Zhou Shaojin started chatting with Li about family matters. When talking about the interesting stories of Youjin and Zongjin, Li's face was full of smiles. Seeing that his father and Li lived such a happy life, Zhou Shaojin was happy for them.
After a while, Youjin and Zongjin woke up.
The wet nurses tidied up the two men and brought them out to see Zhou Shaojin.
Zong Jin had never met Zhou Shaojin. Although Youjin had met Zhou Shaojin, he was too young at that time and had long forgotten it.
The two children looked at Zhou Shaojin curiously, and were led by their wet nurses to kowtow to Zhou Shaojin.
The gift that Zhou Shaojin gave to Zhou Zongjin was a gold necklace with a longevity lock on it, and the gift that he gave to Zhou Youjin was a tassel inlaid with hundreds of precious stones. In addition, there were also the four treasures of the study, chess, and needlework, which filled up a whole box.
The two children thanked her and stood on Li's left and right. They looked very well-behaved, but their eyes were always looking at Yun'er.
Zhou Shaojin smiled as he looked at them, pointed at the two children and said to Yun Ge'er, "This is your uncle, and this is your aunt." He then said to the two children, "When he grows up, I will let him kowtow to you."
Zhou Zongjin hid his face in Li's arms embarrassedly, but Zhou Youjin said, "Should we also give gifts? My uncle gave me a string of small yellow croakers when he came to our house last time. Everyone said they were delicious. Can we give them to him as a gift then?" For the last sentence, he looked up and asked Li.
Li was very pleased. She touched Zhou Youjin's head with a smile, praised her repeatedly, and said, "You are the elder. You must take care of Yun'er when you are with him in the future. Do you understand?"
Zhou Youjin nodded obediently, walked forward to hold Yun Ge'er's hand, and said, "My wet nurse made osmanthus candy for me. Shall we go eat some osmanthus candy?"
Yun'er twisted his body and refused to let her hold his hand.
Zhou Youjin was a little sad.
Zhou Shaojin was very fond of her and said to Zhou Youjin softly, "Yun'er can't eat yet, but he will be able to eat your sweet-scented osmanthus candy when he grows up." After that, he smiled and said to Li, "Youjin didn't speak at that time, and my sister and I were so worried about her. I didn't expect that she can not only speak clearly, but also be confident and not afraid of strangers. This is really a girl who changes a lot when she grows up. She becomes more and more beautiful!"
Li was very happy to hear this and said with a smile: "This is also due to the good teaching of the master - the master hired two people to talk to Youjin every day, and Youjin gradually began to speak."
As they were talking, a little maid ran in and said, "Mrs. Liao from Yushu Hutong is here."
I guess he came to visit Li.
Zhou Shaojin hurriedly said, "Please come in!" and went to greet Zhou Chujin with Li.
Who knew that Yun'er would hold Zhou Shaojin's neck tightly. When the wet nurse came over to hug him, he cried loudly, making people's forehead and heart ache.
Zhou Shaojin could only smile at Li, who was looking at her with an apologetic look on her face, and said, "It's okay, I'll just hold him."
Seeing that Yun'er was really sad and distressed, Li didn't force Zhou Shaojin and just told him that if he felt heavy, she would help hold Yun'er.
Zhou Shaojin thanked him with a smile.
When Yun'er saw that no one came to hug him, he soon stopped crying.
Seeing the big tears in his eyes, Zhou Shaojin couldn't help but kiss his son, laughed softly and said, "You big bad guy."
Yun'er looked at her and smiled foolishly.
Zhou Shaojin was defeated.
Zhou Chujin not only brought a lot of gifts, but also brought Guan Ge, who was already three years old.
Guan Ge'er and Zhou Youjin started playing together immediately. Guan Ge'er followed Zhou Youjin and called her "Auntie" and "Auntie", which made Zhou Zongjin so anxious that she jumped in her wet nurse's arms.
Zhou Shaojin and others watched and laughed.
Zhou Chujin started talking about Liao Shaotang: "… After the Mid-Autumn Festival, he will not go to the Imperial Academy. He will prepare to leave next year. I will thank Master Cheng for taking care of me over the past two years. I will go to thank Madam Guo and tell her about this."
Zhou Shaojin smiled and nodded in response, "Yes," he said, "I have a few good ink sticks here, which were collected by the Fourth Master. I'll find them for you later, and you can use them when your brother-in-law dies."
The requirements for calligraphy in the imperial examinations are very high. With good ink, the calligraphy is more beautiful than usual. What's more, it is Cheng Chi's collection.
Zhou Chujin was not polite to her sister.
The three of them chatted for a while and then went to pay their respects to Mrs. Guo.
Old Madam Guo looked at the room full of children, all of whom were very pretty with smiles on their faces. She asked the maid to bring snacks to Youjin and the others, and asked Li to stay at home for a few more days. She also made an appointment with them to go to Daxiangguo Temple and Baiyun Temple in the next two days to worship Buddha and eat vegetarian food.
For a moment, Tingxiang Courtyard was filled with laughter.
Cheng Chi stood at the door of Tingxiang Courtyard, listening to the laughter inside. A faint smile appeared in the corners of his eyes and brows. He told the servant not to disturb Madam Guo and returned to the study.
Huaishan silently placed a large stack of papers in front of Cheng Chi and said, "The Second Prince is not very knowledgeable, the Third Prince is narrow-minded, the Fifth Prince is timid, and the Seventh Prince is quite serious, but he is a little overconfident... He is not as good as the Fourth Prince!"
Cheng Chi sneered and said, "I'm not the emperor, this is not my world!"
What he meant was that what he wanted was the downfall of the Fourth Prince; as for who would become the emperor, it had nothing to do with him!
Huaishan wanted to say something but stopped.
Cheng Chi simply said, "My wife knows about this."
Huaishan had no choice but to retreat with a gloomy look.
Cheng Chi began to look at the information about the princes that he had asked Huo Huating to investigate.
Huaishan walked in again, looking a little strange, and said, "Fourth Master, Lord Shi Kuanshi of the Fourth Prince's Mansion wants to invite you to his house for dinner tomorrow night."
Cheng Chi thought for a moment and said, "Before, we asked Xiling to send congratulations to Yun'er on his 100th day. This time, I'm afraid we'll have to serve the main course. Huaishan, go tell the person who's coming that I'll be there tomorrow."
Huaishan bowed and left the study.
Cheng Chi was alone in the study room looking at the things sent by Huo Dongting. As it was getting darker, he packed the things in the secret compartment behind the bookcase and went to Tingxiangyuan.
Hearing that he was coming, Madam Guo and Mrs. Li were overjoyed. Fortunately, there was no one else in the room except Zhou Chujin. All the people there were either children or elders. Zhou Chujin went to the desk in the west. Cheng Chi came in and paid his respects to his mother and mother-in-law. He rewarded his sister-in-law and brother-in-law with a string of eighteen white jade Buddhist beads each. After asking about his father-in-law's health, he left.
Zhou Shaojin and others had dinner at Tingxiangyuan.
Cheng Chi had dinner alone in the main room.
Zhou Shaojin never felt at ease.
Sometimes she wondered if Cheng Chi would feel lonely eating alone and just eat a mouthful of food; sometimes she wondered if Cheng Chi would read for a while when he came back every night; she wondered if Qingfeng had poured some water in the incense tray to remove the smoky smell when he lit the Jianan incense for Cheng Chi; sometimes she thought that Cheng Chi would have a day off tomorrow, and Old Master Song was bedridden, and Madam Song wanted to move up the matter of Song Mu's marriage and was going to discuss it with her tomorrow. She wondered if Cheng Chi was free, and if he would feel bored if Madam Song came over... She finally waited until the dinner was over, and went back to the house holding Yun'er.
Cheng Chi was wearing a moon-white Songjiang three-shuttle fine cloth and was leaning against the bedside reading a book.
Hearing the noise, he looked up, and his handsome face looked even softer, gentler and more elegant under the light.
Zhou Shaojin was a little dazed.
Cheng Chi burst out laughing, dropped the book, held Yun'er in his arms, and said with a smile, "Yun'er, have you been good today?"
My son has never been quiet since he opened his eyes. After three months, he obviously slept less and needed someone to carry him around every day.
Zhou Shaojin handed the child to Cheng Chi, held his son's hand and smiled, "Our Yun brother is really filial. He knew that people from outside the family were coming today, so he didn't make any noise and was very obedient.
"Really?" Cheng Chi smiled and put his son on the bed, then sat beside the bed and leaned over to tease him.
What Yun Ge'er likes most these days is to hold on to the fingers that others hand to him, or to hold on to things that touch his hands.
Cheng Chi deliberately stretched out his hand to his side, and when he tried to grab it, he quickly retracted his fingers. This happened several times, and Yun Ge'er began to feel a little impatient.
Zhou Shaojin felt sad that his son was being forced into such a fun situation by Cheng Chi, and hurriedly stopped Cheng Chi: "It's just playing with the child, just let him go..."
Before she finished her words, Yun'er tried to grab Cheng Chi's fingers again but failed. The corners of his mouth flattened slightly, and with a "bang" he kicked Cheng Chi in the face.
Cheng Chi was caught off guard and was kicked by Yun'er.
Both husband and wife were stunned.
Yun'er, who had kicked someone, started crying out of grievance.
Zhou Shaojin quickly picked up Yun Ge'er and asked her husband while coaxing her son: "Does it hurt? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Cheng Chi touched his face and laughed out loud.
No one had ever dared to kick him in the face in his life, but now his son kicked him in the face.
Cheng Chi couldn't help but say: "I didn't expect this kid to be so skilled. When he grows up, he can learn martial arts from me."
"What about the Qixing Hall?" Zhou Shaojin asked nervously.
He didn't want his son to become the leader of the Seven Stars Hall and do something that would put his head on the line.
Cheng Chi smiled and kissed Zhou Shaojin's pink cheek, whispering, "Don't worry, I just want him to be healthy."
Zhou Shaojin felt relieved.
The couple sometimes rang the bell and sometimes clapped their hands. It took them a long time to coax Yun'er into silence. The wet nurse then carried the child downstairs to wash.
Cheng Chi sighed with relief: "It's really not easy to coax a child."
Zhou Shaojin just laughed.
The servant came in panting and reported, "Fourth Master, Master Wen from Xizhimen sent a servant here, saying that he wants you to come over no matter what—Master Nuo is back, and Grandma Nuo had an argument with Master Nuo. Grandma Nuo wanted to hang herself, but now she has been rescued. Master Wen wants to send Grandma Nuo back to Jinling, and wants you to be a witness, so that the people of the Wu family won't think that the Cheng family bullied Grandma Nuo. He also wants to borrow a few of your strong guards to escort Grandma Nuo south."
Cheng Chi is neither the clan leader nor Cheng Wen’s brother, so why should he be involved in these matters!
Zhou Shaojin hugged Cheng Chi's arm tightly.
Cheng Chi thought for a moment and said to the boy, "It's so late now. Since Grandma Nuo has been saved, let Master Wen send someone to watch over her. We can talk about it tomorrow if there is anything else!"
The servant ran off to report the news.
Cheng Chi smiled and asked Zhou Shaojin: "Don't you want me to go?"
"Yeah!" Zhou Shaojin nodded, leaned into Cheng Chi's arms, and whispered, "This kind of thing is always a matter of the husband and the wife. I don't like Wu Baozhang, but Master Wen wants Kang Liuniang to be his co-wife, and I feel uncomfortable. Both sides are unreasonable. I don't want you to meddle in their affairs."
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Hey guys, today's update.
PS: I will go see a famous doctor tomorrow, so there will be only one update, around 10 o'clock in the evening.
O(∩_∩)O~
※(To be continued)