Harem Daily Life

After the Lunar New Year holiday, the imperial court was closed for the day and would not resume court until the eighth day of the first lunar month. He Linzhang had a rare few days of leisure to spend with his wife and children, so he decided to take the whole family to the hot spring palace.

"Wenquan, Wenquan, Quanquan." He Xiaoliu has been in a period of language explosion recently. He wants to say everything, and his words are all reduplicated, which is very cute. He was held in He Linzhang's arms. The father and son talked all the way. He Linzhang poured a lot of fatherly love on this youngest son.

Tao Yanyan was lying on the side, with He Yunuo and He Xiaobao beside him.

A mother and her two children were playing checkers, a set Tao Yanyan had custom-made for the Ministry of Industry. It was the only one of its kind. The checkers' base was crafted from wood, a pure handicraft, each square meticulously carved and the edges polished to a smooth finish to prevent prickling.

The glass balls are made of jade instead, and come in six colors: pink, green, white, purple, yellow and amber. Each one is polished to be smooth.

He Yunuo and He Xiaobao were having a blast playing. In the third round, both of them were vying to choose the color first. He Yunuo was quick to pick up the pink jade ball and said, "I want this one, it looks good!"

He Xiaobao pouted, looking a little unhappy, but ultimately chose the green chess piece: "I'll give it to my sister and not snatch it from you."

Tao Yanyan smiled and touched He Xiaobao's head: "Be good, Xiaobao, I'll give you a kiss as a reward." After that, he kissed He Xiaobao's chubby little face.

He Linzhang's heart was filled with joy as he looked at such a heartwarming scene.

He Yucheng followed He Jinan in a separate carriage, and throughout the journey, he was questioned by his brother about his homework. When he disembarked, Tao Yanyan saw only a look of despair on his face. However, Tao Yanyan would not intervene. After all, Yucheng was the crown prince, the future heir to the throne. The more outstanding he was, the more prosperous the Great Zhou would be, and the people would live a prosperous and peaceful life. For the sake of the people and the country, Tao Yanyan had no choice but to push his son out.

He Linzhang would not interfere with He Jinan's teaching of He Yucheng. He wished that someone could help him train the prince all day long. It would be best if he could become the emperor a few years earlier so that he could become the emperor emeritus and take Tao Yanyan to travel around the mountains and rivers, and let the prince succeed to the throne and govern the country.

Poor He Yucheng had to bear a burden that was not suitable for his age at such a young age. His round little face was so stiff that it was funny.

"Brother, brother, I just beat my sister at chess. My sister has lost three games in a row. She is a rookie." As soon as He Xiaobao saw He Yucheng, he ran over to report the battle situation. He was so proud that his eyebrows were almost raised.

He Yucheng glanced at him and said, "You are so awesome. I don't know how long it has been since I touched a chessboard..." As he spoke, he glanced at He Jinan, his eyes full of accusations of "you don't let me play."

He Jinan felt his sad eyes and smiled: "Then you come and play chess with me, two out of three games, and the loser has to copy "On Governing a Country" once."

He Yucheng: "..."

With hands on hips, he looked up at the sky in silence. He felt sad and wanted to cry.

"Second brother, this is unfair. You have obviously learned chess for a few more years than the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince can't beat you." He Xiaobao had the courage to mediate the lawsuit between his second brother and the Crown Prince.

He Jinan touched He Xiaobao's head and picked him up: "Xiaobao, I have only learned chess for a few years longer than your brother, the Crown Prince, but it is not certain that I can beat him. It's just like your fifth sister learned chess for a year longer than you, but you still beat her every time. It shows that learning early does not necessarily mean you will win, and learning late does not necessarily mean you will lose."

He Xiaobao's clever little head was confused by his second brother. He nodded and suddenly felt that what his second brother said was right.

He Yucheng: "..."

Is this a matter of learning early or late? This is because my Second Brother won’t let me breathe. He even tricked me into copying "On Governing a State" while playing chess!

Yu Cheng walked away with his short legs, hands behind his back, brows furrowed, and without looking back, with "I'm angry" written all over his body.

He Linzhang curled his lips, holding Xiaoliu in his arms with a fatherly and filial attitude: "Let's go, father will take you to see your yard."

This was the first time He Xiaoliu left the palace. Not long after he was born, He Linzhang went to the border. He Linzhang spent the least time with his son, so whenever he had free time, he almost always took care of He Xiaoliu.

Tao Yanyan first went to settle the empress dowager and several children, and then returned to Penglai Garden with He Linzhang.

As soon as she entered the door, He Linzhang hugged her.

"Yan Yan has been riding in the carriage all day today and must be tired. Let him rest first and have dinner later."

Without saying anything, He Linzhang carried Tao Yanyan to the couch, and the two of them were affectionate for a long time.

Tao Yanyan couldn't understand it either. He Linzhang was supposed to be forty years old, so how come he always had so much energy?

"Your Majesty, I am really tired today. Can I rest for two days?" Tao Yanyan put her arms around his neck, softly and tenderly, as if begging for mercy.

He Linzhang sighed slightly: "Yan Yan, your physical strength..." It has been the same for more than ten years and there has been no improvement at all.

Dinner was brought directly to the room, and the two of them ate a little before falling asleep. However, He Linzhang had developed the habit of waking up early over the years, so even though he didn't need to attend court the next day, he still got up very early. He practiced martial arts with his sons and He Yue for a while, then took everyone to have breakfast with the empress dowager. Only then did Tao Yanyan get up and wash up.

"Your Majesty, Eunuch Feng from the palace came to pay his respects this morning. He said that he hasn't seen you for many years and wanted to come and wish you a happy new year. Would you like to meet him, Your Majesty?" Xianglan asked while combing Tao Yanyan's hair.

Speaking of Eunuch Feng, Tao Yanyan met him when she first followed the empress dowager to stay in the palace. At that time, she was still a Liangyi with a very low position. Eunuch Feng treated her with no neglect and was very considerate to her in every way.

"Go and call him over. I'll see him after eating a bowl of wontons."

Xianglan took the order and asked the little palace maid to inform Eunuch Feng while she continued to comb the queen's hair.

"Your Majesty's hair is growing beautifully, black and smooth. It seems the tonic prescriptions Imperial Doctor Liu prescribed recently are very effective. Your Majesty is being well cared for."

Speaking of Imperial Physician Liu, Tao Yanyan hadn't seen him since more than ten days before the New Year. He couldn't help but ask, "Did Imperial Physician Liu take leave? Why hasn't he been on duty for almost the twentieth day?"

Xianglan thought for a moment and said, "I sent someone to ask before, and the Imperial Hospital said that Doctor Liu was out seeing patients. It seems he went to Suizhou to look for medicine. I don't know the details."

Tao Yanyan glanced at Xianglan and asked: "Are you still talking to that Doctor Zhang?" Doctor Zhang was interested in Xianglan, and Xianglan also had a secret crush on him, but Doctor Zhang's family opposed him marrying a palace maid, and finally broke up the couple.

Xianglan smiled and said, "I almost died once, so I'm very open-minded about many things. He's newly married now, so I have nothing to do with him anymore."

Tao Yanyan patted Xianglan's arm gently. "It's best if you can think it through. Marriage is something you can't force. If the other person's parents don't like it, even if you have deep feelings for each other, you won't have a good life if you marry them. Life is short, and nothing is more important than happiness."