Chapter 187 A Long and Winding Journey, Yet the Ghost Remains
"You're back?"
Meng Shilan glanced at Dan Niang, who had returned with a flushed face, and gave her a teasing look.
Duan Feiyang spent quite some time with the mother and daughter in Beijing, and today he has taken up his post in Jianzhou.
Dan Niang touched her cheek. "Please don't laugh at me."
"In the past few days, matchmakers have been coming to our door one after another."
Meng Shilan raised an eyebrow and said, "They're either after money or power."
“They all think I’m easy to manipulate because they choose to come when I’m home alone.”
Dan Niang laughed, "I think Lord Zhou is very good. He is the child's biological father, and his appearance and official position are far superior to those wilted and rotten vegetables."
As she spoke, she mimicked her teasing manner and teased back.
"I think you two are destined to be together. After all these years, you've come full circle and it's still the same person."
Meng Shilan put down her brush and gathered the account books to one side.
"You're right about that."
"It goes around and around, but the ghost won't leave."
Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao appears.
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Congxian and Fu'er's voices came from outside.
"Is it true?" Fu'er's voice was clearly very happy.
"Of course, when has your father ever lied to you?"
"Then I'll go tell Mother!"
The next moment, a lively little boy rushed in.
Upon seeing her mother, Fu'er shrank back slightly. Last time in the carriage, her mother had said that her father no longer needed her.
But today her father came to the Imperial College to pick her up. He not only bought her candied hawthorns, but also said he would take her to fly kites.
Her father did not abandon her.
At such a young age, she suddenly realized...
People who don't want their fathers.
It's my mother.
"What's wrong?" Meng Shilan pulled her daughter closer.
The joy she felt in Ding County was gone from Fu'er's eyes.
Laugh when you want to laugh, cry when you want to cry.
She raised her hand and touched her daughter's face. "Didn't you say you were going to tell your mother? What is it?"
Fu'er pursed her lips. "If I tell you, will Mother be unhappy?"
Meng Shilan glanced at Zhou Congxian standing at the door.
She suddenly realized that Fu'er was no longer the carefree child she used to be.
What I heard, saw, and experienced in the capital.
It influences her at all times.
She is Fu'er's mother. If even her words cannot put Fu'er at ease, Fu'er will only grow up in fear.
Meng Shilan held her daughter in her arms, "No matter what you say, your mother will not be unhappy. As long as I am with Fu'er, I will be happy no matter what I do."
Fu'er looked up at her mother, her lips twitching slightly.
After hesitating for a while, she whispered, "Mother, Father said he'll take us to Dongshan Manor to fly kites."
When has Fu'er ever been so cautious?
"Okay! Let's go!"
Meng Shilan always wanted to give Fu'er the best, but she overlooked the fact that the child was growing up and what the best thing the child needed was, without asking.
A smile immediately bloomed on Fu'er's face, and then she turned around and winked at her father behind her.
Zhou Congxian responded with a smile.
Dongshan Village.
Fu'er was born here.
Meng Shilan never went there again after that.
Dongshan has beautiful scenery: flowers bloom all over the mountain in spring, it is cool and refreshing in summer, and it is full of fruit in autumn.
If she hadn't come back again, she would have almost forgotten about this place.
Fu'er and Xuan'er found it very novel.
The two kids are always the quickest to find something fun in a new place.
"Xuan'er, come and see this!"
Meng Shilan stood on the spacious flat ground paved with bluestone slabs.
Memories flooded back.
Zhou Congxian smiled and said, "I remember you were craving mulberries, and you went to the plum grove to eat them even though you were heavily pregnant."
The plum grove not far away remains unchanged.
But when she heard this, her expression froze for a moment.
She then said casually, "Really? I don't remember."
Zhou Congxian turned to look at her, "Fu'er must have been craving mulberries, that's why she rushed out."
"When the mulberries ripen, we'll come again. I heard from the village head that several more mulberry trees have grown in the grove, enough for you to eat!"
Fu'er was born prematurely, and even while giving birth, she didn't forget to travel so far to eat mulberries.
Meng Shilan's expression turned even uglier. Seeing that he insisted on bringing up the old matter, she gave a cold laugh.
"Do you know why Fu'er was born prematurely?"
Zhou Congxian naturally remembered, "You gave birth to Fu'er the very night you returned from the plum grove."
"The servants did not take good care of you, which caused you to give birth prematurely."
Meng Shilan gritted her teeth and glared at him, "Are you really not remembering, or are you pretending not to remember!"
Zhou Congxian couldn't recall many details.
But the fire surging in her eyes now was genuine.
I'm really angry...
"Just a little hint..."
His survival instinct told him that if he didn't answer well, he wouldn't be able to see her, let alone enter the gates of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
Meng Shilan grew angrier the more he thought about it, but he couldn't recall the injury that had almost cost her her life.
She flicked her sleeve and entered the manor.
The servants on the estate have come and gone, and many have changed.
Only the head of the farm and the cook still remember her.
The two had recovered from their shock.
No matter how curious they are, they can no longer explore their curiosity now.
Zhuangzi remained the same.
She used to live in the smallest and most remote side room, but now she and Fu'er have moved their belongings into the main room facing the sun.
Dan Niang led Xiao Pang Xi in, swaying as they walked in.
"Call me Mother, and make Mother happy."
Little Fatty babbled twice, then wobbled over to his mother's side.
She grinned silently at her mother.
A smile finally appeared on Meng Shilan's face.
She raised her hand and tapped his little face. "Why isn't this kid saying anything?"
When Fu'er was this age, she could already say some simple words.
They could express their needs for food, drink, and gifts using hand gestures.
But Little Fatty can understand what adults are saying now. When we set off today, he said he wanted to go out and play.
He pulled Dan Niang towards the door, but her little mouth remained closed, like a clam shell.
Dan Niang smiled and said, "Children speak at different times, there's no rush, they'll speak naturally when the time comes."
The cooks in the village are only so-so, but they are quite good at brewing wine.
Zhou Congxian specially ordered a chef from Dexinglou Restaurant.
Fu'er and Xuan'er made new friends: the village head's grandson and granddaughter.
After they finished eating, the two went out to play.
Below the village, there are some farmers, and the farmers have children.
A group of children, still not satisfied with playing hide-and-seek, ate only a few bites of food before running off again.
Meng Shilan took a sip of plum wine, the sweetness mixed with a hint of refreshing aroma sliding down her throat.
"This one tastes better, and it won't make you drunk."
The estate produces a limited amount of wine each year. After it is delivered to the manor, the masters divide it among themselves and give some away as gifts.
Sometimes, the amount allocated to her small courtyard is less than half a jar.
Zhou Congxian poured her another glass of mulberry wine. "You'll like this."
"The day you gave birth to Fu'er, you went to the plum grove to eat mulberries."
"The midwife said that the light was poor at night, and she could only see your mouth, which was completely black, and she was quite startled."
Meng Shilan, "..."
“You’re the culprit. If it weren’t for you, Fu’er wouldn’t have been born so early.”
She glanced at him lazily.
Zhou Congxian remembered something, "The servants were negligent. I was originally going to sell Mingyu, but you saved her."
Meng Shilan drank several cups, though she wasn't drunk yet.
But as the alcohol took effect and memories flooded back, she slammed her hand on the table and stood up.
"You are the culprit!"
"If you hadn't abandoned me in the plum grove, how could I have walked back here with my big belly on my own!"
"I...abandon it?"
Zhou Congxian felt his mind go completely blank.
When did he abandon her? He was the one who returned to the estate in the middle of the night and discovered her strange behavior, which is why he woke up everyone at the estate.
She sat back down. "Look, this is the true face of men."
Zhou Congxian, “…”
"Even when sentencing someone to death, officials of the Dali Temple must state the crime committed."
"I don't believe you're accusing me of a crime without any basis in fact."
Meng Shilan snorted, "That day, you clearly met me in the plum grove, so why didn't you take me back with you?"
"I dragged my heavy body and ended up walking back by myself."
"After I got back, my stomach started to hurt. I thought it was because I ate too many mulberries, so I didn't dare to say anything."
"I was in so much pain in the middle of the night that I almost fainted. That time, I thought I was going to die."
She became more and more aggrieved as she spoke.
Tears streamed down her face.
"I didn't want to come to Dongshan, but you insisted on making me go, which caused Fu'er to have a premature birth. I almost died."
"You're alright, now you don't remember anything at all."
"And you still blame me, saying I'm greedy and wandered off! But do you know that it was your mother who made me move around more!"
Seeing her crying more and more sadly, Zhou Congxian suddenly felt helpless.
"No...I...I'll send someone to fetch you..."
"No one answered! I waited until dark but no one answered, so I walked home by myself!"
Meng Shilan stood up abruptly in anger, wiping away her tears.
“Fu’er needs a father, that’s why I came with her, but I don’t need a husband now.”
She didn't look at him again, turned around and left.
Dan Niang, who was sitting at the same table, was holding Little Fatty and staring in disbelief.
Then she realized what was happening and said, "Lord Zhou, childbirth is like a woman walking through the gates of hell."
"She loves Fu'er very much, but her pregnancy and childbirth are unpleasant memories, so you can't blame her for always giving you a cold shoulder."
“Her bowing her head in the past was out of necessity, but that doesn’t mean she should have to endure it.”
Danniang left, carrying the well-fed little chubby boy.
He was left alone in the dining room, where a long silence fell.
Zhou Congxian's memories are filled with the joy of Fu'er's birth.
Even if it wasn't a son, he would still be happy.
The little child looked exactly like him.
This was his daughter, and only then did he experience the true feelings of a father.
She was drenched in sweat on the bed.
The way she looked at him and his daughter was clearly so tender.
But he only found out now.
Regarding this memory.
She was in so much pain.
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