Chapter 244

King Yan’s spouse seemed to like Liu Tong very much. He kept talking with him. It was inappropriate for Xu Ran to interrupt the conversation between two Ge’ers, so he started to play with the kids.

Although it was quite late now, no one was sleepy. King Yan had no concubines and only two children, and they hadn’t usually had playmates. Therefore, when they met Baozi, who was good at gabbing and quite playful, they got excited. Moreover, Xu Ran, the big child, also joined them.

When they had grown up, Tangtang and Guoguo did not participate in any game that Xu Ran specifically designed for Baozi. But unfortunately, they were asked to play with them by Xu Ran today.

In addition, another big child also joined the team, and that was Childe Du, Du Xin, who would appear in any busy scene.

Lu Qi and Gao Quan crossed their arms and watched, while Shao Yu was talking with King Yan’s spouse. Joy was overflowing.

Meanwhile, King Yan was reflecting on himself in his study. He found it necessary to make an apology to his brother tomorrow morning, and have a good chat with him. Then he decided to go to bed first. After all, it was a busy day for him.

King Yan’s servants had been asked to leave. It was not until King Yan left his study that he called them again.

The courtyard King Yan arranged for Xu Ran was next to his own. Therefore, he had to go through Xu Ran’s courtyard if he wanted to go back to his. The moment he walked over, he heard the laughter inside.

King Yan asked his servant, “What’s going on inside? Who is making a noise this late at night? Doesn’t he know who is living here?”

King Yan was about to get angry as he spoke.

Yan Chuan, who had been assigned by the old King Yan to the current King Yan, had been waiting upon him for dozens of years. King Yan trusted him, so naturally, Yan Chuan also knew about Liu Tong.

Hearing the noise inside and sensing King Yan’s anger, Yan Chuan asked someone to go in to have a look at once.

Before long, that servant went back. He whispered in Yan Chuan’s ear. Yan Chuan nodded, asked him to leave and then answered King Yan, bowing, “Your Highness, it’s His Highness and the princes inside. They are playing with the children of Second Childe, and it’s their voices.”

King Yan knew his children very well. Usually, they were hard to please, yet they were laughing so happily right now. King Yan got excited and waved his hand. “Let’s go! I want to go in to take a look too.”

After that, King Yan went inside himself. He didn’t ask Yan Chuan to notify them, and watched the happy scene afar under the lantern. King Yan might have been infected with the joy and also showed a sincere smile.

It seemed that today, he had been laughing more than he had used to for a few days.

At the same time, King Yan’s spouse was telling Liu Tong that King Yan didn’t like to laugh, “Well! He is always pulling a long face at ordinary times. He seldom smiles, as if someone owes him money. I don’t know why I agreed to marry him back then.”

Liu Tong stared at him in confusion, not understanding what he meant. Thus, King Yan’s spouse started to tell Liu Tong about his love story with King Yan.

King Yan’s spouse didn’t come from a privileged family background. Born in a literary family, he was the Ge’er of the dean of Yanzhou Academy. His name was Xiao Qingyun. Since he was the only Ge’er in his family, he had been pampered from childhood.

He had met King Yan by chance, and fallen in love with him. King Yan had had no intention of marrying a Ge’er coming of a noble family either. Besides, he had also had feelings for Xiao Qingyun, so they had got married.

After getting married, Xiao Qingyun had changed his blustery personal style, stayed in the backyard quietly and started to do the housekeeping work for King Yan.

King Yan had treated him very well. He had never mentioned that he would marry a concubine, even if Xiao Qingyun hadn’t got pregnant in the first few years after marriage.

Xiao Qingyun had felt guilty and even wanted a divorce, asking King Yan to marry someone else.

King Yan was very affectionate towards his spouse. He had only said that, “I had already thought of these when I married you back then. This is not your fault, and you don’t have to blame yourself. We are still young. We could definitely have our own children.”

One year after that ruckus, Xiao Qingyun had actually got pregnant. Even though the first child was a Ge’er, they had still been very happy.

Having giving birth to a child, Xiao Qingyun had put the backyard under stricter management after discussing with King Yan. It was always wise to play safe. There had always been social climbers who wanted to crawl his way up through marriage. Although King Yan wouldn’t allow that, what if it really happened? It would cause trouble for the two. Fortunately, Xiao Qingyun was smart and had had several potential home wreckers punished. From then on, nothing had happened in the backyard.

One year after Yan Lan had been born, Xiao Qingyun had got pregnant again. This time it was Yan Hao.

The two were satisfied with one Ge’er and one man.

They had been leading a good life.

King Yan did not hide Liu Tong’s story from his spouse. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t, because King Yan had been thinking about it all day long.

Xiao Qingyun had heard King Yan nagging for a long time, so even he himself had started to think about it. Therefore, the whole family had been looking forward to the arrival of Liu Tong.

Xiao Qingyun was speaking sincerely, not seeming to be faking it at all, and that touched Liu Tong.

They had been talking for long and it was getting late. It was freezing in the winter nights. Everyone’s hands and feet turned icy cold after they had been sitting for a while. Therefore, Xiao Qingyun urged everyone to go to bed.

The three children parted unwillingly and agreed to play together tomorrow.

When Xiao Qingyun had greeted them, he hadn’t brought any servants with him, so he walked towards his own yard with each kid in one hand.

He took a few steps and saw King Yan staring at them under the lantern. Under the light, that man still looked so tall and straight. He could even see the faint smile on his face. Xiao Qingyun walked over with the kids. “Satisfied? Will you have a good sleep tonight?”

King Yan knew that Xiao Qingyun was teasing him. Just because he had waited for Liu Tong and the others for a long time before they arrived, King Yan had tossed and turned in bed during night.

King Yan talked back, “Is Yun’er jealous?”

Xiao Qingyun glared at him. “What are you talking about?”

King Yan smiled and didn’t speak again. He only shook his head with a smile, walked to Xiao Qingyun’s side, and held Yan Hao’s hand. The whole family walked forward slowly.

Yan Chuan, who was standing behind them, smiled at this scene and tears began to well up.

‘Old King Yan, Second Childe is back, finally.’

…

Although Xu Ran and the others had slept for half a day during daytime, they hadn’t slept well on the journey, so they still had a sound sleep at night.

By the time he woke up the next day, it was already bright. Only Baozi was sleeping beside him and Liu Tong was nowhere to be seen.

Xu Ran stretched out his hand to touch the bedsheet. It was already cold. He assumed that Liu Tong had probably been up for some time.

Xu Ran rolled on the bed gently. He didn’t want to get up. It was too cold, much colder than the south, and he might live here for another few years. Thinking of this, Xu Ran found it hard to take it.

However, he had to get up even if he didn’t want to. After all, this was not his own home. Moreover, King Yan was watching him now. If King Yan knew that Tongtong got up earlier than him, he might speak critically of Xu Ran. Xu Ran didn’t want anyone to have anything on him.

At that thought, Xu Ran didn’t feel cold anymore. He sat up and got out of bed quickly. When he got dressed, he woke Baozi up.

Xu Ran said, “Baozi, you really can sleep. You’ve been sleeping for a day and night, and you haven’t woken up yet.”

Rubbing his eyes, Baozi looked at his dad in confusion. Apparently, he didn’t hear what his dad had said. Judging from that, it seemed that Baozi hadn’t got enough sleep yet…

Xu Ran spread out his hands. Not only was Baozi a foodie, but he was also a sleep god. Somehow, Xu Ran felt that he was raising a pig. He didn’t feel good about it. After all, he didn’t want to be a pig daddy…

Xu Ran opened the door, went out and stretched himself before taking Baozi out. Gu Yu had been waiting outside. He saw them and greeted them. Xu Ran didn’t like these overelaborate formalities and said, “It’s fine. We don’t care about these formalities. You don’t have to bow down to us from now on. It keeps us apart. Do you know where my spouse is?”

Gu Yu answered Xu Ran with his head lowered, “To Second Brother-in-law, Second Childe is in the kitchen. He went there the moment he got up in the morning. He asked me to wait at the door for you and the little childe to wake up.”

Xu Ran frowned. It didn’t take long before Xu Ran figured out what Liu Tong had gone to the kitchen for in such cold weather, not for warming himself anyway.

The cold wind outside kept blowing. Xu Ran pulled his coat tighter and asked Baozi if he was cold. When he saw Baozi shaking his head, he said to Gu Yu, “Do you know where the kitchen is? Could you take us to the kitchen?”

Gu Yu kept nodding. “I do. I’ll take you there now.”

Gu Yu brought Xu Ran and Baozi to the kitchen. Xu Ran saw Liu Tong kneading the dough, and there was a big pot of water which was about to boil next to him.

On the other side, the cook was putting something in bowls of cooked sliced noodles. They were probably all cooked by Liu Tong, and there were several bowls of them.

Xu Ran took Baozi in and no one stopped them. Xu Ran walked behind Liu Tong and called him, “Tongtong.”

Baozi also called out, “Daddy.”

Liu Tong looked back at him and asked with a smile, “It’s so cold. Why are you up so early? I haven’t even finished cooking the sliced noodles yet.”

Xu Ran said, “It’s so cold, but why did you come to the kitchen yourself? If you want to eat something, just tell them. If they can’t cook it, tell them how. You don’t have to do it yourself. You’ve been with me for years, and I haven’t let you touch cold water in winter after you gave birth to Baozi. You can’t do that to yourself.”

Liu Tong answered Xu Ran while kneading the dough, “I’m not that delicate. Besides, I’m using hot water. I remember what you’ve told me. There are cooked noodles over there. Have them with Baozi first. When the water is boiling, I will slice the dough then. Breakfast will be ready soon.”

Xu Ran said, “I’m not hungry. I’ll wait for you. Are you cooking for all?”

Liu Tong nodded. Seeing the water in the pot boiling, he told Xu Ran, “I’ve cooked a lot, and it should be enough. I asked the kitchen staff and no one had had breakfast yet. When I finish this pot, that would be enough for all.”

Xu Ran nodded. “In that case, we’ll have breakfast together. I’ll have Gu Yu ask King Yan where to eat.”

Liu Tong nodded and went on cooking.

Xu Ran went out with Baozi and talked to Gu Yu. After that, Gu Yu left at once.