Chapter 1235: [TangNing] Swindling one’s mother
Han Yunxi picked up the giant red packet that had landed by Rui’er. This was none other than the envelope he had “stolen” the other night. Seeing this, little Rui’er quickly grabbed a corner of the envelope and refused to let go. How could Han Yunxi know that all the money in this envelope was hers? She was both amused and indignant as she held fast in the deadlock.
“Rui’er, who gave you this?” she asked.
“Imperial mother, gimme!” Rui’er said earnestly.
Han Yunxi thought Rui’er was asking her for a red envelope since only Long Feiye had given him one last night.
“Darling, tell imperial mother Happy New Year and I’ll give you a big envelope,” Han Yunxi smiled. Before her, little Rui’er wasn’t a child throwing a tantrum, but her precious darling.
He knelt on the bed and blinked his wide eyes as he said in a babyish voice, “Happy New Year.”
“So obedient!” Amused, Han Yunxi turned to take the huge red envelope she’d already prepared. Seeing this, Rui’er’s eyes brightened. Han Yunxi couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the sight of her son’s greedy look. She sprawled on the bed and handed the envelope to Rui’er. “Darling Rui, can imperial mother ask you a few questions?”
“Okay!” Little Rui’er had already tossed aside the other red envelope to focus on his mother’s.
“Does imperial father belong to imperial mother?” Han Yunxi asked.
“Yes,” Rui’er didn’t hesitate.
“Then does darling Rui belong to imperial mother?” Han Yunxi asked next.
Although Rui’er was fixated on the large red envelope, he was still focused on the subject at hand. Opening wide, he declared loudly, “Yes!”
Han Yunxi giggled mischievously and asked again, “Then do imperial father’s things belong to imperial mother too?”
The only difference between this question and the first was the addition of “things.” It was unclear whether Rui’er caught the addition, but he nodded and exclaimed, “Yes!”
Han Yunxi was now chuckling like mad. “Then do darling Rui’s things belong to imperial mother?”
“Yes!” Rui’er agreed wholeheartedly.
“Alright,” Han Yunxi quickly followed up, “Since darling Rui’s things are imperial mother’s, then darling Rui can give your red envelope to imperial mother for safekeeping, okay?”
“Okay!” Rui’er agreed swiftly, but soon looked up in confusion. Han Yunxi only smiled guilelessly as she reached for the red envelope. Rui’er immediately snatched both up and burrowed into the bed, guarded. “No good!”
Han Yunxi couldn’t stop laughing. Everyone thought her son had matured early, but in her eyes he was still her foolish, precious baby!
“Imperial Mother won’t take the red envelopes, just tell me who gave you that big one, all right?” Han Yunxi said, patiently pointing to Rui’er’s left hand.
Although she hadn’t counted the contents, it looked like a sizable sum! Long Feiye had already given his, so could this had come from Gu Qishao or Tang Li? According to etiquettes, they weren’t supposed to gift the imperial son a red envelope on new Year’s, but there were no such established rules within the confines of No. 7 Teahouse.
“Imperial mother, gave,” Rui’er said honestly.
Han Yunxi’s mind didn’t catch up to his words and assumed that her son had confused the two envelopes. She drew him into her arms and pointed at the red envelope in his right hand. “Imperial mother gave you this one. Who gave you the one in your left hand?”
“Imperial mother, gave,” Rui’er replied.
Han Yunxi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She opened up the red envelope and peeked inside to find ten separate silver drafts within. It was a massive sum equal to the one from his imperial father.
“Could your godfather have done this?” Han Yunxi muttered to herself. Although Tang Li was a free spender, he wouldn’t be this ostentatious. Han Yunxi summoned Zhao mama to help Rui’er wash and dress up until he looked extra handsome. Then she carried him out of the room with the red envelope in tow. Long Feiye and the rest were waiting for them at Celestial Fragrance Pavilion so they could all dine together.
When Han Yunxi showed up, everyone was in the midst of discussing Rui’er’s reasons for fearing Long Feiye. Long Feiye hadn’t wanted to bring it up, but Gu Qishao had asked him first thing in the morning, clueing Tang Li and Ning Jing into the affair. Now Tang Li was talking nonstop so much that he became more of a nuisance than Gu Qishao.
Han Yunxi felt both gratified and pained when she heard the accounts of Rui’er hugging his father last night.
“Sister-in-law, did you go to sleep early last night? You had no idea Rui’er made such a racket?” Tang Li asked.
“Mhm,” Han Yunxi replied softly. She glanced at Long Feiye just as he looked back with a teasing smile. Han Yunxi silently kicked him under the table, but he remained unmoved as if nothing had happened. Little Rui’er knew everyone was talking about him, but he didn’t understand the contents of their conversation. Currently, he was communicating with little Tang Tang with his eyes. As she narrowed her eyes, he sent back a warning glare. When she continued to glare, he stared back with slits. The two children soon forgot all about the adults in their staring contest.
Gu Qishao fell silent for a while before he suddenly slapped the table. “Long Feiye, you busy yourself with politics and leave this matter to me. I’ll take Rui’er to Celestial Mountain. If that doesn’t work, I’ll take him all the way to the Mysterious Continent to find Han Chen!”
Long Feiye didn’t respond beyond glaring at Gu Qishao with a fixated, severe expression. As time went on, Gu Qishao’s bluster died down. In the end, he looked away and pursed his lips, refusing to give himself away. “No matter what,” he finished expressionlessly, “We have to get to the bottom of this!”
“All right, then you can take him away in these few days,” Long Feiye agreed.
Gu Qishao gave a start before breaking into a smile. “Really?” he asked.
“It’s a lie,” Long Feiye replied flatly.
Originally, Han Yunxi and the Tang Ning couple had been tense, but his words sent them all laughing. Gu Qishao grew gloomy as he said coldly, “Long Feiye, you’re so busy with your rule, how will you ever find time to take Rui’er to Celestial Mountain?”
“It’s impossible to climb the mountain before the end of spring. Han Chen will arrive in Cloud Realm before the Qingming Festival. He’s prepared the best spring tea in Cloud Realm for the occasion, so even if I don’t find him, he’ll find me,” Long Feiye replied icily.
With his words, the group realized Long Feiye had been exchanging letters with Han Chen. Han Yunxi was his daughter and hardly met her father, so how did Long Feiye strike up relations with him?
It wasn’t that Long Feiye didn’t care; it was simply that Rui’er was normal in all other respects. Gu Beiyue had examined him multiple times and said the problem wasn’t severe. Gu Qishao could only resentfully stay silent. Han Yunxi had been planning to take Rui’er to Celestial Mountain herself, but now this saved her a trip. When it came to Lustbite energy, Han Chen should understand more than the Celestial Sword Sect leader. After all, his power even exceeded such energy. Neither wife nor husband liked discussing the topic in Rui’er’s presence since he could more or less understand their speech.
Long Feiye quickly changed the subject and began asking for favors for his son. “Tang Li, where’s your red envelope?”
There were too many rules in the palace, so not just anyone could give the imperial son red envelopes. At the No. 7 Teahouse, everything went according to seniority. Tang Li’s red envelope couldn’t be skipped! He had long made preparations and sat in front of Rui’er with little Tang Tang in his arms.
“Rui’er, want a red envelope?” he asked with a grin.
“Happy New Year!” Rui’er said seriously, causing everyone to laugh again. Tang Li easily gave up his gift. Meanwhile, Gu Qishao had already given Tang Tang her red envelope and was now scooting over to Rui’er as well. He personally bent down and stuffed something into Rui’er’s pocket.
When he tried to take it out, Gu Qishao hastily stopped him and said, “Shh, hide it well. Look at it when you go back tonight, or else it’ll get stolen.”
Little Rui’er immediately sent a guarded look in Tang Tang’s direction and didn’t dare to move. Naturally, Gu Qishao had given him the same thing as “last year.”
While Rui’er was very happy to get his gifts, Han Yunxi was completely lost. “Strange…”
She took the big red envelope in Rui’er’s hand and asked, “Then who gave him this one?”
Little Tang Tang’s gaze finally broke from Rui’er’s body to stare at the huge red envelope. Nobody had noticed, but she thought this was the biggest red envelope she’d ever seen! Naturally, she’d been sensitive to matters of money from a young age.
The group finally noticed the item. “What’s going on?” Long Feiye asked.
“I found this on the bed today, it should have fallen from his body. There’s ten sheets of silver drafts inside, who gave it to him?” Han Yunxi grew uneasy. Besides a big moneybags like Long Feiye, everyone simply went through the motions with their red envelopes. Who would give so much silver?
There was nobody else in No. 7 Teahouse either.
Abruptly, Han Yunxi gave a start! She remembered something: she had once filled ten red envelopes with such sums! They were meant to be gifts for the wives of the four main dukes, three main generals, and three high-ranking ladies of the kingdom!
None of those wives were born yesterday. They were all shrewd types!
Han Yunxi quickly pulled out the silver drafts and carefully examined the printing. All of them came from Kangan Private Bank! Her vision turned black!
Naturally, the red envelopes she prepared all had money from Kangan Private Bank. These were the very same slips she’d stuffed into the 10 different red envelopes last night!
Little Rui’er had no idea how much trouble he’d caused. He was still in a staring contest with Tang Tang in case she tried to steal his money. Han Yunxi looked at Long Feiye and muttered, “Things got complicated.”
She had told the servant girl to deliver those red envelopes last midnight via flying hawk messengers. They would reach Yunning by tonight, right? It was too late to take those envelopes back now. The only reason she’d invested such capital into these gifts was because she was too lazy to vie and fight with those old wives. She wanted to shut their mouths for a bit so her New Year’s could pass in peace.
Now she had no idea how they’d react to her completely empty envelopes.
Long Feiye knew of her preparations, so he understood the matter at once when he took up a silver draft. While Han Yunxi was still sitting stunned, he burst into loud laughter…
