
Xia Chun was even more unwilling to help him. In just a few years, he had grown into a teenager. Although he wasn't as tall as his peers, his knowledge, martial arts, etc. were already at their highest level. He also performed exceptionally every time he hunts, let alone this little wolf, he himself didn't know how many heads he had culled, even the former wolf patriarch was killed by him. He looked down at the crying child and withdrew his gaze, saying coldly: "If you don't do it, don't even think about following me in the future."
His words were obviously more effective than Chu Lan's orders. The little Prince was shocked, tears rolled down one by one under his wide-open eyes, rushing down his snow-white cheeks. After being entangled, the little Prince got up crookedly, he picked up the dagger on the ground and said gruffly, "I'll kill."
The little wolf was killed by the little Prince in the end, he cried and was sad for several days, he even secretly built a small grave for the little wolf, also secretly picking some flowers from the garden to worship it. Xia Xi didn't know about this at first, and when he knew, he hurriedly went to find him. He happened to see the little prince confessing in front of a small grave in the backyard.
When Xia Xi heard the sound of sobbing, he stepped lightly and motioned to the other maids not to follow up. When he approached, he heard the little prince say: "...Orchid is my favourite flower, so I can't pick it anymore for you, only this common flower can be given to you. Are you doing well? It must be bad, my grandmother said, people who do good deeds will go to good places when they die. You're so young, it must've been too late to do good deeds. The place may be bad, but you're not a human being, and it's not necessarily... I'm wrong, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have died. Now, brother isn't willing to pay attention to me, I... I'm so sad......"
What he said was a bit messy, and as he spoke, his tone became melancholy again, and he cried in the end. Xia Xi felt uncomfortable after hearing this, he made his footsteps known, and walked over to squat beside his son. When the little Prince heard someone approaching, he was a little nervous at first, but he became relieved when he saw that it was Xia Xi and shed more tears. Xia Xi took out a handkerchief and wiped his face clean, he asked softly, "Jin'er, why didn't you tell me when something like this happened?"
The little Prince grieved and said: "Father wouldn't allow me to say, Ah-Ma, my hands are dirty and stained with blood. I... I didn't want to do that..."
Xia Xi sighed lightly, he held his hand and hugged him, patting him on the back. He said softly: "Your father just wants to train you. The men of the Barbarians are all trialled like this, don't be too sorry."
The little Prince leaned on his shoulders, still unable to stop his tears, he whimpered: "It's all here... is that right? I didn't want to do this... the little wolf's so pitiful..."
Xia Xi also didn't approve of using this method to educate children, even though this was the rule, the little Prince wasn't that old still. But it had already happened, he could only say: "The little wolf's very pitiful but when it grows up it'll become a vicious wolf, eating lambs, eating calves, and even attacking people. You've culled it before it became evil and saved more lives. So don't feel guilty anymore, because you protected the little lamb, alright?"
The little Prince was a little puzzled, "It hasn't grown up yet, why should it be determined that it'll become a vicious wolf in the future?"
Xia Xi said: "Because this is its survival instinct. Wolves eat meat, and meat won't be automatically delivered to it, so it must earn it."
The little Prince said, "But people also eat meat. For example, I ate beef yesterday, if the cow was stronger than me, would it kill me?"
Xia Xi still had doubts when he saw his son going on and on about these topics. He definitely couldn't decide the most correct answer, so he just kissed him on the cheek, smiled, and said, "It's noon, shall we go back to eat? Don't be too sorry, alright? Jin'er isn't wrong. Your father thinks you're too kind, so he wants to train you."
The little Prince was aggrieved: "Why can't I be too kind?"
Xia Xi said: "Because you've become the son of your father and King, you'll be the Lord of a country in the future. To manage the entire country well, kindness isn't enough, but you must also maintain kindness. Jin'er is very good, you'll surely do well then and become a wise monarch."
With his comfort, the little Prince wasn't so sad anymore, but he was still a little nervous. When Xia Xi hugged him away, he whispered: "Brother ignores me these days, does he think I'm useless?"
Xia Xi smiled lightly: "It shouldn't be, Chun'er is just a little busy."
The little Prince sniffed and said, "Brother doesn't like me. Does he like younger brother more?"
Xia Xi patted him and softly said: "He likes you." But he also knew that his comfort wasn't very useful. There was indeed a marriage contract between the two people, but Xia Chun wasn't enthusiastic about the little Prince, he was even a little cold when you consider it. Xia Xi felt that it might've been because the two people were a bit too far apart in age. They were eight years apart, and it was very difficult for them to get along. Just like when he was with Chu Lan, even if he was only five years behind, he still felt that the gap was particularly large.
The little Prince was still worried that Xia Chun would ignore him, so Xia Xi could only find time to ask Xia Chun to come to the Palace for dinner and arrange for the two to meet. As soon as the little Prince saw Xia Chun, his sad mood that had been lingering for the past few days was wiped out, almost to the point where he followed wherever the other party went. Xia Xi wanted to laugh when he noticed that his son was finally no longer so depressed, his heart breathed a sigh of relief.
Compared with the elder son, the younger son caused Xia Xi more headaches. After his younger son turned five years old he began running around, and soon, troubles followed. He was so active that he made the Palace walls collapse every day, he tossed around the rockeries and stones and even sneaked off to the racecourse to ride a horse. He almost fell off and was nearly trampled into meatloaf by his horse's hoof.
Xia Xi developed headaches because of his personality, but Chu Lan liked him very much. He indulged him and took his young son with him on several hunts. He also taught him how to shoot arrows and ride horses, perform sword dances, and practice martial arts. Xia Xi persuaded him several times but couldn't stop it, so he just let them go.
On that day, the maid came to report that the small Prince was missing. Xia Xi was taking a nap and was awakened. He dressed, walked out, and asked without panic: "Did anyone see which direction he was walking towards last?"
The maid was a little panicked and trembled: "He seems to have gone into the direction of the King's study."
Xia Xi was taken aback and also startled. Chu Lan's study was naturally the most important place, no one knew how many secret letters and other things were placed inside it. It was usually guarded by heavy soldiers, and irrelevant people were forbidden to enter. Although Xia Xi wasn't among the people forbidden to enter, he had almost never gone there, because he knew that the things inside were of utmost importance. He was a foreign Queen, it was best not to touch upon it.
At this moment, he became anxious when he heard that his little son had entered, he hurriedly went to look for him. When he arrived at the entrance of the study, there was a guard on duty who witnessed what happened, but he said that he didn't stop the small Prince. Xia Xi asked the reason, and the guard replied: "The King allowed the second Prince to enter his study."
Xia Xi felt a little helpless, he thought that Chu Lan was really confused, he wasn't even afraid of this little devil setting fire to his study. He walked in and yelled "Yue'er" a few times, and the young Prince poked his head out from behind a cabinet and called "Ah-Ma" cheerfully. Xia Xi glanced inside and saw no obviously messy place. He relaxed and said, "Is there nowhere else for you to play in this huge Palace? Did really have to run to your father's study? If something goes missing, your father will spank you."
The small Prince grinned and said: "I'm not afraid of being spanked. Ah-Ma, come and take a look, I found something pretty." He raised the thing in his hand and shook it in front of Xia Xi.
Xia Xi glanced at the thing in his hand and was first attracted by its golden shine. After taking a closer look, he stopped in his tracks. His heart began beating violently.
The small Prince didn't notice anything and asked, "Ah-Ma, isn't it pretty?"
Xia Xi's breathing was chaotic, he carefully looked at what Yue'er was holding in his small hand, but no matter how many times he looked at it, he couldn't deny what it was. It was the golden hairpin his mother gave him.
This was the golden hairpin he originally gave to Cai Huan. Why was it in Chu Lan's study?
<b>____</b>
<b>PastTimer: </b><b>Oooooohhh</b>
<b>Sorry for the late update! Our WiFi is shité</b>
<b>So I was working on some other day and forgot to wear a dust mask (it was the first time for me). The work still wasn't finished so I didn't wear one again because I thought it was unnecessary (I worked for about 5 hours on both days without a dust mask, so 10 hours of fine particle exposure). The result? Coughing fits, tight throat, and lungs that feel like they're about to die. I still need to continue constructing tomorrow I'm sure as hell going to wear one 💀</b>