Before Xiao Yunying could explain, Luo Yang spoke first.
"Brother, you can't say that. Mother is only being tolerant of her because she cares about our feelings."
At this moment, Xiao Yunying felt that Luo Yang understood her too well; he truly deserved to be her most favored second son.
Luo Chen probably realized that his tone was not very good, so he lowered his head and said, "Mother, don't overthink it. I wasn't talking to you."
"I know." Xiao Yunying knew they were feeling conflicted, so she wouldn't get angry over such a small matter. "So... you don't want to acknowledge her?"
Luo Chen said firmly, "I don't acknowledge it. When we went back this time, Father had already added our names to the family genealogy. Now we are Mother's sons and have no relation to anyone else."
Xiao Yunying couldn't tell whether she was happy or sad.
She's happy that her children now side with her, but isn't it too cold-hearted to say that severing ties with her biological mother is the end of the story?
Moreover, the social environment here values filial piety. If their actions are exposed in the future, will it affect their official careers?
No, no, am I thinking too far ahead?
Xiao Yunying pulled herself back to reality and glanced at Luo Sheng, who was calmly drinking tea beside her: "Regarding this matter, your father and I both mean that we will not interfere too much. It's up to you two to decide."
Luo Chen glanced at Luo Sheng and said, "That's because Father doesn't know what she's done. If he did, he wouldn't have allowed that woman to get close to us again."
He lowered his head and said in a muffled voice, "As far back as I can remember, she has never cared about me at all, and every time she sees me, she says things that are annoying."
I was to go to my grandmother and subtly or overtly indicate that, as the legal wife of the eldest son of the Luo family, she was qualified to take over the management of the household.
At first, I didn't understand what it meant. I just said whatever she told me to say because she was my mother. But as time went on, I realized that my grandmother would fall silent after I said these things.
Later, when I grew older, I understood the meaning behind the words she taught me. I didn't want to say them anymore, so she would turn away from me with a cold face.
Even when I developed a high fever from waiting for her in her courtyard one winter day, the first thing she said to me was to take advantage of my weakness and go to my grandmother so that she could take care of me personally, and use this opportunity to vie for control of the household.
Xiao Yunying listened to these words in disbelief.
She thought to herself, "These kids may have a few odd personalities, but they shouldn't be so cold-hearted towards their own mother."
She felt that the three boys were still very sentimental.
I didn't know such a thing existed.
Luo Chen continued, "Later, when my second brother was born, she started teaching him these things from a young age. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I spoke to my grandmother about it."
Grandmother, having reached her limit, took the second brother into her care to raise him, lest he be corrupted by her.
After she found out I was the one who brought this up, she accused me of being a traitor and disliked me even more, as if I weren't her son, but merely a tool she used to gain power, something to be used occasionally and discarded when I wasn't useful.
Xiao Yunying looked at Luo Chen with heartache, and she seemed to understand why the child had such a personality.
She's just a little suspicious, paranoid, and stubborn. It's already quite remarkable that she didn't turn out badly with a mother like that.
Luo Yang continued, "Actually, I met her once in the capital..."
All eyes turned to him, and Luo Yang awkwardly avoided their gazes, focusing his attention on the cup in his hand.
"I thought she really missed us, so I went out the back door to see her..."
But I didn't expect that the first thing I heard from her after meeting her was to ask me to take her into the mansion to see my grandmother.
She didn't ask us anything about us, didn't inquire about my eldest brother and third brother, didn't ask if we had been doing well these past few years, whether we had suffered a lot, whether we had been sick or injured, or whether we had enough to eat and wear. She just impatiently told me to take her to see my grandmother.
The living room was quiet for a moment, with only the sound of burning charcoal and soft breathing.
Xiao Yunying spoke first, forcing herself to cheer up and comforting him, "Don't be too sad. She has no taste. She didn't cherish her three good sons. If she doesn't want them, I will. Now that you've acknowledged me as your mother, you'll be our family's precious treasures. I'll love you dearly."
As she was speaking, she reached out and ruffled Luo Chen's hair several times.
"mother!"
Luo Chen, somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, dodged her clutches, tidying his disheveled hair. At the same time, the gloom in his heart was dispelled a lot by this action.
Luo Sheng continued to calmly drink his tea. Xiao Yunying couldn't stand his leisurely attitude, feeling that he didn't care about the children at all. She looked at him and said, "Where were you when the children were enduring all this? Couldn't you have given that woman a talking-to?"
Luo Sheng looked shocked for a moment, as if he didn't understand why the conversation had suddenly turned to him.
He paused for a moment before speaking, "At the border."
Xiao Yunying then remembered that Luo Sheng had gone to live in the military camp at a very young age, and later went to the border with his father, so he naturally did not know what had happened at home.
I was so angry at what the children were saying that I completely forgot about this.
Luo Sheng put down his teacup: "I'm going out for a bit."
Xiao Yunying waved her hand casually: "Go ahead, go ahead."
Luo Sheng left the reception room, stood in the courtyard for a while, then turned to look at his mother's room, narrowed his eyes, and then went out the gate towards the farmhands' quarters.
Zheng Yunwan then entered the reception room and took out the silver notes from her bosom, handing them to Xiao Yunying.
Xiao Yunying placed two bills in front of each child: "This is what your Aunt Yunwan asked for from that woman yesterday. It's a total of six hundred taels. Two hundred taels for each of you three brothers, just enough to go around."
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