Chapter 76 The Anxious Consort Yu

Before the Empress Dowager could speak, Yongqi's voice reached everyone's ears, "Of course it counts. Qing'er started learning martial arts later than us, but now, with both of them giving it their all, she was able to defeat Fourth Brother, which is enough to prove Qing'er's talent!"

The Empress Dowager nodded in satisfaction and said, "Yongqi is right, Qing'er. If your mother and mother knew, they would be so proud of you!"

Yunxi laughed and said, "Princess Qing, you did a good job. There's no need to be so modest, lest these princes and young masters think they are superior and that women will always lose in martial arts!"

Yongcheng walked up to Qing'er with some shame. "I had a problem with my thinking before. I thought that if I didn't hold back, you would definitely lose. But I didn't realize that you have made great progress these days. I will practice more in the future. Let's have another match someday!"

Qing'er nodded in agreement, "Alright, let's have everyone come and witness again tomorrow to see who has really improved their skills?"

"It's a deal!" The two swore an oath with a high five, and Emperor Qianlong and others witnessed their agreement. "Very well, today Princess Qing and Fourth Prince Yongcheng have made a pact to fight again tomorrow. One year from now, I and everyone will come to the arena again to see who will prevail!"

With Emperor Qianlong as our witness, there will be no way to renege on this agreement when the time comes; we'll have no choice but to go!

"The third match is between the Sixth Prince Yongrong and Fu Erkang."

Yongrong and Fu'erkang stepped onto the dueling platform, and everyone's anticipation grew even stronger.

Although the Sixth Prince Yongrong lost in the end, he was still honorable in defeat. At least he overcame his inner fear, dared to go up and fight, and was willing to accept the result of his defeat.

After the martial arts competition was over, it was about 3:45 PM. Yunxi said, "We will rest for half an hour. During this half hour, you can choose the weapons you are good at and use them to fight against your opponents."

Yongqi and the others each chose the weapon they were good at. Half an hour later, Yunxi let them take the stage one by one according to the order of the previous fist and foot competitions. Everyone was still most concerned about the competition between Yongcheng and Qing'er.

They had thought that this time they might witness Yongcheng's comeback, but Qing'er's short sword defeated him once again. "I declare Qing'er the victor!"

"Hahaha, Qing'er won again."

When Emperor Qianlong saw the results of the competition, he felt no shame or sadness at all. Instead, he was overjoyed for Qing'er. "Qing'er, you are truly amazing!"

"This is all thanks to my master's excellent teaching, and also thanks to the short sword that Xiao Jian gave me!"

Yongcheng stepped forward and said, "Qing'er, I am now completely convinced and admit defeat!"

Yongcheng stepped forward and spoke, and only then did Qianlong shift a sliver of his attention to him. "Yongcheng, you'd better work hard. You can't let Qing'er defeat you again next year!"

"Your subject obeys. I will practice diligently from now on and strive to turn the tide of battle as soon as possible!"

After the martial arts competition ended, Emperor Qianlong dismissed everyone and sent them home. Yongqi returned to Yonghe Palace with Consort Yu, who was all smiles the whole way. "Yongqi, you performed really well today! You didn't make a single mistake!"

Yongqi smiled helplessly, "Father and Master have given me countless instructions, how could I dare to make any more mistakes?"

"Besides, if Xiao Yanzi finds out that I failed to help Yonghe Palace bring back the fruits of victory, she'll definitely be furious with me!"

Consort Shu, who was walking behind, chimed in, "That's true. If Little Swallow were in the palace, how could she possibly miss out on such a lively event?"

"May Consort Shu be blessed!"

"Alright, no need for formalities, Fifth Prince. It's been a while since you visited the Tenth Prince at Chengqian Palace. Why don't you come and visit me at Chengqian Palace today?"

Consort Yu immediately laughed and said, "Great! Let Yongqi see and learn more. When he and Xiao Yanzi are old enough to get married, I can hold my grandchildren soon..."

"..." Yongqi felt utterly hopeless. Had his mother gone mad with desire?

But now, he couldn't refuse. After all, Consort Shu had given her bracelet to Xiao Yanzi, so he had to give her face and go. "Mother, what should I say in front of Consort Shu..."

"Actually, it's not just your mother; I also want to see you and Xiao Yanzi get married soon!"

"ah?"

Yongqi was a little confused. It was one thing for his own mother to be anxious, but why was Consort Shu anxious?

Consort Shu laughed and said, "Little Swallow is so lively and adorable, and you are both scholarly and martial, handsome and dashing. If the two of you had a child, it would surely be an unparalleled beauty and a handsome man! Who wouldn't like a good-looking child?"

As they talked, they arrived at Chengqian Palace. The Tenth Prince, Yongyue, was being teased by his wet nurse. "Yongyue..."

When Yongyue saw Consort Shu, although she couldn't call out "Mother," she opened her arms to Consort Shu, clearly wanting a hug. "Mother, come hug Yongyue..."

Consort Yu said from the side, "Yongqi, you should learn from this and see how Consort Shu holds the child..."

"..."

Yongqi fell silent, unsure of what to say. He could only watch and learn silently, convincing himself that knowing these things sooner would prevent him from being flustered and causing Xiaoyanzi headaches in the future.

He wanted to be the kind of man Xiao Yanzi would admire in every way, so he naturally had to learn how to take care of children. In the end, no matter what others did, they couldn't take Xiao Yanzi away!

If anyone still dares to covet Xiao Yanzi by then, well, who knows what they might do, so please don't push him!

Finally, it was time for Consort Yu to return to Yonghe Palace. Yongqi returned to his room and felt relieved. However, as he lay on his desk, he recalled the days and nights he and Xiaoyanzi had spent studying in the study, and the scenes of Xiaoyanzi getting irritable and then whining not to study. "Yongqi, writing poetry is really hard. Can I not study it?"

"Of course you can. It doesn't matter if you can't write poetry. You can already compose couplets and write antithetical couplets, which is already quite good..."

“But Master Ji requires us all to be able to compose poems, so I can’t make an exception, can I? I’m already learning slower than you guys, and if I don’t learn to compose poems, I’m afraid Master Ji won’t want to take care of me anymore.”

"Then we'll learn slowly, one step at a time. If we don't learn it this year, we'll continue learning next year until we master it. As long as you have a willingness to learn, I believe Master Ji will definitely not give up on you!"

Little Swallow nodded, "You're right, let's try again!"

"Little Swallow, where are you now? If you miss me, will you come to my dreams tonight?" Yongqi murmured, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep on the table.

"Yongqi, what are you doing? You're sleepy, why aren't you going back to your room to sleep? Why are you lying here asleep?"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Yongqi immediately opened his eyes and looked up in the direction from which the voice came. There stood the girl he had been longing for day and night. "Little Swallow? Is that you?"

"It's me! What happened to you? I've only been gone a few days and you've already taken such good care of yourself? If you want to sleep, go back to your room. Sleeping like this isn't good for your health!"

Yongqi stepped forward and hugged Xiaoyanzi, whispering, "I was worried and scared when you weren't here..."