Wen Ye laughed for a long time, and seeing Xu Yuxuan's face full of grievance, she asked Jinju to bring a plate of sweet pickled plums.
The plums were pitted. Wen Ye handed one to Xu Yuxuan and said, "Eat it."
I hope this short-lived happiness can numb his temporary sadness.
Wen Ye asked Yunzhi to put away the pile of books that Wen Ran had taken out.
It’s better not to stimulate the child so much.
When Xu Yuxuan saw that all the books were taken away, he thought it had nothing to do with him anymore. He slumped his shoulders as if no one noticed and started eating the plums in his hand as if no one was around.
Aunt Chang saw this scene and couldn't help but say to Wen Ye, "Xuan Ge'er looks really well behaved."
Wen Ye: "He is just a little brat who knows nothing."
Aunt Chang didn't think so. As the saying goes, one can tell a person's future from the age of three. Although Xu Yuxuan was not even three years old, many of the principles were applicable.
"Since he wants to be close to you, you must treat him sincerely." Aunt Chang urged carefully, "No matter what happens in the future, at least he treats you as his biological mother now."
Wen Ye did not comment.
Why did she feel that Xu Yuxuan treated her more as a playmate?
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Aunt Chang once again said earnestly: "When you have your own children in the future, it is inevitable that you will be partial, but you must not forget Xuan'er."
Wen Ye knew that Aunt Chang said these words not because of how deep her feelings for Xuan Ge'er were, but all for her to live a good life in the Duke's Mansion.
Parents who love their children will plan for them long-term.
Wen Ye understood everything, so she said, "Aunt, I'll remember it."
Aunt Chang did not intend to ask Wen Ye to treat her stepson as her own son. People are biased. Even if they are her own children, there will be differences in the length of their fingers.
But good days have to be managed. It doesn’t matter if there is no emotion, but at least you have to have a good attitude.
Hearing Wen Ye's response, Aunt Chang sighed happily, and then her eyes were fixed on Xu Yuxuan. She thought that now that she had met him, she could just estimate his clothing size and use the good material to make a spring dress.
It would be unacceptable for the news to spread that the young master of the Duke's Mansion was wearing clothes made by a concubine. Fortunately, there is Shen, who can send the clothes in her name when the time comes.
Aunt Chang never thought about what would happen if Shen Shi disagreed. In her heart, Shen Shi was the best mistress.
She didn't know what life was like for other concubines, she only knew that she had lived a good life for the past twenty years.
In Aunt Chang's heart, Shen's importance is much greater than that of Father Wen.
After listening to what her aunt and sister said, Wen Ran began to think deeply, and her eyes couldn't help but fall on Xu Yuxuan who was concentrating on eating plums.
If the fourth sister wanted to treat him as her own son, then she would also treat him as her own nephew.
Wen Ran thought that after each class, all the notes she had made would have to be kept well and could no longer be lent to Cheng Ge'er's little cousin.
Every time he returned a book, it would be torn and dirty.
Wen Ran didn't like Chengger's little cousin. Now that she had a nephew, she would leave those books to him.
After Xu Yuxuan finished eating two plums, he suddenly felt his shoulders heavy.
Wen Ran saw that he had finished eating, and considerately took out a handkerchief to help him wipe the remaining icing sugar on the palm of his hand.
Someone helped to wipe his hands, and Xu Yuxuan smiled at Wen Ran, with a row of neat and tidy little teeth.
Wen Ran's heart softened when she saw her little nephew smiling at her.
Sweets seem to be able to heal people, Wen Ye thought. Just looking at Xu Yuxuan, he looked as if he had forgotten about the pile of books.
After having lunch at the Wen Mansion, it was time to leave again.
Before leaving, Wen Ye touched Liu's belly and asked, "Is it going to come out in four more months?"
Liu said tenderly, "Yes, since the baby started to move, its legs have become much stronger."
Wen Ye calculated the time in his heart and said, "It's really fast."
Liu thought Wen Ye was jealous, and quickly said, "It's not that fast actually. I've been here for almost a year."
Counting the days, my sister-in-law has been married into the Duke's Mansion for three months.
Liu was afraid that Wen Ye would become worried and anxious because she had not had children for a long time. The matter of children was also a matter of fate, just like her mother, who took five years to have her second brother after giving birth to her eldest brother.
Wen Ye didn't know that Liu had misunderstood her. What she was thinking was that after Liu gave birth, she must not be absent from the third day bath, the full month, and the hundred days.
These are all opportunities to meet my aunt and younger sister.
On the way back to the Duke's Mansion, Wen Ye opened a box of storybooks given to him by his younger sister in front of Xu Yuejia.
This time, no one gave her a list of books, and the box contained mostly fantasy novels.
But she didn't just pick it randomly. Wen Ye picked up a book at random and flipped through a few pages. It was the type of book she liked.
Wen Ye sighed: "My sister is still very caring."
"Aunt?" This word suddenly came out of Xu Yuxuan's mouth.
Wen Ye was very surprised, "You're calling me 'Auntie' so soon?"
After he finished speaking, he thought of something, patted his head and said, "You are really smart. Next time, ask your aunt to leave more books for you."
Xu Yuxuan shook his head like a rattle to refuse.
"don't want!"
At Xu Yuxuan's age, how could he understand the true meaning of these "books"? He just subconsciously rejected them from the bottom of his heart.
Wen Ye felt that it was just like some natural enemies in the food chain in later biosphere studies.
She thought of something and looked up at Xu Yuejia again.
The son of the top scholar was opposed to studying, which really proved the saying that smoke cannot always come out of the ancestral tomb.
"You still like these?"
Seeing her looking at him, Xu Yuejia swept her eyes into the bookcase and caught a glimpse of a few familiar books, so she asked.
Wen Ye didn't like what he heard: "What do you mean, my dear?"
Xu Yuejia looked away: "I have read some of these books."
Wen Ye didn't quite believe it: "Really?"
She felt that he didn't look like someone who would read fantasy novels.
Xu Yuejia said, "It's on the bookshelf. I've annotated most of the books I've read. You can look through them anytime."
Why would one write annotations when reading strange stories? Wen Ye couldn't understand it. It reminded her of the "reflections after a spring outing" and "reflections after watching a movie" written in later generations.
But she still said, "Okay, my dear."
I could hear the perfunctory tone in her words.
Xu Yuejia: "......"
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, all the relatives of the Duke's Mansion gathered at the Duke's Mansion.
There was Aunt Xu's family from the Changnan Marquis Mansion, whom Wen Ye was familiar with, as well as a few elders whom he had only met briefly on the day of the tea ceremony, and many more were peers or younger people whom he had never met before.
After Wen Ye met the greetings one by one, he was left with only one feeling: there were so many heads.
There is no one left in Xu Yuxuan's maternal grandparents' home.
Xu Yuejia's grandfather had only two sons and two daughters, but he had quite a few illegitimate children, four of whom were living in Beijing.
Xu Yuejia's father and fourth uncle had both passed away, and the only close relatives left were Aunt Xu and Eldest Aunt.
The relationships between illegitimate uncles and aunts are sometimes close and sometimes distant, and Lu had told her this repeatedly before.
Although the elders of the Duke's Mansion have passed away for many years, these individuals have never been absent in any year, and they all want to maintain good relations with the Duke's Mansion.
Wen Ye was taken by Lu to meet the two concubines with whom she had a good relationship. As for the others, they would come over on their own initiative without Lu's introduction.
Lu said, "These are your fifth and seventh aunts."
Wen Ye bowed respectfully to them, and Aunt Yu said softly, "No need to be polite, we are all family."
Fifth Auntie Guo was more straightforward. She said, "Your Seventh Auntie is right. Family members don't need to be polite."
Wen Ye remembered that Lu had said that, apart from the legitimate fourth uncle, among the illegitimate children, the old duke had the best relationship with the fifth uncle, probably because they were both military commanders.
This fifth aunt was of humble family background. She was the daughter of a centurion whom my fifth uncle met at the border.
As for the gentle and easy-going Aunt Seven, she was one of Lu's close friends before she got married.
There's nothing you can do about it. This is how things are in this era. The age difference between brothers can range from seven or eight years to over twenty years.
The late Duke was twenty-one years older than his youngest brother.
Xu Yuejia's seventh uncle is only three years older than his eldest nephew, Duke Xu.
However, Yu was in poor health and the doctor said it was difficult for her to get pregnant. In all the years since she got married, she only had one daughter and she almost died from a heavy hemorrhage. Later, she chose a son from among her concubines whose concubine had already passed away and registered him under her name.
Guo had many children, six in total. Uncle Xu had no concubines, so all six children were born to Guo alone.
However, Uncle Xu's fifth uncle got married later, and his eldest child was only fourteen years old.
Wen Ye had just seen them all; they were all young boys and girls with clear eyes.
very nice.
No wonder, among these elders, apart from her two biological aunts, Lu was only on good terms with Yu and Guo.
After meeting the elders, there was still some time before lunch, so Wen Ye found a corner to hide and drink tea.
Although most of them are friendly, there are just too many of them.
Taozhi brought a plate of pastry from the kitchen and said, "Madam, please take a break. You just talked a lot."
Wen Ye took a bite of the pastry and said, "Fortunately, this only happens once a year."
After swallowing the pastry in his mouth and taking a sip of scented tea, Wen Ye narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Lu who was moving with ease in the distance but could not escape after all.
Suddenly, Wen Ye felt less tired.
It turns out that some happiness requires contrast.
Evening, West Courtyard.
The long excitement finally ended.
Wen Ye served the meal, and after eating, he and Xu Yuejia sighed: "Sister-in-law has worked so hard over the years."
Xu Yuejia took a sip of tea and said calmly: "You can choose to help share the burden."
After hearing this, Wen Ye straightened up and said, "Actually, I think my sister-in-law still has some strength left. I'm optimistic about her."
She is good at expressing her feelings.
Forget about helping in action.
However, most of the elders who came during the day were women. I don’t know if Wen Ye was overthinking it, but the men in the Duke’s Mansion didn’t seem to live very long.
She did some immoral calculations in her mind. The old Duke had passed away nearly ten years ago. If he were still alive today, he would be only a little over fifty.
Xu Yuejia's second uncle, fourth uncle and sixth uncle also died in their prime.
Of the uncles who are still alive, my seventh uncle is not in very good health, just like my seventh aunt. My third uncle is at home and his health is also average. Only my fifth uncle in Beijing and my eighth uncle who is an official in a remote area are still strong.
But both of them are still young.
Although this sudden thought was dangerous and extremely unkind, Wen Ye couldn't help but glance at Xu Yuejia.
And revealed a look of deep suspicion of worry.
Xu Yuejia was not surprised at all that Wen Ye would refuse.
But what does this sudden change in her expression mean?
Xu Yuejia understood the "worry" in it, but it seemed that it was not just that.
As for the deeper level, Xu Yuejia subconsciously and inexplicably didn't really want to know.
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