Chapter 399: Nighttime Tales

Du Shanü, in this life, her heart is like a boulder.

Du Shanü vowed that in this life she would surely keep her heart like a boulder.

However, unfortunately, some people, some things...

Always end up distracting her.

When Du Shanü heard Yu Baobao say she was in a hurry to sleep because she wanted to see Yuan Long...

She then realized she had truly fallen for it in this life.

No, no, she had known this already.

But now, once again, this truth has been proven.

Yu Baobao only wants to raise a child, that's right.

Yuan Long is merely a child, all the more correct.

Chinu and Chen Weifang, who fear the child being taken away, perhaps have nothing to fault...

Perhaps this world has never been about who is right or wrong, but only about whose viewpoint one adopts.

Du Shanü sighed heavily in her heart, and her earlier wish to speak sweet nothings faded.

She pulled the warm, fragrant quilt up, using it to cover her mouth and nose, until it sufficiently hid her expression, then helplessly said:

"...... Next time I come back, I'll bring Yuan Long back for you to see."

Just bringing him back to see, she still didn't say she'd bring him back for Yu Baobao to raise.

But even so, it was enough to make Yu Baobao happy.

Yu Baobao instantly became excited, threw off the covers, lay beside her wife master, eyes shining frighteningly, and asked in rapid succession:

"Wife Master, for real?! Next time will you really bring the good child back???"

"Also, Wife Master, you call the good child 'Yuan Long'? Is that our good child's name? It doesn't sound like a little girl...... sounds like an extraordinarily heroic man, right?"

Du Shanü had been feeling vexed and a bit drowsy, but this question and the last sentence set off alarm bells in her heart, dispelling all sleepiness.

Du Shanü could hardly bear it, and immediately threw off the quilt.

The two easily made contact and began chatting:

"He's indeed a boy, but nothing extraordinarily heroic——clearly he's a spoiled, overly delicate temperament!"

"Eh? ~(???)"

"He was spoiled rotten by Chinu and Afang from birth! Held in hand all day, needing to be coaxed seven or eight hundred times a day, wearing nothing but fine silk, accepting nothing but gold, silver, and jade......"

"Hiss? ~(???)"

"Exactly! His personal name is not Yuan Long; he bears a single character 'Yi' as his given name, with the style name Yuan Long, enfeoffed in Guangzhou Zhoufu, which is wealthy, and there is someone willing to devote liver and brains for him who schemes wealth for him."

"Recently, Guangzhou Zhoufu presented a pair of southern jade jue, originally carved to symbolize a harmonious pair. But Afang accidentally bumped it while counting; Yuan Long heard the jade jue clink and actually laughed, so that pair of jade jue henceforth became a toy hanging before his cradle to amuse and sway, often used to clink and make noise to listen to......"

"Ah??? ~(???)"

One spoke while the other listened.

Talking on, they both completely lost any sleepiness.

Yu Baobao listened for a while, scratching her head over and over:

"Wife Master, let me speak frankly, isn't this a bit off......."

Even though he grew up during the Taizong reign.

Taizong had the court firmly under control, with various treasures coming at his beck and call.

But the premise for these treasures being given to him was that he knew they were treasures, and Taizong felt he could enjoy them.

Can listening to the sound of a jade jue be considered 'enjoyment'?

It feels less like 'enjoyment' and more like 'extravagance'.

This also doesn't really resemble 'mastery of the court', but rather seems like 'control of power and influence'.

A single character's difference......

A tiny error leads to a great mistake........

Of course, Yu Baobao did not say the following words.

He is just a bit slower and slower, but not stupid.

First, he has a natural affection for Chinu.

Even if Chinu truly has such intentions, what he ought to do is also to help Chinu cover up, rather than expose Chinu.

Second........

Yuan Long is ultimately the wife master's first child.

No one around them has ever raised a child, and moreover, Chinu's biological father was formerly of that sort of background.

Chinu probably can't wait to treat Yuan Long well, and raise him again as his former self......

Now treating Yuan Long a bit better also counts as within reason...... right?

Thinking of this, although she also vaguely felt something was off, Yu Baobao ultimately spoke to comfort:

"Children...... will be fine if raised properly in the future!"

"Wife Master doesn't know, I used to like sleeping prone, but later the more I was raised the more human-like I became... oh no, I mean the more I was raised the bigger I got, so I would sleep flat on my back."

"Some quirks in young children are normal; they'll get better when they grow up, look at me now, aren't I also fine?"

Fine......

Fine......

Yu Baobao, you'd better not advise!

Are you really fine now?!

How does she feel he is still terribly lacking in common sense!!!

Du Shanü wanted to speak but held back; the words were on her lips, yet in the end she still didn't say them, and could only sigh again:

「I hope that's the case_(: 3」∠)_」

Worrying back and forth, it's still just worrying that Yuan Long won't amount to anything.

But upon careful thought, she never had especially high hopes for Yuan Long——

To grow up healthy, to know propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame, not to commit grave wrongs, not to bully men or dominate women......

And knowing to run home when it rains—this is already quite enough.

Being a little spoiled is no big deal!

As for what she previously thought, if she could unify the world, she would let Yuan Long inherit the great throne......

Isn't there an old saying that goes 'teach according to the student's ability'!

If in the future Yuan Long is spoiled rotten by Chinu and Afang, it would indeed be hard for him to bear a great responsibility......

She is still young after all, and she will surely have other children.

Moreover, given her temperament——

Before exhausting all means and having to relinquish power, she will surely try every way to seize all authority, unwilling to let go easily, and indeed will not overreach too early.

Now thinking about these things is indeed premature.

Now, she is merely standing from a pure mother's perspective, wondering why Chinu and Afang dote on the children so much.

Du Shanü yawned, finally feeling a bit sleepy, she embraced the big kitty and gave it a smacking kiss:

All right, all right, finished telling the little story for tonight...... Sleep sleep.

This time I'm back, I'll be able to stay for many more days! Tomorrow just happens to be a good time to accompany you to the mountains to see if the peach blossoms have opened.

Yu Baobao, I know I left you in Cang Cheng, and surely many people will gossip about you. But you must know, our days are ours to live, not theirs......

From now on, we still have a long, long stretch of time ahead.

Now, it's merely that the world is not yet settled.

Once the world is settled, they may perhaps have long years together, they may have their own children, and they may gather together to worry about their children's shortcomings......

Yu Baobao's present idea of raising Yuan Long is completely unnecessary.

Du Shanü closed her eyes, gradually drifting into dreamland, and Yu Baobao, who had received the Wife Master's promise, also gradually calmed down.

Her promise, worth a thousand gold, in just a single sentence, let the previously turbulent undercurrents calm.

Under the moonlight, the couple again sank into dreamland, flowing along the Dream River, winding without end.

While some are calm, others have hearts like raging waves.

Just as......

Ouyang An, who had received his elder brother's letter.

A few days later.

An Nan, Heishishan.

Ouyang An, who had received a letter from Yongzhou, looked at the thin letter in his hand, only to feel that the icy collar around his neck inexplicably tightened a bit.

His face turned deathly pale, and he couldn't help but murmur:

...... What does it mean, 'If the King of An Nan does not die, then send my elder brother's corpse to see'?

I only have myself; one person still struggles to get by, how could I possibly kill the King of An Nan???

?? The matters at hand are more or less settled; afterward I'll do my best to be on time~

? At the start of the month, begging for votes, begging begging begging all you dear ones~ This month there will also be extra updates~!