Chapter 202

By the first day of the second month, Fu Tingjun brought Youyou and Xige'er to Shilipu.

Fifth Master Fu did not appear; only Fu Tingzheng came to see off Young Mistress Fu and her sons.

While they were having their midday meal in a private room in the main hall of Yangguan Restaurant, Fu Tingjun sat in a private box on the second floor. By pushing open the partition door, she could see the scene in the main hall below.

When she pushed open the partition, she happened to see Fu Tingzheng and Young Mistress Fu with her sons emerging from the private room after their meal.

Fu Tingzheng walked ahead with his hands swinging, while Young Mistress Fu led their two sons behind him. As he hurried toward the exit, he said impatiently, "...If Grandmother has no issues, come back early. Father has been in a bad mood lately, and if there's no one to manage the household, won't everything fall into chaos!"

Young Mistress Fu lowered her eyes and replied "Yes," appearing somewhat distracted.

Fu Tingzheng stopped, dissatisfied, and was about to say something when he saw someone come out of the adjacent private room. He frowned, then turned and walked out again.

It was clear that Fifth Master Fu and Fu Tingzheng had not yet realized the seriousness of the situation, believing that Young Mistress Fu's return to Huayin was merely an ordinary visit to relatives.

Fu Tingjun shook her head gently.

Zheng San clattered up the stairs: "Madam, I've already spoken with the personal maid named Donggu who serves Young Mistress Fu."

Fu Tingjun nodded and walked to the other side of the private box. Seeing Fu Tingzheng leave, she went downstairs to the back door of Yangguan Restaurant.

Young Mistress Fu's carriage was waiting there.

Seeing Fu Tingjun, Young Mistress Fu showed a hint of gratitude: "I've put you to trouble, Aunt."

"Not at all," Fu Tingjun said with a smile, as her two nephews stared at her with wide, curious eyes. "I had originally planned to see you off in Yangguan, but seeing your family of four together, I didn't want to disturb you." Her gaze fell on the two boys. "These must be Dagé'er and Ergé'er?"

"Indeed," Young Mistress Fu said, leading her two sons down from the carriage and having them kowtow to Fu Tingjun.

"No need, no need." Fu Tingjun quickly stopped her two nephews. "The dust is flying everywhere here—be careful not to dirty your clothes."

Fu Tingjun was a taboo subject in the Fu family, and the two children barely remembered her. At this, they instinctively looked toward their mother.

Young Mistress Fu felt a sudden pang of sadness for reasons she couldn't explain, and a trace of moisture gathered at the corners of her eyes. "You are their paternal aunt by blood, and you've come all this way to see us off. How could it be proper not to have them kowtow to you!" She insisted that the two boys kowtow to her.

Meanwhile, Donggu had cleverly placed two cushions on the ground.

The two children dutifully kowtowed three times to Fu Tingjun, calling out "Aunt."

Who knew when they would meet again after this parting? Perhaps by then she would have white hair, and the two boys would have established their own families—passing each other on the street without recognition... Not to mention Youyou and Xige'er, whose blood relatives would have become strangers.

Her heart ached deeply.

"Get up now!" Fu Tingjun stroked the heads of the two boys, giving Dagé'er a Duan inkstone and Ergé'er a box of Huzhou writing brushes. "Study hard, so that in the future you may bring glory to the family." She then had Youyou and Xige'er come forward to acknowledge their relatives.

The children called out "Cousin" and "Cousin" to one another, while the two adults were filled with a thousand emotions. It was only when Donggu carefully reminded them, "Young Mistress, if we don't leave now, we won't make it to the inn before nightfall," that Fu Tingjun and Young Mistress Fu finally bid each other farewell.

Fu Tingjun personally lifted her two nephews onto the carriage.

Young Mistress Fu waved to Fu Tingjun.

The carriage and the books gradually receded from Shilipu.

Young Mistress Fu wrapped one arm around each of her two sons.

Ergé'er asked curiously, "Mother, why didn't Aunt come to visit us during New Year?"

"That's because..." Young Mistress Fu was momentarily at a loss for words.

Seeing his mother's troubled expression, Dagé'er quickly said, "Mother, when will we reach Huayin? Are there many older and younger male and female cousins there?"

"Yes!" Young Mistress Fu smiled and hugged her eldest son. "Your eldest uncle's family has two older male cousins and two older female cousins. You should call them Eldest Cousin, Fourth Cousin, Second Cousin, and Third Cousin..." She took the opportunity to teach her sons how to address relatives: "Your eldest aunt has one son and one daughter, so you should call them Eldest Cousin and Eldest Cousin..."

"Mother!" Ergé'er jumped up and interrupted her. "Then what rank are Aunt's female and male cousins?"

Young Mistress Fu was somewhat surprised and thought for a moment before saying, "Your aunt and your father are full siblings—they're different from others. They don't follow the ranking order. You can just call them Cousin and Cousin."

Dagé'er laughed: "Just like the cousins from Mother's family?"

Young Mistress Fu was taken aback, then laughed: "Yes, yes, yes, just like the cousins from your mother's family—they don't follow the ranking order either. Youyou and Xige'er are just as close as the cousins from your mother's family. Do you remember that?"

Dagé'er and Ergé'er quickly nodded.

Fu Tingjun naturally knew nothing of this.

Filled with sighs at Fu Tingzheng's obliviousness, she wrote to Zhao Ling: "...How can there be such a person? Not knowing what the one who sleeps beside him night after night is thinking—what else is he capable of?"

Zhao Ling wrote back to her: "I know you think of me day and night." He added, "I will definitely return before the first day of the third month."

Fu Tingjun blushed and spat playfully, yet the gloom of recent days suddenly dissipated like smoke.

She smiled as she got off the kang, carefully storing the letter in a small box, and went to the storeroom with Yuwei: "...Let's rearrange the house... Put up a statue of Zhenwu in the main hall... Order a few pots of peonies from the flower growers in Fengtai. If there are no peonies, herbaceous peonies will do. Replace the flower vases before the long table and the bookshelves in the study with blue-and-white porcelain, so we can put peonies or herbaceous peonies in them..."

Fu Tingjun gave Yuwei instructions one by one, and seeing the bright spring sunshine, she paused thoughtfully, then smiled. "Why don't we go to Fengtai to order the flowers ourselves?"

"That would be wonderful!" Rarely getting a chance to go out, Yuwei's brows showed a hint of excitement.

Fu Tingjun decided to bring both her son and daughter along, and the whole family set off for Fengtai in high spirits.

Fengtai was home to flower growers, and though it was only the beginning of the second month, the area was already a riot of colorful blooms.

Youyou was seeing such a variety of flowers for the first time—everything was curious, everything was new. She pointed and asked what this flower was and what that grass was.

She wore a goose-yellow lined jacket, had jet-black hair, delicate features, and spoke with clear enunciation. Her large, sparkling eyes were bright and clear, and her expression was innocent and carefree—more tender and lovely than the spring blossoms on the branches. Whether it was the flower growers in the fields or the helpers in the greenhouses, everyone was happy to answer her childish yet earnest questions. Even Fu Tingjun and Yuwei, standing nearby, learned quite a bit along the way. Little Xige'er, still in his innocent infancy, was the complete opposite of his sister—he fell asleep as soon as he got in the carriage and woke up as soon as he got out. He grabbed at anything he saw and stuffed it into his mouth. The moment the adults let their guard down, he'd have something in his hand, scaring Mrs. Tong and the others into watching him without daring to blink.

Yuwei laughed and said, "Madam, the young master's hands and feet are so quick! When he grows up, maybe he'll have martial skills as impressive as Ninth Master's!"

Fu Tingjun chuckled warmly and gave her son a kiss on his chubby cheek.

Seeing this, the flower grower recommended a type of camellia to Fu Tingjun: "...It's called Yipin Hong. You can plant it in the courtyard. It blooms during the Spring Festival—nothing is more festive. By the time the young master is old enough for school, it will be about the thickness of a wine cup, and when it's covered in blossoms, it will bring good fortune."

Fu Tingjun nodded with a smile. "Good things come in pairs, so I'll buy two and plant them in front of the window of the warm pavilion."

Seeing that she was easy to deal with, the flower grower also recommended magnolias: "...They bloom purple. Have you ever seen them?"

Fu Tingjun and Yuwei exchanged a smile. "We'll buy those too."

The flower grower was overjoyed and invited Fu Tingjun to look at a pomegranate tree: "...It's different from ordinary pomegranate trees—the fruit it bears hangs in pairs on the branches."

Fu Tingjun was quite intrigued... In the end, they had to hire a cart to take all the flowers they'd bought back home.

The cart driver cheerfully drove them to Shi Family Hutong.

A carriage was parked at the entrance of the Wu residence.

The pomegranate tree Fu Tingjun had bought was about half a person's height, with lush branches and leaves that extended beyond the cart.

The driver tried several times to pass but couldn't, and wanted to shift the pomegranate tree further in, but was afraid of crushing the branches of the two Yipin Hong camellias.

He was stuck there, sweating profusely.

Zheng San turned his head and asked, "What's the matter?"

The driver quickly said, "I'll carry this pomegranate tree in for you in a moment."

A tree this big—do you think you can carry it through like that?

In the end, it'll be my job anyway.

The thought flashed through his mind, and Zheng San jumped down from the cart shaft.

"Let me take a look," he said, his gaze landing on the carriage parked in front of the Wu residence. "Why make it so complicated? Just move that carriage a bit and we can get through."

The driver of the carriage parked at the Wu residence was sitting on the shaft. Hearing this, he turned his face away, pretending not to have heard.

Zheng San frowned slightly, but still smiled and gave the driver a salute. "Brother, the things we're carrying are too heavy and hard to move. Could you do us a favor and move your carriage a little?"

The driver looked Zheng San up and down with a sidelong glance.

He saw that although Zheng San's hands holding the whip had calluses, he wore a robe of official-green Luzhou silk, and spoke with neither arrogance nor humility—either he had some family wealth or he served in a distinguished household. Remembering that this was Shi Family Hutong, he suppressed his displeasure and jumped down from the carriage, took the reins, and slowly moved the carriage aside.

The horse let out a few uneasy whinnies.

Xige'er, who had slept the whole way back, was woken by the noise.

He was a lively child, and being cooped up in the carriage made him restless. He squirmed in Fu Tingjun's arms.

Fu Tingjun thought that home was only a few steps away, so she instructed Yuwei and carried Xige'er down from the carriage.

Just then, she heard a creak as the side gate of the Wu residence swung open, and Madam Wu's personal attendant emerged with several young maids, surrounding a woman of about forty as they walked out.

“……After all, the concubine is young and comes from a modest household. Though she is now with child, she lacks an experienced person by her side to guide her. I would ask that Mama Shu teach her well.” Madam Wu's personal maid said, smiling as she curtsied to the middle-aged woman.

The middle-aged woman smiled and returned the curtsy to Madam Wu's personal maid, saying, “The concubine is very sensible. Not only does our young mistress favor her, but even our lady is full of praise for her. In fact, she specially sent me to bring good news to Madam Wu. Please tell Madam Wu to rest assured…”

As she spoke, her eyes lifted, and her smile became somewhat strained, her words trailing off abruptly.

Madam Wu's personal maid couldn't help but follow her gaze.

“Oh!” she laughed. “That's Mrs. Zhao, who lives next door to us.” With that, her face immediately broke into a broad smile as she hurried forward, curtsying to Fu Tingjun: “Mrs. Zhao, where have you been? Why are you carrying so many flowering trees in your cart? Shall I call a few people to help you carry them home?”