Chapter 208: The Wind Rises (6)

  Spring comes late in the south, and leaves late too. It feels like an extension of winter's chill, but with added drizzle and cold rain that lasts throughout the season. After the New Year festival, Jiang Wan asked Old Cangtou about his intentions and also told him her own plans. Old Cangtou listened carefully to her words, smiled foolishly and said: "Miss Jiang, I'm a rough man, old in years, originally no one would hire me. Now that you trust me, I understand it in my heart, I will take good care of the house."

  Jiang Wanmu felt a great weight lift off her shoulders after hearing his sincere words, and she felt much lighter. The old couple were not troublemakers, neither of them was in the habit of getting entangled with their neighbors. Most of their time was spent tending to the vegetable garden in their courtyard. The couple worked hard and took care of everything in the courtyard without complaint. They couldn't utter a single insincere word, only knowing how to be honest and simple in their work.

  Jiang Wanting likes this kind of person, feels that handing over the courtyard to them for care is reassuring, and also says that maybe in a few years they won't be living in Zhongnan anymore. Handing over the courtyard to Old Cangtou for management, leaving behind spare silver coins for the couple. Also entrusting them that if they can't make it in time, afterwards they will supplement the silver coins for guarding the courtyard.

  After the New Year, Jiang Wanru settled the matter of copying books for Shang Dafu. She said to Shang Dafu: "Shang Dafu, in the future, if there are any good things like this, I will still come and go as you please, as long as you give me the opportunity." Shang Dafu smiled and nodded, saying: "I was polite to you before, it's just a courtesy. From now on, we are one family, and I won't be too polite to you. Besides, I've seen many people's characters, but few are as good as yours. As for preparing the carriage on this trip, you'd better listen to our arrangements."

  Jiang Wanmu was willing to do so, and now there were only three women in her courtyard, really no one could come out to arrange travel matters. Jiang Wanmu had a lot of free time, so she naturally took the two little ones with her. The mother and son spent more time together, and Jiang Wanmu found that Wen Jiuniang had taken care of the two little ones, Jiang Feiyang and Jiang Lanyu, in recent days. They actually recognized many simple characters. The two little ones smiled and held up small character blocks, using their small fingers to point out the words on the blocks one by one for Jiang Wanmu to see, making her so happy that she hugged the siblings tightly and kissed them several times.

  After Jiang Wanru had some free time, she slowly organized her things and spent all her spare time with her two children. The discord between Fang Zhengniang and Bi Lü was not right. As long as the two of them didn't mention it in front of her, she just pretended not to see it, after all, those two women were truly a family. Bi Lü would often hold Fang Dasong over and play with Jiang Feiyang and Jiang Lan together. That little person was exceptionally happy when he saw the two big ones. As soon as he saw their faces, he would smile and drool, his toothless mouth watering profusely.

  When Jiang Feiyang saw Fang Daxiong's smiling face, he would stretch out his small hand and gently tap on Fang Daxiong's little face to see that he wasn't crying. Only then would he be interested in playing alongside him. Jiang Lanyu was a bit more gentle, and would stretch out her small hand to lightly touch Fang Daxiong's face. Sometimes she would lie down on the couch with great interest, chatting with the little guy for quite a while. The brother and sister were still young, so they had a fresh curiosity towards the little guy, but lacked patience and would soon start quarreling, wanting to go play at the Shang family's place.

  Jiang Feiyang is the kind of person who says he's going to leave and then leaves. Jiang Lanyu is the kind of sister who absolutely follows her older brother's lead. The two siblings start running, holding onto each other's legs, and the poor little one can only cry out "ya ya" because there's no other way to keep his older siblings from leaving him behind. Usually, Jiang Wenyu would grab onto Fang Dasong's green jade pendant and follow closely behind the two siblings, chasing them all the way to the door of Shang Jia's Ninth Madame's room.

  Jiang Feiyang and Jiang Lanyan, the siblings, were particularly close to Wen Jiuniang. They rushed into her room, shouting "Auntie, Auntie!" Jiang Wanshuo, who was chasing after them from behind, couldn't help but cover her eyes when she saw their behavior, thinking that she hadn't taught her children well and didn't have the face to see people. Shang Mingyi was only slightly older than the siblings and would often come to play with them in the past. Even back then, he knew to gently knock on the door and wait for someone to respond before entering the room.

  Biqing hugged Fang Daxiang and looked at Jiang Wanyu's expression, with a smile that couldn't be suppressed on her lips. Shang Mingzi came out of the room, smiling brightly at Jiang Wanyu and said: "Auntie, Mother likes Feiyang and Lazi like this, don't be angry." Jiang Wanyu bent down to pick up Shang Mingzi, wishing that this clever child in her arms was her own son. Wen Jiuniang called out from inside the room: "Little Lazy, can you help me guard the door?" Jiang Wanyu smiled and nodded at Biqing to enter the room with her, asking Shang Mingzi: "This morning, did your mother teach you to recognize a few more characters?"

  Shang Ming buried his head in her bosom, saying embarrassedly: "I'll wait for Laziness to come and learn together." Jiang Wanmu immediately approved of his approach, saying: "Yes, our family's Shangming is sensible, at a young age he knows how to be considerate of his mother, it's more convenient for your mother to teach you three together." Bi Lu bit her lower lip hard, swallowing her smile. Wen Jiuniang looked at Jiang Wanmu's expression, then gazed at her own proud son, listening to him say with a self-satisfied face: "In the future I'll be the big brother, I must be sensible."

  Jiang Wanmu's eyes were filled with amusement as she placed Shang Mingshi on the couch. She said to Wen Jiuniang, "I like this child's temperament." Jiang Lazi, who was lying on the couch, lifted her head and saw Shang Mingshi. She quickly crawled over, grabbed his hand and said, "Come, let's play together." Shang Mingshi smiled and followed her. Before long, the three of them were tumbling around together. Fang Dasong, who was in Bi Lü's arms, waved his hands excitedly, drooling all over the place. Bi Lü blushed slightly as she took out a handkerchief to wipe away the saliva from Fang Dasong's mouth.

  "Look at this child, so much saliva," said Bi Lu quietly. Wen Jiuniang smiled and took a glance at Fang Datong, saying: "Perhaps when you touched his cheek, your hand was too heavy and hurt his salivary gland, that's why there's so much saliva. It's nothing, he'll be fine after a few more days, the saliva will decrease." Wen Jiuniang saw that Jiang Wenyu and Bi Lu both looked puzzled, so she put her hand on her own cheek and gestured twice, saying: "It's this place, newborn babies are weak here, can't withstand strong forces, easily leading to excessive salivation. This is what my aunt from my mother's side reminded me of before the child was born."

  When Wen Jiuniang mentioned her own mother, she had a joyful and yearning expression on her face, with a continuous smile at the corner of her mouth. Jiang Wanyu listened quietly for a moment, then turned to look at the three little ones on the bed, and seeing their joy, she couldn't help but smile. Although her natal family and she were people who didn't come into contact even in life or death, now she had blood relatives that were close to her heart. Bi Lü lowered her head to gaze at the child in her arms, gently wiping away his drool that kept falling down. She was originally an orphan, only to be sold to the Chu family by a slave trader, and in this world, she only had the household of her former master, without any natal family.

  Wen Jiuniang looked at the two of them with a thoughtful smile, and suddenly realized that she had misspoken. She smiled and said to Jiang Wanyu: "Xiao Lan, there's good news in the capital. After our family returns to the capital, we don't have to go to the Shang family's mansion, we can directly move into the small house in the east city." Jiang Wanyu looked at her with joy and smiled: "It's really good news." As long as they could stay away from that unreasonable grandmother of the Shang family, it would be a blessing for all the daughters-in-law and granddaughters-in-law.

  Vivian smiled faintly and, at Lazy Jiang's gesture, she placed Fang Daxiong on the couch. The three little ones gathered around him in amazement, occasionally hearing Lazy Jiang's voice "Xiao'er, look, Daxiong is smiling, but why doesn't he have teeth?" Shang Jiaming Xiao indeed inherited the family tradition of being affable and explained to Lazy Jiang: "He's young, no teeth, when he grows up, needs to eat, will have teeth."

  Jiang Feiyang was not very patient with the children who were younger than him. He jumped down from the bed, put on his shoes by himself, and then turned to Jiang Wanyu and Wen Jiuniang and said: "Mother, Auntie, I'm going to find Mingzi Ye to play." Jiang Wanyu looked at Jiang Lanyu on the bed again, then looked at Jiang Feiyang who was running out, she wished she could tie him up with a rope. Wen Jiuniang patted her hand lightly and said in a low voice: "Don't worry, there are people following him in the yard."

  Fei Yang and Mingzi Shu were unexpectedly compatible, I originally thought that the old and young would not have much to talk about. But it turned out that these two had a lot to say when they met. Recently, Mingzi Shu has been teaching Fei Yang martial arts, my husband said that when he was young, just seeing Mingzi Shu's shadow made him want to run away, unexpectedly now Fei Yang would chase after Mingzi Shu, and instead it was Mingzi Shu who wanted to escape from Fei Yang, this is really a case of one thing overcoming another. Wen Jiuniang couldn't help but laugh out loud, Jiang Wenyue slightly furrowed her brow in thought.

  Jiang Wanmu looked at Fang Dasong and then turned to the two people playing together, Shang Ming Shi and Jiang Lanlan. She asked softly: "Ninth Lady, is Mingzi Uncle's kung fu very good?" Wen Jiuniang thought carefully and shook her head, saying: "I don't know if Mingzi Uncle's kung fu is good or not, but I heard Father say that if Feiyang can really follow Mingzi Uncle to learn a few moves, it will be very useful in the future."

  She leaned in close to Jiang Wanru's ear and said, "Husband privately told me that Ming Zishu is a direct disciple sent by the main gate. Years ago, Father accidentally saved his master's life when he went out, so he came to Father to repay the kindness. Originally, it was said that after a few years, he would leave. But later on, Husband's older brother liked martial arts, so he stayed for a few more days. Ming Zishu also developed an interest in medicinal herbs at that time, and thus slowly stayed behind." Wen Jiuniang's voice wasn't soft, and Bi Lü listened with a faint smile.

  Jiang Wanmu had never really seen a master of kung fu, and she admired people who could fly over rooftops from the bottom of her heart. She immediately asked in a low voice, "Can Mingzi Shu fly? If I learn his kung fu, can't I get married?" Wen Jiuniang and Bi Lü both burst out laughing at the same time, and Wen Jiuniang pointed to her and said, "Little Lazy, Mingzi Shu is a family man, his family lives in the capital, and his eldest son is of the same age as my husband."

  This chapter's opening sentence is a quote from Xiaoxi, a beautiful girl who spent two years studying in Jiangnan. I think it's quite good, so I borrowed it. To avoid infringing on her right to her own words, I'm specifically pointing this out. Thanks: sunjr voted with 1 pink vote, thanks for the support of book friends! (If you like this work, welcome to register as a member, the latest chapter list, your support is my greatest motivation.)