Chapter 275

Fu Tingjun found this both amusing and exasperating.

She always taught the children to "rise at dawn" and led by example, waking up slightly earlier than them each day. Little did she expect this would become something that spoiled Zhao Ling's mood... It just showed that everything in this world has its pros and cons... Fortunately, Zhao Ling was usually not at home. When they had first married, she hadn't gotten up early a single day... If Zhao Ling were home, she didn't know how she would explain things to the children... Sometimes, having him away from home had its advantages too...

As her mind wandered with these random thoughts, she swiftly dressed and went to open the door.

Youyou pounced over like a little magpie.

"Mother, Mother," she said with a beaming smile, her face full of joy, chattering away. "Where's Father? I missed him so much! Eldest younger brother and second younger brother missed him too. But they weren't as obedient as me—I dressed myself," she said, seeking credit. "You have to tell Father that later!"

Fu Tingjun smiled and hugged her daughter, gently pinching her rosy cheeks. "Alright, when we see Father, we'll tell him. I'll also tell him that Youyou has been very good at home—not only did she learn to dress and eat by herself, she also learned to recite the Thousand Character Classic and knows how to help Mother look after Xige'er and Xu Ge'er!"

Youyou's big eyes curved into crescent moons with her smile.

She nodded continuously.

Mother Tong, however, felt somewhat awkward.

The gates had already been locked when Zhao Ling returned. Naturally, everyone in the household had been roused. But Anxin had come to tell her not to disturb the young miss and young masters—the master had matters to discuss with the mistress tonight.

She was a woman of experience, so she naturally knew what those "matters" were.

She had originally wanted to keep Youyou from coming over too early, so she sat by the bedside telling her stories. But Youyou insisted on getting up and urged her to hurry, saying things like "I can't wake up later than my younger brothers—they'll laugh at me." Having no other choice, she helped Youyou put on her shoes. As soon as Youyou's shoes were on, she slipped off the kang and wanted to go pay her respects to her mother. She had no choice but to tell Youyou about Zhao Ling's return, adding, "The master hasn't gotten up yet at this hour! Let's go over a bit later." It would have been better if she hadn't said anything—once she did, Youyou couldn't sit still at all. Seizing a moment when she wasn't looking, Youyou ran off to the main room.

At this point, she could only mumble in explanation: "Mistress, it's my fault—I failed to stop the young miss..."

Fu Tingjun was mortified inside, but her expression remained gentle and composed. She smiled and waved her hand. "It's fine. It's about time to get up anyway."

Mother Tong breathed a sigh of relief.

Fu Tingjun then instructed Youyou: "You need to be quiet. Father only came back in the middle of the night and hasn't gotten up yet!"

Youyou nodded vigorously and even covered her mouth with her little hand, signaling that she wouldn't make a sound.

Fu Tingjun couldn't help but smile, carrying her daughter into the inner chamber.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Ling had already gotten up and was sitting on the edge of the bed putting on his shoes.

The moment Youyou saw him, she joyfully spread her arms and pounced toward him. "Father, Father!"

Zhao Ling came over with one shoe half-on and scooped Youyou into his arms.

Youyou wrapped her arms around her father's neck, shouting "Father" loudly, and added, "I missed you so much, Father!"

Zhao Ling beamed with delight.

Fu Tingjun watched from the side and couldn't help but laugh as well.

For a moment, the room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Xige'er and Xu Ge'er were also brought over by their respective nursemaids.

Four-year-old Xige'er understood a little more. Seeing Zhao Ling, he immediately ran over and hugged his father's leg, clamoring, "Father, hold me too! Hold me too!"

Ten-month-old Xu Ge'er, however, didn't understand anything at all. Bewildered, he stared at his sister and brother with a silly grin, hiding in his wet nurse's arms and sucking on his own little finger.

Zhao Ling freed one arm to hold Xige'er, then walked over to Xu Ge'er and asked him, "Do you know who Father is?"

Xu Ge'er glanced at his mother, then turned and buried his head in his wet nurse's embrace. No matter how she coaxed him, he refused to look up.

Zhao Ling sighed.

Xu Ge'er then peeked at Zhao Ling secretly from within his wet nurse's arms.

This made everyone laugh.

Yuwei came in smiling, carrying water with Zhuzhen and Kou'er.

Zhao Ling handed the children to Fu Tingjun. "Father hasn't washed up yet. I'll play with you all later!"

Youyou happily acknowledged with a "Yes," and followed Mother Tong and the others to the main hall.

Zhao Ling and Fu Tingjun washed up in the side room. When they came out, Yuwei and the others had already tidied up the inner chamber.

Fu Tingjun's cheeks were slightly flushed.

Yuwei, however, pursed her lips and smiled, asking Fu Tingjun, "Breakfast is ready. Where would you like it set up?"

Fu Tingjun looked toward Zhao Ling.

Zhao Ling thought for a moment and said, "Let's have breakfast in the inner chamber. Have the children sit on the kang."

Fu Tingjun nodded to Yuwei. Yuwei smiled and acknowledged with a "Yes," then instructed the coarse-duty maids to bring in the kang table for breakfast.

Zhao Ling noticed the two maids were unfamiliar faces, knowing they must have been hired after he left. He asked Fu Tingjun, "Is the household money sufficient?"

"Sufficient." Fu Tingjun smiled as she climbed onto the kang. "Yesterday evening, before you came back, I was just going over the accounts with Yuwei. We're planning to buy a villa at Yuming Mountain."

Zhao Ling nodded and handed one of the back cushions behind him to Fu Tingjun. "We really should buy a separate villa. When summer comes, you can take the children there to escape the heat." As he spoke, he also passed her a cup of tea.

The two matrons couldn't help but cast a surprised glance at Zhao Ling, then lowered their voices and said to Zhenzhu, "The master treats the mistress so well! Afraid the mistress would be uncomfortable sitting, he even gave up the back cushion behind himself."

"Of course," Zhenzhu said, straightening her back with pride. "That's why our master has only the mistress and no one else."

The two matrons nodded repeatedly, and one of them said with half-flattery, half-sycophancy, "If I had a wife as beautiful as the mistress, I wouldn't look at anyone else either."

Hearing this, Zhenzhu felt even more proud. She nodded with an air of arrogance and turned to go inside to attend to her duties.

Youyou was already quite adept with chopsticks. She chewed slowly and carefully, and her movements when picking up food were graceful. Zhao Ling watched and nodded approvingly.

Xige'er, sitting beside Youyou, paid no attention to the plate of cucumber slices with dipping sauce in front of him. Instead, he craned his neck to stare at the braised pork in front of Zhao Ling.

Zhao Ling looked at his eldest son's chubby little face and smiled. "You like meat?"

Xige'er nodded eagerly, casting a grateful and ingratiating look at his father.

Zhao Ling chuckled and picked up the plate to set it in front of Xige'er, but Fu Tingjun stopped him. "If everyone puts whatever they like right in front of themselves, what about the others? Are they supposed to just not eat?"

Zhao Ling found this reasonable and put the plate back where it was.

Xige'er looked at his mother with some timidity and said in a small voice, "I... I can't reach it!"

"If you can't reach, stand up and reach," Fu Tingjun said. "Or have your sister, who's sitting next to you, get it for you. A real man eats when he wants to eat and drinks when he wants to drink—there's no such thing as being so sneaky about it. If you don't have the courage, then don't do it." As she spoke to her eldest son, the corner of her eye was fixed on her second son, who was sitting in her lap. She saw Xu Ge'er's little hand dart toward the dishes on the kang table like lightning. Fu Tingjun hurriedly reached out to stop him, but she was a step too late—he had grabbed a handful from the plate of salted peanuts in front of her, sending peanuts rolling all over his body and the kang.

Zhenzhu hurried forward to clean up.

Fu Tingjun could only press her hand to her forehead.

Zhao Ling was equally astonished. "How is he so fast with his hands and feet?"

"I don't know who he takes after," Fu Tingjun said with some helplessness. "In any case, whenever you hold him, you have to stay away from all the jars and pots, or else either he'll suffer, or the jars and pots will."

Zhao Ling found this highly amusing. He clapped his hands and said, "Come, come to Papa!"

Zhenzhu and the others quickly moved the hot dishes like stir-fried three shreds from in front of Zhao Ling over to Fu Tingjun's side, and moved the cold dishes like pickled potherb mustard from Fu Tingjun's side over to Zhao Ling. Only then did Fu Tingjun hand the child to Zhao Ling.

It was only then that Zhao Ling understood why all the hot dishes had been placed in front of him. He teased, "I thought you were being considerate because you felt sorry that I couldn't eat such good food in Guizhou, so you put all the good dishes in front of me. Turns out I misunderstood—you were actually afraid Xu Ge'er would grab them!"

Fu Tingjun laughed at this and said, "I had no idea you lived so rough in Guizhou. Should I give you some silver to treat yourself to a nice meal?"

"If my lady is willing, I would be more than happy." Zhao Ling and Fu Tingjun bantered back and forth.

Youyou and Xige'er, however, were completely confused. They stared with wide eyes, looking back and forth between Fu Tingjun and Zhao Ling. Xige'er even leaned over to whisper in Youyou's ear, "Papa is so pitiful—he doesn't even have meat to eat!"

This sent everyone into peals of laughter.

Perhaps it was the natural bond between father and son—although Xu Ge'er had never met Zhao Ling before, he was remarkably docile and well-behaved in Zhao Ling's arms.

Zhao Ling untied the jade pendant from his waist and dangled it in front of Xu Ge'er. "Come on, if you can grab it, it's yours."

Before he even finished speaking, driven by a child's natural curiosity, Xu Ge'er had already reached out to grab the pendant.

Zhao Ling immediately raised his arm.

But Xu Ge'er still managed to catch the tassel of the pendant.

Zhao Ling was quite surprised and tried several more times.

Xu Ge'er still managed to catch the tassel every now and then.

"This child is no ordinary one!" Zhao Ling's expression gradually turned serious. He lowered his head in thought for a moment, then said to Fu Tingjun, "I think we should find a better martial arts master for Xu Ge'er."

Fu Tingjun was taken aback. "You want him to become a military officer?"

"Not necessarily a military officer," Zhao Ling said carefully, weighing his words. "Back then, the reason Master didn't take me as his disciple right away was, first, that I was already too old and had missed the best time for learning martial arts, and second, that I didn't have enough natural talent... Looking at Xu Ge'er, with how quick his hands and feet are, he might be excellent material for martial arts... I don't want to waste his talent..."

Fu Tingjun sensed that Zhao Ling was hinting at something and couldn't help asking, "Do you already have someone in mind?"

Zhao Ling nodded and said, "I know there's an elder in my martial sect who is a Taoist priest at Jiugong Mountain. He's an expert in internal martial arts. My master said his martial arts skills are unparalleled and held him in very high regard. When I was young, I passed by Jiugong Mountain with my master and met him once. Since I didn't want to get involved with people from the martial arts world, I never went to visit him again. If you agree, I'd like to invite this elder to our home to give Xu Ge'er his initial lessons..."

Fu Tingjun felt a bit troubled and said, "I have no fondness for those idle martial arts wanderers. I don't want my son to become someone like that."

Zhao Ling laughed heartily upon hearing this and said, "I don't have much fondness for them either. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone so many years without visiting this elder again. I just want to try inviting him. If he's willing to come, then it'll be like hiring a martial arts instructor for the children. If he's not willing, I'll think of other ways to find an expert. For a family like ours, even if the children don't need to be masters of horsemanship and archery, they should at least know a little." As he spoke, he gently pinched Xige'er's chubby cheek. "Besides, it's good for their health and physical fitness."

"That's true," Fu Tingjun said thoughtfully. "In any case, I don't want my son to become some kind of martial arts wanderer. Even if your elder comes, I'll only treat him as an ordinary martial arts instructor."