Fields of Gold

"Little Mantou, Little Guozi, Maternal Uncle has come to see you guys——eh? What are you guys doing?" When Yu Fan walked through the garden and passed by the lotus pond, he saw two tiny little fellows squatting beside the pond. He felt alarmed in his heart.

Little Mantou, who had big eyes that were similar to his mother's, looked at him with his round eyes and showed a cute smile, "Uncle Shitou, we're teaching the little chick to swim."

Little Guozi, who was beside him, narrowed her slender phoenix eyes and said with a look of disdain, "Second Brother is so stupid! I already told you that little chicks can't swim——it's little ducklings that can!"

"They don't know how, so they need us to teach them ah! Won't they know after they learn?" Little Mantou, who was holding a furry little chick, seemed like he wanted to throw the little chick into the water. The pitiful little chick was trembling in his hands, as if it had foreseen its fate.

Little Guozi rolled her eyes cutely and replied in a sharp voice, "Do you know how? You don't even know how to swim, so how are you going to teach the little chick? If you want to teach the little chick to swim, you need to first learn it yourself!"

Yu Fan thought that his nephew and niece looked extremely adorable. Why were they so cute? Especially his little niece, when she reasoned in such a serious manner, she looked exactly like his second sister when she was a child. However, there didn't seem to be much logic in her reasoning. Even if Little Mantou learned how to swim, he still wouldn't be able to teach a little chick how to swim.

"Zhu Yunxiao! Did you steal a little chick from the east side courtyard again?!" Zhu Yunxuan, the Heir of Imperial Prince Xu, had returned from outside. He was already nine years old, and he looked exactly like his lord father when he didn't smile.

The east side courtyard used to be a huge garden, but it was later transformed into a rural scenery. There was a uniquely shaped thatched pavilion, a house with earthen walls and a thatched roof, as well as a fishing pond with rippling waves. There was also a lush green vegetable garden and a wheat field with a promising harvest. The reason Imperial Prince Xu did this was because Princess Consort Xu had expressed, "I'm really afraid that our children will neither do physical labor nor be able to distinguish the five grains." Hence, he plowed down the garden and planted wheat. Although two of the three children of Imperial Prince Xu's Household were only four years old, they all participated in the field work. But, of course, the two younger ones tended to cause trouble more often than not.

In order to cultivate the children's compassion, a chicken coop was built next to the vegetable garden. A group of chicks were hatched for the children to raise. They were supposedly responsible for raising them, but, in actuality, they just needed to use some time every day to feed them a handful of grains and some water. There were servants in charge of cleaning the chicken coop.

Today, when Zhu Yunxuan came back from horse racing at the racetracks, he went to the chicken coop to feed millets to the little chicks. However, he found that one was missing. Due to the fact that his younger brother had done something similar in the past, he charged directly to the lotus pond. Sure enough, he found the missing chick in his younger brother's hands.

"Didn't I tell you already? Little chicks can't swim! If you throw it in, you'll just end up killing it. Did you forget about Little Black Mouth? Didn't it drown because of you?" Zhu Yunxuan was about to cry because of his younger brother's stupidity.

"But…" Little Mantou pouted and still wanted to say something.

"No buts! Now, this instant, take Little Ball back immediately!! In the future, you're not allowed to catch the little chicks to play again! Do you hear me?" Zhu Yunxuan stated each word clearly, and his plump lips were pursed into a line.

Little Mantou knew that his older brother was upset. He was unwilling, but due to his older brother's imposing force, he had no choice but to answer, "I understand…"

This was because he knew that if he didn't listen to his older brother, he would be the one who would suffer in the end. When he was about to finish drinking his porridge, he would find a fat bug at the bottom of the bowl. There would be a hole in the back of his clothes, which would cause his friends to laugh at him upon seeing the white flesh of his butt. When he practiced calligraphy, ink would 'accidentally' stain his completed works and he would have to rewrite them…

There were many similar situations. When he went to tell his parents about his older brother, Eldest Brother got praised instead. Over time, he had learned from these suffering that he couldn't offend his older brother. He couldn't disobey his older brother's words, otherwise, he would suffer badly.

Although he really wanted to teach the little chick a new skill, he had no choice but to give up on this plan. The little chick named Little Ball had escaped a disaster.

Seeing that his younger brother was so well-behaved, Zhu Yunxuan decided to 'give some sweets after a scolding', "If you show improvement in your handwriting, can memorize the Thousand-Character Classic, and can do the half-squat for an hour, I'll help you persuade Lady Mother to let you raise a duck as a pet. But, you have to take care of the duck yourself and can't let others help you!"

When Little Mantou heard this, he instantly became energized, "Eldest Brother, I have already memorized the Thousand-Character Classic. Listen——The sky is dark, and the earth is yellow; the space is vast and limitless. The sun and moon wax and wane; the stars lodge in their constellations…I practice calligraphy seriously everyday, and even Lord Father has praised me for being talented. Also, also…I persisted in squatting for an hour this morning. If you don't believe me, you can ask Little Wu'zi." Little Wu'zi was his personal manservant. He was only ten, but he was a very clever fellow.

Little Mantou was very envious that his lady mother could raise two 'big dogs' as pets. He had always wanted to have a pet of his own, regardless of what it was.

Yu Fan, who was watching the interaction between his nephews, laughed incessantly in his heart. There were so many options, so why did he want to raise a duck? He looked forward to seeing his little nephew's anxious expression when the little duck jumped into the water

"Uncle Shitou, did you come to see my lady mother? Right now, she should be in the small study of Jiale Hall." Every day at this time, as long as Lord Father was at home, Lady Mother would accompany Lord Father to study——one grinded the ink, while the other practiced calligraphy.

Practicing calligraphy was just an excuse for them to spend some time together. The three children of Imperial Prince Xu's Estate were all used to their lord father being clingy to their lady mother. At the beginning, Little Mantou and Little Guozi had protested against their lord father for frequently stealing their lady mother from them. After repeated failures, they finally admitted their fate.

Yu Fan nodded his head and patted his oldest nephew's shoulder. Then he caressed Little Mantou's head and pinched Little Guozi's cheeks. He said with a smile, "Maternal Uncle needs to first find your lady mother for official business. I'll play with you guys later. Little Baozi, take good care of your younger siblings ah!"

Seeing Zhu Yunxuan wrinkle up his face, which looked very similar to Imperial Prince Xu's, Yu Fan snickered in his heart. He did it on purpose. He knew that his oldest nephew didn't like others calling him by his nickname, but he wanted to see a helpless expression on a face that looked similar to the guy who stole his second sister from him.

"Uncle Shitou came to fight for Lady Mother with Lord Father again. Lord Father is so pitiful!" Little Guozi ate a piece of candy that her younger maternal uncle brought over from the candy shop and sighed. But, could she somewhat suppress her expression of wanting to see a good show?

Little Mantou opened his mouth to let his younger sister put a candy into his mouth. He said in a muffled voice, "Is this retribution for Lord Father because he's always stealing Lady Mother from us?" This brat, if his lord father heard what he had said, who knew where the retribution would fall on?

"You two, it's time to study so come to the outer study with Eldest Brother. Be careful that the teacher will hit your palms if you're late!" Zhu Yunxuan took his younger siblings, who had wanted to join in the fun, all the way to the side courtyard.

Little Guozi looked around and revealed a pitiful expression, "Eldest Brother, today, Little Mantou pulled me along to watch him teach the little chick to swim, so I didn't get to eat my afternoon snacks. I'm so hungry…"

"Don't you have candies in your hand? Eat two pieces for now; we'll have dinner soon!" Zhu Yunxuan was used to his younger sister's tricks, so he replied indifferently.

Little Mantou held the little chick in his hands in front of his older brother, "Eldest Brother, don't we have to take Little Ball back before going to the outer study? If the teacher sees it, he will throw him out. At that time, it will become a pitiful stray chicken——a beggar chicken. That's so pitiful ah!"

"Little Wu'zi, bring the chick in Second Young Master's hands back to the east side courtyard!" There were no emotions in Zhu Yunxuan's voice. Without stopping, he took the two little fellows to the outer courtyard.

Little Mantou opened his hands and wailed, "Eldest Brother, there's chicken poop on my hands. So stinky! Can we go back to my room to wash it first?"

"There's a wash basin, as well as hand soap, in the outer study." Zhu Yunxuan spoke in a tone that didn't allow any doubt. His younger siblings were very smart and learned very quickly, but they just didn't like learning. Since they started studying at the age of three, they would try to challenge the teacher every day in an attempt to slip away.

Although the teacher was very knowledgeable, he had a rather pedantic temperament. Thus, the two little fellows often succeed in skipping classes. After Lady Mother heard the teacher's complaint, she handed the task of supervising his younger siblings' studies to him, the eldest brother. He would rather use this spare time to read another book or practice another set of boxing with his martial arts teacher.

As a result, the earlier situation would repeat every day. The two little fellows would try their best to escape from the classroom or delay entering the classroom. He, on the other hand, would foil their little schemes one by one——Ay! It was so tiring to be the eldest brother!

After Zhu Yunxuan threw the two little fellows in the outer study, he warned the two people who were obviously thinking of bad ideas, "You two better behave! If I hear the teacher complain about you two being disobedient, then Little Mantou will be served a bug feast tonight and Little Guozi won't be allowed to eat sweets for a month!"

"Ah——don't, Eldest Brother——" The two little fellows wailed. Little Mantou was a boy, but he was the most afraid of squirmy bugs and so on. Allegedly, he had been scared by a little green insect that had fallen on his nose when he was younger.

As for Little Guozi, like other children, she loved to eat sweets. Especially when her lady mother was suddenly in the mood to cook, the pastries that her lady mother made herself were her favorite. Her lady mother was afraid that her teeth would rot so she only permitted her to eat two pieces of candy and a piece of cake each day. She must brush her teeth after eating.

Zhu Yunxuan grasped the weaknesses of his younger siblings, so even if they were the Monkey King, they still wouldn't be able to escape from his palm. Uh…would Lady Mother continue with yesterday's Journey to the West for tonight's parent-child storytelling time? He really looked forward to it ah!

"Disciples follow rules, while the sage teaches. Filial piety comes first, and sincerity is next…" The childish voices of his younger siblings reciting sounded from the room. Zhu Yunxuan went into the adjacent room and listened with relish to his lord father's former subordinate telling him about the arts of war and military tactics.

He liked to read books, but he was even more interested in listening to his lord father and Second Paternal Uncle talk about the ups and downs of the battlefield. His lord father said that when he reached the age of ten, he would take him to experience life at the Xishan Barracks. Before that, he must be fully prepared so that he wouldn't disgrace his lord father…