Chapter 51: You Continue, It’s Really Delicious
Due to this sudden situation, Meng Huan couldn’t finish the rest of his meal. The child beside him also started crying loudly for some unknown reason, making one’s head hurt from the noise.
He quickly asked the man to take the child away and not bring him back until he grows up to be more pleasant-looking.
Wen Zhaoyin had already become completely immune to his bizarre and outrageous behavior. After all, he didn’t cause trouble or run away, he just didn’t want to be near the child.
Perhaps it was because giving birth was too painful for him, and the pain made him irritable and unwilling to be close to the child. Maybe after some time when his body recovers, he will get better.
Even if he remains unwilling to take care of the child, it doesn’t matter. He can’t teach the child anything anyway.
Actually, even if Meng Huan didn’t have this reaction, she would have still kept a distance between the two after the child could remember things. The boy will eventually marry, and while she’s willing to accept Meng Huan’s outrageous behavior, others will not.
If father and son spend too much time together and pick up bad habits, it wouldn’t be good.
“Our son doesn’t have a name yet. Father and I picked out a few names for him. Which one does Huan Huan think is better?”
Wen Zhaoyin waved her hand and Pei Lan brought over a few sheets of rice paper full of characters. It read: Gu, You, Yu, Yan, Heng, Jin, Nan, Yi…
Meng Huan took a glance. “Wow, quite a few options. Why are they all single characters?”
“That’s the standard for naming.”
“Then why do you have two characters?”
She turned to look at him and patiently explained, “Zhaoyin is my courtesy name. My given name also has two characters. Alright, if you don’t choose, I’ll choose.”
Meng Huan’s eyes widened. Giving birth wasn’t easy, so of course he should be the one to choose the name!
“You, Meng You! I think this one is good!”
After he finished speaking, the surrounding suddenly became quiet. Pei Lan and Wen Xi didn’t dare make a sound. They had never seen a man dare to let the child take his surname. Isn’t this challenging the wife’s authority? Those who had this kind of idea were usually divorced, right?
It was said that during the rise of male scholars some time ago, there was a period when men clamored for children to take the father’s surname. Because almost all women and even most men opposed it, it fizzled out in the end.
Could it be that Young Lord still has a connection with those recalcitrant men?
No matter what the servants were wildly thinking in their heads, Wen Zhaoyin remained as calm as still water. She merely picked up a brush from the side and wrote the two characters “Wen You” on a blank sheet of paper.
She instructed, “Go deliver the name to Grandfather.”
Meng Huan watched with wide eyes as the paper with “Wen You” written on it was taken away by a servant. He opened his mouth wanting to say something, but in the end said nothing. His entire state started to become a bit depressed.
He said he was tired and wanted to rest. Wen Zhaoyin let him lie down for a while, then invited Doctor Wen over to check on his recovery. Seeing that he was doing quite well with no issues, she allowed him to continue sleeping.
Who knows what she was thinking, but according to custom, she shouldn’t sleep with Meng Huan for the month of his postpartum confinement and should stay in another room instead.
But after witnessing the scene right after he gave birth, she felt uneasy leaving him alone and compromised by sleeping on a low couch to accompany him.
The matter with Prince An was coming to an end.
Everything was within the Empress’s calculations. It was said that on the surface, Prince An was still spending his days in the residence. But behind the scenes, he had already been captured and interrogated in the imperial palace’s sky prison.
Her Majesty the Empress didn’t want to hurt the bond between siblings nor leave behind the ill reputation of fratricide, so this was how she handled it.
It was said that the Emperor of Lin Kingdom also paid a great price for this matter. But in the end, she was not a secret agent of Her Majesty nor did she personally handle that matter, so she didn’t know the details.
However, based on observing Her Majesty’s expressions these past few days, the gains must not have been small.
A few more days passed. After Prince An was interrogated, even though the crime of his rebellion was confirmed, the Empress ultimately did not execute him. She only demoted him to a commoner and imprisoned him in Prince An’s residence forever.
As for Wen Zhaoyin, due to her meritorious service in assisting to quell the rebellion, her official position was restored and she was even directly promoted, becoming the Chief Investigating Censor. In an instant, the tides turned and she became immensely popular.
The members of the Wen family also rapidly tried to ingratiate themselves with her, not showing any of the coldness they had when they ignored her existence during her hardship. They were so enthusiastically attentive that it was a bit hard to handle.
Even after Wen Zhaoyin clearly stated that she had separated from the family, those aunts still expressed that they wanted to continue interacting without expecting anything in return.
But long before, when she was stripped of her position, and even earlier than that, she had already seen through the true colors of the Wen family members. No matter how pleasant their words sounded, she completely ignored them and kept to herself.
As for that good-for-nothing Wen Zhibai, it seemed that even before Wen Zhaoyin was taken into the Wen family, she had already been bought over by Prince An’s people. Because Wen Zhaoyin was investigating Prince An’s affairs at the time, that’s why she was targeted and framed.
After Wen Zhaoyin learned of that scheme, she directly told the Empress, leading to that series of subsequent interlocked events that formed a fatal trap meticulously prepared for Prince An.
Wen Zhibai was currently in prison and would be beheaded in a few days, finally putting an end to this matter.
Wen Zhaoyin became busy again. During the day, she rarely stayed at home. Only in the evenings would she return to accompany Meng Huan. The days for the two of them seemed to have returned to tranquility.
——
In the end, Meng Huan was still hurt from the previous miscarriage. Him not having milk before was probably also due to that reason.
After giving birth this time, with the doctor’s tonics, medicinal soups, and nutritious meals, his body was slowly nursed back to health. Until one day, he suddenly felt that something was off with his chest.
Although it was still flat, it felt swollen. If he moved too much, it would even hurt a bit.
“What’s going on?” He felt it was a bit embarrassing to talk about, so he didn’t dare mention it and secretly lifted his clothes to look.
He found that there was no swelling, and felt a bit relieved. However, he saw a suspicious trickle of white fluid seeping out from the red beans (nipples). It scared the hell out of him at the time.
He, he had milk!
Meng Huan told himself to stay calm. Since the child was born, having milk wasn’t too abnormal, right? It was just a bit embarrassing. As long as he didn’t make a fuss, he thought it would probably slowly get better after a while.
But the more he tried to ignore it, the stronger that feeling became, to the point he could only eat and read storybooks to distract himself.
After about two or three days, just as he was reading a book and drinking chicken soup, that swollen and painful feeling suddenly became especially intense like a thunderbolt, causing him to immediately freeze in place, not daring to move.
Wen Xi asked him what was wrong from the side. He said it was nothing with a complicated expression, but it was pointed out that the front of his clothes were wet. He quickly lowered his head to check and found that it had actually seeped out from those two points!
“Young Lord, Young Lord, this servant will first help you change into a new set of clothes.”
Meng Huan subconsciously shook his head to refuse, but this movement only made his clothes even wetter. The situation was developing in a direction he couldn’t control.
“Tsk, you, first get me an empty basin, and then, then prepare a basin of warm water…” He said while enduring the pain.
Seeing him like this, Wen Xi quickly obeyed and went to prepare. He soon brought an empty basin and a basin with half a basin of warm water.
He waved his hand to send everyone out, then handled the “abnormal changes” on his body himself. But he couldn’t get it right. The more he wiped, the more swollen and painful it became.
In the end, with no other choice, he could only tidy up a bit and called for Wen Xi to support him as he went to the west wing to see the child.
The wet nurse also lived with the child in Qingzhu Courtyard, just not in his main house but in a small room in the west wing. This was arranged by Wen Zhaoyin for his convenience in looking after the child, but he had never taken the initiative to visit.
Wen Xi stood at the door and didn’t obey. Instead, he asked a bit uncertainly, “Young Lord, are you really alright? If you want to see the child, just have this servant bring him over. You’re still in confinement and can’t leave the room, otherwise…”
“Then hurry and bring the child over!” Meng Huan sighed to himself that he had really been made stupid by the pain. He could have the child brought over but insisted on going himself.
After instructing Wen Xi, he turned back and tidied up the two basins a bit, moving them to a corner to avoid tripping anyone.
Wen Xi quickly returned, but he wasn’t carrying the child. The one carrying the child was the wet nurse that Wen Zhaoyin had arranged.
After enduring the pain to take the child, Meng Huan didn’t even wait for the wet nurse to speak before ruthlessly sending the person out. He also told Wen Xi to guard the door well and not let anyone in.
Wen You was still young. As soon as he left the scent of someone familiar and was handed into the arms of a stranger, he immediately started wailing loudly.
The crying noise made his head swell, but the pain and swelling in his chest was still impossible to ignore. He could only unbutton his clothes with one hand while trying to soothe the child with gestures he had seen before.
“The little brat doesn’t even recognize me. What are you crying for? I want to cry but have nowhere to cry!”
Although his words sounded harsh, his actions were still quite gentle. After all, it was the child he gave birth to. Even though he didn’t go see him usually, the child had still stayed in his belly for nine months. He naturally wouldn’t harm him.
By the time Meng Huan finished unbuttoning his clothes with one hand, he looked at the wailing Wen You and felt at a loss, not knowing how to get him to eat.
Usually when Wen Zhaoyin called for the wet nurse to come, this child was always well-behaved, not crying or making a fuss, quiet as can be. Naturally, there was no scene of breastfeeding to watch or use as reference.
What to do? He was truly at a loss.
“Whatever!” Meng Huan closed his eyes and steeled his heart. Unexpectedly, he inadvertently positioned correctly. Wen You’s crying instantly stopped. His small face, still hanging with tears, looked very satisfied.
He moved to the edge of the bed holding the child, sitting down to rest while adjusting his posture. He didn’t expect to succeed on the first try.
Slowly, his chest stopped hurting and the child had also eaten his fill, sleeping soundly like a chick. He completely lacked the annoying appearance of opening his mouth and only knowing how to cry from before.
After resting for a moment, Meng Huan’s expression relaxed as he went out the door to return the child to the wet nurse. He instantly felt light and free.
From this day on, whenever he felt uncomfortable, he would have Wen Xi bring Wen You over to “take a look”. After looking for a bit, he would return him.
He didn’t explicitly say he was feeding the child. After all, this was still very embarrassing for him. And he had also previously told Wen Zhaoyin that he wouldn’t breastfeed. If he suddenly breastfed now, wouldn’t that show a lack of backbone?
So he just instructed the wet nurse not to speak carelessly, then secretly took opportunities to hold Wen You when Wen Zhaoyin wasn’t home.
However, there are no walls in the world that don’t let wind through, especially with him being silly for three years from pregnancy. He really couldn’t hide anything.
The day before, Wen Zhaoyin took a day off and stayed in his room the whole time, causing him to not have a chance to hold the child at all. He endured the discomfort for a long time. Finally, he couldn’t wait for her to leave. As soon as she did, he immediately had Wen You brought over.
As a result, she had forgotten to take something and turned back to get it, happening to run into him skillfully rocking and feeding the child.
For a moment, both of them were stunned on the spot. In the end, it was still Wen Zhaoyin who smiled first with an unclear meaning, only saying: “You continue.”
She then took the item and left.