The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 923 - 901

Chapter 923: 901

Zhou Xi’s situation was not complicated, and after conversing with the doctor, Manbao had a clearer idea in her mind. At night, once the medicine was decocted and simmered, she administered a set of acupuncture to Zhou Xi. After a good sleep, Zhou Xi felt much better.

Manbao’s great-nephew also began to cry out for milk to drink.

Junior Ms. Qian made a carp and tofu soup for Zhou Xi to promote lactation, and finally, Guan Xin could enter the room to see his wife.

The baby was placed by Zhou Xi’s bedside, and the couple gazed at their satisfactorily fed child non-stop, their hearts brimming with indescribable joy.

It goes without saying for Zhou Xi; the child had not come easy. Now, her whole heart and eyes were filled with thoughts of him, and she felt that all the pains she had endured before were nothing in comparison.

Guan Xin also adored his son, finding him pleasing to the eye no matter how he looked. After all, neighboring men of a similar age to him had sons who were already running around playing.

But even with his affection, Guan Xin dared not reach out to hold his son; newborns are too delicate. He only squatted in front of the bed, quietly touching the baby’s little face with the tip of his finger.

Manbao was quietly complaining to Ms. Qian, "Mother, my nephew is quite ugly, I think he’s even uglier than the fifth, sixth, and seventh."

Ms. Qian also felt that her grandson’s eyes and eyebrows weren’t as attractive as those of her own grandchildren, but still, she gently patted Manbao and chided softly, "Don’t talk nonsense, children change as they grow. He will become handsome over time."

Manbao murmured, "Not like my elder sister, though."

Ms. Qian laughed and said, "It depends on who he takes after. Just wait and see, he will gradually change."

Then, she glanced inside the room and softly asked Manbao, "Is your sister really all right now?"

"She’s fine. From now on, I’ll take a day off every ten days to come over and give her acupuncture and change a few prescriptions. Later on, she’ll recover fully with some medicinal diet."

Ms. Qian let out a sigh of relief, "Having just one child is too fragile. It’s better to have a few—they can look out for each other."

Manbao: "...Mother, my sister has just given birth, and you’re already thinking about a second child. If she has the second child, are you going to start thinking about a third?"

"A few more would be better. However, considering your sister isn’t young, having too many could be hard on her body. Three should be enough. Having siblings to support each other, the family can thrive for a long time."

Manbao scratched her head and decided not to express her opinion on the matter, because having seen all kinds of people in Yizhou City, she knew that having many brothers wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

If there wasn’t harmony among them, the more brothers there were, the more chaotic it would become, and the family could fall apart even faster.

On the third day, Zhou Dalang came to take Manbao back. Thinking that the family was currently harvesting beans and soon would be harvesting rice, Ms. Qian asked Junior Ms. Qian to return with them as well.

"There has to be someone in charge at home. Your father has a quick temper. Without someone to keep him in check, I don’t know how he might erupt. Take charge of the household when you’re back. If he gets angry, just find Manbao," Ms. Qian said. "I’m enough here by myself. Anyway, I don’t have much to do except hold the baby and prepare some food for her. It’s rather easy."

Junior Ms. Qian thought about it and then agreed.

Ms. Qian had not helped with postpartum care for many years, after all, she had many daughters-in-law at home. When one gave birth, she could just instruct the others to help out.

So, she felt a bit clumsy at first, but it didn’t take long for her to regain her competency. Soon, she had everything in her son-in-law’s house well organized and also managed to foster good relationships with the neighbors.

Guan Xin’s parental home wasn’t around, and he was originally concerned about Zhou Xi’s confinement care, wondering if he should hire someone to help. But seeing his mother-in-law manage everything so orderly, and noticing Zhou Xi was happy, he was more than happy to save the money he would have spent. Instead, he put it all towards buying meat to stew for his wife.

Ms. Qian was cooking red eggs while she muttered about Zhou Xi, "I wondered why your house had so many visitors that day. It turns out he’d been spreading the word, promising two red eggs and two rice dumplings for each family after the child was born, and even to hire someone to take care of you..."

"Just because he’s being generous doesn’t mean he should brag about it months in advance. What if he can’t deliver on the day? The neighbors won’t think it’s his duty, they’ll just think he’s stingy," Ms. Qian said. "And if he does deliver, after months of discussion, people won’t see him as generous; they will just think it was expected. Did you see the commotion in your yard that day?"

Zhou Xi replied, "He was so happy he lost his senses. He started planning for the child’s marriage the moment I became pregnant, and now I don’t even know how many families he’s promised the child to. Thankfully it’s a boy—if it were a girl, we’d really have trouble in the future."

Ms. Qian said, "...You should talk to him. This isn’t how things are done among neighbors."

"Yes, Mother, I remember," she agreed.

Ms. Qian then asked about her health, "How have you been feeling these past few days? Manbao will be over tomorrow. If you’re feeling better, we should stop the medicine. Medicines are poisonous in three ways, it’s not good to take them indefinitely."

"I feel much better, and the lochia is almost gone. I shouldn’t need the medicine anymore."

Ms. Qian nodded.

"Mother, why is Manbao’s schoolwork so much more intense now? I remember she used to get two days off every ten-day week. Now she can barely get time off once in ten days."

Ms. Qian sighed, glanced outside to verify that only the two of them were home, and said, "Mr. Zhuang is doing it for their benefit. Manbao told me quietly that she and Bai Shan may have to go to the capital. My heart has been uneasy ever since."

"What would the two children be doing in the capital?" The Zhou family hadn’t told Zhou Xi about Zhou Yin’s situation because, already married, she shouldn’t hear such sensitive information. If she knew, would she be able to keep it from Guan Xin?

After some thought, Ms. Qian said, "Studying, I suppose."

Zhou Xi laughed, "Manbao’s getting more impressive by the day. To study all the way in the capital! Mother, you should rest easy. Manbao is so clever. Not just in our village—look around the entire county. Who is as clever as our Manbao? And when has she ever been wronged?"

"That’s exactly why I’m worried," Ms. Qian replied. "Only those who know how to bend can endure. Those who don’t know how to bend either have short lives or live in hardship. Her life has been too smooth. The capital is so big, I just fear that if she encounters great hardship there, she won’t be able to withstand it."

But whether or not to go to the capital was not for Ms. Qian to decide, not even Manbao herself.

Wei Zhi had recently finished his inspection tour of Jiannan and returned to the capital, but the information he could gather was limited, mostly concerning people’s livelihood. Therefore, he generally only reported on matters of public welfare.

The emperor had not expected him to collect any important evidence because his assignment was primarily to draw the Prince of Yizhou’s attention. The emperor had already obtained the information he needed a few days earlier.

So his mood was dismal.

During the court meetings that followed for several days, his aura was particularly dark. Upon seeing Wei Zhi, he asked, "Do you know where the Prince of Yizhou’s soldiers are stationed?"

"I do not know, Your Majesty."

"Hmph, they’re stationed in the family’s mountain hollow, but I’ve had my men calculate it—the numbers don’t match the amount of grain they’ve bought. This means that besides the mountain hollow, there are soldiers somewhere we don’t know about."

The emperor asked, "Why didn’t you bring back the descendants of Bai Qi on your return this time?"

Wei Zhi replied, "Your Majesty, Old Madam Bai, the mother of Bai Qizhi, beseeched me, saying she only had this one grandson and wishes nothing but his safe upbringing, not seeking fame or fortune, so..."

The emperor frowned, then shook his head after a while and said, "Let it be, I can’t force this matter."

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