Fields of Gold

Chapter 668 - Older Sister-in-law

After Zhu Junya and Lu Nianhua got married, one was meticulous and gentle, while the other one was generous and straightforward. Lu Nianhua doted on his wife extremely dearly after he finally married her with great difficulty. The two lived a happy and simple life. Both families were located relatively close to each other, so Zhu Junya would frequently return to her maiden home to accompany and talk to her lady mother, as well as help with managing the household. The relationship between the mother and daughter was even better than it was before the marriage.

Unfortunately, happiness did not last forever. The following year, Lu Changfeng returned to his hometown, and Zhu Junya followed them back to the region between the Guangdong and Guangxi districts. They were separated by thousands of miles and, in the ten years they were separated, her daughter had only returned twice to visit. A trace of melancholy flashed in Princess Consort Jing’s heart. She regretted marrying her daughter to the kid with the surname Lu, causing the mother and daughter pair to live far apart from each other. In the past, she should’ve chosen a family located in the capital to marry her daughter to!

Alas! Her daughter married to a distant place, her second child was stationed at the border all year round, and her third child was going to be moving out once he got married. Imperial Prince Jing’s Estate, which was big and grand, now appeared to be lonely and empty. As for her eldest son, after his wife gave birth to the eldest grandson, she didn’t get pregnant again. Princess Consort Jing wondered whether she should discuss with her eldest son’s wife whether they should invite Xiaocao here to take a look at her health, so she could give birth to a few more grandchildren. This way, the grandchildren could add more vitality to Imperial Prince Jing’s Estate.

“Okay! Don’t become upset over nothing, the younger generations will do all right on their own. Don’t you have me by your side? In a few more years, after our eldest son can assume my responsibility, I will retire and become an idle prince. I will accompany you wherever you wish to go, okay?” When Imperial Prince Jing mentioned their daughter, the princess consort became unhappy. He knew why she was secretly worried, so he hurriedly explained his plan.

Princess Consort Jing’s heart was feeling incomparably sweet, but she said, “You only know how to sweet talk, just promise me that by that time that your mind won’t be preoccupied with thinking about your job and cause you to break your promise! After you retire from your post, we should buy a residence close to our daughter’s residence. We should live in Guangzhou in the winter since it’s warm there; in the summer, we should head back to the capital. We should rotate between the two sides!”

“Okay, I will agree to whatever you say! You’re the decision maker of our family!” As long as his wife would stop being depressed, Imperial Prince Jing would promise her everything she wanted.

In early March, Princess Consort Jing’s daughter, Zhu Junya finally arrived at the capital with her husband and children. Zhu Junyang was sent by his lady mother to pick up his older sister outside the city gate. His sister poked her head out of the carriage while excitedly waving her hands at him. She had ruddy cheeks, a bright smile, and her eyes had remained clear and pure. From this, he knew that her older sister had lived a good life these years.

After exchanging a few greetings with his brother-in-law, Zhu Junyang was surrounded by a group of small radish heads. When his older sister left the capital, she was already pregnant, so her eldest son was almost ten years old now. In addition to the eldest son, Lu Jiarui, there were four other children. All of her kids were male, and the youngest child, Lu Jiapei, was less than three years old. He wasn’t afraid of strangers at all, grabbing onto his trouser without fear as he climbed up, huffing and puffing.

Zhu Junyang’s mouth twitched slightly. In the capital, he was known as the ‘cold-faced demon’. Not to even mention a child, even a half-grown man would become intimidated by his cold face. But why didn’t it work when it came to his nephew?

His unscrupulous sister had a playful expression on her face as she watched her sons bully her younger brother. He understood now that his nephews inherited their thick skins from his older sister!

He resigned to his fate and bent down to pick up the two radish heads that called him ‘Third Maternal Uncle’ the most enthusiastically with one in each arm. Lu Jiapei, who was a little over two years old was afraid of falling, so he grabbed onto his hair and yelled excitedly, “So high! Third Maternal Uncle, lift me higher! I want to be lifted higher!!” The ear-piercing yells almost caused Zhu Junyang to become insane.

“Hahaha! I almost died from laughing. I never imagined that the grand and cold royal prince would be in such a difficult position! Husband, quickly record this scene down, so when we return you can draw it for my lady mother. She must have never seen this side of her youngest son like this, right?” Zhu Junya got off the carriage, showing no intentions of saving her third younger brother. She stood beside her husband with an amused expression on her face.

It was Lu Jiarui, who was the eldest of the family, that had the most benevolent heart. He glanced at his unscrupulous parents and sighed. He ‘retrieved’ his youngest brother, who was the noisiest, from his third maternal uncle and held him in his arms. Lu Jiapei was afraid of his eldest brother who acted more solemn and mature than his parents. Although his mouth had a pout large enough to hang an oil bottle from it, he still didn’t dare to cause a fuss in front of his eldest brother.

Lu Jiayu, the fourth child, also obediently slipped off his third maternal uncle under his eldest brother’s warning gaze. He looked around before stretching out his white and chubby little hand, and said in a milky tone, “Third Maternal Uncle, where’s the meeting gift for Yu’er?”

“A meeting gift, Third Maternal Uncle, give me a meeting gift! Pei’er also wants a gift!!” Lu Jiapei who had remained quiet for fewer than three seconds started to clamor for a meeting gift.

Where would Zhu Junyang have the experience to know that he needed to prepare a meeting gift? Even if he took off all the accessories on his body, he still wouldn’t have enough gifts for his five nephews. Lu Jiayu grabbed the ugly embroidered pouch on his uncle’s waist and smiled evilly, “Third Maternal Uncle, this embroidered pouch with the pink pig sewn on it is very cute. Yu’er really likes it!”

His big eyes flashed with expectation; his eyes were saying, “Say that you will give it to me. Give it to me!”

If it was anything else, even if it was a top-notch jade pendant carved from ink jade, Zhu Junyang wouldn’t even blink his eyes before giving it away. However, the embroidered pouch on his waist was embroidered with a lot of effort by his little lass who wasn’t good at needlework.

Although he disliked the strange-looking pig named Peppa, he knew that if he gave the embroidered purse to someone else, then he would never receive another embroidered purse from his little lass in his life since she knew how to hold a grudge.

“Third Maternal Uncle will give you your meeting gift once we return! This embroidered purse was given to your Third Maternal Uncle by your Third Maternal Aunt. I can’t give it to you!” Zhu Junyang’s attitude was very firm and his tone was very decisive, making sure there was no room for negotiation.

Lu Jiayu knew from his father and mother that things sent by a wife were something that must be cherished. It didn’t matter how much the brothers threw a tantrum, acted shamelessly, rolled about, or cried, their father, who loved his children deeply, would never yield.

The fourth child from the Lu Family thought that he had seen through his Third Maternal Uncle’s his aunt. Her eyes rolled around before he smiled sweetly and said, “Third Maternal Uncle, when we return, can you ask Third Maternal Aunt to embroider the same purse for me?”

Zhu Junyang immediately refused without even pondering it, “Your Third Maternal Aunt is very busy. She doesn’t have the time to do needlework. Just look at your Third Maternal Uncle’s entire body, this is the only embroidered gift that I’ve received from your Third Maternal Aunt. She doesn’t even have the time to embroider clothes for her own husband, so where would she have the time to embroider a purse for you? If you want one, then ask your mother to embroider one for you!”

Zhu Junya’s expression turned unsightly when she heard her younger brother’s suggestion. One must know that her embroidering skills were at the same level as Yu Xiaocao. Asking her to embroider a purse was the same as killing her. She didn’t have a choice but to reluctantly embroider her husband’s personal items as well as his pouches. If she embroidered an embroidered pouch for her fourth child, then her other children would definitely pester her to embroider one for them. This meant that she wouldn’t be able to leave the house for at least two months. She would have to hold a needle and a thread every day…it was just dreadful just thinking about it!

She hurriedly changed the subject, “It’s getting late, so hurry up and get in the carriage. Don’t make Maternal Grandfather and Maternal Grandmother wait until they’re worried!” Like she was herding a flock of ducks, she made the group of little radishes get into the carriage. However, she rode on a horse with her husband. Since her eldest son was in the carriage, the four other children would not be able to escape from his grasp. She acted like she was in the right to leave her younger children in her eldest son’s care. What a fraud of a mother!

Zhu Junyang was annoyed by the small group of radishes until he finally returned to the capital and sneakily left for the Yu Family’s estate with fear still lingering in his heart. He looked at Xiaocao, who was currently pouting after she was forced by Madam Liu to embroider her veil. He suddenly said, “We should only have two children in the future. I would prefer it if both of them are girls as they’re quiet and obedient. Boys are too loud…”

Yu Xiaocao looked up at him in surprise before she lowered her head, continuing to work on the veil as she asked, “Why are you talking about this out of the blue? What kind of trauma did you receive?”

“My older sister returned, bringing back five rotten little kids. Those kids are devils; they were so noisy that they almost broke a hole in the sky. It had been merely half a day but the back garden at Imperial Prince Jing’s Estate looked as if a typhoon had suddenly blown through it. I pity my lady mother’s precious flowers and plants. I don’t know how many of them are able to survive!” Zhu Junyang would have a major headache whenever he thought of his five little nephews. He really admired his sister and brother-in-law for being able to look after a group of monkeys all day without going crazy!

“Your older sister returned? Should I pay her a visit?” She had heard her future mother-in-law, Princess Consort Jing, mentioning her only older sister-in-law numerous times. She had learned that her older sister-in-law was blunt and had a straightforward character, so it shouldn’t be hard to get along with her...right? Who knew? But she would eventually have to meet her and find out about her true temperament and character. After all, a mother would consider all her children to be the best in her heart!

Zhu Junyang picked up the half-embroidered red veil from the little lass’s hand and put it to the side. Then he started playing with her small hands, “Of course you need to! My older sister wants to meet you too! Our family doesn’t care about the rule where you’re not supposed to meet members of the opposite family before the marriage. My older sister has just arrived today, but my lady mother said that she will hold a welcoming dinner for them after letting them rest for a day. You have to come too! However, you must make some mental preparations. My older sister's five children…sigh, it’s hard to explain in a few words ah!”

Yu Xiaocao secretly chuckled in her heart. The famous and outstanding cold-faced prince actually fell victim to his five nephews. It was not surprising since the children were still young, so he couldn’t hit them and it would be hard to convince children to do as he said. It could be quite hard to deal with the kids. However, she still had some experience in dealing with children. Seeing how Little Shitou and Little Linlin were so attached to her was enough proof to show off her experience.

The next day, she woke up early in the morning and made strawberry, honey peach, apple, and tangerine flavored gummy candy. She also made lollipops in a variety of flavors and shapes and for pastries, she made egg tarts and cream puffs, which were pastries that were very popular among children. She also made several kinds of western-style mini cakes that she specialized in before packing all the food in exquisite boxes.

When she recalled Zhu Junyang’s sorry figure when he was pestered by his nephews for a meeting gift, she took out the small cartoon animals carved from the leftover jade from the jade bracelet from the box, preparing them as meeting gifts for the children. After she was fully ready, she changed into a simple and stylish attire, adorning herself with the pink vermillion diamond hairpin and earrings given to her by Zhu Junyang. Her simple and low-profile outfit gave off a luxurious, exquisite, and lively appearance.