The Little King

34 | Sharing A Bed With Others Is Not Allowed

Translator: PastTimer

Editor: PastTimer

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The child's hair was also very dirty, so Xia Xi loosened the braids on her head and cleaned it. After washing her thoroughly, he felt that she looked different from most little girls; her eyebrows were definitely much more fierce. Xia Xi carried her to the couch and got some little girl's clothes for her to wear but the child refused, dodging and stubbornly resisting. Xia Xi had no choice but to find a set of bigger boy's clothes to wear and give her them so that she would be willing to change.

While drying her half-wet hair, Xia Xi thought deeply, when the child's hair dried, he suddenly asked, "Would you like to follow me?"

Even if such a child lived in the nursery, it would still be extremely difficult. She was a completely Xia-looking person, most Barbarians would hardly be willing to adopt her. Xia Xi thought of himself when he saw her and couldn't help but come up with this idea. When the child heard him, she lowered her head and licked the sugar in her hand, then she nodded.

Xia Xi's identity was the Queen of the Barbarians, it was very easy to take in a child by his side. Even Yue Ling'er agreed with him, thinking that his behaviour was a kind of charity, so the child was kept beside him in this way. She stayed with Xia Xi for more than ten days, but still didn't speak a word, Xia Xi could only conclude that she shouldn't be able to speak, and after confirming that she didn't understand nor had the ability to tell him her name, he said: "You can just have my last name, Xia, I'll call you..." He hesitated, looking out the window, his eyes fell on a sprout in the corner and he chuckled, "I'll just call you Xia Chun, my mother told me that spring was the beginning of all things and also the season of hope. She always wished that there would be hope in my life, and I also wish that there'll be hope in your life, so I'll call you Chun'er in the future, alright?"

The child looked at him with dark eyes and nodded without comment.

Xia Xi couldn't help laughing, he reached out and touched her head lightly. Xia Chun refused to treat herself as a girl, so Xia Xi treated him as a boy, he gave him boy's clothes to wear and did his hair like a male's. In his spare time, he saw that Xia Chun was interested in books, so he taught him how to read Chinese. Xia Chun studied very seriously, writing under the candlelight every night. He had very crooked writing at the beginning, but it gradually healed itself. After he recognized all the ten numbers, Xia Xi wrote all the ten numbers on the paper and then asked: "How old are you?"

The child looked at him and then slowly moved his finger to the "seven". Xia Xi was taken aback for a moment and said in disbelief, "Are you seven years old?"

The child nodded. Xia Xi looked at his thin head, knowing that he must have suffered a lot before meeting him, he felt sorry for him and hoped that he would get better.

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Every vernal equinox, there would be a sacrificial ritual in the Barbarian state asking for year-round rain. On this day, the King would personally come to the temple for divination. Xia Xi hadn't seen Chu Lan for a long time and couldn't help but look forward to that day.

He was anticipating it, but he hesitated, worrying that Chu Lan wouldn't come to see him even if he came. There were already two concubines around him, had he already forgotten his existence?

Thinking like this, the closer he got to that day, the worse Xia Xi's mood was. Even the smile on his face was heavier. Whenever he did needlework, he would often stop, as if his mind had been stolen by something.

Soon the day before the vernal equinox came, Xia Xi had dinner with Xia Chun and began teaching him to write again. The child which had the appearance of a five-year-old had a very upright posture, but the tip of his pen still trembled minutely. He used ordinary water to practice his calligraphy, not on paper, but a smooth wooden board. Paper in the Barbarian country was expensive, even Xia Xi didn't have much clean paper lying around. He let Xia Chun practice on a wooden board so that when the water marks were dry, he could start again.