The Blessed

As Yuehua Manor received the imperial edict and the rewards from the emperor, and Ling Jinghan topped the list of the examination for tongsheng, according to the rules here, they were supposed to entertain the guests. But Ling Jingxuan found it too troublesome, so he used the excuse that Ling Jinghan still had to make preparations for the provincial examination for the next year as the excuse to cancel it. He only asked Song Gengniu and his wife to prepare some delicate food for those families who were on good terms with them.

Then the whole family started to be busy like nothing had happened. They heard that the old xiucai’s family got into a mess again. A few days later, Ling Chengcai’s daughter came home with the kid. People all said that she got repudiated, because since she came home, she never left. On hearing that, Ling Jingxuan just smiled it off. Although all those things were caused by him, if they hadn’t provoked him first, how could Shengrui have done that to them? Everything has its karma!

What surprised Ling Jingxuan was that the average late rice output per mu had reached ten shi, and it smelt even better and also stickier. Even Yan Shengrui couldn’t help praising its flavor. The whole family was very happy, especially Ling Chenglong. One should know that as the only big thing he had ever achieved. Recently, he even carried a gust of wind when walking. Wherever he went, he’d always hang a smile on the face, and even took Old Zhou, Zheng Da and others to collect humus in the mountain for manuring the fields, only wishing to have another big harvest next year.

Therefore, Ling Jingxuan didn't say much. It was not bad that his dad had something to keep him busy. Although only he knew that it was mainly the credit of his crescent spring water. But, as long as they kept the seeds of this time, in future, their rice would still taste the same good.

"What are you doing? I saw you ran into the kitchen for a few times in the morning.”

It was already quite cold at the end of the November. Everyone was wearing thick cotton clothes. One day, Ling Jinguan went to the kitchen only wearing some thin clothes for quite a few times. Instead of feeling cold, he even had some sweat on his forehead. Yan Shengrui who came back from Zhao family stopped him before he ran to the kitchen again. Recently he had been busy with the iron forging stuff. So except time for eating and sleeping, he was almost all away the whole day.

"Nothing. It's a special day today. I need to get something ready."

Turning around and throwing him a smile, Ling Jingxuan lifted his feet and walked to the kitchen again. Yan Shengrui raised his eyebrows curiously and couldn't help following up, "What special day is it?"

"Our sons’ birthday."

Everyone was busy, so they nearly all forgot. Maybe the kids’ birthday was not that important in village families. But now Ling Jingxuan who became the boss and had nothing to do everyday remembered it clearly. Today, after sending the kids to school, he started to be busy. This was the first birthday he was going to prepare for his sons. Forget about other things. The birthday cake was a must. Since having received the imperial edict last time, the little buns seemed not quite in the mood. One even didn’t look excited on seeing money, while the other also showed no interest in food. So he wanted to take this opportunity to cheer them up.

"Birthday? Why didn't you tell me earlier? It's too late to get them presents now."

Hearing that, Yan Shengrui wide opened his eyes. No one had ever mentioned it before him, so he never knew when it was his kids’ birthday, only knew it was around the end of the year.

"Heihei…I forgot to tell you. What about you ask Yan Yi, Yan Shan and Yan Si to go to town to buy something? With their speed, I guess they would make it back before dinner.”

Going into the kitchen, Ling Jingxuan already aimed at the ready-steamed chiffon cake. That was the outcome which had cost him the whole morning. Beside the cake was a basin of well-stirred single cream, the jam for decorations and a few kinds of wild fruit he asked daddy wolf to pick from deep in the mountain. He couldn’t call their names, but they all tasted quite good. He planned to use them as the decorations. And he even made a few colorful little candles himself.

"Did you do that on purpose? You call that dessert?"

Yan Shengrui threw him his dagger eyes. But meanwhile, his eyes couldn’t help moving to that round object about thirty centimeters across, a bit confused. Is there any desert in this world he had never tasted before? But he really had never seen this thing before.

“Hmm, this is a chiffon cake. Try it and see how it tastes.”

Speaking of which, Ling Jingxuan picked some at the edge of the cake with his hand and sent it by his mouth. That kind of soft and sweet taste instantly subdued Yan Shengrui’s picky stomach, "Good, it's neither too sweet nor too light. Some kind of light taste of eggs. But isn’t it too big? How are the kids supposed to eat it?”

"Haha…Don’t we have a knife? I still need to buy a lot of items for decoration. I can’t explain it to you. You’ll know when we eat the cake at dinner. What are you waiting for? Ask someone to buy presents! Aren’t you really buying our sons any presents?”

Ling Jingxuan didn’t like explaining things, so he didn’t want to explain it to him. Instead, he picked up the chopsticks and started to stir the single cream. The cream had waste him a lot of time. And it was still thanks to that he often refined all kinds of things, otherwise, he could only put some fruit as decorations.

Watching his busy wife, Yan Shengrui suddenly didn’t want to leave. He then leaned against the table with his hands crossed before the chest, with that pair of peach blossom eyes filled with dense affections and tenderness, “no hurry. The kids will only come back in the afternoon. Jingxuan, what do you think I should prepare for them? Wen likes silver. And Wu, except eating, he is fond of nothing else. How about I give each of them a red envelop with ten thousand taels of silver?”

Apparently it was a joke. But Ling Jingxuan who was busy found it so funny and echoed, “I agree. Xiaowen will be very happy. And Xiaowu could also plan what to buy with it. But don’t you think it’s too little? Change it to gold and it’d be not bad.”

"Gold will also do. I’m just afraid that our Xiaowen will pass out directly on seeing it. Are you sure?”

Picking his eyebrows, Yan Shengrui didn’t show a slice of care about his big son at all. Ling Jingxuan couldn’t help darkening his face. That might be quite possible. Last time when the emperor rewarded them with gold, their little buns were still immersed in the sorrow of missing Yan’er. So they even didn’t notice it. This time, if Yan Shengrui really sent them a red envelop with ten thousand taels of silver inside, wouldn’t he get scared to death? Maybe he would even think his daddy had gone to rob a money shop.

"Then you better send them silver. They don’t lack of anything. Even if they don’t spend the silver, they could save it for the future, like things marrying a wife. According to their habit, I guess they wouldn’t spent it. So I guess, they don’t even need us to pay for the betrothal gifts in the future.”

Speaking of here, Ling Jingxuan couldn’t help smiling since he found it so funny. Last time they lent them over a thousand tales of silver, he gave three thousand back. Usually, Jinghan, Jingpeng, Zhao&Han couple, even Qingzi and others would give them some silver as pin money. But they didn’t spend any but saved it all. Now those two kids were real little rich kids now.

"Haha…their money is theirs. When they get married, we still need to pay. We can’t save that kind of money.”

The most important five years, he wasn’t there for them, he even didn’t know their existence. So he could never be absent of their growth. He’d give them the best. After going back to the capital, the first thing he’d do was to give them a title. He’d make it up to them.

“Do you even need to say that? Of course I know we can’t save it. But, Xiaowu always nags marrying Yan’er. If Yan’er becomes the emperor, are we still going to marry him into the palace?”

When it came to this, Ling Jingxuan stopped what he was doing. He didn’t mind him marrying into the palace, as long as the kid felt happy. But he just had no good feelings about that place, however capable an emperor was. To balance the court, there’d be countless concubines in the harem. Although he believed that Yan’er would protect their small bun well, on thinking of the existence of so many concubines, he felt awful. He guessed his small bun also wouldn’t like that. And then…there’d be no then. The small bun became more and more Iike Shengrui. Maybe he’d start to kill people.

“Don’t you think too much? That’s totally impossible. Xiaowu is only five, and Seven is only seven. Even if they get married for real, my son could never be the bottom one! And Seven will also never let him suffer. Giving his affections for Xiaowu, it’s not impossible to empty the harem for him. Emperor Gao of the Yan family had no concubine for his whole life, only his empress. So, since there’s an example before, I guess those courtiers dare not oppose.”

In fact, many people from Yan family were spoonies. It was just they were not firm enough, but it was mostly due to the big environment. Someone like Emperor Gao, through the whole world, he was the only emperor who was always so faithful to his other half.

"Really? We’ll talk about it in the future. Now I finally understand that all parents in the world are the same.”

On hearing that, Ling Jingxuan turned around and started to be busy again. The cream was ready. He only needed to smear it on the chilled chiffon cake now. Ling Jingxuan took up the long knife he had long prepared, and carefully cut the cake into halves in the middle. He put the upper half aside, and smeared some cream on the lower part using a bamboo knife, and spread some red fruit grains on it, then another layer of cream, and finally covered it back with the upper half of the cake. Then after smearing the cream and another layer of red jam on the top and decorated it with the remained fruit, the birthday cake was done.

"Hmm, not bad.”

The jam was so red that it was nearly kind of transparent when covering over the while cream, like the cake was wearing a layer of pink chiffon, dark red thumb-size fruit made a circle around the edge of the cake, inside was decorated with some other wild fruit. Ling Jingxuan thought a bit, then picked a few dark black wild fruit, squeezed out some juice and mixed it with the cream, then he made some dark red cream. Looking from left to right, he didn’t find anything suitable, so Ling Jingxuan ran out again. Soon he came back with a pure white rice paper. He folded it into funnel shape, and carefully stuffed the colored jam into it, and then gently squeezed it onto the empty space to write a few words ‘Happy Birthday, Little Buns.”

"Here it is."

Throwing the mounting patterns bag made of the rice paper aside, Ling Jingxuan nodded with satisfaction. After watching it for quite some time, Yan Shengrui walked over and embraced him, “I also want this kind of cake on my birthday.”

"Er, are you still a child?"

Ling Jingxuan rolled his eyes helplessly. In this world, did he know how expensive it was to make a cake? If it hadn’t been for his sons, he would never have spent so much time on such a thing.

"I don't care. Anyhow, you can’t be partial! Every year when it’s my or our sons’ birthday, you have to make us this kind of birthday cake.”

Yan Shengrui was invincible when he played a rascal. Ling Jingxuan finally had no choice but to nod. Otherwise, with no doubt, he’d nag him all day about it.