Three years later.
It was spring, the courtyard was full of flowers and greenery. On the path filled with fragrance, the graceful figures of two women were vaguely visible.
The woman in the yellow dress was beautiful, with a beautiful bun, and the pearl tassels hanging around her neck made her skin look even whiter than snow. Next to her was a young woman in a crimson dress with a phoenix pattern, smiling sweetly, with her black eyes shining brightly. She smiled and chatted with the woman next to her, but her eyes were fixed on the girl in pink running ahead chasing butterflies.
The girl, holding a fan in her hand, stumbled among the flowers, looking for the blue bird she had accidentally discovered.
"Zhen'er, slow down. Don't fall." The scarlet-dressed woman was still worried and called her, "Don't chase me, come back soon." The pink-dressed girl pouted and turned around to look over. After thinking for a while, she ran back to the scarlet-dressed woman. When she got to her, she wanted to throw herself into her arms, but she immediately reacted and avoided her belly, grabbed her hand, and shook her and called, "Mom, mom."
Zhao Pei smiled and scratched her nose, saying, "You, don't you know how to rest for a while? Don't you feel tired?"
Zhen'er ignored her and opened her arms to the woman in yellow, saying, "Auntie, hold me." The woman in yellow smiled lovingly, bent down and hugged Zhen'er in her arms. She said with a hint of sarcasm, "Second sister, you are the same, all children are like this. When you were a child, you were more troublesome than Zhen'er."
The woman called "Second Sister" was Zhao Pei. She raised her eyebrows and smiled: "I don't remember."
Zhao Li was used to her not admitting her mistakes, so he just shrugged and smiled at Zhen'er in his arms, "Good Zhen'er, don't learn from your mother in the future. She will always deny her past mistakes."
Zhen'er nodded, not quite understanding, and then started to argue loudly: "Dad said the same thing." Zhao Pei looked embarrassed and suddenly argued with her: "What does a child know?"
Zhao Li watched the two of them go back and forth, and couldn't help but laugh: "Second sister, why are you and Zhen Er arguing so seriously? It's true that children speak without restraint."
Zhao Pei rolled her eyes immediately upon seeing her teasing gaze, then turned her head to look at the pavilion near the water not far away. The rippling water, like a silver chain, was reflected in the pavilion, dancing wantonly. Her third sister was completely different from the melancholy and melancholy she had been three years ago. That year, the beloved concubine suddenly fell seriously ill and died before giving birth, and Zhao Li was a beautiful and virtuous woman, so naturally Li Liangyu withdrew his attention from her. Now she is Li Liangyu's beloved wife and the mother of a half-year-old child. She... ... can be said to have no regrets, at least on the surface.
Zhen'er pulled Zhaopei's skirt and said in a baby voice, "Mom, mom. When will Brother Fairy and Brother Pretty come to play with me?" Then she tilted her head to think for a moment and said, "And Sister Zhiyan."
Zhao Pei held his forehead and smiled at her, and said patiently: "Zhen'er, you should call Brother Huan and Brother Zhu. What's the use of being a god or not..."
Zhen Er pouted and argued with her again: "But it's really beautiful. Just like a fairy descending from heaven!" Zhao Pei was speechless, thinking to herself: Indeed, everyone in their family is a fairy descending from heaven...
She said helplessly: "Dear Zhen'er, how about I take you to meet your fairy brother and beautiful sisters in a few days."
Zhen'er's eyes rolled and she giggled, "Then there's brother Yi." The two dimples on her face were particularly cute. The "brother Yi" Zhen'er was talking about was Zhao Li's child. Zhao Pei smiled at Zhao Li and said, "Don't bring Yi'er here. Zhen'er doesn't dare to bully Zhiyan, but she will bully our Yi'er. She is the type who only bullies the weak and fears the strong."
"Isn't she the same as her mother?" Zhao Li laughed.
Zhao Pei reached out to scratch her when she heard that: "Okay, Li'er. When do you tell me when I bullied the weak or when I bullied you?"
Zhao Li couldn't get away from her, so she ran away laughing: "Second sister, you better take care of yourself. If anything goes wrong, my brother-in-law will skin me alive."
She was going to ignore Zhao Li's words. She smiled and turned around, holding Zhen Er's hand and asked softly, "Good Zhen Er, do you want a brother or a sister?"
Zhen'er uttered "Ah", stared blankly at Zhao Pei, and whispered: "Is this something I can decide..." She rolled her eyes and laughed: "Zhen'er wants a brother, like a fairy brother."
Amid the irrepressible laughter of the woman next to her, Zhao Pei lost her balance and nearly fell, then laughed so hard that her body shook. She gently tapped Zhen'er's forehead and said, "This... seems a little difficult. But mother can give you a brother as cute as Yi'er."
Zhen'er clapped her hands and was about to say, "That's great, I want a younger brother." Zhao Li saw how happy she was and asked, "Why does Zhen'er like a younger brother so much?"
"Because I'm your younger brother, I won't compete with Zhen'er for beautiful clothes." Zhen'er smiled complacently. Zhao Pei was stunned, then smiled bitterly and shook her head. Just as she was about to teach her a lesson, she saw Ruhua coming over from Luorui Hall: "Miss, the Third Princess is here to see you."
After Zhao Pei and Zhao Li said goodbye, they took Zhen'er into Luorui Hall. Before they saw Xiuchun, they heard Zhen'er shouting, "Godmother!"
Someone responded immediately, and Zhen'er ran in with a giggle, holding up her skirt, and threw herself into the arms of the woman in white, rubbing against her and saying, "Godmother, Zhen'er missed you so much."
Xiuchun pinched her cheek and said jokingly: "You little girl, thinking about me is not true, thinking about the cakes is true."
Zhen'er nodded honestly: "Zhen'er missed me so much that I became hungry."
Xiuchun tapped her little head half complaining and half dotingly: "Knowing that Zhen'er likes to eat those small cakes, I naturally prepared a lot of them. Go quickly."
Zhen'er nodded, twisted her chubby body and followed Ruhua, then turned around and made a face at Zhaopei, leaving behind a string of silver bell-like laughter.
Zhao Pei sat down opposite Xiuchun and smiled bitterly: "This girl is always so noisy. Now I finally understand how my parents feel about me, love and hate at the same time."
Xiuchun looked at her with a smile. Zhaopei, who was wearing a scarlet gauze dress, had a simple and noble bun with a dark jade hairpin inserted diagonally. Her watery eyes were filled with endless warmth and happiness, and her lips were filled with the brightest smile in spring. The golden light cast a faint halo on her body, and she was surrounded by the warm sunshine, like an immortal descending to earth.
Her belly was bulging, and it looked like she was about six or seven months pregnant. Zhao Pei habitually stroked her belly with both hands, and her skin was soft and smooth like white jade.
Xiuchun looked at her with a faint smile: "Seventh sister is getting more and more beautiful, and the most beautiful girl in the city belongs to Seventh sister." This is true. In the past, Zhao Pei always had a hidden sorrow in her eyes. But now, there is no trace of the cloud.
Zhao Pei blushed slightly and said with a smile: "Third sister-in-law loves to tease people. Now she eats and sleeps all day long, just like raising pigs... Look at the flesh on my body now." After saying that, she pinched the flesh on the back of her hand and on her cheek.
Xiuchun scolded her: "Of course you have to take good care of yourself now, don't be afraid of gaining weight. The energy and spirit are in the baby." She looked around, the house was quiet, and couldn't help but say, "Seventh brother has been away for another half a month. Is Seventh Sister lonely?"
"Aren't you guys here with me all the time?" Zhao Pei smiled and picked up the teacup. "Qi Fu certainly has his own things to do. I can't keep him by my side forever."
Xiuchun suddenly laughed teasingly: "Everyone knows that Seventh Sister and Seventh Brother have a deep relationship. Seventh Brother, the cold-faced King of Xiangdong, may not listen to others, but he will definitely listen to Seventh Sister. If Seventh Sister lets him stay in the mansion, I want to see if Seventh Brother will go out."
Zhao Pei said with a hint of sarcasm: "Third sister-in-law looks up to Zhao Pei and also looks down on the King of Xiangdong. He doesn't listen to me. I have told him many times, but he never listens."
Xiuchun shrugged and leaned forward, her voice gradually lowered: "In terms of the fact that you haven't taken any concubines in the past few years, you've done well." There was a flash of sadness in her eyes as she spoke, and Zhaopei just smiled bitterly. She understood Xiuchun's hardship. She had been married to Xiao Gang for five years and had no children. She could only watch Xiao Gang take several concubines but couldn't express her dissatisfaction.
Zhao Pei didn't want to talk about this anymore, so she asked hurriedly, "Third sister-in-law, I've been really bored lately, why don't we go to the cosmetics shop or look at some jewelry together sometime?"
Xiuchun stared at her for a while, then smiled and said, "Seventh sister will have something to look forward to in a few days. Big brother is going to hold a poetry and literature meeting on the island on Xuanwu Lake. We can go there and have a good look." After that, he blinked teasingly, "I think it will be very interesting."
Zhao Pei was stunned for a long while, then slowly asked, "Brother... are you back from the study?"
Xiuchun nodded in response with a smile on her face, and said with a laugh: "That's right, I haven't seen my eldest brother since he left home three years ago. It's great that my eldest brother's Selected Works has finally been edited. To be honest, I really miss my eldest brother after not seeing him for so long. How about you, Seventh Sister?"
Zhao Pei was still in shock, and with a complicated expression, she grinned and murmured, "Well... I... miss you a lot, too." (To be continued)