"Jiu'er! Yu'er!"
Jiang Ruoya shouted excitedly, her eyes immediately glistening with tears.
The eldest daughter returned, and for a moment, he couldn't pay attention to the younger daughter beside him.
Compared to her younger daughter, she felt more sorry for her older daughter, since her younger daughter had been loved by both parents since she was a child, but her older daughter had neither.
"Mother, I'm sorry, I'm late."
Jiang Jiuniang felt very sad. Seeing Jiang Ruoya's gentle smile, she felt even more indebted.
Sometimes it seems that she treats Sun Shi more like her own mother, but doesn't care much about Jiang Ruoya, even forgetting such an important matter.
Jiang Ruoya, however, only felt that she had let her down. Even though she was being ignored, she didn't blame her. Instead, she kept having Mingze send people to secretly watch over and protect her.
Thinking of this, Jiang Jiuniang felt even more distressed.
"It's alright. You have more important things to do, that's only natural. Besides, I'm fine, aren't I?"
Jiang Ruoya touched her face, smiling kindly. Looking at her travel-worn appearance, she said with heartache, "You and Yu'er have suffered so much from being away for so long."
The dog shook its head and said, "Grandma, I'm not suffering. I've learned so much from Mom!"
Jiang Jiuniang nodded in agreement: "Yes, we didn't suffer. The border area is much better than we imagined. The people are simple, kind, and easy to get along with. They also respect us a lot."
Jiang Ruoya smiled even more gently: "It must be because you did something good for the country and the people that they remember your kindness!"
"mother……"
Jiang Jiuniang sniffed, not wanting to say anything else, just wanting to hug her mother.
But Jiang Ruoya pushed her away, saying somewhat embarrassedly, "I haven't showered for over a month, I smell terrible, don't get too close to me."
She could have wiped herself down, but Mingze was worried she would catch a cold and wouldn't let her wash. She had a smell on her body that she herself disliked.
Jiang Jiuniang didn't care about any of that. The room smelled like a baby's milk, so how could it be smelly?
However, considering that he had just returned and was not clean, and that his mother was a new mother, he didn't want to carry any unclean things with him, so he didn't hug anyone else.
By this time, Mingze had already checked the child and found that she hadn't pooped; she had just woken up naturally. She wasn't crying or fussing and was very well-behaved, so Mingze brought her over for Jiang Jiuniang and Gou'er to see.
"It's a girl, isn't she cute?"
Mingze practically glued his eyes to the little guy, his smile radiating pride and happiness, making him appear much more kind and gentle.
"Yes, very cute."
Jiang Jiuniang didn't take her in her arms, but just reached out and touched her little hand.
The little guy, as if he were already quite sensible, grabbed one of Jiang Jiuniang's fingers and stared at her with wide, curious eyes.
"Look how smart our Luoluo is! She recognizes her older sister even at such a young age!"
Mingze laughed exaggeratedly. Although Jiang Jiuniang knew that the children nowadays wouldn't even recognize her, let alone know what she looked like, she didn't want to spoil Mingze's fun and teased him for a while.
"Grandpa, let me see my little sister!"
The dog was also very excited, his eyes shining. He tried his best to stand on tiptoe, but he was too short and couldn't see anything.
Mingze then noticed the dog and quickly bent down to show it to him.
Jiang Jiuniang smiled and corrected, "This isn't your little sister, this is your aunt."
Although they are young, they are of a high generation, so you can't just call them whatever you want.
The dog belatedly realized, "That's right, this is my mother's little sister, not my little sister."
"When will I be able to have my own little sister, Mother?"
He tilted his head back, asking the question with remarkable naturalness, his innocent big eyes fixed on Jiang Jiuniang.
Jiang Jiuniang: ...
She's really a widow; the first day she came back, she was pressured to have a baby, and the object of that pressure was her son.
Mingze and Jiang Ruoya thought Gou'er was right. Mingze said first, "Yes, you are still young. If you want children, you should do it early. When you get older, like your mother and me, you will be worried all the time."
He was on tenterhooks during the pregnancy, and the birth was so frightening that he, a grown man, shed tears. Now that the child is born, he worries that they are getting old and don't know how many years they will be able to stay with the child.
People are always greedy and want more.
"Yes, that's what I mean too. I've suffered some hardships once, and I can't bear to see you suffer them again."
Jiang Ruoya nodded, wanting to offer some words of advice, knowing that only she knew the hardships of being an older mother.
Jiang Jiuniang smiled and said, "Father and Mother, don't worry, I know. There were many things to do before, and I couldn't settle down. Now that the war is over, it's time to consider these things."
Seeing that she didn't object, Jiang Ruoya was also happy. She was worried that Jiang Jiuniang had no intention of having another child, and that her words might have upset her.
"As long as you have a plan in mind, don't find me annoying."
Jiang Ruoya spoke to her cautiously, even more so than Sun Shi, her caution tinged with a hint of ingratiation.
Jiang Jiuniang sensed her concern and sighed inwardly, saying, "Mother, I've told you so many times, what happened back then wasn't your fault. You've had a hard time these past years, so don't always blame yourself. You're my mother, my blood relative. Say what you want to say, you don't need to be so careful."
She squatted by the bed, holding Jiang Ruoya's hand and chattering away.
"I didn't think things through this time. I should have come back sooner. If something had happened to you, I would never forgive myself for the rest of my life."
When she encouraged Jiang Ruoya to have a child, she vowed that she would stay by her side and wouldn't let anything happen to her.
As a result, after Jiang Ruoya became pregnant, she was always busy with things and only came over occasionally to take her pulse. Not long after, she went to the border and got the time wrong. When she came back, the baby was already a month old.
It's ridiculous, really. She can remember the date when the Lu family children are going to take the imperial examination, but she forgot that her own mother is going to give birth.
"It's alright, really. It was my own decision to have the child, and it shouldn't be a burden to you. You're my daughter, not my servant, and there's no reason for you to revolve around me all the time. Besides, you already have so many things to do, you're never idle. I'm too busy to even think about how you feel, so how could I blame you?"
Jiang Ruoya comforted her instead. Although they were in the capital, Mingze was in the business of collecting intelligence, so he had the fastest information. She knew about the border war. The reason they were able to win so quickly was because her daughter had made a kind of black weapon, which saved a lot of trouble. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to win such a great victory in just half a year, given how difficult Dongting was to deal with.
She was proud of her daughter, so how could she bear to blame her for such a small thing?
Mingze thought it made a lot of sense. From the beginning, they had no intention of bothering Jiang Jiuniang too much with this kind of thing, unless there was a real accident and they couldn't do without Jiang Jiuniang, otherwise they would not bother her too much.
Just as I was about to speak, the baby in my arms started whimpering, probably because it was hungry.
Jiang Ruoya was about to breastfeed her child when Jiang Jiuniang said, "Then you go ahead and do your work, Mother. Gou'er and I will go take a bath and change our clothes first, and we'll come back in a little while."
They arranged a courtyard for the family of three, complete with spare clothes, which was very convenient.
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