Most children are shy around strangers. Even if you were very close to him before and he liked you a lot, he might forget about you after a while.
Of course, genius babies like Ye Jinghe who can remember things at a very young age are exceptions, one in ten thousand.
When they saw Xie Changzhao and Xie Changze again, the two little guys had already forgotten Ye Jingchen, the older brother who had brought them a lot of toys. They did remember Xie Chang'an, but it was better if they didn't remember him at all.
Ye Jingchen is very experienced in dealing with this kind of situation.
Among the gifts he brought back for his family's return visit today were toys specially prepared for the two little ones.
As soon as the toys were taken out, they immediately caught the attention of the two little ones, and before long, Ye Jingchen was playing with them again.
Xie Chang'an could only watch from the sidelines and couldn't get close. If he did, the two little ones would start wailing and wouldn't give him any face as their older brother.
"You like children so much, and you're so popular with them, have you ever thought about having a child of your own?" Xie Chang'an asked quietly as he watched Ye Jingchen with one woman on each arm, pinching one's cheek and patting another's head, looking completely carefree.
"No!" Ye Jingchen refused decisively.
"I only like playing with other people's kids, I don't want to raise my own."
"Why?" Xie Chang'an asked, puzzled.
“Raising children is too much trouble,” Ye Jingchen said. “It will affect my plan to retire.”
"Then you still raised Ye Jinghe, didn't you?" Xie Chang'an said sourly.
They wouldn't even raise their own child, but they raised a little lunatic!
“Jinghe is different. When I met him, he was still young, but he was very smart, and raising him was not difficult.”
"Since you and I are both smart, our child can't possibly be stupid!"
Once the words were out of his mouth, Xie Chang'an realized what he had said, but what's said is said and can't be taken back. He could only pretend that he hadn't said anything.
"Our child?" Ye Jingchen looked at Xie Chang'an with a strange expression. "I can't have children anyway, so how come you can?"
“If you can’t have children, then I’m even less likely to!” Xie Chang’an quickly said.
Ye Jingchen looked at Xie Chang'an with a scrutinizing gaze, "I don't plan to have children in this life, nor do I have any intention of carrying on the family line. But if you have this idea, you can tell me in advance, and we can part ways amicably."
Xie Chang'an was, after all, the only son in his family. For people of this era, carrying on the family line was very important, so he could understand if Xie Chang'an had such thoughts.
However, he is a germaphobe and would never accept anything that has been used by someone else and is dirty.
The person he loves must belong to him, body and soul. If they betray him in either aspect, he will never want them again.
"You really don't trust me?" Xie Chang'an's face turned cold; he couldn't stand such words.
"I didn't distrust you, I was just saying 'if,' do you understand?" Ye Jingchen explained with amusement.
“No ‘ifs’! No need for assumptions!” Xie Chang’an was still unhappy.
"Okay, it was my fault. I won't say things like that again." Ye Jingchen apologized readily.
“We can’t mention the child again!” Xie Chang’an said again.
"Let's not talk about it, but didn't you bring up the topic of children first?" Ye Jingchen asked helplessly.
Xie Chang'an felt a bit of pain in his foot, probably from when he picked up the stone and hit it.
"I won't mention it again!" he said listlessly.
He was just worried that Ye Jingchen would regret being with him because of the children, since Ye Jingchen liked children so much.
If that day really comes, he seems to have no reason or position to stop it.
If only one of them could have a child. Although he didn't like children, if it were Ye Jingchen's child, Xie Chang'an glanced at Ye Jingchen's belly and thought he would definitely love it and cherish it.
What a pity!
While Ye Jingchen was playing with the two little ones, he could always feel Xie Chang'an's gaze on him. He could understand other places, but why was Xie Chang'an staring at his stomach?
Does staring at his belly a few times mean he'll get pregnant?
baffling!
Ye Jingchen turned his back to him.
After playing with the two little ones for most of the hour and getting to know them better, it was time for lunch.
After a somewhat silent and awkward lunch, Ye Jingchen and Xie Chang'an went to see Mr. Li and obtained a lot of ointment from him.
Then they went to Chang'an Residence for a look.
March is the season when peach blossoms are in full bloom. On the day of the wedding, there were already many buds on the peach trees in Chang'an Residence. Today, when I went to visit, many peach blossoms had bloomed.
Ye Jingchen picked a few of the prettiest ones, intending to take them back to the East Palace and place them in his bedroom.
Xie Chang'an took out a ceramic jar, picked a lot of flower petals, and said he would use the peach blossoms to make a medicinal ointment.
Ye Jingchen didn't really want to know what kind of ointment he was going to make, but human memory is a strange thing; you can't remember what you want to remember, but you can remember what you don't want to remember clearly.
So he watched with a complicated expression as Xie Chang'an almost plucked the peach tree in his yard bare, filling a jar with petals before stopping.
It's really bad luck that this peach tree grew in his yard.
After destroying the peach blossoms, they bid farewell to the elders in the mansion and returned to the palace with the return gifts from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
On the way back to the palace, many ordinary people also gathered to watch.
Ye Jingchen originally thought that Xie Chang'an would definitely be punished by family rules upon returning to the mansion, but to his surprise, even after they left, the elders of the Zhenguo Duke's mansion, while not particularly enthusiastic, did not seem to intend to punish him.
Looking at the people on both sides of the street, Ye Jingchen understood why Xie Chang'an hadn't used family discipline today.
After all, with so many common people watching, and they all riding horses, if they were punished according to family rules, it would be impossible to hide it. If the people of the capital city found out, they would probably think that the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion had objections to this marriage!
"Your family didn't blame you today, does that mean the matter of the nursery rhyme and prophecy is over?" Ye Jingchen asked after returning to the palace.
"They should be past now," Xie Chang'an said, following Ye Jingchen's guess.
Ye Jingchen has been with him all day, whether he's playing with the kids, going to see Mr. Li, or going to Chang'an Residence, he's always with him, not giving him any chance to be alone with the rest of the family. His protectiveness towards him is very obvious. Even the patriarch and grandfather can't find a chance to be alone with him, so how can they question him?
However, today is indeed not the right time to hold someone accountable.
Firstly, people gathered to watch on the way back.
Secondly, if he were to be punished by family rules on such a special day as the return visit to his parents' home, the emperor might have some reservations and see it as a challenge to imperial power by the Duke of Zhenguo's family.
Let's wait until Ye Jingchen attends the morning court session tomorrow before he goes back to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. He should admit his mistakes and accept the beating he deserves.
It's best not to let Ye Jingchen see that kind of bloody scene.
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