"Look at my fourth brother, who is full of knowledge. He is usually so sensible, but now he is obsessed with this servant girl. Dad, your training over the years has not been in vain!"
"It's a long way to Jinan, and if the two of us live together, something might happen!"
After hearing this, Li Shi walked to Jinlan and turned his back. The cup of tea in his hand had been cold for a long time.
Qingru sighed deeply, hurriedly went over to take the tea cup from his hand, and poured him another cup of hot tea.
"Dad... don't worry, that girl Cui He knows what's appropriate, that's all I'm saying!"
Li Shiqing walked up to her, put a hand on her shoulder, and motioned for her to sit down by the stove.
——Sitting on the armchair covered with white velvet blankets.
Li Shixiu seemed to have aged a lot, and his voice was hoarse when he spoke: "I have put in too much energy for this fourth child. He has been raised by my side since he was a child. He also reads the most, but now he has become The most rebellious."
"Now, he doesn't listen to what I say, he becomes more stubborn and talks back, and he doesn't even bother to say good morning or night!"
"More and more... like her mother."
Qingru smiled and said: "He is old enough and will be out of your control, but dad, this kind of thing happened to my Li family, but it ruined the family tradition. In Liaoyang, several other wealthy families are watching!"
"The dignified fourth son of the Li family is going to elope with a personal servant. If word gets out, it's not certain what others will say!" She took a sip of the warm milk tea.
"It only happened a few years ago. Back then, Qing Ya's heart belonged to King Qi. Everyone knew about it. They all said that the girl from the Li family who had already been engaged was still hanging out with someone else. When she got married, the rumors started to slow down. It calmed down, but this time the fourth child was even more desperate. He fell in love with a lowly servant girl with no head or face, but he didn't know that her two sisters insisted on being different from others."
Li Shi suddenly became alert and sat upright.
——"No, it's all Cuihe's fault. Xian'er is still a child, he doesn't understand the love between children."
"Daddy, how are you now?"
"Cui He and the fourth child have gone to Jinan now. Cui He's purpose is very clear. She wants to find someone who can make the decision, and the person who makes the decision is the most noble wife in my family!"
After hearing this, Li Shi hung the tea in his hand in the air, holding it in one hand.
"Qingya loves her two maids the most, one is Cuihe and the other is Xiyi. Qingya feels guilty about Cuihe's disloyalty a few years ago. ... This time she can completely decide whether Cuihe is going to be married to her. Brother, you can either be a second wife, or you can find a way to give her a higher status and arrange for a nobleman from the Liu family to recognize her as the adopted daughter, so that she can be the wife of the fourth child."
"This way, no one else can blame her."
Li Shi listened slowly and carefully, put the water down gently, touched his beard, and thought for a long time: "Actually, Cui He is also a gentle woman. If she comes from a rich family, she would be a good match for us!"
He seemed to slowly let go of the matter.
——"Now that Qingya has the ability to plan for Cuihe, she will definitely do everything well. She must raise her status and be worthy of us. It's okay to be a little lady. For other things, I'm going to take care of the Zhang family." The girl asked me to come here and be Xianke’s proper wife..."
Qingru rolled her eyes and sat next to him again: "Don't you understand the fourth brother? The fourth child will never wrong Cuihe to be a concubine. The fourth child will find ways to find out that the matchmaker is marrying her, even if you temporarily arrange for her to be your concubine. , the fourth child also tried every means to straighten her up."
Li Shi was silent.
"So daddy, you absolutely cannot marry Cui He into my family, and you absolutely cannot agree to this matter."
Li Shi stood up and spread his hands: "What should I do then? Cui He has gone to Jinan now, and the second girl must have plans for her. I have no power now, and there is nothing I can do to stop her then."
"Then... I'll take the first step," he said anxiously, "I'll send someone to pick a small official for her in the past few days, and explain it to her so that Xian'er can understand!"
Qingru burst out laughing after hearing this for some reason. Naizhi held her father Li Shi's arm and said with a hint of sarcasm, "Dad, what do you think?
Is this useful? Cui He is married to a small official with no power, so with the fourth child’s tenacity, what’s the problem in getting her back? If anyone else hears that he is the Grand Prime Minister’s nephew, who would dare to disobey him?”
"When the time comes, Xianke will finally keep Cuihe, but if you promise Cuihe to someone else, I'm afraid the estrangement between the fourth child and you will never go away!"...
After hearing this, Li Shi was thinking about something. He looked at the purple smoke rising from the desk, and then at the heat of the milk tea by the stove. He sighed deeply, and his old back pressed down again.
"It won't work this way or that way. I can't let Xian'er be confused!"
At this time, Qingru snooped around and sent the personal maid away. After signaling something, the maid took away the other people who were busy in the outer room.
She stuck close to Li Shi and whispered: "Dad, whoever Cui He married, Lao Si could find a way to bring her back and stay with her, but there was only one person Cui He married. Lao Si I dare not say anything even if I open my eyes or close them."
Li Shinai asked: "Who is it?"
"Daddy yourself!"
Li Shi was shocked, having no idea that Qingru actually wanted him to marry Cuihe.
"What nonsense are you talking about, Cui He...she is just a child! How old is I now?"
Qingru didn't show any other expressions to his surprise. Instead, she held her old father's hand with a mysterious smile and said, "Daddy, daddy... please be patient and listen to what my daughter has to say to you."
"Come on, Cuihe is twenty years old and the boss is not young anymore. If she marries another small official, I am really afraid that she will not live well in the future, and it will be difficult for her in her life.
Secondly, you saw that Cuihe, although she was a maid, she was beautiful and refined. Even among the women of the rich family, her appearance and figure were one of the best. But for you, the eldest lady has been dead for many years, and you have not renewed her relationship. , you have your own reasons for not continuing, but it’s okay to treat her as a little girl! She is still an old friend of the eldest lady. If you take her as a concubine, the eldest lady will definitely be happy under Jiuquan. "
"Speaking of being shy behind closed doors, daddy, you are a military commander, strong and strong. Sleeping with such a beautiful woman in your arms at night will be as comfortable as possible. The young woman comforts your tired body, what else is there to be unhappy about? What about? Right!"
"The most important thing is that no matter how rebellious the fourth child is, he will never dare to touch the woman who kisses me. If he really rebels, you ask Cuihe to comfort the fourth child and coax the fourth child to marry the girl from the Zhang family. No, he won't listen to you, but the fourth child will listen to the words of the person he likes."
"Maybe you two had conflicts for a while, but as time went on, Cuihe talked and coaxed him. The father and son did not have an overnight feud, and the days went by. Yu Cuihe, you, and Yu Laosi all Good thing."
Li Shi was dumbfounded, shook his head to express his disapproval, turned around and sat on the armchair, hugging Nuantang Pozi and remained silent.
"This... must be inappropriate. Even though Cui He is so young, she is not willing to do it."
Qingru took a step forward: "Tell her slowly, if it doesn't make sense, I'll do it. My daughter is a woman, so I'll do it."
"You have to prevent the two of them from going to Jinan now. Qingya will make the decision for her. You must write a letter to King Yong in your tone now, saying that Laosi and Cuihe will go to Jinan to visit your lady. There is also a mention in the letter, Cuihe has found an excellent family, and it was the old lady of Yuanhong Temple who checked her. Cuihe went to Jinan to visit his wife before getting married."
"Dad, if you say so, Qingya feels that Cuihe's marriage has been planned by you and the old lady of Yuanhong Temple. Even if Cuihe wants Qingya to help, Qingya will have to wait and see how things develop before making any plans. Wait for Cuihe You are back, you take the opportunity to accept her as your wife, hide it from Qingya first, and the rest will fall into place."
Shi continued to be silent, shook his head again, raised his feet and returned to the balcony: "Third girl, please go back! This matter ends here."
Qingru looked at her father's posture independently for a moment, then left with a smile. Although she heard Li Shi's polite refusal, she felt fully confident in her heart.
So she went back to the house and sent someone to bring over the book Li Shi had written. She adjusted the ink, imitated Li Shi's handwriting, and wrote it in the tone of Li Shi's uncle to Wan Yanyong who was far away in Jinan. The letter was sent out by flying pigeon.
The maid beside her, Cui Ju, was puzzled as to why she was acting like this, so she asked, "Third girl, you don't have to worry about Shiro's affairs at all. Who does he marry and what do you have to do with it, third girl?"
Qingru smiled easily and said: "How can I make it easy for these three sisters? Qingya treats me like that, Li Xianke and Li Jingke have taken over my father's favor, so why? My brother and I are the original match. Madam’s child, a legitimate son and daughter,”
"I do this, I say it is selfish, but it is also for the good of my Li family. Li Xianke can safely marry a rich girl from the Zhang family, my father has a beautiful woman, and my Li family's reputation has also improved. It’s not a happy thing if it’s saved!”
"Although daddy refused with his mouth, in his heart, hum... he knows the benefits of doing this and will definitely agree."
She swayed her skirt and walked around the house leisurely, holding her belly. Then she looked at the bellyband she had embroidered for the child in her belly and said to herself: "My child! I must make the person who harmed me pay the price." , Mom should give birth to you well. When you grow up, Mom will be more valuable than her son!"
As she rambled on, the slaves around her also understood something and went about their own business.
The letter she wrote took nearly ten days to reach Wan Yanyong's hands.
It was a spring day in Jinan, with occasional sunny days, but it was unbearably hot in the evening. In the evening, Li Qingya lay quietly on the bed and fell asleep, while Xiangxiang outside the curtain was organizing the bookcase.
Qingya was sleeping, and when she opened her eyes, she vaguely saw a tall man in military armor standing beside the bed. The man was facing her with his hands behind his back. She wanted to ask who the man was, but she seemed to be mute and couldn't make a sound. , I want to shout but I can’t. After a moment, he heard his deafening shout again - "My son, my son, I am your father! How is my son?"
The hoarse and deafening sound invaded her ears one after another, giving her a headache. She raised her hand and caught a glimpse of the man holding the jade pendant left by her deceased mother. She reached out to get something, but the man As she raised her hand, she disappeared instantly.
