Chapter 129 - 129 Hidden
129 Hidden
“Hey-hey, did you guys see that? Isn’t that Lady Qin? Why did she bring a man home?”
“Here, there was someone who stopped her carriage on this road yesterday. He kowtowed and bowed, and his face was covered in blood. Who knows what he was doing?”
“Tsk, tsk, don’t tell me she’s been a widow for too long and can’t hold on any longer, huh? Hahaha!”
It was unknown who said this in a perverted tone, but it immediately attracted a wave of meaningful laughter.
This matter spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred. Soon, it had spread throughout the entire village. Even the first and second branch of Qin Family had heard the news.
“What? Mo Ruyue brought a wild man home?”
Qin Shi was originally sitting cross-legged on the bed, but when she heard this news, she almost sprung from the bed to the ground, scaring the second daughter-in-law, Wang Shi, who was in front of her.
“Mother, you have to be careful!”
She hurriedly stepped forward to protect her mother. If her mother accidentally hit her, she would be in trouble again.
“Tell me in detail, what’s going on?”
Qin Shi couldn’t care about anything else. Right now, she only wanted to figure out this matter. If Mo Ruyue really brought a wild man to her house, then she would have a reason to cause trouble!
“It’s like this. The villagers were working in the fields at the entrance of the village. They saw with their own eyes a strange man with a fair complexion sitting in Mo Ruyue’s Imperial carriage. They went to her house. Everyone was saying…”
Wang Shi hesitated for a moment, and it was difficult for her to finish her sentence.
“What did they say? Just tell me!”
Qin Shi anxiously roared. She wished she could pry open Wang Shi’s mouth and let her talk until she couldn’t anymore.
“Everyone says that Mo Ruyue can’t stand the pain of being a widow. Bringing this pretty boy to her door, she didn’t even want to hide it”
Wang Shi was so frightened by her mother-in-law that she immediately blurted out everything.
“What? Did they really say that?”
Qin Shi’s eyes immediately widened. After seeing Wang Shi nod, she slapped her thigh and said happily, “That’s great! This time, I’ve finally caught this little wench’s weakness!”
As she said this, she rushed out of the door. After running a few steps, she then turned around and looked at Wang Shi, who was still stunned in the room, and said with dissatisfaction,” What are you still standing there for? Come with me to catch them in the act of adultery!”
Only then did Wang Shi come back to her senses. She responded with a sigh and quickly went forward to support Qin Shi and hurriedly left.
At this time, Mo Ruyue had already brought Du Zhongheng to the door of her house. She first called out to the courtyard and the babies ran out under Da Bao’s lead.
“This is Mr. Du. Greet him and show him your study room. I’ll go and unload the mule to feed it grass and water.”
Mo Ruyue was intentionally letting Du Zhongheng interact with the children. When she was around, she was afraid that both sides would pretend to be fake. That could only be good for a while, and getting along in the future would be a problem.
“Mr Du, come with us.”
Da Bao was the first to greet Du Zhongheng, and the other babies also politely called him “Sir”.
“Good-good, children.”
Du Zhongheng responded with a smile as well. At the same time, he carefully observed the babies.
All of them looked like they had been raised well. The boys all looked much stronger than children of the same age.
The only girl was also healthy and smart. Her big eyes were like a deer’s, dark and sparkly, and she was very rare.
The five babies did not seem to be afraid of people. Their eyes were clear and full of spirit. They were only curious about him, but not afraid of strangers. This made Du Zhongheng even more curious about Mo Ruyue.
What kind of woman could raise these children in the mountains so well? Not only were they physically strong, but they were also polite and knowledgeable. They didn’t have the tenderness and pettiness of ordinary children.
He followed the babies to their “study room”, and he was stunned.
The layout of the desk was obviously for five babies together, and the strange board in front of the desk was something that he had never seen before.
There were also some books on the desk, which looked like textbooks for babies.
“Eh? You’ve read the ancient language’s essence and the great sage’s language? How’s your progress with the Three Character Classic?”
After he asked, he felt that it was inappropriate. It seems that they had already finished the ancient language, so he was afraid that they had already finished learning the Three Character Classic.
“We’ve already finished learning it. Mother said that we can integrate all the classical stories into it, which means that we’ve learned it. Now, even Tang Tang can recite it backward.”
San Bao was the most lively one. He immediately took the initiative to ‘report’.
“Oh? Then I’m going to test you.”
Du Zhongheng had the intention to test how well his babies were learning, so he picked out a sentence from the Three Character Classic.
“Father and son are kind. Husband and wife are affectionate. Brothers are friends. Seniors and children are ordered. Friends are obedient. The king is respectful, and the minister is loyal. What does this sentence say? If we were to conduct ourselves in this world, what can we learn?”
“This is referring to the relationship between people. Father and son, husband and wife, brothers and friends, and also king and minister. There is kindness, affection, loyalty, and obedience. In life, one must become a person who is affectionate, righteous, and knows kindness and etiquette.”
The one who answered was Er Bao. He was going to do business in the future. He heard from his mother that the business world was like a battlefield. Interpersonal relationships were very complicated. However, he could not lose the most basic moral bottom line of a person just because of doing business. Therefore, he remembered this sentence the most clearly.
“Oh? There’s really something.”
Du Zhongheng’s eyes lit up. The things that the child in front of him said were things that even many adults could not say, or rather, they could say it but could not do it. He had just read a book full of rules for nothing.
He then picked a few articles and stories from other books. He didn’t expect that even the youngest girl would be able to talk to him about it as if it was her own family treasure. This time, he finally understood why Mo Ruyue wanted him to be their initiation teacher.
The child’s nature was like unpolished jade. It was said that unpolished jade was useless, but he was like a knife that could polish the jade.
It was impossible to polish all the rough stones into the same appearance, without losing their edges, sharpness, and authenticity. Even if it becomes a shining “beautiful jade” in the future, what’s the point?
The reason why he had stood out and raised his arms was that the rules of etiquette had bound his hands and feet. Although he was also a well-known erudite scholar with beautifully written articles, his heart had been tied up, so how could he stretch his hands and feet?
The more Du Zhongheng studied the babies ‘knowledge, the more he was shocked. If not for an enlightened and knowledgeable mother, how would these babies gain such knowledge?
It seemed that this Lady Qin was really a person who hid her true self very well. No wonder even the old Imperial physician, Elder Tian, would write recommendation letters for her.
The babies also had a good impression of Du Zhongheng. This teacher did not seem to put on any airs, and he always had a smile on his face. When he asked questions, he was just like Mo Ruyue, guiding them to think instead of asking them to memorize the answers. As expected, he was the initiation teacher that their mother had carefully selected.