Chapter 400

In the evening, the whole family gathered around the round table in the courtyard for dinner.

The children's chatter and laughter broke the silence between the adults.

The eldest brother was taciturn, but he had a smile on his face more than he had before leaving in the afternoon.

Xiao Long seems to really like this uncle; he wants to sit in his lap while eating.

"Boss, when is Chen Feng going to give birth?" Song Chunxue asked, gnawing on a chicken foot. "How's her father doing now?"

The eldest brother put down his chopsticks and adjusted Xiaolong into a more comfortable and stable position.

“It’s September or October, maybe around the 20th of September. Chen Feng’s father probably doesn’t have many days left. He sent Chen Xiang to ask for money, but I chased him away.”

Song Chunxue thought to herself, "Chen Feng's father is really lucky; he's been clinging to life for so long."

But it's good to be alive. Every extra day he lives is another day of suffering, otherwise he'll never be able to repay the sins he committed against his boss in his past life.

Even after death, one still has to repay debts in the underworld.

"I heard you built a house, when can we move in?"

Mentioning this, the eldest brother smiled and said, "We should be able to move in in November. I asked the craftsman who makes the kang (heated brick bed) to make a very nice kang. He applied it with red clay twice so that no smoke will come out."

"Thanks to the money Mother gave me, otherwise I wouldn't have dared to build a pine house. I even hired a carpenter to carve decorative windows. When it's finished, Mother, would you like to come and see it?"

Song Chunxue nodded, "When are you moving in? Set a date and I'll come."

The eldest brother nodded, "Then I'll let you know when I've chosen a date."

Afterwards, Song Chunxue asked him about the grain situation and talked about some things on the farm, such as who got married, who had a child, and who had quarreled. Li Mengchun's wife and Li Tang no longer avoided suspicion and pulled up the grain together regardless of other people's lives.

Hongying then asked about the people she used to play with when she was a child, how many children they had now, and where their wives were from.

The meal was eaten in a peaceful and harmonious manner. Sanwa didn't say much, but quietly took care of Mulan the whole time, putting food and meat on her plate, afraid that she wouldn't be able to reach them.

While everyone was drinking, he let Mulan have a couple of sips, and the newlywed couple were very affectionate.

Song Chunxue pretended not to see it, secretly pleased with herself.

The only thing left is that the fourth son and the second son haven't gotten married yet.

Just thinking about it gave her a headache.

The second son will be starting a job at the county government next month. If this deal goes through, she might have to take care of his wedding arrangements later.

After all, she was personally promoted by Lord Xie. If her mother didn't make arrangements, Lord Xie would suspect that the two of them had a grudge.

In her past life, she couldn't even get involved in the marriage between the fourth and second sons. Now that this responsibility is falling on her shoulders, to be honest, she doesn't want to get involved at all.

Anyway, even if she tries to manage her, she might not appreciate it and might even cause her distress. She really wants to become a nun as soon as possible.

However, when it comes to becoming a nun, she feels that this matter cannot be delayed and she should inform them in advance so that they can prepare.

"Ahem, as you all know, I'm the Taoist priest's junior brother, and I've always wanted to go with my senior brother to pay my respects to our master, right?"

Song Chunxue casually said, "After you all get married, I might go out and travel around, wandering the country and the world, you know what I mean, right?"

Sanwa was suddenly choked, "Cough cough cough cough, cough cough cough!"

The potato chunk he had just eaten choked him so badly that it took him a long time to recover.

"Mother, cough cough, are you abandoning us?"

Seeing that Sanwa was coughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face, Song Chunxue smiled kindly.

“I will come back. How can I just abandon you? But while I’m still young, I want to go out as soon as possible. Maybe I’ll set off before the fourth son and the second son get married.” She said calmly, “If I keep putting it off, I won’t be able to go when I’m old.”

"But Mother, we're worried about you out there. That Taoist priest has his own things to do; he doesn't have time to wander around with you."

Jiang Hongying grew anxious. "Mother, it's so chaotic outside. You're a woman after all. What if you encounter bad people or bandits?"

Song Chunxue thought to herself, "If I encounter them, I'll fight them. I don't think I can die easily before my lifespan ends."

Besides, if she really died, she has lived for so many more years, which is enough.

With the Taoist priest by her side, even if she dies elsewhere, he can find her body and bury her in a good place.

They might even burn down several more mountains of gold and silver.

She has nothing to be afraid of.

"Mother, you can go out for a trip, ten days or half a month is fine too. We're not familiar with the South, and we've heard that in some places they capture people and eat them. That's still considered good, what if someone captures you and makes you have a child for the old man?"

The eldest brother was also getting anxious; he had never spoken so quickly before.

"..." Song Chunxue scoffed. She was foolish before, but who can force her to have a baby now?

Anyone who dares to have any wicked thoughts will be crippled by her.

Besides, it's uncertain whether she can have children or not.

Having a baby... she doesn't even want to sleep with a man!

"My fourth brother said before that Mother wanted to go out and make her own way in the world, and that he wanted to find her a... man to put her mind at ease. I didn't expect it to be true?"

"..."

These words caused everyone to look around furtively, their eyes darting about furtively.

The third child was displeased. "Mother doesn't have that kind of mind right now. Her mind is full of meditation and drawing talismans, or going out to train with the Taoist priest. What would be the point of finding a man? I don't want a slovenly man as my stepfather."

He turned to look at Song Chunxue, "Mother, if the Taoist priest takes you, I'll feel at ease wherever you go. It's fine if you don't come back for two or three years, but at most it can't be more than five years, otherwise you'll really forget about us."

As he spoke, Sanwa's eyes welled up with tears.

"The Taoist priest is a pure and sincere person. If you call him senior brother, he will always treat you as family. I can trust him the most."

Jiang Hongying coughed lightly, "Then, where is Lord Xie?"

The eldest brother looked at this one and then at that one, "Sister, what happened to Lord Xie?"

Jiang Hongying glanced at Song Chunxue, her smile as sweet as honey.

“Back in Liangzhou, I sensed that Lord Xie was trying to confess his feelings to Mother. Yesterday, he even came with the Taoist priest to bolster the family's image and greeted guests like a member of the household. I overheard people talking about it. Mother, what’s going on…”

"Ahem!" Song Chunxue interrupted her, "Eat your food properly and stop talking nonsense. If you're itching for a beating, just say so."

Sanwa wiped away his tears. "Sister, tell me quickly, what happened in Liangzhou?"

"Also, did Mother go to see Lord Xie?"

"..." Song Chunxue's heart skipped a beat, as if she had fallen off a cliff. How did this kid find out?

Sanwa shrank back. "If that's really the case, then Lord Xie is quite nice. But if you and Lord Xie do *that*, wouldn't the Taoist priest have to avoid suspicion?"

Song Chunxue stared intently at Sanwa, signaling him to shut up.

“I don’t want to lose the Taoist priest,” Sanwa said, looking at her like a quail. “Lord Xie is good, but I can only admire him from afar…”

Mulan stared wide-eyed at everything, her mind in turmoil, yet she couldn't figure out what was going on.

Could it be that they're encouraging the mother-in-law to find a man?

My goodness, city people are so open-minded.

"Eating is out of the question. I'm going to venture out on my own in the future. I want to stay at an inn by the river in Jiangnan. How did you all drag this out so far?"

"I'm warning you, if you spread rumors about your mother again, I'm not coming back."

She got up in frustration.

"Knock knock knock".

The next moment, the Taoist priest pushed open the courtyard gate and came in.

All eyes turned to him.