The Beauties of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 115

Xiao Weixu's eyes widened in disbelief, "Grandma?"

Wanlan couldn't help but let out a soft sob, the tears welling in her eyes falling as she slowly knelt down to meet his gaze, her trembling lips curving into a smile as she spoke:

"Xu'er...where do you want to move to? Mother will definitely take you there..."

Her tears seemed to frighten Xiao Weixu. He frantically reached out to wipe away her tears, crying out in a panic, "Mother, don't cry, Xu'er won't go anywhere, please don't cry..."

“…Xu’er…”

Holding the little child in her arms, Wanlan burst into tears.

How could he be so selfish? For his own happiness, he abandoned Xu'er.

When she left a year ago, she barely spent any time with Xu'er in order to help him adjust to being with his mother. All she remembered was him stumbling as he learned to walk, but now he's a little adult who can wipe away her tears and comfort her!

"Mother...don't cry..."

Xiao Weixu was so panicked he almost cried along with her. He had no idea why his mother, who had suddenly appeared, was crying so sadly, but he knew that if his mother kept crying, he would cry too.

"Alright, Lan'er, you've frightened the child. Stop crying!"

Song Huining bent down and pulled them apart, one in each hand, and sighed as she wiped away Wanlan's tears. "You should be happy to finally be reunited. Stop crying. Look, Xu'er is almost crying with you."

Wanlan quickly wiped away her tears with her sleeve, bent down and picked up Weixu. Looking at his red eyes, she couldn't help but nuzzle her face against his, murmuring in a hoarse voice, "Xu'er... Xu'er..."

Song Huining smiled helplessly, turned to face Wu Niang, but her gaze fell on the child in Wu Niang's arms. She widened her eyes in surprise and reached out to snatch the child, "Lan'er, is this Xian'er?"

Wanlan swallowed hard, turned her head and smiled, "Yes, Mother, he is Xian'er."

"What a beautiful child!"

Little Weixu, who was holding his mother's neck with both hands, also craned his neck to look at the child in Song Huining's arms and repeated after the adults, "Xian'er".

Wanlan kissed his cheek affectionately and said softly, "Yes, Xu'er, he's your little brother! Don't you like having a little brother?"

"Little brother?" Wei Xu opened his eyes wide, trying hard to see the baby in the swaddling clothes clearly. "Mother, move closer! I can't see my little brother! Move closer!"

Wanlan chuckled softly, took two steps closer while holding him, and asked, "Does Xu'er care about his younger brother? Should we take him to school together?"

"Yes!" Wei Xu'er reached out her tiny hand and carefully touched the sleeping child in the swaddling clothes, then quickly withdrew her hand as if afraid of disturbing the child. She then turned her head to meet Wanlan's gentle gaze and said very seriously, "Mother, Xu'er will protect my little brother!"

Her eyes suddenly welled up with tears, and Wanlan hugged him tightly, choking back sobs, "My dear Xu'er... I'm so sorry..."

After lunch, Wanlan entrusted Weixian to Song Huining's care for the time being, while she took Weixu into the inner palace for a nap. The mother and son, one big and one small, took off their outer garments and shoes and lay down together under the brocade quilt.

Wanlan held the child tightly, as if trying to make up for the lack of warmth she had given him over the past year. Watching Weixu gradually drift off to sleep, she felt like crying again.

This time, regardless of whether Zehua really intends to leave the capital, she will definitely take this child with her and will never abandon him again.

Her vision was so blurry that she raised her hand to wipe away the hot tears that were overflowing from her eyes, but a hand suddenly cut in and wiped them away first. She was startled and stared at the uninvited guest in front of her. When she saw the person's face, she suddenly relaxed and the tears fell even more quickly.

"Wanlan, don't cry."

Zhao Defang lowered his voice and looked at his sleeping son in her arms. He sighed softly, "Mother said you cried a lot today. Your eyes are all swollen. Are you trying to make me feel guilty and heartbroken? Stop crying."

"Ze, Zehua... I can't control myself."

“And I am a selfish father.” Looking down at his son sleeping between the two of them, he sighed softly and reached out to gently stroke her back to comfort her, “Wanlan, you are right, we should have come back to see Xu’er a long time ago.”

He was so extreme in his actions that he deliberately provoked the Imperial Uncle for Wanlan's sake, completely ignoring their son.

"Zehua, let's take Xu'er with us." Even if it would change history, she didn't want to think about it anymore.

“Okay, we’ll take him with us.” Zhao Defang gently stroked her back and said in a warm voice, “Sweetie, you need to get some sleep.”

If he were to leave the court and take his son with him, he would have to think it over carefully.

When the three woke up, it was almost dusk. Song Huining invited them to have dinner in the palace. Afterwards, the family of four bid farewell to Song Huining and left the palace. During this time, Xu'er was extremely reluctant to part with his grandmother, but having just reunited with his parents, he really wanted to spend more time with them. So he had to leave Bao Ci Palace with tears in his eyes.

It was already 7:15 PM when they returned to the Prince of Qin's residence. The two children were exhausted, so Wanlan took them to Tingyuxuan to settle them in before returning to the Ziyun Pavilion next door.

As soon as she entered the house, she saw her husband sitting at the table, deep in thought, seemingly pondering something.

She stepped forward and asked, "Zehua, aren't you tired?"

Zhao Defang looked up at her, then reached out and put his arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace. Since she gave birth, he seemed to be even more attached to her than before, and whenever they were alone, he never allowed any space between them.

"I took a nap this afternoon, so I'm not sleepy now." He paused, then said, "Wanlan, I'm thinking about what you told me in Jiangling."

Wanlan was taken aback. "What is it?" Could it be—

"About my eldest brother."

Wanlan bit her lip, somewhat at a loss. "Zehua, I..." Yes, she had once thought of using this matter to lure Zehua back to the capital, but his anger at that time made her panic. Later, she thought again that there was no need to risk dragging Zehua into this matter. She could give Zhao Dezhao a private reminder.

To be honest, she still doesn't believe that Zhao Dezhao would have committed suicide.

There must be some unknown inside story behind Zhao Dezhao's death.

But is it okay to drag Zehua into this? She doesn't want Zehua to get involved.

"Wanlan? Why are you silent now? Why did you say last time that Big Brother was in danger? What did you know?"

“Zehua…” Wanlan raised her head and squinted at him, “If I tell you, will anything change? If I tell you, you will definitely do something. Should I… tell you?”

Zhao Defang was startled. Should she speak?

He knew perfectly well that her presence was extremely dangerous; perhaps one wrong step would force them to live in two separate worlds. He couldn't take that risk—"No! You can't say it!"