Tang Zhuyun was momentarily stunned.
Although many things had happened, and her mind was a bit muddled and unclear, but--
The Prince of Jin just left this morning!
Your Highness, aren't carrier pigeons tired? What is it that you didn't say last night, but saved up to send a message by carrier pigeon today?
Tang Zhuyun suspected that the Prince of Jin had something wrong with his mind.
"Give it to me." Tang Zhuyun rolled her eyes, thinking to herself, no wonder Song Jingyang seemed embarrassed to ask.
If I were under a master like that, I would have switched jobs long ago!
It was more like a note than a letter.
Tang Zhuyun opened it, struggling to decipher the Prince of Jin's flamboyant handwriting, and cursed inwardly, "Don't they care about elementary school students at all?"
She had finally managed to recognize and write characters, but the Prince of Jin's wild cursive script made her question the meaning of life again.
The Prince of Jin was also aggrieved. In order to return as soon as possible, he had spurred his horse onward, writing with his brush dipped in ink while still on horseback. What was there to complain about?
Tang Zhuyun looked up and down, left and right, but was still defeated.
She handed the note to Song Jingyang: "Read it, I can't understand it."
Song Jingyang: "Your Majesty, this isn't appropriate."
"Then we'll just have to throw it away." Tang Zhuyun rolled her eyes.
"No, no, let me take it." Song Jingyang hurriedly took the note, but after glancing down at it, his face turned red.
Tang Zhuyun: "What did you write?"
You can't drive, can you?
The Prince of Jin was too embarrassed to speak in front of him, but now that he's gone, he's letting loose?
Song Jingyang's voice was barely audible. "Your Highness, Your Highness only wrote eight characters. Why don't you take another look?"
Eight characters?
Where are we supposed to guess?
"Forget it, what can eight words say? Never mind," Tang Zhuyun said.
Don't go outside the walls, keep a close eye on the children—that's absolutely the core idea.
Exactly eight characters, perfect!
Song Jingyang: "Well, that's not a good idea. What the Prince wrote was..."
"What is it?!" Xiu'er was frantic, stomping hard on his foot. "I don't want someone who stutters!"
Song Jingyang immediately perked up and quickly replied, "The prince said, 'Either reply to the letter, or consummate the marriage.'"
After he finished speaking, his face turned red all the way to his neck.
Xiu'er: "Pah! You absolutely mustn't try that!"
Song Jingyang: "Your Majesty, would you like to reply?"
How could the prince have dug two such huge pits for himself? There are pits both ways he can go in and out.
You didn't consummate the marriage after replying? You're happy for now, but what about later?
Are you going to ignore me now and wait for me to return to consummate our marriage? Will the prince be able to wait that long? Won't he be anxious to death?
The prince truly has an untrainable disciple!
Tang Zhuyun: "Dream on! I don't care what he thinks, I want to make my own decisions!"
Just kidding, he can reply to the letter if he wants, and he can consummate the marriage if he wants!
They left this morning, and now they want me to reply to this evening? What am I supposed to reply to?!
A day apart feels like three autumns?
Song Jingyang pleaded, "Your Highness, please write back. You don't know how arduous the journey is; the Prince is counting on your reply to get through it!"
"Didn't he make it through before I was around?"
Xiu'er said, "Your Highness, please just reply with a few words. Don't make things difficult for Song Jingyang."
Song Jingyang was so moved he almost cried; Xiu'er really cared for him.
Tang Zhuyun: "Alright!"
"Everything is fine, Your Highness, please don't worry."
Tang Zhuyun finally managed to squeeze out eight words and handed them to Song Jingyang.
Song Jingyang slipped a note inside, earnestly requesting that Prince of Jin write neatly next time, so that he wouldn't be forced to engage in shameful business dealings as well.
When Prince of Jin received Tang Zhuyun's letter, he found it barely acceptable and carefully kept the note close to his body. However, upon seeing Song Jingyang's letter, he was so ashamed that he ran eight hundred miles in the night and still couldn't calm down. For the next few days, he was too embarrassed to write to Tang Zhuyun again.
Tang Zhuyun felt indignant whenever she thought about Zong Heng. Like leftover food, the grudge only got worse the longer it sat there.
However, Zong Heng was recuperating at home and reflecting on his actions for a month, making it difficult to take action.
Feeling restless, Tang Zhuyun could only relieve herself by hitting the sandbag in the courtyard, while Linlin, with Yanran by her side, practiced archery over and over again.
Yanran quickly grew impatient and whispered, "Brother, can I go with Mother to hit the sandbag?"
Linlin sighed.
Tang Zhuyun: "No, no, no, I'll join you in archery! Didn't I tell you? This is close-quarters combat, but at a distance, we'll have to shoot from horseback."
As she spoke, she pointed to a black dot in the vast blue sky and said, "Just imagine how accomplished you'd be to shoot that down one day! Roasted bird, it would smell amazing. How about this, you guys practice a hundred more times, and I'll make you beggar's chicken for lunch, how about that?"
Yanran clapped her hands. "Great! Great! Add lots of seasoning, I like it strong!"
Linlin: "Come on."
Song Jingyang, standing to the side, looked helpless. "That really won't work."
"Which one won't do?" Yanran said fiercely, "I want to eat beggar's chicken!"
"Young lady, I say roasted bird won't do..."
"Why not? Once I've mastered it, I'll shoot it down! Humph! Brother, you try and shoot it down!"
Linlin: "Let me practice some more."
Admitting you can't do something, no matter how old a man is, should make him blush.
Tang Zhuyun laughed until her stomach hurt.
Xiu'er: "That big bird, it's here! Has it had enough of living?! Linlin, shoot it!"
Tang Zhuyun's eyes widened as she watched the bird grow larger and larger. Her smile faded, and she grabbed her two children and ran, yelling, "Quick, inside!"
That bird was so big, it might just snatch the child away!
Song Jingyang: "Your Highness, don't be afraid. That's a gyrfalcon, kept by the Prince."
Tang Zhuyun, who almost tripped over the threshold. "..."
Your Highness, your stamp collection is all about ferocious beasts! Why don't you collect them all from land, sea, and air?
There are tigers on land, eagles in the sky, and what about an orca in the sea?
Prince of Jin: Siren, you're all I need.
The gyrfalcon was enormous, with a wingspan of over ten feet when fully extended.
Linlin was very excited and asked, "Can I touch it?"
"Yes," Song Jingyang said. "I'll send someone to fetch some raw meat! Its name is Xiao Ye; it's the prince's right-hand man, and it's extremely fast at delivering messages."
Alright, even the prince's birds have to call him "Young Master".
"A message delivered by carrier pigeon? Is that it?" Tang Zhuyun asked, looking at Xiao Ye on the tree branch.
"Um."
Tang Zhuyun rolled her eyes. "Then you guys are like eagle messengers, aren't you?!"
No wonder it was so fast!
Song Jingyang took a letter off Xiao Ye's lap and said, "So Your Highness, you don't need to worry about the hardship of delivering letters. You can write more next time. Xiao Ye can do it."
Xiao Ye made a chirping sound.
Tang Zhuyun: "This is the first time I've heard an eagle cry."
Song Jingyang: "Xiao Ye sends his greetings!"
Tang Zhuyun rolled her eyes. "How do you know it's not insulting me?"
Song Jingyang said seriously, "When Xiao Ye is angry, he giggles, that's when he's actually cursing!"
Tang Zhuyun: "You really understand it; you two have a good relationship."
Song Jingyang: "Hehe, I wouldn't dare. Your Highness and Xiao Ye have a really good relationship, otherwise they wouldn't both have the surname Xiao."
After Tang Zhuyun took the letter from Song Jingyang and read it, only one sentence remained in her mind.
--No wonder Prince of Jin and Xiao Ye are on good terms, they're both idiots!