The wooden garden is on the east side of the General's Mansion, near the Dianjiang Hall of the outer courtyard.

  Black tiles and white walls encircle a lush ancient forest, with trees towering into the sky. The layout is scattered yet orderly, and despite it being November, the air is still filled with vibrant life. Artificial hills and strange rocks rise steeply, exuding an aura of rustic simplicity.

  Chui Rong was pulled by her brother into the wooden garden, and upon seeing the scenery in front of her, she couldn't help but praise it, "This place is not bad, most suitable for avoiding the heat. If one were to hang a hammock between those two trees, and lazily close their eyes to rest, it would be a wonderful thing."

  The huge branches are covered with layers of green leaves, which completely block the scorching sun on top of their heads. Occasionally, one or two rays of sunlight pass through the gaps between the leaves, bright and warm, but a few degrees less scorching.

  Just thinking about it makes me feel wonderful.

  Xiao Ge'er laughed and said, "Wu Auntie looks silly, but she's actually quite good at enjoying herself."

  He slightly raised his chin, saying with some pride, "This place was discovered by me. Sometimes when I'm in a bad mood, I sneak here alone and hide for a while. There's no swing, but there's a dry well over there where I stash all the good stuff."

  Choi Yeong-won was about to scold him again for being too big for his britches, but then she heard the words behind his back and her heart was touched in its softest spot, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for him.

  She said softly, "Only adults would have a bad mood, you're just a kid, so small, don't talk nonsense like that in the future."

  Wu Ge'er smiled with a mischievous grin, "Does Fifth Aunt pity me?"

  He paused slightly, "Actually, it's nothing much, just that occasionally I see my third and fourth brothers growing up so big, still able to play freely, sometimes I feel envious. But mother has said before, the men of the Yuan family are born for the battlefield, if they don't work hard from a young age, perhaps the price they'll have to pay in the future is their lives."

  Yuan Jiayong had three children with his wife, all of whom were born to the Princess of Yining.

  The eldest daughter Yuan Yue'er and the second brother Yuan Li are twins, both of whom are already eleven years old this year. The third brother Yuan Rui is nine years old.

  Yuan Ze died early, and Liang's family line had no descendants, with no children under his knees.

  Yuan Luo and Lian gave birth to a son and a daughter. The fourth brother is called Yuan Zhang, who is eight years old this year, and the fifth sister is Yuan Xin'er, who is six years old this year.

  Last year, Yuan Sanlang brought back a one-month-old boy from outside and named him Yuan Bo. Now he is only just over one year old.

  Yu Geer is six years old and has a younger brother named Yuan Qi who is less than a year old.

  Chui Ling thought of all the children in her family and finally understood which two were the third and fourth brothers that Yu Ge admired.

  She smiled and said, "Xu Ge'er, Wu Shu thinks you might have wronged Rui Ge'er and Zhang Ge'er."

  "Xīngēr raised his head, 'What?'"

  He often saw his three brothers and four brothers laughing and going out together, asking them if they didn't say they were going hunting or having fun, listening to him itching in his heart, they were clearly just going for a stroll, but Aunt Wu said he was wronged by two brothers...

  Cui Ling gently stroked his soft hair, "Your mother was well-read and talented in poetry, so she personally taught you. Your eldest uncle's wife and third uncle's wife didn't have the ability, so they sent your two older brothers to the clan school early on."

  She paused slightly, "Do you think those gentlemen from the clan school are just idly taking our family's stipend? Your two brothers aren't going there to play around. I heard that next spring, Rui and Zhang will both be taking the imperial college exam, it's not easy to get in, so they must be working hard outside."

  The Taixue of the Sheng Dynasty gathered all the elite young people, who not only had a good family background but also had outstanding talents. They must have at least one skill that they were good at among the six arts: rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy and arithmetic. Those who were not skilled in these areas could not be completely ignorant of them.

  Rui Geer and Zhuang Geer, one is nine years old and the other is eight years old. They have ambition to study hard and think they are not ordinary people, even if they were born with extraordinary talent, but without hard work and tempering, it's impossible to have such strong self-confidence.

  Besides, what Yī gē understands, why don't Ruì gē and Zhuāng gē understand?

  The boys of the Yuan family will all be leading troops to fight in the future, people who are destined for the battlefield for life. If they don't master their skills and are confused and without strategy, they will undoubtedly be courting death. Only by becoming strong themselves can they make the enemy tremble with fear and protect themselves to the greatest extent.

  "Ah-ha! I get it now!" exclaimed the little brother with a sudden realization, "They were just teasing me on purpose to make me jealous! Next time if Third Brother and Fourth Brother say something like that again, I'll totally expose them without mercy!"

  He shook his head and quickly put the matter down, then walked forward and pulled Cui Ying's hand, "Auntie Wu, come, I'll take you to see my babies."

  Chui Ling looked at the pile of broken copper and iron that had been pulled up from the dry well, speechless for a moment. She asked in a low voice, "These... are these your treasures? Brother Yun, tell Aunt Wu, these aren't the things you've been collecting!"

  Brother Ge didn't pay attention to her, and instead rummaged through a pile of things that couldn't be distinguished by their appearance, "This is a nine-linked ring, this is a leather sandbag, this is a seven-color clay figurine, this is a bamboo pipe."

  He hummed and said, "These are all my treasures. They've just been left here for a long time, so some of them have rusted. A good cleaning will make them shine again!"

  Cui Ling felt a pang of sadness, "Didn't your mother tell you not to play with these?"

  "Mother says that playing with things will lead to a loss of ambition, and these are just country children's toys, not worth showing off. With this effort, it would be better to read a few more books and learn a few more pieces of music."

  He took out a bamboo-woven hollow ball and presented it to Cui Ying with both hands, "Fifth Aunt, let's play Cuju!"

  Cui Ling looked at the small ball and saw that the bamboo threads were slightly broken, so she said to Mu Ge who was following beside her, "Go to Cang Xiang Garden and bring over a few good things from my collection. I remember there's also a bamboo basket ball of this size in the box, bring it together."

  Mugun went as she was told, and the big wooden garden was left with only her and Yuge.

  "Come on, Fifth Aunt, let's not wait for Mu Ge anymore, let's start playing first!"

  Cui Ling looked at Yu Xue's lovely face with anticipation and smiled, "Alright, how do you want to play? You say!"

  "Hey, you kick it over to me and I'll kick it back to you. Whoever can't catch it loses. Best two out of three, the loser has to grant a request from the winner - whether it's barking like a dog or drawing a small turtle on their face, anything goes!"

  He saw Cui Ying dazed and couldn't help but say with a smile, "What's wrong, Auntie Wu afraid of losing?"

  Cui Ling pinched the little kid's cheek, "Come on, who's afraid of whom!"

  The two of them kicked the ball back and forth, neither gaining the upper hand, when suddenly Cui Ying lost control of her strength, and with a loud "thwack", the bamboo ball flew straight out of the courtyard and got stuck in the trunk of a tree outside the wall.

  She found a long branch and tried several times in vain, seeing that her brother was so anxious that he was about to cry. Fortunately, she saw a strange rockery nearby, so she climbed onto the wall first, then slowly moved to the branch and took down the ball.

  Climbing walls is not a difficult task for her.

  She smiled and said to Yu Ge'er, "Don't worry, Aunt Wu has a way. I'll climb up and help you get it down."

  "Brother nodded, and then hesitated to say, "That side seems to be Dian Jiang Tang, in the past when grandfather was there, he would discuss matters at that place. If someone saw it, it wouldn't be good."

  Chui Rong said carelessly, "It's nothing, your grandfather and uncles have all gone to the northwest, there won't be anyone."

  Nowadays, the only man in the house is Yuan Dalang. He has to attend court every day and after the trial, he has to go to the Ministry of War to hear the case, and it's usually evening when he returns home. Normally, there are no male visitors coming to visit, so at this time just past noon, it's very safe.

  She thought so, and then tore open her skirt to tie up her calf, nimbly flipping over the fake hill.

  "Wow, Auntie Wu, just a little further and I'll get it!"

  Choi Yeong strained to push the bamboo basket ball in, just as she was about to succeed, when suddenly she caught a glimpse of several young men dressed as guards standing upright in the courtyard of the adjacent Dianjiang Hall, staring at her with shocked expressions.

  She was startled in her heart, and her hands came to a sudden stop, the bamboo ball also seemed to be frightened and rolled down with a loud noise.

  "Bang!"

  Yuan Dalang rushed out of the house upon hearing the news, and was shocked to see the woman standing on the wall. "Wu Mei, what are you doing there? Come down quickly, it's dangerous!"

  Cui Ling didn't expect Yuan Dalang to be at home, and seeing the faint purple fabric behind him, she thought he must still be entertaining guests, and couldn't help but feel embarrassed and want to immediately find a hole to crawl into.

  However, with so many curious eyes staring at her, she couldn't just sneak away without giving an explanation. She could only awkwardly point to the ball on the ground and say, "Xiao Yu's playing with the ball, it accidentally fell onto the tree, I'm here to pick it up for him."

  Yuan Dalang hastily handed the bamboo ball to her, "The small school field is spacious, it's more suitable to play ball there."

  Cui Ying's face turned red as she nodded repeatedly, "Th-thank you so much, big brother." Then she quickly climbed down from the wall.

  Yuan Dalang and the guests in the hall were all martial artists, with keen ears and eyes. They clearly heard a "thud" sound, followed by a child's crisp and tense question: "Auntie Wu, why are you always so clumsy? Can't even step on the stairs steadily! Come, let me see if you're hurt anywhere."

  A flustered woman stifled her voice and said, "No, no, your great uncle is entertaining guests in the next room. You little brat, keep your voice down, let's move quickly."

  The man in purple robes let out a muffled laugh, and the guards also held back their laughter.

  Yuan Dalang thought of the strange and clever daughter, and a smile also appeared on his face.

  But the fifth brother and sister lost face, this matter is not good to hear when it spreads out, he can only hold back his smile, corrected his expression, "Your Highness, my fifth brother and sister are usually dignified and quiet, today for the sake of their nephew's ball they were rash once, I hope Your Highness will not take offense."

  He clenched his fist at several guards in the courtyard, "I also hope you will give me some face and just pretend you haven't seen anything!"