Chapter 69
There was a rumble of thunder outside, but the delivery room was silent.
Xie Yunchu's water had not broken yet, and the pain in her abdomen was not obvious. Nanny Lin handed her a bowl of ginseng soup, and she drank it slowly.
Compared to the calm person in the delivery room, the ladies and sisters-in-law outside were all worried for her.
Dou Keling quietly pulled Xu Shiwei's sleeve and said, "I hope that my second sister-in-law's baby is a boy. After all, we are concubines, unlike her, who is the legitimate daughter-in-law of the eldest son. The child she gave birth to will be the eldest great-grandson of the entire Duke's Mansion."
Xu Shiwei recalled that Xie Yunchu had a good dream when she gave birth to Yue Ge'er, and she was quite protective of her today. "It's just a son, it's like who can't have a baby, it's just a matter of who comes first and who comes later. Second sister-in-law is young, and Second brother has a good relationship with her. It's only a matter of time. Now the most important thing is to give birth to the child safely."
Miao, who was sitting above the two of them, nodded repeatedly upon hearing this. "A few days ago, I went to the Prince of Nan'an's mansion to celebrate his birthday, and someone asked me about Sister Ke. You see, such a young girl is already being cared about by others. The child of Shuhuai and Chu'er is precious no matter what."
Dou Keling changed the subject awkwardly. She looked up at the sky outside. The night sky was washed by water and was as clear as jade. "I don't know if my brother can come back in time. My sister-in-law had a difficult delivery when Sister Ke was born. If I don't show up when the second child is born, I'm afraid my sister-in-law will resent me."
Wang Shuyi innocently spoke for Xie Yunchu, "Sister-in-law is the most virtuous and won't argue with brother. Besides, even if brother comes, he can't help."
Xu Shiwei had just given birth to Yue Ge'er a few years ago, and the scene of the birth was still vivid in her mind. "No, there is still a difference between a man being present and not being present. If your fourth brother hadn't come in that day, I might not have been able to give birth so quickly."
Wang Shuyi hasn’t experienced it yet and doesn’t quite understand it.
Miao stroked her cheek and said, "Silly girl, aren't you going to get married soon? You will understand later."
Wang Shuyi lowered her eyes shyly.
In May, the Yang family came to propose marriage, and the betrothal gift was indeed generous, which made her very proud. As for her fiancé, she also met him. He was gentle and handsome, without the rough and burly figure of a military general. Wang Shuyi liked him quite well.
In another month, she will get married.
Leaving her familiar home to become a daughter-in-law of another family, Wang Shuyi felt a sense of emptiness in her heart.
Wang Shuqin was worried that Xie Yunchu would miss Ke Jie'er and that this would affect her delivery, so she took the initiative to take the child to her yard to look after him.
After a while, a figure was vaguely seen moving in front of the moon-shaped door. It was Nanny Hao who came in from the Third Madam's side. She looked happy and said, "Madam, the Duke has personally rushed back from the palace. He is now sitting in the open hall in front. He said that he told the ladies to take good care of the Second Madam."
The Duke is in charge personally, which is unique among his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
This shows how much he values this child.
The more he values it, the more pressure Xie Yunchu feels.
The Third Wife is a woman, and she understands the hardships of women. She forced a smile and said, "Go back to the Duke and tell him that everything is ready. Chu'er is a very good person now, so please rest assured, Duke."
Nanny Hao is gone.
The Third Madam looked back at the Second Madam Jiang, who was sitting opposite her in the armchair above her. She had almost made a hole in her handkerchief. The pressure from the Duke did not fall on Xie Yunchu, but Jiang broke out in a cold sweat. "God bless us, and keep mother and child safe..."
Then he raised his voice and asked outside,
"Is the Second Master accompanying you in front?"
"I'm with her." The maid answered from outside.
The first wife was gentle and kind, and she quickly comforted the second wife, "Don't worry, Yunchu is not the first child, everything will go smoothly."
The first wife understood that the second wife was not anxious about Xie Yunchu, but was anxious about whether she could have a legitimate grandson.
The fourth wife went to the delivery room to see Xie Yunchu. When she came out, she saw that they all had sad faces. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Forget it, she is still drinking the ginseng soup steadily. This little guy is also very patient. It's you who are getting anxious."
Seeing this, the Third Madam simply started gossiping, "Speaking of which, the birth of a nephew from my mother's family was also very interesting. He had spotting the day before yesterday, and after waiting for two days, his water didn't break, so my sister-in-law simply went to sleep. In the middle of the night, guess what, the child came out quietly."
Everyone laughed, "Is there such a well-behaved child? He can even crawl out by himself?"
"That's not the case, but the birth is really fast." The third wife peeked inside again, "Yun Chu is also having her second child, so it must be fast too."
It was already early morning, and the Duke was still taking a nap in the open hall. None of the wives dared to leave, and only the young girls were sent back.
At three quarters past three in the morning, Xie Yunchu, who was sleeping soundly, suddenly felt a "bang" sound in her abdomen. She knew that her water had broken. She had given birth to two children before, so she had some experience and waited for the contraction in an orderly manner.
When everyone heard the movement from inside, the wives who had been waiting till they fell asleep were so excited that they shed tears, "The little ancestor finally came out."
Three imperial doctors came to the palace and waited outside the screen. In addition to Nanny Lin, Chunqi and Xia An, there were three midwives to assist in the delivery.
When the ladies saw the movement started, they were both excited and nervous. They could not sit still and paced back and forth in the room.
"Amitabha, may everything go smoothly."
"That's natural. If there are no accidents, the birth should be quick."
"I'm not afraid of anything else, but I'm afraid of the malposition of the fetus."
"That's right," the eldest wife recalled the past, tears welling up in her eyes, "My mother died with an abnormal fetal position when she gave birth to me."
Everyone was stunned, and looked at the eldest wife with sympathy, "So, it was very dangerous at that time?"
No wonder the first wife doesn't go to the delivery room easily. She didn't come when Xu Shiwei gave birth last time. This time, she must have come here specially because she remembered Xie Yunchu's help to Wang Shuying.
The eldest wife covered her face with a handkerchief and choked up, "I also heard from people later that when I was in my mother's belly, my head suddenly twisted and got stuck at the entrance of the uterus. At that time, the midwife asked, should I save the eldest or the youngest..."
At this point, the eldest wife burst into tears, "My father said he wanted to protect the child... and my mother is gone just like that..."
Her life was taken by her mother.
When the Third Wife heard this, she lamented the First Wife's ill-fated life, and secretly said, "The saddest thing about us women is that we have no say in childbirth. What's the point of saving the first or the second child? Without the mother, how can there be children... In my opinion, the first child should be saved."
Second wife Jiang sighed and said, "Whether it's saving the elder or the younger, it's all helpless. In my opinion..."
"Bao Da! I will kill anyone who dares to abandon her!"
Suddenly, a sudden male voice came in from outside the door like thunder.
In the middle of the misty courtyard, there stood a man in blood-stained clothes. He was tall and straight, wearing a moon-white cape with a blood-red color spreading from his shoulders. His whole body was soaked by the rain. His usually handsome and clean face was now weathered. One could see that his chin was covered with black stubble and his eye sockets were slightly sunken. He looked disheveled and dusty from climbing mountains and wading through water.
Everyone was so frightened by his appearance that they didn't have time to explain that this was not Xie Yunchu.
Wang Shuhuai didn't give them a chance to explain. He stared at his mother, his clothes fluttering, and strode into the delivery room.
Jiang felt a little timid under his gaze. She thought her son wouldn't think that she wanted to abandon Xie Yunchu and save the young one.
The delivery room is located in the last room of the west wing.
Wang Shuhuai rushed in and saw several imperial doctors waiting outside, apparently discussing something. Xie Yunchu's screams of pain were heard from inside. Sweat dripped down Wang Shuhuai's forehead like dried raindrops. His deep eyes were bloodshot as he bowed to the imperial doctors.
"Please save my wife at all costs. I want her to be fine."
Doctor Fan and the others had just heard what was said outside and knew that Wang Shuhuai had misunderstood. They were all at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and they bowed repeatedly, saying, "I will definitely fulfill your mission."
Wang Shuhuai was about to lift the red flower curtain and go inside when he suddenly heard the midwife's surprised cry.
"It's born, it's a little boy!"
Wang Shuhuai was stunned for a moment.
It’s born now?
He couldn't wait to lift the curtain and go in. The maid inside probably didn't expect a tall man to rush in so recklessly, holding a basin of blood and going out. The two sides bumped into each other head-on, and the blood splashed all over Wang Shuhuai. Xia An was scared silly.
Wang Shuhuai didn't care about her, nor did he care that his clothes were soaked. He hurried to look for Xie Yunchu, only to see that the small room was crowded with people. Two maids pulled open a huge red cloth to cover Xie Yunchu's body, leaving only a pale little face sunken in the bright red mattress. Her forehead was wet, and her hair was messy and stuck to her temples. She must have just given birth, and she was breathing heavily.
"Yun Chu!"
Seeing Wang Shuhuai coming over, Chunqi immediately went over to him and handed him a clean wet towel. Wang Shuhuai took off his coat, cleaned his hands, and went forward to hold half of her body in his arms.
The midwife patted the child's butt, and the little master cried out loudly, and everyone laughed.
Xie Yunchu was just feeling her body was empty and weak, when she was awakened by the crying of a child. Her vision was blurred by sweat, and she felt someone beside her. She calmed down, and the face in front of her gradually became clear.
"Second Master..." She said with a relieved smile on her lips. In the later period, she just wanted to get through the days and couldn't wait for the baby to come out. Now, she finally got rid of the burden.
"Yun Chu...you've suffered." He tightly wrapped his arms around her, his forehead pressed against her wet hair, his eyes filled with emotions.
People really need a warm hug when they are at their weakest.
Xie Yunchu was so tired that she let him hold her close to her. The warmth from his arms was transferred to her thin back, gradually warming up her cold body after the sweat.
The midwife was still cleaning her body, and Xie Yunchu didn't dare to move at first.
"Where are you coming from, Master? Why are you in such a mess?"
How could she still have the energy to speak?
Wang Shuhuai looked gloomy and worried. His handsome face was tense, and the fear still hung in his heart. "Sorry, I'm back late."
He received a letter from Qi Wei via carrier pigeon, and learned that Xie Yunchu had set out ahead of schedule, so he dropped his official duties and ran back.
At that moment, he really didn't care about anything else and ran towards the capital like an arrow, just hoping to go faster and faster so that he could stay by her side and watch the baby being born with his own eyes.
Xie Yunchu could see that he had suffered a lot along the way. His eyes fell on his shoulder, where there was obviously a pool of blood. "Second Master is injured?"
Wang Shuhuai didn't want her to worry, "No, this is someone else's blood."
Xie Yunchu didn't think much about it and comforted him, "You came back just in time. This time the baby was fast. It took a whole day and night for Sister Ke to give birth. This time, she was born in just half an hour after the water broke."
Although Wang Shuhuai was glad that his wife gave birth to the child safely, he couldn't help but think of his absence when Sister Ke was born. He felt very uncomfortable. It turned out that he kept saying that he would make up for it, but the pain of the past could never be made up.
The midwife picked up the umbilical cord swiftly, wiped the baby, wrapped him in a swaddle and held him for Wang Shuhuai to see. Wang Shuhuai took a look but did not react. His mind was all on Xie Yunchu.
Xie Yunchu, on the other hand, supported himself and used the force of his arm to look forward, "Let me take a look..."
Wang Shuhuai helped her up a little, and the midwife handed the child to her with a smile.
"Congratulations, Master and Madam, it's a healthy little boy!"
Xie Yunchu looked at the child with a faint expression. After the child stopped crying, he clenched his fists, closed his eyes and fell asleep quietly. There was still visible hair on his cheeks, his eyeliner was very long, and his eyebrows were very similar to Wang Shuhuai. Giving birth to Er Ge was not so smooth in her previous life. She fainted and didn't have time to look after the child at all.
"Second Master, the child looks like you."
Wang Shuhuai followed her gaze to the child, but he said, "It also looks like you."
In his previous life, Brother Er was more like her.
Xie Yunchu smiled and signaled the midwife to take the child away.
She needs rest more than taking care of the children.
When the child was carried out, the Third Wife and others came over to take a look and praised the child for being beautiful.
The midwife and Nanny Lin cleaned up Xie Yunchu and planned to move her back to the main house. This was when a man's usefulness was revealed. Wang Shuhuai wrapped her in bedding without saying a word and carried her back to the east side room of the main house with ease. He placed her on the bed, but Wang Shuhuai was still not at ease.
"Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"
Xie Yunchu was more relaxed. She shook her head and smelled the sweat and rain on Wang Shuhuai's body mixed with the original pine scent. She shook her head and said, "Go and change clothes quickly. Let me rest for a while."
Wang Shuhuai had been running for a whole day and night without rest, and should have been very tired at this moment, but his mind was unusually clear. He first went to the study to take a shower and change into clean clothes, and then went to see the Duke. Everyone was worried about him because they heard that he was wearing bloody clothes, so Wang Shuhuai brushed off the assassination attempt lightly and returned to Chunjing Hall.
There were thunder and lightning last night, but the weather cleared up this morning. The baby was conceived at 3:30 pm and born at 5:00 pm, just as the sun was rising. Everyone said it was a good omen.
The Duke named his grandson Wang Wei and held him tightly, refusing to let go.
Wang Shuhuai returned to Chunjing Hall and looked around but didn't see Sister Ke. He asked the hurried Nanny Lin, "Where is Sister Ke?"
Nanny Lin said, "The second young lady has brought the child over."
Wang Shuhuai immediately frowned, "How can a girl like her take care of a child?"
Nanny Lin smiled and said, "Second Master, Dong Ning and the wet nurse have gone with them, it's okay."
Wang Shuhuai was relieved and went into the inner room. Xie Yunchu had already finished drinking the ginseng soup and fell asleep. He tiptoed over and lay beside her to accompany her to rest.
The couple slept until 3 p.m., when they were awakened by Ke Jie'er's crying outside.
It turned out that the girl was crying so hard that she was out of breath because she hadn't seen her mother for a day.
When Wang Shuhuai heard this, he went out without saying a word, scolded the nanny first, then quickly picked up the child and brought him into the inner room.
At this time, Xie Yunchu had already woken up.
Everyone outside was gathering around the newborn baby, but the couple were the only ones focusing on the older one.
Xie Yunchu saw Sister Ke'er's red eyes and felt so distressed, "My dear Sister Ke, come to mother."
She held the child tightly in her arms.
Sister Ke buried her little face in the crook of her mother's neck, "Mom, sleep with me..."
Xie Yunchu and Wang Shuhuai looked at each other, both not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
It seems that I didn't sleep well last night.
Xie Yunchu continued to take a nap while hugging the child, while Wang Shuhuai went into the palace.
Er Ge'er was the legitimate eldest son and grandson of the royal family and had a noble status. As soon as the child was born, the good news was announced immediately to the homes of the various in-laws. The palace inevitably received rewards, and the entire family was extremely busy.
Xie Yunchu coaxed the child to sleep, and Nanny Lin came in.
Xie Yunchu saw that her face was full of fatigue and advised, "You are old now, you should take care of yourself. You stayed up all night last night, why don't you go and rest."
Nanny Lin moved a brocade stool and sat down beside her. "I don't have time to rest. I am so happy in my heart. The young lady didn't see the grand ceremony outside..."
Xie Yunchu didn't like to hear this, "Alright, alright, go and have a rest for a while, call Dong Ning in."
Nanny Lin chuckled, "I took a break for an hour at noon, it's okay. By the way, I just heard a joke outside, it's about the Second Master."
Xie Yunchu was surprised, "Can he tell people a joke?"
"That's right," Nanny Lin was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. She told Xie Yunchu about the misunderstanding last night.
"It's being said that our Second Master is very powerful in the court, but at home he loves his wife. I heard that he said 'whoever dares to abandon her will be killed', which almost scared the Second Wife to tears. She complained that she didn't mean it that way."
"Bah," Nanny Lin said softly, "I only said this because I saw you were fine. If she were asked to choose, she would only have Sun in her eyes and not you."
Xie Yunchu smiled and didn't respond.
In the past, she was kind-hearted and thought that she had no biological mother, so she treated her mother-in-law as her mother. After going through so much, she realized that her mother-in-law is never her mother.
Naturally, a daughter-in-law is not a daughter, and no one should cross that line.
Then Nanny Lin looked at Xie Yunchu's expression again and advised softly,
"My dear girl, now that you have both a son and a daughter and your husband has been promoted, you don't have anything else to think about. Seeing that your son-in-law is so fond of you, you should live a good life with him."
Xie Yunchu was unhappy, "Haven't I lived a good life with him?"
"That's not what I meant. What I meant was..."
"Well, Mammy, I'm hungry, go get me something to eat."
She could neither hate nor love Wang Shuhuai now, but she just lived a peaceful life.
After the Duke gave the child a name, he returned to the palace to inform the Princess of the good news, and left a message before leaving.
"Many officials in the court are clamoring to come to the full moon banquet. We can't let the neighbors down if they come to congratulate us. What I mean is to hold a three-day and three-night buffet to give Huai brother some face."
As soon as the old man left, the wives and masters of each room looked at each other in bewilderment.
There has never been a buffet for the full moon celebration of a child in the mansion. The three-day and three-night buffet was very expensive. The Duke was only concerned with his own happiness, but was unaware of the hardships of the head of the household.
The Third Madam looked distressed. This year, Xie Yunchu's 20th birthday banquet was held at the request of the palace, and a lot of money was spent. Logically, it shouldn't have been such a big fuss except for the birthdays of the elders in the mansion. It was understandable under special circumstances, but the court could not afford it.
There are standards for the full-month banquet for grandchildren in each branch. Back then, because Sister Ke was the eldest daughter, the Duke had made an exception for her. Now Brother Er is planning to hold a buffet, and the Third Madam is worried that there will be unhappiness in the other branches.
The third wife glanced at Jiang across from her and said, "I will cooperate with the second sister-in-law. We will do whatever the second sister-in-law says."
Jiang was a little dumbfounded when she heard this. What did he mean by cooperating with her? Shouldn't the full moon banquet be paid for by the public? What did it have to do with her?
The third master was already somewhat unhappy. Although his father did not like his second brother, he clearly favored Wang Shuhuai. In his father's eyes, Wang Shuhuai was the true grandson of the eldest son.
Although the Third Master was the Deputy Censor-in-Chief, a high position, it was extremely difficult for a civil official to obtain the title of Duke. Originally, he thought that his second brother was so incompetent that his father would never give the title to him. But now he thought of a possibility. What if his father bypassed his children and passed the title directly to Wang Shuhuai? It was not impossible.
The Duke's high regard for Wang Shuhuai made the Third Master feel apprehensive.
He said to the Second Master, "Second brother, there is no precedent for a buffet for the full moon banquet in the Duke's Mansion. If father insists on doing so, the expenses will have to be paid by the Second House itself."
Jiang was immediately annoyed, "Third brother, you can't say that. Father was the one who brought up the matter, so he should be held responsible."
The fourth wife sneered and retorted, "Oh, second sister-in-law, you were so radiant just now, but now you are unhappy when I ask you to pay. I'm going to put this out here today. It was the eldest princess' idea to hold Chu'er's birthday party last time, and I have nothing to say. Ke'er is the eldest daughter, and she has been given preferential treatment, and I accept it. Now, although Brother Yu is the eldest son of Shu Huai, he is only the fourth brother in the entire Duke's Mansion. Why should he bypass the other brothers?"
"Sure. Shu Huai is very popular in the court. He has made great achievements this time. It is reasonable for all the civil and military officials to come and celebrate. Since he has this honor, the Second House should take advantage of it."
Jiang could see that the attitudes of each family were very tough, and even the always fair and just Third Wife remained silent, so the matter was hanging in the balance.
She shrugged the shoulders of the second master beside her.
Seeing this, the fourth master immediately cut off Jiang's retreat and instigated the second master, "Second brother, you have to make the decision today. This is your grandson, so it's okay to spend some money. Besides, you have finished your work in the room, so you should have enough money."
The second master thought it made sense, and for the first time he ignored Jiang's opinion and made the decision:
"Okay, our second house will pay for the money for the full moon banquet for Brother Wei."
Jiang's face turned pale. When she returned to the second room, she grabbed the second master's ear and said angrily, "Do you think I don't want to pay this money? Shuyi will be getting married in a month. In order to save her face, I was forced by the Yang family to pay out 6,000 taels of silver for her dowry. I have to give her 2,000 taels as a dowry. This time, 8,000 taels are gone. I have been holding weddings one after another in these years, and my hands are already empty. How can I have the money to hold this buffet!"
The second master was angry at his wife's move, so he clamped her slender wrist to move the claw away and retorted, "It's just a buffet, it's only one thousand taels of silver, how can you not come up with it? When you settled the accounts on New Year's Eve last year, didn't you still have twenty thousand taels in your hand? After all, there will be dividends at the end of the year, and we will be completely well-off."
Jiang was so angry that her forehead twitched. "What do you mean one thousand taels? Plus the full moon gift, it should be at least one thousand five hundred taels. The family next to the buffet will have to hire a stage, so we can't be weak. After all, we have to spend two thousand taels." Jiang held up two fingers.
The couple were snorting and glaring at each other in the inner room, and Nanny Ming asked the servants to leave.
"Don't think that I still had 20,000 taels in my hand at the beginning of this year. After deducting my daughter's 8,000 taels dowry, I only have 5,000 taels left."
The second master was surprised and asked, "Where did all this money go?"
Jiang's eyes turned red with anxiety. "You are such a stubborn person. You only care about eating, drinking and having fun. How can you understand the difficulties in the backyard? Don't we, the whole family of the second house, have to eat and drink?"
"The dividends from the public treasury are getting less and less every year. I should at least save some money for myself, so that we won't be penniless when we get old and have to ask the younger generation for money. Besides, you know my family..." When she said this, Jiang's eyes were filled with tears, "My family is getting worse and worse, I have to give some money..."
The Jiang family is an old noble family. Originally, their ancestors had produced several generations of great scholars. Later, the descendants of the family failed in the imperial examinations and fell into decline in the court. They could only retain a place by relying on the influence of their ancestors and the glory of the Jiang family.
Originally, the Second Master turned a blind eye to Jiang's subsidies to her family, but after a while, he could no longer stand it and waved his sleeves, "Which is more important, Huai'er or your family? You decide for yourself."
Seeing her husband was serious, Jiang Shi also felt a little apprehensive, "Of course Huai'er is more important, but I mean we don't have to pay for the money."
The second master turned his head and glanced at her, "What do you mean?"
Jiang said, "You haven't seen that Huai's daughter-in-law, she is wearing gold and silver all over. Some time ago, she made a pair of pure gold bracelets. I saw them. They cost at least several hundred taels. She is very wealthy. These two thousand taels are just a drop in the bucket for her."
The second master looked gloomy when he heard this, "First, she is not the head of the family yet, and second, she has two generations of elders above her. How can we let her pay for the wedding banquet? If it gets out, it will bring shame to our second branch."
Seeing that her husband was not willing to give in, Jiang was not in a hurry and tried to comfort him, "Let me think about it." However, she secretly used Dou Keling to spread the word that the second house had no extra money because of Wang Shuyi's marriage, and hoped that Xie Yunchu would be tactful and take the initiative to pay for the wedding.
When the news reached Xie Yunchu's ears, Nanny Lin angrily said, "What do you mean by no extra money? They are just forcing you to pay for it."
Xie Yunchu's face was indifferent. She didn't care about this little money, nor did she want her son's full moon banquet to cause trouble, but she couldn't set this precedent. She had money on hand, but it was hard to say for other sisters-in-law. They had enough food and clothing on a daily basis, so it was absolutely impossible to ask them to use money to hold a banquet.
Xie Yunchu was unmoved and ignored it.
Jiang was getting anxious, and the Third Madam was urging her to give the money. Jiang was planning to look for Wang Shuhuai, and at this critical moment, the news reached the ears of the Duke. The old man was so angry that he rushed back home, summoned all his sons and daughters-in-law to Qinghui Palace, and started scolding them.
"You have brought disgrace upon the Wang family. They want to have a drink because they think highly of us, but you are so stingy that you refuse to even give us a penny."
The Duke could understand that the Third Wife wanted to treat everyone equally, but he could not tolerate Jiang's pettiness. He had long been dissatisfied with Jiang.
"Your dowry has been used up over the years. The public treasury distributes thousands of silver coins every year. The betrothal gifts for the three children are written in the account book, and the total is no more than 20,000 taels. Shuyi's dowry is at most 7,000 or 8,000 taels. Where did the remaining money go? Do you dare to hand in your private account to prove your innocence?"
Jiang explained timidly, "There are many people in the second house, and the expenses are not small... Some accounts are not kept in the public account, so my daughter-in-law will have to make up for it."
The Duke sneered, "Although the Second House has expenses, it's not so bad that it can't even come up with a thousand or two thousand. Let me tell you, I know that you support your mother's family, but I let you do it for Shu Huai's sake. Since you can't tell right from wrong and are so confused, then the dividends from the Second House will go directly to Huai's daughter-in-law, and your Second House's bottom line will still be in her hands!"
Jiang was dumbfounded. What did this mean? Did she have to live at the hands of her daughter-in-law in the future?
While the Wang family was arguing about the full-month banquet, the Xie family also started arguing about the full-month gift.
Wang Shuhuai came to the Yue family in person to announce the good news. After the announcement, Xie Hui and Madam Ming discussed the full moon ceremony in the main hall. Xie Yunyou rushed over after hearing the news.
"I am an uncle again. When I gave birth to Sister Ke, I was still young and not very sensible. Now that Brother Wei is born, I understand that the child also needs the support of his uncle. I don't have any other skills now, but I still have some silver in my hand. Didn't my sister return the dowry silver of Madam Jiang, and also paid interest, so my share should be given to my sister."
Xie Yunyou generously took out the box of shops, farms and silver that Xie Hui had given him last time and placed it on the long table in the main hall.
"Father, Mother, these are my full-month gifts for my little nephew."
Madam Ming was surprised as she held the teacup in her hand. "Child, this is the money your sister gave you to marry a wife."
Xie Yunyou waved his hand and said, "I haven't passed the imperial examination yet, so why should I marry a wife? It won't be too late to marry a wife when I am successful and have the ability to take care of my wife and children."
In fact, he didn't want to get married at all, but he was afraid that Madam Ming would say something bad about him, so he said a few nice things.
Seeing this, Xie Hui put down the teacup on the table and frowned, "How can you be so rude? How can you give so many gifts for a full-month baby? It's a social convention, you can't be too rude, and you can't be too rude... How will your sister respond if you do this? What will she think?"
Before he finished speaking, Xie Yunyou retorted without any hesitation.
"You old man, stop talking to me about this nonsense. This is our sister and brother's business and has nothing to do with you."
Xie Hui's nose was crooked with anger. "You rebellious son, you can't live peacefully until you make me angry, right?"
"As a father, this is to teach you how to be a good person."
Xie Yunyou was so angry that he laughed. He looked at him coldly and said, "Dad, you are the chief priest of the Imperial College. You should know how to practice what you preach. Instead of talking about these nonsense, you might as well show me how to do it."
"You..." Xie Hui looked around for someone to whip, but Madam Weiming stopped him.
"You always blame the child for being impatient. You are impatient too. If you have anything to say, just tell him nicely, and he will naturally respond nicely."
Xie Hui's beard trembled slightly, and he pointed at Xie Yunyou and scolded him, "Look at what he said..."
"What he said makes a lot of sense..." Mrs. Ming spread her hands.
Xie Hui was choked. He turned his face away and held the teacup to drink tea.
Mrs. Ming always managed to resolve the disputes between the father and son with ease.
"You'er doesn't want to owe Yunchu anything, so he wants to return the money to Yunchu as a full-month gift, and also to save face for his nephew. This is his intention, and you have to understand."
Xie Hui sighed, turned around and said, "Of course I understand, but that's not how it works. Ask Yun Chu if she wants it."
Without waiting for Madam Ming to respond, Xie Yunyou said angrily,
"This is my money. How I deal with it is none of your business."
"What about you getting married?"
"Shouldn't you pay for the wife? You don't want to pay, right? Then why did you give birth to me? If you have the guts, just push me back. Do you think I want to be your son, Xie Hui? I tell you, if I had a choice, I would never want a father like you."
Xie Hui vomited a mouthful of blood and became sick from anger.
After all, I still feel a little bit upset about what happened back then.
Mrs. Ming looked at the young man who was as stubborn as a donkey, and felt filled with emotion.
In the past, she only regretted not having children in this life. Now, after meeting Xie Yunyou, she suddenly felt that if she could not give the child a stable future, it would not be a bad idea to have one.
Xie Yunyou took the brocade box back to his own courtyard. Madam Ming helped Xie Hui back to the backyard and laid him down, saying that she wanted to call a doctor. Xie Hui refused and just waved his hand, saying that it was an old illness and it was not a big deal. Madam Ming then sat beside him and accompanied him.
"Trust me, don't worry about him now, let me discipline him. He's not a bad person, he just holds a grudge against you, so he always opposes you. Don't worry about his future, leave it to me."
Xie Hui looked at his gentle yet determined wife, his eyes sour, "Thank you for all the hard work for me."
Mrs. Ming smiled and said, "What's the big deal? I'm happy to get along with children."
"By the way, no matter what Yunyou does, we, as his grandparents, must give him a generous gift to support Chu'er. If you are short of money, I can give you some money."
Xie Hui coughed violently several times after hearing this, waved his hands repeatedly, took a deep breath and spoke slowly,
"It's not your turn to pay out of your own pocket. Before I married you, there was a quarrel in my family. I finally decided to give the Yinguan to Yunyou. He is the legitimate son, and the earldom will also need him in the future. In this way, I have to make plans for the other children. I divided the property into several parts, and each of them kept one part in the study."
"Not long ago, Yunxiu wrote back, saying that she should have come back in person to kowtow and pay her respects to her stepmother, but she was ill and had been staying at her uncle's house, unable to go out. She also heard about her mother's affairs and felt very ashamed, so she planned to remain single for the rest of her life. Although these words were just hearsay, I will temporarily take out her share of the dowry and use it as a full-moon gift for Brother Yu."
Mrs. Ming was not in a position to comment on Xie Yunxiu's affairs. She only said, "A shop, a set of four treasures of the study, a pair of red gold longevity locks, and a few hundred yuan as a gift, that would be good enough."
That's how it was settled.
Wang Shuhuai has postponed some official duties recently and tried his best to make time to accompany Xie Yunchu. However, he found that his wife was very busy. She was either entertaining the older ones or taking care of the younger ones. At the very least, she was taking a break. She would smile at him, but there was no emotion in her eyes.
He would rather Xie Yunchu had a tantrum with him than be so gentle and kind to him. Wang Shuhuai felt upset when he saw his calm wife every day.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
