Family and national affairs
Early in the morning three days later.
Since Master Shen has been busy with official duties recently, and Lord Shen thinks that it is not a big deal for the child to leave home to study, the people standing at the side door to see Shen Huaijin off, except for Shen Huailin who was passing by because of something, the rest are Shen Tang with an embarrassed look on his face, and Xu Lingwan, who is holding Shen Huaian's left hand and Shen Huaiyin's right hand, with a warm smile on her face, as she is sending her husband and child off.
Seeing that the sisters and brothers of the second house were all there, Shen Huailin thought that they must have something to say to Huaijin, so he obediently led the horse over and waited outside the door.
Chen Yuanyuan:... She originally wanted to wave her hand casually, but isn't this a disguised way of asking her to make some speech of gratitude for the birth?
Xu Lingwan had no choice but to keep smiling and pushed the two little bean sprouts out first, asking them to say some caring words like "Fourth brother, take care of yourself" and "It's cold in the academy, fourth brother, please put on more clothes in time"; seeing that Chen Tang looked awkward, she called her up again and signaled the ice-snow girl to hand over the calming and sleeping-inducing sachet she had prepared.
After all this work, Chen Yuanyuan's speech for giving birth to a child was almost finished.
Her eyebrows curved, and she smiled deeply. Looking at Shen Huaijin's slightly surprised but calm expression, she said with a smile: "If you can concentrate on studying, then study. If you can't, then eat more and take care of your body."
Shen Huaijin:······
Outside the door, Shen Huailin didn't wait for a while, and saw his cousin's puzzled eyes at first, and then the corners of his lips slightly curved, not only a little gossipy and curious.
"What did your second aunt say to you that made you look so happy?" Shen Huailin and Shen Huaijin were not much different in age and had played together since childhood, so they were not as cautious in their words as with others.
"I wasn't happy. He just told me to take care of myself." Shen Huaijin restrained his expression and spoke in a flat tone.
Shen Huailin raised his sword-like eyebrows and said "tsk".
His fourth cousin has been mature and steady since childhood, and his personality is very much like his second uncle. If he was not extremely happy, he would not have shown such an expression.
He just thought that Shen Huaijin was satisfied with his stepmother's obvious flattery, so he smiled and said no more. He turned to talk to Shen Huaijin about the situation in the court and the military.
"What do you think about my father being transferred back to Beijing to serve as the Minister of War after the new year?" Shen Huailin abandoned his horse and took a carriage, wanting to take advantage of this rare opportunity to travel together and let his cousin analyze his worries.
He would be going to the northwest soon. His father meant that after he returned to Beijing, his elder brother would be alone in the Changping army and it would be difficult for him to support the army, so the two brothers would look after each other.
Shen Huaijin held a scroll in his hand and glanced at him: "The Shen family has a family motto that young men who have not yet entered officialdom are not allowed to discuss state affairs."
"This is not a national affair, it's clearly a family affair." Shen Huailin snatched the book from his hand.
Seeing his cousin's eyebrows slightly frowned, he immediately stepped forward with a smile and begged for mercy, "Good fourth brother, you know I have always been stupid. If I don't know the reason, what if I cause trouble for my elder brother in the Changping army?"
Shen Huailin's unruly personality could indeed cause trouble for his eldest cousin. This time, Shen Huaijin's brows furrowed completely: "Then you should listen to your eldest brother and control your temper."
"I will definitely listen to what big brother says, but if there are some rogues in the army, I will not be a pushover!" Shen Huailin snorted coldly, with a cold look in his eyes.
Prince Zhao's mother's surname was Pei. That old, treacherous man had long disagreed with his father and brother on political matters. Five years ago, he even escalated his personal politics into military affairs. In the battle with the Northern Rong, if the old Duke hadn't personally led his troops to support him, his father, brother, and 50,000 vanguard troops would have perished in Yunling.
"Third brother!" Shen Huaijin frowned, "Uncle asked you to come over so that you can be the eldest brother's right-hand man!" He didn't want you to cause trouble.
Shen Huailin folded his arms and said, "Do I want to let others ride on my head? I don't have that kind of patience."
Shen Huaijin stared at him fiercely.
But his third brother was thick-skinned and had a bad temper. When the two looked at each other, Shen Huaijin was the first to give in. He rubbed his brows and said helplessly: "Forget it. I'll just tell you what I'm talking about."
"But this is just my inference based on the changes in the court. Father never talks to me about these things now. So when you arrive in the army, you must discuss everything with your elder brother and be flexible and adaptable."
Shen Huailin hurriedly said yes, yes, and urged him to talk about the current changes in the court and the army.
Outside the car, there was a bustling crowd of people, while inside the car, the atmosphere was solemn and the voices were low.
By the time the carriage reached the pavilion dozens of miles away, the interior was completely silent. Two cups of cold tea were swaying slowly on the rims of the cups, one wave after another.
"It is said that the Shen family in Wuxing is full of elegant people who have passed down the elegant ways. I don't think so. It seems that every member of our Shen family is a gambler who is addicted to gambling." After hearing what Shen Huaijin said, Shen Huailin was horrified, but a cluster of fire unique to the Shen family, which was both crazy and rational, flickered in his eyes.
Shen Huaijin closed his eyes and refused to admit it. But the subtle sarcasm at the corner of his lips also revealed his characteristics as a member of the Shen family.
"In that case, then I have an idea." Shen Huailin lifted the curtain and glanced out the window.
Outside the car window, the autumn air was crisp and clear, with a few white clouds hanging in the sky and a flock of wild geese seemingly returning from the north.
"I wanted to give you a laurel this Mid-Autumn Festival, and I wish you success next year." Shen Huailin got off the carriage and mounted his horse swiftly, "but I think the time and season are not right."
"Fourth brother, today is not the day we say goodbye. When you pass the imperial examination next year, I will pick a branch of spring from the northwest to congratulate you!"
After saying this, he whistled loudly twice at Shen Huaijin in the car, then spurred his horse forward, and he and the servant quickly disappeared into the vastness of heaven and earth.
Shen Huaijin watched the unruly figure go away. After a long moment, he lowered the carriage curtain and said to the two servants driving the carriage, "Let's go back to the academy."
Here at the Shen Mansion.
After Shen Huaijin left, Shen Huaian kept regretting that he had spoken poorly in front of his fourth brother.
He had complicated feelings towards his biological brother. He respected him more than he loved him. He always regarded him as a role model, but he also knew that no matter how hard he worked, he could never compare to him.
When Shen Huaiyin was in the second house, Yao Shi did not allow him to learn to read. After he came to the second house, Xu Lingwan was shocked to see that he could not read a single word and personally taught him.
He concentrated on practicing the homework Ling Wan gave him every day. He pretended not to notice when Shen Huaian stamped his feet in frustration several times. That was until his seventh brother came forward, his round eyes wide, demanding an answer from him: "Sixth brother, do you think Fourth brother would think I'm stupid?"
His sudden rush made Shen Huaiyin's pen pause, and the ink seeped out where he paused.
I have to rewrite it all. Shen Huaiyin put down his pen and sighed.
The little girl's adult-like expression made the two mothers who were doing needlework nearby smile at each other.
"Fourth brother has always been kind and caring towards his younger siblings, he wouldn't think so." Shen Huaiyin took another piece of rice paper and blew on it.
When the fourth brother came back this time, he saw that the sixth brother was still learning to copy the red characters, so he personally taught them to read for more than ten days.
In the past, he had looked upon Shen Huaijin as a distant and unattainable figure, but this time, after actually spending time with him, he felt that he was not as unapproachable as his fourth brother intended to appear. Shen Huai'an couldn't help but purse his lips and let out a small smile.
After a while, as if remembering something, a pair of round eyes leaned over again, but this time they were puzzled: "Sixth brother, Fourth brother has always been kind and tolerant to servants. What did Sister Caizhu do to offend Fourth brother?"
Three days ago, he and his sixth brother, Chen Huaiyin, went to pay their respects to their stepmother's courtyard as usual. Because they wanted to pick a branch of golden osmanthus with hanging dew as a gift to her, they had taken a detour that morning to the osmanthus garden, a side courtyard beside Yan Xiju.
As luck would have it, as soon as I entered, I ran into my stepmother's personal maid, Sister Zhu Chi, who was leading a few maids and wives towards this side.
Sister Zhu Chi obviously didn't expect that there would be someone in the garden at this time, but she quickly came over and greeted them with a normal expression.
"What happened to her?" Seeing the tied-up maid among a group of maids and old women looking at him with sad eyes, Shen Huaian pursed his lips and asked tentatively.
Even though his mother, Chen, had told him not to ask or talk too much about matters concerning his stepmother's courtyard, this maid had always addressed them affectionately as "Sixth Young Master" and "Seventh Young Master" and had even served him his favorite lotus-flavored cheese several times. He recognized her.
"To answer the Seventh Young Master, it was this maidservant who was rude and offended the Fourth Young Master. Madam is kind-hearted and only sent her to the manor." Sister Zhu Chi smiled at him very faintly and answered with her hands hanging down.
Before he could figure out why his stepmother's maid had offended his fourth brother, his sixth brother had already pulled him aside and said, "Since that's the case, let's not delay Sister Zhu Chi's business. Second Aunt is still waiting for us to pay our respects."
After saying that, she pulled him and walked out of the garden quickly.
He still didn't understand. It was Chen Ma, his personal attendant, who panicked first. She put down her half-finished kneepad and asked anxiously, "Seventh Young Master, I want to ask you, have you told anyone about this?"
Shen Huaian looked at her expression as if she was facing a great enemy, puzzled, but shook his head solemnly.
Mother Chen breathed a sigh of relief, but hesitated to speak.
Shen Huaiyin sighed again, "Have you told Aunt Zhao about this?"
Shen Huaian paused, then lowered his eyes and shook his head again.
He didn't know when it started, but he had vaguely understood that he should pretend to ignore what was happening in his stepmother's courtyard, especially not tell his biological mother.
"That's good." Shen Huaiyin glanced at Mother Chen, who seemed to have been relieved of a heavy burden, and continued to concentrate on writing.
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