On New Year’s Eve, King Yan led the entire family to worship ancestors at the Sheji Altar of the previous dynasty.
Xiao Xun was too young, so he was wrapped in swaddling clothes and held by the wet nurse. Xiao Heng wore a small robe and walked steadily beside Wei Luo, appearing like a big brother.
Yin Hui looked at Xiao Heng and silently sighed in her heart.
Her father-in-law decided that the kids in the mansion had to study when they reached the age of four. But”four-year-old” was just a made-up age.
So, after that year, Xiao Heng would attend school with his brothers, starting every morning, having meals, resting in school, and returning home after school in the afternoon.
Wet nurses were not allowed to accompany them. Each young man could only bring an eunuch to serve him. Upon arriving at the studying hall, everyone had to listen to the gentlemen. Even if quarrels and fights erupted between brothers, the teachers would handle them, and they were not allowed to summon their own eunuchs or parents.
In her previous life, when Xiao Heng was going to the studying hall, Yin Hui was so worried that she couldn’t sleep well at night. Now that she had to go through it again, she still couldn’t calm down.
Sure enough, at the New Year’s Eve banquet, King Yan specifically mentioned Si Lang and Xiao Heng.
Si Lang started studying a year later due to weakness and illness, planning to commence after the Lantern Festival. As for Xiao Heng, although the little guy had not yet reached his third birthday, he had grown strong, smart, and could recite poems. Thus, in King Yan’s eyes, he had become a promising grandson who needed cultivation. King Yan wouldn’t want Xiao Heng to be lazy and play for a few more months.
On the sixth day of the first lunar month, Wei Luo brought back a ten-year-old eunuch named Cao Bao, who followed Xiao Heng to the studying hall to serve him.
In the previous life, the eunuch accompanying Xiao Heng was also Cao Bao.
Ten-year-old Cao Bao had delicate features because he had studied for a few years before his family fell. Hence, he had a bookish air about him and looked very stable.
Wei Luo valued Xiao Heng so much that he couldn’t go wrong with the person he personally selected. Cao Bao had always taken good care of Xiao Heng in the previous life.
Xaio Heng knew that Da Lang, Er Lang, and San Lang were accompanied by such people, and he also had a new partner, so he was very happy and immediately took Cao Bao out to play.
“What do you think of this person?” Looking at Cao Bao’s back, Wei Luo asked Yin Hui.
Yin Hui smiled and said, “The one you picked for Xiao Heng must be the best one. By the way, besides studying, has he also learned Kung Fu?” Although she knew everything, she pretended as if she didn’t. She needed to ask, lest Wei Luo would suspect that she didn’t care enough about her son.
Wei Luo replied, “He has learned some basic skills, so there’s no rush. When Xiao Heng reaches the age of practicing martial arts, I will arrange a martial partner for him.”
Yin Hui said with emotion, “Time flies so fast; Xiao Heng is the youngest in the studying hall. I don’t know if he can get used to it.”
Wei Luo recalled when he first went to the studying hall.
He didn’t remember most of the things, and what he could remember were all unpleasant.
Not to mention cousins, even brothers fought sometimes.
However, Xiao Heng was different from him. At that time, his father was busy with the affairs and led the army to fight. He could only tell his mother about any grievances he encountered, and his mother never really helped him. But he was home, so Xiao Heng could ask him for help if he encountered any trouble.
Besides him, there was also Mrs. Yin.
Her temperament was quite similar to his mother’s when they first married. But in the past two years, she seemed to have become different. Even Ji Xianxian restrained her arrogance in front of her. She probably wouldn’t teach her son to swallow his anger.
On the eighth day of the lunar new year, Ji Xianxian came to Chengxin Hall again as a guest. Besides Er Lang, Si Lang, and Sister Zhuang, she brought Li Rang, Si Lang’s new eunuch, with her.
Sitting in the main room basking in the sun through the glazed window, Ji Xianxian pointed to the tall, slender young man next to Si Lang and said, “Look, that’s the eunuch my husband picked for Si Lang to accompany him. His name is Li Rang. He’s fifteen years old this year, Liu Jin’s age.”
Yin Hui said, “Si Lang has a special body, and the second master is afraid that his companion would be too young to take good care of him.”
Ji Xianxian snorted, “If I cared more about the concubine born and put more of my thoughts on him, I wouldn’t be scolded by Father every day.”
Hearing that, Yin Hui didn’t say anything.
Ji Xianxian took a look at her, lowered her voice, and asked, “It’s been about forty days since you gave birth, are you fine?”
Yin Hui smiled, “Almost.”
Ji Xianxian said curiously, “Speaking of which, before you were pregnant, the third master only spoiled you, and the two beautiful concubines you bought were useless. But from the time you were pregnant to now, even if the third master only came back from the battlefield in November last year, and it’s been more than two months now, didn’t the two concubines get pregnant at all? Or are they already pregnant, hiding it for fear of being discovered by you?”
Because there was no concubine on Yin Hui’s side, Ji Xianxian often complained to her about Si Lang’s affairs like playing the pipa. She hoped that Chengxin Hall would soon give birth to a concubine-born child, and then the two would have more things to talk about.
Yin Hui thought to herself, those two concubines were not considered concubines at all because Wei Luo never slept with them. He even asked her to arrange work for these two people. It was Princess Xu who specifically mentioned it that year, so Wei Luo acted so perfunctorily.
Not having a concubine meant a lot less trouble, and Yin Hui was happy with the result. So she didn’t tell Ji Xianxian the truth but just smiled, “The third master is not keen on women; he had been far for so long, it has not been so easy to conceive for them.”