On this day, the dinner of the hot spring Zhuangzi, because in addition to Concubine Mi, only Cao Hao's family was there, so there was no separate table for men and women, and everyone sat around the round table.

Because Chu Yu is a birthday star, after everyone is seated, they have to congratulate their birthday first.

Li and Concubine Mi are elders, and they mostly talk about wealth and peace; The children have a lot of tricks, starting from Tianyou, even Hengsheng, Tianhui, and Tianbao, all kneeling down and celebrating their mother's birthday with love and respect.

Changsheng also held the warm wine and handed it to the eldest sister-in-law in person, also full of auspicious words.

Seeing that the Li family and Chu Yu's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are compatible, the children are filial and sensible, and Concubine Mi is envious.

Over there in Baylor House, the rules are good, but there is less heat.

What is the situation in Zhuangwang's mansion, Concubine Mi doesn't know, but there is the eldest son who has already married, and the concubine and daughter are young.

Cao Hao has no concubines, and there are no concubines in the family, so naturally they can be husband and wife.

Chu Yu also looked at a few children, and the love on his face could not be hidden.

At this time next year, Tianyou and Hengsheng have both married daughters-in-law, and Tianhui's family affairs are almost booked. She is looking forward to her children starting a family, but she is also full of reluctance.

She vividly remembered her birthday and her birthday, which was the last birthday she had spent in her mother's house, and now in the blink of an eye, nearly twenty years have passed.

Chu Yu only felt that the circles under her eyes were hot, so she hurriedly lowered her head and pressed her eyes with a handkerchief.

Cao Hao sat beside his wife, and when he saw that her favorite assorted balls were a little far away, he put a small dish in front of his wife.

Chu Yu raised her head, her eyes crooked, and she looked at the gentle water in her husband's eyes.

After the meal, the husband and wife spoke.

Chu Yu is not at ease, only housework in the house.

Cao Hao only cared about his wife's body, and after carefully looking at his wife, he said: "Looking at the complexion, it is better than before, it seems that this hot spring Zhuangzi is still right." Take advantage of this opportunity to take a good rest here. ”

Since giving birth to Tianbao, Chu Yu has had some small symptoms of qi and blood imbalance, and it is heavier every autumn and winter. I asked the doctor to see it, and it was fine, and I was taking medicine to recuperate. In addition to the abdominal pain during menstruation, his face was also a little dull.

Chu Yu hesitated and whispered: "The old lady and the children are okay, where did I get out for so long?" I thought that Ming'er would go back with the master. ”

"There were no major events at home a few years ago, so there were so many things to worry about. Before Laba, there is always some time to spare. Laba Hou ...... The concubine also has to go back to the city, and you can serve the old lady and go back together. Cao Hao said.

Chu Yu hesitated, and wanted to say more.

Cao Hao has already made a final decision: "That's it, I haven't soaked in the hot springs enough." Later, when I rested, I came again, although I ran around a little, but I could soak in the pool and relieve my fatigue. ”

Chu Yu knew that her husband had arranged this way for herself, and she didn't want to go against his good intentions, so she nodded and agreed.

Cao Hao saw that his wife listened to the persuasion, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

It's not that he is worried, the average life expectancy of people in this era is not long, Chu Yu's biological mother Chun Wang Fang Fujin died of illness in her early forties, and the Hongshu brothers are not too healthy, who knows if there are any genes.

He still looks forward to helping his wife to old age, but he doesn't want to become a widower early...... outside, in the rabbit garden.

Tianyou and Hengsheng went out for a walk, and Tianbao also wanted to follow, but in the cold winter, where did the two dare to take Tianbao to stay outside, so they took Tianbao to the rabbit garden to see the rabbit.

The so-called rabbit garden is just a low house in the northwest corner of Zhuangzi, in which a few cages of rabbits are raised.

The little guy who came with him was called He Shan, the son of Zhuangzi's steward, thirteen or fourteen years old, and he looked very clever.

His great-grandfather was He Maocai, who was the old housekeeper of the hot spring village for the Cao family in his early years, and he has passed away.

In the forty-eighth year of Kangxi, when Cao Hao integrated Changping Zhuangzi, he was grateful for He Maocai's loyalty and righteousness, and once set aside seven hectares of land to give to the He family.

Compared with the big families, seven hectares of land may not be worth mentioning, but it can be put in the homes of ordinary people, which is a lot of family property. If they go out, they can rent two or three hundred taels of silver a year.

He Maocai refused to forget his roots, and still asked his children and grandchildren to work as errands in the Cao family.

But his son was not in good health and went early, until his grandson grew up, Cao Hao felt that he was a stable and proper person, so he handed over the Zhuangzi here to him to take care of.

Although He Shan lived in Changping and did not enter Caofu on an errand, he often followed his Laozi into the city to deliver vegetables and flowers to Caofu, and also asked Changsheng and Tianbao to be safe, so they were quite familiar with each other.

Seeing that Tianbao was looking at rabbits, He Shan looked around, found a young rabbit that was only a few days old, opened the rabbit cage and took it, and put it in Tianbao's hands.

Tianbao then held it in his arms and pulled the rabbit's ears with his hands.

"Seventh uncle, why didn't grandmother bring the sixth brother over? The sixth brother likes rabbits the most, and the last time a pair of rabbits he raised died, he was sad for several days. If you see a bunny, you should rejoice. Tianbao looked at the rabbit, remembered Tianyu, and asked.

Changsheng raised his eyebrows, thinking about how to answer his little nephew's question.

Not only Tianbao was worried about Tianyu, but Changsheng also originally wanted to bring Tianyang over.

But when I heard that Chunhua was not coming, the Li family and Chu Yu's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law tacitly did not mention the matter of bringing the children from Dongfu over.

In this room of Cao Xiang in Dongfu, there are three children, Tianyang, the eldest son of Lu Ju, and the fourth cousin; Of the two born by Chunhua, the son-in-law Tianyu is the eldest and ranks sixth, the sister-in-law is the youngest, and the uncle is the fourth.

The reason for not bringing Tianyu is naturally because the child is young and afraid of Chunhua, and the Li family's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are reluctant to have many things.

As for not mentioning God's blessing, there is also consideration.

Changsheng also asked Li about this issue.

Li replied bitterly, she said this: "Changsheng, you have to remember that although Tianyang and Tianyu are not the same mother, they are brothers born from the same father. Among your younger generations, the two brothers should have been the closest. Because of your age, you are closer to Tianyang and your nephew to Tianyu, but they are also inseparable. Tianyu is still young, and your fourth sister-in-law is not at ease to leave her eyes; Tianyu can't bring it, so naturally it's not good to take Tianyang with one over the other. In the future, as you grow up together, you should also remember this. Your uncles and nephews are companions, but the closest thing in your heart should be your brother's family, and Tianyang's closest should be his younger brothers and sisters. If distant relatives are distracted, even if it is their own bloodline, it is easy to make mistakes. ”

Listening to Li talk about this much, immortality is like gain.

It's nothing more than the word "grandson", if Tianyang is also a grandson, and he is older, his uncle and grandmother will bring it out for a few days, and where will there be so many scruples.

Moreover, the Li clan reminded him that his relatives were close and far, not because he was worried that Changsheng would be estranged from his eldest brother, but because he reminded him not to let Tianyang rely on Xifu.

In that case, Chunhua will be in an embarrassing situation as a mother-in-law, and it will also affect the harmony of the four-room family.

Although Changsheng complained in his heart that his mother and sister-in-law were thinking too much, he didn't have to take Tianyang with him.

In his opinion, the fourth brother himself is a concubine, and I heard that he also suffered when he was young; If the fourth sister-in-law is really slow to treat the eldest son, then don't talk about others, the fourth brother can't agree.

Maybe he pities Tianyang's identity, and the fourth brother will be more painful.

He didn't know that the Hanlin Academy was the place where the rules and etiquette were the most important. At this time, Cao Xiang was sitting at home, holding Tianyang's homework in his hand.

Taking a mother and a maid as a concubine and giving birth to a child before marriage are not uncommon in the eyes of the world.

But for scholars who pay attention to etiquette and morality, these two are both virtues and losses.

The Cao family has always been low-key in Beijing, and Cao Xiang has let go of foreign appointments twice, and there are not many contacts in Beijing, so the relevant family private affairs are not known to outsiders.

He is now studying for a bachelor from the fourth rank of Hanlin, and if he wants to be promoted again, he must be promoted to the third rank of Jingtang, or he will be released as a magistrate, and when he is transferred back to the Hanlin Academy, he must be promoted to a bachelor of the academy.

Whether it is a three-product Jingtang or an outgoing place, it will attract more and more attention when the career is good. At that time, there is no need for political enemies to provoke, there will be imperial history staring with wide eyes, and it will not be able to hide it after all.

Cao Xiang thought of these things in his mind, and his mood was a little complicated when he looked at Tianyang.

To say that he does not regret his youthful frivolity is self-deception; But if he is angry with Luju's mother and son because of this, he is not such a person who loses his conscience.

He glanced at the door, his wife was now in the east room with Tianyu, and vacated the west room to guide him to Tianyang's homework.

Looking at the current Tianyang and putting all his thoughts on homework, Cao Xiang remembered himself when he was young.

At that time, his father died early, and his mother-in-law was unkind, and he suffered a lot of faces, which made him full of resentment, and he was bent on taking the imperial examination, so that he could break free from this family as soon as possible.

He thought that he was the most unfavored concubine of the Cao family, and he was self-reliant early, and when he left this family, his mother-in-law was an eyesore, and everyone was really worry-free.

He insisted on taking Green Chrysanthemum as a concubine, also because he was grateful for Green Chrysanthemum's gentle care for him.

For a disgruntled teenager, that gentleness made him grateful.

It wasn't until he was released for the first time and gained insight that he realized how naïve his previous so-called plan to leave the family was.

It wasn't until the second release that he saw the deceit in the officialdom and heard too much about the intrigues of the inner house, that he knew that the Cao family had given him more protection than he imagined; Although her mother-in-law Zhaojia has a mean surname and speaks bitterly, her heart is not very bad.

He grew up without illness or disaster, and his diet and daily life were not much worse than those of his brothers, and all he suffered was his mother's face and unpleasant words, as well as the slow treatment of his family.

Compared with those methods that hurt the muscles and bones, or ruined the reputation and ruined the surname, Zhao Jia's face is really nothing.

At the beginning, he was too sensitive to understand why the son of the same father was so different, so he felt that it was so unbearable to see his mother's face.

But he knows his wife, his wife's surname is kind, she never blushes with others, and she treats Luju's mother and son very kindly.

Thinking like this, Cao Xiang looked at Tianyang's gaze and looked at it.

Tianyang lost his jump at a young age, and put all his mind on his homework, what is it for?

Could it be that, just like he was back then, because of his sensitive identity and inferiority, he had resentment?

Tianyang looked up at his father, expecting to be affirmed and praised in his father's mouth.

ushered in a stiff face and an incomprehensible gaze, Tianyang couldn't help but swallow a sigh of relief, feeling uneasy.

Cao Xiang saw that his son's face turned white with bluffing, and he couldn't hide his panic, a little unbearable, eased the dark color, and said, "I need to work harder than I have grown a few days ago." ”

Tianyang's eyes lit up when he heard the affirmative words, and he nodded vigorously.

Cao Xiang asked two more words of homework and sent Tianyang down.

He sat in the small study, listening to Tianyang go to the east house to say goodbye to his mother-in-law, and faintly heard his wife's gentle voice......

(To be continued)