Happy Little Scholar

The difference between good wine and bad wine is the taste and the headache index after waking up from a hangover.

The wine he drank with Lao Chang yesterday was his treasured collection. He was reluctant to give it to Xiaozhu for cocktail experiment. When he woke up in the morning, he just had a slight headache.

Xiaohuan wet the towel and walked over to help him wipe his face.

Li Yi took the towel from her and said, "I'll do it myself."

He wiped his face, and Xiaohuan took the towel from him, put it back in the basin, turned around and walked out.

When he put on his clothes and got out of bed, he always felt that something was wrong.

He didn't have this feeling today. Since he came back from Cangzhou, he always felt that something was different from before, but when he thought about it carefully, he couldn't remember it.

He sat at the table and frowned. This feeling made him very uncomfortable.

He got up late this morning. Ruyi and the others had finished breakfast. Xiaohuan brought in the hot food, put it on the table, and walked out again.

Li Yi picked up the chopsticks and stretched them halfway. His expression froze. He knew where the difference from before came from.

Quiet, too quiet.

In the past, when he got up, Xiao Huan would stand by the bed and hand him a towel. When he wiped his face, she would tell him about the latest happenings among the maids in the mansion.

When he ate, Xiao Huan would sit beside him or opposite him, holding up her chin with one or both hands, and staring at him eating. When he found out, she smiled stupidly, her eyes curved into crescents.

When he was writing in the study, she stood aside to grind the ink. After grinding the ink, she would go around behind him, put her hands behind her back, and stand on tiptoe to see what he was writing, even though she didn't recognize many of the characters at all...

Not anymore.

She would still hand him a hot towel in the morning, but she would not sit opposite him when he ate. When she was in the study, she would grind the ink and leave by herself, for fear of disturbing him.

Several times, Li Yi saw her sitting alone in the yard in a daze. Xiaohuan used to be in a daze, but she rarely stayed in a daze for several hours like she did recently.

Li Yi felt a little guilty. Since he came to Shuzhou three years ago, he had rarely been idle in the chaotic land of Wu State...

She liked to listen to his stories the most. How long ago was it that he sat in the yard and told her stories while letting her massage his shoulders?

It was so long ago that he couldn't remember clearly.

Xiaohuan's meaning to him was irreplaceable, not Xiaocui, not Xiaozhu, not even Ruyi and Ruyi.

When he first came to this world, the most confused and helpless days, the one who stayed by his side was not Ruyi or Ruyi. At that time, Xiaohuan was still a silly and cute little maid who would only hang around him, liked to listen to his stories, and liked to eat the food he cooked...

She was always chattering, as if she had endless things to say. When did she become silent?

Ruyi walked in from outside, sat beside him, and whispered, "Husband."

Li Yi raised his head, her eyes looked over, and asked, "Husband, do you know what day tomorrow is?"

"March 21st."

March 21st is not his and Ruyi's wedding anniversary, nor is it Ruyi's birthday, let alone Ruyi's birthday. March 21st... is Xiaohuan's birthday.

Li Yi's face was full of regret. If Ruyi hadn't reminded him, he would have even forgotten Xiaohuan's birthday.

Seeing the expression on his face, Ruyi knew that he had remembered. She looked at him and said softly, "After this birthday, Xiaohuan will be twenty years old."

Li Yi sighed softly, "The little maid has grown up..."

"Xiaohuan is my maid who is my concubine. I know that my husband used to think that Xiaohuan was too young, but she will be twenty years old after today. If a maid is not my concubine, she is just an ordinary maid. Others dare not say it openly, but what will they think of her in their hearts..." Ruyi looked at him, shook her head, and said, "Xiaohuan will not tell my husband about these things, and my husband himself will not think of it..."

Li Yi's eyes were slightly absent-minded. In his memory, the little maid will always be the little maid who wears double buns or buns and sways in front of him.

He didn't realize that Li Duan was already four years old, Yongning had grown into a big girl, and in a few months, even if measured by the standards of later generations, Shouning would be an adult...

The little maid was actually no longer a little maid...

...

Xiao Cui had just coaxed Li Mu to sleep and walked back to the yard that belonged to her, Xiaozhu and Xiaohuan. Xiaozhu was packing things in the room. She walked in to take a look, then walked out again and asked Xiaohuan who was sitting in the yard in confusion: "Xiaohuan, we will leave in a few days, why haven't you packed your things yet---- --What are you doing here, eating melon seeds? "

"My uncle likes to eat them, but he doesn't like to crack them. I'll peel some for him." Xiao Huan turned around and smiled, saying, "You guys clean up first. I don't have much to clean up. I can clean up in half an hour before I leave."

Xiao Cui looked at the bowl of melon seeds in front of her and her scratched fingers, grabbed her hand, and said angrily, "Are you stupid? Your hands are like this, why are you still peeling them!"

Xiao Huan pulled her hand back, her eyes curved, and smiled, "It's okay..."

"You!"

Although Xiaohuan was always so gentle and soft-spoken on weekdays, Xiaocui could never be more stubborn than her when something happened. She went back to the room angrily, glanced outside, and said dissatisfied: "Why do you think this girl died like this?" Where’s the mind’s eye?”

Xiaozhu walked over, sighed, and said: "She hasn't been stubborn for a day or two. It's better to worry about Xiaohuan than ourselves. Xiaohuan is much luckier than us..."

…

"Have you heard that the prince and princess are going out again..."

"I heard it, I heard it from Sister Xiaozhu and Sister Xiaocui. They have to go out for a long time this time. I really envy Sister Xiaozhu and Sister Xiaocui. They are with the Second Madam and the Third Madam. , take them with you wherever you go..."

"She is the maidservant of the second wife and the third wife. She will have to stay in bed with her from now on, which is different from us..."

"That's not necessarily true. Look at Sister Xiaohuan. She is still the princess's maid. She has been with the prince for how long and she hasn't been taken away from the house yet. Do you think it's because the prince doesn't like her..."

"I think it's possible. Xiaohuan doesn't look like Sister Xiaozhu or Sister Xiaocui. She looks stupid. How could the prince like..."

"Shut up!"

…

There is King Jing's Mansion in Kyoto, there is King Jing's Mansion in Ruyi City, and there is also King Jing's Mansion in Shuzhou. When I left Kyoto, I left some maids to look after the house, took some of them away, and left some in Shuzhou, in Ruyi City, and on the house. Of the maids, only a few were with her when she was in Kyoto, and the rest were newly recruited later.

At this time, the one who started to scold harshly was the maid named "Xiao Qing".

When she was in Kyoto, she worked in the palace. In Ruyi City, she was also the eldest maid in the palace. She was considered a small housekeeper. Her status among the maids was only lower than that of Xiao Huan and the other three.

Her face was full of sullenness at the moment. She looked at the two chatting maids and said angrily: "How do I teach you guys? Are you allowed to say such things?"

Perhaps it was because Xiaoqing's usually friendly and cheerful image had become deeply rooted in people's hearts. A maid glanced at her mouth and said, "Sister Xiaoqing, what we said is right..."

"That's right, that little ring looks so silly..." Another person also helped.

"You..." Xiaoqing raised her eyebrows and was about to scold, but suddenly looked behind everyone, bowed and said: "Your Majesty..."

Li Yi glanced at the two maids in the crowd indifferently, waved his hands, and said: "Pack your things today, go back to where you came from..."

The two of them turned pale and fell to their knees with a thud: "Your Majesty..."

Li Yi waved his hand: "Let's go, before I change my mind..."

When the two heard this, their bodies trembled and they broke into cold sweats. They immediately got up and left in a hurry.

The other maids' faces were also slightly pale. They knew that when the prince said that he had not changed his mind, he did not mean to forgive them. It was taboo for them to criticize behind their backs as servants. Among those wealthy families, they had to sink their ponds and fill their wells...

No one expected that the prince, who usually had a pleasant appearance and never said harsh words to anyone, would be so angry because they said a few bad words about Miss Xiaohuan...

Li Yi glanced at the maids. Although his eyes were gentle, everyone shuddered when they thought of those two sentences he just said so calmly.

…

Jingping three years, March 21st.

It was a very ordinary day. Li Yi was sitting in his study, looking at a map of Qi.

Xiaohuan pushed the door open and came in, placed a small bag on the table, and whispered: "Uncle, I peeled some melon seeds without skins. You ate them earlier. They won't taste good after a long time..."

"Okay." Li Yi nodded.

"Uncle, remember to eat. I'll go down first." Xiaohuan smiled sweetly and turned around, with a trace of imperceptible disappointment on her face.

This trace of disappointment quickly turned into a smile. She sniffed and walked outside the study.

She only took one step and couldn't take another step.

Because Li Yi grabbed her hand.