nucmednet Chapter 214 How has she taken care of her two children over the years?
Chapter 214 How has she taken care of her two children over the years?
"Humph! What is he doing here? Let him go back!"
When the old prime minister heard from the butler that the ex-son-in-law had come, he thought of his murdered daughter and granddaughter, and was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, and didn't want to see this confused guy.
Seeing that the housekeeper was about to go out and send General Cao away, Leng Linglong suddenly leaned close to the old prime minister's ear and whispered a few words. The old prime minister coughed, called the housekeeper and said, "Forget it, go and bring him in. I want to see what he has to say!"
The housekeeper quickly agreed and hurried out of the house.
A quarter of an hour later, General Cao followed the butler to the old prime minister.
At this time, there were only the old prime minister and Zhao Junhuan in the hall. Leng Linglong ran to sit behind the screen and secretly put her ear to the screen, trying to listen whether her brother-in-law had brought her the land deed.
"My son-in-law greets his father-in-law. I wonder if he is in good health today?"
General Cao bowed respectfully towards the old prime minister and asked with concern. Seeing the old prime minister's ruddy face, he nodded secretly.
"Yan'er has been gone for many years, and you have already married a new wife. You should stop calling yourself my son-in-law and just follow Ting'er and call me uncle."
The old prime minister stroked his beard and spoke slowly. He did not let General Cao sit down, as if he had no intention of having a deep conversation with him.
"Father-in-law, in my heart, Yan'er has always been my wife. If I hadn't wanted to find someone to take care of young Zhu'er and Fangruo, I wouldn't have married Zhao Ting'er!"
General Cao said to the old prime minister seriously.
This was indeed his real thought at that time.
Yan'er was gone at that time. He was extremely sad and had no intention of managing the affairs of the mansion. He was in a daze every day and only knew to hold Yan'er's spirit tablet and drink every day, as if he was drunk. All this was fake. When he woke up the next day, Yan'er would stand in front of him.
It was Zhao Ting'er who came to him to confess her true feelings, saying that she had always been in love with him, so she had always refused the marriage arranged by her family and waited until now.
It was just that seeing how deeply in love he and Yan'er were as a couple, she didn't want to come between them, so she suppressed her inner feelings and stayed with Yan'er every day, actually just wanting to see him more.
After hearing all this, he remained indifferent and continued drinking. Now that Yan'er was gone, it was impossible for him to be attracted to any woman again, and he would never betray his relationship with Yan'er and marry another woman!
I don't know where Zhao Ting'er got the courage from at that time, but she slapped him in the face and then scolded him, saying that he was so decadent and was not worthy of the dead Yan'er and the two children left by Yan'er. She also said that if Yan'er were alive, she would definitely not like him like this.
Hearing Zhao Ting'er mention his children, he suddenly came to his senses. Yes, Yan'er was gone, but they still had two children, especially Fangruo, who lost her mother right after she was born. He should love her even better. He should raise Zhu'er and Fangruo well.
From that day on, he never got drunk again. He taught his son carefully every day and meticulously selected a wet nurse and a nanny for his daughter. No matter how big or small, he arranged everything personally.
From then on, Zhao Ting'er often came to the mansion to accompany the two children. He advised her many times to give up her thoughts about him, find a good family, and marry well.
But Zhao Ting'er was determined and came to his general's mansion more frequently. This continued until Fangruo was two years old. There was a riot on the border and the emperor ordered him to lead the troops to quell the rebellion.
He looked at his young son and daughter and sighed helplessly. The emperor's order could not be violated and he could not disobey it, but he could not leave his two children behind.
At this time, Zhao Ting'er confessed to him again, saying that she could help him take care of the two children. She also said that although she and Yan'er were cousins, their relationship was better than that of real sisters. She would definitely treat the two children well and love them as her own children.
He was finally moved this time. Zhao Ting'er had often come to the general's mansion in the past two years. Everyone in the capital knew that she was in love with him. Her reputation had been ruined. If he didn't marry her, it would be difficult for her to find a good family again.
Think about it, she is really good to Zhu'er and Fangruo. If he marries her, the two children will have someone to take care of them, and he can fight on the battlefield with peace of mind.
So he prepared a generous betrothal gift, proposed marriage to the Minister of Rites, and married Zhao Ting'er before going to the war.
Zhao Ting'er became pregnant with his child a few days before he went to war, and gave birth to a daughter for him after he returned victoriously.
Seeing General Cao's sincere expression, the old prime minister chuckled and said, "What you think is your business. You should follow the rules and call me uncle. Otherwise, how will my second brother deal with it?"
Seeing General Cao's embarrassed look, the old prime minister did not intend to let him go, and continued: "Just now I heard you say that you married Zhao Ting'er so that someone could take care of Zhu'er and Fangruo. How has she taken care of the two children over the years?"
Hearing the old prime minister's cold words, General Cao was stunned.
Before marrying Zhao Ting'er, he had a very harmonious relationship with Zhu'er and Fangruo.
Zhu'er admired him very much, and he taught her martial arts personally every day. Fangruo was also very attached to him, and when he had nothing to do, he would hold her in his arms and teach Cao Zhu about the art of war. Thinking of the time when the three of them, father and son, got along with each other, the corners of his lips curled up.
But thinking about how Zhu'er had suddenly turned against the General's Mansion for some unknown reason, and how Fangruo had fallen off a cliff and died many years ago, the corners of his mouth drooped again and his brows furrowed.
When did Zhu'er start to become estranged from him?
He recalled what happened in the past. Yes, it was when he returned from the war that he had another daughter. He was very happy. During the period when he first came back, his mind was focused on his young daughter.
When he went to see Zhu'er again, he was no longer as close to him as before. Fangruo also stood behind Zhu'er, looking at him timidly. He did not think much about it at that time. He just thought that the child had not seen him for a long time and thus felt a little estranged from him.
Later, he was busy with court affairs and spent even less time in the backyard, and had little time to accompany Zhu'er and Fangruo.
However, if he got any good things, he would order people to send them to Zhu'er and Fangruo. When he learned that Fangruo liked the Art of War, he specially searched for a rare copy of the Art of War just for his daughter's interest.
However, even so, he still felt that the two children were becoming less and less close to him. Instead, his youngest daughter would stick to him and snuggle into his arms when she saw him. So, gradually, he paid more and more attention to his youngest daughter and increasingly neglected Zhu'er and Fangruo.
Thinking about it now, there were a lot of things that went wrong during those years.
Every time he returned home, Fang Qing would always sit at the dining table with Zhao Ting'er waiting for him to eat. When he asked about Zhu'er and Fang Ruo, Zhao Ting'er always had various excuses. In short, the meaning was that the two children did not want to be close to her, their stepmother, so they ate in their own courtyard.
At that time, he thought Zhu'er was a little ignorant. Over the past few years, Zhao Ting'er had been very caring towards Zhu'er and Fangruo. Fangruo was still young and it might be ok for her to be ignorant, but how could Zhu'er be so ungrateful?
For this reason, he went to Zhu'er's yard and scolded him. Thinking about Zhu'er's eyes at that time, they were full of disappointment in him as a father. Why didn't he notice it at that time?