Chapter 12 I just thought my sixth brother was cute, upon seeing him…
Ling Xun was indeed happy, and for a moment he seemed to have opened a floodgate of words, continuing, "I don't think General Wei will mind. He has to go to the military camp to train the troops this morning and will not be back until the afternoon."
"Wouldn't that be perfect?" Bai Xuerou said happily, "It's a win-win situation."
Ling Xun couldn't help but laugh with joy.
When he finally calmed down and settled down, he realized that Bai Xuerou had been watching him gently and quietly all along, and his heart was filled with many emotions.
No one had ever looked at him like Bai Xuerou had.
Including his biological parents.
I was overwhelmed with emotion.
After some time, Ling Xun successfully enrolled in the Bai family's academy, and Wei Yi didn't say anything about it; the progress was quite smooth.
However, something unexpected happened.
Bai Hanwen especially admired and liked Ling Xun. After testing him, he personally took him as his disciple, which prompted Ling Zheng to say something.
Although Bai Hanwen was not a renowned scholar, he passed the imperial examination at a young age and was appointed as the third-ranked scholar by the emperor. His literary talent was outstanding and he was far from ordinary.
This person actually took a liking to Ling Xun, which made Ling Zheng wonder if he had misjudged him before? In his memory, Ling Xun was insignificant. Could it be that he was just pretending?
However, this suspicion was short-lived, quickly fading away after being persuaded by Hou Feng, a retainer.
Hou Feng thought that Bai Hanwen's actions were probably to make his daughter, who was a daughter-in-law in the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, live a better life.
"The Bai family has a long tradition of scholarship, but they can't help Third Sister in any other way," he said meaningfully.
Ling Zheng looked up at Hou Feng, but ultimately said nothing.
Hou Feng was one of the first to join Ling Zheng's cause, and he initially disapproved of Ling Zheng's insistence on marrying Bai Xuerou.
In his view, although Lady Bai was beautiful, her family background was insufficient. If Ling Zheng aspired to become the Prince of Zhenbei, or even to a higher position in the future, he would need to marry a noblewoman to gain greater assistance. Furthermore, the Prince of Zhenbei was displeased, and if he insisted, he might anger the prince.
But Ling Zheng was completely focused on his childhood sweetheart and fiancée at the time, and wouldn't listen to anything else. He insisted on marrying her, and in the end, this marriage came about.
Hou Feng couldn't help but feel regretful. Later, when talking to Ling Zheng, he would mention it a little bit. Ling Zheng had gotten used to it. In the past, he would remind him not to do so, but now he was too lazy to say it anymore. He just changed the subject and said, "If that's the case, that would be best. However, Sixth Brother is still young, so I don't think he can cause any trouble."
Relieved, Ling Zheng then realized that he might have been too concerned about Ling Xun, so he said calmly.
“That’s right. The prince only glanced at him a few more times because he felt sorry for the sixth son who had lost his mother. If we’re talking about valuing him more, who in the entire household can surpass you, the third son?” Hou Feng echoed with a smile.
Ling Zheng liked hearing this, and his expression relaxed a bit.
What happened to Ling Xun was a minor matter. After saying that, the two started talking about official business.
After the uprising ten years ago, the royal family was weakened and on the verge of collapse, with powerful forces dominating all parts of the land. Unlike the Northern King's sole dominance, several other forces were vying for power in the East, West, and South.
The Prince of Zhenbei had his sights set on the world. Although he did not send troops, he intervened in various forces, trying to create a situation favorable to himself.
Ling Zheng was valued by the Prince of Zhenbei, who then entrusted him with some tasks.
Ling Zheng knew that this was a test from the Prince of Zhenbei, so he dared not be careless in the slightest. All the actions he took were discussed and decided upon with Hou Feng and other retainers.
This time too, they discussed it for a full half afternoon before the guests finally dispersed.
Hou Feng walked familiarly towards the courtyard he had been assigned to in the outer yard. As he walked, he paused slightly and suddenly smiled.
"I see," he said.
Previously, Ling Zheng had been too lazy to say much about Bai Xuerou, but little did he know that Hou Feng was secretly pleased to see him like this, having noticed something that even Ling Zheng himself hadn't realized—
Sanlangjun no longer cares about Bai Shi as much as he used to.
He had expected this day, so it wasn't too unexpected; he just remembered something else.
Bai Xuerou has been married but has no children. Although no one mentions it, most people guess that it is because of the drowning incident.
Ling Zheng and Hou Feng had discussed this, and they strongly suspected that one of the concubines in the backyard had done something wrong.
But Hou Feng was indeed thinking of the Prince of Zhenbei.
In fact, Hou Feng had already harbored suspicions when the Prince of Zhenbei tacitly approved Ling Zheng's marriage to Bai Xuerou.
In his view, if the Prince of Zhenbei did not agree, the marriage would never have happened. But since it did happen in the end, it meant that the Prince of Zhenbei had other plans.
He had made various guesses, and now he was starting to see some clues—
When Third Young Master turns eighteen, he must get married. If he doesn't marry Bai Xuerou, then other prominent families in the North, especially the civil and military officials under the Prince of Zhenbei, will probably all be interested in marrying the Prince of Zhenbei.
Such a marriage would be ideal if it were arranged well, but for the Prince of Zhenbei, who aspired to rule the world, it fell short of his ambitions. Therefore, he remained silent and allowed Ling Zheng to marry the Bai family woman, whose family background was not considered good enough. In this way, if he encountered a suitable candidate in the future, he could easily find a fault to divorce his wife and remarry.
Of course, this idea was just Hou Feng's own speculation, and whether the Prince of Zhenbei really thought so is unknown.
But as Bai Xuerou remained infertile for more than half a year, he became increasingly certain.
If one were to remarry, it would be better if there were no children, thus avoiding future troubles.
As long as you are healthy, why worry about not having children? There are plenty of women in the world willing to have children with you.
Hou Feng narrowed his eyes slightly and quickened his pace.
Bai Xuerou was also surprised that her father had taken Ling Xun as his disciple. After the initial surprise, she was happy to see it happen. When she saw Ling Xun again, she smiled and joked, "From now on, should I call you junior brother?"
"It's just a form of address, whatever makes you happy, sister-in-law," Ling Xun said, feigning composure, though his ears had already turned red without his knowledge.
Bai Xuerou chuckled.
Ling Xun looked at her; although she was still young, his eyes revealed helplessness and tolerance.
He hesitated for a moment, then asked, puzzled, "Sister-in-law, is what I said funny?"
Bai Xue Rou was momentarily stunned by the question, but quickly recovered and laughed again, reaching out her hand. Ling Xun seemed to want to dodge, but in the end he obediently didn't move, only his ears, which had finally stopped turning red, turned red again.
Bai Xuerou looked at him tenderly, intending to pat his head, but in the end she rested her hand on his shoulder instead.
The child is grown up.
"Of course not, sister-in-law is just laughing because she thinks sixth brother is cute and seeing him makes her happy." She didn't give a perfunctory answer, but explained seriously.
Upon hearing this, the blush that had been lingering at the base of her ears quickly spread to Ling Xun's face.
He looked at Bai Xuerou, his eyes widening in surprise.
In that instant, Bai Xuerou almost lost her composure, just like the younger brothers she had teased, and said anxiously, "I'm all grown up now, how can you say I'm cute?"
But Ling Xun did not.
"Does my sister-in-law think I'm cute?" she heard Ling Xun ask.
Bai Xuerou nodded seriously and replied, "Of course."
Ling Xun pursed his lips, blushed, and remained silent.
Bai Xuerou thought she had embarrassed the little guy and was thinking of what to say to coax him when she saw Ling Xun look sideways at the ground and say dejectedly, "No one has ever said this to me before."
Bai Xuerou was taken aback.
Does this "never" also refer to Aunt Ge?
"Thank you, sister-in-law." Ling Xun looked at Bai Xuerou, and whether it was her imagination or not, she seemed to see tears in her eyes.
"No need to thank me, sister-in-law was just telling the truth." She gently patted Ling Xun's shoulder again, wanting to comfort the child in front of her even more.
Ling Xun smiled at her.
Because of these words, when Ling Xun was about to leave, Ling Xun returned and invited him to have lunch together. After the meal, he was able to take his leave.
On the way back, his expression was calm, yet subtly turbulent, a mixture of shame and annoyance.
When the topic of cuteness came up before, Ling Xun was indeed moved, but not enough to make him lose his composure like that. He only did it in a deliberate way to gain Bai Xuerou's pity.
Looking back now, I feel even more embarrassed.
As for why he wanted to gain Bai Xuerou's pity, Ling Xun didn't think about it.
He wanted to do it, so he did it.
Bai Hanwen's casual acceptance of disciples was something that the Prince of Zhenbei knew about, but he specially instructed Lady Wu to prepare a formal apprenticeship gift.
He had no particular feelings towards Bai Hanwen. The other party was talented, but he did not join his ranks. However, since he had become Bai Hanwen's apprentice, he should naturally offer gifts as a matter of etiquette.
The Prince of Zhenbei said no more.
A few days later, after roughly calculating, Ling Xun had been visiting Wei Yi every day for seven days. Wei Yi finally agreed to take him as his disciple.
At this point, Ling Xun had both his literary and martial arts masters.
Every morning he would go to the Bai family school to study classical texts, and in the afternoon he would go to General Wei's mansion to practice martial arts.
Ling Zheng had someone inquire about it and learned that Ling Xun had only learned martial arts from Wei Yi and had not been involved in military formations. He felt a little relieved.
Before we knew it, it felt like the New Year was just around the corner.
Although Lady Wu was lazy, she was never careless when it came to important matters. She managed the entire Prince's mansion perfectly, and no matter how busy she was, there were never any problems.
Bai Xuerou and her sisters-in-law were preoccupied with their own affairs in the courtyard. On New Year's Eve, they ordered their servants to put up couplets, New Year pictures, and decorate with red and colorful decorations, creating a festive atmosphere for the New Year.
Ling Xun visited the two masters one after the other. When he returned, he saw Bai Xue Rou smiling and leading her maids to hang paper-cuts on the tree. The bright red paper-cuts were like red flowers adorning the branches and leaves.
He greeted them and went to help, overhearing the maids praising Bai Xuerou's beautiful haircuts. He asked her about it and learned that some of the haircuts were done by Bai Xuerou. He then took a look and asked for another one.
Bai Xuerou naturally wouldn't refuse such a small request, but she smiled and said, "But my paper cutting is just ordinary. Su Chan's paper cutting is still the best. Why don't you take hers?"
“My sister-in-law cuts very well, I want her to cut it,” Ling Xun insisted.
Bai Xuerou smiled and agreed. She picked out a lucky knot for him after a while and said, "May everything go well for you."
"Thank you, sister-in-law." Ling Xun carefully put it away.
Afterwards, the two talked about the Bai family. Ling Xun took his leave, and Bai Xue Rou watched him go for a few steps. When she turned around, she heard Su Ying next to her laugh, "Sixth Master and his wife are getting closer and closer."
"I didn't notice," Bai Xuerou said with a smile as she walked back, holding the hand warmer.
Day by day, things naturally turned out the way they are now. She hadn't really paid much attention, but after hearing what Su Ying said, it was indeed the case.
“Now, Sixth Master calls her ‘Niangzi’ (wife), which means ‘sister-in-law.’ Before, he called her ‘Third Sister-in-law,’” Su Ying said, pointing out the most obvious example.
A note from the author:
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Who could resist such a gentle and considerate older sister?
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