Chapter 662: Question
Editor: Atlas Studios
After playing until noon, Mu Yangling waved her hand and everyone walked back to the courtyard. The servants had already packed their things in advance. As soon as Mu Yangling and the others entered, they brought water over to help them wash up. After they changed into clean clothes, food was ready.
Fan Zijin had a beam on his face, clearly quite satisfied with the arrangements for this morning. He asked, “What else have you planned for today?”
“After eating, we’ll take an afternoon nap and sleep till we wake up naturally. After that, we can walk around the courtyard or look at the scenery nearby. At night, we’ll roast meat and eat together. The next morning, we’ll go to the Temple of Eternal Blessings on the mountain to pray and play. After eating vegetarian food in the temple at noon, we’ll come down for a lunch break and begin our journey back.”
After a moment of silence, Fan Zijin nodded slightly. “Sounds relaxing.”
Mu Yangling said proudly, “Of course. We’re not just playing. We’re doing this for our physical and mental pleasure. Naturally, we’ll do whatever’s relaxing.”
No wonder the couple had brought so many servants with them this time. In the past, when the two of them went out to play, they only brought their personal servant girls and servant boys, doing everything themselves. This time, they even brought Chief Steward Zhu Liang along.
Fan Zijin only had the habit of taking an afternoon nap back in the north. After returning to Jiangnan, he had quit this habit because he no longer had time to take an afternoon nap these days. After lunch, he would just take a walk around the military camp and then close his eyes to rest for 15 minutes before continuing to work. Therefore, he thought that he would not be able to fall asleep at noon today.
However, perhaps because he was a little tired from climbing the mountain just now, or perhaps because he was feeling sleepy after eating, he fell asleep as soon as he lay on the bed.
Little Madam Xia gently covered him with the blanket and sat by the bed to look at him. She couldn’t help but smile.
In the courtyard on the other side, Qi Haoran propped his son up with his legs crossed. Shocked by this sight upon entering, Mu Yangling hurriedly ran over to carry her son down. She patted Qi Haoran and said angrily, “What if our son falls?”
Qi Haoran got up and said, “I’m not an idiot. Why would I let him fall?”
He snatched his son from Mu Yangling and asked, “Isn’t that right, son?”
Little Bear nodded fiercely and even turned to look at his mother eagerly. Then, he decisively hugged his father’s neck and refused to let go.
Mu Yangling gently patted his butt and said, “How ungrateful. I treat you so well but your father only has to curl his finger at you and you’d go to him.”
Little Bear buried his head in his father’s arms. Feeling even more smug now, Qi Haoran shook his head and looked at Mu Yangling.
Mu Yangling instantly felt jealousy. She was the one who spent the most time with the kid. Qi Haoran would only come back from work to play with his son for an hour every day, but even then, his son clearly adored him and wished he could hang around his neck all day long.
Mu Yangling took off her shoes and climbed into bed. “Alright, hurry up and take a nap. Otherwise, you’ll definitely fall asleep without eating tonight.”
Qi Haoran hurriedly placed his son in the middle and placed his large hand on his stomach to coax him to sleep.
As Little Bear rarely slept with his parents, he looked around curiously for a moment. Only after a long time did he yawn and fall asleep. Seeing that his son was asleep, Mu Yangling also gradually fell asleep.
She felt that she had just closed her eyes when she suddenly heard her son’s sharp cries. Mu Yangling opened her eyes and jumped up, only to see her son lying on the bed and crying so hard that he was out of breath. Meanwhile, Qi Haoran was sitting at the side with an ugly expression.
Heart aching terribly, Mu Yangling quickly went forward to hug her son and coax him. “Don’t cry, don’t cry. Mother is here.”
Recognizing it was his mother, Little Bear hugged her neck tightly and buried his head in her chest to sob. His cries only eased after a long time, and Mu Yangling finally had the time to ask, “What exactly happened? Why did you suddenly start crying? Did you suffer a fright or something?”
At the mention of this, Qi Haoran’s expression turned even uglier. “I saw him snorting and wanted to bring him to pee. Yet, when he opened his eyes and saw me, he was so frightened that he burst into tears. Am I so scary? Didn’t I just not sleep with him for more than a month? Previously, he didn’t cry like this when I brought him to pee.”
“Perhaps he’s more sensitive since this is an unfamiliar place?”
“He doesn’t recognize me just because of that? I’m his father!” Qi Haoran snapped angrily.
“Alright, alright. What if you scare the child again?”
Qi Haoran instantly kept quiet, but he still felt indignant. When everyone went out to play in the afternoon, Qi Haoran hugged Little Bear and asked, “Do you remember me? This is your father. In the future, no matter if you’re asleep or awake, you have to remember that I am your father. If any demons or ghosts scare you, just call me over to protect you. Do you understand?”
Mu Yangling didn’t know if Little Bear remembered his words. She only knew that Little Bear stared at his father for a while before burying his head in Qi Haoran’s arms. Just as she thought that he was just being shy, he pointed at the road ahead and burst into tears. As he wailed, he tugged at Qi Haoran’s clothes and asked to sit on his neck.
Fan Zijin glanced at the father and son, feeling a rare sense of envy. Little Madam Xia held his hand and looked at him eagerly.
With a smile, Fan Zijin patted her hand and said in a low voice, “We’ll have children too.”
The next day, Mu Yangling took one look at Little Madam Xia and knew that it was done. Heaving a sigh of relief, she waved her arm for everyone to head to the Temple of Eternal Blessings.
The Temple of Eternal Blessings was close to the top of the mountain, complete with meandering scenery. There was a shortcut from the courtyard to the side door of the temple. However, one could only walk, not ride a palanquin or ride a horse to get there.
At dawn, they set off from the courtyard. The air in the mountains was fresh and the weather was slightly cold. Qi Haoran wrapped his son in a small blanket and carried him in front of his chest as they slowly walked forward. When they arrived at the Temple of Eternal Blessings, the fog had dissipated and his son woke up.
Mu Yangling and Little Madam Xia walked slowly behind them while Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin led Little Bear to look for the Temple of Eternal Blessings’ abbot.
Upon hearing that the abbot of the Temple of Eternal Blessings had good medical skills, under Qi Haoran’s gesturing, Fan Zijin helplessly asked the abbot to give him a checkup.
Master Hui Qing took Fan Zijin’s pulse and said with a smile, “Benefactor, you’ve overworked yourself. You need to focus on recuperating…”
The conclusion was the same as Imperial Physician Wang’s.
After saying a few things to take note of, Hui Qing looked at Qi Haoran and asked, “Benefactor, what can I do for you?”
Fan Zijin looked at Qi Haoran. After hesitating for a moment, Qi Haoran carried his son, who was playing by his feet, over and said, “Master, help me take a look at my son. He’s already two years old, but he still can’t speak a word. He was born prematurely and suffered a fright when he was a baby. I wonder what is wrong with him.”
Although Qi Haoran told Mu Yangling not to be anxious, as a father, how could he not be?
Little Treasure was only a year older than Little Bear. Now, not only could he speak, but he could also write simple words already. Not long ago, the letter they received contained some graffiti that Little Treasure had drawn for Little Bear.
“Oh?” Hui Qing’s expression turned solemn. After taking Little Bear’s pulse, he kept teasing him with some object. The innocent Little Bear happily held the object and mumbled incoherently to Hui Qing.
Hui Qing pointed at Qi Haoran with a smile and said, “This is Father. Father—”
Little Bear looked at Huiqing, then at Qi Haoran. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he merely spat out two incoherent words. Then, he mumbled again and held his father’s hand from time to time to get him to play with the toys in his hand.
Seeing this, Hui Qing pondered for a moment. “There’s nothing wrong with the child’s voice. As for him being unable to repeat what you said, I think the child seems to want to say something, but is unable to do so. So in the end, he just glossed over it.”
Chapter end
