Chaperone

Because of Xiaoyi’s arrival, Zhuang Zhuang became much happier. He usually had nothing to do at home with Xiaoguo, but now, he was running around the village with Xiaoyi and Xiaohu.

At first, Xiaoguo felt that it was a little dangerous. After all, Xiaoyi was the crown prince, so she followed him around the village initially. However, she quickly stopped thinking this way.

Although the Imperial Guards could not be seen hanging around the village, they were, in fact, everywhere.

This time, Xiaohu was bringing Zhuang Zhuang and Xiaoyi up a tree. Although the tree was not high, it was quite difficult for the two boys, who had never climbed a tree before. Xiaoyi lost his footing and almost fell. Xiaoguo reacted quickly and reached forward to grab him, but she was still one step behind.

Two men appeared out of nowhere and caught Xiaoyi steadily from both sides. Before he could react, he had already been placed onto a tree branch.

Once that was done, the two men left.

Xiaoguo tried hard to close her gaping mouth and retracted her right foot. She was shocked…

“Aye?”

If Xiaohu and Zhuang Zhuang had not seen it with their own eyes, they would have thought that they were seeing things.

Apparently, other than Xiaoyi, everyone else was shocked.

Xiaoguo rubbed her calves. It seemed that there was nothing much for her to do. She could just go back. If she had known that there were guards watching over XIaoyi, she wouldn’t have spent so much effort walking around with them every day.

She waved at Zhuang Zhuang and left after seeing that he understood her.

Xiaohu sat on a thick tree branch and watched the mother and son signaling to each other. After Xiaoguo left, he asked Zhuang Zhuang curiously, “Zhuang Zhuang, where did your mother go?”

“I’m not sure.” Zhuang Zhuang smiled and shook his head. “She should be going home.”

“Oh…” After saying that, Xiaohu turned to look at Xiaoyi, who had settled nicely on the branch, and asked, “Xiaoyi, who are those people?”

“Hmm…” Xiaoyi did not know how to answer him. His father had instructed him not to reveal his identity casually when he was out. However, Xiaohu was considered his friend. It would not be nice to keep it from him…

Just as Xiaoyi was feeling conflicted, Zhuang Zhuang remembered Xiaoguo’s instructions. He turned to Xiaohu and said, “Those are the people sent by Xiaoyi’s father to take care of him.”

When Xiaoyi heard this, he looked up at Zhuang Zhuang in confusion. The other party only smiled back at him. Xiaoyi was stunned for a moment before he returned the smile.

“Oh… Then Xiaoyi’s family must be very concerned about him. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent someone to take care of him.”

“Yes.” Xiaoyi nodded. Although his father was very strict with him, he was very concerned and worried about him. Therefore, Xiaohu was right.

“Those two men are very skilled!”

It was Xiaohu’s dream to become a hero. He always fantasized about being like the two men just now—they were agile and omnipotent.

“That’s true. Those two are the most highly skilled.”

Xiaoyi nodded in agreement. The two guards were usually by his father’s side. This time round, they had come out to take care of him.

“Did they escort you all the way here?”

Seeing Xiaoyi nod, Xiaohu rubbed his chin. “If that is the case, that would make them the legendary ‘flower guardians’. And Xiaoyi is that flower!”

As soon as he said that, Xiaoyi didn’t think there was anything wrong with it, so he nodded.

As the only one who understood what “flower guardians” meant, Zhuang Zhuang almost fell off the tree. He stopped himself from wobbling and looked at the two boys who were unaware of what was wrong. He opened his mouth but didn’t say anything. Forget it, it wasn’t necessary to correct them.

“Zhuang Zhuang, what’s wrong?”

“It’s fine.” After thinking it through, Zhuang Zhuang shook his head at Xiaoyi and comforted him.

Xiaoyi had thought that he was playful enough, but Xiaohu was even more playful. He dragged him and Zhuang Zhuang around the entire village. One moment, they were climbing trees, and the next moment, they were having a snowball fight.

Although most of the snow had melted, there were still many places still covered in thick snow where the sun didn’t shine.

Curious, Xiaoyi grabbed a handful of snow and placed it in his palm. He carefully felt the snow melt from in his palm and eventually turn into a puddle of water.

There was also snow in the palace, but before he could play, the snow was already swept away by the palace maids and eunuchs. This was the first time Xiaoyi had the chance to enjoy playing in the snow.

The three of them climbed trees one moment, and had a snowball fight the next. Eventually, they all ended up looking terribly filthy.

When it was time for dinner, the three of them went home separately. When Xiaoguo came out of the kitchen after cooking, she saw two clay dolls standing in the courtyard, smiling at her with their gleaming, white teeth.

Xiaoguo couldn’t get angry after looking at their silly and cute appearances. She had no choice. The food was already cooked, so she could only let the two boys wash their hands and eat first.

After dinner, Xiaoguo boiled some water. When the water was boiling, she returned to the house and stripped the two children, revealing their fair bodies. Then, she wrapped them in a thick blanket and carried them individually to the bathroom before placing them in hot water.

She brought Xiaoyi into the bathroom first. Then, she wrapped Zhuang Zhuang tightly in the thick blanket and dragged him into the bathroom.

The two children sat together in the hot water, feeling extremely comfortable.

XIaoguo took turns to rub the dirt from their bodies. She wondered what these wild monkeys had been up to. To think that they had gotten themselves coated with so much dirt. The amount of dirt on them was over-the-top. She had to rub very hard to get rid of all the mud.

She used a lot of soap to wash them. After rinsing their bodies and drying them up, she carried them into the house and placed them under the warm blanket.

It seemed that the two children were tired from playing all day. When she returned to the room after emptying the bathtub, she saw that the two of them had fallen asleep with their heads against each other.

She gently blew out the candle and left.

—-

Initially, Xiaoyi was planning to stay here for three days, but when the time came, he postponed it for another two days. He stayed for a whole week before leaving.

On the day he had to leave, Xiaoyi was extremely reluctant. From the moment he woke up, he had been looking listless. When he saw Guanxi, who had come to pick him, he kept blinking at the man.

“I—”

“No, it’s been too long. The emperor is already urging us to return.”

Seeing Xiaoyi open his mouth, Guanxi knew what he was going to say. The last time when he was supposed to leave, he used the same tactic. Guanxi took pity on him after seeing his sorry looks. After making a request to the emperor, he was able to stay for a few more days. But now that he was trying the same trick again, Guanxi had no way to push back their departure anymore.

Xiaoguo looked at Xiaoyi and couldn’t help but laugh. Was her place better than the palace?

Xiaoyi hugged Zhuang Zhuang tightly and refused to let go. Zhuang Zhuang also hugged him back. The two of them looked at Guanxi eagerly. The latter looked like an evil character who was going to break them up.

No matter how reluctant he was, he ultimately had to leave. Xiaoyi got into the carriage and refused to lower the curtain. Guanxi had no choice but to look at Xiaoguo for help.

Xiaoguo walked forward and stroked Xiaoyi’s head, soothing him.

“Xiaoyi, you’re not leaving.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Xiaoyi looked at Xiaoguo in confusion, not understanding what she meant.

“You’re going to the capital to complete the mission. After the mission is accomplished, you can come back to us when there is a chance.”

As she spoke, she patted the small bag on Xiaoyi’s back and blinked mischievously.

When Xiaoyi heard this, he instantly regained his spirits. He held his sling bag and nodded heavily. That’s right, he had a mission!

“I will definitely complete it well!”

Xiaoyi nodded at Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang. The look of heroic dedication on his face was very amusing to Xiaoguo.

The carriage slowly left their sight. Xiaoguo sighed and looked down at Zhuang Zhuang beside her.

The boy was feeling very melancholic at this moment. He looked in the direction of the carriage and sighed.

“Let’s go back.”

Xiaoguo grabbed Zhuang Zhuang and walked home. She looked at the unhappy boy and comforted him. “Zhuang Zhuang…”

“Mother, I know. All good things must come to an end. Besides, it’s not like we won’t see each other again. If he misses me, he can come and find me. If I miss him, you’ll bring me to him too, right?”

“Yes…” After thinking for a while, she realized that he was right. In any case, she had nothing much to do. If Zhuang Zhuang really wanted to look for Xiaoyi, she could just rent a carriage and leave.

She had time and money, so this was not a big deal.