kvmb Chapter 333 Rules
Chapter 333 Rules
Nianyao said repeatedly, "No need, no need, we just came to see Ninth Brother. We're relieved to see Ninth Brother living such a good life in the Duke's Mansion. Princess, please rest well, we won't disturb you any longer."
Seeing that Nianyao and the others were about to leave, Qin Jiu moved his feet as if to see them off.
Liang Qingcheng stepped forward and took Qin Jiu's arm, putting the Buddhist beads on his wrist: "Ajiu, this is what I asked for for you. The master said it can ward off evil and help you sleep."
The two, who had been so polite to each other on Chongming Island, finally started to resemble a married couple. Nianyao was quite pleased: "Ninth Brother, you don't need to see us off, we're leaving."
Finally, Butler She escorted them to the door.
Nianyao patted the imposing stone lion guarding the gate of the Duke's mansion: "Ninth Brother, such a spirited and determined man, has actually degenerated into a live-in son-in-law who does nothing but eat, drink, gamble, and whore. Bianjing is truly a place where wealth corrupts people's hearts."
Everyone looked at Nianyao, their expressions varied, and no one said a word.
Nianyao said to Luo An, "The whole world is corrupt, yet you alone are sober. It's truly rare."
An Liangchen smiled and said, "Come on, let's go stay in the palace for a few days. After the Spring Festival, you can go back to Heaven and Earth."
Nan Hua chimed in, "Yu Xuan can walk now, and he walks very steadily. Let's go take a look."
The group first went to pay their respects to Lord Dongyang and the Empress. After they came out, An Liangchen took Luo An to the Imperial Study to discuss matters, while Nianyao and Nanhua played with the children in Fanghua Palace.
An Yuxuan was almost a year old, wearing a bright red dragon-patterned jacket, with a rosy little face and eyes as bright as stars. He walked slowly, each step showing great steadiness.
He first looked Nianyao up and down, then called her "Auntie" in his childish voice. Nianyao was so happy that she hugged him and spun him around several times, making him giggle.
Nianyao put An Yuxuan down and casually tossed the football aside. An Yuxuan wobbled over to pick it up, his little legs swaying, while his nanny followed beside him, looking anxious that he might fall.
The football hit the wall and rolled on the ground. When An Yuxuan squatted down to pick it up, the football ran away again... This happened several times. An Yuxuan simply stood still until the football stopped completely before picking it up.
Nianyao recalled how Uncle Liu used to tease her like this when she was little. Uncle Liu would kick the ball so far that it would roll ten or more feet, and she would foolishly chase after it all over the yard, sweating profusely in the dead of winter.
Uncle Liu told her, "If you don't learn kung fu properly, you'll never be able to beat others, but you'll always have to outrun them."
Nianyao watched An Yuxuan return carrying the football and sighed, "Time really flies."
Before she knew it, she had become Uncle Liu, the elder who amused the children.
Nan Hua also sighed, "It really goes by quickly. A year has passed, and before we knew it, he could walk and talk. What about Chen Xi? Why didn't she come back with you?"
Nianyao said, "I don't know how to take care of children at my great-uncle's house. It's not too late to bring Chenxi back when she grows up to be as big as the little prince and can walk on her own."
Nan Hua laughed and said, "Are you worried about not having anyone to take care of you? You can stay with me. You grew up with Yu Xuan, so you can be considered childhood sweethearts."
Nianyao nodded and then shook her head: "We've been wandering the world and fighting monsters, how could we stand the rules of the palace? Besides, I don't have any requirements for Chenxi. As long as she is safe, healthy and happy, she doesn't need to learn or understand those rules."
Nan Hua looked her over and said, "Actually, it's alright. There aren't many rules in our Dongyang Palace. My parents don't manage things much, and His Highness the Crown Prince isn't demanding either."
Nianyao pointed to the wet nurse and palace maids standing beside her: "Your Highness, you may not have rules, but we have them who cannot disobey them. You are the Crown Princess, second only to the Emperor, and the rules you perceive are different from the rules we perceive."
Nan Hua disagreed: "You don't have to follow the rules they follow. Xiao An is more carefree in the palace than the Crown Prince. Sometimes when your parents talk about the Crown Prince, they never talk about Xiao An, let alone you."
Nianyao smiled and said, "That's different."
Nan Hua's conventional reasoning: "I understand what you mean. You think you're just guests and that your parents are being polite to you. But that's not true. Your parents treat Xiao An no differently than their own children."
Nianyao couldn't explain her subtle feelings, so she could only use an analogy: "Take this football for example. If it were anywhere else, I would definitely kick the football over the wall and make the children search for it all over the yard. But you've seen it now."
No one forbade her from kicking the ball, and no one forbade her from throwing it over the wall, but she obediently and gently threw it with her hand.
The environment naturally constrains people, and people will consciously set rules for themselves.
Nianyao turned her head to look at Nanhua: "I'm not well-educated, so I can't explain it clearly, but Your Highness the Crown Princess should be able to understand. Luo An probably thinks the same way I do, even though he... is more... willful than me."
Nianyao still remembers Dashu's evaluation of Luo An, and she finds it quite ingenious to use it now.
The word "willful" had barely left her lips when Dexi rushed over in a panic: "Crown Princess, Madam Luo, they...they're arguing."
Nan Hua and Nian Yao looked at each other and ran outside without prior arrangement.
As Nianyao ran, she thought to herself: We just had a fight and knocked down the screen wall, and now we have to have another fight in the palace. She's really being too willful!
Just as the three of them reached the window of the Imperial Study, Nan Hua suddenly stopped, pulled Nian Yao back forcefully, and made a shushing gesture.
Nianyao almost fell. She broke free from Nanhua, took a few steps forward, bent down, and peered over.
The door to the Imperial Study was wide open, and Luo An was sitting in the armchair in front of the desk, while An Liangchen was standing in front of the desk.
An Liangchen said in a deep voice, "What exactly do you want?"
Luo An stared at An Liangchen, his lips moved, but he couldn't say a word.
An Liangchen waited a while, then said, "If you want to practice medicine and save lives, then be a good doctor in Heaven and Earth; if you want to live a life free from worldly affairs, then find a place where no one knows you; if you want to be an official, you can choose any official position in Dongyang, including the Crown Prince... Now tell me, what do you really want?"
Although Luo An sat in the main seat, An Liangchen exuded an imposing aura. Looking at Luo An from Nian Yao's perspective, she felt a pang of pity. Nian Yao straightened her back and prepared to go inside.
Nan Hua put his hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Let's not worry about men's affairs for now."
Nianyao tried to break free, but Nanhua's hand remained firmly on hers. Nanhua's demeanor was so dignified and composed that Nianyao completely overlooked the fact that he knew martial arts. Yuan Feng had once said that Nanhua was second only to Yuan Feng in both knowledge and martial arts at Songyang Academy.
Nianyao was getting a little anxious when she suddenly heard Luo An's voice be unusually calm: "I plan to go to Penglai. I'll set off after the fifteenth."
An Liangchen's tone softened: "There's a separate courtyard over there, you can..."
“No need,” Luo An said. “There’s a temple by the sea where you can see the ocean as soon as you open the door. I can live there.”
An Liangchen asked again, "When will you be back?"
Luo An said, "Your war is over."