Chapter 176: Chapter 176: The Lucky Farmer is at Ease, While the Husband with No Heirs is Busy Pursuing His Wife 36

It was just the length of a song, yet Zhezhi allowed herself to immerse in it, quickly forgetting the grievances she felt moments ago.

Whenever Fu Huaichu thought of the Palace Maid in the Eastern Palace who dared to scold Zhezhi, his face would still darken, but in front of Zhezhi, he nonetheless managed a smile and said gently, “Daddy loves your mother. Zhizhi, do you have any good ideas?”

After he spoke, Zhezhi teased him by playing coy, “I haven’t thought it through yet. If daddy could promise to always be good to mom, then I could come up with ideas with brother, who is very clever.”

Fu Huaichu gently stroked his little daughter’s hair. Zhezhi said her brother Zheye was very smart, but she didn’t know she was also extremely clever, and as a daughter, she had an even more exquisite heart.

He couldn’t help but become serious, “Zhizhi, daddy was foolish at first. I thought your mother was pining for another man, that she was unwilling to follow me. I never considered that Zhizhi and your brother Zheye were already in her womb. That’s why we parted ways for three long years. During those years, daddy thought about it countless times, went back to search for a long time, but a great fire had already razed our old village to the ground.”

“If I could gain the approval of Zhizhi and your brother, if I could court your mother once more, to be with her, I certainly wouldn’t fail the three of you any longer,” Fu Huaichu let out in relief. To others, he might have forever buried these words in his heart, but now, before him was his own flesh and blood, his perfect chance to win back Ruanruan, his wife and children by his side, with whom he could become family, which is when he felt truly happy.

Zhezhi nodded, her expression somewhat desolate, appearing so mature despite being only three and a half years old. “Daddy, my brother and I have promised, for the rest of our lives, never to let mom suffer, be in distress, or be bullied. Mom is very good, the best mom in the whole world.”

“When mom gave birth to me and my brother, because daddy wasn’t around, many people looked down on her. But in the face of me and brother, she was always the gentle mom,” Zhezhi sat down, lowered her head, remembered the scolding she had just faced, and suddenly her lips pouted and her eyes turned red, her little hands clasped together, resembling a delicate New Year painting doll. Thinking back to that incident, she spoke in a lowered spirit, “Mom is too busy, so my brother and I were looked after with the other kids in the neighborhood. Some mean people said we were fatherless bastards. When mom heard about it, it was the first time she got angry and directly confronted their parents. No one dared to insult us after that.”

“From then on, my brother and I promised to protect mom for life, to always keep her happy and joyful. We want to buy her a big house, lots of delicious food,” Zhezhi said with clenched little fists, her eyes full of determination.

After listening to her, Fu Huaichu’s heart was full of mixed emotions, indescribable, but when all these emotions mingled together, they pained his very core. Zhezhi’s words may have been simple, but they painted a vivid picture, revealing the entire scene before him in just a few sentences.

In the picture Zhezhi painted, Su Zhiruan was alone, raising two children, yet had to endure criticism and idle gossip.

Others naturally did not know that the children they were criticizing were his, Fu Huaichu’s children.

And his Ruanruan, although she knew the true identity of the children, kept silent. As a woman, she raised both children alone to be well-behaved and gentle, famous prodigies even from afar.

Outsiders only saw her shine, venturing out to do business, earning a lot of money, both children geniuses, educated properly, one excelling in keeping accounts, and the other successfully apprenticing in the arts. But it was not until today, through the weighty words of Zhezhi, that Fu Huaichu truly felt the challenges Su Zhiruan faced.

Giving birth was agonizing in itself, she disregarded worldly views, raised them on her own, providing them with a good life. Just for that, Fu Huaichu’s heart and eyes were filled with pain and regret at this moment.

“Daddy is sorry, sorry to you and to your mother,” Fu Huaichu couldn’t wait to see Su Zhiruan, to hold her tightly in his embrace, to henceforth protect and take care of his wife and children.

His throat tasted sweet with a tang of blood, and his mind was flooded with guilt and self-reproach, “I’ve come late.”

Zhezhi stepped forward, her small hand steadying Fu Huaichu, “Father need not blame himself. Why don’t we go out and look for brother? My brother is very smart. The three of us together can surely come up with a plan to make mother like you again, and then our family can be together.”

At that moment, Fu Huaichu felt immense gratitude to Su Zhiruan for giving birth to Zheye and Zhezhi. These two children were like Mimosas, gifted in speech, especially Zhezhi, who had no shortage of novel ideas. Now, he finally understood why there has always been a need to perpetuate one’s lineage since ancient times. He now desired nothing more than to bring Su Zhiruan into his Eastern Palace, to become his Crown Princess Consort, where he could dote on his wife, nurture his children, and occasionally listen to their childlike banter to pass the time pleasantly.

He lifted Zhezhi into his arms and commanded to someone outside the door, “Summon the carriage.”

“Yes,” a servant immediately went to carry out the order.

Soon, the carriage stopped on the palace roadway, and Fu Huaichu, holding Zhezhi, boarded the carriage.

The two little maids watched the commanding officer of the carriage with trepidation, initially unaware that he was the leader of the Imperial Guard, let alone that they would be entering the Imperial Palace, see the Crown Prince, and even learn that the Crown Prince was the master of their household and the biological father of the young master and young miss.

One little maid behind the other, they eventually squeezed themselves next to the commanding officer, and with his command of “Drive!” the carriage rolled down the palace roadway. All the little palace maids and little eunuchs busy cleaning and working along the way turned their faces toward the wall, not daring to look directly at them.

*

Under the arrangements made by Fu Huaichu and Zhezhi, Zheye was also brought out.

At this time, the three of them sat in a private room of a restaurant.

“Father,” Zheye, who had just returned from sword practice, had fine beads of sweat dotting his forehead, wearing a simple exercise outfit. He was slightly taller than Zhezhi, but being only three and a half years old, he barely reached up to Fu Huaichu’s knee when standing beside him. He turned with a gentle tone and took hold of his well-behaved sister’s sleeve, “Sister.”

Just now, when Zheye was led out of the house by Zhezhi, both the little maids and the commanding officer were immediately stunned.

Initially, nothing seemed amiss, but when father and son stood together, one tall, the other short, their identical looks and demeanor were striking. If Zheye and Fu Huaichu were not to show any expression, Zheye’s little face could pass for a miniaturized version of Fu Huaichu.

“Dear guests, have a look at what you’d like to order, here is the menu,” said the waiter, with a white towel slung over his shoulder and a white cap on his head, who the moment he entered the private room, bowed and handed over the menu, then he shrewdly glanced towards Zheye and Zhezhi, “These two must be your young masters and miss, our establishment also has meals suitable for children, please take a look.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Novlove.com