"The son-in-law is back! Madam Zhen, the son-in-law has arrived!"

Ma Xiaosi caught a glimpse of Zhu Yuan and the others galloping towards them from afar, and hurriedly went inside to inform Zhen Wanwan.

No one present corrected the way Ma Xiaosi was addressed, even though Zhu Yuan had declared himself king, the couple still preferred the old name.

Zhen Wanwan prefers to be called Zhen Niangzi rather than Princess.

Zhu Yuan had already seen his family waiting for him at the door, but his eyes were only on Zhen Wanwan.

Three years ago, Zhen Wanwan went to live in a villa in the suburbs of Anqing Prefecture, but for some reason, the two children were not used to the environment and were always listless.

She had no choice but to move back, and Zhuyuan had the house expanded several times over, and the estate was also surrounded by walls.

Furthermore, guards were arranged around the estate for defense. Ever since he could walk and run, the two children in the family always liked to pester Yuan Huizhou to go out to the river to fish and shrimp on his days off.

Zhen Wanwan's gaze followed Zhu Yuan; the man before her seemed even more handsome than when she left.

But Zhen Wanwan felt a fatal attraction to him, a dangerous yet irresistible attraction.

Zhen Wanwan swallowed hard, looking at Zhu Yuan who was walking towards her like a lovesick fool.

At that moment, she felt as if there were only the two of them left in the world. The distance between them seemed to grow infinitely longer. Just when Zhen Wanwan felt she couldn't breathe, she fell into someone's warm embrace.

The familiar, gentle voice in her ear said, "My lady, have you been waiting long? I've missed you terribly."

Zhen Wanwan felt an itch in her ear as his breath hit her sensitive ear nerves.

She couldn't help but hug him tightly: "My husband~"

The two hugged for a long time before finally snapping out of their daze at Tianbao's soft, sweet cries of "Daddy!"

"Daddy! Sweetie misses you so much! Sweetie wants a hug too!"

Zhen Wanwan noticed the teasing laughter of those around her, and embarrassed, pushed Zhu Yuan away, giving Tianbao her embrace.

Zhu Yuan was slightly annoyed, but since she was his own daughter, he dared not take his anger out on her.

Sweetie shamelessly snuggled into her father's arms, but secretly glanced at her older brother.

She didn't know why her brother insisted that she call him "Daddy" to hug her!

The little girl pouted; her mother and father were getting all lovey-dovey.

His father was accompanied by soldiers who had fought alongside him on the battlefield. He had to maintain his father's imposing and powerful image at all times and not let him lose face in front of his subordinates.

Look how understanding he is!

Seeing her daughter and son-in-law getting along so well, Old Lady Li couldn't stop smiling. She quickly called out, "Everyone, don't just stand there! Xiao Yuan must be tired from his journey! Come on in and have these young men sit down! The food is ready!"

With his hands behind his back and adopting the airs of a patriarch, Grandpa Zhen chimed in, "Xiao Yuan, listen to your mother, let's go inside first and then talk!"

Zhu Yuan hummed in agreement, held Tianbao in his arms, glanced at his wife, and then looked at his son.

Upon seeing this, Yuan Huizhou hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to his uncle, Zhuyuan, saying, "Uncle."

Zhu Yuan nodded: "Has Zhou'er been studying diligently?"

Yuan Huizhou sighed silently. Why was his uncle still the same? Every time he saw him, he would ask about his studies.

Yuan Huizhou glanced at Guaibao unconsciously; it was all his little cousin who had rolled them!

He's really unlucky. His little cousin is so competitive; at such a young age, he's already memorized more books than him!

Zhen Wanwan patted Zhuyuan in an annoyed tone: "Zhou'er studies very hard every day. And you, you finally come back, and all you know is to worry about the child's studies."

It's fair to say that Zhen Wanwan and Zhu Yuan have completely different parenting styles. Zhu Yuan is the kind of person who is competitive himself and also expects his children to be competitive.

He is very strict with his children, so Tiger, Dog Egg, and Erniu run away whenever they see him, and they don't want to come over to play whenever he's home.

Even Xiao Yizhi was scared away by him, and one night he secretly ran away and returned to the Xiao family.

Yuan Huizhou had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept his strict education.

Zhen Wanwan would reward her child with an hour of playtime after the child completed a homework assignment. Sometimes, if the child wanted to read a book longer, she would put on a stern face and say that the child should not study to death and should combine work and rest.

Sometimes they would give them all sorts of novel toys and invite them to play games like Werewolf.

They treated the children like their own friends, and the children had a wonderful time playing together.

But Yuan Huizhou gradually discovered that like father, like son, and the little boy felt even more guilty than his uncle!

At only four years old, he can recite children's primers such as the Three Character Classic, the Thousand Character Classic, the Hundred Family Surnames, and the Primer on Names and Things fluently.

His aunt was afraid that he would read too much and have too much stuff in his head, which would be hard to digest, so she forbade him to study the Four Books.

Thinking of this, Yuan Huizhou lowered his head in defeat. The teacher in the academy said he was intelligent, but compared to his little cousin, he was nothing!

Guai Bao looked innocently at Yuan Huizhou, who was staring at him and sighing. He touched his face, afraid that the crumbs from his snacks that morning might have gotten on his cheeks.

"Brother! Why are you looking at me like that! Let's hurry up and go inside with Mother and Father!"

Guaibao grabbed Yuan Huizhou's hand and followed closely behind Old Lady Li.

Grandpa Zhen stayed behind to entertain the generals that Zhu Yuan had brought back, while Grandma Li went straight to the kitchen after entering the house and arranged for people to serve the dishes.

Several tables were set up in the main room. Since there were guests, Zhen Wanwan casually invited the Zhang family to come and eat together.

The Zhang family's house is not far from here; it only takes a quarter of an hour by fast horse to get there.

The Zhang family's masters were mostly women, with only Zhang Qinghuai as a proper male master.

Therefore, men and women eat separately, while children eat with them.

Once the food was served, the Zhang family arrived.

Prefect Fang and Zhang Zhelan also arrived. Prefect Fang went to the men's table, while Zhen Wanwan brought Zhang Zhelan to the backyard.

Instead of setting up the dining table indoors, she chose a gazebo, which, together with the children, made just enough for two tables.

Old Mrs. Zhang and Old Mrs. Li held hands, heads bowed, gossiping. Beside them were Wang Cuihua and Wang Shi. Because the two shared the same surname, Wang Shi addressed Wang Cuihua as "Big Sister" to show their closeness.

Zhang Congrong sat between Da Ni and Er Ni. Da Ni was four years younger than Zhang Congrong and was now thirteen or fourteen years old, which was the age to start discussing marriage.

The two were as close as sisters, sharing their girlish secrets, while Erni teased Tianbao with candy, asking her to call her "sister."

Everything was so harmonious and beautiful. Zhen Wanwan pulled Zhang Zhelan to sit down.

Seeing her family members living comfortably, and seeing Zhang Qinghuai, the only male member of her family, able to walk normally, Zhang Zhelan felt more and more grateful to Zhen Wanwan with each sight.

If it weren't for Zhen Wanwan, she was afraid her mother wouldn't have been able to hold on, and she was also afraid her nephew would become despondent and lose his future.