132 I won’t take any Concubines
Xie Yunjin’s face was unspeakably gloomy. His dark eyes seemed to have frosted over.
He asked heavily as he stared at his mother, “If father decides to get a concubine, you will support it, right?”
His words changed Lady Ruan’s expression. She screamed, “He wouldn’t dare! If he dares to get a concubine, I will skin him alive!”
Lady Ruan was used to acting arrogant and didn’t think that what she was saying was inappropriate.
Xie Yunjin coldly snickered, “If you don’t let your own man get a concubine, how can you call other women unvirtuous? Doesn’t that mean you are also unvirtuous?”
Lady Ruan’s eyes spat out fire. Her eyes were wide as she stared down at Xie Yunjin, “You and your father are different. You are going to become a high official. How can you not have concubines?”
Xie Yunjin didn’t want to argue about this with his mother. He turned away, refusing to look at Lady Ruan as he ordered, “If this woman stays, she shall do what Lu Jiao says. If not, then she can get the hell out of here.”
His voice was loud as he glared at Chen Chunxi. Just because this woman has a pretty face, they thought it was enough to seduce him? How laughable.
Chen Chunxi was scared off by Xie Yunjin and walked out.
She was the spoiled daughter in her family. When has anyone treated her this way? She walked away and ignored the voices that called for her from behind.
Back inside the east bedroom, Lady Ruan’s chest heaved, “Are you trying to infuriate me to death?”
Xie Yunjin stared at her coldly without any pain in his eyes, “Mother, if you don’t stir up trouble, you wouldn’t be angry.”
Lady Ruan almost tumbled from fury. She refused to look at him and turned to leave. Lady Chen didn’t dare to stay and followed.
Inside the bedroom, Lu Jiao comforted the four little ones, “It’s okay now. You guys go back to eating.”
The four little ones looked up to Lu Jiao, then ran to their dad, “Daddy, you’re not going to marry other people, are you?”
Xie Yunjin nodded without hesitation, “I promise you that I won’t take any concubines.”
The four little ones smiled right away as their hearts fell back to place.
The Fourth Born quickly demanded, “Then, pinky-promise us. The liar turns into a dog.”
The Fourth Born then extended his pinky.
To make the children stop worrying, Xie Yunjin pinky promised each one of them. The four little ones were over the moon and no longer suspected that their daddy may take in concubines.
Afterward, the four little ones ran to Lu Jiao and asked for praise.
“Mommy, daddy said he won’t accept concubines.”
“He said he won’t have kids with other people.”
“He’ll only have babies with you.”
Lu Jiao’s eyes slanted at the Second Born’s words. Having babies with her? She was going to leave soon.
She squeezed the Second Born’s cheeks and said matter-of-factly, “Go and eat. After you eat, go walk the dogs and digest.”
The four little ones were no longer worried and went to eat happily.
Lu Jiao glanced at Xie Yunjin and noticed his unfinished food. She asked gently, “Did the food get cold? Should I get it warmed up?”
Xie Yunjin shook his head and complimented Lu Jiao, “You did well.”
Lu Jiao froze, then stretched out her lips. She did what she did just now for him. Honestly, she was very exasperated. Lady Ruan was so annoying.
The thought of Lady Ruan once again brought coldness to Xie Yunjin’s face.
“Regarding the matter we discussed previously… did you…”
Lu Jiao remembered her trip into town this morning and grinned, “I almost forgot to tell you.”
Scared the children might hear her, she walked to Xie Yunjin and whispered, “This morning, I ran into Widow Wang on the ox-cart going into town. I purposely made good comments about father to Aunt Guihua and them. I think I may have piqued Widow Wang’s interest.
Xie Yunjin smiled, “Great. You should go and eat.”
Lu Jiao was really hungry. She hasn’t eaten since she woke up.
When the four little ones saw her re-enter the room, they beamed, “Mommy, come eat.”
Since the four little ones were done eating, she told them to go walk the dogs, “Go take a stroll with the puppies and digest your food. When you come back, I’ll wash you up a little for your nap.”
“Okay, mommy.”
The four little ones happily went to walk the dogs. After Lu Jiao was done eating, they returned. However, since the weather was hot, they were all sweating when they came back. Lu Jiao boiled some water to wipe them down before their nap.
As she washed them, the Second Born carefully studied her. Lu Jiao knew right away that he had something on his mind.
“What is it? If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t be scared. It makes you look nervous and scared. You’re a boy, say what you are thinking proudly.”
The Second Born lifted his chest and asked loudly.
“Mom, can we eat peaches after our nap?”
Lu Jiao nodded, “Yes.”
She wanted them to walk the dogs and digest so they could eat more food.
The four little ones cheered. The First Born stood up inside the big wooden bucket, hugged Lu Jiao around her neck, and kissed her.
Of course the Third and Fourth Born copied him. The First Born didn’t join them and checked out the Second Born from head to toe. Then, he turned away, embarrassed to look at him.
The Second Born remembered something and lowered his gaze to find his naked body. His face flushed red and he quickly sat back down.
Lu Jiao laughed. She pulled him and the First Born up to dry them and change them into pajamas.
“Okay, go take your nap. After your nap, you can eat a peach each.”
The children cheered again. The Second Born took it too far and loudly asked, “Mommy, sleep with us!”
Lu Jiao declined right away, “No, I need to prepare the woks. We have two woks now and it’ll be easier to cook once they’re ready.”
Though the children were little, they knew the benefit of having more woks. Finally, they didn’t persist with their request.
While the family napped, Lu Jiao cleaned the woks and readied them for cooking. As for the broken pot, she put it in her space.
That way, people wouldn’t notice easily that both of her woks were new.
In the afternoon, some guests came to visit. It was Xie Yunjin’s classmate, Classmate Han. He brought with him a doctor.
“Lady Lu, are Yunjin’s legs truly recovered from the operation?”
Classmate Han lived in Qinghe County – a bit out of the way from the Xie Village. He wasn’t always up to date with the news.
He brought a doctor with him today to help examine Xie Yunjin and check if his legs would heal with surgery. He managed to find the apprentice of a military doctor, who had some general surgery knowledge.
Classmate Han figured that if the doctor deemed Yunjin’s legs to be operable, he would find a way to bring Yunjin into the military and have a military doctor operate on him.
Who knew that once he arrived in town, he heard from others that Yunjin’s already gone under the knife?
Lu Jiao nodded, “Yes, he’s done surgery. If no accidents happen, he’ll be able to walk soon.”
Classmate Han excitedly exclaimed, “Really?!”