Chapter 256: Invited to Accompany Him to Dinner
Lady Liu and Meng De wanted to keep Datou for a bit longer, but the boy was completely obstinate. No matter how Lady Liu tried to coax him, he didn’t want to stay a moment longer.
Coupled with Xun Feng, who possessed a royal guard’s waist token, Meng De didn’t quite dare to do anything forceful either, so he had no choice but to let them leave.
Lady Liu watched the brothers leave with deep reluctance before hurriedly returning to the room, looking at Meng De with a face full of worry.
“Master, the two children are young and ignorant, please don’t lower yourself to their level.” Lady Liu believed that the reason the two children were so distant from her was definitely because Wen Xiuyi had said something to them, causing her two sons to estrange themselves from her.
That man, even after their divorce, refused to let her have peace.
Meng De sat by the table, upon which lay the two jade pendants. He had ordered someone to buy them; they hadn’t actually cost much, being just ordinary jade pendants.
He had originally thought that two country children would never have seen such good things and would be dazzled by them no matter what, but he hadn’t expected this outcome—it truly caught him unprepared.
Hearing Lady Liu’s words, Meng De pulled his thoughts back and looked over, his gaze softening.
It had to be said that his love for Lady Liu was truly genuine.
“Madam doesn’t need to think too much. How could I lower myself to the level of two children?” Meng De said, supporting Lady Liu to sit down.
Lady Liu took the opportunity to lean into Meng De’s embrace, speaking with quite a bit of grievance, “It must be that waste who instigates them. Now that they see me, their birth mother, they aren’t close at all. Datou is one thing; I left home when that child was still small, so that is understandable. But when Wen Jun sees me, it’s like he’s looking at a stranger. If it wasn’t him instigating them, who else could it be?”
Meng De gently patted Lady Liu’s back to soothe her, saying, “He is that kind of person, so it is not surprising for him to do such a thing.”
Lady Liu twisted her handkerchief in anger, hating Wen Xiuyi to the extreme.
After comforting Lady Liu for a while, Meng De suddenly said, “That foster father of Wen Zhao—do you know who he is?”
Lady Liu looked completely bewildered. “Who?”
“Qiu Zhi. This man was a legendary figure in the capital back then. In terms of talent and learning, truly few could match him. Furthermore, he has numerous students in the imperial court and once taught at the Imperial Academy. Even among the imperial relatives and nobles, there is no shortage of his students.” As Meng De spoke, the look in his eyes was filled with calculation.
Lady Liu sat up straight. “So formidable?”
Meng De nodded. “It’s just a pity that his personality was a bit too unconventional. Later, he resigned from office and quit. I didn’t expect him to actually hide in such a small place and even open a medical clinic.” After speaking, Meng De cast a glance at Lady Liu and continued, “Come to think of it, the master of your eldest son is also an extraordinary figure.”
Lady Liu: “…” She had only been away from home for two years; what exactly had happened during these two years that she didn’t know about?
She only heard Meng De continue, “Physician Jin is the old Imperial Physician Jin who retired from the Imperial Medical Academy. He has treated the Emperor and the Empress Dowager multiple times. His son’s official rank is equal to mine. The people these two sons of yours rely on behind their backs are both extraordinary.”
“How could this be possible? Just that waste…” Lady Liu wanted to say, just that waste, how could he possibly have such powerful network connections? If he did, how could their past life have been lived like that?
Meng De was also completely baffled. Speaking of which, the two of them shared the relationship of being fellow disciples under the same master. Although this Wen Xiuyi had been highly regarded by their teacher, he was ultimately too impetuous and conceited. He didn’t find it surprising when Wen Xiuyi fell into those degenerate ways later on.
Yet such a person had actually managed to latch onto relationships like Qiu Zhi and the old Imperial Physician Jin.
It seemed he ought to go meet this fellow disciple of his as well.
“Tomorrow, the local magistrate is inviting me out for a drink. I expect he will call my fellow disciple along as well. Tomorrow, I will meet him first,” Meng De said.
In reality, Meng De had his own calculations. Originally, he had agreed to Lady Liu’s request to take Wen Zhao to the capital merely to coax Lady Liu and make her happy. But now, he had changed his mind; perhaps bringing Wen Zhao to the capital wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.
Perhaps for him, it would even be a good thing.
Lady Liu, however, didn’t know what he was thinking, merely frowning as she asked, “What are you meeting him for?”
Meng De comforted her, “We have been here for a few days, and our investigations are mostly complete. The person the Emperor decreed to personally bestow a title upon is indeed Fellow Disciple Wen. I also find it very strange. In the past, let alone farming, Fellow Disciple Wen couldn’t even distinguish between the five basic grains. His whole heart was set only on reading the holy books; since when did he understand agricultural principles?”
Though he called it comforting, he was belittling Wen Xiuyi at every turn, making Lady Liu feel increasingly anxious as she listened.
“Then be careful yourself. This man is like a lunatic; who knows what he will do when he sees you,” Lady Liu cooed softly in a pampered manner. When a woman in her thirties acted pampered, it didn’t feel out of place at all.
“Mm.”
Outside the inn at this moment, Wen Jun held Datou’s hand as they walked on the street, with Xun Feng following beside them.
As Datou walked, he asked Xun Feng, “Master, do you know that man beside my mother?”
Xun Feng curled his lip in disdain. “I know him. A brown-noser. Tou’er, you must absolutely never learn those sycophantic, double-dealing ways from him.”
Datou nodded earnestly. “I won’t. But Master, is he a very big official?”
Xun Feng raised an eyebrow. “What? Afraid he’ll bully your dad?” This boy was small in body, but he managed quite a lot.
However, Xun Feng also hadn’t expected that Assistant Minister Wen’s ex-wife would actually be this Meng fellow’s wife. Those noble ladies in the capital only thought she had been married before; they didn’t expect she actually had three children as well.
The key point was—is this Lady Liu blind? Throwing away a man as good as Assistant Minister Wen for that brown-noser surnamed Meng? Tsk tsk, this eyesight of hers is really not great.
Such a huge piece of gossip—he had to write a letter to the Prince later to let him know. After all, he and Assistant Minister Wen were good friends; this was the grievance of having one’s wife stolen.
Datou fell silent; he was indeed a bit worried.
Xun Feng patted his head, and after a pat, took the opportunity to ruffle it once, saying, “Rest assured, he won’t be able to bully your dad.”
If he dared to bully Assistant Minister Wen, his family’s Prince could wipe out this Meng fellow with one hand.
In the evening when they arrived home, the first thing Datou did upon seeing Wen Xiuyi was run up to embrace him and claim credit, rattling on about meeting Lady Liu today and refusing the gifts Meng De sent.
That expression of ‘hurry up and praise me’ made Wen Xiuyi’s heart melt completely.
“Truly Daddy’s good boy.” After Wen Xiuyi finished praising Datou, he also mentioned a matter to the group: “Tomorrow, the magistrate is hosting a banquet at Zui Xian Tower. He says he has invited a distinguished guest from the capital and wants me to accompany them. Who do you think this distinguished guest will be?”
The group frowned in unison. Who else could it be besides that fellow surnamed Meng?
Xun Feng was the first to speak up: “No matter, Uncle Wen, I’ll accompany you tomorrow.”
Wen Xiuyi waved his hand. “No need, no need. He isn’t to the point of being able to do anything to me. It’s just… I just feel it’s rather awkward, Hahahahaha…”
The group: “…” It was indeed quite awkward.
The ex-husband and the current husband, tsk tsk.
