Chapter 171 Uncle and Nephew Dispute
Wang Zhou accompanied Du Min out, and as they approached the entrance of the neighborhood, they encountered Meng's parents returning with servants carrying wine and dishes.
"Third Uncle, are you leaving at this time?" Mother Meng misunderstood. She frowned and said, "Why are you leaving at this time? I've bought all the food and wine, and we can eat soon. Why are you leaving? Don't go, come back with me."
Du Min smiled, and said, half-jokingly, "I was just worried about disturbing your family."
Mencius' mother looked confused. "What are you talking about? What do you mean by disturbing us? What do you mean by your family? Aren't you family with us too?"
Du Min was satisfied. "I was just kidding. Even if you chase me away, I won't leave. Wang Zhou and I are going out for a walk and will be back later."
"Oh, you're going to check on the dike, right? Go ahead," Meng's mother said, relieved. "Come back soon."
"Okay." Du Min was pleased.
Wang Zhou glanced at Du Min silently a few times.
“Let’s go.” Du Min put his arm around Wang Zhou’s shoulder and said, “Third Uncle hasn’t seen you in a long time and misses you quite a bit. Come back to Huaizhou with me tomorrow.”
"I haven't seen my mother in a long time," Wang Zhou said tactfully.
"You have no conscience." Du Min pinched his shoulder.
Wang Zhou scoffed, "It would be heartless of me to go with you."
“I’m giving you a task: keep whispering in your mother’s ear, and have your family move to Huaizhou as soon as possible,” Du Min said. “I’m already gone, so what’s there to miss about Heqing County? You agree, right?”
Wang Zhou lowered his head and chuckled, "Yes."
Du Min was not pleased by his answer; he sighed deeply.
"Third Uncle, what are you sighing about?" Wang Zhou asked inquiringly.
"Change means opportunity. I always thought I was someone who wasn't afraid of change, but now I'm afraid of it." Du Min said ambiguously. He felt apprehensive after learning that Meng Qing had been awarded a title. After that, he suddenly realized that his dependence on his second sister-in-law's family was abnormal, and that this feeling might be detrimental to him. However, he couldn't give it up, and he was unwilling to give it up.
"Are you worried that my mother won't go to Huaizhou?" Wangzhou asked. "No, didn't she say she'd rest for a while before going?"
“Your mother is going to build a county-level residence in Luoyang. She’s planning to settle down. She used to say she would come with me to take up my post in various places,” Du Min complained.
Wang Zhou paused, his heart suddenly in turmoil. Wasn't this a good thing? He was happy for his mother.
"If you were granted a title and rank, wouldn't you want to build your own mansion?" Wang Zhou countered.
Du Min paused, then turned to look at Wang Zhou.
"See, you can do it too." Wang Zhou was not afraid of him. "Third Uncle, I misunderstood you. You are really selfish."
“I’ve always been this kind of person,” Du Minlai said angrily. “What? Have I disappointed you?”
Wang Zhou glared at him, "You're shameless."
“Yes, I’m shameless.” Du Min released his arm from his shoulder and stood with his arms crossed.
Wang Zhou glanced at him a few times, then fell silent.
Du Min remained silent.
The uncle and nephew stood facing each other for a while before Wang Zhou spoke first: "Your thinking is wrong. I don't even expect my mother to accompany me to various prefectures and counties for the rest of her life. She can come with me, or she can stay in one place and settle down."
"Alright, stop lecturing me, I'm not listening to your lectures." Du Min waved his hand.
Wang Zhou was so angry that his chest heaved, and he turned to leave.
Du Min glanced at it for a few seconds, then chased after Wang Zhou and grabbed him. "Alright, alright, you're just worrying unnecessarily. Do you think I can control your mother? I'm the one who listens to her, not the other way around."
Wang Zhou remained silent.
"If you keep doing this, I won't talk to you anymore." Du Min said irritably. "Don't be so biased. I was just saying it, I didn't do anything. You're too biased towards your mother."
"You're not biased? Are you biased towards my mother or me?" Wang Zhou retorted.
Du Min was speechless. He stretched out a hand and said, "Forget it, let's shake hands and make peace. Why should I hold a grudge against you?"
Wang Zhou slapped his hand, saying, "You really don't act like an elder."
"Be content. I'm already a good elder in front of you. Don't ask too much of me." Du Min put his arm around him and continued walking. "I have more than just you and Wangchuan as nephews. I've almost forgotten what the other one's name is."
Wangzhou: ...
He still remembers everything.
After the argument, Du Min's frustration disappeared without him noticing. After walking around and returning, he felt much calmer.
Wang Zhou was filled with mixed feelings, and he sat sullenly at the table all night.
After the banquet, Du Li helped Meng Qing back to her room to rest. Upon entering, he saw Wang Chuan sleeping on the bed. He shushed Meng Qing, picked up Wang Chuan, and went out.
Wang Zhou was washing his face when he heard a knock on the door. He thought it was a servant bringing water and said, "Come in."
Du Li pushed the door open and came in. "Wang Chuan will sleep with you tonight, so that he won't wake up in the middle of the night and see your mother in bed, and then start crying and disturb her sleep."
“Okay,” Wang Zhou agreed. “Father, I want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you.”
Du Li was reluctant, "Right now?"
"Yes." Wang Zhou nodded.
"It's getting late, let's talk about it tomorrow." Du Li was in a hurry to go back to the house. "Your mother is drunk, I need to help her wash up and go to bed."
"I'll go to your room to talk."
"...Go ahead and tell me," Du Li resigned herself to her fate. "What's keeping you up at night?"
“I found my third uncle to be too selfish. He was unhappy that my mother went to Luoyang to establish a government office and wanted my mother to take our whole family with him to take up positions in various places,” Wang Zhou said.
If this were at another time, Du Li could have talked with Wang Zhou about this topic all night long. This brat has finally seen through Du Laosan's true colors.
“He has his own selfish motives, and so do your mother and me. Don’t meddle in adult matters, and you don’t need to. He’s your third uncle; he treats you well and cares for you, so you should respect him,” Du Li reminded her. “I don’t know if you remember what happened in Chang’an. I spoke ill of your third uncle in front of you, and you were unhappy. Your mother warned me that the affairs of the previous generation shouldn’t involve the next. That’s still true today. The affairs of the previous generation shouldn’t involve the next, and the next shouldn’t interfere in the grudges of the previous generation. Whether he’s selfish or malicious, your mother didn’t ask you to settle her case.”
Wang Zhou remained silent.
"Young Master Du, since no one's going to beat the drum and plead for justice, go to bed early. There's no need for court." Du Li joked, "I'm leaving now."
Wang Zhou blushed. Why did he seem like he was meddling in other people's business?
Du Li stood outside the door for a while, and seeing that Wang Zhou did not come out, he quickly went back into the house.
"Why did you take so long?" Meng Qing was already in bed. "Come here, come here, I missed you so much."
Du Li was excited, but he undressed slowly and deliberately. He walked to the side of the bed and asked, "Your Highness, do you still think highly of this humble subject?"
"Let's see how you perform tonight." Meng Qing winked at him. "Serve you well."
Du Li smiled, moved to the bedside and blew out the candle. The next moment, his clothes fell to the ground.
The house only quieted down when the rooster crowed.
*
The next day.
As usual, Du Li woke up at dawn. Meng Qing was still asleep, so he didn't disturb her. He quietly got up, grabbed his clothes, and went out to put them on.
Wang Zhou was also woken up by Wang Chuan. He took a book and leaned against the bed to read, letting Wang Chuan crawl around on the inside of the bed.
Du Li pushed the door open and asked, "Wang Chuan didn't wet the bed, did he?"
“No.” Wang Zhou put down his book. “Quickly take him away, he’s turning my bed into a pigsty.”
Du Li smiled and said, "You should get up too. Your third uncle is leaving today. Go see him off."
Wang Zhou let out an "Oh".
"Have you figured out what happened last night?" Du Li was still thinking about it.
“I can accept it, but I can’t agree with it. What happened yesterday was between me and my third uncle, so it’s not entirely a feud between your previous generation,” Wang Zhou said earnestly.
Du Li pulled Wang Chuan over to help him put on his clothes and asked, "So what do you plan to do?"
Wang Zhou shook his head. “There’s nothing I can do. You’re wrong about something you said. He’s my third uncle. He’s good to me and cares about me, so I’ll reciprocate with sincerity and be a good nephew. But whether I should respect him or not is a bit hard to say. I can’t respect him just because he’s an elder.”
Du Li thought for a moment, "What you said makes sense. I will convey your meaning to him, okay?"
"Alright then," Wang Zhou nodded.
But Du Min didn't need his nephew to respect him at all; if the price of respect was pretense, he didn't need it.
"Tell Wangzhou for me that I can accept his true nature, both the good and the bad, and he has to accept me as I am," Du Min replied. "Second brother, you should go and persuade Wangzhou. You know, once I start pretending in front of him, we become estranged."
“He’s only eight years old, how would he understand these things? In his eyes, you, his third uncle, are perfect in every way. I get scolded even if I say bad things about you in front of him,” Du Li said indignantly. “You should have some self-discipline and act like an elder.”
Du Min smiled and waved his hand, "No, no, I'm not the elder he imagines. Let him realize this early on, so that he won't part ways with me when he grows up."
Du Li cursed him inwardly as a scoundrel. He was right. At the wrong time, Du Min would scoff at sincerity offered to him.
He deserves it; Du Min tramples on other people's sincerity and will never get the sincerity he longs for.
"Are you cursing me in your heart?" Du Min asked.
"Yes, you don't care, do you?" Du Li asked. "When Wang Zhou grows up, if he doesn't respect you or obey you, your relationship will probably be similar to ours, and you'll get scolded quite a bit."
Du Min choked on his words.
“He’s not exactly an upright person either. We’ve been plotting all sorts of things together without hiding anything from him, and he hasn’t said anything disrespectful. He just has high standards for family relationships, so don’t talk about us in front of him.” Du Li has only one requirement: don’t let the relationships between the older generation affect the younger generation’s views of their elders. “To put it more seriously, it will affect the relationships between the next generation.”
"Alright then," Du Min relented. "Does Wang Zhou know your opinion of him? Isn't he upright enough?"
"I was just kidding you, and you actually believed me?" Du Li said dismissively. "Let's go eat, and then we'll leave as soon as we've eaten."
Du Min couldn't stand him anymore.
"Brother-in-law, Brother Du, dinner's ready," Meng Chunlai called out.
"I'm so angry I'm full." Du Min took a deep breath.
Du Li gave him a push, "Let's go."
The two brothers took their seats, and everyone was already present. Du Min glanced at Zhou a few times and suddenly felt the pressure of being a father.
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