Chapter 407 Love is Always a Feeling of Debt
After the couple had a frank conversation, they didn't stay inside for long.
The deputy generals that Xiao Xuance brought back were his trusted guards, numbering more than a dozen, most of whom were not from Lin'an.
Their hometown was elsewhere, and having nowhere to stay in Lin'an, they first followed Xiao Xuance back to the Prince's Mansion and paid their respects to the old lady.
As the matriarch of the royal palace, Yun Zhaoxue was responsible for arranging accommodations for them.
Considering that there are many women in the Xiao family's backyard, it would be inconvenient for both sides to arrange for them to live there.
They planned to arrange for them to stay in the villa next to the Xiao family's house.
The villa is separated from the Prince's mansion by a small door. If there is anything to discuss, you can enter through the small door. Entering or exiting through the main gate might be watched by spies outside, which is inconvenient.
Xiao Xuance found his two sons playing with crickets in the courtyard and explained to them that he had no other women or children, only his two sons.
He didn't want his wife to work too hard; two sons were enough, and he didn't plan to have any more children.
Erbao didn't believe him easily, but instead asked Yun Zhaoxue, "Mother, is what Father said true?"
"It's true. The woman in the carriage is Princess Furou, who is also my mother's cousin. Your father captured Youzhou and rescued her, so he brought her back to Lin'an. They have no relation whatsoever. What people outside are spreading are just rumors."
Erbao rushed over and hugged Xiao Xuance's leg, "That's good, Dad. I knew you weren't the heartless man Uncle said you were. You're a great hero."
He was so happy that his father, whom he had been waiting for for years, came back. Inadvertently, he let slip that he had sold out his beloved second uncle, who doted on him the most.
Xiao Xuance caught a crucial word in his words and asked through gritted teeth, "Second Uncle? So those rumors were told to your mother by your second uncle? That bastard Pei Huaiji..."
Next time I see him, I'll give him a good beating and see if he dares to talk nonsense again.
Erbao covered his mouth and shook his head, "I didn't say anything."
His second uncle dotes on him the most. If his second uncle finds out, he'll definitely spank him, boohoo~
Da Bao said earnestly, "Father, Mother is the best woman in the world. If you let Mother down, I will change my surname to Mother's."
Yun Zhaoxue came from a good family, was good-looking, and knew how to make money. From the time they were born, she saved up a small fortune for them, bought houses and land, and made the whole family wear gold and silver and have endless silk and satin.
Most men in this era had three wives and four concubines, but Yun Zhaoxue was not the kind of woman who shared a husband with other women.
If the couple were to separate, they would both want to stay with their mother.
The storybooks say that if parents divorce, the child lives with the father, the stepmother will abuse the child, there will be a stepfather for every stepmother, and the mother will always side with her own biological child.
"Don't worry, that day will never come. I will only have your mother as my wife in this lifetime." Xiao Xuance raised his hand and gently put his arm around his wife's waist.
The couple looked very much in love, and their two sons nodded in satisfaction.
Erbao said with a grin, "Hehe~ Daddy's so shy, we're still here."
"You brat, you dare to tease your father at such a young age? Do you believe I'll spank you?" Xiao Xuance said sternly, rolling up his sleeves as if to give him a beating.
Over the years, Xiao Xuance has not been by his son's side and has not fulfilled his responsibilities as a father. He is too busy doting on his son to bear beating him. He just deliberately scares him.
Erbao wasn't afraid and didn't try to run away. He put his hands on his hips, tilted his head back, and said, "I don't believe it. I'll tell other people that my dad is the best dad in the world, and he would never hit me."
Xiao Xuance bent down, scooped him up, and said, "You clever little devil."
Even if you hug the second child, you can't neglect the first one.
Just as he was about to reach out and help the eldest brother up, Da Bao took a step back and took Yun Zhaoxue's hand.
"Dad, I'm all grown up now and I can walk by myself."
Erbao thought to himself, "This eldest brother clearly has something on his mind, but he's pretending not to."
The couple held their eldest child's hand, while Xiao Xuance carried their second child, and the family of four walked towards the hall.
The second child envied the first child for being able to be held by both parents at the same time, and didn't want to be held anymore. He kept clamoring to get down and walk by himself, and he also wanted his parents to hold his hand.
So the two children were in the middle, with their parents walking in a row on either side.
Yang had her servants serve tea and snacks to Gu Huai, Lu Xiao, and the others in the front hall.
Xie Wanyun went to the kitchen and asked someone to prepare several tables of food to feed the soldiers. On a whim, she even cooked two of her signature dishes herself.
While in Lingnan, she helped out in the kitchen of a restaurant, where she learned a great deal. After returning to Lin'an, she opened several restaurants of her own, which were very successful and profitable.
She would occasionally visit restaurants and cook for them herself, or she would cook a few of her signature dishes for her family at home.
When Madam Yang inquired about Lu Xiao's family situation, she asked, "Are your father and mother in good health?"
Lu Xiao hadn't expected that a matriarch of such a high-ranking family as Madam Yang would care about the situation of a lowly general like him. He abandoned his usual casualness in the army and respectfully replied:
"Reporting to Madam, my father passed away when I was young. My brothers stayed with my mother to take care of her. My mother is doing well. Thank you for your concern, Madam."
How old is the child?
Lu Xiao is thirty years old this year. Normally, men of this age would have already married and had children, and some who married early might already be grandfathers. It is rare for someone of this age to be unmarried.
"To the old lady, I am ashamed to say that my father passed away early and my mother raised my siblings and me all by herself. Our family was poor and no one was willing to arrange marriages with us, so we are not married yet."
"I see. General Lu is handsome and promising. We will find someone suitable in the future."
"You flatter me, Madam."
I'm ashamed to say that he's not as good as the old lady described.
The meal was ready, but Yang and the others had already eaten breakfast and weren't hungry yet. This meal was mainly prepared for Xiao Xuance and the soldiers.
After dinner, Xiao Xuance took his two sons shopping. He had missed three years of his children's lives and didn't want to rest for a moment. He wanted to make up for it as soon as possible.
Love is always a feeling of indebtedness.
Shops line both sides of the street, with various small stalls also set up nearby.
This street is lined with stalls selling children's toys: colorful shuttlecocks, painted tiger-head puppets, bamboo snake scissors, vermilion lacquered rattles, tiger-head hats...
The peddler asked with a smile, "Young gentlemen, would you like to buy a rattle drum?"
Erbao replied, "We already have some at home, so we don't need any. We wish you great success in your business, Uncle."
"Oh my, little one, you look so young, but you have such a sweet tongue. Here, have one."
"I want two exactly the same ones." Xiao Xuance didn't want to take advantage of others, and since he figured his family's livelihood depended on his stall, he took out his money and bought them.
Da Bao and Er Bao held rattles and shook them in the street, making a jingling sound, "dong dong dong..."
Xiao Xuance asked his two sons what else they wanted, and said he would buy them whatever they wanted.
Da Bao shook his head and said, "Father, we have money. Whatever you want to eat, we'll buy it for you."
He put it very tactfully, saying that he heard the soldiers on the border were not getting paid, they were starving, and they were very poor.
Xiao Xuance felt a warmth in his heart. His three-year-old son actually wanted to buy him something. He truly was his good son.
But then he thought that their three-year-old child probably only had some pocket money, so he said, "Keep your pocket money yourselves. Dad brought you out to play, how can I let you pay?"
Da Bao and Er Bao didn't say anything. They opened the cloth bags they carried with them, and inside were several hundred-tael silver notes and a gold ingot and a silver ingot.
Xiao Xuance, “…”
Okay, so it turns out he was the poorest one in the family.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com