Xingxing kept her head down, so neither Zhao Guihua nor Zhou Laoda noticed anything amiss. Only Zhu Lin paid close attention to her emotional changes and sat beside her, holding her hand tightly, offering silent comfort.

The Emperor and Empress Dowager had been looking forward to this day. They would be overjoyed if they could see the birth of their little grandson from heaven.

Children grow up visibly after birth. By July, Wang Yu was five months old. He ate and slept with his eyes closed, and the time between eating and sleeping became shorter. He started babbling and talking to people. Although no one could understand what he was saying, it didn't stop everyone from liking to tease him.

Especially Zhou Laoda and Zhao Guihua, who used to dislike going to the palace and would never want to live there because of the various rules in the palace, have been running to the palace every few days since Wang Yu was born. They often stay in the palace for a few days just to see their little grandson more often.

At this moment, Zhao Guihua hugged Wang Yu and kissed him repeatedly. Only after she had kissed him enough did she reluctantly hand him over to Zhou Laoda. Zhou Laoda chuckled and hugged his cute and fair-skinned grandson, kissing him endlessly.

Zhu Lin watched from the sidelines, somewhat speechless. His father-in-law and mother-in-law had taken over his son as soon as they entered the palace, and he couldn't even find a chance to hug him.

Xingxing used to worry that Zhu Lin was too cold-hearted and didn't like children. She thought that if he had a child, he might not even want to hold him. In the past, when Zhang Xiantao's son Zhao Heng pestered Zhu Lin for a hug, he was extremely resistant.

Who would have thought that this man didn't dislike children? He just didn't like other people's children. His own son was truly his own flesh and blood. Unless he had important business to attend to, he would definitely revolve around his son.

Sometimes Xingxing gets jealous, thinking, "It's a good thing this son is mine, otherwise I would be unhappy if you doted on him so much."

“I like you more, but Yu’er is still small and always needs to be carried. Once he grows up and can walk on his own, I won’t have to carry him all the time,” Zhu Lin said seriously.

“The palace has found three wet nurses and a bunch of palace servants, so you don’t need to work so hard. The palace servants will help us take care of the child,” Xingxing reminded her.

Zhu Lin shook his head repeatedly, "That's different. Just like when we decided to find three wet nurses, the three of them would take turns nursing the child so that the wet nurses wouldn't get too close to the child. When our child is still young, we parents should also hold him more and play with him more, so that he will be closer to us when he grows up."

“When I was a child, all the princes and princesses were mostly raised by wet nurses and palace servants. How could Father and Mother have the energy to always be around us? But when we grew up, weren’t we still just as close to Father and Mother?” Xingxing disagreed with his idea.

"So you mean we should leave Yu'er with the palace maids and wet nurses, and focus all our energy on politics?" Zhu Lin asked rhetorically.

"No, that's not it. I just think that everyone has their own way of raising children, and no one's method is necessarily the best. In the end, all Chinese parents love their children." Xingxing shrugged, indicating that she wasn't being serious.

Back to the present, Zhao Guihua mentioned that the Zhao Guizhi and Zhong Daya families were coming to the capital. "The restaurant business in our hometown is being managed by a trusted manager. The village chief and his family are still looking after things in the village. However, the village chief's family is also coming to the capital this time."

After all, Chun Chun will be giving birth in just over a month, and her parents will only feel at ease if they come to visit. Chen Yueru will also be giving birth soon after, so the Chen family will also come.

"How are your aunt and uncle recovering from their injuries? Those Japanese pirates were too ruthless; they hurt them so badly," Xingxing said with some guilt.

Zhao Guihua noticed Xingxing's self-blame and quickly comforted her, "Don't overthink it. This isn't something you wanted to happen. You can only blame the Japanese pirates for being so hateful. It's a pity that Chiyo hasn't been caught yet. Who knows when she might suddenly reappear and harm people again."

Back then, Zhong Daya and Li Quan were slashed more than a dozen times by the Japanese pirates and almost died. In the end, they were lucky and survived. However, they were bedridden for almost a year and could not get out of bed to walk. They could only take good care of themselves.

At that time, Xingxing had countless ginseng and rare herbs sent over, which managed to save the two of them. However, they could no longer work in business and could only stay at home to retire.

Fortunately, Zhong Daya's son Li Congzhi and daughter and son-in-law are all capable and manage the restaurant business quite well. Even if Zhong Daya and Li Quan can't do anything and can only retire, they won't go hungry or have no money to spend.

People in the palace would talk about Zhao Guizhi and her party from time to time. Before they knew it, a month had passed. Zhao Guizhi and her party had arrived in the capital, but Zhong Daya and Li Quan did not come.

Their two sons-in-law were also absent; they volunteered to stay in Nanyang Prefecture to take care of their parents and oversee the restaurant's business.

“My cousin and her husband didn’t want to come to Beijing. They said they were used to life in the south, and their health wasn’t very good. They were afraid that the journey would worsen their condition, so they decided not to come. They only sent Congzhi with his wife and two older sisters,” Zhao Guizhi explained.

Xingxing's original idea was to have Zhao Guizhi and Zhong Daya's families come to the capital and settle down there, so they wouldn't have to go back to the south. This way, they could see each other more often, and she wouldn't always miss her relatives back home.

Zhong Daya and Li Quan's absence this time clearly indicates their stance: they do not wish to come to the capital and would rather stay in Nanyang Prefecture, where they are more comfortable. Everyone has different ideas, so we will respect their wishes and not force them to comply.

“Candy, Jingjing, and Xiaoxiao also don’t want to come. The three of them prefer Yegou Village and occasionally go to the capital. Before, they hadn’t returned to the village because they had to protect us. This time, when they heard that we were coming to the capital to settle down, they told me that they wanted to go back to Yegou Village and didn’t want to come to the capital.” Zhao Guizhi rambled on and on about why the three female guards hadn’t come to the capital.

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