Chapter 581: Zhuazhou (1)
When Qi Xiuyuan carried Little Treasure out, his expression was a little dark. Qi Haoran did not understand. Doting on one’s son was such a natural thing. Why did he have to hide it?
Look, they had just reached the second gate, and Qi Xiuyuan had already handed Little Treasure to the wet nurse to carry. No matter what, he was unwilling to carry him in front of outsiders.
Feeling contempt for his big brother’s behavior, Qi Haoran carried Little Bear and walked in front of him valiantly.
However, Little Bear didn’t appreciate it at all because Little Treasure had already solemnly declared that he wanted to walk on his own. Little Bear also made a fuss about wanting to get down and walk on his own.
Under Qi Xiuyuan’s disdainful gaze, Qi Haoran could only put his son down.
Little Bear shook off his father’s hand and ran to his brother’s side. The two brothers held hands and walked out together. Their little heads even leaned against each other as they chatted.
The two brothers were wearing identical outfits. When they walked together, they looked like two little fireballs, but it made for a highly festive sight.
As soon as they walked into the hall, everyone’s attention was attracted by the two children.
Madam Wu said with a smile, “Little Treasure and Little Bear are here. Come to Grandmother.”
Little Treasure wasn’t much fond of Madam Wu, but because his mother had reminded him before, he went over holding his brother’s hand.
As Little Bear’s attention had long been attracted by the things on the long table, he was subconsciously brought in front of Madam Wu.
“What obedient children. The zhuazhou ceremony is a big occasion for you brothers. After you’re brought to the long table, you brothers have to give in to each other, understand?”
“One should choose what he likes at the zhuazhou ceremony. How can they give in to each other?” Qi Haoran didn’t like Madam Wu’s hints. Turning to Little Treasure and Little Bear, he said, “Take whatever you like later. You can give in in other matters, but not when it comes to zhuazhou.”
Madam Wu’s expression changed slightly. She looked up at Qi Xiuyuan and saw him talking to Zhang Cheng and the other old ministers. Although he’d heard Qi Haoran’s words, he did not turn around to reprimand him. Her heart turned cold.
Madam Wu suppressed the anger in her heart and forced a smile before handing the two children to their wet nurse. However, when she saw Li Jinghua and Mu Yangling enter with smiles on their faces, she couldn’t help but say, “This time, the two children are doing the zhuazhou ceremony together. Since there are many guests, we have to attend to them well.” After saying that, she looked at Little Treasure pitifully and said, “If not for the war, Little Treasure’s zhuazhou banquet should’ve been held a year ago. I don’t know where you escaped to previously, so we didn’t get to use the things I prepared…”
Li Jinghua’s expression changed.
Today was not Little Bear’s birthday. His birthday was five days later. The reason why they had chosen to hold his zhuazhou ceremony today was because they wanted his and Little Treasure’s zhuazhou ceremonies to be held together.
Last year, they were all focused on the war because they were fleeing. Therefore, when Little Treasure was one year old, they only prepared a few simple things and casually let him grab a book.
Qi Xiuyuan had always felt that he had let his son down. With the doting Qi Haoran around as a comparison, it made him seem like a stepfather. In addition, he was about to ascend to the throne, so he had plenty of considerations.
Little Treasure was a very bright child. At least for now, he seemed to be much smarter than Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran when they were young. If there were no major problems, he would be the successor of Great Qi in the future.
Li Jinghua and his disappearance for more than a year was an easy target for criticism. Now that Li Jinghua was still the only woman in his harem, everything was fine. However, when his harem expanded in size in the future, such conflicts would definitely increase.
He was not worried about Li Jinghua, but he was worried about Little Treasure.
This was his first son and possibly his only legitimate son. It was obvious how much Qi Xiuyuan valued him.
In order to consolidate his position, Qi Xiuyuan decided to hold another banquet for Little Treasure to show how much he valued him, and also to consolidate the child’s position.
However, it was too eye-catching to hold the zhuazhou banquet for him alone. Coincidentally, Little Bear was about to turn one year old, so after discussing it with his brother, they decided to hold it together.
Qi Haoran saw that the two little boys were best buddies and that Little Treasure’s zhuazhou ceremony was indeed shoddily-done previously, so he agreed without thinking.
Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran were now the most powerful people in Great Qi. They’d thought that no one would be so insensible to mention the past at the banquet, but unexpectedly, Madam Wu turned out to be so daft.
Before Qi Xiuyuan returned to the capital, rumors started to spread in the capital, talking about how Li Jinghua and her sister-in-law left with their children.
If they were kidnapped, Li Jinghua would no longer be able to be the Empress. Even Little Treasure would be criticized. As for Mu Yangling and her son, with the future Empress in front of them, no one would pay attention to them anymore.
However, if they were sent away by Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran, the two of them would be criticized for sending away their wives and children but not their father, leaving him behind to suffer. Moreover, even the reason for his rebellion would be suspected. It could not help but make people think that he was unethical, unfilial, and disloyal.
At that time, it was Fan Zijin who stood up and took the initiative to take responsibility for the matter. He said that he had sensed something amiss with the imperial guards surrounding the Qi Residence. As Emperor Jingyan had taken the family members of the generals as hostages, he had rescued them out of fear and sent them out of the city. Since the families of the other generals had also been sent away, it could be seen that the imperial guards surrounding the Qi Residence weren’t the only problematic ones.
As soon as he said this, everyone remembered that there were other generals’ families who disappeared with Li Jinghua and the others, but they had suffered many casualties. Only all of the Qi family came back alive.
A small number of people accepted this explanation, but most of them did ask Fan Zijin why he did not save all of them and only saved Li Jinghua, Mu Yangling and their children.
Fan Zijin scoffed at this and said, “I’m not that capable. The other generals also only managed to sneak out a few of their family members, right?”
None of the generals had been able to send their entire family out. If they saved Qi Feng, would they also need to save Madam Wu?
If they saved Madam Wu, they couldn’t very well leave behind Qi Shaosheng, Qi Shaotai and their wives and children, right? With this implication, not to mention leaving the city, such a large group of people would probably be discovered before they even left the residence.
However, there were still people who refused to let go of this logic. They felt that if Fan Zijin wanted to save anyone from the Qi family, he should save Qi Feng first. It was the most basic morality to prioritize an elder.
Infuriated, Fan Zijin retorted without thinking, “The Qi Residence has been divided into the east and west manors. We usually mind our own business. Ever since my Aunt passed away, I only know of my cousins and never knew of my uncle. Back then, when my cousin was in trouble, my uncle was noble and ‘righteous’. However, I’m a petty person who only recognizes my family. Not to mention that my ability is limited and I can only send these few people away. Even if I’m capable, I’ll only consider my parents and wife. Knowing how noble and righteous my uncle was, he definitely wouldn’t abandon Great Zhou.”
These words successfully shut most people up. That’s right. Even Fan Zijin himself, his parents, and his wife did not leave. Seeing as he sent Madam Li and the others away first, it was obvious that he was righteous. As for Qi Feng, everyone knew that the Qi father and son were not on good terms. Even when Qi Feng was still around, the East and West Prefectures had already been living separate lives. It was understandable that Fan Zijin, who was close to Qi Xiuyuan, did not give two hoots about Qi Feng.
However, there were still some jealous scholars who criticized Fan Zijin for being too narrow-minded and disrespectful to the elders. They belittled Fan Zijin’s character.
However, Qi Xiuyuan and the others knew that this was just Fan Zijin’s way of diverting attention.
The claim that Fan Zijin had sent them away without Qi Xiuyuan’s knowledge could not withstand scrutiny. If others really investigated deeper, even if Qi Xiuyuan erased a lot of traces later, the influential people could still find out that they had set it up long ago. Not to mention anything else, the house where Mu Yangling and the others lived was prepared a year in advance. He could not possibly kill all the villagers nearby to silence them, right?
Therefore, Qi Xiuyuan didn’t want anyone to mention this matter, but Madam Wu just had to mention it again at this moment. She even hinted so obviously, as if she was afraid that others wouldn’t know.
Source: NovelFull.com, updated on N𝘰vgo.co