Chapter 584 The Autumn Examination is Imminent
Princess Jingning was just teasing him. Although she thought it would be good for her daughter to marry into the Gu family and have her close friend as her daughter's mother-in-law, it was too hasty to arrange an engagement when the children were so young. At least they should wait until the two children were older and mutually interested before getting engaged.
She glanced at Shen Yunzhou and got back to the point: "That's not the point right now. The point is that Nuonuo needs playmates. Let's pick two three- or four-year-olds from the family to come and play with Nuonuo. We are adults after all and don't know what children need. Only children can understand children better."
Shen Yunzhou nodded slightly: "You can choose two well-behaved and kind-hearted girls to grow up with Nuonuo and become her head maids. They will have grown up together and will be loyal to Nuonuo in the future."
Princess Jingning said, "I will make a selection tomorrow."
They had resolved one matter, but back at the Marquis of Changxing's residence, the usually well-behaved Wanwan started making a fuss, crying and demanding her younger sister, and nothing they did could soothe her.
Wanwan was listening to her mother, who said her younger sister had gone home and she would see her again next time. So she saw her sister off without crying or making a fuss. But when she didn't see her sister that night, she started crying loudly.
Meng Jinyao's head was throbbing from her son's crying, so she handed him to Gu Jingxi and said, "This is your son, you comfort him."
Gu Jingxi laughed and said, "Didn't we say we'd find him a girl to cultivate a relationship with, maybe they'd become a couple? Now look what's happened, the relationship has been cultivated, but the girl has run away. How can he not cry? This is all your fault as his mother."
Looking at her son crying loudly, Meng Jinyao's face was full of worry: "What should we do? We can't just send Wanwan to the Shen family, can we? And the Shen family is unlikely to be willing to send Nuonuo over again."
While wiping away her son's tears, Gu Jingxi said, "Ayao, go and bring Yunxin from Xiuyuan's family over to play with him. Children forget things easily; he'll be fine once he has a new playmate."
Meng Jinyao nodded. The only thing she could do now was to go to the main house. Yun Xin and Wanwan were the only two people in the family who were about the same age.
After bringing Yunxin over, the couple spent a long time comforting and soothing her until she calmed down.
Yunxin is a lively and adorable child. Wanwan quickly accepted Yunxin as her playmate and was inseparable from him every day. She followed Yunxin around calling him "brother," but Yunxin called him "fourth uncle." The two little ones called each other different things, which made the adults in the family laugh.
When Meng Jinyao heard her son call Yunxin "brother" again, she couldn't help but laugh out loud. She said to the man beside her, "Husband, when your son grows up and remembers that he used to call his nephew 'brother,' will he blame us for not stopping him from doing so?"
Gu Jingxi raised an eyebrow: "He can only blame himself for being stupid. We, as his parents, have already corrected him, but he insists on calling him 'brother.' Who can we blame?"
Meng Jinyao nodded: "That's true, it was this little fool who insisted on calling me brother." After saying that, she brought up another matter, "Husband, you're free tomorrow, it's your day off."
Gu Jingxi said gently, "Of course, I'll go out for a walk with you tomorrow."
Meng Jinyao gently shook her head: "Xiuwen went home today, and my second brother is also home. Tomorrow, test their knowledge, look at their writings, and give them some pointers."
Gu Xiuwen and Meng Chengzhang have the same teacher. They went on a study tour with their teacher last year and did not return for the New Year. They have only returned now that the autumn examination is approaching and are preparing to participate in this year's examination.
Gu Jingxi readily agreed: "Okay, then we'll go out again on the next day off."
Meng Jinyao said, "Then I will send someone to the Earl's residence to deliver a message, asking my second brother to come over tomorrow."
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The next day.
After having breakfast, Meng Chengzhang took the interesting little toys he had bought for his nephew during his study trip and headed to the Changxing Marquis's residence. In fact, he had planned to visit his elder sister and nephew today even without her invitation.
The siblings hadn't seen each other for a long time and missed each other terribly.
Looking at her second brother, who had come a long way, gotten a bit tanned, grown taller, and become much more mature, Meng Jinyao felt a sense of pride, like watching her younger brother grow up.
After exchanging pleasantries, the wet nurse brought Wanwan in.
Meng Jinyao took the child and said gently, "Wanwan, this is your second uncle. Quickly call him your second uncle."
Wanwan opened her eyes wide and looked at Meng Chengzhang curiously. After a while, she stretched out her hands to him, meaning she wanted a hug.
Upon seeing this, Meng Chengzhang was taken aback at first, then reacted and quickly reached out to take Wanwan from Meng Jinyao's arms. He coaxed Wanwan a few times before she finally called out "Second Uncle". Hearing his little nephew's childish voice, his heart melted completely. He said, "Before I went on my long journey, Wanwan couldn't speak. Now she can speak."
Meng Jinyao laughed and said, "Second brother, if you had come back earlier, this little idiot wouldn't have been able to talk yet. He was a little slower than others in speaking and walking. I was about to think that I had given birth to a stupid child. I never expected that he would suddenly be able to talk and walk."
Meng Chengzhang smiled and shook his head: "Eldest sister and brother-in-law are both intelligent. Wanwan is your child, how could he be stupid? This little guy looks like a little genius. He will definitely be loved by his teacher when he goes to school."
Meng Jinyao disagreed, saying, "Even smart children can make their teachers very angry. For example, when your brother-in-law was young, he gave his father and teacher a lot of headaches."
As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Jingxi choked on his tea and coughed twice. When he saw his wife looking over, he looked at her with a resentful look in his eyes, as if to say: Ayao, you can't reveal old secrets like this.
The couple exchanged glances, but Meng Chengzhang pretended not to notice. He played with his little nephew in his arms and changed the subject: "Big sister, when I got home yesterday, I found that my third brother was still under house arrest and had not left the courtyard."
Meng Jinyao paused for a moment, then said, "Unless something unexpected happens, he will not be released while Father is still alive."
The father framed his third brother for his grandmother's illness and, having achieved his goal, petitioned the emperor to depose his third brother from his position as heir apparent. He vented his anger, but now, seeing his third brother reminds him of the stain of framing his son. The father never wants to see his third brother again in his life.
Meng Chengzhang asked in surprise, "But, but my third brother will be of marriageable age in two years. When he gets married and has children, will Father keep him locked up until then?"
Meng Jinyao said meaningfully, "He is now an outcast of the family, with a bad reputation. No good girl is willing to marry him. What happens then will be up to Father. If Father says he doesn't want his rebellious son to ruin other people's good girls, how can he marry and have children?"
Meng Chengzhang remained silent. If he could be so heartless and cruel to his most beloved son, he would be even more ruthless to others. Fortunately, his father was neither good at literature nor martial arts, and was a mediocre and incompetent person. If he had held a high position and wielded great power, who knows how many people he would have harmed.
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