Time Travel and Love

A small figure ran in from outside the door. It was four-year-old Yu'er. As he entered, Yu'er discovered that his grandfather was holding Fairy Sister, his head buried in her neck. Fairy Sister was also hugging his grandfather. His arrival caused the two to hastily let go. Chu Qingmeng's face flushed instantly, and she turned her head to look inside, no longer looking at the child. Mo Liujin coughed and asked, "Yu'er, what's wrong?"

"Grandfather," Yu Ge'er's soft voice sounded, "I still want to eat that candy from before."

Chu Qingmeng pointed at the cabinet, and Mo Liujin quickly took some and gave it to him, "Go out and play!" Yu Ge'er ran away happily with the candy. Mo Liujin laughed when he saw Chu Qingmeng blushing, "You didn't do anything! He interrupted you like you did something and got caught!" Chu Qingmeng also laughed.

Time had flown by for over half a month, and Chu Qingmeng was now free to move around. Mo Liujin had been attending court since the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. The brothers Mo Jiangqing, both serving in the military, accompanied Mo Liujin on border defense, and so attended court daily. One day, with nothing better to do, Li and Xu took a few children to the palace to play. While playing, the children suddenly started talking about something, and Xiao Ge remarked, "None of the portraits of immortals you've seen are as beautiful as the immortal sister in my grandfather's courtyard!"

"Tsk! I said the fairy sister you saw was not as beautiful as the fairy portrait in my grandmother's Buddhist temple!" Mo Liufang's little grandson Cheng Ge'er retorted.

"What you saw were all portraits!" Yu'er pulled Xiao'er and arrogantly retorted to Cheng'er, "We saw the real person! The other day I saw Grandfather holding the Fairy Sister! She was the real Fairy Sister, so beautiful! Your portraits can't compare to her!"

"Why don't you believe it?" Qi Ge'er also joined in, "Sister Fairy is in our yard, if you don't believe it, come with us to see it!"

The group of children could not bear such excitement, and seventeen or eighteen of them rushed to Princess An Ning's Mansion.

At this moment, Chu Qingmeng finally seized the opportunity to come out for some fresh air. Still covered by a thick handkerchief, she had only intended to stroll around the courtyard for a while, so she didn't ask Chunhe to do her makeup. She simply washed up. Chunhe and Xiazhi, one on each side, supported Chu Qingmeng as they strolled around the courtyard. The master and servant chatted and laughed, but a group of children chattered at the door. Chu Qingmeng noticed them and turned to see them, a group of children talking back and forth. Chu Qingmeng smiled and waved, leading them to the dining room. She asked Xiazhi to have some snacks brought, while Chunhe filled the dining room with braziers. When the room warmed up, Chu Qingmeng finally removed the handkerchief, distributed some snacks to the children, and watched them laugh and play.

Qi Ge'er stood up and said, "Well?! Am I right? Fairy Sister is more beautiful than the portrait you see!"

Chu Qingmeng smiled helplessly and shook her head. So such a large group of children were brought to the mansion just to see her?

"Sister Fairy, you really are just like what's described in the books," said Yige, the eight-year-old oldest of the group. "The books say, 'The lotus blossoms are not as beautiful as a beauty's makeup, and the wind blows through the water palace, filling it with the fragrance of pearls and jade. Sister Fairy is even more beautiful than what's described in the poems."

Chu Qingmeng smiled sweetly, tapped the boy on the head and said, "You have such a sweet mouth, I wonder how many girls you will deceive in the future!" She picked up a piece of cake and handed it to him, saying, "Okay, eat something. It's cold, don't run around. There's a charcoal brazier in the house, so be careful not to fall."

After saying that, Chun and Xia Zhi helped Chu Qingmeng back to the house. After strolling for a while, Chu Qingmeng felt tired, so he went back to the house and fell asleep without taking the matter to heart.

The next morning, Qi from the palace arrived with the child. Li welcomed her into the main hall. Qi said cheerfully, "Oh, sister-in-law, you need help!"

Mrs. Li looked puzzled, "What happened to sister-in-law?"

"Hey, didn't he come to your place to play with Qi Ge'er yesterday? He said that a fairy sister gave his eldest brother a piece of cake but didn't give it to him, so he refused to eat it. He has been throwing a tantrum all night. I tried to coax him, scold him, and beat him, but he just wouldn't stop crying to me. Oh, my head is about to explode." Qi's face was full of helplessness and fatigue. Cheng Ge'er was her youngest child and Mo Liufang's youngest grandson, so the family usually doted on him.

"This..." Li was in a dilemma. She knew the children were talking about her mother-in-law, but besides being ill and not seeing anyone, she also didn't want anyone in the palace to see her. She never expected to be betrayed by the children. Seeing Li's dilemma, Qi was puzzled. This wasn't a difficult matter, so why was she so embarrassed?

Seeing Qi looking at her, Li was afraid of offending her and had to speak, "It's not difficult to deal with it, but she fell ill yesterday and had a high fever at night. It hasn't subsided yet. I'm afraid she will pass on her illness to Cheng'er."

Seeing this, Qi had no choice but to give up and coax Cheng Ge'er away. Li sighed, these kids!