Chapter 293
Children (3)
“She is always staying inside the mansion, so she gets bored easily since there isn’t much to look at and new things to do. In the future, I would have to trouble your wife to accompany Mingtang more. Only when someone invites her does she go out with ease and confidence.” Xie Xuanchen said thoughtfully.
Although Mu Mingtang said that she was not bored at home, Xie Xuanchen knew it was really boring to stay in the palace all the time, especially for a young lady like her. And it was also rare to have a trustworthy person accompany Mu Mingtang to relax outside and converse with her about the stuff girls like to talk about.
Zhu Yanghong used the chance of being alone with Xie Xuanchen to discuss the trivial matters of the Privy Council as the conversation between them continued. Zhu Yanghong’s return to the capital was seen by everyone as a promotion to the next level, although his time spent in the Privy Council was not as enjoyable as people thought it to be.
All the other members of the Privy Council were civil officials, whereas he was a general with brute force and a sturdy mindset. Civil officials and military generals were two completely different types of people, so it stood to reason that Zhu Yanghong would find it difficult to get along with them.
He, therefore, didn’t feel as satisfied as he did when he was in the army at the borderline fighting alongside his comrades. Civil officials would not trust and find him reliable with any important decisions, even though it was the fact that he was a capable military general who had brought honour and glory to the nation. Even the emperor only used him as a showpiece and gave him an empty post, which meant he wasn’t given any significant responsibilities.
When Zhu Yanghong was in Yazhou, he was the military commander-in-chief there. His subordinates treated him with the utmost respect, and the people who knew about him also respected him when they saw him. Unexpectedly, when he came to the royal capital, the treatment was completely reversed. And he had also finally realised that he would never succeed and grow in this environment.
This kind of feeling was not good. Zhu Yanghong could forget and not care about being embarrassed at the meetings, as half his life had already passed, but his daughters’ marriages were also affected because of this, which made it hard for Zhu Yanghong to accept his current situation.
Earlier, when Zhu Yanghong expressed his gratitude towards Mu Mingtang, he wasn’t lying. Without Mu Mingtang’s connections and help, the Zhu family would not have been able to reach the royal capital’s high circle that easily, and no one would have a mind to pay attention to his daughters. Mrs. Zhu’s social standing had substantially improved after people took Mu Mingtang’s face into consideration.
Zhu Yanghong’s life was coming to an end. Fame and fortune were not so important to him anymore. However, to his despair, Zhu Yanghong found out that if this situation were to continue, his children and grandchildren would also be discriminated against like him, or might even be treated far inferior than him.
After experiencing such bizarre things, Zhu Yanghong thought the entire country’s well-being was still resting on Xie Xuanchen’s soldiers. Therefore, after the New Year, Zhu Yanghong thought deeply and finally made up his mind to get closer to Xie Xuanchen. However, there was a prerequisite for all of this, that was, Xie Xuanchen’s health. It would be even better if he could have an offspring as Xie Xuanchen’s life and death were unpredictable.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yanghong sincerely persuaded Xie Xuanchen from both a political standpoint and personal perspective: “My lord, do everything sooner than later. You are not that young anymore, and it’s time for you to have children.”
If it was someone else, Zhu Yanghong would have already questioned that person rather than to persuade someone for this long. It had been a year since they got married, but there had been no good news. If it was a scholar, it was very common to not have a child within a year, but among military generals… It was really quite rare.
As Xie Xuanchen understood the meaning behind Zhu Yanghong’s words, his face was covered with dark clouds.
After enjoying the peach blossoms in the Buddhist temple, Mu Mingtang felt refreshed and was in a good mood even after she got home, but Xie Xuanchen’s mood was not the same.