The annual tax exemptions alone should be worth quite a bit of money, shouldn’t they? And at his age, with such promising prospects, there must be merchants willing to “invest” in his future in advance…
Weisheng He’s father spoke somewhat evasively.
“Juren Chen says he has to consider his future official career and doesn’t want to associate too closely with merchants. He’s afraid it might damage his reputation.”
Weisheng He fell silent.
So marrying a merchant’s widow is perfectly fine?
If he really passes the jinshi examination and becomes an official one day, what’s to stop him from bringing this up again and looking down on me and the children for our merchant background?
And I have to give him a son within three years?
Does he think I’m the Child-Giving Guanyin, here to grant him a son?
He’s already this old and still has no children. For all I know, he might be the one who can’t have them. Yet he deliberately made having a son one of his conditions…
Don’t tell me his first wife didn’t actually die of illness?
This man is an even bigger trap than Master Zhou.
Absolutely not.
“Next.”
“There is no next.”
Her father gathered up the papers.
“Those are the only two.”
Weisheng He leaned back in her chair and fell silent for a while.
Half a year.
Father searched for half a year and only found two.
And both of them were clearly after something.
“There’s no rush.”
She sighed helplessly.
“I still have another year and a half of mourning left. We can keep looking.”
Her father opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he merely sighed.
“All right. We’ll keep looking.”
Days passed.
Weisheng He’s life settled into a regular routine.
Every morning after waking, she first burned incense for her parents-in-law and husband.
Then she summoned the servants attending Madam Sun and questioned them to make sure the woman had not caused any more trouble.
Madam Sun had behaved herself over the past six months.
At first, she had made a few scenes and tried to have servants pass messages outside. When they were stopped, she smashed several teacups in anger.
But no one paid any attention to her.
Weisheng He even withheld two months of her allowance.
Gradually, Madam Sun stopped making trouble.
She began staying quietly in her courtyard, embroidering, copying scriptures, and basking in the sun. Occasionally, she would have a maid accompany her on a walk around the courtyard.
She had finally settled down.
Weisheng He softened her attitude in return. Every few days, she had fresh pastries and fruit sent over. Whenever a festival came around, Madam Sun still received the usual gifts.
But their relationship did not improve.
They were little different from strangers living under the same roof.
After that, nearly all of Weisheng He’s time was spent with her children.
The two babies were now half a year old and had already learned how to sit and crawl.
Weisheng He specially cleared out an entire room and removed all the furniture. Then she hired a carpenter to make enough wooden toys to fill it.
The floor was completely covered with rugs, while every corner and hard edge had been carefully wrapped and padded with cotton and cloth.
With wet nurses and maids watching over them, Weisheng He only needed to sit nearby and read or attend to her own affairs.
As long as the babies could see their mother whenever they wanted her, they hardly had time to cry.
They were far too busy playing.
There never seemed to be enough time in the day.
After wearing themselves out in the playroom, they slept soundly at night too.
Even the wet nurses who slept beside them said the two children were remarkably easy to care for.
Sometimes, the two older children would go inside and play with their younger sisters.
Whenever they had too much fun or became especially fond of a certain toy, they would inevitably complain that their mother was playing favorites.
But before those complaints could even reach Weisheng He’s ears, the wet nurses and maids attending the older children took them straight to the storeroom.
It was filled with wooden toys and rugs.
The wet nurse explained, “Before Young Master and Young Miss were even born, Young Madam had already prepared a playroom for you. But as you grew older, Master worried that too much playing would distract you from your studies, so he specifically ordered everything removed.”
Their mother had never been favoring the younger children.
Only then were the two older children happy again.
They eagerly rushed into the storeroom and rummaged through the toys until they found the ones they liked.
Once the toys were in their hands, they finally remembered Weisheng He and became hesitant.
“Grandfather was worried we would neglect our studies because of playing. Then Mother…”
The wet nurse was not sure either, so she suggested, “Why don’t Young Master and Young Miss take the toys to Young Madam and ask? You’re her own flesh and blood. She can’t dote on you enough. Even if she really does worry about playing interfering with your studies, they’re only one or two toys. Surely she won’t take them away.”
When the children went to ask, however, Weisheng He had only one question.
“Do you want me to clear out another room and restore your playroom?”
The two children considered themselves grown-ups and immediately refused.
Her eldest daughter smiled and acted spoiled.
“Mother still loves us best. But there’s no need. Whenever we want to play, we can just go to our younger sisters’ room.”
Her eldest son nodded solemnly.
“We can play with our sisters too.”
Weisheng He smiled and pinched both children’s chubby cheeks.
“All right. We’ll do as you say.”
After a pause, she added, “Everything in the storeroom was originally yours. If you like something, just have someone fetch it. You don’t need to ask me first.
“But you’ve already begun your studies, so your lessons must come first. You are not allowed to let playing interfere with them.”
People in ancient times generally had shorter lifespans, so children began their education earlier as well.
Most children started learning characters with their parents once they turned three.
At that age, their lessons were still simple and mainly consisted of elementary primers such as the Three Character Classic, the Hundred Family Surnames, the Thousand Character Classic, and introductory texts on rhyme and tonal patterns.
Weisheng He had specially hired a gentle and talented female teacher.
She had also commissioned people to make teaching materials of her own.
Most were illustrated or plain-language versions of introductory texts.
The content mainly consisted of the myths, legends, and historical stories mentioned in those books, serving as supplements to the teacher’s lessons.
Occasionally, she also had stories and other material not covered in the standard primers illustrated or rewritten in simpler language.
The teacher generally did not teach those.
Weisheng He treated them purely as extracurricular reading.
If the children liked them, they could read them.
If they did not, there was no need.
Fortunately, both children seemed to enjoy reading.
Maybe they only like reading this much because there isn’t much entertainment in this era, and stories are already one of the best ways to pass the time?
Still, their teacher had also said they were intelligent.
Or maybe I really do have two little geniuses who genuinely love studying?
That made Weisheng He rather happy.
The two younger children had also begun eating solid foods.
Their first teeth had started coming in as well.
Even the most obedient babies became fussy while teething.
Weisheng He had been through it once before and could only prepare in advance.
She stocked up on plenty of things for them to chew on, including teething toys and biscuits. The wet nurses and maids also watched them closely, stepping in the moment anything seemed wrong.
So Weisheng He herself still had a relatively easy time.
A few days earlier, however, her parents had visited and brought some news.
Madam Jia, the wife of the Imperial Salt Inspector, had become gravely ill.
Every well-known physician in Weiyang had been invited to see her.
Inspector Lin had even gone personally to the Zhen family in Jinling to invite the elderly former imperial physician they supported to Weiyang.
But the news coming from the Lin residence was not encouraging.
The physicians said Madam Jia’s heart had been badly weakened.
She might have only a few months left to live.
Weisheng He could not help frowning.
Strictly speaking, the powerful Inspector Lin isn’t really our protector.
Madam Jia is.
I saw it clearly at the funeral. If Madam Jia hadn’t spoken up, Inspector Lin never intended to interfere in our affairs.
If Madam Jia dies, will Inspector Lin still care what happens to us?
At that thought, Weisheng He could no longer sit still.
She touched the red mole on her wrist and was about to call for a maid to bring her a teacup when she suddenly froze.
Hesitation crossed her face.
The red mole was the special ability that had come with her transmigration.
Its function was simple.
If she focused her mind and willed it to appear, spiritual spring water would emerge from the mole.
She could mix the spring water into tea or food, or drink it directly.
If she then slept with a man that night, she would become pregnant.
But Weisheng He had thought of it now because the spiritual spring had another use as well.