Big kids and little kids
In late April, Chen Tang sent a letter home from her post, saying that everything was fine in Fenliang. She and her son-in-law Di both felt that the scenery in northern Shanxi was vast and boundless, with a unique sense of vastness and openness.
The poem was originally a plain and dry description of the scenery of northern Shanxi, but after a few sentences, the pen turned and began to talk about the water quality here, how it compared to home; how the food here is, how it compared to before; how the customs here are, how different they are from home.
In short, as she wrote, her tone of coquettishness became more and more obvious, and her language became more and more corny.
Ling Wan lay on the bed, reading and laughing, and finally she and her father came to the same conclusion: the first five sentences were written by Tang Jie'er herself, and the large part at the end was dictated by Di's son-in-law, with Tang Jie'er writing it for her.
A child who can act like a spoiled brat at home is naturally one who has grown up with love. Chen Yuanyuan was sincerely happy for Shen Tang.
But no matter how happy I was, replying the letter became a problem.
His father was deeply influenced by Confucian teachings and always considered himself a "strict father"; and Chen Yuanyuan, as a stepmother in a false shell, had nothing to do with "kindness" in terms of her thoughts or appearance.
Xu Lingwan pinched her brows and exchanged glances with Shen Huaian, who had been called in temporarily to write the letter. The three of them stared at each other for a while before finally deciding to give the honorable task of replying to the letter to Shen Huaijie.
The youngest son of the eldest son is recognized by everyone in the house as someone who knows how to act coquettishly and be well behaved.
Ever since Shen Huaijin was appointed as the editor of the Hanlin Academy, he would teach Shen Huaiyin to read at home after work every day, and the three children started playing together.
As soon as Chen Huaijie finished school, he went back to the second house with Huaian. At first, he went to his fourth brother's courtyard. Later, because the food in the small kitchen of Yanxiju was delicious, he did not go back even at dinner time. He stayed in Yanxiju to play with Huaian and Huaiyin until Lu's personal nanny came to pick them up.
Chen Huaijie was naturally optimistic, open-minded and broad-minded. Seeing that Huai'an and Huaiyin had become more mature and their behavior was not as cautious as before, Chen Yuanyuan liked and loved this little lucky doll more and more.
"Look, northern Shanxi is here, we are here." After Commander Shen Huaijie finished writing the reply, Xu Lingwan took out the map from Shen Cong's study and looked at the location of Fenliang with the three little fools.
She had originally thought that Northern Shanxi was the same as the one on her modern map, but then she looked left and right at the territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Well, the map was not entirely different. Apart from the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, she was completely blind to other places.
"Further north from northern Shanxi, here is Ningshuo where my eldest brother and sister-in-law are now; from northern Shanxi to the southwest and south, here is Guzhou Prefecture, the residence of my uncle from the Lu family." Shen Huaijie bit into a peach, but unfortunately his front teeth fell out during the tooth replacement period, leaving an embarrassing tooth mark.
"Then where is this?" Chen Yuanyuan pointed to a place outside Guzhou.
The little fat boy sniffed and said, "Western Regions. My aunt said that most of the place is desert, with little water and rain."
Chen Yuanyuan said "Oh", it seems that Guzhou Protectorate is probably in the Hexi Corridor area; Ningshuo is probably somewhere at the junction of Mongolia, Ningxia and Shanxi provinces.
Chen Huaijie knew maps like the back of his hand. Chen Yuanyuan asked him detailed questions based on the map in her mind, and soon she had a rough idea of the territory of the Zhou Dynasty.
This was the scene Shen Huaijin saw the moment he entered: four heads huddled together, chattering and pointing at a certain place on the map.
Huai Jie was the first to notice Shen Huaijin coming in. His eyes lit up and he cheered, "Fourth brother, come quickly. Second Aunt just said that she read in a travelogue of someone from the Western Regions that the royal family and nobles of Kucha were born with their heads clamped front and back with door panels, as a sign of respect and beauty."
"Fourth brother, please tell me, right?"
In the eyes of these three children, Shen Huaijin is a walking encyclopedia.
Chen Yuanyuan didn't expect that Shen Huaijie had such a strong desire for knowledge, and she even asked for help from this learned scholar, which made her feel a little embarrassed for a moment.
The customs of the Kingdom of Kucha were also introduced to her by the tour guide when she traveled to Xinjiang. Who knows if there are such records in the Zhou Dynasty?
Shen Huaijin looked at Ling Wan's expression and curled his lips almost imperceptibly: "There is indeed a record of it in the history books of the previous dynasty. Although there are only a few words, it is true."
"Wow." Three little heads immediately looked at Xu Lingwan in admiration.
Ling Wan secretly breathed a sigh of relief and cleared her throat, "Alright, alright, your fourth brother is here to check your homework. Take your homework for today and hurry to Zhuoying Courtyard."
"Second aunt, don't forget Miersu." As soon as she walked out the door, Chen Huaijie came back running, holding Ling Wan's hand and pleading coquettishly.
Ling Wan pinched his face and waved her hand casually: "I understand, I won't forget."
It's strange, because among the three children, Shen Huaijie is always the one who is scolded the most by Shen Huaijin.
But no matter how Shen Huaijin scolded him, Shen Huaijie just loved to stick to his fourth brother. Whenever he tasted something delicious in Yanxiju, he would ask Ling Wan to let Shen Huaijin taste it when they went to Zhuoyingyuan for the academic examination.
Chen Huaijie said to Ling Wan in a serious tone, "Fourth brother is the easiest to eat, so if the three of us don't learn well, we will always be considerate of Second Aunt's food and won't dare to scold him too much."
With such a clever and smart guy, no wonder everyone in Yanxiju had a smile in their eyes when they saw him just a few days after he came to Yanxiju.
"Mrs. Zhao is quite sensible. Now the Seventh Young Master and his wife have become much closer." Mother Yu looked at the three small figures from the side, a trace of disdain in her eyes.
Ling Wan tilted her head and looked at the account book without responding.
Ever since Mrs. Ding committed suicide and Aunt Qiu was sent to the farm, Mrs. Zhao's attitude towards the young mistress became more fearful than respectful.
At first, seeing how much the mistress doted on her only son, she felt that the mistress wanted to snatch her son away, so she talked to Huaian in private. For a long time, Shen Huaian looked at Ling Wan with fear and caution.
When Mother Chen mentioned this, her expression was indifferent and she said nothing. However, from the next day on, she asked Huai'an to go to Zhao's place every day.
If Zhao wanted to raise Huai'an by her side, then so be it. She had loved the child so sincerely in the past, but in return, she only received a few words of mother-son love.
Chen Yuanyuan felt ridiculous. She didn't care what Zhao thought of her, but Shen Huaian's distance really hurt her.
"Second aunt, don't be sad. Seventh brother is young and doesn't understand things yet. He will understand when he grows older." As usual, they took a walk to digest their food and chatted at night. Chen Huaiyin held Ling Wan's hand and comforted her in a low voice.
How could this nine-year-old child have such a smart mind?
Ling Wan patted Shen Huaiyin's head with pity: "Good boy, thank you for comforting Second Aunt. Second Aunt is kind to your seventh brother, not because she wants him to alienate his biological mother and only have eyes for me, his legal mother."
"It's human nature that a mother and son are of one mind." It's just ridiculous that she seemed to be the evil person who alienated the mother and son.
Faced with the mistress's pretense of magnanimity, Zhao initially thought that the young mistress was worried about her own childlessness and was using a conciliatory policy to win over Shen Huaian.
But as the mistress sent Huai'an to her every day without fail, and she learned from Mother Chen that the mistress planned to let Huai'an move out of Zhuoqing Courtyard and choose a courtyard for Huai'an to live in near Fangfei Pavilion, she realized how stupid her previous actions were.
"Your Highness must understand the difference between raising the Seventh Young Master by Madam's side and raising him in your own room." Mother Chen looked at the young master seeking her advice, a sneer in her eyes. "But your Highness is not sober-minded. For your own selfish reasons, you have ruined the Seventh Young Master's bright future!"
Xu was the legitimate wife and she was the concubine. If the mistress really wanted to alienate them, she could have taken Huai'an away with any excuse. But if she didn't want to raise Huai'an as her own, why would Xu cherish Huai'an so much?
Madam Chen was so angry at this foolish scheme that she laughed. "I, this old servant, have the audacity to ask you: If you follow your idea, then what is Madam's purpose in raising the fifth wife's illegitimate son in the second wife?"
Indeed. Shen Huaiyin, from the Fifth House, was disliked by everyone in the mansion because of his unholy background. What was Xu's motive in keeping such a loathed hot potato in the Second House?
"My aunt comes from a merchant family and is used to calculating everything. She always considers the pros and cons." Mother Chen glanced at Shen Huaian who was sleeping soundly in the room and curled her lips. "But the Second Madam is different. I think the Second Madam is noble and open-minded. She has a pure heart towards people and things."
"Auntie, you should be happy to have met such a kind mistress."
Aunt Zhao pondered the situation for the entire night. Afterward, she deliberately sent Shen Huaian back to Yanxi Residence. She was even afraid of upsetting Ling Wan, so she never took the initiative to see Shen Huaian again.
"Mother, does my aunt want me anymore?" Shen Huaian's eyes turned red with tears because of her biological mother's estrangement. She lay in Ling Wan's arms, her little shoulders twitching.
"There's no mother in this world who doesn't want her own child. Don't talk nonsense." Ling Wan lowered her eyes, stroking Huai'an's back, and said, "She might be worried about something."
"As a son, you should be considerate of your parents. Go and ask them carefully. There must not be any rift between mother and son."
At that time, Yu's mother kept shaking her head and said that she was too soft-hearted. Chen Yuanyuan just felt that there was no need to involve children in the affairs of adults.
And in the final analysis, Chen Cong is the cause of all the problems.
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