Are and Xiaoji were busy eating dinner. One bowl of rice was enough for Xiaoji, but Are asked for more rice after one bowl. Xiaoji ate slowly, but Are ate as fast as a whirlwind, so they put down their bowls and chopsticks almost at the same time, and then each of them carried a gauze bag and ran to the chrysanthemum field to catch fireflies.
Mu Chun only ate half full. He was very tactful and knew that the father and daughter had a lot of private things to talk about, so he put down his chopsticks, lied that he was full, and went to the chrysanthemum field to follow his daughter.
The father and daughter had dinner at the same table after 20 years. Apart from A Lei, they had nothing to talk about in common. In order to hide the embarrassment, Hu Shanwei made a pot of tea for his father.
Hu Rong took the teacup as if he was flattered, took a sip, and said it was good tea. Hu Shanwei said casually: "This is the tea that the emperor and empress drink in the palace. Since father likes it, take a pound back."
Hu Rong felt embarrassed, as if he said yes just to ask his daughter for something, which he really didn't mean. If he said yes, he would be embarrassed; if he said no, he would not give his daughter face.
Hu Shanwei had already cultivated herself into a spirit in the harem, but facing her father, she felt helpless. Seeing her father's embarrassed expression, she immediately knew that she had said the wrong thing, but when her father said that the tea was delicious, how could she have no reaction
Hu Shanwei didn't know what to say or do to get the right answer. Compared to other relationships, family relationships are the most difficult to repair, because it is hard to say who is right and who is wrong, and they are often broken silently, just like cancer. By the time you realize the problem and feel uncomfortable, it is already very serious.
Even if both sides are willing to bridge the gap of twenty years and get closer, they can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, and they have to take it slowly.
Judging from one's own experience, Hu Shanwei had been away from his daughter for four years. His daughter felt unfamiliar and distrustful of him. Her mood was the same as her father's, and he lived like this for twenty years.
Hu Shanwei silently poured tea for his father and drank tea with him, watching the two little men and a man playing with fireflies in the chrysanthemum field.
After catching half a bag of fireflies, Mu Chun picked up the two children, one in each hand, and placed them on his broad shoulders. He returned to the gauze tent and changed his sweaty jacket to prevent himself from coughing and catching a cold.
After taking off his wet clothes and putting on dry ones, the contrast between fat and thin was obvious. Xiaoji's ribs were clearly visible, and with his round belly that had just been full, he looked like a pipa. Arei had a big head and double chin with no visible neck, a round head and a round body, made up of two large and small boiled eggs.
The maid brought the watermelon, and Hu Shanwei picked up a knife to cut it. The boiled egg was jumping and insisted that "brother-in-law come and smash it."
Mu Chun obeyed his daughter's every command. He rolled up his sleeves and punched her. With a bang, the bright red juice splashed. Lu Dan was very satisfied. "It was like setting off fireworks, cold fireworks."
Mu Chun was very proud, "Alei has an extraordinary imagination." After all, he is his own son, so even his farts will smell good.
Mu Chun skillfully used a spoon to scoop out the watermelon balls, remove the seeds, and feed them to the two children. Hu Shanwei also helped to remove the seeds, but A Lei only ate the ones picked by Mu Chun himself.
Hu Shanwei tasted the sourness of the watermelon and thought that there was still a long time to go. After spending more time with her daughter, she would definitely accept her as her mother.
After eating the melon, Pipa and Lu Dan continued to run in the chrysanthemum field to catch fireflies. Hu Rong said goodbye and wanted to go back to the bookstore. Hu Shanwei asked his father to stay, "It's getting late, there are plenty of rooms here."
Hu Rong felt warm inside, but still refused. "If I were here, Xiang'er would stick to me day and night, and you wouldn't have a chance to contact her. Don't worry. When Muchun first brought her back, she refused and cried all day to find me. I had no choice but to live here for a while. Later, Muchun took good care of her and played with her. There was also Xiaoji, a playmate of the same age. She gradually came to terms with it and lived with Muchun, but she couldn't stop calling me daddy. When she grows up, she will understand the difficulties you as parents have. The daughter became a sister in order to protect her."
Who better than Hu Rong understands the pain of Hu Shanwei being rejected by his daughter? In order to force Hu Shanwei to remarry, the father and daughter who once depended on each other became alienated. Hu Shanwei was a man with his own ideas. He simply stole the female official who was in charge of the household examination. The palace walls separated the father and daughter and they became people from two different worlds.
For the past twenty years, the only thing that resonated with Hu Rong and Hu Shanwei was the Southern Opera "Pipa Ji". The only connection was that Hu Shanwei sent half of his salary every year to Hu Rong for his old age.
Hu Rong originally thought that this was how his life would be, but he didn't expect that in his later years, a granddaughter and son-in-law would suddenly appear, which became a turning point in the relationship between father and daughter.
The disharmonious parent-child relationship has almost become a hereditary disease in the Hu family. Hu Shanwei was pregnant for ten months. As an elderly mother, the fetus was huge and she was in excruciating pain when giving birth to her daughter. If it weren't for the skilled female doctor Ru Siyao, there would have been two deaths. After that, she had to wake up at least three times a night to feed the baby. Only then did Hu Shanwei realize how precious it was to get a full night's sleep.
Hu Shanwei gave everything she could for her daughter, even her life. Thanks to the broken fish bladder that night, she never regretted being a mother, but now...
Hu Shanwei sighed, looking at the boiling boiled eggs in the chrysanthemum field, "Will there really be such a day? She won't even eat the watermelon I picked for her."
Hu Rong was an experienced person, so he consoled her, "It will happen. Look, I'm waiting for you to come home, right?"
Hu Shanwei: Ah? Do we have to wait that long
Hu Rong regretted his words immediately and added: "That's not what I meant. I meant that Xiang'er is still young, and children are easier to coax. When a girl grows up, she will—"
The more he talked, the more unpleasant it became, so Hu Rong simply shut up. Logically, as a small businessman in the market, who was busy entertaining guests all day long, he shouldn't be so tongue-tied. However, when facing his daughter who had returned home, his mouth immediately became dumb and he always said the wrong things.
As a fellow wanderer who had both been rejected by his daughter, Hu Shanwei understood Hu Rong's embarrassment and said, "I will send my father back."
Hu Rong hurriedly declined, "You should stay with Xiang'er."
Hu Shanwei looked at the three-person group of one, two, and three who were playing in perfect harmony in the chrysanthemum field, and said with a wry smile, "She is not familiar with me now. I am annoying her if I keep wandering around in front of her. There is a long way to go. There is no need to rush. My father and I haven't had a good talk for 20 years.
Let’s talk while we walk.”
Hu Shanwei and his father got on the carriage. In the carriage, the father and daughter still had a casual chat. Being from two different worlds, they had limited common topics and often stepped on each other's minefields without realizing it. From time to time, they were silent, listening to the hustle and bustle of Kunming city outside the car.
This seems... not bad? At least there's no quarreling.
Hu Shanwei's identity and whereabouts could not be exposed, so he was not sent to the door of Guyue Bookstore. Hu Rong got off the carriage at the street corner and said, "I will pick up the two children to watch Journey to the West tomorrow morning. I have already agreed today and I can't go back on my word. Tomorrow is the Uproar in Flame Mountain, but they like the Uproar in Heaven the most. When this part is performed, you can take them to watch it. Feelings are developed slowly through companionship, so don't be discouraged."
Hu Shanwei nodded in agreement.
On the way home, Hu Shanwei saw someone selling little white rabbits at the night market. Thinking that his children would like them, he caught a pair and took them back.
At this time, A Lei and Xiao Ji caught a bag full of fireflies and released them all at once. In an instant, it seemed as if the Milky Way in the sky had fallen into the chrysanthemum field, dotted with stars.
Listening to the chirping of insects and the laughter of children, Hu Shanwei felt inexplicably at peace. She shook the rabbit cage in her hand and said, "The two baby rabbits are hungry. Who will feed them?"
"Me!" The eyes of A Lei and Xiao Ji were brighter than the stars in the sky. They picked some chrysanthemums from the field to feed the rabbits. Of course the rabbits refused to eat them. Muchun pulled off a few leaves and the two little guys rushed to feed them.
The bribe of Little White Rabbit had an immediate effect. When taking a bath at night, A Lei allowed Hu Shanwei to pour water on her, but still did not allow her to have sex.
A Lei and Xiao Ji slept in two bedrooms in the west wing respectively. They were both very tired and fell asleep right on their pillows. Mu Chun blew out the candle, and Hu Shanwei sneaked into his daughter's room. "How old was she when she started sleeping alone? What if she has to get up at night? What if she kicks off the quilt and catches a cold? What if she wakes up from a nightmare?"
Mu Chun touched his wife's hand with evil intentions and said, "You are coming back, so we will start training them to sleep alone this month.
They usually sleep until dawn, and we sleep next door. When we hear any noise, we get up to see them."
As a result, there was a thunderstorm that night with lightning and thunder. Hu Shanwei woke up with a start. Mu Chun was sleeping soundly beside him, snoring like a cat. How could he get up and check if he heard any noise as he promised
Hu Shanwei was both amused and annoyed. He got up to see if his daughter was awakened. Fortunately, A Lei's sleep was exactly the same as Mu Chun's, and neither could be awakened by thunder.
After looking at A Lei, I went to check on Xiao Ji. Xiao Ji had already woken up. He was hugging his knees, leaning against the corner, curled up at the head of the bed. He was so thin, like a small shrimp.
Hu Shanwei felt a little distressed and put down the lantern. "Since you are scared, why don't you ask someone to accompany you?"
Seeing Hu Shanwei coming, Xiao Ji obviously relaxed, stopped curling up, and lay back on the bed. "I am a man, I must be brave and not afraid."
Hu Shan sat beside him, stroking his thin back. "Everyone has something they are afraid of. Men, women, generals, even emperors, everyone has times when they are afraid. But the more powerful people are, the better they are at disguising themselves."
Your grandfather, for example, was a truly gifted performer.
Xiao Ji patted his thin chest, which was as thin as a pipa, and said, "I am not pretending, I am really brave."
What a sensitive child. Hu Shanwei smiled, "What is cowardice? What is bravery? Cowardice is retreating out of fear, while bravery is knowing that you are weak against a strong opponent and still doing it despite knowing that it is impossible. This is bravery."
Xiao Ji seemed to understand, but he was still young after all. As the thunder faded away, he fell asleep again.
In this way, Hu Shanwei lived the life of a retired cadre. He got up early every day, drank a glass of warm water, and walked around the chrysanthemum field to exercise. When he returned home, Mu Chun was helping Are, who had just woken up, to get dressed and wash up.
A Lei had no hair, so there was no need to comb his hair. Hu Shanwei used Xiao Ji's hair to braid it to practice.
Wearing a red silk headband, Xiao Ji politely said "thank you", which made Hu Shanwei feel very guilty. During breakfast, he put a few pieces of food into Xiao Ji's bowl with his chopsticks.
While Hu Shanwei was picking up food for Xiaoji, he was secretly observing Are's reaction, but Are did not seem jealous.
After eating, the two children reviewed the big characters they had learned before in the gauze tent. Less than half an hour later, Muchun brought two Sichuan ponies from the stable. These horses were very docile. A Lei and Xiao Ji rode on the horses, while Muchun and Hu Shanwei each led one. A Lei also let Muchun lead the way, and they took a stroll on the boulevard and went to the small farm to see the small animals.
They grow vegetables, raise chickens, ducks, fish, and even have a cow that produces milk. The family is self-sufficient. The children watch the farmer milk the cows and get a bowl to feed the two newborn puppies they have brought home.
The black one is A Lei's, and Xiao Ji's is a small flower dog. Mu Chun said, "Let them raise it themselves, develop feelings for the dogs, and train them into hunting dogs in the future. Then I will take them hunting."
Hu Shanwei looked at Xiao Ji and said, "The Prince of Yan has ascended the throne, and the reign is Yongle. Next year, a new reign will be adopted, and the reign of Jianwen will be abolished. This year is the 35th year of Hongwu. The Princess of Yan has been canonized as the Queen, and the Prince of Yan as the Crown Prince. This child is the only grandchild in the palace. I estimate that someone from the court will come to pick him up in a few days. Xiao Ji will have to leave Kunming before the little puppy grows up."
Seeing that there was no one around except two ignorant children who were focused on feeding the dog and the rabbit, Mu Chun said, "It's not that simple. Although the new queen and the new prince have been canonized and announced to the world, the capital has not been peaceful recently. There has been a bloody storm. The Geng family, the grandfather of my brother Mu Sheng, has been executed. Fang Xiaoru, Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai and other old ministers of Jianwen refused to recognize the new emperor and cursed Emperor Yongle for usurping the throne. They were all exterminated. There was also the son-in-law Mei Yin, who attempted to assassinate the new emperor, but was exposed by Ji Gang's spies, ambushed and fell into the water and died. In this way, several sons-in-law of Emperor Gaozu, from the first son-in-law to the ninth son-in-law, are all dead."
None of the nine princes-in-law survived.
They were either killed when Emperor Gaozu confiscated their property and exterminated their clans, or they were killed when they took sides during the Jingnan Campaign. The sixth prince consort Wang Ning was killed by Emperor Jianwen, and the seventh prince consort Li Jian fell off his horse and was seriously injured when he followed Li Jinglong to attack Peking, and died before he was carried to Peking for treatment.
With great difficulty, the second consort Mei Yin was retained, but he refused to acknowledge Emperor Yongle and ended up becoming a drowned ghost. In this way, all the princesses of the Hongwu Dynasty, from the eldest to the ninth, became widows.
Hu Shanwei was accustomed to the cruelty of the transition of power in the royal family, and was not surprised by the death of the son-in-law Mei Yin. However, when he heard the words "From the first son-in-law to the ninth son-in-law, all died", his heart suddenly ached, and he fell silent, not responding to Mu Chun's words.
Mu Chun realized that he had said the wrong thing, and hurriedly began to save the precarious relationship between the couple. "Wang Ning died before the dawn, in the darkest time before dawn. I am very sorry. I have only served a few people in my life, and Wang Ning is one of them. He can endure humiliation and make achievements. He can also take the blame for his wife and protect his family. He is really a man."
Hu Shanwei hummed, "It shows that people change. When people are young, they are full of passion to protect their country, and their family and fiancée take a back seat. When they reach middle age, they have a successful career and live a stable life. They have a wife of noble birth who understands their feelings, a sensible and smart son, and a big fat grandson. Family members take the upper hand in their hearts, and they will risk their lives to protect them."
Hu Shanwei burned down the Kunning Palace to avenge Wang Ning, but the dead cannot be resurrected. The first and only love of her girlhood, the person she once entrusted her life to, died in the court struggle and could never come back.
How could I not control my mouth? Why did I have to mention the prince consort? I knew clearly that she had been deeply in love with Wang Ning before, and even gave up remarrying and entered the palace as a court lady to avoid being criticized by the world. Mu Chun regretted it so much that she had to continue to rescue him, saying, "I will never change my love for you."
"I know." Hu Shanwei held Mu Chun's hand, "I will never change my attitude towards you."
The author has something to say: I will continue to give out candies today~ I will give out another 100 red envelopes. Friends, please leave a message to thank the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution~
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