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"Are, are they all right?" Yao shi asked worriedly.
Liu Quan said with a smile, "They’re all right, it's all skin injuries."
Though Gu Jiao's condition was more serious, it wasn’t life-threatening. She just needed to nurse her injury for a long time.
Little Jing Kong looked around, even poking his head outside the gate. After looking for a long time, he didn’t see the person. He then went into the room, spread his hands and asked, "Where's Grandaunt?"
Liu Quan didn't know how to answer.
Gu Yan sensed something but didn't utter a word.
Yao shi paused briefly before gently taking Little Jing Kong, whose head was wet by the rain, into her arms. She wiped his little bald head with a handkerchief and said, "Grandaunt went home."
Little Jing Kong tilted his head sideways and had a puzzled look on his face, "She hasn’t ah, I didn't see her anywhere just now!"
Yao shi held back the bitterness in her heart and stroked his little bald head, "Grandaunt went back to her own home."
Little Jing Kong spread his hands and wondered, "But isn't this Grandaunt's home?"
……
It rained for several days in a row, causing the nearby rivers to be flooded, and it wasn’t until the sixth day of the fifth month did it clear up.
The Ministry of Works was busy controlling the water in major streets of the capital, dredging underground channels and restoring normal travel for the people. The Imperial Academy as well as major academies had also resumed their classes.
In the fifth month, a major event occurred in the capital, that was, the Empress Dowager, who was recovering from her illness in the temporary imperial residence, suddenly announced her recovery and returned to the imperial palace in a high-profile ceremonial procession for the Empress Dowager.
People came out to watch the bustle one after another, wanting to see the elegant demeanor of the Empress Dowager of the State of Zhao. The scale of excitement was no less than that of the Zhuangyuan parade. After all, the Zhuangyuan parade happened only once every three years and the Empress Dowager traveled only a few times in her lifetime.
The Empress Dowager set off to the temporary imperial residence to recover from illness so quietly that the people didn't catch any news about it. The last time they saw the Empress Dowager's ceremonial procession was when the late Emperor died. She saw him off and escorted his coffin out of the palace.
From then on, Empress Xiande became the powerful Empress Dowager Zhuang.
Liu Quan sent Little Jing Kong to the Imperial Academy.
The noise in the street attracted the students going to school, including Little Jing Kong who ran out of the carriage and squeezed into the crowd to watch the ceremonial procession of the Empress Dowager with the escort of thousands of guards.
There were officers holding a sign to make the crowd silent and make way in front, followed by dozens of dignified-looking eunuchs and palace maids, and then a carriage of the utmost grandeur.
"Whoa! What a big carriage!" Little Jing Kong marveled.
“Empress Dowager——”
"Long live the Empress Dowager, a thousand time, a thousand years——"
People along the way knelt down and kowtowed to the person inside the carriage.
Little Jing Kong didn't kowtow, but he was small and didn't seem out of place standing up.
He stared at the magnificent carriage. Suddenly, the muslin curtain of the carriage was blown open by the gentle wind, revealing the Empress Dowager wearing a heavy phoenix crown and a gorgeous phoenix dress.
Despite the different clothes and aura, Little Jing Kong still recognized her at once, "Grandaunt?"
The carriage went past the entrance of Imperial Academy without a hitch.
"Grandaunt!"
"Grandaunt!"
Little Jing Kong chased after the luxurious carriage along the street.
However, the voice of the people was so loud that his tiny voice was ruthlessly drowned out.
"Aiya!"
His foot slipped and he rolled to the feet of an imperial guard.
The imperial guard lifted him up with a dignified look, "Whose child is this? Why is no one taking him back?"
"I’m her family! Her family!" Little Jing Kong pointed to Empress Dowager Zhuang's carriage.
The imperial guard snapped, "How presumptuous! That's Her Majesty the Empress Dowager!"
Little Jing Kong stamped his foot, “That's obviously Grandaunt!"
That was Grandaunt! He couldn’t be mistaken!
A random uncle smiled and said, "Child, that's the Empress Dowager of the imperial palace, not your family’s Grandaunt."
Was this child a fool? He couldn’t even tell his own Grandaunt from the Empress Dowager.
Little Jing Kong let out a heavy harrumph.
So their Grandaunt lived in the palace?
……
"Little Seven, Little Seven!"
Shortly afterwards, Little Jing Kong ‘da da da’ ran into the elementary classroom of the Imperial Academy and shook Qin Chuyu who was drooling over his desk, "You take me to the palace! I’m going to look for my Grandaunt!"
"Your Grandaunt? Your Grandaunt is in the palace?" Qin Chuyu asked.
Little Jing Kong nodded, "Yeah! I just saw her! They say she lives in the palace!"
Qin Chuyu was at a loss.
In the palace? The only people living in the palace were the masters of the palace, such as the Empress Dowager, the Empress and imperial consorts and concubines, their children and so on. However, there were also a lot of servants in the palace, perhaps one of them was his little friend’s Grandaunt?
"What's your Grandaunt's name?" Qin Chuyu asked.
"My Grandaunt’s name…" Little Jing Kong tried to recall for a long time but found that he didn't know Grandaunt's name. "I don't know!"
"This…" Qin Chuyu sighed. "If you don't know the name, it will be hard to find her. There are more people in the palace than there are students in the Imperial Academy."
Little Jing Kong recalled it again carefully, and with a flash of light in his mind, he said, "They call her Empress Dowager!"
"Cough!" Qin Chuyu choked up, "Em, Empress Dowager? Your Grandaunt is the Empress Dowager? Are you from the Zhuang Family?"
Little Jing Kong thought for a moment and said rigorously, "Our family did farm in the countryside before, but now that we have moved to the capital, we no longer farm, so we shouldn't be considered farmers anymore."
Qin Chuyu: What does this have to do with farming? Why does moving to the capital no longer make you a Zhuang Family? Can this be even changed at will?
[T/N: It was a play on words. The Chinese characters for ‘Zhuang Family’ used here can also mean farmer/farmhouse.]
The two children talked for a long time, but Qin Chuyu still could not figure out whether Little Jing Kong was a member of the Zhuang Family or not.
He was only eight years old. To say he was completely aware of things, he wasn’t; to say he was oblivious, he also knew that his mother and Imperial Consort Zhuang didn’t get along with each other.
Qin Chuyu firmly said, "If you are a Zhuang Family, I can't play with you again in the future."
Little Jing Kong widened his eyes at him and said, "But I'm not a farmer anymore! You can play with me!"
"Well, all right then." He was also very reluctant to part with this little friend, "But I can't take you to the palace today. Recently, my sister-in-law is sick in bed, and my big brother is in a bad mood. He will be upset if I take my little friend to the palace, so you wait for two more days, I will definitely take you into the palace."
Little Jing Kong: ...I guess that’s the only way.
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