Chapter 336: Happy New Year
When one is young, one doesn’t understand funeral music; it just feels lively.
Later, when hearing that first beat of the drum, one’s eyes would turn red.
Because the last time you experienced the saddest thing in your life, this was the background music.
Music itself has no emotion; it is the person listening to the music who has the emotion.
It is actually very rare to see the Emperor, that absurd man who pursues the path of immortality and is the number one person in the world, truly weep with sorrow.
Even when he heard of his son’s passing, the tears he shed seemed like an act.
But listening to this song, he wept uncontrollably, feeling as if it resonated with his own heart.
Human emotions and desires. Sadness is one of them. Indispensable.
Because only after sadness can one experience satisfaction and happiness.
If the part of sadness is missing, then the sense of happiness and satisfaction will also be very little.
Emotions complement each other; none can be dispensed with.
After listening to a solemn and dignified concert, the Emperor wept.
The maids and eunuchs were trembling a little.
They had made the Emperor cry; surely they wouldn’t be executed for this, would they?
But they hadn’t expected the Emperor to cry until his nose was red, yet he still affectionately patted Jiang the Second.
His depressed and painful emotions had been expressed and released, and he felt clear-headed and much better.
In this world, no one dared to make the Emperor unhappy anymore.
Yet he was still unhappy at every turn; he was a person with severe emotional exhaustion.
He was highly suspicious and overthought everything.
Hearing this song made him want to cry, and tears flowed uncontrollably because the song resonated with him; it felt as if it were listening to his inner troubles without judging him, allowing him to weep safely and express his emotions.
The maids and eunuchs were trembling.
The Emperor, however, sniffled and said in a voice with a nasal tone: “Well sung, reward them!”
Eunuch Yan, who was present, was already sobbing uncontrollably.
Jiang the Second was also teary-eyed. They cried together.
The ‘best actors’ wept like rain. If you couldn’t cry, just think about your own past, and you would be able to.
If everyone else is crying and you aren’t, it makes you seem cold-hearted.
After listening, the Emperor went to rest. He didn’t say much else.
However, Intimacy + 10, Favorability + 10.
Having cried together, much like having visited brothels or shared a prison cell, was something that could greatly bring people closer.
Having provided the Emperor with an emotional outlet, Jiang Changtian knew when to stop and took his people back.
The band didn’t know what was going on; they didn’t dare to speak or ask, but they had received a generous reward.
They felt it was enough to be passed down as a family heirloom and excitedly followed their master back.
At home, Cong Geer, who would remain calm even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, sat seriously before Princess Huiyun. Princess Huiyun had finally managed to finish telling the story earnestly.
She had strived to restore the story told by the little one to the greatest extent.
And because her expressions were vivid, the story felt even better.
She had finally finished in one breath.
Her heart began to flutter, thinking about waiting for Cong Geer to ask, ‘What about falling off the cliff? What happened next?’
But she hadn’t expected that even after she finished, and waited for a long while, Cong Geer didn’t ask…
“Don’t you want to know what happens next?”
“I do.”
“Then why don’t you ask me?”
“If you knew, you would continue telling it. If you didn’t know, asking would be useless,” Cong Geer said calmly.
Princess Huiyun:… No wonder Cong Geer and Mianmian could play together; they were equally infuriating.
Fortunately, Mianmian and Mother had finally returned home from visiting.
Mianmian returned and sweetly threw herself onto Princess Huiyun.
“Grandma, did you miss me very much?”
Princess Huiyun nodded: “I missed you very much.” (I’ll beat you.)
But seeing the little one like this, her heart softened instantly. She was coaxed into a good mood at once.
Cong Geer received the roasted chicken Mianmian had bought from the street, and she brought it back to eat with him and Princess Grandma.
Princess Huiyun was a bit disgusted by the street food, thinking it wasn’t clean.
“This Princess never eats these messy things.”
But since the little one had bought it, she elegantly picked up a piece and ate it. Then, to her surprise, she found it was actually quite delicious.
She picked up another piece. And another. And another.
Mianmian:…
Cong Geer didn’t look at the Princess; he turned to ask Mianmian: “Mianmian, is there more to the sequel of that Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils?”
“Yes, but I just got back and I’m tired. I’ll tell you guys tonight.”
Princess Huiyun reservedly indicated that she would reluctantly let her sleep with her tonight.
Mianmian:… Princesses are creatures who never say what they mean directly.
Today, before it got dark, Jiang Changtian got off work. It was cold, so he left early.
Anyway, the palace thought he had gone to the yamen, and the yamen thought he had gone to the palace. People who worked in two places like this could easily slack off and leave work early.
Returning home, Jiang Changtian was surprised to see that Princess Huiyun was still there and hadn’t returned to the Princesss Mansion.
He had thought that Princess Huiyun wouldn’t be able to stay, and would return after at most one night.
After all, his small house couldn’t compare to the Princesss Mansion; it wasn’t even as big as the servants’ quarters in the Princesss Mansion.
Princess Huiyun was very happy to see her son return. However, seeing his eyes were red and swollen, as if he had been crying, she became anxious.
Her heart tightened instantly. She asked cautiously: “Is something wrong? Did someone bully you?”
Jiang Changtian shook his head: “No, no one bullied me. It’s just that when I got off work and thought of Mother waiting for me at home, I felt happy.”
Princess Huiyun was instantly struck in the heart by her son’s words; she felt very guilty and ashamed.
She had stayed because she wanted to hear stories, not for anything else.
Fortunately, fortunately, she had stayed. If she had left, and Tian’er had come back and not seen her, how sad he would have been.
Princess Huiyun mentally examined herself eight hundred times.
Winter days get dark early. The family ate dinner early too. It wasn’t actually very late after dinner, just barely six o’clock.
Mianmian’s family gathered around a stove; the stove was used to boil tea and roast some dates and fruits. It was very warm and fragrant.
This was a habit from Kaner Village. Back then, there was no stove, so they would just light a bonfire in the courtyard.
Under the starry night sky, the family gathered around the bonfire to warm their hands; it had a unique warmth.
Now, Elder Brother and Elder Sister were missing, but Princess Grandma and Cong Geer were there. The number of people remained constant.
Mianmian originally couldn’t sleep, so she was chatting with Princess Grandma. Thinking of the princess and Xuzhu inside, she suddenly had a brainwave and thought of the story of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.
At this moment, seeing Princess Grandma’s eager eyes… and Cong Geer staring intently at her… Mianmian had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue.
She remembered the content from the TV show; fortunately, she was speaking quite coherently now.
She recounted the story of the first episode. Then the second episode.
Princess Huiyun’s eyes widened when she heard that Duan Yu fell off a cliff and ended up in a cave, where he found two martial arts manuals: the North Divine Arts and the Lingbo Microsteps.
And Mother, Qin Luoxia, felt it was ridiculous that there would be a cave and martial arts manuals under a cliff; she had been to many cliffs, and there were none.
Then she heard the story of Duan Yu getting tangled up with several young ladies.
Hearing that Duan Yu wanted to see Miss Mu’s appearance, and after Miss Mu took off her veil and showed it to Duan Yu, she treated him as her husband…
The story was full of ups and downs. The listeners each had their own thoughts.
Jiang Changtian instinctively disliked the man his daughter was talking about; he was too much of a playboy. How could a young lady like such a man? Absolutely not. He would have to strengthen her moral education later.
And the rule that if one’s face is seen, one must marry—Jiang Changtian’s palms hardened. What kind of ridiculous rule was that? If his daughter’s face was seen and she had to marry, he would gouge out that person’s eyes! Hmph…
Princess Huiyun was wearing a veil and felt a little moved. When she first met Master Jingjue, she was wearing a veil, and the veil had fallen into Master Jingjue’s hands…
Qin Luoxia thought, are there really martial arts? So many people fighting back and forth, who is stronger?
Cong Geer didn’t think much; he just earnestly memorized the story and also memorized this very moment: the family gathered around the stove, Mianmian telling the story, and them listening to it.
For some reason, he just felt it was very good.
It was just the right amount of warmth, just the right amount of tea, just the right story, and the dates were roasted just right.
This was probably what New Year was like. A new year was about to arrive. Things would get better and better.
“Father, Happy New Year,” Cong Geer said in his heart. “Happy New Year,” Cong Geer replied in his heart.
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