Chapter 391 - 390: Good Growth
Chen Dabao laughed cheerily, shouting loudly, "Mom, the baby moved. Here should be their little feet, there should be their tiny heads...Oh, I really wish they would come out sooner."
Chu Lingxuan, who was home from the normal court business for the day, looked at their happy interactions and grinned. Upon hearing Dabao’s last sentence, he quickly corrected, "You’re wrong. They can’t come out earlier. They should come out when the time is right."
His words amused the maids around them.
Chen Afu lovingly hugged Dabao. Chen Dabao was the name given to him by Mrs. Wang, it means ’the treasure of the Chen family’. Even if he was not considered a treasure in the Chens, he still managed to grow up happily and healthily. However, in his real home, he didn’t even have a name and could only be called Shiyi.
After hearing the story of Shan Jieyu’s ordeal and the thoughts about Shiyi shared by Chu Lingxuan, Chen Afu felt a sour pain in her heart.
In the men’s power play, countless women became sacrificial pawns. Specifically, Shan Jieyu, or rather Yuan Lin, was reduced to merely a tool for childbirth, suffering terribly because of her eldest son’s disability and the presumed "death" of her younger son. Abbot Liao Chen was forced into monkhood, living his life in the nunnery under the dim oil lamp. Mrs. Ma was also one of the pitiful women. Even Ms. Chu would have spent her life in a foolish stupor if she hadn’t met her. And there were many more she wasn’t aware of...
Chu Lingxuan also informed Chen Afu that upon seeing the Eleventh Prince, the Ninth Prince actually bowed to him secretly, saying "Thank you, Madam, on behalf of General Chu."
The Ninth Prince had previously bowed to two other people from the Chu family - Marquis Chu and Abbot Liao Chen. Chen Afu was the third.
In the blink of an eye, it was early September and following a series of light rains, the weather got colder.
Sitting by the window, Chen Afu looked up to the sky, her mind drifted to the farmlands in the countryside. By now, the autumn corn must have been harvested and the rice transported to the capital city or stored in the granaries...