Chapter 789 - 791: There’s a Problem with the Twins
Bai Ruozhu huffed in annoyance, her foot tapping angrily as she swung a playful punch at Bai Zepei. "Do you want your sister to be gullible, always being fooled?" she argued forcefully.
His laughter choked at her words. He thought for a bit before answering, "What I meant was, to be truly wise, you must appear to be a fool. Do you understand?"
Bai Ruozhu smacked his arm, "Don’t avoid my question, answer it."
Bai Zepei’s expression turned serious. "The Study Palace is departing for Jiangnan next month to participate in the competition of the Eight Great Academy. Usually, those who have studied for less than half a year are not qualified for the competition, but the teacher highly recommended me," he said with a bitter smile, "But I didn’t accept, I told him I need a couple of days to think about it."
Bai Ruozhu slapped his back, chastising him. "Just accept it, what’s there to think about? If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought you were just posing! How can you waste such a good opportunity? It’s far more valuable to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books. Go to Jiangnan, interact with scholars from other academies, it will surely benefit you greatly. Do you want to be a frog at the bottom of a well?"
Bai Zepei gave a bitter laugh. "I’ve only spoken a few words, and yet you’ve spoken so much more than me. You’ve got a big heart."
Bai Ruozhu knew he was worried about the family. This filled her with a touch of sadness. Zepei had sacrificed so much for their family, including his freedom and his love life. She didn’t want the family to hold him back, nor did she want him to lose himself while always considering the family’s needs.
"The family has me, and Achun is now a fifth-rank official, and I too am a fifth-rank Imperial wife. With the help of Elder Lady Meng, who do we have to fear? You can leave with peace of mind. If you give up this opportunity, it will be hard to find another one like this. If you become an official in the future, will you still have the freedom that you have as a student?" Bai Ruozhu thought about her own student years. Though she had to work to afford her tuition fees, those times were indeed her happiest.
She made a gesture as though toasting him, laughing loudly. "Life’s moments of triumph must be enjoyed, for it is a waste to have a golden goblet filled to its brim, only to toast the moon. Zepei, enjoy participating in the competition with your classmates."
Bai Zepei saw her gesture and heard her powerful, lofty words. His heart surged with emotions. He felt inferior, even to his sister, due to his overly cautious nature.
"Alright. I’ll talk to our parents about this. When I’m gone, you and our older brother will have to manage the house," Bai Zepei agreed.
"Rest assured. You should compete well, try to come back first. I heard that rewards for such competitions are very generous," Bai Ruozhu said with a wink and a smile.
"Little money freak," Zepei teased with an amused grumble.
When Bai Ruozhu returned to her room, Jiang Yichun asked with a curious expression, "You and Zepei seemed to have a really joyful conversation. Don’t you need to find a cure for your poisoning now?"
"You want to hear, but didn’t eavesdrop?" She rolled her eyes at him.
This time, Bai Ruozhu really misjudged him. He struck an innocent pose, responding, "Would I eavesdrop on my own family? That would be terribly unbecoming."
Bai Ruozhu chuckled twice and picked up Dengdeng with one hand, while wrapping her other arm around Jiang Yichun’s neck. "Zepei is considering participating in the Eight Great Academy competition, but he was hesitant. I urged him to go."
"Ah, that’s a good thing. You advised him well," Jiang Yichun said with a smile.
Enjoying her son’s company, Bai Ruozhu passed the time playing with Dengdeng, who was always ready with a laugh. He particularly enjoyed being tickled by adults. As Bai Ruozhu tickled his tummy, saying "gitchy, gitchy," Dengdeng was in fits of laughter, teetering back and forth so much that he was almost in tears.
Once she stopped, he would call out for more. She would tickle him again, not really saying anything, just feigning, and he would still burst out laughing.
Watching his wife and son playing and laughing heartily, Jiang Yichun’s heart warmed. A warm bed with a lovely wife and a studious child was indeed the epitome of a comfortable, small life.
After putting Dengdeng to sleep, Bai Ruozhu began mixing medicines. Despite fiddling till late at night, she couldn’t produce a suitable antidote. Jiang Yichun provided suggestions by her side, but the poison was unusually peculiar. Bai Ruozhu felt that she was on the verge of a breakthrough but kept falling short, unable to capture the elusive clue.
The good news was that with all of Bai Ruozhu’s frantic effort, her fatigue diminished slightly. Still, she was extremely drowsy, and woke up exceptionally late the following morning. When Jiang Yichun left for the office in the early morning, he didn’t have the heart to wake her up. Lin Ping’er and the others thought Bai Ruozhu was tired from the journey.
By the time Bai Ruozhu woke up, it was already late in the morning. After her simple breakfast, she planned to take Dengdeng to visit Yu Hongxiu’s house to see how she was doing with her newborn twins.
As soon as Lin Ping’er heard this, she grabbed a bag and packed some baby clothes, intending to accompany Bai Ruozhu and deliver the clothes to Yu Hongxiu.
Seeing the bag her mother was carrying, Bai Ruozhu teasingly asked, "Mother, is it convenient?"
"Indeed. You wouldn’t know this since you’ve been away, but business has been very good at the shop. Fusa mentioned that there are even more people buying and ordering custom bags. Some even ordered bags in a variety of colors to match their outfits," Lin Ping’er cheerfully reported.
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but give a thumbs up to those customers. Women like them would absolutely be pioneers in the fashion world of ancient times. These were her ideal customers.
Chatting along their way, they soon arrived at the Xie Residence. The steward of the Xie Residence couldn’t thank them enough. He told them that without their help that day, his mistress and the young master would have...
The people of ancient times preferred to speak of auspicious things, so the steward stopped in mid-sentence.
Bai Ruozhu went to the Inner Courtyard and found that Yu Hongxiu was doing well during confinement. The wet nurse took great care of the twins too. After asking a few questions, she learned that Yu Hongxiu’s mother had picked the wet nurse just for her. She even traveled all the way from Jiangnan to bring the nurse over, arriving at the Xie Residence on the third day after Yu Hongxiu gave birth.
Bai Ruozhu felt much relieved. After checking Yu Hongxiu’s pulse, she turned her attention to the twin babies. Seeing them sleep, with their eyes closed, they were so alike, as if they were carved out of the same mold.
"The eldest and second young masters are easier to care for than most babies. They eat and sleep well and seldom fuss," the wet nurse laughed.
Her son was also easy to handle, Bai Ruozhu mused, feeling a surge of pride. Having an obedient baby really made a mother’s job easy.
With this in mind, she reached out to check the twin’s pulses, hoping to assess their current health conditions, but her expression quickly darkened.
Seeing this, Lin Ping’er became uneasy and asked, "Ruozhu, what’s wrong?"
Bai Ruozhu didn’t answer. Her heart filled with complex emotions, and for a moment, she didn’t know how to respond to her mother’s concern. She let go of the elder twin’s tiny wrist, but quickly decided to check the pulse of the second baby, hoping to confirm if his pulse was the same as his brother’s.
Soon, she released the younger twin’s delicate wrist too, her hands trembling slightly...