After the second day of the new year, Xia Ruqing could finally rest for a few days.
She returned to a carefree life once more.
If she had previously been concerned about her brother’s marriage, now she had no such worries at all.
Every day, she slept until she naturally woke up.
She would then freshen up, have breakfast, and take a stroll, sometimes to the grape arbor in the front yard, sometimes to the little vegetable garden in the backyard.
If the weather was occasionally bad and she had to stay indoors, she’d read storybooks, drink tea, make some snacks, and chat with Zi Yue and Zi Su.
This kind of life went on for half a month, leading up to the Lantern Festival.
That evening, Zhao Junyao finished his work and came to see her.
When he saw her engrossed in a storybook again, he couldn’t help but laugh.
"You used to say you wanted to study well, learn music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, read, and practice writing, but now you’re neglecting all that?"
After speaking, he didn’t forget to glance at the dusty books piled in the corner.
He casually pulled one out, flipped through it, and laughed.
"Have you read all of these?"
Xia Ruqing felt a bit guilty but thought about it and realized she indeed had, so she confidently nodded.
"Yes, I’ve read them all!"
Zhao Junyao’s eyes lit up, his brows arched.
"Oh? Then can I test you?"
Xia Ruqing frowned hard in protest.
"What’s the point of testing me? I’m reading, not memorizing!"
"Besides, I’m not competing for the top scholar!"
Zhao Junyao: "..." So assertive?
He was practically speechless.
"You’re not going for the top scholar, but you can’t just forget everything after one read!"
Xia Ruqing shamelessly continued.
"I just forgot, I can’t remember!"
"Look at how many there are, how could I possibly remember every single book?"
Seeing her so brazenly defiant.
Zhao Junyao couldn’t be bothered to ask further, so he tossed the book down helplessly.
"Fine, my Talented Empress?"
Xia Ruqing nodded with satisfaction.
"That’s more like it!"
Zhao Junyao reached out and gently tapped her head twice, dotingly.
"You!"
Even if she hadn’t read them, what would he say? She’s such a fool!
"By the way!"
Xia Ruqing quickly changed the subject.
"What’s Yue Er been up to lately? Why hasn’t she come to give me her regards these past two days?"
Chenchen, Henger, and Yeye live in the Outer Palace and come to pay their respects to her every other day.
Yet Yue Er, living in the Inner Palace, rarely comes by.
"That girl is becoming more and more unruly!"
Xia Ruqing felt a bit of a headache.
Zhao Junyao raised an eyebrow, also feeling helpless.
"That girl has recently become obsessed with polo, rallying the cousins in the royal clan to play polo together at the training ground every day!"
"I’m aware of it, but I can’t stop her, so let her be!"
Xia Ruqing widened her eyes in shock.
"Polo?"
Heavens and earth, what is polo? Is it that game played on horseback like in the old TV shows?
Oh my goodness!
Riding horses is one thing, but playing a ball game while riding?
"How dangerous!"
"And you, Emperor, you’re just... not going to manage this?"
Zhao Junyao thought for a moment, all the more helpless.
"I can’t manage it!"
He can’t bear to scold her, let alone hit her, so what else could he do?
Xia Ruqing glared at him fiercely.
"You’re the one who has spoiled her!"
Zhao Junyao felt quite exasperated.
"Don’t worry, nothing will happen, I’ve assigned people to watch over her!"
Xia Ruqing felt a wave of exasperation cross her forehead.
"Fine, fine, I don’t want to talk to you anymore!"
Talking more is pointless and it’s already too late, isn’t it?
Zhao Junyao chuckled and let the matter drop.
...
After dinner, before they went to bed.
The two of them lay in bed, drowsily chatting.
Zhao Junyao asked her.
"Qingqing, do you want to leave the palace for the Lantern Festival?"
She mumbled in response.
"I want to leave the palace and I want to go to Jiangnan!"
"I also want to see the younger siblings, and besides..."
She mumbled on about many random things, but before finishing she fell asleep entirely.
Zhao Junyao, however, heard everything.
"Go to Jiangnan?"
He frowned, contemplating the feasibility of this plan.
As an emperor, technically, he couldn’t just leave the palace whenever he wanted and be gone for half a year without returning. He wasn’t that free.
But...
Looking at his wife’s peacefully sleeping face in his arms, his heart softened greatly.
He knew she didn’t like the constraints of palace life and wanted to live in Jiangnan, which was probably her greatest lifelong dream.
But...
He couldn’t make it happen.
She always felt very disappointed at times like these.
Thinking about it for a long time, he realized that there was absolutely no possibility of fulfilling this, so he despairingly gave up.
He stroked her hair and softly promised, ’All right.’
"I will definitely take you there in the future!"