Xu Lingyi sat on the kang, squeezed his son's hand, and asked him with a smile: "You went boating! You are really brave!"

Jing'er pursed his lips and smiled.

Xu Lingyi looked around.

Eleventh Lady never liked having a lot of servants around her, and she was in the inner room. When she went to rest at night, only Fangxi, who was on duty, helped her make the bed.

Xu Lingyi touched his son's head and whispered, "Jin'er, call me 'Daddy' again!" His expression was serious and his eyes were filled with unconcealable anticipation.

Jing'er tilted his little head and looked at Xu Lingyi, as if he didn't quite understand what Xu Lingyi was saying.

Xu Lingyi looked around again.

Eleventh Lady was whispering something to Fangxi.

Xu Lingyi calmed down a little, turned his head and looked at his son, wanting to coax him to call him. But just after calling "Jing'er", he saw his son sticking his little butt up and crawling to the corner where he usually hid things, and then he took out a rattle and handed it to Xu Lingyi. Xu Lingyi was a little amused holding the rattle - when Jing'er was unhappy when he was young, Shiyi Niang would take out the rattle to coax him to play. When he was older, he would take out his own rattle to let others play when he saw someone frowning.

"You little guy!" He held his son in his arms lovingly.

Eleventh Lady came over and said, "It's getting late, Lord Marquis, you should rest now!"

Xu Lingyi was reluctant to let his son go, so he said with a smile, "Let Jing'er sleep with us today!"

Seeing that Xu Lingyi was in high spirits, Eleventh Lady asked Fangxi to talk to Mother Gu, let down the curtains, and help Jing'er take off his clothes.

After taking off the jacket, he felt lighter and his hands and feet were free, and Jinger immediately became excited. He immediately crawled to the corner of the bed and grabbed the book that Xu Lingyi had placed beside his pillow.

Although there was a floor heating in the room, Shiyi Niang was still afraid that he would catch a cold. She snatched the book from his hand and quickly stuffed him into the quilt.

After lying down for only two breaths, Jing'er immediately turned over and sat up.

"This child is like a monkey."

Eleventh Lady smiled and stuffed him back into the quilt.

Jing'er had slept with Xu Lingyi when he was still a child. Xu Lingyi found it very interesting, so he smiled and got on the bed, lying next to Jing'er and patting him gently.

Jing'er jumped up and rushed onto the back of Shiyi Niang who had just got into bed.

Eleventh Lady's body swayed and she almost fell off the bed.

"Who does this child look like?" She smiled and hugged Jing'er, quickly pulling the quilt over him and wrapping him up, "He's always so hairy and rough."

"It's definitely not like me!" The quilt was pulled over, and half of Xu Lingyi's body was exposed. He moved over and stuck close to Shiyi Niang and her son. "I've been told that I'm mature beyond my years since I was a kid!"

"Really?" Eleventh Lady raised her long and beautiful eyebrows and glanced at him, "I heard that someone robbed all the bird nests in Queen Wu's palace..."

"I am just a son of a noble family, how could I have such courage?" Xu Lingyi said without blushing or panting, "It was Prince Shun who did it. I was just taking the blame. How can you believe such words?"

"Oh!" Eleventh Lady's eyebrows were full of smiles, "It turns out that the Marquis and Prince Shun also poked a bird's nest in Queen Wu's palace. I thought you only did this kind of thing with Zhou Shizheng?"

Xu Lingyi was speechless for a moment.

Was he going to be humiliated? There was a happy smile in Eleventh Lady's eyes and brows.

Xu Lingyi looked at it, and the corners of his mouth gradually curled up into a happy arc.

Seeing that no one paid any attention to him, Jin Ge'er began to twist and turn in Shiyi Niang's arms, making noises.

Eleventh Lady smiled and kissed Jin'er's little face, took off her jacket, and got into bed with her son in her arms.

Jin Ge'er has his father on his left and his mother on his right. He looks at Xu Lingyi and then at Shiyi Niang, appearing very happy.

Shiyi Niang let Jin Ge'er rest his head on her arm and whispered, "Jin Ge'er, what story shall we tell today?" As usual, she didn't wait for Jin Ge'er to speak, and continued, "Yesterday we talked about the story of Nü Huo mending the sky. Today we will talk about Jingwei filling the sea!" Then she tapped his little nose and asked him with a smile, "How about that?"

Jing'er nodded repeatedly and lay obediently in his mother's arms.

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Jingwei..." Eleventh Lady's expression was gentle, her voice was light and pleasant. Under the bright light, she spoke slowly. Xu Lingyi's body and mind gradually relaxed, and his eyelids drooped on their own.

He was startled and opened his eyes quickly, only to find that Jing'er, who had been sleeping quietly among them and listening to the story, was twisting his body from time to time as if something was poking him.

"What's wrong?" Eleventh Lady also noticed it. She stopped talking and asked her son softly, "Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"

As Jing'er listened, he twisted his body even more violently.

The bed was made by Eleventh Lady herself, there’s no way there could be anything on it!

Xu Lingyi touched his son's forehead and asked, "What's wrong?" Before he finished speaking, he felt his hands were wet and sweaty. "He usually sleeps alone." He immediately came to a conclusion, "Now he is sandwiched between us, there is a floor heating in the room, and the bed is warmed with a hot water bottle, no wonder he feels hot." As he said that, he touched Jing'er's back and found that he was sweaty too. He hurriedly told Shiyi Niang, "Go and ask Fangxi to wring a hot towel, and ask Gu Mama to bring in some clean clothes."

Eleventh Lady responded and left.

Fangxi, Yumei, Gu Mama, and Ajin all rushed in. Some were twisting their handkerchiefs, some were wiping Jing'er's back, and some were changing clothes. After almost a cup of tea, the room finally returned to silence.

Everyone changed their positions - Xu Lingyi was outside the bed and Jing'er was inside the bed.

Jing'er immediately rolled into his mother's arms and made some noises to Shiyi Niang, as if urging her to continue telling the story quickly.

Eleventh Lady seemed to be thinking about something.

She didn't continue telling the story, but patted Jing'er gently: "Jing'er, go to sleep!"

Jing'er twisted and turned in his mother's arms.

Eleventh Lady asked him repeatedly: "What's wrong?"

Xu Lingyi's lips twitched slightly, and he was about to say something, but soon he showed an expression of sudden realization, pursed his lips again, and looked at Shiyi Niang and her son cautiously.

When Jing'er saw that his request was not met, he burst into tears.

Eleventh Lady patted his back gently and coaxed him: "What's wrong? What happened to Brother Jin?"

Jin Ge'er cried for a long time, but Shiyi Niang only asked this question.

Seeing his son in tears, Xu Lingyi turned his face away with some reluctance.

Mother Gu's trembling voice came from outside: "My Lord, Madam, the Sixth Young Master may not be used to it..."

"It's okay, go to sleep!" Before she could finish her words, Eleventh Lady said loudly, "We will just coax the Sixth Young Master."

Mother Gu thought that the Marquis had taken care of Jin'er when he was a child... She whispered "yes" and returned to the warm room.

In the silent night, Jing'er cried so hard that it was frightening. Shiyi Niang's eyes flashed with hesitation, but soon became calm. She repeatedly asked Jing'er what was wrong.

The mother and son remained in this stalemate for almost an incense stick of time. Xu Lingyi could not bear it any longer and whispered, "How about, let's talk about it next time... Some children don't start talking until they are four or five years old, and once they start talking they can speak fluently..." But he knew in his heart that this was inappropriate, and there was hesitation in his voice.

"It's not that he can't speak, it's that he doesn't need to speak at all." Shiyi Niang gritted her teeth and shook her head. "If we don't take this opportunity to let him speak, I'm afraid he will miss the age to learn to speak, and he will be unclear when he grows up. Besides, if we give in when he cries like this, he will cry even harder when he encounters something that makes him unhappy in the future. My Lord doesn't know yet, after you and Zhun'er left today, Yu'er took Jin'er to play in the garden. He was so young, but he cried for almost an hour. What will happen if he grows up?"

Xu Lingyi stopped talking.

Eleventh Lady continued to gently ask Jing'er: "Why are you crying? Tell me. If you don't tell me, how can I know why you are crying?"

Jing'er cried and looked at Xu Lingyi.

His eyes, washed by tears, were like black agate.

Xu Lingyi couldn't bear to watch it, so he simply turned over and faced downward, out of sight, out of mind.

Only then did Jinger give in. He cried a few times and sobbed, "Tell me a story, tell me a story."

Eleventh Lady took a long breath and felt more tired than running a ten-kilometer marathon.

She kissed her son's cheek, wiped his face with a handkerchief, and whispered, "Okay, let's tell a story. Where were we? I need to think about it!"

Earlier, in order to teach Jing'er to speak, she had developed the habit of speaking as much as possible in front of the child.

Who knew that just as Eleventh Lady finished her words, she heard Jin Ge'er pouting and saying, "Jingwei is a little bird!"

Eleventh Lady looked at her son in surprise: "Brother Jing!" She had just been talking about the story of Jingwei turning into a bird. "Do you remember what I just said?"

Jin Ge'er looked at Shiyi Niang timidly, looking very aggrieved.

Xu Lingyi laughed and hugged Jing'er: "You are so smart! You know everything!"

Jing'er was looking forward to Shiyi Niang's story and was very dissatisfied with Xu Lingyi's behavior. He made some noises and threw himself into Shiyi Niang's arms.

Xu Lingyi smiled and wanted to put Jing'er into Shiyi Niang's arms, but Shiyi Niang reminded him, "Let him talk, let him talk." Xu Lingyi retracted his hand and asked Jing'er, "What are you going to do?"

Jing'er looked at Shiyi Niang.

Eleventh Lady asked him with a smile: "What do you want to do, Brother Jin?"

"I want my mother!" he said, and pounced on Eleventh Lady again.

This time, Eleventh Lady hugged her son with joy.

"I finally called my mother, but the result was like this!" She felt a little excited and said to Xu Lingyi with a smile.

Xu Lingyi rubbed his son's thick black hair and said disapprovingly: "At least he finally spoke!" After that, he smiled at Shiyi Niang.

Eleventh Lady happened to be looking towards him.

Their eyes met in the air.

One has a sweet smile, the other has a relaxed brow.

Thinking of their persistence just now... Xu Lingyi and Shiyi Niang both felt the joy of having completed a difficult problem together.

The two of them laughed at the same time.

It seems like something has fallen into my heart... there is a faint sweetness...

* * * * * *

The next morning, he went to pay his respects to the lady-in-waiting. The lady-in-waiting gave Jing'er some fresh wheat bread to eat and asked Xu Lingyi with a little displeasure, "What happened yesterday? Why did Jing'er cry so loudly?"

I didn't expect that the lady would ask about this specifically.

As Shiyi Niang was thinking, she heard Jing'er, who was eating a cake, mumble, "Tell a story, mother, tell a story!"

"Oh my!" The lady didn't have time to ask Eleventh Lady, she happily hugged Jing'er and said, "Our Jing'er can talk now!"

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Post a draft first!

O(∩_∩)O~

One update today!