Do not lean against the west railing to lock in the clear autumn - Chapter 169
Upon hearing this, I was stunned.
“Father, he loves you and your mother, but he is cold-hearted and not good at expressing himself.”
Recalling those fragments of Mu Huaien's memories, did Marquis Qi Yun truly love his mother? And why did he let her die at his hands?
"Are there any empty courtyards left?" I asked. I still felt some resistance towards the North Courtyard. My aunt said that my mother was beaten to death for sneaking into the North Courtyard to pick marigolds, although the truth was far more complicated than that.
“Apart from the courtyard where my mother and I live, the entire Qiyun Marquis’s mansion is empty,” Shen Tingxuan said.
Another shocking revelation: "What about those concubines?"
“The ones who came to the manor earlier were sent away by my father before I returned to Pingcheng, for fear that someone would recognize my mother and me. The rest were also sent away after my father was injured.”
Once again, after being injured. What exactly happened between Marquis Qiyun and Prince Qing that time? First, he was determined to die, and after surviving, he's in this state.
“Huai’en, now that you’re back, you should have a good talk with your father. If you don’t say it, he might never be able to bring it up in his entire life,” Shen Tingxuan said in a low voice, his voice full of sincerity.
He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Brother Ting, you are the most like his biological son."
Shen Tingxuan smiled slightly, with a hint of bitterness: "Compared to my father, my father treated me more like a father. He gave me everything that my father couldn't give me."
Ultimately, they settled in Tinglan Residence in the West Courtyard, which was separated from Hongxiu Residence by only one wall. From the courtyard of Tinglan Residence, one could still see the old locust tree of Hongxiu Residence.
Marquis Qiyun was out handling military affairs and had not yet returned to his residence. After resting for a while, Shen Tingxuan and I took a walk around the mansion. Apart from a few servants passing by occasionally, the huge Marquis Qiyun mansion was completely empty and lacked any human presence.
At the lakeside where he first met Shen Tingxuan, the willow trees swayed their withered branches, looking somewhat dejected. Shen Tingxuan pointed to a large rock on the shore and laughed, "Back then, you were sitting there alone, fishing, and dozing off with your head down."
With a grin, I recall those days when, although I used my little tricks to make life at Hongxiuju a little better, I also truly shared a lot of simple joy with Shen Tingxuan and Tianqi.
He shook his head: "The past is best left in your heart to savor alone." Recalling it alone is happiness, but reminiscing together with someone who is no longer the same person only adds to the sadness.
The sound of a child crying came from afar. I couldn't help but look at Shen Tingxuan, who said awkwardly, "It should be Fei Yan."
"Your second son?"
Shen Tingxuan nodded. "Let's go take a look." Saying that, she pulled Shen Tingxuan towards the direction from which the crying came. "I've never seen Zhengyu before. I wonder how tall he is now." He should be about the same height as Chu Chen.
In the garden, two wet nurses took turns holding and comforting the one-year-old Fei Yan. The little boy's cries were loud and clear. Upon seeing Shen Tingxuan, the two wet nurses became even more flustered.
"What's wrong?" Shen Tingxuan frowned slightly.
"Young master, the young master probably misses the young lady. He keeps crying, and he still cries even after we take him out," a wet nurse replied softly.
Shen Tingxuan's face darkened: "Nonsense. Don't mention your young lady again. How could a little child know so much?"
Perhaps because Shen Tingxuan rarely showed his face, the two wet nurses turned pale with fright. When Xiao Feiyan heard Shen Tingxuan's voice, he stopped crying, opened his two big, watery black eyes, stretched out his little arms towards Shen Tingxuan, and kept babbling.
Shen Tingxuan hesitated for a moment, then finally took Fei Yan from the wet nurse's arms. Fei Yan grabbed a lock of hair hanging down Shen Tingxuan's temple, grinned, and drooled as he smiled.
"Can't he speak yet?" In my memory, some children can say simple words when they are around one year old.
"It won't be that fast. Zhengyu didn't start talking until he was over two years old." Shen Tingxuan took the towel handed to him by the wet nurse and gently wiped away the drool that Feiyan was drooling from.
Seeing the father and son being so affectionate, I couldn't help but smile.
That evening, Marquis Qiyun returned to his residence and we had dinner together at Hongxiu Residence. Only Marquis Qiyun was present. Shen Tingxuan and I, along with Zheng Yu and Fei Yan, sat to the side with their wet nurses. Shen Tingxuan's mother, who had been a vegetarian and devoted to Buddhism in recent years, did not attend. Mu Hanyan, however, had been sent by Marquis Qiyun to Liuyun Temple outside the city, supposedly to meditate and reflect on her past transgressions. If Youjing weren't currently without a ruler, Mu Hanyan's actions would have been enough to warrant the extermination of her entire clan.
Marquis Qi Yun sat upright at the head of the table, and I gently sat down opposite him. Shen Tingxuan sat between us. Marquis Qi Yun raised his cold eyes, glanced at me, a fleeting, unreadable emotion crossed his face, and then lowered them again.
Zheng Yu sat to one side with his wet nurse, looking at me with bright black eyes full of curiosity.
"Dinner is served." Marquis Qiyun said coldly, and the servants filed in, setting out the still steaming dishes.
"Father, who is she?" Zheng Yu finally couldn't help but point at me with his little finger and ask Shen Tingxuan.
"Do you still remember those six-colored little wooden blocks?" Shen Tingxuan asked with a smile. Zheng Yu nodded his little head. Shen Tingxuan continued, "She gave them to you. She's your mother's younger sister, Aunt Huai'en."
"Oh," Zheng Yu responded, then looked at me with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, "Why haven't I seen you before?"
“Aunt En was sick and only just got home,” Shen Tingxuan said.
"Mother is also sick. Will it be a long time before she can come home?" Zheng Yu asked, drawing inferences from one instance to another.
Shen Tingxuan frowned slightly, then finally nodded and said, "Yes."
Zheng Yu then pursed his lips, sat up straight, and picked up a rice spoon to put rice in his mouth.
This was the first time in her life that she had eaten with Marquis Qiyun, and she felt a little awkward. After only a few bites, she heard Marquis Qiyun say indifferently, "Aru is not a picky eater."
Shen Tingxuan looked up at Qi Yunhou: "Huai En is not picky about food; he likes to eat anything delicious."
I quietly withdrew the chopsticks I was about to hand over, a warm, moist feeling welling up in my eyes. Ah Ru, is that Mother?
Do not lean against the west railing to lock in the clear autumn. Chapter 146
Chapter word count: 4086 Update time: 09-09-24 16:44
After dinner, Marquis Qiyun asked me to stay. When everyone else had left, leaving only Marquis Qiyun and me in the room, I suddenly felt nervous, my heart pounding in my chest.
"Do you hate her?" Qi Yunhou asked, standing by the window. A cold breeze slipped in through the crack, causing the lamplight in the room to flicker.
"Who?" Please, can you not be so concise? Even though you're usually a man of few words, at least let me know who "she" or "he" is.
"Holding smoke."
"To say I don't hate her would be a lie." If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be in this miserable state now, and I wouldn't owe Zinuo so much. Every time I think of Zinuo's head full of white snow, my heart aches.
"She will never come out in this lifetime." Marquis Qi Yun sighed softly and turned to look at me.