The Slender Waist-Chapter 579 - 415 Truly Happy

The news of the Prince of Danyang County severing his finger had already spread throughout Huaxi Village.

By the time Feng Yun, Pei Jue, Yao Ru, and the Grand Princess arrived at the manor with the injured Puyang Zong in a grand procession, many villagers had already gathered on both sides of the village path, stopping to watch.

Puyang Zong lay in the carriage, listless and staring blankly at the roof.

Seeing him like this, the Grand Princess felt a painful twinge in her heart.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

Puyang Zong shook his head.

The Grand Princess asked, "Then why don’t you close your eyes and sleep for a while?"

Puyang Zong gave a bitter smile, "I can’t sleep."

The Grand Princess pursed her lips and fell silent for a moment, her eyes reddening.

"Zong’er, it’s Mother’s fault, Mother has hurt you..."

From yesterday to today, the Grand Princess had repeated these words many times.

Puyang Zong furrowed his brows and suddenly turned his face towards her, his eyelashes trembling lightly as he looked at her for a moment.

"It’s my fault. I have been unfilial, causing Mother worry..."

The Grand Princess felt tears threaten to spill over, but upon hearing his words, she fought them back.

From childhood to adulthood, Puyang Zong could be said to have caused endless trouble. The Grand Princess did not always indulge him; there had to be some accountability. Therefore, he had apologized many times, changing his words and his ways, so much so that the Grand Princess’s ears almost became calloused...

...but she never took him seriously.

Yet at this moment, seeing the traces of tears in Puyang Zong’s eyes, she heard a sincerity she had never heard before.

"Zong’er..."

The Grand Princess took hold of his right hand.

"You will be fine. From now on, Mother won’t make things difficult for you. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to... As long as you are healthy, Mother will be content."

Puyang Zong’s mouth twitched slightly as he struggled as if wanting to sit up.

The Grand Princess hurried to support him, but he pushed his mother away and propped himself up to sit straight, speaking with earnest seriousness.

"From now on, please continue to discipline me strictly, Mother, point out my mistakes, spur me on, chide me..."

He lowered his gaze, his throat suddenly tight with emotion. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"...lest your son stray onto the wrong path, mix with bad company again, harming not only himself but also losing Mother’s face, causing Mother to bear many insults..."

During his days in Huaxi Village, he had actually reflected a lot.

And at the moment of severing his finger, when the pain made him pass out, his realizations reached their peak...

Often, it was because of him and Puyang Yi that the Grand Princess suffered many indignities...

She loved her children and was protective of them.

And the greatest trouble he had caused in his life was that time at Little Jieqiu, when he followed Yuan Kang up the mountain and encountered Feng Yun...

If he hadn’t offended Feng Yun and Pei Jue, none of the subsequent events would have happened.

"I was truly foolish in the past," he said with a bitter smile, admitting his wrongdoings to his mother.

"Actually, thinking about it later, Yuan Kang lured Qu Feng and me to Little Jieqiu to search for treasure with ill intent... He must have had dealings with Yecheng long before, and when he went to Little Jieqiu, though he spoke of treasure hunting, what he wanted to find was the mine."

At that time, Feng Yun’s mine had not yet officially started operations, but news had already leaked out.

Puyang Zong felt anger burning in his eyes.

"We treated him as a brother, but he saw us as fools. Qu Feng lost his life, Wang Shao and Fan Yue were beaten black and blue by Chunyu Yan, and me..."

He glanced down at his bandaged finger, feeling a piercing pain, and his brows knitted together.

"This is the lesson."

This was the first time the Grand Princess heard genuine feelings from her son’s mouth...

The son whom she despaired of ever seeing succeed suddenly seemed to have come to his senses. Her eyes filled with tears, and for a moment, she didn’t know whether to feel sorry for her child or relieved.

"It’s also Mother’s fault for not seeing through his treacherous ambitions earlier..."

Mother and son spoke heart to heart, a rare occasion for both of them.

Before long, the carriage arrived just outside Changmen Village.

It was still some distance from Puyang Yi’s residence, but Puyang Yi was already waiting there, her eyes red from crying. As soon as the carriage stopped, she rushed up to it.

"Mother, Brother..."

Upon seeing her daughter, the Grand Princess felt both sorrow and joy.

Puyang Zong greeted his sister uncharacteristically kindly.

"Sister, take Mother back to rest. She hasn’t slept all night and is feeling weak..."

Puyang Yi noticed the change in her brother’s attitude but without overthinking it, turned her head and instructed the maids to guide the coachman...

Yet the Grand Princess said, "There’s no rush, inform the King and the Princess first."

Feng Yun’s carriage was following behind the Grand Princess, and at this moment, it had just barely arrived.

She was lacking sleep, swaying back and forth in the carriage, she fell asleep in Pei Jue’s arms.

Hearing the noise around her, she drowsily opened her eyes and met a pair of deep, profound gazes.

"Have we arrived?"

"We have," Pei Jue glanced at the curtain, "the Grand Princess is waiting."

Feng Yun yawned.

Living so close, why couldn’t these formalities be dispensed with?

Feng Yun had grown accustomed to life in the village, to being leisurely, and found too much formality exhausting.

But she said nothing, and the moment Xiaoman helped her out of the carriage, she had already put on a fitting smile on her face and walked in front of the Grand Princess’s carriage, performing a bow.

"Your Highness need not be so polite to me; I’ve grown comfortable in the village and usually don’t bother with formalities. From now on, we should all be comfortable," she said.

The Grand Princess smiled, looking at the villagers gathered nearby. She seemed unfazed by the Prince of Yonghuai and was even as close to the Princess as if she were part of her own family, which was quite moving.

"The Princess is right; I too should adapt to local customs," she said.

No sooner had her voice faded than a woman came over with a young boy.

One was Sister Wang from Yao Ru’s household, and the other, the young lad from the Sun Family.

One was carrying a basket with eggs cushioned by rice bran.

The other had a basket on his back, filled with a large amount of herbs.

Sister Wang set down her basket, grabbed a bunch of herbs, and cheerfully said, "Your Highness the Grand Princess, these herbs were picked by my husband Yao Ru from Jieqiu Mountain. They’re fresh and good for brewing a drink for the Commandery Prince to help his wound heal faster and get his fingers moving again..."

She spoke heartily, stepping forward and bowing as she handed the basket to a guard.

The young lad from the Sun Family, however, was extremely shy, so nervous that his cheeks turned red.

He performed a bow, not daring to look at the Grand Princess, but spoke to the eggs in his basket instead.

"These eggs were laid by a wild hen my father encountered while hunting in the mountains. I heard these are more nourishing than those from domestic hens, so I brought them especially to nourish... to nourish Mr. Puyang..."

Sun Xiaoman did not address him as the Commandery Prince, but as Mr. Puyang.

Because...

He truly was a student of Puyang Zong.

Although Puyang Zong hadn’t been teaching at the village school for long, his days were strictly regulated. He woke up early and went to bed late, studying even harder than he had for his own education. Moreover, it was his first time being a teacher, educating others, and he felt a bit of novelty in it, so he put his heart into it...

But never in his wildest dreams did he think that he, a teacher without a salary, would receive a gift from a student...

Before Sun Xiaoman could finish speaking, Puyang Zong, as if forgetting the pain in his body, abruptly pulled aside the curtain and looked at the blushing boy with a full smile on his face.

"I acknowledge your kind sentiment, but your family has elders too. Take it back, for your mother to eat, be filial to your mother..."

The Grand Princess listened, her lips curling into a smile.

But Sun Xiaoman kept shaking his head.

"No, no, no, it was my mother who told me to bring it. She said that even without giving Shuxiu, being guided in our studies by you is a blessing from our past life that we must not take lightly..."

Puyang Zong felt indescribably pleased.

He felt more and more that his arrival at Huaxi Village had not been in vain...

"Then... shall I accept it?"

He glanced at the Grand Princess with a slight sense of pride, and then looked closely at Puyang Yi, about to signal the guard to receive it when suddenly a commotion erupted from behind the carriage...

"Mr. Puyang..."

"Mr. Puyang..."

What followed shocked both Puyang Zong and the Grand Princess.

A group of children of various sizes, carrying gifts they thought worthy, crowded around the carriage, all of them children eager to visit their "teacher."

The attendants were also stunned.

With their hands on their swords, they didn’t know whether to move or to stay put.

The Grand Princess shook her head, and the guards backed away.

So the group of "uncouth" students rushed to the carriage, calling out to the teacher like they were presenting treasures and expressing their concern, each with worry for him written all over their faces.

Puyang Zong accepted the eggs from Sun Xiaoman, and not wishing to refuse the others, responded to each in turn with many pleasantries and accepted their gifts.

As they were leaving, he seriously said,

"Treasure your books and make learning your pursuit. You must study well. Do you hear me?"

The students responded in unison and bowed to him.

"We understand, Mr. Puyang!"

Their voices in harmony made Puyang Zong’s ears burn.

All his life, in everyone’s eyes, he was a wastrel. Even though his mother was fond of him, and his sister respected him, in their hearts, there was inevitably some disappointment.

Even he himself, living aimlessly, held no expectations for himself.

But that day, he received many gifts and countless signs of recognition...

"Mother..." clutching an armful of presents with his right arm, he seemed to come back to life, taking a deep breath, "I feel so happy."