Chapter 297 - 266: Have a Son (Third Update)

Chapter 297: Chapter 266: Have a Son (Third Update)

Since Xu Shu and his wife are already here, naturally they need to stay for a meal.

Wen Wan didn’t sit at the table; instead, she instructed Mrs. Jin to take a meal to the East Wing. She sat in front of the bed, watching her son while eating.

Song Fang didn’t see her sister-in-law; after greeting her parents and third brother, she went to accompany her.

Seeing that the worry on Wen Wan’s face was not alleviated, Song Fang comforted her again.

Wen Wan took a few bites casually, put down her chopsticks, and looked at her, "I understand all the reasoning you mentioned, but as the child’s biological mother, it’s impossible not to worry at such times. When you have your own children in the future, you’ll understand how I feel now."

Song Fang suddenly found herself speechless. After a while, she asked about Wen Wan’s situation at the Hongwen Academy, hoping to divert her attention.

Wen Wan was preoccupied with thoughts of her son and didn’t want to talk about anything else, but since her sister-in-law asked, she couldn’t ignore her, so she replied simply. She said that except for her own foolishness and learning things slower than others, everything else was quite good.

Seeing her lack of enthusiasm, Song Fang wisely kept quiet and personally helped her clean up the bowls and chopsticks.

...

After applying cold towels several times, Jinbao’s forehead temperature began to decrease.

After giving him medicine again in the afternoon, by evening, the little one gradually regained some energy, stopped sleeping, opened his eyes, but still lazily nestled in his mother’s arms listening to adults talk about things he didn’t understand.

After spending a day there, the Xu Family couple proposed to leave.

Before departing, Granny Song called her daughter aside to ask about having children.

Song Fang’s face flushed as her mother spoke, and she retorted, "We only got married at last year’s year-end; it’s not been long since then. How can you be urging for a grandchild so soon?"

Granny Song said, "The mother-in-law might not be rushing now, but you shouldn’t take it lightly yourself. In such a big family, if you can’t bear children, they will end up taking concubines for your husband, and there will be plenty of women to bear children for you then."

Song Fang heard this and fell into contemplation.

Xu Shu is afraid of blood; he himself said he wouldn’t take concubines.

How true or false that statement is, Song Fang doesn’t know.

But she knows one thing for sure: if the day comes when she can’t bear a son, her mother-in-law and the old lady certainly wouldn’t stop Xu Shu from taking concubines, and there’s a great possibility they might actively bring women to Xu Shu.

Just imagining a future where she has to share a husband with several women, and Xu Shu naturally touches other women only to return to her afterward, leaves her inexplicably uncomfortable.

Perhaps because she grew up in a rural area and hardly saw families with concubines besides the main wife, the concept of "concubines" doesn’t really exist in Song Fang’s subconscious.

Now reminded by her mother, suddenly alarm bells rang in her heart, and she realized that things couldn’t go on like this. She must bear a big, healthy son early to secure her position in the in-laws’ family.

Honestly, marrying into the Xu Family for half a year now, though her daily interactions with Xu Shu aren’t perfect, and they still bicker at times, her mother-in-law and the old lady truly have been impeccable towards her, making her life fairly comfortable.

Just as her third brother said at the beginning, finding a mother-in-law like the Xu Family in the Capital, a place heavily tainted by profit and desire, is hard.

Therefore, she actually feels grateful towards her mother-in-law and the old lady for their kindness.

For Song Fang, as long as life is comfortable, having a son is just part of the process. Isn’t it something every woman who marries into a family has to go through?

Thus, sitting in the carriage on the way back, Song Fang proactively brought up the topic of children.

Xu Shu didn’t react initially; after he did, he was a bit dumbfounded, then stared blankly at Song Fang, "Wife, what did you just say?"

Song Fang secretly rolled her eyes, "I said nothing."

"You mentioned children, didn’t you?" Xu Shu excitedly grabbed her hand, "Are you thinking about giving me a son?"

Though the words were quite normal, somehow when they came out of his mouth, they became unappealing to her.

Retracting her hand, Song Fang seriously admonished her husband, "Keep quiet!"

"I won’t!" Xu Shu leaned back, smugly raised his brows, "Anyway, I heard you say you want to have a child for me."

Song Fang’s face darkened, "Yes, yes, having a child. Is it necessary to say it over and over?"

"That’s my son; saying it a few more times bothers no one, does it?"

"Anyway, I feel like any word that comes through your mouth, it becomes indecent."

Xu Shu suddenly leaned over, resting his chin in his hand, and after a long while, he spoke, "Wife sees me as indecent; I see my wife in the same light."

"Xu Shu!"

"How does the saying go? ’A heart harbors evil spirits; no one pure appears in the eyes,’ which means only indecent people would see everything I do as indecent. I suppose the ancients were right."

"Go to hell!"

——

When Song Yuanbao finished school, he didn’t see Wen Wan; after asking Uncle Lin, he found out Jinbao was sick, and Wen Wan had already taken leave in the morning.

Upon returning home, he immediately went to check on Jinbao.

The little one was currently nestled in his father’s arms, being fed porridge.

Seeing his brother come, he grinned, revealing a few small teeth.

Watching this, Song Yuanbao walked over, squatted in front of the little one, spoke softly to him, and then reached out to touch his little head.

After getting sick, Jinbao became "fragile," perhaps in his small heart, he hoped everyone could pamper him a bit more at this time.

So when his brother rubbed his little head, he was particularly well-behaved, unlike his usual self who would grab things and throw them at his brother.

Song Yuanbao asked about Jinbao’s condition, and hearing Song Wei say that after taking the medicine he had mostly recovered, he breathed a sigh of relief and directly went to find Wen Wan.

Wen Wan was crouching by the well washing Jinbao’s clothes.

Normally, Mrs. Cao would handle tasks like this; there was no need for her, a mistress, to do it personally. She merely wanted to find something to do to distract herself.

When Song Yuanbao approached, Wen Wan noticed.

"Yuanbao’s back, are you tired?"

Song Yuanbao shook his head and said he wasn’t tired. After a while, he discussed with Wen Wan, "Mom, Su Yaoqi mentioned he wants to come to our home tomorrow during his day off. Can I bring him back?"

Wen Wan froze for a second at the name, "Su Yaoqi?"

"Yes, that’s him."

That person had been dispirited for a few days before going back to Imperial College, and every time he encountered Song Yuanbao, he would greet him proactively. Today, after greeting him, he expressed a desire to visit the Song family during his day off tomorrow and asked if Song Yuanbao agreed.

Song Yuanbao didn’t respond immediately then, ambiguously dodged the matter intending to first ask Wen Wan at home, whether or not they should let Su Yaoqi know about her true identity and make him give up early.