Chapter 106: Gift

  The small kitchen was empty, an old woman in the side room was dozing off, hearing the noise she came out to take a look, Chao Sheng hurriedly said: "I'll just get something myself to fill my stomach, you don't need to bother."

  That old woman wouldn't dare mess with her, so she just smiled and nodded in response, then quickly retreated back into her own room.

  The fatigue on Chao Sheng's body had long since disappeared, and her footsteps were inexplicably light. In the quiet small kitchen, Chao Sheng used paper to start a fire, and the hay in the stove crackled and burned, casting a warm glow on her face that made it look rosy.

  The fourth prince didn't make a big deal about coming back, so there must be a reason. Chao Sheng also didn't make much noise and filled two lunch boxes with the delicious food she had prepared.

  The courtyard outside was extremely quiet, with moonlight shining on the ground. Someone stood at the gate of the courtyard, looking carefully, it was Xiao Su.

  He silently took the suitcase from Cao Sheng's hand.

  Chao Sheng handed over the heavier one: "This is for you."

  The fourth prince didn't eat anything, and Shunzi and Su also definitely didn't eat.

  Xiao Su nodded slightly and responded with just an "uh-huh".

  The lamp was lit in the study, and the blue window screen was reflected with a faint yellowish hue, just like the sunset when the sun was about to set.

  Chao Sheng didn't know why he felt a bit tense, took a deep breath, and then walked in with his lunchbox.

  Sometimes, things that are exactly the same - a desk, books, an entire room... everything is just like before, and Chao Sheng tidies up every day, but now this room looks completely different. The lamp on the table is lit, and the Fourth Prince sits calmly there, writing something.

  He sat there looking so comfortable, as if he had never left.

  Chao Sheng could see that the Fourth Prince had already been simply groomed, and the small living room behind the study was often put to use.

  "Your Highness."

  The fourth prince did not stop writing. He was used to it and would only stop after filling up a whole page.

  In this era, people did not write as casually as later generations. Whenever they wanted to write, they would pick up their brush and write; if they made a mistake, they would erase it and correct it...

  At this time, writing is a serious matter. If the ink is not used after grinding, it will dry out, and so will the pen. If you don't finish writing a sheet of paper in one breath, stop halfway, and then continue writing, the thickness of the ink, the continuity of the strokes... everything may be different.

  There is an expression called "artistic conception".

  Yes, the atmosphere is completely different now.

  Chao Sheng opened the lunch box and took out each dish one by one. The last thing he brought out was soup.

  The fourth prince had put down his pen and turned around: "So fragrant."

  Chao Sheng handed over a handkerchief, and the fourth prince wiped his hands and picked up his bowl and chopsticks.

  He eats while Chao Sheng is watching him by his side.

  The fourth prince indeed turned dark and thin. Compared to his original appearance, he used to be like a flower in a greenhouse, but now he is like a strong bamboo or cypress that has withstood the autumn frost and winter snow.

  But it seemed as if Chao Sheng felt that he hadn't changed at all, and was still the same person he had always been.

  This experience tempered his softness wrapped around himself and revealed his resolute nature.

  "Your craftsmanship has also improved."

  Chao Sheng smiled and said: "That's because Your Highness is hungry, so everything tastes good."

  The fourth prince nodded, and his eating speed was apparently faster than before.

  "Bring over the box from over there."

  Chao Sheng turned his head and saw that there was indeed a box on the shelf.

  She tidies up the study room every day, and this box is obviously a new addition.

  The box was quite heavy, and the fourth prince said, "Open it and take a look."

  Chao Sheng glanced at him and lifted the lid of the box.

  The box was surprisingly filled with stones.

  Big and small, round stones. Heads and colors are different, some are gray and white, some are light green, some are tea yellow... just like the kind of pebbles that can be seen on any river beach.

  "This was picked up on the Jiǔ Qū Tān in Lùzhōu." The fourth prince said, "You keep it to play with."

  He even said he would bring gifts when he left.

  But Chao Sheng had long forgotten this.

  She picked up a stone.

  The stone is cool and icy, heavy and sinking.

  The fourth prince didn't say who picked it up.

  Chao Sheng didn't ask either.

  But the stones were obviously carefully selected, with no duplicates, not too big or rough, and had been carefully washed and quietly placed on the velvet.

  Chao Sheng said in a soft voice: "Thank you, Your Highness."

  The fourth prince smiled and turned his head to look at her, with a soft glow in his eyes.

  As another prince, it's not difficult to send a box of gold, silver, pearls and jade.

  Sending a box of stones? If you tell others, they might think it's absurd.

  But Chao Sheng felt that this box of stones was more like a gift than any precious gem or jade.

  Rather than a reward from master to servant, or something else.

  Just as they were equals. She was no less than him.

  Chao Sheng felt a slight warmth in her eye sockets and rubbed them gently.

  "The fourth prince said: 'Put it away, there's nothing good to see.'"

  Chao Sheng put the stone back in the box and replied irrelevantly, "Is it better to raise fish in a small ceramic jar or to raise water lilies in winter?"

  The fourth prince didn't mind: "I've given it to you, so it's yours now. You can use it however you want."

  Chao Sheng put away his bowl and chopsticks, but couldn't help advising: "Your Highness has had a hard journey, why not rest early?"

  The fourth prince's eye sockets were sunken, and his eyes were bloodshot.

  He shook his head: "No more sleep, go and brew a pot of strong tea, I have to enter the palace early."

  Chao Sheng turned his head and glanced at the copper kettle.

  That's really no need to sleep now.

  It's already three more, four and a half will be on duty in the morning.

  Chao Sheng came out of the study, and Xiao Shun also came up to greet him, smiling and saying: "Chao Sheng, have you been well these days?"

  Chao Sheng stared at him in surprise, looking at the long scar on his cheek, which was still bright red and had just begun to heal: "How did you do this?"

  "Oh, I was scratched by the reeds." Xiao Shun touched his face: "Alas, my complexion is ruined. The broken reed tips are sharper than a knife."

  "Not really." Chao Sheng had also been cut by the reeds: "But how is it so deep...no medicine?"

  "Got it." Xiaoshun took the food box from her, and in his other hand was the larger food box he had just given to Chao Sheng for Xiaosu: "You've prepared everything, Xiaosu and I, as well as the two guards outside, will have just enough to eat. The soup is hot and warming from the inside out."

  Chao Sheng nodded: "I put pepper in the soup."

  "Oh dear, it's really expensive."

  The two of them spoke in low voices, Xiao Shun sent Chao Sheng back to the kitchen and even helped her carry water.

  "Would you like some tea, Your Highness?"

  Chao Sheng nodded: "Your Highness said you wanted to stay up all night..."

  She fetched the tea leaves, and Xiao Shun sat down on a small stool by the stove: "Just right, boil some more hot water to soak the master's feet - alas, this journey has been suffering."

  "Got it." Chao Sheng asked in a low voice: "I thought I had to wait for two more days, how did you come back tonight? What's the situation over there?"

  Xiao Shun shook his head, and the smile on his face disappeared: "Don't mention it... You don't know what those laborers eat... moldy food, mixed with sand... I and the young master saw a person with our own eyes, carrying a soil bag, fell down and died..."

  Chao Sheng's mood also fell.

  "If the embankment was built well, it wouldn't be a waste of human lives. But that embankment... Alas," Xiao Shun shook his head: "The places His Highness and Bao Shilang saw in Luzhou were still quite solid. But in Cangzhou, it was different. When the water came, several sections of the embankment started leaking... Later, the embankment collapsed, and all around was like a vast ocean. Some people climbed to the top of trees, and on the water, there were even children floating in wooden tubs...". Xiao Shun took a big gulp of water: "And there were also bloated corpses, too pitiful..."

  The tide rises and falls, but it never turns its back on you.

  Just listening like this already makes her feel uncomfortable.

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  One more... The second update should be before 12 o'clock