Chapter 273:
After the child was one full moon old, the Autumn Imperial Examination had long ended, and Xie Yanyu had no choice but to return to the Capital City to report on his duties.
When leaving, he gave many instructions.
He also left his two retainers behind, saying that after completing the imperial orders, he would return as soon as possible.
This was sternly refused by Xie Wanning.
During her giving birth, her elder brother’s anxious heart had already made Lu Ziyan suspicious; if he still frequently traveled to Bianzhou, it would be hard to avoid stirring up trouble.
“Elder Brother, rest assured. I will take good care of myself and the child; nothing will happen. Father and Mother have only you by their side; you should fulfill your filial duties to them. Wait another year or two until Lu Ziyan is no longer watching you closely, then come see me again.”
Xie Wanning said, “By then, I hope Elder Brother you will have already welcomed Sister-in-law through the door.”
Speaking of which, Xie Yanyu’s originally set wedding date was at the beginning of spring this year.
But with such a major incident at home, Madam Zheng, as the matriarch, suddenly fell ill and took to bed; the Xie Family was filled with cries that shook the heavens—where was there any mind to worry about the wedding ceremony?
Not even her younger sister’s remains had been found, so even Xie Yanyu had lost the desire to take a wife.
With such an incident occurring, any reasonable family would discuss it and simply postpone the wedding date by a few months.
But perhaps because Xie Wanning’s matter had caused too much of a stir and implicated the current Crown Prince, the Li Family developed some scruples.
In any case, when the Xie Family proposed postponing the wedding date, the Li Family took the opportunity to demand a broken engagement.
After all, a young lady’s prime cannot be delayed.
Thus, Xie Yanyu’s hard-won marriage fell through just like that.
Xie Wanning naturally felt endless guilt; when sending her elder brother off, she kept thinking that the next time they met, he must bring her a sister-in-law.
No matter how reluctant, Xie Yanyu could only nod in agreement.
How could Xie Wanning bear it either?
She just knew that their brother and sister being able to unexpectedly reunite in Bianzhou, allowing her to have family by her side during childbirth, was already heaven’s grace.
The current separation was her own choice.
Even so, after her elder brother left, Xie Wanning still felt disappointed and lost.
She continued living in the Prefect’s Mansion, and Ji Chengfeng made time every day to come see the child.
Sometimes sitting in the courtyard, sometimes entering the hall.
The weather gradually grew colder.
When Chen Xi’er’s due date arrived, Xie Wanning personally went to accompany her in childbirth.
Her labor was even more difficult; she struggled for two days and one night before giving birth.
It was also a boy.
After accompanying the birth and returning to the mansion, Ji Chengfeng handed her a letter.
It was from the Capital City.
It was personally handwritten by Madam Zheng.
On the paper, the delicate handwriting was blurred and smudged by tears in several places.
The letter contained not a single word of complaint, only concern.
Even the concern was veiled, conveyed through congratulations on ‘nephew Ji Chengfeng joyfully gaining an eldest son,’ with a few lines of care for her daughter tucked in.
Right up to the end, it instructed them that the road was far and receiving the letter was enough—no need to reply.
Xie Wanning read it with tears streaming down her face.
Ji Chengfeng handed her a handkerchief and carefully explained.
He said that the Capital City was now filled with tension and fear; Lu Ziyan had already driven the two princes to the brink of desperation.
Even his own main wife had been sent to the military camp to serve the troops—what man could endure such naked humiliation?
It was nearly an irreconcilable hatred.
The barefoot one fears not the one with shoes; the First Prince was now at the point of a desperate counterattack, where everything could ignite at a touch.
Countless eyes were watching them, Lu Ziyan’s ‘former maternal home.’
Once the letter fell into others’ hands, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Xie Wanning was not an unreasonable person; she gave up the idea of replying.
She only hoped everything would go smoothly, that Lu Ziyan would ascend to the throne soon, and that all would be well with the Xie Family.
Wanwan gave birth to a son because there was a throne to inherit at home.
Chen Xi’er also gave birth to a son because she didn’t want everyone to misunderstand that the two children had any romantic involvement.
No preference for sons over daughters here.
