Chapter 63 Yongqi's Birthday

With the arrival of the New Year, the palace was bustling for half a month. The seventh day of the second lunar month was Yongqi's birthday, and also the day that Consort Jia, oh no, Consort Jia, gave birth to a child.

Xiao Yanzi and the others naturally did not want to go to celebrate her birthday, so she chose to stay in Yonghe Palace to celebrate Yongqi's birthday. Consort Yu also received special permission from Emperor Qianlong and did not need to go to Qixiang Palace.

The family of three naturally stayed happily at Yonghe Palace. "Yongqi, the birthday present I prepared for you today is a pill that makes you immune to all poisons, which I learned from Physician Chang!"

During her time in the palace, she was a frequent visitor to Changshou's place and learned a lot about medicine and poisons from him. So she personally made pills that would make her immune to all poisons for Yongqi. "I hope that during the time I'm not in the palace, you can take good care of yourself and Consort Yu!"

Yongqi accepted the pills with gratitude and swallowed them on the spot, saying, "I should be the one saying that. After you leave the palace, take good care of yourself and don't overwork yourself!"

Consort Yu quickly added, "Yes, Little Swallow, take things slowly and don't be too hasty!"

Little Swallow nodded, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I'll take good care of myself and won't make you worry!"

After completing the formalities of congratulating Consort Jia, the Fu brothers, Xiao Jian, and Qing'er arrived at Yonghe Palace.

"Qing'er/Xiao Jian greets Consort Yu."

"Your subject Fu Erkang/Fu Ertai greets Consort Yu. May Consort Yu be blessed!"

Consort Yu smiled and said, "No need for formalities. Mei'er and Ying'er, please add more bowls and chopsticks."

"Yes, this servant will go right away." Mei'er and Ying'er hurriedly went to add bowls and chopsticks for these people.

Yongqi looked at the group and smiled, "You've already finished celebrating for her?"

Qing'er nodded, "Yes, His Majesty knew we were looking forward to this place, so he sent us here earlier!"

They all took out the gifts they had prepared and gave them to Yongqi. Yongqi told Xiaoshunzi and Xiaoguizi to put the gifts away and said, "Don't stand there, sit down."

After they sat down, Qing'er sighed, "Time flies. Winter goes and spring comes, flowers bloom and fade. In the blink of an eye, we've grown another year older. Xiao Yanzi has been in the palace for almost a year now. In two months, she'll be leaving too. Xiao Yanzi, I've gotten used to going to the Imperial Study with you every day, practicing archery together, and sparring together. I'll definitely miss you when you leave!"

As Qing'er spoke, tears streamed down her face like pearls from a broken string. Xiao Yanzi was also moved to tears. "Qing'er, I will miss you too!"

The two sisters hugged each other and cried, which made Yongqi feel a pang of sadness. He forced himself to wipe away his own tears, pulled Xiaoyanzi back, and wiped her tears as well. "Xiaoyanzi, today is my birthday. I beg you, please let me remember your smiling face, okay?"

Little Swallow nodded quickly, "Okay, I won't cry anymore, I'll laugh, I'll laugh happily!" After saying that, she turned to Qing'er, "Qing'er, you shouldn't cry either. Our main task today is to celebrate Yongqi's birthday! We should laugh three times to bless Yongqi!"

Fu Erkang raised an eyebrow at Xiao Yanzi, "Bless him? Bless him for what? Bless him to live a long and healthy life, or bless him to have all his wishes fulfilled and to win the heart of his beloved soon?"

Fu Ertai chimed in, "That's right. If Princess Feiyan wants our blessings, then we should at least know what the Fifth Prince really wants, right?"

Qing'er glanced helplessly at the Fu brothers, "Erkang and Ertai, you both know perfectly well what Yongqi wants, yet you still ask unnecessary questions. Don't you think you've suffered enough?"

"..." The two brothers fell silent instantly. At this moment, Xiao Jian raised his glass and looked at Yongqi, "I wish you all the best in achieving your goals soon!"

Yongqi returned the favor, saying, "Thank you for your kind words, but you'll have to work harder!"

Xiao Jian's effort was not only to help Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi, but also to help himself and Qing'er!

Qing'er also raised her glass to Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi, "Like Xiao Jian, I wish you both can realize your dreams soon and become a couple!"

Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi returned the favor with another blessing, "Thank you for your blessings, we will definitely work hard!"

After lunch, Xiao Shunzi brought news: "Fifth Prince, the Emperor has restored Consort Jia's rank."

This news was certainly not good for them. Yongqi sighed and said, "I understand. Go now."

Qing'er frowned, somewhat worried. "She gave birth to a prince. The Emperor should be able to restore her rank, but won't she become even more reckless after that?"

After pondering for a moment, Fu Erkang said, "Actually, I'm not too afraid in the palace; she wouldn't be that arrogant. What I'm worried about now is whether she'll secretly send someone after Xiao Yanzi leaves the palace..."

Yongqi felt a chill run down his spine. "Erkang, do you mean she'll send people to hunt down Xiaoyanzi?"

Fu Ertai followed up, saying, "What my brother is thinking is exactly what I'm worried about. In the palace, Xiao Yanzi has you protecting her, the Emperor protecting her, and so many people surrounding her. Consort Jia will always have to be careful. But once Xiao Yanzi leaves your sphere of influence, everything will be out of control!"

Qing'er continued, "That's right, Xiao Yanzi has learned quite a bit of martial arts now, but she's still a bit inferior to Yongqi. However, she can still protect herself. But, Consort Jia's subordinates are all adults. Xiao Yanzi is traveling with so many people. If Consort Jia really wanted to deal with Xiao Yanzi, I'm afraid..."

Xiao Jian glanced at everyone and said, "She thinks she can mess with my sister? Not so easy! Little Swallow, if you encounter anything you can't handle, just take my token and ask someone for help..."

"Brother!" Xiao Yanzi still didn't really want to rely on Xiao Jian's influence to make her way in the martial world, but Xiao Jian insisted, "This is your last trump card in the martial world. You must take it with you so that we can all feel at ease! Not only for my sake, but even for the sake of the Fifth Prince, you have to take it with you!"

Although Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi will keep in touch, once Xiaoyanzi leaves, it will be too late to help her in her immediate situation. It would be better to use Xiaojian's power, so that at least when their lives are in danger, they won't be hunted down to the point of having nowhere to go!

Xiao Jian continued, “Little Swallow, I am your brother. Protecting you, my sister, is my bounden duty. If you won’t let me follow you, then let my token follow you. If you need anything, be sure to take the token to a place called Xiao Yanlou for help. Xiao Yanlou has branches all over the country, and its headquarters is in Dali, Yunnan. Our uncle and aunt are currently helping to look after it!”

Qing'er asked, "Xiao Jian, is this name a combination of your two surnames and Xiao Yanzi's given name?"

Xiao Jian nodded. "Yes, at the time I was thinking of naming my sister Xiao Yun, but the name of this building couldn't have the character 'Yun' in it, lest it be discovered. So I thought of the swallow birthmark on her back and used the swallow. Now it's turned out to be a lucky coincidence!"

Everyone hoped that Xiao Yanzi would accept Xiao Jian's token, so Xiao Yanzi reluctantly accepted it, saying, "Brother, thank you. I'll try my best not to contact your people!"