A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace Chapter 1428 - 1426: There’s No Such Thing as Perfection

"But..."

Xia Ruqing was still a little unconvinced.

"No buts!"

Zhao Junyao cut her off.

"Enough about that. What did Chenchen come here for?"

He changed the subject.

Seeing his expression the same as always, Xia Ruqing didn’t think too much of it.

She recounted, in full detail, the conversation she’d just had with Chenchen.

At the end she sighed.

"He really does take after his uncle!"

"How did he end up butting heads with Jingfeng too!"

"Don’t tell me he’s also going to wait till he’s almost thirty—then I’ll really be..." utterly speechless with tears.

She was still waiting to hold grandchildren.

Hearing this, Zhao Junyao frowned, but he still tried to comfort her.

"He won’t!"

"Out of these children, Chenchen is the most like me!"

"On the surface he looks indifferent, but he knows exactly what he’s doing!"

"He won’t wait till thirty!"

Xia Ruqing spread her hands helplessly.

"Then twenty-eight?"

"No!"

Zhao Junyao pressed a hand to his forehead.

...

Winter always felt long.

This winter was the most leisurely one Zhao Junyao had ever spent in his life.

He had practically pushed all the memorials to Zhao Qichen.

As for himself, he either went to the Imperial Garden every day to admire the snow, or soaked in the hot springs at Tianquan Palace.

The days were quiet and tranquil.

At first, Xia Ruqing had been busy worrying about the children.

But after running herself ragged and realizing it was all in vain, she simply stopped bothering.

Fuming, she flung aside those albums of Fine Ladies and noble girls, and finally said angrily,

"Enough, I’m done meddling!"

"Other than for Yue Er, don’t come to me with this stuff ever again!"

Seeing his own wife driven to this state by those little brats,

Zhao Junyao’s face darkened.

He immediately ordered Li Shengan to drag that pack of little bastards over to apologize to Xia Ruqing.

"Mother, please don’t be angry!"

"I...I will definitely choose a girl I like and marry as soon as possible. Please set your mind at ease!"

Zhao Qiheng bowed with impeccable manners.

Looking at her second son in a jade-colored long robe, tall and straight, graceful as a jade tree in the wind, gentle and refined in his bearing, Xia Ruqing’s heart instantly softened.

Yes, a scholar like this ought to be matched with a worthy beauty!

He definitely shouldn’t have to settle, so...

Her gaze, full of ire, shifted to her youngest son.

"Yeye, what is going on with you?"

This little demon king couldn’t possibly be fantasizing about some perfect romance of wind, flowers, snow, and moonlight with a girl.

Someone like him should properly find a gentle, virtuous young lady from a respectable family to keep a firm hand on the backyard harem of concubines and secondary wives and so on.

Otherwise what else did he expect?

Zhao Qiye felt a bit wronged.

"Mother, I want to find one too..."

Xia Ruqing tapped him on the forehead.

"Find, find, find! Then hurry up and find one for me to see!"

Zhao Qiye fell silent and muttered under his breath,

"It’s just that...I haven’t found one yet!"

Xia Ruqing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

"Alright, alright! You can all go now!"

"The sight of you just makes me angrier!"

Zhao Qiheng comforted her in his mild, elegant way.

"Mother! As the saying goes, fate is fate; it is bestowed by Heaven, something you can encounter but not seek. Please, ease your heart!"

Once he’d spoken, he gave a light bow and left.

Zhao Qiye offered a couple of cautious words of comfort as well, then left.

Only Xia Ruqing was left, fuming to no end.

Zhao Junyao tried to soothe her.

"What are you in such a hurry for?"

Women always said they weren’t in a rush, but inside they were anxious as anything.

And her—at her age she was still saying one thing while feeling another?

Xia Ruqing, however, felt rather aggrieved.

"I don’t want to be anxious either, but..."

But your body is declining with each passing year, worse every year; I still want to travel across rivers and mountains with you, I want to spend our old age together with you!

Yet...if they don’t marry, don’t establish families and careers, you can’t bear to abdicate, afraid the court will be thrown into turmoil and the people will suffer.

So here we’re stuck, aren’t we?

Xia Ruqing’s eyes welled up with tears in her grievance.

"You promised me that in the future we’d go traveling together!"

"Yes!"

He hurriedly rubbed her hair.

"I did promise you!"

"And I will definitely keep that promise! Be good!"

"You’re almost forty—give it a few years and you’ll be an old granny. No more crying!"

Xia Ruqing smoothed the stray hairs at her forehead and pouted.

"I am not an old granny!"

"You’re the old one—you’re the old man!"

Zhao Junyao chuckled.

"Alright! I’m the old man, you’re the great beauty, how’s that?"

Only then did Xia Ruqing break into a smile through her tears.

The two of them looked out at the bleak remnants of winter in the courtyard, each filled with boundless melancholy.

"Qingqing!"

Zhao Junyao suddenly said.

"How about I have someone get you another cat?"

Xia Ruqing froze.

"Why? I don’t want to raise any more!"

So many years had passed; Da Bai and Little White had long since died, and Snow Ball had also died of a serious illness.

As for their offspring, they were all old now as well.

Every time she saw them she felt truly heartsore, so she could only give them away.

Yi An had been very fond of them back then; when she heard they were to be given away, she hurriedly sent people into the palace to take them.

Presumably, she must be taking good care of them.

No news was the best news.

Xia Ruqing sank into her memories.

"I just hope they’re all doing well!"

Seeing her like this, Zhao Junyao couldn’t press the matter. After a moment’s thought he said again,

"How about this—why don’t we go stay outside the palace for a few days and soak in the hot springs?"

"It’s no good for you to keep brooding indoors like this!"

Most importantly, the children were under a lot of pressure too.

Xia Ruqing nodded and let out a long breath.

"Alright!"

"Yue Er’s dowry is pretty much all prepared; the rest, with Consort Cheng and Consort Hui, doesn’t need much from me!"

"After being busy for so long, I really should go out and clear my head!"

Zhao Junyao nodded and had people make the arrangements.

...

There was a small imperial villa outside the palace.

It wasn’t large, but its location was exceptionally good; it had been built around a hot spring.

The entire villa was only the size of a two-courtyard compound.

It wasn’t even as big as the residence of a minor official in the Capital City.

But the surroundings were quiet and secluded.

Because of the geothermal heat, the leaves on the trees around them hadn’t fallen; yellow and green foliage still clung to the branches, making a rather lovely sight.

As soon as she got out of the carriage, Xia Ruqing was stunned by the scene before her.

"Emperor! How come I’ve never been here before?"

Now she really wanted to know just how many villas the Emperor actually had.

Zhao Junyao laughed.

"To be honest, I haven’t been here much either. It was built by my father back in the day!"

"I only occasionally remember that such a place even exists!"

As they spoke, Xia Ruqing had already walked off in excitement, unable to help looking left and right.

"It’s so warm!"

Sure enough, being near geothermal vents, the climate here felt different from elsewhere.

It was as if someone had taken a big glass cover and, right in the middle of winter, fenced off a patch of spring just for you.

The feeling was simply too good.

"Now this is what you call spring all year round!"

Zhao Junyao shook his head.

"You’re being a bit too optimistic. No one can live here in summer!"

Heat from below, hot air all around, and the blazing sun overhead on top of that—practically a furnace.

Xia Ruqing hurriedly waved her hand.

"It doesn’t matter! In this world, what’s ever truly perfect?"