The marriage of their children is a major event, and it is indeed impossible for Shen to make the decision alone. The two agreed to discuss it with their husbands tonight and exchange information when they meet again next time.
Wushuang and Wang Hongbo were working together to break open the last piece of white sesame candy and share it, completely unaware that their life-long marriage was about to be settled. Instead, because they got along so well, they made a pact that Wang Hongbo would visit Wushuang at the Marquis of Runan's residence in the capital one day.
Chapter Index 52 | 51, 50, 49.2
Chapter 52:
As the third-day-old ceremony was about to begin, Madam Yang personally came to Yingliu Residence to pick up her grandson.
Junyu was a boy, and the Yang family twins weren't very interested in him. They rarely thought about coming to their aunt's place to see their younger brother, but Wushuang was there too, so they followed their grandmother to pick up their sister.
Wushuang and Wang Hongbo were chatting happily. They sat cross-legged on the daybed, knees touching, hands clasped, foreheads pressed together, whispering secrets. At first glance, they seemed incredibly intimate.
The twins saw this scene as soon as they entered the room.
Yang Tiandi jumped up in anger, rushed to the bedside in a few steps, pointed at Wang Hongbo with his little finger, and shouted, "You... why are you holding onto our little sister? Are you trying to kidnap her because she's cute?"
The incident was so sudden that Wang Hongbo was startled. He looked at Yang Tiandi, who was about to explode with anger, and then at Wushuang, who was smiling sweetly. He said honestly, "Shuangshuang is really cute. I would like to invite her to my home as a guest."
Go to his house?
Wouldn't that be the same as kidnapping?
Yang Tiandi, who was possessive of his younger sister, naturally refused. Wearing his little boots, he jumped onto the bed, pounced on Yang Tiandi, and threatened him with his little fists: "That's my sister, you can't play with her! You say you'll never dare to mess with my sister again, and I won't hit you, otherwise... Humph!"
“Our two families are close friends. It’s perfectly normal for us to visit each other’s homes and play together when we have free time. How can you be so unreasonable?” Wang Hongbo was a bit stubborn. Even though the other party’s fist was right in front of him, he refused to back down and insisted on arguing seriously to find out who was right and who was wrong.
Yang Tiandi wasn't buying it. He said in a strong voice, "Protecting my sister isn't about reasoning, it's about who has the bigger fist!"
After saying that, her little fist came down.
Wang Hongbo is gentle and appears to be a well-behaved scholar, but he is not weak. He has been learning martial arts since he was five years old, getting up early every day to practice stances and boxing. Although he has not yet achieved great success, he is not easily defeated when fighting with boys his age.
He first turned his head to dodge the incoming punch, then kicked Yang Tiandi aside, then rolled to the window, away from the enemy.
Yang Tiandi, of course, was not willing to give up and pounced again to continue the fight.
Just as Madam Yang and the wet nurse finished wrapping Junyu in the bright red swaddling clothes, she turned around and saw her fifth grandson chasing after the guests and hitting them. And her fourth grandson was even worse; he pulled out a small dagger from somewhere and sneakily handed it to his younger brother.
Her well-maintained old face twitched slightly. Forgetting all about the decorum of an official's wife, she strode forward and smacked each of her two grandsons' bottoms, scolding, "Fourth and Fifth Sons, what are you doing? Getting physical and wielding knives! Who taught you to treat guests like this!"
"Grandma, he's trying to kidnap my sister to his house!" Yang Tiandi said, rubbing his sore bottom. "Aren't you going to do anything about it? My sister will be Xiao Wu's fourth sister-in-law in the future. How can you let some other man take her away!"
"That's utter nonsense! I told you beforehand, it wasn't kidnapping at all. It was just that we liked Shuangshuang and invited her over for a visit."
After refuting Yang Tiandi's first sentence, Madam Yang realized what he meant by his second sentence.
Xiao Wu's fourth sister-in-law, isn't that...?
Madam Yang's gaze fell on Yang Tiange. When did Wushuang and the fourth prince get engaged? Of course, she was happy to welcome her granddaughter into the family. The problem was... who came up with the idea? How come she hadn't heard a word about it?
Madam Yang rubbed her temples, suddenly feeling a headache.
Shen had just gone to the bathroom and missed the boys' fight. When she came out, she overheard this and exclaimed in surprise, "Wasn't Shuangshuang supposed to be our Hongbo?"
Yang was also puzzled and asked, "I didn't arrange for Shuangshuang to marry anyone else."
She could tell that her nephews liked Wushuang, but she always thought it was just brotherly and sisterly affection and never thought of making them even closer by marriage and forming a marriage alliance with her maternal family.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Yang Tiandi once again bravely rushed towards Wang Hongbo in order to protect his fourth brother's interests.
But behind him came Yang Tiange's slow, restrained voice: "No...it's okay, just let Shuangshuang decide who she wants to marry, don't worry too much about me."
That's more like human language. At least we didn't lose too much face in front of outsiders. Madam Yang nodded in satisfaction and smoothed things over, saying, "The children are still young. Sometimes when they talk about marriage, it's just a joke. They won't remember anything when they grow up."
But he was very serious!
Having been betrayed by both his own brother and grandmother, Yang Tiandi immediately became weak and lost his balance. He miscalculated the distance he lunged forward and his shoulder slammed into the table, causing him to wince in pain.
However, this is not the worst of all.
The worst part is that nobody cares about him.
Madam Yang had the wet nurse hold Junyu properly, then turned around and beckoned Wushuang and Wang Hongbo to get down from the ground, leading one of them by the hand and heading outside.
"The auspicious time has arrived, let's go and give Yu-ge'er his third-day bath."
Yang Tiange strode off and followed his grandmother without looking back.
Yang Tiandi was utterly dejected, his head hanging low, almost in tears. What had he done wrong? He had only wanted to help his fourth brother, but now he was caught in the middle, disliked by everyone...
“Is it Di Ge’er?” Madam Shen walked over and reached out to pull him. “Come on, let’s go see Yu Ge’er’s third-day celebration.”
As a mother herself, she naturally understood that children are unpredictable and mischievous. Besides, Wang Hongbo hadn't suffered any loss, so there was even less reason to hold a grudge. Seeing Yang Tiandi looking dazed and sad, she took the initiative to come over and cheer him up.
"Why aren't you moving? Do you still like being carried even though you're so big?"
As she spoke, she actually spread her arms and bent down, as if to hug him.
Shen's voice was very gentle, and she carried a faint fragrance when she approached. Yang Tiandi was at his saddest moment, and before he knew it, he had been captured by someone else's mother. He obediently tilted his little face up and let her hug and kiss him.
With so many guests, there were also many people adding basins, so much so that the bronze basin in the main hall of the courtyard was a full six feet in size. Most of the basins brought by each person contained gold and silver items, while some contained gold ingots directly.
After all, the baby's third-day celebration is more about blessings; the sentiment is what matters. If it's too expensive, it might even diminish the baby's good fortune.
In the center of the bronze basin were a pair of jade ruyi scepters, each about half an arm's length long, which were a gift from the Empress Dowager.
Another rather outstanding offering came from Ye Mingzhu, the daughter of the Ye family, the provincial governor of Zhejiang. She was getting married in a few months and, having heard from her elders that a bride-to-be should put extra care into the offering to bring good fortune, she prepared a jade kylin the size of half a palm.