The Mute Wife Who Brings Prosperity-Chapter 550 - 517: With Each Glance, One Less to Share
Song Jiao was unaware, but Wen Wan had already learned from Song Wei last night that Song Yuanbao would be returning this morning.
Upon seeing him, Wen Wan’s expression was very calm, and she invited him to sit and asked Yun Cai to bring an extra set of dishes and utensils.
Song Yuanbao sat on the round stool and asked Wen Wan with concern whether she was frightened at the banquet yesterday.
Wen Wan remembered a princess crying scared by the mechanical beast and smiled, "Not really, perhaps because I have a braver heart."
Growing up, especially around Song Wei, she always had all sorts of bizarre premonitions and wouldn’t be scared by such trifles. However, she did harbor some curiosity.
Song Yuanbao said with a remorseful expression, "Those mechanical beasts were indeed a surprise from Dad and the Old Marquis to the Emperor. Even His Highness and I didn’t know in advance. His Highness originally intended to present a birthday congratulatory painting to the Emperor. When we arrived at Qingliang Palace, Dad called me out alone to fetch the design drawing His Highness had prepared. At the time, I had a vague suspicion. I didn’t expect it to be true. Dad leveraged the birthday banquet to earn merit for His Highness in front of the Emperor. As for what happened afterward, Mother saw it too."
Upon hearing this, Wen Wan suddenly understood, "No wonder His Highness looked somewhat different when your dad presented the mechanical beasts then. So that’s why." With that, Wen Wan became a bit worried, "Yuanbao, His Highness wasn’t upset with your dad for acting on his own, was he?"
"How could he be?" Song Yuanbao tugged at his mouth, "Because of Dad’s assistance, His Highness was directly designated as the Crown Prince. He was grateful to my dad, and didn’t have time to hold a grudge."
Wen Wan breathed a sigh of relief and asked Song Yuanbao why he came home if His Highness wasn’t angry.
Song Yuanbao smiled, "Didn’t I say earlier? I came back to achieve top honors in the imperial examination and to get married."
Wen Wan couldn’t believe it, "His Highness let you come back?"
Even as she spoke, she felt that Zhao Xi wasn’t like that, not the one to kick away his companion of two years right after being named Crown Prince. Someone as honorable as Zhao Xi wouldn’t do such a thing.
"I chose to come back myself." Song Yuanbao’s face was calm, showing no signs of anything unusual, "Otherwise, with my thick skin, if I didn’t want to leave, could he really drive me away?"
"It’s good to be back." Wen Wan said, "Jinbao and your grandparents have been talking about you. Take some time while you’re not attending the Imperial College to accompany the elderly more. You have been in the palace for two years, seldom visiting home, and they’re getting old too, with every visit being precious."
Regarding this, Song Yuanbao did feel guilty in his heart. Upon hearing Wen Wan’s words, he nodded, indicating that he understood.
Jinbao, seeing that Wen Wan wanted to say more, furrowed his small brows and tapped his bowl with chopsticks, "Mother, Jinbao is hungry."
Wen Wan immediately stopped the conversation and cast a gentle look at her son, saying alright, alright, dinner’s about to start.
Then she looked at Song Jiao standing by and asked her to sit down and eat together instead of just standing there.
Song Jiao had been fascinated listening to Wen Wan and Song Yuanbao talk about the palace banquet and stood in a daze for quite a while. Being addressed by Wen Wan, she blushed shyly, handed the tray to Yun Cai, pulled over a stool, and sat down, immediately putting steamed fish, Jinbao’s favorite, into his small bowl.
The little guy seemed to be very hungry, burying half his face in the bowl, eating with relish.
Song Yuanbao was sitting to Wen Wan’s right, and she, without thinking, picked up a piece of braised pork for him.
Song Yuanbao, seeing it was for him, quickly said, "Mother, I can help myself; you don’t need to trouble yourself."
As he spoke, he moved his small bowl aside to indicate that he would serve himself.
Wen Wan reluctantly placed the braised pork back in her bowl, sighing, "I remember that when you came back before, you would always mention missing the braised pork at home. How come you’re not this time? Are you tired of it?"
"Braised pork from home is something I could never tire of." Song Yuanbao said, while his chopsticks reached for the stir-fried bamboo shoots in another dish.
Not only that, he took an unused empty bowl and served himself a few dishes into it, seemingly deciding to only eat from that small bowl and not to serve himself any more dishes.
Wen Wan thought that perhaps Yuanbao had gotten used to palace food and suddenly returning home might take a little adjustment, so she let him be.
Afterwards, no one spoke at the dining table.
The Song family, while not as strict as the larger households, still adhered to the rule of not speaking during meals.
After the meal, Yun Cai and Linglong came in to clear the dishes, and Wen Wan leaned on the seven-panel screen Arhat Bed, asking Song Yuanbao if he had plans for the afternoon.
Song Yuanbao had just finished washing his hands and replied, "I’ll first go visit Grandpa and Grandma, then return to the study to review my books."
"Review your books?" Wen Wan was momentarily taken aback. Previously, this kid would always complain about not getting enough sleep in the palace, and the first thing he did after meals was to go to his room and collapse into a deep sleep, and it would take someone asking him to wake him up the next day.
The first day back home, you’re already so eager to study, it seems it’s the first time in history!
Wen Wan couldn’t shake the feeling that since his return, he seemed much more self-disciplined.
However, although he was indeed more disciplined, something still didn’t feel quite right.
Wen Wan couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was amiss. After some thought, she attributed it to Yuanbao just returning home and not quite adjusting to the household after having been away for two years, and left it at that.
Recently, Song Jiao had also been reading. Occasionally, when she didn’t understand something, she would ask Wen Wan, but since Wen Wan was heavily pregnant, Song Jiao dared not bother her too much. Anything deemed not urgent, she held back from asking.
Upon hearing that her elder cousin would be staying at home for some time, her eyes brightened, "Elder brother, there’s so much I don’t understand. Can I ask you in the future?"
Song Yuanbao gave Song Jiao a pensive glance and suddenly broke into a smile, "Marrying a scholar really makes a difference; that zeal of yours almost rivals mine as the older brother."
Song Jiao’s face flushed at his words, and she retorted, "Studying is my own business; what does it have to do with Mr. Liang?"
Noticing his cousin sister’s shyness, Song Yuanbao reined in his thoughts and stopped teasing her, saying yes, after visiting the grandparents, he planned to review his studies in the outer study room, and she could come ask him anything at any time.
Song Jiao was delighted, "Thank you, elder brother."
Song Yuanbao asked her, "How many stages has the Liang Family completed in the formalities?"
A faint blush appeared on Song Jiao’s delicate face, and she replied softly, "They say the betrothal gifts will be exchanged after the Mid-Autumn Festival, but as for the wedding date..."
At this point, Song Jiao turned to look at Wen Wan, who was seated on the Arhat Bed.
Wen Wan said, "The wedding date hasn’t been set yet; I estimate it would be at the earliest in the spring of next year."
Song Yuanbao remarked, "Time really flies; in the blink of an eye, my cousin sister is already of marriageable age."
Though he was only a fifteen-year-old boy, he spoke those words with a sense of time-worn sentiment, which was completely inconsistent with his usual carefree demeanor.
Wen Wan teased him, "Every time you came back before, you would say that time passed slowly in the palace, but now that you’re actually back, you say time flies; isn’t that contradictory?"
Song Yuanbao didn’t feel embarrassed, "I was just lamenting idly, and besides, people grow up; when I used to complain, I was only thirteen or fourteen. Dad said that the more experiences you have, the more your mindset changes, and your views on many things also change accordingly. Just because I felt time dragged two years ago doesn’t mean I still think so now. After all, I’m fifteen this year."
Wen Wan rarely saw him so seriously explaining reasoning to someone and smiled, saying you’re absolutely right.
Jinbao still had lessons in the afternoon, couldn’t hold on, and went for a nap first.
Song Yuanbao sat and chatted with Wen Wan and Song Jiao for a while, then got up to go to Rong’an Hall.
Old Song was holding a small hoe, weeding the flowering trees; upon seeing his eldest grandson enter, a smile appeared on his aged face, "Yuanbao, when did you get back?"
Song Yuanbao said he had just arrived not long ago and had lunch over at Qingteng Residence.
Old Song put the hoe down, wiped his hands, and invited him to sit in the main hall.
Granny Song was taking a nap, and Old Song didn’t wake her up, so the grandfather and grandson had their conversation in the main hall.
Song Yuanbao recalled what Wen Wan had mentioned earlier about her seeing them less, and he carefully looked up at Old Song, noticing his grandfather’s temples had turned gray at some point, and the wrinkles on his face seemed as if they had been chiselled out bit by bit by a blunt instrument, which made him feel a pang of sorrow, "Grandpa, you and Grandma are still in good health, right?"
"Healthy indeed." Old Song said, "During spring plowing, your grandma and I took Jinbao to the village to do some farm work for a few days, to stretch our muscles, and till now, we haven’t experienced any headaches or colds."
Fearing that Song Yuanbao might ask about Granny Song’s illness, Old Song quickly changed the subject, saying since you’re back, why did you even bring the Eldest Prince’s bed along? It’s not like we don’t have any here at home.
Song Yuanbao: "...Grandpa, it’s not his bed; it’s just an unused bed that was in the palace, given to me since I was a companion reader for two years."
Old Song said he had seen people gift gold, silver, gemstones, and jade, but he had never seen anyone gift a bed, and asked Song Yuanbao if there was any significance to it.
Song Yuanbao replied, "There’s no significance, I just got used to sleeping on it, so I had them bring it back."
He was really just attracted to the magical feature of the bed being warm in the winter and cool in the summer, but explaining that to Grandpa, the old man might not understand, so Song Yuanbao simply made up an excuse.
