Wen Ye couldn't hear the conversation between the father and son.
After looking at it for a few seconds, she curled up on the couch and continued to drink tea and read storybooks.
However, Xu Yuejia came back after only turning two pages of the story.
Wen Ye heard the noise and subconsciously looked up. Seeing that he was alone, she looked behind him and asked, "Where's Xuan'er?"
Xu Yuejia sat down next to the stove again, picked up the tongs and fiddled with the charcoal fire, saying, "I'm going back to do my homework."
Wen Ye heard this and asked in disbelief: "Are you talking about Xuan'er?"
Xu Yuejia raised her eyes, her expression indifferent: "What else?"
Wen Ye pondered for a moment, then asked, "You didn't force him?"
Xu Yuejia: "He took the initiative."
Wen Ye raised her eyebrows slightly and said nothing more.
Xu Yuxuan, who had 'taken the initiative' to go back to do his homework, came to the main courtyard with a small pile of homework assignments in his arms, feeling aggrieved.
Mrs. Lu was busy and was stunned for a moment when she saw the two boys.
Xu Jinglin held a small snowman in his hand and said, "Mother, I brought Xuan'er to your place to copy the calligraphy."
"Aunt~" Xu Yuxuan cried.
Lu immediately said distressedly: "What happened?"
She got off the kang, held Xu Yuxuan in her arms and asked, "Who bullied our Xuan'er?"
Xu Jinglin placed the little snowman on the table and replied before the others: "Second uncle said Xuan'er should do his homework."
Xu Yuxuan retorted: "No!"
Lu looked at the two brothers for a few times, and finally looked at Nanny Ji and said, "Nanny Ji, you tell me."
Nanny Ji took a half step forward and was about to open her mouth, but Xu Yuxuan spoke first: "Father didn't like the snowman I made for him!"
Upon hearing this, Lu waved Nanny Ji away and did not ask her to explain.
She lowered her head and asked gently, "Did Xuan'er misunderstand your father?"
From what she understood, her second brother was a person who never directly expressed his likes and dislikes, especially since Xuan'er was still so young.
Xu Yuxuan shook his head affirmatively: "No."
Lu thought for a moment and asked again, "Xuan'er, tell me, how did you make the snowman?"
Xu Yuxuan replied skillfully: "Roll a small snowball, then roll a big snowball, pile the small snowball on the big snowball, and then put a hat on the small snowball!"
He added movements while talking, jumping up and down without even taking a breath.
It sounded like there was no problem. Lu was about to ask more questions when Xu Jinglin beside her suddenly added: "That hat is made of pine branches, bright green."
Lu: “…”
No wonder my second brother is like this.
Xu Yuxuan was still looking at her eagerly at this moment.
"Your father... is right. You still need to do your homework." Lu looked down at him and said earnestly, "Reading makes people wise. Your father is doing this for your own good."
After she finished speaking, before Xu Yuxuan could respond, Lu looked up at her youngest son and said, "You too, stop playing in the snow and go get the homework assigned by the teacher. I will supervise you two brothers."
"Aunt?" Xu Yuxuan's round and tender face showed full of disbelief.
Xu Jinglin felt even more wronged. He just accompanied Xuandi to his mother's place, so he still had to do his homework.
However, no matter how the two boys acted cleverly, Mrs. Lu remained unmoved. Soon, a desk was added to the warm kang and placed opposite Mrs. Lu.
Xu Yuxuan and Xu Jinglin each occupied one side, and practiced calligraphy under Lu's nose.
At lunch time, when Wen Ye came to the main courtyard with a pot of stewed goose, he saw a pair of brothers who looked listless.
Wen Ye didn't think much about it, she just thought the two kids were tired from playing.
At the dinner table, Lu said, "My aunt sent me a letter saying that cousin Tingxuan is on his way to Beijing alone. She asked us to take good care of him."
Duke Xu asked suspiciously, "Why is he the only one here? Where are his aunts?"
Duke Xu knew about the promotion of Shen's cousin.
The previous case of the Nine Princes' Rebellion implicated some officials, leaving many positions vacant in the court. The emperor promoted some people from the local areas, and Shen's cousin happened to be among them.
Mrs. Lu explained simply: "My cousin is pregnant, and my aunt is worried that the bumpy road trip will be bad for him and the baby, so she decided to let my cousin go back to Beijing first, and she will stay in Lingcheng with him, and then slowly move to Shengjing after the baby is born."
It just so happened that the Yao family was reluctant to see their daughter leave so suddenly, and with Prefect Yao around, her aunt and cousins would not suffer any injustice.
Duke Xu expressed his understanding: "We can't be impatient."
Pregnant women and children are the most important at this moment.
"Yes, I plan to prepare some supplements and fabrics suitable for making clothes for the children and send them over in two days."
It will take at least one or two years from now until the baby is born and the time to move to Beijing.
I can’t go back to Beijing right after giving birth. That’s too dangerous. I have to wait until the child is at least six months old.
Speaking of children, Mrs. Lu glanced at the couple sitting opposite. Wen Ye lowered her head and ate her meal as if it had nothing to do with her. Xu Yuejia seemed not to have heard anything and picked up a goose leg for Wen Ye with a serving chopstick.
Xu Yuxuan, who was sitting in the middle, saw it and hurriedly pushed the small bowl in front of him with his little hand.
Then harvest a chicken drumstick.
The family of three seemed to be isolated in another world, and Lu's words had no effect on them at all.
Wen Ye noticed the gazes from the opposite side and raised his head and said, "I have also prepared a box. My sister-in-law will ask Qingxue and Baimei to come over and move it."
"......Okay." Lu was worried and had no appetite.
After dinner, Wen Ye and his family left. Duke Xu asked his youngest son to return to the East Courtyard, and then he went into the warm pavilion to ask Lady Lu: "Yao Xin, what happened to you today? I saw that you didn't even eat a few bites for lunch."
Lu glanced at him and suddenly sighed, "Today I talked about my cousins and their children, but my second brother and Ye Niang didn't react at all. What do you think is going on?"
Duke Xu didn't understand: "What reaction can they have?"
Lu rolled her eyes at him and said, "Have you forgotten? My second brother and Ye Niang have been married for a year."
Originally there was Xuan'er, and Lu was not the type to rush for a baby. It was just that she happened to receive a letter from Lingcheng yesterday and suddenly remembered this.
Duke Xu thought for a moment and replied, "Maybe it's because our destiny hasn't arrived yet?"
Mrs. Lu disagreed. She said, "Why don't you try to insinuate yourself?"
Duke Xu was unwilling to say, "Why should I go?"
To be honest, he has been a little afraid of his second brother lately.
Lu said, "Of course it's you. You two are brothers. Even if your bones are broken, your tendons are still connected. Just speak your mind. If I go, and if I really ask any questions, how will Ye Niang cope with it in the future?"
Duke Xu understood now, "You mean there's something wrong with my second brother?"
Lu didn't comment: "I just asked you to ask."
The couple was in a stalemate for a while, and finally Duke Xu gave in and said, "Okay, I'll go ask when I have time."
But Lu urged, "Go now."
Duke Xu: "......"
After hesitating for a long time, Duke Xu finally came to the study in the front yard.
Xu Yuejia glanced and asked, "Brother, what's the matter?"
Duke Xu came in and said, "Yes, there is one thing, ahem."
He covered his mouth to conceal it.
Xu Yuejia put down the ink pen and asked, "What's the matter?"
Duke Xu sat opposite Xu Yuejia and stared at him for a long while before saying, "How about I quietly find a doctor to take your pulse?"
Xu Yuejia paused: "What pulse?"
Duke Xu was a little embarrassed to say it out loud, and remained vague for a long time.
Seeing this, Xu Yuejia said, "Brother."
Duke Xu sighed and said, "You and my sister-in-law have been married for a year, why is there no good news? It doesn't mean that you have health problems, I am just asking."
Xu Yuejia: "......"
Half an hour later, Xu Yuejia returned to the west courtyard.
Wen Ye was playing cards with Taozhi and Yunzhi, and Xu Yuxuan was her helper as usual. However, she was lucky today, so two notes were stuck on Xu Yuxuan's face.
Seeing Xu Yuejia coming over, Wen Ye asked, "Do you want to play, my dear?"
Xu Yuejia glanced at the cards and looked at her: "I have something to tell you."
Wen Ye heard this, put down the cards in his hand, let Yunzhi and Taozhi go out first, and then said: "Go ahead."
Xu Yuejia didn't move, her eyes moved down an inch and fell on Xu Yuxuan beside her.
Wen Ye turned her head following his gaze and said, "Then let's go inside and talk?"
Xu Yuejia nodded: "Yes."
Xu Yuxuan raised his head and interrupted: "What about Xuan'er?"
Wen Ye took the plate of pastries from the table and said, "Eat it first."
Xu Yuxuan vaguely didn't want to, so he moved his eyes to meet Xu Yuejia's.
Just as she was about to open her mouth, she heard Xu Yuejia say, "Have you finished your homework?"
Xu Yuxuan immediately shut his mouth, lowered his eyes and ate the cake obediently.
Wen Ye and Xu Yuejia entered the west study room smoothly. She asked, "What is it, my dear?"
Xu Yuejia got straight to the point and said, "Just now my brother came to ask about my child."
With just this one sentence, Wen Ye understood everything. Things finally happened.
Wen Ye asked: "What did you say?"
Xu Yuejia answered simply: "I told him clearly that I didn't want it, and you just obeyed me."
Wen Ye frowned slightly: "Is it that simple?"
Xu Yuejia remained calm: "Yeah."
"And..." The unfinished words were interrupted by the sound outside.
Wen Ye let the people outside in.
Taozhi pushed the door open and walked in, saying, "Madam, the main courtyard invites you."
Wen Ye: "I understand. You can go out first."
After the study door was closed again, Xu Yuejia said, "Brother still can't keep secrets."
He looked at Wen Ye again, "If sister-in-law asks, just blame it all on me."
Wen Ye did not nod immediately. She glanced at Xu Yuxuan who was concentrating on eating snacks outside, then suddenly walked over and touched his head.
Xu Yuxuan looked confused and raised her head: "Mother?"
Wen Ye said seriously: "Hurry up and pass on some of my sister-in-law's likes to me."
When Xu Yuejia, who walked out later, heard this, she was suddenly speechless because of her previous worries.
Main courtyard.
As soon as Wen Ye entered the main hall, he noticed that Mrs. Lu didn't look well.
Her heart sank suddenly.
When Mrs. Lu saw her coming, she didn't say anything. She just asked the maids to leave first. After only the two sisters-in-law were in the hall, she said, "Sit closer."
She pointed to where she usually sat.
Wen Ye hesitated for a moment, but finally walked over and sat down, only a few palms away from Lu.
Lu stared at Wen Ye for a long time and asked, "Are you stupid?"
Wen Ye thought that there would be a series of accusations next, but when he heard this tone that seemed to be full of disappointment, he was stunned for a moment: "Huh?"
This was the first time that Mrs. Lu got so angry in front of Wen Ye: "My second brother said he didn't want a child, and you listened to him?"
Before Wen Ye could finish her words, she continued, "If he regrets it in the future, and you are not in good health... won't this give others an opportunity to take advantage of you?"
"Stupid." Lu said angrily, "You usually have all kinds of clever ideas, but why are you so stupid when it comes to this matter?"
"When a woman gets old, the only people she can rely on are her children." Lu didn't understand why Wen Ye would bother with such a thing. And as for her second brother, she never thought he would do such a thing.
She was so disappointed.
This was not what Wen Ye had expected. She spent a long time organizing her words before she managed to say, "Actually, Xuan Er is enough for my husband and I."
"I know your attitude towards Xuan'er." Mrs. Lu was moved, but she remained rational and said, "But he is not your biological child after all. Why don't you know how to leave a way out for yourself?"
Seeing Wen Ye's "silly look", Lu suddenly became anxious and angry. She blurted out: "You both don't want your own children. My second brother will have room for regrets in the future, but you won't have any at all."
Men can still take concubines and have children when they get old, but women are on a path from which there is no turning back.
Mrs. Lu hopes Wen Ye can be more sober.
What Wen Ye was concerned about was, "Why did sister-in-law say 'we'?"
Only then did Lu realize that she had let the cat out of the bag.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
