Mu Houchu smiled: "That’s fascinating, seems like I’ll be able to wear clothes made by my own daughter in a few days."
Thinking about Ah Guai’s craftsmanship, Xin He couldn’t help but laugh out loud: "Achieving it might be hard, with her current skills, she’s barely capable of embroidering two ducks."
Just yesterday, Ah Guai enthusiastically showed her a handkerchief she embroidered, showing off her embroidery skills like she was flaunting a merit. Xin He didn’t have the heart to discourage her, so she complimented with a smile, "This duck is not bad."
Who would know that this little girl’s face would crumple instantly as she stared at her with watery eyes and said, "These are mandarin ducks!"
Thinking about it made Xin He laugh. This girl is already eight years old, yet she still behaves like a child, as if she hasn’t grown up at all.
"Why did you come back so early today? Aren’t there important things to do?" Xin He poured a cup of tea for Mu Houchu and asked casually.
Mu Houchu looked somewhat solemn: "Sort of."
Xin He blinked, his words hinted that there might be some other implications: "What do you mean? Are there any movements from the imperial court?"
Ever since Yu State officially split from the imperial court two years ago, under Mu Houchu’s governance, the state has grown more prosperous, with hardly any upheavals, and everything was as before.
However, there were occasional minor movements at the imperial court, but Mu Houchu didn’t pay much attention to them. But the constant jumping around was irritating, wasn’t it?
The Da Qian nowadays has long lost its former glory and decay seems almost irreversible. Xin He knew in her heart that the Emperor was bound to lose, to lose everything.
Mu Houchu said: "A few days ago, several vassal kings rebelled, causing turmoil in Da Qian again. With the emperor nursing his headache, where would he have the energy to bother me?"
Xin He wasn’t surprised. Having Mu Houchu as a predecessor stirred the ambition of those vassal kings. Especially with Da Qian’s vast lands and resources, the territories under the kings are quite vast. Without mentioning anyone else, just Yu State alone, it includes twenty to thirty cities. Also, Mu Houchu had conquered twenty towns from the border city of Lian City to Yu State in the past, so it’s not a small area.
Xin He mused: "So another war is to be expected."
"Of course, it’s inevitable."
Xin He sighed faintly: "Whenever a war starts, the ordinary people are the ones who suffer the most."
Mu Houchu pressed his lips together and remained silent. Some things were beyond his control - the power struggles of the higher-ups always resulted in the doubled sacrifices of the people below them.
"What I’m most worried about right now is not these vassal kings causing trouble." Mu Houchu said solemnly.
"What?"
"With Da Qian’s constant internal strife, how do you know there are no foreign enemies eyeing this piece of fat meat? Once the foreign enemies seize the opportunity to invade, it’ll be other people who will benefit."
Hearing this gave Xin He a headache. She increasingly disliked thinking about these complicated court struggles. She directly asked: "So, what do you plan to do?"
"I obviously cannot sit by and ignore this vassal king rebellion. Even though it’s a dispute between them and the emperor, if it’s escalated to the point of providing an opportunity for outsiders to exploit, it could become troublesome."
Xin He gave a slight smile: "People have always said you’re cold and heartless, even the blood in your bones is cold. But, from what I see, my husband is the kindest person in the world. No matter what, you’re always reluctant to see the common people suffer."
"I am just reluctant to see the common people of Da Qian suffer." Mu Houchu pulled his lips into a smile. After all, these were once his Mu family people, if he doesn’t protect them, who will?
"There’s one more thing." Mu Houchu paused, then looked at Xin He, his gaze firm, as if it was urgent.
"Hmm?" Xin He was peeling grapes for Ning Ning and Chun ge. These two little ones were struggling to eat with few scattered teeth, but they were still waiting happily to be fed.
Mu Houchu said: "It seems that I have recently discovered some information about Li Nan."
Barely peeled the grape, Xin He paused before feeding it and turned her head to look at Mu Houchu: "You found out?"
Ever since Li Nan left, Xin He hadn’t seen him in the past two years. However, he would send a family letter at the end of every year to report his safety. Xin He couldn’t even find out where he was.
"It seems he had shown up in Xi Yan. But I didn’t investigate further. If he wants us to know, he will tell us himself. If he doesn’t want us to know, finding out wouldn’t do any good either." Mu Houchu said.
Xin He nodded slightly.
Mu Houchu seemed to notice the slight worry in her eyes and said somewhat annoyed: "Don’t worry, this kid has enough capability not to lead a poor life. He’s probably enjoying himself out there."
Mu Houchu was always accurate in judging people. Although his appraisal of Li Nan wasn’t very fond, he had reluctantly watched him grow up. With Li Nan’s wisdom and talent, it would be easy for him to establish a place wherever he was. Perhaps, he might even accomplish something significant.
Upon hearing Mu Houchu’s words, Xin He felt a lot more reassured. She was very aware of Li Nan’s capabilities as she had trained him. He had actually grown up a long time ago and now that he’s out there, let him see the world. Once he’s ready, he’ll naturally come back for a visit.
"Mommy, Mommy! Wah wah wah..." Ning Ning, with his crumpled little face, was about to cry. He stretched out his hand trying to reach for the grape at Xin He’s fingertips. However, Xin He was so engrossed in talking to Mu Houchu that she didn’t notice. Ning Ning was anxious and started whining.
Xin He was taken aback, then she came back to her senses. Just as she was about to feed Ning Ning a grape, Mu Houchu grabbed her hand and directly fed it to himself instead. Ning Ning’s face crumpled as he looked at Xin He with a wronged expression, tears welling up in his eyes. Mu Houchu, however, was tasting the sweet grape in his mouth nonchalantly and nodded, "Not bad."
Xin He was dumbfounded. This is your own son!
Annoyed, Xin He glared at Mu Houchu: "Get out of the way!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
After saying that, she hurriedly peeled another grape for Ning Ning. The moment the little boy got his grape, the tears that were about to fall immediately receded. He continued to munch happily with the few teeth he had, a satisfied smile on his face. It was as if he had never felt wronged just now.
Watching his clueless son, Mu Houchu quipped disdainfully: "What’s there for this kid to be happy about?"
Xin He rolled her eyes, almost flipping them to the sky. This is such a lovely son, what’s there for you as a father to resent? Would you rather he be like you, scaring people with a stone-cold face all day?!
Mu Houchu chuckled and said, "Now that I have children surrounding my knees, I guess I am enjoying the blessings of family life."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
