Taiping Lie 426. Before the Birthday Banquet

Chen Xiufu and Lei Tengfeng walked out of the gate, and two people came out from the corridor. One of the two men was dressed in white like snow, and the other in red like fire. Feng Zhiyuan looked at the place where the two men had stood not far away and frowned and asked, "Will it be a problem if the prince hands over the affairs of Xiling to Mr. Xiuting?" It's not that he doesn't believe in Chen Xiufu's loyalty to Dingwang Mansion, but Chen Xiufu is originally from Xiling. It's much more troublesome to hand this matter over to him than to give it to ordinary Dingwang Mansion subordinates. Maybe Chen Xiufu will be in a difficult position.

Xu Qingchen shook his head slightly and said calmly: "With Mr. Xiuting's ability, it is natural to handle this matter, and his character is absolutely trustworthy. That's why Prince Ding handed this matter to him. As long as he handles this matter well, he will be able to sit firmly in the position of Left Prime Minister in the future, and no one can say anything more."

Feng Zhiyao nodded. He was far inferior to Mo Xiuyao and Xu Qingchen in terms of guessing people's minds. Since these two people thought it was okay, then it was really okay. "The Zhuazhou ceremony is about to start, but these two parents are nowhere to be seen. Let's go and remind them so that the guests won't be kept waiting for too long."

Xu Qingchen smiled faintly and said, "They are in the study. I will go to the inner courtyard to bring Lin'er and Xin'er out and inform them. It will be up to the Third Young Master Feng." Feng Zhiyao watched Young Master Qingchen leave gracefully, shrugged, turned around and walked towards the study.

The ceremony of the Prince Ding's mansion was scheduled after lunch. After watching the ceremony of the two young princes and the little princess, the guests came to the mansion and took a short rest before attending the evening banquet. In fact, for the one-year-old children, the so-called banquet was not important, and the participants were not all adults. For them, the most important thing was the ceremony of the one-year-old.

In the inner courtyard, Hua Tianxiang and the others were circling around the two little kids. Because they were worried that the babies would get sleepy, they coaxed the two babies to sleep in the morning. When Xu Qingchen arrived, the two babies had just woken up and were full of energy. Especially the more lively Lin'er was crawling around and even wanted to climb up and down. The girls and the child's nanny could only stare at him closely, fearing that he would accidentally bump into something.

Xin'er was relatively quiet, just sitting obediently on the couch, watching her brother walk around and crawl around on the ground, clapping her hands and babbling. Hearing her sister's calls, Lin'er became even more excited and tormented even more.

"Ah... Uncle Jiu..." Xin'er pointed at the door and called out happily. Everyone looked at the door and saw Xu Qingchen standing there smiling at Xin'er. Mo Wuyou pinched Xin'er's little face and said with a smile: "You little girl will be smart now. You will call uncle and recognize people."

Xu Qingchen came in, leaned over and picked up Xin'er, and said with a smile: "Xin'er, are you calling uncle?"

"Hehe. Jiujiu. Uncle!" Xin'er obviously liked this uncle very much, and she giggled non-stop while sitting in Xu Qingchen's arms. Lin'er, who was standing next to her, looked at her sister, then looked at Xu Qingchen standing in front of her, and staggered over to grab Xu Qingchen's clothes and shook them, "Hug me, sister..."

Xu Qingchen looked at Xin'er in his hands, and then at Lin'er who was holding his clothes and looking at him eagerly, and his face froze. Everyone looked at the elegant and refined Master Qingchen holding a child in one hand, and another child standing at his feet pulling at the corner of his clothes, and suddenly felt that this scene was funny no matter how they looked at it. Master Qingchen and holding a child always felt like they were completely unrelated.

Mo Wuyou lay on Hua Tianxiang's shoulder, covering his mouth and laughing secretly.

Xu Qingchen looked at the two little babies in front of him helplessly. Although Young Master Qingchen was famous all over the world, Xu Qingchen's luck with children was not very good. For example, Xu Zhirui from the Xu family and the little elf-like Leng Junhan didn't like to get close to Xu Qingchen. But it was obvious that the children in Dingwang Mansion would like this uncle very much.

Helplessly, Xu Qingchen had to put his heart at ease. He squatted down and held the two little kids in his arms, comforting the very excited little kids with a smile.

"Brother, why are you here too?" Ye Li said to everyone at the door with a smile. Behind him, Mo Xiuyao glanced at the two children who were happily in Xu Qingchen's arms, walked up and stretched out his hand to Xin'er, "Xin'er."

Xin'er blinked her smart eyes and showed an innocent smile to Mo Xiuyao, "Daddy... hug me. Mommy..." Mo Xiuyao proudly held his daughter in his arms. Lin'er leaned in Xu Qingchen's arms, blinked and looked at Mo Xiuyao, pouted her lips in grievance, turned around and turned her butt towards Mo Xiuyao. Children, especially those who are always together, always want to do what one does. Lin'er may not really like Mo Xiuyao to hug her, but she still feels unhappy when she sees that Mo Xiuyao only hugs her sister and ignores her.

Mo Xiuyao leaned over, lifted Lin'er from Xu Qingchen's arms, and said with a smile: "Little brat, you are so young and you already know how to compete with your sister for your affection?" Lin'er didn't feel uncomfortable being lifted up by her clothes, instead she shook her little body with interest and giggled. Mo Xiuyao was always gentle and loving when holding his daughter, but he was not so polite when holding a boy. Even when Mo Xiaobao was a child, he was also carried back and forth. Ye Li stepped forward and took Lin'er from his arms, glanced at him reproachfully, then looked at Xu Qingchen and said with a smile: "Brother, are you free now? You actually come here."

Xu Qingchen glanced at Mo Xiuyao unhappily and said, "How can you be free? Father, Second Uncle, and Manager Mo are watching outside. I'm going to come in and rest for a while. Also, the auspicious time is coming soon. I'm going to see if Lin'er and Xin'er are ready."

Mo Xiuyao didn't care, "What do they need to prepare?" Isn't the ceremony of grabbing the week just putting the things on the table full of things and letting them grab whatever they want?

Xu Qingchen smiled but said nothing. He walked to the side and sat down. He looked into the room and asked, "Aren't Xiaobao and the others here?" Hua Tianxiang said, "Just now they said that the inner courtyard was boring and they wanted to go out to see what was going on."

Xu Qingchen frowned and nodded, "Tell them to be careful, there are a lot of people here today."

Mo Xiuyao smiled and said, "We have sent someone to follow them. They will be fine."

Soon, the auspicious time for the "Zhuazhou" ceremony arrived. The ceremony was held in the lobby of the front yard of Prince Ding's mansion. When Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li came with their two babies, the lobby was already full of guests. Lei Tengfeng, Mo Jingyu, Yelu Hong and other envoys from various countries had all arrived. Even Pu'a, who had just been injured and looked pale because he was worried about the safety of Princess Anxi and the little prince, was there. In addition, the civil and military officials of Prince Ding's mansion, as long as they were in Licheng and had a high rank, had also arrived. The one sitting at the top was naturally Mr. Qingyun, with white hair and beard.

Seeing Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao coming together, everyone stood up and greeted them.

"Grandpa." Ye Li walked up to Mr. Qingyun and smiled. Mr. Qingyun took Lin'er from her and said, "It's been a month since we last met. These two children have grown up a bit." Ye Li nodded and smiled, "Children grow up fast. They will be able to run around soon. Lin'er, call me Grandpa." Although Lin'er was still young, he was very clever. In addition, he had seen Mr. Qingyun quite often in the past year, so he naturally had an impression of this old man with a white beard. He happily grabbed Mr. Qingyun's snow-white beard and called, "Grandpa..."

Mr. Qingyun's wrinkled face also showed a kind smile, "Good boy, Lin'er is good..."

"Grandpa!" Mo Xiuyao's heart was not willing to be outdone.

Mr. Qingyun's smile deepened. Girls were very rare in both the Xu family and the Dingwang Mansion, so naturally they were loved more. Mr. Qingyun nodded repeatedly and said, "Good children, Lin'er and Xin'er are both good-looking." Mr. Qingyun took out a pair of jade pendants and gave one to Lin'er and Xin'er respectively.

Ye Li looked down and saw that it was a pair of Qilin and Phoenix jade pendants. The jade was the finest white jade, snow-white and smooth without any impurities. The carving was very delicate, and Ye Li felt that it looked familiar. Ye Li remembered that she also had a jade pendant like this, but it was made of green jade with magnolia flowers. It was given by her grandfather when she was born, and it was said that it was carved by her grandfather himself. People only knew Mr. Qingyun.

Mr. Qingyun is a master of many other arts. He is also a master of carving, which is not of particular interest to ordinary scholars. These two jade pendants were obviously carved by Mr. Qingyun himself. Mr. Qingyun is now over 80 years old, and it is not easy to carve such exquisite jade pendants. Ye Li's eyes were slightly red, and she looked at Mr. Qingyun and whispered: "Grandpa, Lin'er and Xin'er are still young, you don't have to worry about them..."

Mr. Qingyun shook his head, teasing the child in his arms, and said, "It's not good for children to wear ancient jade. This piece of jade is good. It's just right to make a jade pendant for the two children, what's wrong with that?"

Xin'er was still in Mo Xiuyao's arms, waving the jade pendant in one hand, and excitedly waved to Mr. Qingyun, "Grandpa...Grandpa...Xinxin, hug me..." As she spoke, she kicked her calves to go to Mr. Qingyun. Mo Xiuyao had no choice but to put her on Mr. Qingyun's couch. Fortunately, the couch was very wide, and because Mr. Qingyun was old, he specially laid a thick cushion, so there was no need to worry about her bumping into it.

Seeing his great-granddaughter being so close to him, even Mr. Qingyun, a person like him, couldn't help but smile.

The people sitting below couldn't help but sigh as they looked at this family. Whether it was Ye Limo Xiuyao or the Xu family, they were all very pleasing to the eye. Now that so many people were standing together and talking and laughing around Mr. Qingyun, it made people feel that God was really partial. Looking at the two delicate little kids sitting next to Mr. Qingyun, everyone couldn't help but reveal jealous and envious expressions.

Standing next to Mr. Qingyun, Ye Li was startled when he looked down. He saw Ye Wenhua standing alone in an inconspicuous corner not far from the princess, looking at her with a complicated expression...or rather, looking at Lin'er who was holding her hand and babbling non-stop. Ye Wenhua rarely went out since he came to Licheng, and even rarely met outsiders, so not many people knew him.

Seeing Ye Li stunned, Mo Xiuyao also looked over, and naturally saw Ye Wenhua. He gently hugged Ye Li, and said softly: "A Li, if you have anything to say, go and tell him." Mo Xiuyao didn't really have much like or dislike for Ye Wenhua. The most he hated was that Ye Li had been wronged by Ye Wenhua in the past. Although it couldn't be said that it was all because of Ye Wenhua, at least Ye Wenhua, as a father, didn't treat Ye Li, the only legitimate daughter, very well. In the past few years, Ye Wenhua has been law-abiding in Licheng, and he didn't have any delusions because of his status as the father of Princess Ding, so Mo Xiuyao's attitude towards him was better. Occasionally, he would send some gifts to the Ye family during festivals. After all, no matter how close Ye Li was to the Xu family, she was still surnamed Ye. Compared to the poverty of her family in Prince Ding's mansion, spending some money to let Ye Wenhua enjoy his old age is obviously better for Ye Li's reputation. Of course, the premise of all this must be that Ye Wenhua is well behaved and knows how to advance and retreat.

Ye Li sighed slightly and nodded.

She really didn't have any feelings towards her father, Ye Wenhua, neither love nor hate, but she felt a little sorry for her mother. Ye Li's impression of Ye Wenhua was not even as good as her parents in her previous life, who had actually passed away more than 20 years ago. Even though her parents in her previous life were equally busy, they didn't get along much when they were young, and they rarely saw each other once a year after she joined the army, but the impression and feelings they left on her were still much deeper than Ye Wenhua's.

"Father." In the quiet side hall, Ye Li calmly looked at the somewhat old Ye Wenhua in front of her. Ye Wenhua is now only in his early fifties, but his temples are already full of white hair. He wears an inconspicuous scholar's robe, and looks more like a scholar than when he was in Chujing more than ten years ago. It's just that Ye Wenhua has aged a lot in just over a year. Also, Ye Yue and Ye Ying passed away in succession in the past year. These two are Ye Wenhua's favorite daughters. No matter what, he can't help but feel sad.

"Li... Li'er..." Seeing Ye Li walk in, Ye Wenhua looked a little embarrassed. The daughter he once thought was insignificant, the daughter he once resented, the daughter he once thought he had never had, has grown up to be a legendary woman admired by the whole world without relying on him as a father. In fact... as a father, he couldn't help much. Ye Wenhua smiled bitterly.

"Father, please take a seat." Ye Li said softly. Speaking of which, this time, the subordinates of Prince Ding's Mansion were a little inconsiderate. They actually forgot to send an invitation to the Ye family for Lin'er and Xin'er's first birthday banquet. Of course, a large part of this was also caused by the attitudes of Ye Li and Mo Xiuyao. Ye Wenhua nodded and sat down. Immediately, another maid came over to serve tea and then left.

The two drank tea in silence for a while before Ye Li asked, "It's been a long time since we last met. Is father doing well?"

"Okay, all is fine. Your grandmother is also very good." Ye Wenhua nodded. Ye Li smiled faintly. If she had no feelings for Ye Wenhua, she had even less feelings for Old Madam Ye. Ye Wenhua loved her when she was a child, and she would occasionally help her after her mother passed away. But Old Madam Ye disliked her mother when she was still alive, and there was no emotion in her eyes other than calculation and indifference when she looked at her.

Ye Wenhua also understood that Ye Li was not interested in this topic, so he raised his hand and took out a wooden box from his sleeve and placed it on the table, saying, "Today is the birthday of the two children. This is... this is the gift I gave them."

Ye Li took the wooden box from Qin Feng, opened it, and looked at Ye Wenhua in surprise. In the old red sandalwood carved box, there was a piece of warm jade and a pair of jade bells. The warm jade had been seen before, and it was said to be a family heirloom of the Ye family. It was indeed a piece of top-grade warm jade of great value. At that time, Old Madam Ye had shown it off. It was said that the ancestors of the Ye family were also a prestigious family. Later, Wang wanted the jade after she gave birth to Ye Rong, but Ye Wenhua did not give it to her. Although the jade bell had never been seen before, its value was definitely not less than that of the warm jade. The exquisite bell carved out of snow-white mutton-fat white jade, with exquisite hollow patterns through one or two jade beads inside, made a ding-dong sound when it was gently shaken, which was very pleasant to hear.

"This is too expensive..." Ye Li said. The Ye family is no longer the Ye family of Chujing, and the Ye family is not rich. I'm afraid that the two gifts sent by Ye Wenhua are more expensive than all the property of the Ye family now.

Ye Wenhua waved his hands, refusing the box Qin Feng sent back and said, "These are the only two things I have left that I can show to others. If I give them to the two children, they can still be used as toys. If I keep them in the Ye family, I don't know when they will be gone. Besides... this jade bell is also your mother's legacy, so give it to Xin'er to play with."

Seeing Ye Wenhua was so persistent, Ye Li had no choice but to put it away and said softly: "I thank father on behalf of the two children." Ye Wenhua shook his head and said nothing.

Ye Li thought for a moment and asked, "Is Su Yun okay?" The last time Xu Qingchen came back from Jiangnan, he also brought Mo Su Yun back with him. But Mo Su Yun was weak and timid. No one in Dingwang Mansion or Xu's family took care of him. Ye Li had also discussed with Xu Qingchen to send the child to the Ye family.

Ye Wenhua sighed, "Fortunately. He has changed his name to Ye Su now. The kid has suffered a lot and is not very courageous. And his body..." Mo Suyun's body was really ruined. Even Shen Yang and Doctor Lin shook their heads when they took his pulse personally, saying that they were not sure that Mo Suyun could live past the age of 20. In the past six months, Mo Wuyou came to see him every half a month, but it was just a delay. Mo Wuyou didn't know that Mo Suyun was not actually Mo Jingqi's son, so he felt very sorry for this poor half-brother.

Ye Li said: "If his body needs any medicine, just let Wuyou come to Dingwang Mansion to get it."

Ye Wenhua nodded, and the father and daughter were speechless for a while. After a long while, Ye Wenhua whispered, "Li'er, Ying'er's affairs after her death..." Ye Li lowered her eyes and said softly, "Fourth sister was unwilling to leave Prince Li's mansion. After her death, Prince Li buried her with the power of the princess." Ye Wenhua sighed and said, "That's good... That's good..." He spent the first half of his life chasing fame and fortune, and taught his only son badly. Among his daughters, except for a concubine who lived a dull life, only Ye Li, the legitimate daughter, lived a happy life. But such happiness was also obtained by Ye Li after going through so many things. In these years, although Ye Wenhua did not leave the house, he knew everything he should know. What Ye Li had experienced in these years was difficult for ordinary women and most men to bear. As a father, he had nothing to say except pride.

Seeing Ye Wenhua so old and sad, Ye Li couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. Sighing, Ye Li asked, "Father, do you still remember Aunt Zhao?"

Ye Wenhua was stunned for a moment, and it took him a while to remember that he had such a favored concubine in the past. Aunt Zhao was also favored for a period of time, otherwise Wang would not have considered her a threat. However, her status was too low, and the time she spent with Ye Wenhua was too short. In the blink of an eye, more than ten years had passed, and Ye Wenhua did not have a deep impression of her.

"Didn't she...didn't she go to Yunzhou?" Ye Wenhua asked doubtfully, not understanding why Ye Li would mention this woman who hadn't been heard from for more than a decade at this time.

Ye Li nodded and said, "Not bad, but back then...she was already three months pregnant when she left."

"What?!" Ye Wenhua stood up in shock. He realized his mistake only after receiving Qin Feng's warning. However, the child's matter was too much of a shock to him. "Li, Li'er?"

Ye Li nodded calmly and said, "Yes, I knew it back then. She came to me and begged me to tell me that Madam Wang would do something to her and her child, but I was about to marry into Prince Ding's mansion and had no time to take care of her. So I suggested that she go to Yunzhou. The Xu family in Yunzhou could still take care of her to some extent."

"Then...who is that child..." Ye Wenhua asked cautiously. Ye Rong had completely disappointed him. If the child was a boy, it would naturally be Ye Wenhua's only hope. But if it was a girl...Ye Wenhua felt a little uneasy.

Ye Li lowered her eyes and said calmly, "It's a boy, he's already twelve years old this year. When the child was born, Aunt Zhao wrote to me and asked me about it, so I named the child Ye Zi'an."

"Zi'an... Zi'an is fine... Li'er, thank you so much... I, as a father, have always..." Ye Wenhua's eyes were red, and he looked at Ye Li with guilt. Ye Li shook his head and said, "The child is now studying at Lishan Academy. Not long after the Xu family came to Licheng, Aunt Zhao also sold her villa in Yunzhou and came to Licheng. Now the Lishan Academy has arranged some land not far away and she lives there."

"Thank you, Li'er." Ye Wenhua didn't know what else to say, so he could only repeat it. Ye Li smiled and said lightly, "What are you thanking me for? He is also my brother. If you have time, you can go and see Aunt Zhao and Zi'an. I also heard that... Madam Wang has been getting more and more out of control in the past two years." Ye Wenhua was stunned and said quickly, "Don't worry, I will control them and will not let the Ye family ruin your reputation outside."

Ye Li shook her head lightly and said nothing more.