Capítulo 1594: Chapter 1601: Cai Wei Investigates (2)
Lady Du was rendered speechless—so it turns out Old Third is a cunning little rascal, using his innocent and cute demeanor as a disguise to seize what he desires when no one is looking. At such a young age, he’s already so calculating; who knows what he’ll become when he grows up!
Cai Wei hurried home and happened to witness this cozy scene.
She hadn’t seen them in two days, and she truly missed these chubby little babies to death. The children looked at her with their bright, clear eyes sparkling with joy. They reached out their fat, lotus-root-like arms toward her, babbling excitedly. Cai Wei bent down and kissed each one of them before staring at them without blinking, her overwhelming maternal love melting into her tender gaze…
Lady Du saw her daughter had returned and thought she had come back from the hunting grounds. Nagging, she said, “The sacred carriage is still at the hunting ground; why did you come back early? Oh, by the way, have you eaten? How were the last two days at the hunting ground? Did you sleep well?”
From last night until now, Cai Wei had eaten nothing and hadn’t slept, not even stopping to nurse properly, expressing milk on the road instead. All this to save time and return home as quickly as possible—one reason being to avoid Nangong Yi discovering her absence, and the other to see her babies sooner!
Hearing her mother’s words, Cai Wei suddenly realized she was indeed a bit hungry and replied, “It’s because I missed the children. I didn’t even eat and came back early.”
“It’s not just that you didn’t eat; I think you also didn’t get proper sleep. You’re really something, leaving the kids with me and still worrying about them. Look at you—just two days away, and you’ve lost weight…”
Lady Du looked at the dark circles under her daughter’s eyes, chastising her with a mix of concern while ordering someone to prepare food for her.
Mu Zhongqing was off duty today and, hearing that his daughter had returned, came over to talk to her.
Though Mu Zhongqing’s official position wasn’t high, he was now the imperial father-in-law, technically qualified to join the hunting expedition. However, Mu Zhongqing declined the invitation—he was a scholarly and kind-hearted man who couldn’t stand the gruesome spectacle of killing animals for sport. Rather than watch innocent creatures die tragically, he preferred to stay at home, spending time with his wife and children.
“Wei’er, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
Mu Zhongqing sat steadily on the carved sour branch wood armchair, leisurely stirring the tea leaves in his cup. He wore a dark sauce-colored Sichuan brocade robe embroidered with ruyi cloud patterns, paired with white-soled, black-capped brocade satin official boots. Tied around his waist was the Pisces purse Lady Du had embroidered for him, decorated with South Pearl tassel accessories.
His days now were increasingly comfortable, and he had grown significantly plumper, no longer the pale and skinny poor scholar of Mu Family Village—he now very much looked the part of an official master!
“What is it?”
Cai Wei was playing with her three little bundles of joy, her eyes reluctant to leave them for even a moment.
“It’s like this.”
Mu Zhongqing coughed lightly and said, “Recently, Empress Dowager Mo has repeatedly sent people to find me, asking me to talk to Fei’er and persuade Zi Qi to marry Princess Zhao Yue. This matter puts me in a very difficult position; I honestly don’t want my son-in-law to take another wife, especially one as esteemed as a princess. But if I don’t agree, it could seem disrespectful to the Empress Dowager, and I’d risk being accused of grave disrespect. So…”
“Father, you don’t have to worry about this; I’ll go talk to her!”
Cai Wei’s gaze turned icy. In recent months, Empress Dowager Mo had been treating her and the children remarkably well, leading Cai Wei to believe she had changed for the better. Who would have thought she’d secretly pressure her father behind her back? If she had known they were scheming against her mother and daughter like this, she would have encouraged Nangong Yi to marry Nangong Yu off to the Xianbei tribe in a marriage alliance. Truly, she couldn’t be allowed to continue this wicked behavior—it was intolerable and unforgivable!