Time passed quickly, and the two children, Jun Jingyan and Jun Jingluo, were already six months old.
They had grown into plump, rosy little dumplings.
Normally, Leng Ruoli spent her days at home, and aside from feeding them, she had no say in their care. The Empress Dowager, her two maids, and Madam Xia from the Xia family were all eager to look after the children, and even their maternal grandmother, Xia Wan'er, often found herself unable to get a turn.
Her medical clinic and two shops also required no attention from her. She felt as though she had gone stale in the half-year since giving birth.
So, she called for Yan Yu to discuss the opening of the hot pot restaurant.
Later, Leng Ruoli did not expect Xia Wan'er to also want to open a hot pot restaurant with her. However, with Xia Wan'er's participation, she had one less thing to worry about.
Subsequently, the preparations for her hot pot restaurant's opening were handled by Xia Wan'er and Yan Yu, with Leng Ruoli only contributing ideas.
A month later, her hot pot restaurant successfully opened under the expectant gaze of many. The restaurant was named: Four Seasons Welcoming Hot Pot Restaurant!
For the first three days of its opening, Leng Ruoli offered discounts. Customers who dined in received a fifty percent discount. On the first day, the restaurant quickly attracted a large number of passersby to sample its fare.
Many who tried it once became addicted, and then they returned to tell their families, neighbors, and friends about how delicious the hot pot was at the Four Seasons Welcoming Hot Pot Restaurant, how good the waiters were to customers... They could also enjoy various performances, and sit down to eat while listening to music.
As a result, in less than a day, customers of all ages, men and women, from across the capital flocked to taste it.
By the second day of opening, as soon as Leng Ruoli's hot pot restaurant doors opened, customers eager to taste the hot pot rushed in like a tide, filling the entire establishment.
Some customers even ate hot pot for an entire week...
In the years that followed, Leng Ruoli's hot pot restaurant business was truly booming.
More than three years passed in the blink of an eye. The corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes planted by Leng Ruoli had been widely promoted across the country, solving the problem of food scarcity for a large portion of the common people in Tianwu. In the decades that followed, the scene of large-scale southward migration of northern commoners after the onset of winter never recurred.
As for Leng Ruoli and Jun Mohan's children, Jun Jingyan and Jun Jingluo, they were almost four years old. Even Xing'er and Ye Ying, Ling'er and Yin Chen had gotten married and had their own children.
Xing'er and Ling'er had each given birth to a boy, who were now over a year old, but they still stayed by Leng Ruoli's side to serve her.
One autumn afternoon, Jun Jingyan and Jun Jingluo were just picked up from the palace by Jun Mohan and brought back to the Cold King's Mansion.
He walked into Hanche Courtyard with a dark expression, bringing the two troublemakers, and complained to Leng Ruoli: "Lier, you can't let Yanyan and Luoluo go into the palace so often from now on."
Leng Ruoli, not understanding, glanced at the two little ones who had their heads lowered, furrowed her brow, and asked, "What happened? Did they cause any major trouble again? Didn't the Emperor invite them to the palace for lessons?"
Upon hearing this, Jun Mohan's thin lips curled slightly. He looked at Leng Ruoli with amusement but did not answer her directly.
"Then you should ask them properly? What did they do?"
Leng Ruoli immediately asked Jun Jingyan and Jun Jingluo to look up. Her gaze swept over the two little rascals. Their chubby infant faces showed their eyes darting around, as if they were contemplating how to answer her.
"Yanyan, you are the elder brother, you go first?"
Leng Ruoli pointed at Jun Jingyan and said with a somewhat serious expression.
"Mother Consort, this child saw on television some time ago that roasted corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes taste more fragrant than boiled ones. So, I took my sister to the palace and asked the little maids and eunuchs to bring charcoal, corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. We ran to the Imperial Garden and made a bonfire to roast things."
As my sister and I were roasting in the Imperial Garden, a strong wind suddenly blew. Some embers accidentally flew into the bushes, and soon those bushes caught fire. However, this child immediately took the little maids and eunuchs to put out the fire, but the flames spread too quickly, and before long, a large part of Grandfather Emperor's Imperial Garden was burned down..."
Jun Jingyan raised his small face. Except for his eyes, which were different from Jun Mohan's, everything else was carved from the same mold as Jun Mohan, but with different proportions. He stared intently at the changes in Leng Ruoli's expression, speaking with a hint of trepidation.
After hearing Jun Jingyan's words, a flame of anger surged within Leng Ruoli's heart. Her emotions shifted from initial curiosity to surprise, and finally to anger.
"Jun Jingyan, what did you say? You, you actually burned the Imperial, Gar, den!"
The last few words Leng Ruoli spoke were almost spat out, word by word, from between her teeth.
"Mo, Mother Consort, I didn't do it on purpose! I know I was wrong, and I've already apologized to Grandfather Emperor... Please don't hit me!"
Seeing his mother's anger, Jun Jingyan quickly knelt before Leng Ruoli and apologized.
"Hmph! You rascal, you've really angered me to death. Last time you pulled the golden eagle's feathers to make a fan, how did I educate you? Have you forgotten?"
"Today, you will kneel here obediently until I've calmed down!"
Leng Ruoli stood before the two children with her hands on her hips, pointing at Jun Jingyan, her anger escalating as she spoke.
Jun Mohan, afraid of upsetting his wife, quickly tried to calm her: "Lier, please calm down, calm down!"
"Jun Mohan, how can you ask me to calm down? This fellow has become so naughty that he's pulling up roof tiles. Hmph! It's all because you spoiled him and made him lawless."
"Uh..."
Jun Mohan didn't know what to say.
Then, Leng Ruoli looked at Jun Jingluo and asked, "Luoluo, you confess honestly, what did you do today?"
"Mother Consort, Luoluo was very good today and didn't do anything wrong. The idea to roast food was conceived by my brother, and it has nothing to do with Luoluo."
Jun Jingluo blinked her adorable violet eyes, acting cute, and spoke with a wronged tone, trying to appear as pitiable as possible.
Her elder brother, Jun Jingyan, almost fainted upon hearing his sister's words. On the way back, this Luoluo had solemnly promised him that if their mother found out about the great trouble he had caused and wanted to discipline him after they returned to the mansion, she, as his sister, would plead with their mother for him. But now, she...
"Jun Jingluo, don't act cute with me. Your Grandfather Emperor and Great-Grandmother might fall for it, but I won't. Don't think you can get away with it. Speak up, what else did you do?"
Leng Ruoli asked her with a dark expression.