Chapter 525: Taking Charge of the Household
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling blinked and said in confusion, “Father-in-law has never paid much attention to Big Brother and Haoran, but you weren’t angry about that previously.”
“But Little Treasure is his grandchild. If Father is too biased, even if the clan knows that it’s Father’s problem, they will also neglect Little Treasure and make many guesses.”
Worried, Li Jinghua lowered her voice and said, “Although Second Brother and Third Brother were born when Madam Wu was still a concubine, because Madam Wu was later promoted, they have always regarded themselves as the legitimate sons outside. It’s not appropriate for the eldest grandson in the residence to not come from the eldest branch to begin with. If Father’s attitude is so obviously biased, there will definitely be a huge battle between our first and fourth branches, and the second and third branches in the future. Eldest Master and the others are far away at the border, and there are only us women and children in the residence…
Hailing from an aristocratic family, Li Jinghua was the most sensitive to such matters. The eldest son and eldest grandson of the first wife had always had the most important significance in a family. Even if the clan didn’t help much, the clansmen would still subconsciously surround the eldest son of the first wife. Qi Xiuyuan’s identity as the eldest son of the first wife was clear, which was why he could remotely control the Qi family whilst at the border.
It was partly because of his abilities that he managed to bribe the elders to ostracize Qi Feng, but a large part of it was because he was the eldest legitimate son of the Qi family.
However, the identity of her son, Little Treasure, seemed to be shrouded in a thick fog. Was Qi Ming the eldest grandson of a concubine or the eldest grandson of the legitimate wife?
After all, Little Treasure was only ranked second in the family. If her father-in-law doted on Qi Ming and insisted that Qi Shaosheng was also the legitimate son, it meant that Little Treasure would lose the support of the entire Qi clan.
Being the eldest legitimate son would mean that one owned the entire clan. This was not just a saying. It was a concept that was set in the depths of people’s hearts.
Mu Yangling couldn’t understand this because in her era, the concept of a clan had already fallen apart. Everyone lived as a small family unit, and their actions were restricted by the laws of the country and their consciences were restricted by morals. Unlike in this era, clans could privately execute their clansmen. In some aspects, the family rules were even above the law.
Hence, Li Jinghua was worried. She wondered if she should snatch the right to take charge of the Qi family’s affairs for her son, in order to protect his status.
Mu Yangling’s train of thought finally connected with Li Jinghua’s. She hurriedly said, “Sister-in-law, don’t worry. Big Brother is the most promising in the family. Even if he doesn’t rely on the clan, Little Treasure won’t be worse than others. I think it’s better for us to stay in our residence and not cause trouble.”
If Qi Xiuyuan had no intention of rebelling, Li Jinghua could go ahead and snatch power in the Qi Residence. However, Qi Xiuyuan might rebel in two years. Wouldn’t she be wasting her energy if she didn’t stay in the residence later?
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“Eldest Master is promising, but you can’t belittle the clan. As the ancient saying goes, don’t bully the young for being poor, let alone a clan. There is indeed no one promising in the clan now, but there are so many children and young people in the clan. These are all connections.”
Mu Yangling looked at the worried Li Jinghua and felt that parents indeed worried the most. She was already worried about connections when Little Treasure was only so young.
Looking at her son, she felt that she had let him down. It seemed that she had not considered these things and had left her son to fight for his own future.
She only wanted her son to have a happy childhood, and to learn and study as he should. Aside from that, she only paid attention to his personality and character. As for what he wanted to do in the future, she felt that it was up to him to decide after he became an adult.
Mu Yangling held her chin in a daze. Ah, why did she suddenly feel like she was old?
She wondered if Qi Haoran had any plans for his son’s future.
Mu Yangling wrote a letter to Qi Haoran to express her apology for neglecting their son. Compared to her sister-in-law, as a mother she seemed to have considered too little.
When Qi Haoran received the letter, he was also vexed. He really hadn’t considered his son’s future, either. He felt that since he was already so outstanding, his son shouldn’t be too bad either. Did he still need to think on his behalf?
However, he didn’t write this in the letter. Knowing Ah Ling was already blaming herself, if he penned such thoughts in the letter, he would surely not escape her wrath. Hence, after thinking for a long time, Qi Haoran told Mu Yangling that they just had to let their son thrive at this stage. As for the future, even if they draft up a plan for him now, it would only be in vain if their son didn’t like it in the future. It was better to wait for him to grow up before asking him what he wanted to do. Then, they could help.
Everything would be based on the child’s wishes.
Mu Yangling didn’t expect Qi Haoran to be so open-minded, even more so than her. She looked at her son, who was struggling to get up from the couch at the side, and pulled him into her arms. She said with a smile, “Son, you’re really lucky to be able to do whatever you want in the future. Your father said that he’ll follow your wishes.”
In a few years, Mu Yangling would learn that Qi Haoran had just been coaxing her. Follow the child’s wishes? That was a joke. Before the child was born, Qi Haoran had already shouted arrogantly in his heart, “I’m going to have a son. In the future, my son and I will both be generals…”
With his eyes widened, Bear Bear looked at his mother. He waved his little hand to grab her hair and stuffed it into his mouth. Shocked, Mu Yangling quickly pulled out her hair from his hand. She gently patted his little hand and said, “Child, why are you stuffing everything into your mouth?”
Seeing that he could not grab her hair, Bear Bear simply plunged into her arms and arched left and right, grabbing her clothes tightly.
Mu Yangling was a little helpless. “You sure eat a lot, huh. You’ve already drunk milk, vegetable soup, and egg custard to replenish your energy. Why are you still thinking about food now? You’re just like your father.”
Despite saying that, she still carried the child to the inner room to breastfeed him.
After she came out, Spring said excitedly, “Fourth Madam, Eldest Madam has taken over the residence. In the future, she will be in charge of the residence with Second and Third Madam.” Then, she lowered her voice and said, “I heard that Madam Wu was so angry that she didn’t even eat lunch.”
Stunned, Mu Yangling asked, “Whose idea was this?”
“It’s Madam Wu herself.” Spring said proudly, “A few madams in the clan mentioned it when they came to the house to play. They said that since Eldest Madam is the eldest daughter-in-law, she should be in charge of the matters in the residence. Previously, it’s understandable that Madam Wu handed the matters in the residence to Second and Third Madam because Eldest Madam was pregnant. But now that Second Young Master is already more than a year old and Eldest Madam has time on her hands, it’s time for her to handle the residence’s matters and share Madam’s worries. Although Madam was angry, she didn’t dare to speak loudly in front of the few madams, so she agreed. She asked Second and Third Madam to assist Eldest Madam in handling the residence’s matters, saying she wanted them to help share the burden.”
Mu Yangling was secretly speechless. It had only been a few days, and she had just received Qi Haoran’s reply letter, but Li Jinghua was already in charge of things in the residence. This level of efficiency was indeed not something ordinary people were capable of.
Mu Yangling was not good at these inner residence matters. In order to express her support, she waved her hand and said, “In that case, go and tell Eldest Madam that I’ll help take care of Little Treasure in the future. She can focus on handling the matters in the residence.”
Spring agreed with a smile and turned to pass the message to Eldest Madam.
The servants of Zhaode Hall and Zhaohua Courtyard were very excited that Eldest Madam was now in charge. This meant that their status in the residence would rise and they would encounter fewer difficulties in the future.