Wei Ni

It was already three quarters past three in the afternoon when Xiahou Hui returned from the imperial palace to Lingzhihou Mansion.

Because he asked Ding Mi and Han Long to return with their troops early, everyone in the family had already made preparations to welcome him back home.

In fact, there is nothing else to prepare except boiling water in advance and clearing the snow in front of the house from time to time.

Because as early as when Emperor Cao Rui sent angels to Yecheng to entertain the troops, that is, when the mansion was renamed Lingzhi Marquis Mansion, the steward Sun Lou had asked Wang Yuanji for instructions and took people to purchase a large amount of food, clothing and daily necessities, waiting for him to return with his troops to celebrate the New Year.

Even Uncle Sun, who lived in Shiquan Pine Forest, came over to wait after hearing the news.

Their joy was not only because Xiahou Hui treated his servants very kindly.

It is also because when one person succeeds, the whole family will benefit.

As Xiahou Hui's title was promoted and his achievements became more and more brilliant, servants like them were looked up to by others when they walked on the street.

This is what is meant by being honored.

"Mukuro."

"Master of the house."

As soon as he got off the horse, Uncle Sun, who had been waiting in front of the mansion, came forward to greet him, and Sun Lou helped to lead the horse. Both of them had joy in their eyes and faces.

"It's very cold, why is Uncle Sun waiting outside?"

Xiahou Hui also smiled and jokingly said, "Are you worried that I don't even recognize my own mansion?"

"Haha~"

Uncle Sun, who was usually serious, smiled a few times.

After signaling Sun Lou to lead the warhorse to the stable, he followed closely beside Xiahou Hui and whispered something.

"Everything is fine at home, and other businesses and matters are in order. When Liu Lang is free that day, I will explain everything in detail."

"Okay, thank you, Uncle Sun."

"When the mansion was renamed, the palace also gave a lot of money. The lady asked my son to deal with it, and I took 30% of it for my son's expenses."

"Uncle Sun, you don't need to tell me about this matter. Just do it yourself."

"Seventh Lang came with his wife a few days ago and told us that Sixth Lang has arrived in Mengjin. He seemed to have something to discuss with Sixth Lang and he should come again the next day. Also, the young master of Tinghou Mansion likes the sick young master very much and has people send some sundries over every month."

"Hey, big brother is always like this."

"The lady and the young master are now in the main house. Well, the young master Quji is very healthy and lively. He can't sit still on weekdays and always likes to run around the mansion."

Get rid of disease~
The child whom I have never seen is already learning to walk!

Xiahou Hui silently recited his son's nickname in his heart. His eyes were a little dazed, and the smile on his face became more and more obvious. Even his steps became lighter unconsciously.

Uncle Sun stopped talking.

When they passed through the corridor and around the hall and were about to reach the main house, he left a sentence "The water is ready. If Liulang wants to take a bath, he can go anytime" and turned away.

This also made Xiahou Hui pause slightly.

But in the end he just casually brushed off the snow on his body and strode into the main house.

I'll take a look at my wife and children first to quench my longing, and then go take a shower and change clothes. I think they won't despise me.

The main house, which I hadn't been to for a long time, hadn't changed much.

There were clothes hangers, coffee tables, couches, book collections, writing desks, bronze mirrors and dressing tables, as well as the faint scent of tea wafting from the long-beaked pottery kettle on the red clay stove, from which steam was rising.

His concubine, Princess Yuanji, still liked to make tea in the afternoon as always.

The main house had also changed a lot, so much so that Xiahou Hui stopped in his tracks as soon as he entered, quietly looking at the scene before him.

Wang Yuanji, who was not wearing any makeup or jewelry, was seen sitting in front of the tea table. On the table was a bamboo slip, half rolled up and half unfolded, with a cup of steaming tea on the side. Perhaps it was because of the cold weather, her fingers slowly slid down the bamboo slip as she read it carefully, and occasionally she would reach into the ceramic bowl of tea to warm it.

Her other hand hung naturally, hugging the child who was nestled beside her.

Needless to say, the child was her two-year-and-nearly-three-month-old (one-year-old at birth) son Qu Ji, whose full name was Xiahou Yi.

Little Quji was sitting casually on the fur mat, wrapped tightly in white fox fur, with almost his entire body leaning on his mother. He was neither crying nor making a fuss, but was holding a candied fruit in his hands and nibbling it with relish. The saliva from the corners of his mouth was faintly visible. The little guy paid no attention, and his two little feet in tiger-head shoes were swinging dishonestly. It was obvious that he was in a very relaxed mood at the moment.

In order to disperse charcoal smoke, the coffee table is placed close to the window.

The light sneaked in through the vertical lattice windows, falling on the mother and child in a mottled manner, creating a luster that softened the man's mood.

Xiahou Hui was in a very soft mood at the moment.

The fortitude honed in the mountains of corpses and seas of blood and the tenacity tempered in the bitter cold were defeated in the face of this heartwarming scene.

This is the beauty of coming home.

Xiahou Hui watched quietly, and felt that all the hardships he had experienced in the past two years of military service had disappeared and become even more meaningful.

Maybe, it's just something I feel in my heart.

Wang Yuanji, who was quietly reading the bamboo slips, was slightly stunned and suddenly looked towards the door.

"ah!"

After a cry of half joy and half surprise, her originally peaceful face was quickly covered with joy and a faint blush, as gorgeous as a flower blooming, "My husband is back!"

As she spoke, she wanted to get up and greet him.

Just as she leaned her hands on the table, she seemed to remember something and continued to sit. She pulled up the little Quji who was leaning on her side, and walked slowly forward with him, saying softly, "Quji, father is back. Didn't you keep asking for father before? Come, let's go over."

Xiao Quji, who was being led away, was a little confused.

Sometimes he raised his head to look at his mother, and sometimes he looked up at Xiahou Hui.

In his other hand, he still held the half-eaten candied fruit tightly, and kept bringing it to his mouth, taking one sip after another.
Xiahou Hui, who was also walking forward, couldn't help but burst out laughing when he saw this scene.

Wang Yuanji also noticed it, and her eyebrows became even more curved.

When the three of them approached, she leaned down and half-huggled little Quji, encouraging him, "Quji, wait a while before eating. Come, call me father."

Xiahou Hui also squatted down, the expectation in his heart surging like the tide.

Only then did he see his son's appearance clearly.

Except for his straight nose, Xiao Quji's facial features are similar to Wang Yuanji's. His cheeks are still slightly chubby, and they look especially pink and tender against the white fur coat. Looking at them, one would want to reach out and pinch them. I wonder how much of his face will look like his own as time goes by and he completely loses his childishness?

"Go, be good, and call out quickly~"

At Wang Yuanji's urging, Xiao Quji stopped sipping the candied fruit, but he kept his lips tightly closed, and stared at Xiahou Hui with his two black eyes, looking at him with some curiosity.

Xiahou Hui looked at him with joy and reached out to touch him.

However, he was so frightened that he hid behind Wang Yuanji. After a while, he timidly stuck out half of his face and continued to look at Xiahou Hui.

Well, this kid is quite shy.

"My dear, there's no need to rush me."

Xiahou Hui stopped Wang Yuanji from instigating Xiao Quji. She was already very satisfied and said with a smile, "I just came back. It's normal for Quji to be shy. When he gets familiar with me the next day or the day after, he will dare to call me." "Well, that's fine."

Wang Yuanji thought about it and nodded and smiled. She pulled little Quji from behind and held him in her arms, letting Xiahou Hui look at him carefully. She also pulled his little hand to touch Xiahou Hui, trying to eliminate the unfamiliarity between father and son through playing, and began to chatter.

"My husband, you don't know that Quji is very courageous and has a very boisterous temper."

"Ever since he started climbing, he always wanted to get out the door. One time he even climbed over a threshold that was higher than him. I don't know how he did it."

"It's even worse after he learned to walk. He would sneak away and hide himself if you weren't paying attention. I've looked for him several times."

"Also, he can speak a lot of words now, and recognizes a lot of people. Every time Yiquan comes over, Quji is very happy to stick to him, calling him Uncle Seven."

"One time I teased him and asked him if he wanted to go live with Yiquan at Tinghou Mansion. He was actually very happy and took Yiquan with him. It was also at that time that he met my elder brother. Hey, his jade pendant was given to him by my elder brother."

She used to be a very quiet person and never used to be a nagging person.

But now that she is a mother, she shows no signs of stopping when telling her husband about her children's interesting stories.

Xiahou Hui listened quietly.

I felt half relieved and half pity.

Finally, he couldn't help but put his hand on her head and rubbed it, saying softly, "My dear, you have suffered a lot in the past two years."

Wang Yuanji's words suddenly stopped.

In an instant, she felt her nose become sore.

When she found out she was pregnant, Xiahou Hui led the army out. Xiahou Hui was an orphan at a young age and lived on her own, which meant that she had no support from her parents-in-law or sisters-in-law. She went through the most difficult two years of pregnancy, childbirth, infancy, babbling, and toddling. The hardships and pains in the process suddenly burst out in front of Xiahou Hui's words of comfort and apology, and all her accumulated grievances were instantly brought out.

However, she is still very strong after all.

After all, her husband is a general, so this kind of grievance is inevitable, and she must adapt to and let it go.

Wang Yuanji sniffed hard, her eyes slightly red. She raised her hand to push away Xiahou Hui's big hand and teased with a slightly embarrassed and disgusted tone, "It stinks! Go take a shower quickly!"

"Haha~Okay."

Xiahou Hui responded with a smile.

In a mischievous mood, he reached out and rubbed her head again, messing up her hair a little.

At this moment, before Wang Yuanji could react to the couple's fight, Xiao Quji took the lead.

"Father!"

Accompanied by a childish cry, a half-eaten candied fruit fell on Xiahou Hui's shoulder.

Both the couple were stunned by this.

After they looked at each other in bewilderment, Wang Yuanji laughed heartily and rubbed her forehead against Xiao Quji's face, making the originally angry boy giggle.

Xiahou Hui just shook his head and smiled bitterly, speechless.

When he called me "Father", was he scolding me?
Forget it, just think of it as him calling me. Even if he scolded me, I would be happy with it. After all, just because he threw candied fruit at me and bravely defended his mother, this kid is not a bad guy!

"My dear, I'm going to take a shower first."

"Yes, good. I also asked someone to put the Yanfu there in advance, so my husband doesn't need to look for it again."

"got it."

Walking out of the main house, Xiahou Hui, in a good mood, strode towards the bathroom.

This mansion built by the emperor's order is good in every way except for one thing: it is too big, and it takes a long time to walk from the bedroom to the bathroom.

Therefore, Xiahou Hui turned back after walking into the corridor for more than ten steps.

Uncle Sun called him.

There was another person following him, he was Wang Su's old servant and one of the managers of Lanling Marquis' Mansion.

Uncle, does you have something to talk to me about?

Could it be that the way I acted with the Emperor today made him worried, so he gave me a warning?
"No, it's Uncle Liu who's here."

Xiahou Hui returned and nodded to Uncle Sun, then smiled and greeted Wang Su's old servant, "Is it my uncle who wants to see me for something?"

"Meet the son-in-law."

Uncle Liu bowed first, then took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it over, "This is a letter from my husband to his son-in-law. My husband asked me to let this old servant hand it to his son-in-law personally."

"Oh?"

Xiahou Hui raised his eyebrows slightly, took the letter and nodded, "Thank you, Uncle Liu."

"No, no. The letter has been delivered and curfew is approaching, so I will go home first."

Before Uncle Liu could finish his words, Wang Yuanji, who was out playing in the snow with Xiao Quji, interrupted him. "Why is Uncle Liu here? Is my father looking for me for something?"

"I've seen the girl."

Uncle Liu repeated what he had just said, then declined the invitation to stay and left the mansion accompanied by Uncle Sun.

After the two of them walked away, Wang Yuanji's eyes were full of curiosity, "Husband, how did my father calculate so accurately that he knew you were at home at this moment?"

"When I entered the palace to meet the emperor, my uncle happened to be accompanying me."

Xiahou Hui explained with a smile, holding up the letter in his hand and shaking it, "I wrote this letter today, but I don't know what it is about."

"We should find a time to come over, since the New Year is coming soon."

Wang Yuanji responded casually, not taking it seriously, and continued to walk towards the courtyard with Xiao Quji, "Husband, go take a bath quickly, it will be evening soon."

"it is good."

After a while, Xiahou Hui soaked herself in the bathtub, gently folded Wang Su's letter, sealed it and placed it aside, then tilted her head back, closed her eyes and began to think.

He was not surprised that his request to grant Ding Mi a share of his own household income and make him a marquis was temporarily shelved.

Nor did he secretly criticize Emperor Cao Rui for his inaction.

He was just thinking about when would be the right time for him to submit his next petition.

Don’t think about it this year.

The end of the year was approaching, and both the emperor and the ministers were very busy. If he submitted a memorial, he would only be disliked.

After the spring, my appointment to a new position will be coming soon.

So, should I submit my petition before or after this? It would be great if I could roughly guess what other duties the emperor wants me to take on besides the Central Guard General.

Well, let’s first ask Yiquan about the latest situation in the capital.

Yes, he didn't care whether the court and the emperor would do as he wished after he submitted the petition again.

Because no matter what the result is, he has already won. (End of this chapter)