Chapter 209 Mother
and Son Old Madam Zhuang just woke up from her afternoon nap. She frowned after hearing the servant's report.
"Did you see clearly? The one who sent the princess back was not Prince Jing."
The servant said softly, "His Royal Highness Prince Jing often comes to the mansion. I know him and I can't make a mistake. The man who sent the princess back just now was unfamiliar. It couldn't be His Royal Highness Prince Jing." After thinking for a while
, the servant said, "Some days ago, when the princess came back from Prince Jing's mansion, someone also sent her back. It was too dark that night and I couldn't see clearly, but from the carriage, it looked like the same person."
Old Madam Zhuang's face darkened when she heard this.
She had already vaguely guessed who that person was.
After so many years, he still didn't give up?
That's right, he has been single for many years, how could he give up.
"Go down." Madam Zhuang waved away the servants and wanted to be alone.
In the evening, Zhuang Yin returned home from school, and Madam Zhuang asked someone to call him over.
"Grandma." Zhuang Yin greeted respectfully.
Madam Zhuang waved her hand with a loving face: "Yun'er, come and sit."
Zhuang Yin sat down next to Madam Zhuang as she said. Madam Zhuang dismissed the maids, and only the grandfather and grandson were left in the room.
"Yun'er, did you have fun celebrating your uncle's birthday last time?" Madam Zhuang asked casually.
Zhuang Yin said: "I went too late, I didn't play anything, I just had dinner and came back."
"Oh? Then who were the people who had dinner together? Does Yun'er know them all?" Madam Zhuang asked indirectly.
Zhuang Yin shook his head and reported everyone who was at the dinner table that night.
When she heard that Zhou Boxu was indeed among them, Mrs. Zhuang's eyes tightened.
But in front of Zhuang Yin, Mrs. Zhuang did not show any strangeness, and still smiled and asked casually: "Does Yin'er like that Uncle Zhou?"
Zhuang Yin frowned slightly and couldn't answer for a while.
Although he had seen Zhou Boxu, he didn't have much contact with him, so he couldn't say whether he liked him or not.
To Zhuang Yin, Zhou Boxu was just a strange elder.
Mrs. Zhuang also thought of this, and asked: "Did he send you back that night?"
"Yes." Zhuang Yin nodded.
Her guess was confirmed, and Mrs. Zhuang couldn't keep the smile on her face, and it gradually faded.
What she had been worrying about for many years finally happened.
Not wanting to affect Zhuang Yin, Old Madam Zhuang forced a smile and said, "Yin'er, go back and do your homework."
"Grandson, take your leave." Zhuang Yin stood up, bowed and left.
Looking at Zhuang Yin, who was sensible, intelligent and outstanding, Old Madam Zhuang was very conflicted.
Back then, the Zhuang family wanted to marry Yu Lan, thinking that if something happened, with Yu Lan and the royal family to rely on and cultivate, the blood of the Zhuang family would be able to grow up without worries, make achievements and revive the Zhuang family.
But if Yu Lan remarried, what would happen to Zhuang Yin? What would the Zhuang family do?
From a personal point of view, Madam Zhuang did not want Yu Lan to remarry and stay with Zhuang Yan and the Zhuang family for the rest of her life.
But from a logical point of view, Yu Lan had been waiting for eight years, so it was natural for her to remarry, and she was powerless to stop it.
However, when she thought of her husband and only son who died fighting for Dazhao, Madam Zhuang was filled with resentment. The Zhuang
family was full of loyal and brave people who fought hard for Dazhao and died on the battlefield. In the end, they died and their merits were gone. Was it going to end up with the annihilation of the clan?
She could point to the sky and the earth and say that the Zhuang family was worthy of Dazhao and the monarch and the people.
She just wanted Yu Lan to stay with the only blood of the Zhuang family. Was this request too much?
Old Madam Zhuang sat alone in the room, thinking for a long time with her thoughts surging. Her face was in pain and a tear rolled down.
Yu Lan was suffering, so why shouldn't she suffer too?
It got dark very quickly.
When Zhuang Yin returned to Ruihe Courtyard where he lived with Yu Lan, the lights in the house outside the courtyard were already on.
Yu Lan checked Zhuang Yin's homework for the day under the lights. When she saw Zhuang Yin coming back, she asked him in a gentle voice what he had learned today.
Zhuang Yin answered one by one.
The maid cleaned up the desk, and when Zhuang Yin was doing his homework, Yu Lan took a book and accompanied him.
Not long after, dinner was served, and the mother and son went to eat together.
Seeing the food on the table, Zhuang Yin said, "Grandma is
acting strange today." Yu Lan, who was picking up the food, paused and asked, "Why is it strange?"
Zhuang Yin said, "Grandma asked me who was at my uncle's birthday party last time, and asked me if I like Uncle Zhou."
The food that Yu Lan picked up fell back onto the plate.
Zhuang Yin saw this and asked uneasily, "Mother, did I say something wrong?"
Yu Lan shook her head, picked up the food again and put it into Zhuang Yin's bowl, saying, "No, Yin'er is just telling the truth, and there is nothing wrong."
She knew that she couldn't keep the matter between her and Zhou Boxu secret, and she didn't think about hiding it.
Because if she wanted to be with Zhou Boxu, she had to pass the test of Old Lady Zhuang.
"Mother, why did grandma ask me if I like Uncle Zhou?" Zhuang Yin asked the question in her heart.
There were only two maids who came with the dowry in the hall. Yu Lan didn't care and said directly: "Because mother likes him."
Zhuang Yan is already a big boy, and he is smart and sharp. Yu Lan doesn't want to hide it from him.
They have depended on each other for so many years, and they should face everything together.
Zhuang Yan was stunned, not mentally prepared.
Yu Lan turned his head and stared at Zhuang Yan seriously, and said with some trepidation: "If I am with Uncle Zhou, will Yan'er agree?"
Zhuang Yan's face was gloomy, not knowing how to answer.
Yu Lan didn't force him, and smiled warmly: "Don't rush to answer, eat first."
Although Zhuang Yan is only eight years old, he is precocious. Although he can't fully understand the adults' affairs, he also knows that this matter is serious and can't be answered casually.
Halfway through the meal, Zhuang Yin suddenly asked, "Mother cried that day, was it because she was bullied by Uncle Zhou?"
Yu Lan was stunned after hearing this, then laughed and said, "It wasn't bullying, it was just touching."
This matter must be explained clearly to Zhuang Yin to avoid misunderstanding and make him dislike Zhou Boxu.
After listening to Yu Lan's serious and solemn explanation, Zhuang Yin was silent again.
After a while, he said, "Does mother like my father?" Ever
since Zhuang Yin could remember, he rarely heard Yu Lan mention his father. Even when he asked, Yu Lan always said the same few words.
"Your father is a loyal and patriotic general, brave and heroic, with a sense of justice, a majestic and admirable general..."
Sure enough, it was these words again, and Zhuang Yin was familiar with them.
Zhuang Yin interrupted Yu Lan and said, "Mother, I'm asking if you like father?"
Yu Lan was stunned. Looking at Zhuang Yin's clean and pure eyes that did not allow her to escape, she fell silent.
After thinking carefully, Yu Lan said in a serious tone: "He is a hero, and I respect him very much. But feelings cannot be forced, and I have not been with him for a long time, and I don't know him well enough to like him."
Zhuang Heng is very good, so good that even if he forced her to marry him, she would not feel resentment towards him.
If he had not died in the war, she would have lived a life of respect with him.
But Zhuang Heng died, and Yu Lan's heart was forever occupied by Zhou Boxu.
Yu Lan only respects Zhuang Heng.
That night, Yu Lan treated Zhuang Yan as an adult and answered Zhuang Yan's questions seriously and sincerely.
After hearing this, Zhuang Yan seemed to have grown up a lot in a flash.