All Hail Cousin Brother

Chapter 816: Secret

Translator: Atlas Studios    Editor: Atlas Studios

The old maids had built a simple stove and were preparing for lunch.

Yu Youyao did not see Yin Huaixi. Just as she was about to ask the accompanying guards, she heard the sound of hooves outside the canyon. Soon, Yin Huaixi rode into the canyon.

He got off the horse and saw Yu Youyao standing not far away. She had changed into a jade-colored narrow-sleeved top and a green dress. There were small pine leaf patterns embroidered on the dress, and the skirt covered her thin feet as they piled up at her feet. As she walked lightly, the hem of her dress was like a flower. The pleated cornflowers fluttered gently at her feet.

It was like the frost of late autumn thinly covering the pine needles. There was green among white. It was elegant and firm.

Yu Youyao noticed that he had been holding the reins of the horse with one hand and something in the other. She couldn’t help but take a closer look.

Noticing her gaze, Yin Huaixi strode over. “I went to the mountain to find a twisted sepal cymbidium just now. It’s a relatively rare cinnabar spring orchid.” He handed the cinnabar orchid that he had been protecting to Yu Youyao. “Although the wild flowers in the mountain haven’t bloomed yet, the orchids are already budding. They’ll bloom in about half a month.”

Only then did Yu Youyao notice that Yin Huaixi had dug it back with the soil. He had wrapped the root of the cinnabar orchid with paper. The green arrow leaves were well protected and were not damaged at all.

In the middle of the cinnabar orchid, three long flower stems had already appeared. There were already eight or nine buds on them. The color of the buds was like cinnabar.

She could almost imagine how beautiful and noble the flower buds would be when they bloomed.

Seeing that she did not take it for a long time, Yin Huaixi thought that she did not like it. He quickly said, “There are more common four-season orchids and Faber’s cymbidium in the mountains. If you don’t like the cinnabar orchids, I’ll help you find a few other species.”

The climate in Liancheng was good, and there were many wild orchids in the mountains, mostly spring orchids.

Yu Youyao smiled and took it. “Who said that I didn’t like it? The cinnabar orchid is a relatively rare breed. It usually grows in the south and is rarely seen in the north. It’s only because I’m lucky that you can find one.” She held the cinnabar orchid and lowered her head to smell it. Even before the bud on the stem bloomed, a dark fragrance was already wafting through the air. She couldn’t help but smile. “I like it very much.”

She just did not expect that he would specially find an orchid for her when she had only said it casually and did not see the wild flowers in the mountains bloom.

Yin Huaixi heaved a sigh of relief. “As long as you like it.”

Yu Youyao was a little curious. “Orchids grow in the mountains and wilderness. They’re not easy to find. How did you find this?”

In such a short period of time, he had already found a famous item. If orchids were really so easy to obtain, many people who loved orchids would not be so eager to obtain them.

Yin Huaixi’s expression became complicated. “My mother likes orchids, but it’s not easy for the orchids in the south to survive in the North. It’s very difficult to raise them. In order to please my mother, my father found many books about orchids and understood the varieties, habits, and growing environment of the orchids. He often went into the mountains to look for all kinds of orchids.”

He had also heard that his father had also been talented and smart since he was young. He was very liked and valued by the previous emperor. Later on, for some reason, his head hurt when he read books, and he learned how to be an ignorant and incompetent playboy.

At the thought of this, Yin Huaixi couldn’t help but smile. “My father has a problem. His head hurts when he reads. He doesn’t even know how to read military books in his life. How can he read those books? So in the beginning, when he talked to me about this, I treated it as a joke.”

Yu Youyao looked incredulous. “King Li of Zhou is so good at war. How can he not know how to read war books?”

Yin Huaixi laughed. “I’m not lying to you. He really hasn’t even finished reading a military book. At first, my mother forced him to learn the Theory of War, so he asked his aides to read the military book to him. He found it boring and couldn’t learn it, so his aides couldn’t control him. My mother had no choice but to do it personally. Every day, she read and explained the military book to him. In front of my mother, he didn’t dare to be rash. Speaking of which, it’s strange that my blockhead father has become smarter in front of my mother.”

Yu Youyao was a little speechless. How could Yin Huaixi be King Li of Zhou’s son? Yin Huaixi said that his father was stupid and did not look respectful at all when talking about him. His tone was filled with gloating.

Every time his parents were mentioned, Yin Huaixi would say a lot. “At one point, I even suspected that my father was pretending that his head hurt every time he reads.”

Yu Youyao’s eyes widened slightly. “What happened after that?”

Yin Huaixi revealed a nostalgic expression. “I asked my father. He said that when he was young, he was playful and accidentally fell from the rockery. His head bled and he almost lost his life. After he was lucky to survive, his foundation was injured and he became weak and sickly. He would feel dizzy and nauseous every time he read. It took him many years to gradually recover.”

However, Yu Youyao felt that this “playfulness” might not necessarily be true.

Not only did the favored prince in the palace have a group of companions by his side, but they were also constantly restraining the prince’s words and actions. Among them, there were those who were proficient in martial arts. It was too negligent of him to almost lose his lives after falling from the rockery.

However, what if this wasn’t an accident?

This meant that King Li of Zhou, who was still young and a prince at that time, was already in the way of some people.

Then, King Li of Zhou should have been talented since he was young.

From the looks of it, there was a reason why King Li of Zhou had invited himself to guard the North. He had quickly grown from a playboy to a famous war god of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Even though it had been abandoned for many years, his talented roots were still there.

In that case, there was a reason why the dog emperor would be suspicious of King Li of Zhou.

His fear of King Li of Zhou was not groundless.

In the end, the root of the problem was buried.

Then, she deduced further.

King Li of Zhou’s mother, Concubine Hui, was recorded in the palace’s secret history to be from the commoners.

However, she had heard from her grandmother. Saying that Concubine Hui was from the commoners was just a nice way of saying it. Concubine Hui was actually an ordinary farm girl. As she was beautiful, mellow, and simple, she was very compatible with the previous emperor’s personality, so she was extremely doted on by him.

It should be very difficult for a concubine like her to survive in the palace.

However, the Empress at that time and the current Empress Dowager had not given birth for many years because of her injuries. How big of a matter was it? In order to protect her status, she needed to rope in the emperor.

Then, not only was Concubine Hui, who was from among the commoner, illiterate, but she also did not know anything about the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. She was a natural ally of the Empress.

The Empress should protect Concubine Hui.

However, on deeper thought, even the records of Concubine Hui in the palace’s secret history said that she came from the commoners. The rest was unknown.

It was obvious that no matter how much Concubine Hui was doted on, she was still not presentable in everyone’s eyes.