Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family-Chapter 1091 - 1090: Zhao Yuanlang’s Dilemma

"As soon as Mom mentions Dad, she instantly takes on a whole different expression. Sigh! I must have been picked up for sure; poor me!"

Chou Chou had no choice but to hand over the letter paper. Seeing Liu Sisi not even turning her head as she went to the other side to break the seal, he couldn’t help but murmur softly to himself.

Liu Sisi didn’t care about his murmuring and directly unfolded the letter paper...

Seeing Chou Chou stretching his neck, she glanced at him, then turned and went to the other side to look carefully.

"Sisi, my wife, how have you been lately? Having not seen you for several years, I miss you deeply..."

Liu Sisi only read the beginning, and tears began to fall.

Di Yelei’s letter was very long, a thick stack of letter paper. Aside from greetings to the children, it was filled with trivial matters of daily life. Not a single word about the battlefield.

Liu Sisi read every word, and by the time she finished the stack of letter papers, her handkerchief was already soaked with tears.

"Mom, don’t cry! Every time you read Dad’s letter, you cry, yet you still insist on reading it first, why put yourself through that?"

Chou Chou moved closer, his eyebrows dancing in jest: "If you really miss Dad that much, just look at my face. Haven’t you always said my face looks just like Dad’s?"

"Pfft..."

Liu Sisi couldn’t help but laugh out loud, picking up the towel to wipe her tears: "Nice try, but you are you, and your Dad is your Dad. Who talks like that? Go away!"

"Don’t you think Chengen’s face resembles his?"

Chou Chou deliberately made a fierce face, mimicking Di Yelei’s mannerisms by placing his hands behind his back, walked back and forth a couple of steps, then turned around pointing into thin air: "Chou Chou, have you been disobedient again, angering your mother? If you don’t start behaving, when Dad comes home, the first thing he’ll do is sort you out!"

He imitated Di Yelei’s noble demeanor and mannerisms with about ninety percent accuracy, causing Liu Sisi to laugh through her tears.

"Silly boy... stop it now, Mom asked the kitchen to prepare braised pork feet for you, sit down and eat quickly. Those pork feet can make you gain weight, so you’d better eat less..."

"Mom, do you think Chengen is very fat?"

Chou Chou moved in closer again, his face nearly in Liu Sisi’s view.

Nowadays, Chou Chou seemed to be growing like a weed, reaching a height of one meter ninety, even taller than Di Yelei by a bit. Due to his dedication to martial arts, there wasn’t an ounce of excess fat on him; how could he be associated with the word fat?

"Fat! Mom always remembers how you were chubby when you were little."

"That was when I was little; Mom, you always take sides! Humph!"

Chou Chou wore a look of defiance, then quickly glanced around: "By the way, didn’t Second Brother say he would bring the children along when he entered the capital to attend Eldest Sister’s one-month celebration? How come they haven’t arrived yet?"

As soon as this matter was mentioned, the smile on Liu Sisi’s face began to fade slightly.

The words she spoke also became a little heavier: "Perhaps they’ve been delayed on the road. After all, traveling from West Capital Road is not an easy task."

After Di Yelei left, Di Xuan followed her to the capital. However, on the way, he directly boarded Prince Luo’s official ship. Upon arriving in the capital city, he didn’t settle in Marquis Yongping’s Mansion but went straight to live with Prince Luo in Prince Luo’s Mansion.

For the first two years, Thirteen Luo still came back to live for two months each year, but as the three children were successively born, he ended up living on the West Capital Road side with Prince Luo.

Even during festivals, he rarely returned to the mansion.

Whether it was going to the palace to report duty, the most he would do was stop by the mansion briefly before leaving again.

When the eldest grandson was born, Liu Sisi, who wasn’t skilled with needlework, went through a lot of trouble to make a set of bedding and sent it over, only for Di Xuan to receive it and then immediately pass it on to the servants.

After learning of this, Liu Sisi didn’t say much.

However, for the later births of the two children, she still made a set of clothes and sent them, whether they were worn or not was not for her to consider.

She just had to fulfill her duties, as for everything else, she couldn’t manage too much, nor was she able to.

Perhaps it was Liu Sisi’s bitter smile that provoked Chou Chou, who cursed softly, "Mom, rest assured. If I see Second Brother this time, I’ll definitely have a good heart-to-heart with him so Dad won’t come back to find our home unrecognizable."

"Stay out of adult matters. Have Mother’s teachings gone in one ear and out the other? No matter what, he’s still your big brother."

Liu Sisi glared at him, "Hurry up and eat, it won’t taste good once it cools down."

While the two chatted, the maid had already served the food.

"I know, I know! It’s always the same with you whenever this comes up. Since you don’t want me to handle these things, I won’t."

Chou Chou, somewhat huffy, picked up the bamboo chopsticks and began to eat.

He first picked up a piece of meat and placed it directly into Liu Sisi’s bowl, "Mom, I see it clear now, Second Brother still harbors resentment towards you! Otherwise, why would he act so unreasonably?"

What Chou Chou referred to was, of course, the lunch.

"How others treat me is one thing. Whether I take offence is another. I just need to know my conscience is clear; as for the rest, it’s not something I can manage just because I want to."

She did want to manage it, but unfortunately, the other party didn’t afford her the opportunity.

"You’re always like this, treating everything with such indifference."

Chou Chou, quite brazen, thought about it and, remembering Second Brother’s lack of affection, eventually said, "Let’s just leave it at that for now! We’ll see what happens when they return to the manor."

Whether they would return to the manor was another matter. If they went straight to Prince Luo’s Mansion instead, Di Residence would lose all face!

Or rather, they had long lost it!

While the mood was somewhat subdued on their side, Zhao Yuanlang received another message on the other.

"What do you all think of this matter? Is there any good solution?"

Zhao Yuanlang shook the paper strip in his hand, allowing it to flutter to the ground.

The others looked at each other.

"The true situation there is yet to be reported. We don’t even know what further developments there might be," they said, casting side glances and whispering amongst themselves.

Zhao Yuanlang looked at everyone with a headache, his eyebrows involuntarily furrowing.

How should he break the news to Sisi?

However, another minister raised an objection, "Your Majesty, while we all admire Marquis Yongping and see him as a role model, we must consider his current position in Xixia Country. Who knows what he has done there, or if he has staged his own death to escape our sight?"

"Oh! Lord Wang, are you suggesting that Marquis Yongping faked his death to evade our surveillance? Do you always let your imagination run wild like this?"

An official surnamed Dou immediately stepped forward in response.

"I misspoke in my haste, but I’ve heard that Lord Dou has been dealing with envoys from Xixia for some time now. That’s not something within your jurisdiction, is it...?"

Lord Wang spoke confidently, showing no intention of being put down.

"Enough! Stop your quarreling. I have my own plans for this matter. You are all dismissed."

Zhao Yuanlang quickly silenced them.

Watching the gods filing out, his heart was in turmoil, wondering who would be the best messenger.