The two agreed on a time and said goodbye to each other. Zhou Qian couldn't be out for too long, and Li Yaonan was also worried about her husband.
Walking into Jubaozhai, Li Yaonan's face darkened and he heard a burst of sarcasm.
"Hey, isn't this my ninth brother? Why are you here at Jubaozhai? Do you need my help?" A frivolous voice sounded. Li Yaonan thought it sounded familiar. After thinking carefully, he realized that the person should be Lin Zhihan, his husband's fifth brother.
"Fifth brother, you are wrong. Ninth brother is now the wife of the third place winner of the imperial examination. How can he still need your help? I don't know..."
"Seventh brother, what are you talking about? Ninth brother is in financial difficulty, and as an elder brother, I should take care of him, so that he won't pretend to be rich and bring disgrace to our mansion."
"Fifth brother is right. It's rare for me to come to Jubaozhai. If there's anything you like, I'll give it to you."
Lin Yixuan held Xiao Xu'er in his arms and ignored her. He said to the shopkeeper calmly, "There are a lot of flies here today. It's time to clean them up."
The shopkeeper cowered in his tracks, saying that it was none of his business if they were just family members quarreling.
"What did you say..." Lin Zhihao was furious and wanted to rush over to fight, not caring at all that Lin Yixuan was holding the baby in her arms.
Li Yaonan looked very unhappy. He walked in and frowned: "Husband."
Lin Yixuan smiled and turned around. Xiao Xuer also turned around and waved at Li Yaonan. She was mumbling something in her mouth.
Li Yaonan's expression relaxed, a smile appeared on his lips, he reached out to hold his son, and asked with concern: "Are you tired?"
Lin Yixuan shook his head, but Li Yaonan didn't believe it. Shuang'er's physique was not as good as men's. Little Xu'er was getting heavier and heavier. Holding him was like holding a weight. Seeing a little sweat on his husband's forehead, Li Yaonan smiled gently, holding Xu'er in one hand and taking out a handkerchief from his arms with the other hand: "Here."
Lin Yixuan smiled and glanced at her husband jokingly. This handkerchief was used to wipe Xiao Xuer's mouth.
Li Yaonan curled his lips, he understood what his husband meant, but he was a grown man, if he wasn't holding Xu'er today, he wouldn't have carried a handkerchief on him, so he asked his husband to bear with it for now.
The couple exchanged glances as if no one was around, completely ignoring the two fighting cocks staring at each other.
"So you are the third place winner." Lin Zhihao looked at them with contempt and an arrogant attitude. He got angry when he saw the two of them. He remembered clearly that his grandfather had lost his temper yesterday.
"Who are you?" Li Yaonan asked calmly while holding his son, without even looking at him.
Lin Zhihao suddenly became furious: "I am his seventh brother."
"Oh!" Li Yaonan smiled slightly, "So it's my seventh uncle. Why didn't you tell me earlier? I thought it was some blind thug who bullied my husband who was alone. Xu'er is still young. What should I do if he gets scared? I'm not saying anything, but you're wrong here, seventh uncle."
Lin Yixuan turned away and tried hard to hold back her laughter. Her husband's ability to turn the tables was simply beyond the reach of others.
"You..." Lin Zhihao was so angry that he was choked and speechless.
Lin Zhihan snorted coldly and quickly supported his seventh brother: "You are such a good husband of the ninth brother. You are so indiscriminate when you speak. You are really good at speaking. You can make your words sound just because you don't recognize your relatives. Pah!"
Li Yaonan was not angry. If he was angry, he would have lost. The people who came and went in Jubaozhai were all rich and powerful. West City was originally a gathering place for shops. He could not afford to lose face. He smiled and said, "Fifth uncle, you are serious. My Li family has a strict family tradition and we dare not curry favor with the rich and powerful. It is not easy to study hard for ten years. I think I am a proud person. Why do you have to make things difficult for me, uncle?"
If we change the stance today, Li Yaonan is the rich one, and this statement of distancing himself from the relationship is definitely not tenable, and will only make people think that he despises the poor and loves the rich.
But now, some people may think that Li Yaonan is stupid and inflexible, but deep down in their hearts, they all admire him. Not everyone has the courage to reject such a prominent Yue family.
"you... ... "
"Zhi Hao—" A faint voice sounded, and a man walked out of the house. He was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a dignified appearance, a cold face, and sharp eyes.
Lin Zhihao was showing his teeth and claws just now, but when he heard this voice, he immediately turned into a house cat.
"Tanhua Lang." The man looked at him casually, his calm eyes devoid of any emotion.
Li Yaonan concealed the strange light in his eyes, and clearly felt a kind of contempt and disregard, which made him really unhappy!
"Your humble servant is here." Li Yaonan bowed and recognized at a glance that the man was wearing the fourth-rank court robe. It was really a blessing to have a tree behind to provide shade. He was a fourth-rank official at such a young age. An ordinary Jinshi would probably have to work for a lifetime to reach this level.
"You are my ninth brother's husband, there is no need to be so polite." Lin Zhize had a blank expression on his face. He took the initiative with just a few words and acted like an elder.
Li Yaonan smiled calmly and did not respond. She just glanced at her husband.
Lin Yixuan raised his eyes and looked at Lin Zhize nonchalantly, a sneer appeared on his lips: "Brother."
Lin Zhize nodded, and did not pay attention to his cousin. It was just an abandoned child, not worth it. He only said to Li Yaonan: "I hope you don't regret it."
Li Yaonan smiled confidently: "I never regret anything I do."
Lin Zhize said nothing more and left with his two younger brothers.
Li Yaonan was a little dazed and turned to look at her husband: "Is this the end?"
Lin Yixuan sneered: “What else do you want?” Lin Zhize is not a fool. There are people coming and going around Jubaozhai, so how could they start a quarrel? Besides, Lin Zhize is the eldest son of his uncle and the eldest grandson of the marquis's mansion. He has received a different education since childhood. He is a rare capable person and a ruthless person. How could he be like Lin Zhihan and those cowards who only know how to show off their strength and courage
Ah ah, Xiao Xuer grabbed a jade pendant and refused to let go. Seeing that his father and his uncle ignored him, he cried out in dissatisfaction.
Lin Yixuan burst out laughing, and his face was full of sarcasm, but in the blink of an eye, it was replaced by a touch of tenderness. He pinched Xiao Xu'er's nose and said, "You naughty boy." Then he said to Li Yaonan, "Don't pay attention to them. I have my eyes on a jade Guanyin, which is just right for mother."
Li Yaonan nodded and put the matter aside for the time being, it was just a chance encounter.
On the other side, Lin Zhihao was extremely dissatisfied and said angrily: "Brother, look at how arrogant he is, why don't you ask your younger brother to deal with him."
Lin Zhize glanced at his brother coldly: "Idiot."
"You—" Lin Zhihao's face flushed red. If this man was not his biological brother, he would definitely beat him up.
"Don't argue with him in the future." Lin Zhihao made a conclusion in an instant. Since Li Yaonan was not afraid at the Qionglin Banquet and dared to argue with the ministers in the court, his stupid brother would be asking for trouble if he bumped into him.
"Are we just going to let it go like this?" Lin Zhihao was furious. A mere third place winner in the imperial examination actually dared to challenge the Marquis' Mansion, making the Marquis' Mansion lose face.
"He's just a third place winner. You think too highly of him." Lin Zhize said slowly, not taking Li Yaonan seriously at all. Even if he was outstanding and caught the emperor's eye, how could the emperor, who was busy with all kinds of affairs, remember a small figure? There were many third place winners over the years, but how many of them were truly powerful? He valued arrogant young people, but there was no need to worry too much about fools.
Lin Zhihan stood aside as a stake. Lin Zhihan was the eldest son of the first wife, while he was the subordinate of the third wife. Normally, he could only curry favor with Lin Zhihao. When he met Lin Zhize, he felt a little upset.
Lin Yixuan picked out a jade Guanyin, paid for it, and then bought a jade pendant for Xiao Xuer. During this time, Li Yaonan sneaked out for a while. Lin Yixuan smiled knowingly and pretended not to know.
Xiao Xu'er was probably tired from playing, so he came out of Jubaozhai and fell asleep in his father's arms. Li Yaonan breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that his son was the cutest when he was asleep. Without Xiao Xu'er making trouble, the group quickly arrived at Li's house.
Mother Lin had received a message from the servant earlier, and she had waited and waited but no one showed up. When she saw her little grandson, she first scolded the two of them: "Xu'er is still young, why aren't you more careful? Take him to the street, what if he bumps into someone?"
"No, Xu'er is having a lot of fun. Children just need to be taken out for a walk." Lin Yixuan smiled and acted coquettishly.
Mother Lin frowned and pretended to be angry: "Don't I know more than you do?"
"How could that be? Mom, you are our lighting fixture and the guiding stone on the road of life. You must not be too modest." Li Yaonan flattered her hastily. It would always be a good idea to coax his mother-in-law first.
"You guys." Mother Lin was amused and shook her head repeatedly. She really couldn't do anything about them, so she warned them: "Xu'er is still young, there are many diseases on the street, you guys are just too lazy to have fun!
Lin Yixuan nodded hastily, showing that he had learned his lesson. Li Yaonan was also very upset. He originally thought that it was okay to take a nine-month-old child to the street, but he forgot that there were no vaccines in ancient times. Moreover, he almost encountered a collision today.
Mother Lin kept nagging them, and Yang Yi made jokes from time to time, and the family was having a great time.
That night, Li Yaonan and Lin Yixuan stayed at Lin's mother's house. After the nurse took Xu'er away, Li Yaonan took out a hairpin from his sleeve, gently inserted it into his husband's hair, and praised, "It looks really good."
Lin Yixuan smiled slightly, with a blush on her cheeks. Although she knew that her husband had a gift for her, she still felt sweet in her heart at this moment and whispered, "I like it very much."
Li Yaonan smiled proudly: "Of course, your husband has always had good taste."
Lin Yixuan glanced at him, she was already used to her husband's personality which would shine with a little sunshine.
Not to mention the affectionate couple at night, the next day Lin's mother kept staring at Lin Yixuan's belly.
Lin Yixuan felt embarrassed by her gaze and glared at her husband. Really, he had no self-control even at his parents' home. However, Lin Yixuan touched his belly and felt a little disappointed. He knew that it would be difficult for Shuang'er to get pregnant, but he really wanted to have another child.
Fortunately, Li Yaonan didn't know about this, otherwise he would have taught his husband a lesson, telling him that getting pregnant too quickly is not a good idea, and that it would be the safest time to wait until Xu'er is at least two years old.