The Road to Doting Wife

Chapter 66
The Zhao family motorcade arrived at the Jining Wharf at noon the next day, and it took some effort to carry the luggage. Zhao Chen asked Ning's Aju to get off the car first, and went to the teahouse by the canal for dinner.

The tea house is divided into two floors, Zhao Chen chose the best private room on the second floor, with carved wooden windows, facing the vast canal water, sparkling under the warm winter sun.The river wind blew towards her face, and the veil that was hanging down from the hood fell on her face. Just as Ah Ju was about to lift it away, a man's slender white hand stretched out beside her to help her.

Thinking of her mother-in-law sitting there, Ah Ju's face turned hot, and she quietly moved two steps to one side, wanting to stay away from Zhao Chen.

Zhao Chen didn't catch up, but asked her worriedly: "It's windy, will it be cold?" His voice was very low.

Ah Ju shook her head, her menstruation is very regular, today is the fifth and last day, almost no, and she is not very afraid of the cold.

Zhao Chen looked at her, and quickly looked away, pointing to the riverside scenery and introducing them to her one by one. The bright light illuminated his handsome face, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and there was unexplained joy in his phoenix eyes.He couldn't understand his wife's body very well, and it seemed that there would be no more accidents this time.

The two of them sat back beside Ning Shi after watching for a long time. The food was served, and the family of three ate happily.

After resting for half an hour after the meal, Chen Ping came to answer and found that all the luggage had been loaded onto the boat.Ning nodded, stood up, asked Mei Jiang to put on the veiled hats for the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law respectively, and walked out of the teahouse unhurriedly.

There were two boats parked by the river, the one in front was more delicate, for a family of three to live in, and the only ones on the same boat were the maid and the cook beside Ning's Aju.The large luggage was on the big boat behind, and Chen Ping led a group of servants to guard it.

Zhao Chen stood on the board of the boat, and helped Ning Shi and Aju up successively.Ah Ju boarded the boat for the first time, novel and nervous, she couldn't help shaking her husband's hand.Zhao Chen looked at her and smiled, Ah Ju lowered his eyes, and immediately let go of him after standing still. When he turned around, his eyes accidentally fell on the stone pile used to tie the cable on the shore. There was a dent on it, and the cable tied there was following The hull shook slightly.

The cold wind was bleak, and the sadness in my heart suddenly arose again.

Aju looked up, looked at the shore, looked at the sky of the town in the distance, she left home yesterday, and will soon leave Dengzhou again.

"Go in, the boat will be sailing soon." Zhao Chen gathered the cloak on her and said softly.

Ah Ju looked up at him, her beautiful eyes were full of confusion and uneasiness that she was about to go on a long journey.

Zhao Chen held her hand, his gaze was gentle but firm.

Beijing.

As the imperial court closes, all the officials in the yamen are busy and chaotic. In addition, it gets dark early in winter, and it was already dark when Zhao Yunting came out from the yamen of the household department after finishing his official duties.Zhao Yuan, the leader by his side, quickly put on the cloak for him, and the two hurried towards the outside of the imperial city. On the way, they met many colleagues who greeted each other. Everyone was eager to go home in the freezing weather, so they just nodded to each other.

After leaving the city gate, his own carriage was already waiting outside, Zhao Yunting got into the carriage quickly, Zhao Yuan sat on the seat on the other side of the coachman, and rolled up his collar.The carriage moved quickly, and the quiet official road was sparsely populated, and the sound of a few horseshoes added to the loneliness.

With the lights on in the car, Zhao Yunting leaned against the deck and closed his eyes to rest his mind. When the remaining business affairs in his mind were completely gone, he took out a letter from his arms and read it again.The letter arrived the day before yesterday. My wife set off on the eighth day of the lunar new year. She should be on the boat now, right?He was still seasick when he sent Chengyuan there, and I don't know if the boy's seasickness has healed after so many years.

Today is the ninth day of the lunar new year, and I should be able to arrive in half a month.

Ten years, after being separated from her for a full ten years, I can finally see her every day when I return home.

The carriage stopped slowly, Zhao Yunting put the letter back into his arms, thinking of those people in Hou Mansion, there was no smile on his face anymore.

A servant girl hastily reported to the backyard: "Mrs. Madam, Mrs. Hou is back!"

There was a sudden silence in the side hall filled with laughter and laughter.

Qin Shi was chatting and laughing with Mrs. Tai, when she heard the maid's message, she couldn't help but looked towards the door.From the palace change to the present, she hasn't had a good time with her husband for more than a month, and she couldn't help but look for him several times, but he didn't see him.Qin knew that her husband had just taken the position of Minister of the Household Department and was busy, so she didn't bother him. But today, her husband specially ordered the family to get together. It must be that he finally has leisure and wants to make up for his family and her. this wife.

The sound of maids saluting came from outside, Qin couldn't help straightening the ruby ​​phoenix hairpin on her head, the lights in the room were not as radiant as the gems made of pigeon blood, and her red kimono embroidered with rich and noble peonies The silk dress is really bright and colorful.

It's a pity that he is a lack of heart.

Mrs. Tai withdrew her eyes from looking at her daughter-in-law, and the mocking smile on the corner of her mouth disappeared.In the past, the Hou's Mansion was not as good as the Duke's Mansion. She had always tolerated Qin's arrogance and stupidity for the sake of her son. Now, in the Duke's Mansion, which is so powerful, there is only one General Zhenbei who is far away in the northwest, and her status in the emperor's heart is not as good as her son's. Naturally, she There was no need to put up with this stupid woman who made their mother and child separate.No matter how discord is in the Duke's mansion, she has supported the Qin family for more than ten years. Now that Qin's grandfather, second uncle and other relatives have died tragically, not only is she not sad at all, but she also uses the excuse that her father severed ties with the Duke's mansion. Do you expect your son to treat her well?
"Yun Ting is back, why don't you ask someone to cook?" At the moment Zhao Yun Ting stepped in, Mrs. Tai reprimanded calmly.

Qin just saw her husband and knew that he didn't like her making noise. She didn't dare to call him out, but just stared silently, hoping that her husband would take a look at her. She was all focused on the man and didn't hear her mother-in-law reprimanded.

Seeing Mrs. Tai's face turned cold, Ziying, the big maid behind Qin's, stepped forward lightly, and reminded with a smile: "Ma'am, Master Hou is back, so this servant will order the kitchen to serve the dinner?"

She was standing in a coincident position, just blocking Qin's line of sight. Qin was a little annoyed at her, but nodded, "Go quickly." After speaking, he immediately looked towards the opposite side.The couple sat next to Mrs. Tai, one on the left and the other on the right.

Zhao Yunting didn't look at her, and explained to Mrs. Tai, "there are many things in the yamen, and mother has been waiting for a long time."

Mrs. Tai looked at her only son lovingly, and said with a smile: "It's okay, we just sat down for a while, but you, don't just worry about the court affairs, look at you, you are getting thinner and thinner, eat more later, mother Tonight, someone specially made fish head soup to make up for you."

Zhao Yunting smiled, and said a few words with his mother, then turned his eyes to the three children at the table on the left.

The second son, Zhao Qing, will be 15 years old after the next year. When he was a child, he often ran behind his elder brother. He was six years old when his elder brother left home. You should have some impressions, right?The third son, Zhao Han, and the only daughter, Zhao Yi, are both nine years old, only two months apart, and they have never met their elder brother. Fortunately, the daughter said, the third son, I only hope that Chengyuan will feel hatred in his heart after seeing this younger brother who is sensible and reasonable. less.

While the maids were preparing the meal, Zhao Yunting asked the three children some questions.

In the eyes of outsiders, he has two legitimate sons, but in Zhao Yunting's eyes, only his and her children are the legitimate sons. The other three have the same weight in his eyes. They are not as good as the eldest son, but they are also his blood. Neither was what he wanted.

After asking, the food on the table was already set, Zhao Yunting motioned for everyone to serve.

For a while, there was only a slight sound of eating in the side hall, and it was extremely silent.

Mrs. Tai is getting old and has a small appetite. Most of the time at the dinner table is just to eat with the juniors.I lost my appetite, and my mind gradually moved.The son suddenly called everyone over, and the two aunts also set up a small table. What is there to discuss?Except for some festive days in these years, there has never been such a time...

Zhao Yunting didn't let her guess for too long, and waited for the leftovers to be replaced with a teacup. He took a sip of tea, glanced around, and calmly said to Mrs. Tai: "Mother, Chengyuan has married a wife in October. Chengwen has also reached the age of starting a family, so from today onwards, everyone in the mansion will change their titles, remove the less characters, and call them directly according to their rankings."

As soon as these words came out, Qin's face changed drastically, she was very polite, why did she mention that person again?
Mrs. Tai's complexion was not at all prettier than that of her daughter-in-law, and she put down the teacup in her hand abruptly: "Cheng Yuan is the eldest son of the Hou family, why don't I, a grandmother, know nothing about his marriage? Yun Ting, do you still have me in your eyes?" Mother? You want to piss me off, don't you?" The voice was stern, and there was a sound on the ground.

The mother-in-law lost her temper, Qin's complexion improved, and she stared at her husband to see how he would answer.Aunt Wan and Aunt Zhou sitting at the small table behind her right looked at her child at the same time, each thinking in her heart.On the table over there, Zhao Qing was sitting upright in a green robe. Although he didn't smile, there was a kind of joy in his body, which could be seen at a glance. The corners of Zhao Han's mouth curled up, looking at his father curiously and expectantly , only Zhao Yi, who was wearing a bun, looked blank, as if he had forgotten that he had an older brother.

Zhao Yunting knew his mother very well, knew that she didn't care whether the eldest grandson got married or not, but was angry that she didn't get the news, so he said helplessly: "Mother, don't worry, I only found out about this today, he lives in the country, and I like him It's a nonsense... After all, it's the Ming Dynasty who is marrying back, so that's the only way to go. Mother, Chengyuan himself didn't want to move back. Now that he has a family, I will send someone to pick them up. , we must not let the eldest grandson of the Zhao family be born outside."

Mrs. Tai was silent.

(End of this chapter)