Too high to reach

Chapter 213 Good Times
After having lunch at the Xu family's house, the group said goodbye and went to the Zhao family's house.

Li Jing was more familiar with the Zhao family than with her own home, and without needing anyone to greet her, she went straight to the back hall.

The courtyard and house were quiet. A maidservant reported, "Your Highness, our matriarch and the ladies have gone to rest after lunch. The gentlemen and ladies are playing in the open space!" She pointed to the side.

Li Jing could already hear laughter coming from the other side. He nodded and turned to leave.

Mo Yi asked the two girls, "Are you two sleepy? Do you want to find a place to rest for a while?"

Li Jing stopped again, thinking to herself: She is a woman after all; she is so thoughtful.

Xiangxiang shook her head, "Replying to Mother, Xiangxiang is not tired, she wants to go play with her aunt."

Where is Qianqian?

"Qianqian wants to go play too!"

"Alright. Your Highness, let's go..."

Li Jing then said, "Whenever you two get tired, just tell the girl."

Not far away, there is a large open space with a building at one end and a wide corridor with tables and chairs and a tea stove under the corridor.

The Zhao brothers were sitting there drinking tea, the sun shining on them, their posture relaxed.

A look of good times.

A barbecue grill was set up in the open space, a large charcoal brazier was lit, and several young men and women were jumping rope in the open space.

Someone was shouting loudly, and when everyone looked, it turned out to be Zhang Debao!

Why is he here?

Mo Yi paused for a moment, then looked at Mo Yuan. Mo Yuan was also somewhat surprised, but quickly regained her composure.

Zhang Debao and Li Chang were shaking the sway, while several girls of all ages lined up to dance.

"Cousin, cousin's wife are here..." Zhao Yunkai, who had just jumped over, called out when he saw them.

Upon hearing this, everyone put down what they were holding and gathered around, calling out in a flurry of calls: "Cousin!" "Brother!" "Sister-in-law!"

Li Jing smiled more here than elsewhere, saying, "The old lady is resting, so please keep your voices down."

"Seventh Brother! You wouldn't believe it!" Li Chang grinned foolishly. "I have to shout to talk to the Old Madam! She can't hear me from this far away. Seventh Brother, why don't you play with us for a while?"

"You guys play, I'll have tea in the corridor."

He walked in that direction, and all the men except Zhang Debao followed him.

"Sister-in-law..." Zhao Yunqing's face was flushed, her eyes sparkling, she was very happy.

"So? Are you satisfied with your husband, Fourteenth Brother?" Mo Yi teased her in a low voice.

Zhao Yunqing felt embarrassed. "He just keeps grinning like an idiot. What's this about being satisfied or not? We're just more familiar with each other."

"Knowing people is a treasure, it saves you from an arranged marriage. Fourteenth Brother is honest and sincere. Consort Liang is kind-hearted and close to the Zhao family. You'll have a wonderful life!"

"In a couple of days... Consort Liang wants to talk to me in the palace."

"You want to see your daughter-in-law, huh... Now that Her Majesty's rank has been promoted, she can summon you anytime."

The two whispered among themselves, but Zhang Debao leaned closer to Mo Yuan and asked, "Miss Yuan, I heard you went to the Prince's residence?"

"Yes! I'll stay with my sister for a couple of days." Mo Yuan picked up a shuttlecock and fiddled with it.

"You and the Princess Consort truly have a deep sisterly bond, which is truly enviable. Alas, I am my parents' only son, and some of my relatives are still in our hometown, while others are serving in other places. There are hardly any people left in my maternal grandparents' family. I am all alone... quite lonely." He played the victim.

“Really?!” Mo Yuan looked sympathetic, but she wasn’t at all. “But Young Master Zhang, you have so many friends! And you’re so close to my second brother.”

"That's true. I wonder how long Miss Yuan will be staying at the Prince's residence?"

The Prince's mansion wasn't a place Zhang Debao could just go to whenever he wanted. Even if he did go, he'd only be in the front courtyard and wouldn't see anyone there.

He was in a hurry.

"Oh...it's not decided yet. It'll probably be after the New Year by now!"

Mo Fan called from the other end, "De Bao, come here for a second!"

Zhang Debao first rolled his eyes at Mo Fan, then smiled gently at Mo Yuan and said, "Fourth Miss Mo, I'll go for a bit."

He walked over in a few steps, his voice low but irritated: "What is it that you have to say now..." What he was thinking: I haven't seen him for so many days!
"I have important business with you!" Mo Fan glared at him. "Just now, the Prince told me..." The two began to whisper to each other.

Zhao Yun was playing shuttlecock with a few little girls.

The Zhao sisters were dressed very neatly, their hair was combed tightly, and they didn't wear any complicated hairpins or ornaments, so they could move around very easily.

Moreover, being from a military family, the girls were all physically agile. Amidst the cheers of the young girls, Zhao Yun showed off: front kicks, back kicks, left kicks, right kicks—he could kick them incredibly high, and he could even do a Su Qin carrying a sword on his back…

It's so light and beautiful.

Mo Yi, Mo Yuan, and Zhou Jiu were all dressed up today, their jewelry jingling, so they couldn't play shuttlecock or jump rope. And even if they were dressed appropriately, they still couldn't kick a ball like Zhao Yunkai.

So everyone stood there clapping and cheering. "We used to play too when we were little, but we couldn't play this well. Look, look! So beautiful! Xiangxiang, you should learn from your Aunt Yunkai!" Mo Yi said with deep emotion.

Li Xiangling's eyes lit up as she looked at him, and she nodded gently.

"Mother, Qianqian wants to learn too!"

"Okay, you learn too!"

Zhao Yunqing said, "Your clothes aren't very nice today, but you can still play darts."

Li Jing was talking to a few people when she turned to look for Mo Yi and found her playing darts.

Tsk, they're flying everywhere, but they just can't seem to hit the target...

I threw more than a dozen times, but didn't hit a single one!

Mo Yi herself was also very discouraged...

"Let me teach you!" Li Jing appeared behind her without her noticing.

"Why is it so difficult? Am I standing too far away?"

Li Jing suppressed a laugh, "No... but at first, you could stand closer. Come with me..."

The two walked a few steps forward, and Li Jing patiently taught them for a long time. Then, when Mo Yi tried to do it... the improvement was limited.

I threw more than a dozen, and three of them hit the target.

Li Jing shook her head and chuckled, while Mo Yi herself lost patience. "I'm not playing anymore, it's not fun!"

"Can you ride a horse?" Li Jing

"...Riding a horse? No way! I've never even touched a horse."

"Want to learn? I'll teach you sometime later..." Li Jing's voice was soft as she looked at Mo Yi gently. "In spring, riding horses and admiring the flowers in the suburbs is a pleasant experience."

"But... what if I fall?" Mo Yi had no confidence at all about this.

She never imagined she would be riding a horse one day!

Li Jing glanced at Mo Yi and thought: "She's probably too weak to even get on a horse. Maybe we should just forget about it; she could fall and cause serious injury."

So he shook his head, said nothing more, and went back to drink his tea.

Zhang Debao listened to Mo Fan speak, nodding absentmindedly. As soon as he finished speaking, he ran back and went to Mo Yuan again.

A few girls wanted to jump rope, but Zhang Debao went to teach Mo Yuan how to throw darts, and Li Chang sidled up to Yun Qing and said something. Everyone was grinning foolishly…

Zhao Yunkai called out twice but received no response, so Zhao Yunkai and Mo Fan had to shake it.

When the rope was swung, the little girl from the Zhao family was brave enough to jump in.

Xiangxiang and Qianqian hesitated, shrinking their necks and not daring to move. They finally made up their minds to rush in, but then things went wrong again...

Zhao Yunkai kept sighing, "Jump! Quick, now! Hurry up! Come on, charge in! We can't hit you."

"Tsk! Sigh... How about I take care of them? Who will swing the rope?"

Zhou Jiu said softly, "...I'll do it."

"Alright, you come here!" Zhao Yun readily handed the rope to Zhou Jiu.

Mo Fan and Zhou Jiu each took one end and started shaking it.

Zhou Jiu rarely does things like this; he can't quite get the hang of it and can't keep up with Mo Fan's pace.

The rope was twisted into a braid, one end higher than the other...

Zhou Jiu got nervous... but the more nervous he got, the worse he did.

Zhao Yun started yelling again... "Oh dear, how can you be so stupid?"

Mo Fan took two steps closer. "Miss Zhou, please don't worry, it's like this..."

He was very serious, spoke very gently, and explained things very carefully...

Now that Zhou Jiu had learned it, the two of them swung it together quite well.

Zhao Yun grabbed Xiangxiang and rushed inside, shouting, "Jump! That's right! Just like that, again!"

Princess Wenxiu, who usually had a stern face, started giggling at this moment.

Zhou Jiu shook the rope, but his eyes didn't look at Xiangxiang.

Because the ordinary-looking but incredibly gentle and thoughtful man opposite her was giving her a thumbs-up in praise.

He also gave her a big, wide smile, showing off his entire mouth of white teeth...

(End of this chapter)