But first, of course, I had to introduce my Farm Guide to my child.
“Is this the huge dragon I saw flying in the sky?” Shuye grinned down at him.
“Yes, I’m a dragon!”
I gave Shuye a [Crocus] flower as usual, and we all sat down to discuss the latest scandal.
Shuye spoke with a twinkle in his eyes as he recounted the events. “The people who owned the invisible chickens finally got tired of them and sold them at auction, which was won by one of the Fox clan families. But the trouble started when a rival family, also from the Fox clan, tried to buy just one pair, male and female, of the animals. The auction winner refused to listen to this request, and things got heated.”
He paused and looked at Eggy, who was playing with Cutie and definitely not listening to the boring grown-up talk.
“Insults were exchanged, blows followed suit, and before the auction staff could break up the fight, one of the auction winners broke his arm, and the one who started the fight broke his jaw and lost some teeth. He’ll be limited to eating liquid food for some time.”
I shook my head. “How brutal! And all this over some chickens?”
“Well…” Shuye leaned forward and whispered in a conspiratorial tone. “They say the person who broke his jaw had it in for the one who broke his arm because of a certain young lady they were both wooing.”
There were chuckles all around the table.
“What did she do?” asked Kharli.
“Last I heard, she’s nursing the young man who’s on a liquid diet.”
“Then the troublemaker won in the end?” asked Lari.
“Such is life,” said Shuye. “I had to tell you about this since the auction losers are asking if you would consider selling more of your… special… chickens.”
“But I thought everyone agreed they’re a nuisance! Why is there more interest in them now?”
“One of the Fox clan illusionists suggested they could learn invisibility from the chickens,” said Shuye.
Prince Baiyu looked thunderstruck. “I never even thought of that!”
“How much are they offering?” I asked.
“I’ve left the paperwork at the main house for you to check later. Take your time,” said Shuye.
Talk then turned to business, specifically new orders, contracts, and taxes. My Farm Guide excused himself after a while since he had a lot to do today, and he promised to visit again with his wife and child soon.
My apprentices and I then continued our work and moved on to the next three [Greenhouses].
In the last one, I took Eggy by the hand and showed him the special corner with shelves full of plant pots that Lari, Kharli, and Mo had prepared.
“Baby, here is where you can do farming work like Mom.”
Eggy held his hand, palm up. “Give me the System.”
I pinched his cheek. “Say the magic word.”
“Please, mommy, please.”
I pretended to drop something into his hand. “Okay.”
Eggy quickly brought his hand to his mouth and swallowed some air. “I got the System!”
Prince Baiyu knelt, took his pulse, and gave his solemn verdict. “Qi is normal. Proceed.”
“Here are some [Potato], [Carrot], and [Cucumber] seeds.” I gave him a paper packet.
“Carrots? Bunny carrots!” Eggy opened it and looked inside.
The pots were already full of fertilized soil, so I taught Eggy to poke a small hole in them and then drop a seed into it and cover it with soil. Then I handed him a watering can, which he used to water the pots.
“We will visit them every day to see how they grow,” I said. “Now, time to play!”
“I’ll go ahead and light the fireplace for you,” said Prince Baiyu.
“Me, me!” Eggy held up his arms to his father.
We all put our outerwear back on, and the two of them flew off to the [Herb Garden] with the rest of us following on foot.
During the winter season, the perennials in the [Herb Garden] went dormant, and we put a thick mulch of shredded leaves at the base of the plants to keep the soil temperature more stable and help them survive. A prolonged freeze could still kill off many normal herbs, but ours were spiritual plants that were far more hardy.
When we entered the garden, I saw the red glow of a fire merrily burning in the fireplace set in the far wall, which had a short overhanging roof. The kids had tested using a fire pit, but they found that the fireplace built into the wall radiated heat into the stone and kept the area warmer.
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Eggy was sitting in front of the fire, staring dreamily into it until we arrived, and Lari proposed a game of tag. My son didn’t know how to play, but my apprentices were willing to teach him. They ran all around the place laughing and screaming. Kharli, always the most athletic of the three, was in fine form, darting between the raised beds with effortless grace and tagging my son with one hand, which made him laugh with delight and then chase after the others.
Prince Baiyu, the nanny, and I relaxed in the armchairs set in front of the fireplace, watching the game and cheering on whoever was "it” at the time.
Alas for my poor apprentices, Eggy never ran out of energy, running them ragged until they begged for mercy and collapsed in front of the fireplace.
“Mom, Dad, I won!” Eggy climbed into his father’s lap to bask in his victory.
“Good job.”
Prince Baiyu patted his head, and they exchanged smiles. Then Eggy rested his head on my husband’s chest. In a few minutes, he was fast asleep. I put a finger on my lips to ask the others for silence, and Prince Baiyu floated himself out of his chair, the better to avoid jolting Eggy awake. He slowly flew out of the [Herb Garden], with me opening the gate and doors for him, and back into our bedroom to put Eggy to bed for a nice nap.
***
And so it went for the next few weeks. We spent a few days with just us and my apprentices, and every day I slowly introduced Eggy to more and more people in our household until he knew them all. Lord Yulin, who was hoping for another breakthrough, visited several times to do the bunny dance again, sometimes with his wife and child, sometimes alone.
The snow fell less and less as the days went by. The days grew warmer, and the frozen ground thawed.
In the last week before the end of the winter season, we decided to decorate the grounds. It was our first time spending the New Year at Emberstone Farm instead of out in the desert; however, I decided to hold our celebrations in the adjoining Mustard Tree property since it had a grand castle on it.
Eggy requested a rabbit theme, which I thought was hilarious, so I went all in. Since the weather was always wonderfully sunny in the Mustard Tree pocket dimension, we decided it would be nice to have the party outside. There were balloons galore, streamers, bunting, banners, fairy lights, animal topiaries, flowers, and a fantasy Victorian-styled outdoor tea party with long tables, covered by a light canopy, on the front lawn. It was the sort one would have in an Alice in Wonderland-themed birthday party, but with rabbits.
The Cash Shop only had a few rabbit-items, but we made the most of them by using the [Embiggen] and [Shrinkalize] talismans to make them bigger and smaller, respectively. Of course, size-changing only worked on a very limited number of purely ornamental Adventure Incarnate stuff from a specific event, but, fortunately, one of the items was an Easter backdrop.
Eggy loved the painted scene of cute bunnies gamboling among the flowers and Easter eggs that seemed made especially for us, but Prince Baiyu complained about the lack of tigers.
“I will bring some tigers to play with the eggs and bunnies,” he said.
“No!” Eggy launched himself at his father’s arm, clinging to it like a demented koala. “No, tigers eat rabbits!”
I laughed. “My love, what about I make a special dragon and tiger room inside?”
“Dragon, tiger, and human,” said Prince Baiyu. “I want all of us.”
Thus, Muchen got another commission to paint another family scene, a mural in the entrance hall. It wouldn’t be finished in time for the party, but Prince Baiyu was mollified.
Eggy and I cut out the rabbits and eggs and made them bigger or smaller before placing them all over the lawn and tables. He really got into it, often carrying a bunny in his mouth in dragon form and flying to high tree branches or the tops of topiaries to hide them among the leaves.
The eggs were to be hidden by Prince Baiyu and the male staff on the day itself for an egg hunt. The prize was an egg trophy carved out of wood and a wooden sign I painted myself with the “Eggspert” written on it in English. Eggy loved the pun to bits, which made my apprentices and the staff think that it was a mysterious and powerful word in our secret language.
The staff, meanwhile, cleaned and polished everything under the watchful eyes of my housekeeper. The lucky charms that were hung around the rooms were replaced with new ones, and they lit incense and chanted prayers to the household spirits for good fortune in the coming year.
The maids had been busy for weeks now with the traditional task of sewing new clothes for everyone, and this time, Prince Baiyu showed off his groom training by sewing matching silk robes for the three of us. He cut the bolts of silk from his family’s silk production workshop and expertly sewed them together. It was quite a shock to everyone when he used his qi to sew the clothes. I didn’t see it myself since I was working when he did it, but the maids told me about it later. Their opinions were divided as to whether it was a startling display of pure skill or a hilariously over-the-top performance, akin to using a legendary sword to chop carrots.
The day itself dawned bright and sunny. We had slept in the castle the night before in a very grand state bedroom fit for royalty. Eggy said it was nice, but he preferred our cozy courtyard. We had a simple breakfast of toast and eggs with jam, and coffee for me and tea for Prince Baiyu and the Nanny. Then we spent the morning working on some paperwork while Eggy played with Cutie in the halls.
Since I was going all in for my child’s first New Year, we had lunch at the great hall. [Bambi’s Dream Castle] furniture pack from the Cash Shop had been used on it, and Eggy had requested rabbits, so Bambi was now joined by many cute little rabbits. The gold, pink, and silver crystals on the chandeliers were all lit up, and the table was set with silver cutlery, fine porcelain, and crystal glasses. Floral centerpieces, gold candelabra, and neatly folded napkins completed the look.
I sat with my family, apprentices, Scholar Wu, and two royal guards at one end of the table while the staff preferred to stay on the other side. I guess they felt more comfortable eating among themselves than with their employers.
Most of Prince Baiyu’s staff had gone home to spend the New Year with their families. I asked the staff why they didn’t go home, but they all said they liked the food and didn’t want to miss the party. The only ones missing were Yinuo and her husbands because they felt their baby was too young to bring along. Fengying sent her numerous party dishes for them to have their own celebration.
Since it was just a casual lunch, we had a simple three-course meal of wonton soup, thousand-layer pancakes, five-spice pork chops, baked salmon with greens, and fresh fruit for dessert. Afterward, the menfolk, including Eggy, went outside to hide the eggs while we women cleared up the tables and did the washing up. It was easy enough with the [Industrial Dishwasher Series 9000].
The men took their time, and Shuye arrived just in time to watch as one of Prince Baiyu’s royal guards blew a horn to signal the start of the competition. Kharli, Mo, and the female staff all ran off in all directions to the cheers of the audience.
Eggy was the most excited of them all, jumping up and down beside me and cheering whenever he saw one of the girls running past an egg he had hidden. “Mom, she didn’t see it! It’s there! It’s there!”
The winner was the youngest maid, who retrieved eight eggs and gracefully accepted her prize with a cheeky bow towards Kharli, the second placer with seven eggs.
“I won!” She held the wooden sign aloft, displaying it to everyone. “I’m this year’s eggspert!”
“I’ll get it next year!” said Kharli.
We all laughed and congratulated the winner.
Then we went back to the castle to rest or take a nap since the main event was, of course, at midnight.
I was awakened at sunset by Eggy shaking me awake. “Mom, wake up! Look up in the sky! Look! The moon gave birth to baby moons!”
*****
The moon rabbit
Author's Note:
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