ebookland Chapter 22 Taking Leyang up the mountain to dig bamboo shoots
Chapter 22 Taking Leyang up the mountain to dig bamboo shoots
After breakfast, Wu You instructed Tongzhu to help Leyang change into some comfortable clothes and remove the hairpins from her head, transforming her from a high-class noblewoman into a peasant girl.
Li Lianhua usually accompanies him, but since there were other people present today, he didn't go.
Wu You took Le Yang's little hand, and Tong Zhu carried the basket on her back. The little girl said sweetly, "Goodbye, Uncle. Take good care of the house." The three of them headed towards the bamboo forest behind the house.
It was Leyang's first time traveling far from home and his first time climbing a mountain, and he was extremely excited, his whole being in a state of agitation. Wu You guessed that if he hadn't come from the palace, he would have been jumping around already.
However, the child's energy was limited, and he ran out of energy after walking for a while, so Wu You had to carry him from then on.
"We're here, this is it." After walking for more than ten minutes, Wu You and the other two stopped in front of a bamboo forest. Wu You put Leyang on the ground.
"Tongzhu, give me the basket." Wu You took out three pouches from the basket and handed one to Tongzhu: "These contain medicine prepared by Li Lianhua to repel snakes, insects, rodents and ants. You should all take them with you."
"Yes." Tongzhu took the purse and put it on her waist.
Wu You put the glove on Le Yang first, and then put it on herself.
"Now you take Leyang and play around. I'll dig bamboo shoots. Don't go too far." Wu You waved to the two of them.
"Tongzhu dares not. Princess, please tell Tongzhu how to dig these bamboo shoots. Tongzhu can do it. Princess, please play with the little princess." Tongzhu stood to the side, not daring to leave.
Leyang chimed in from the side, "Leyang wants to be with his aunt."
"Since that's the case, then come on then." Wu You didn't hesitate and decisively handed the knife in his hand to Tong Zhu, explaining to her which parts were edible, which were too old to eat, and how to dig them up more easily.
Seeing that Tongzhu had dug up two bamboo shoots, they said, "If you have more, you can dig up more. You can dry them and soak them in water to make bamboo shoots. If you get hungry, there's food in your basket. We'll come back to find you later."
After saying that, he took out some pastries and fruits from his basket and quickly ran away with Leyang. He had to seize any opportunity to make a living.
Wu You took Le Yang for a leisurely stroll through the bamboo forest. Later, getting bored, she taught Le Yang many cute poses and took quite a few photos. Looking at the adorable, quiet little girl in front of her, Wu You felt an overwhelming fondness for her.
The two then took a few more photos together. Wu You put the two group photos and a bunch of photos of the little girls into Le Yang's pocket: "Aren't the photos your aunt took of you pretty?"
"It's beautiful, Leyang likes it, there are so many portraits of Leyang." The little girl gently stroked the purse, reluctant to put it down.
"If you like it, Auntie will take another picture for you later, okay? But you have to promise Auntie that you won't show this portrait to anyone else. It's our little secret." Although Wu You suspected that the story might get out, it was better to wait and avoid trouble.
"Can't I really show this to others? I want to show it to my father." The little girl's face was full of confusion.
"Then it can only be shown to your father. No one else can see it, not even Tongzhu. After you see it, you must keep it safe."
"Auntie, I understand. I promise I won't show it to anyone else. Please take lots and lots of pictures of me in the future."
"Okay, I'll take the picture for you. Are you hungry? Eat something first, then we'll go find Tongzhu." Wu You took out some pastries from her bag and fed Leyang little by little. Luckily, she was a girl; if it were a boy, Wu You probably wouldn't have been able to manage him alone.
When the two found Tongzhu, her basket was already full of bamboo shoots.
Tongzhu, who was resting nearby, quickly stood up: "The princess is back. I was afraid that the princess wouldn't be able to find me when she came back, so I didn't dare to leave and waited here for the princess to return."
"You've dug up so much, you must be tired. Let's rest for a bit and then head back." Wu You saw that it was getting late and wanted to go home as soon as possible.
Tongzhu waved her hand: "It's not hard work. It's just that we're not sure how to get it back. I just tried, but I can't carry it."
“I can’t carry all of this myself, so we’ll have to find someone else.” Li Lianhua used to help, and Wu You had practiced kung fu for a long time and could also carry it, but why should she trouble herself when there were other laborers available?
"But there's no one around, how are we supposed to find them?" Tongzhu thought it sounded unreliable.
"Isn't our little Leyang accompanied by two people? Right, Leyang?" Wu You looked at Leyang with a smile.
Seeing that the two of them were looking at him, Le Yang said, "I don't know how to find them either?"
"Then you're the one who knows." Wu You turned to look at Tong Zhu, thinking that Le Yang was too young to know much about the secret guards.
"Me?" Tongzhu was taken aback at first, then remembered the jade whistle that Eunuch Zhang had told her to carry with her. She immediately took it out of her purse and blew on the jade whistle.
Before the whistle had even finished blowing, a masked person knelt down not far away: "Greetings, Princess."
The sudden appearance of the person startled Leyang and Tongzhu.
Seeing that neither of them spoke, Wu You had no choice but to say, "Ahem, we dug up too many bamboo shoots and can't carry them all. We'll have to trouble you to help us take them back."
"Yes, Your subordinate obeys." The masked man said, then picked up his basket and quickly disappeared from everyone's sight.
"Since we've lost everything, let's go back." The three of them traveled light and quickly returned home.