The Lucky Farmgirl-Chapter 1909 - 1884: Both Sides Striving (February Bonus - 11)

Chapter 1909: Chapter 1884: Both Sides Striving (February Bonus Chapter 11)

Changyu nodded repeatedly, smiling, "You all are so daring in your thoughts. I’m just thinking of separating the Crown Prince and Third Brother next time. Third Brother is already injured and shouldn’t be arguing with the Crown Prince anymore."

Mingda seemed to be lost in thought.

Bai Shan solemnly said to Princess Mingda, "When we return to the palace, please report this matter to His Majesty. Conflicts between children are challenging for parents to intervene too much, but doing nothing is not always the best approach either."

Mingda finally understood Bai Shan’s intent. She smiled at him and said, "I will suggest it to my father and mother."

Only then did Bai Shan quietly breathe a sigh of relief. He glanced at Manbao, reached out to hold her hand, and said, "It’s late, and we have to travel tomorrow, so let’s go back and rest first."

After saying this, he bowed to the two princesses and left.

Naturally, Bai Erlang walked with them.

Changyu watched them leave hand in hand, feeling an indescribable sense of envy, "Actually, growing up together like childhood sweethearts is quite nice. But unfortunately, I have always been in the palace and don’t have anyone like that."

Mingda snapped out of the issues concerning her two brothers and, upon hearing this, smiled and said, "Aren’t you and Wei Yu deeply in love now?"

Changyu replied, "Not as much as they are a tenth of the way."

Mingda slightly shook her head and smiled, "Everyone has their own fate. There are many deeply affectionate people in the world. If you are to envy them all, you’d spend your whole life in envy. In my opinion, you and Wei Yu are quite nice together."

Changyu thought for a moment and said, "For this Dragon Boat Festival, I don’t even know if he sent anything to the palace."

Mingda smirked, "You’ll find out once we return home tomorrow."

Indeed, they originally planned to explore Yongzhou City the next day, but because Prince Gong broke his leg, everyone decided to head back to the palace the next day.

As the only imperial physician present, and somewhat related indirectly to Prince Gong’s leg incident, Zhou Man naturally had to escort Prince Gong back to the palace.

Bai Shan wasn’t very reassured, so he naturally wanted to follow along. Senior Sister and Senior Brother both decided to join, so Bai Erlang, unwilling to face the adults’ questions alone, also wanted to return.

Daji had a vague idea that they had caused some trouble, but he didn’t know exactly what because as guards, they couldn’t get too close. Since Bai Shan and the others didn’t speak up, they were left in the dark.

However, even if they didn’t say anything, he would ask anyway.

Early in the morning, the people in the palace house began preparing to set off. Daji found Bai Shan and asked if they needed to send a letter home. After all, they were heading directly to the capital, so they must inform the people at the other end to avoid having them wait in vain.

Only then did Bai Shan remember. It was fine to keep it from grandma and Uncle Zhou, but it wouldn’t be possible to hide it from the teacher. If he didn’t say anything now, the teacher would definitely find out when he returned to the Chongwen Pavilion after his break.

Being honest might earn some leniency, and perhaps even some advice from the teacher.

So, Bai Shan, with a headache, went to write a letter to the teacher. Manbao needed to take care of Prince Gong, and Erlang was out of the question. If he wrote the letter, he might inadvertently spill all of their future plans and intentions to the teacher.

When Daji received the letter, the people in the palace were ready with the carriages, preparing to load Prince Gong onto them.

He glanced from a distance at the limping Prince Gong, turned around, found a guard, and handed the letter to him, saying, "Deliver this letter back quickly, and quietly tell the Old Madam that it seems the young masters have gotten into some trouble."

The guard took the letter, mounted his horse, and left, departing the palace ahead of their carriage.

The reason for their slow pace was entirely because of the Crown Prince.

Previously, the Crown Prince, in order to trouble Prince Gong, specifically forbade bringing extra carriages. In fact, upon arriving at the palace, he even had the local carriages inspected by removing the wheels to prevent Prince Gong from opting to use them on the way back to the capital.

Because they dismantled so much, and knowing the Crown Prince’s intentions, none of the carriages were repaired. It wasn’t until yesterday afternoon when it was decided they would return to the palace today that the palace staff urgently repaired them, reinstalling the wheels and everything.

Since they were newly assembled, they needed to be checked again as a routine precaution that morning. Otherwise, if something happened to the carriages midway, the whole group would be in serious trouble.

For safety’s sake, the pace couldn’t be hurried. By the time the Crown Prince was finally able to mount his horse to leave, the sun had already risen over the mountain.

This was nearly half an hour later than the Crown Prince’s planned departure time, so he was quite displeased, wearing a sour expression on his face.

Changyu couldn’t help but yawn and quietly complained to Mingda, "Crown Prince Brother woke us up too early, getting us up before dawn and making us wait for so long."

Mingda also wasn’t used to waking up so early and felt sleepy too, but she said, "It’s hot. Crown Prince Brother is eager to return to the capital early."

Changyu yawned again, looked ahead, and said, "Manbao seems to be in the same carriage as Third Brother."

Mingda nodded and said, "The carriage shakes and Third Brother’s leg is injured, so Manbao will definitely check on him more."

Actually, Zhou Man felt there was no need for her to watch over him. His leg was already bandaged; as long as he didn’t put his leg on the ground with force, there was basically no issue. The carriage jolting wouldn’t affect his injured leg unless it overturned.

However, Prince Gong kept complaining about pain here and discomfort there, so Manbao could only helplessly follow along.

No choice—since she made this trouble herself, she had to stay around and sometimes improve the Crown Prince’s image in front of Prince Gong.

"This carriage is quite spacious; the Crown Prince instructed people to arrange it..."

When they stopped halfway, an attendant came to deliver water and informed the group to rest. Manbao continued to mutter, "Since when did the Crown Prince become so considerate, even allowing breaks midway?"

Mingda, taking advantage of the pause to check on Prince Gong and Manbao, hesitated momentarily and looked back at Bai Shan and Bai Erlang.

Bai Shan slightly nodded, yes, that’s what was intended—the unintentional appearance.

Although Prince Gong still had no good expression, he knew the Crown Prince’s actions were indeed considerate towards him. After all, when they came to the Yongzhou palace, the Crown Prince galloped on horseback the whole way and disliked how slowly the group moved, let alone stopping to rest.

He only stopped when they reached Pu Village in one breath.

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince was furrowing his brow and complaining to the East Palace officials and the Forbidden Army leader, "It’s just a broken leg, not like half of the body is gone. I’ve already slowed down the group, and we’ve barely walked any distance before we’re resting?"

The leader of the Forbidden Army could only lower his head and say, "The princess said that Prince Gong wasn’t feeling well and that going slower wouldn’t matter."

Before leaving, the Emperor specially instructed them to take good care of Princess Mingda, to listen to her on minor matters, and only seek the Crown Prince’s guidance on major issues.

The officials from the East Palace also advised the Crown Prince, "Your Highness, the injury on Prince Gong... being considerate now would be better. When you return to the palace, you still have to confess to His Majesty."

The Crown Prince, unflinching, replied, "We were just sparring. Who can say anything?"

Prince Gong’s injuries were due to his lack of skill, and he had inquired from Zhou Man, who confirmed that although his injuries looked severe, they were merely superficial and posed no real problems.