Chapter 398: Chapter 389: He Has a Dad to Teach Him to Write Now
"Grandpa, mom hasn’t gotten up yet, she never sleeps in. It must be bad dad bullying her. Fatty said his dad often bullies his mom at night."
"Cough cough... no, it’s not that kind of bullying. Cough cough, it’s about giving you a little sister."
"Huh? How do you give a little sister? I want to see."
"Cough cough cough..."
The sound outside abruptly stopped; it seems Lin Han covered Lin Ling’s mouth.
Inside the room
Lin Qiao wasn’t initially embarrassed, but after Lin Ling’s remark, her face began to redden and flush. She hastily grabbed her clothes to put them on.
Song Tingfan got up with her. Seeing that her walking was a bit awkward, he felt a little guilty, "I’ll carry you out."
It was the wedding night, after all. If he carried her out, people would definitely get the wrong idea. Lin Qiao quickly waved her hand and then walked out in a hurry.
The butler had been waiting at the door for a long time, "General, madam, the return gifts are ready. Are you going to return the visit now or wait a bit longer?"
In the big families of the capital, couples would generally return the guests’ gifts early the next morning after the wedding.
Lin Qiao immediately felt a headache, while Song Tingfan said in a deep voice, "You go return them."
The butler was momentarily stunned, then shook his head, "General, that won’t do. It’s your first time in the capital, you must build good relationships."
The capital is deep waters, numbers count more than ranks.
Especially now that the Emperor favors General Song, others have long harbored jealousy.
"Let’s go now." Lin Qiao understood in her heart, but didn’t know what Song Tingfan intended to do by coming to the capital.
Thinking about it now, it’s too late. She’s tied to Song Tingfan, and as long as he doesn’t do anything atrocious, she’ll stick with him.
The butler quickly nodded.
As they were leaving the mansion, Lin Ling clamored to go with them. Not wanting him to show up too much in public, Lin Qiao refused, scolded him a little, and he quieted down.
Unfamiliar with the place and people, the butler accompanied them along the way, naturally starting the return visits with those of higher official standing.
Prime Minister’s Mansion.
The message boy at the door had gone in to report for quite a while without coming back out, so Lin Qiao lifted the curtain of the carriage to take a look, suspecting they were deliberately making them wait.
She glanced at Song Tingfan, whose expression remained unchanged.
Exactly, if he couldn’t endure, he would’ve died long ago.
Her curiosity about his intentions only grew.
After another while, the message boy came out to invite them into the mansion. As soon as they approached, they could hear scolding, "It’s just a filthy peasant, what’s there to be afraid of? Just beat them to death and throw them out."
Upon entering, they saw a middle-aged man dressed in blue, scolding a kneeling servant with a sullen face.
The servant kept kowtowing, "Master, spare me, I was wrong..."
"Drag him out and beat him to death." The middle-aged man showed no mercy.
If Lin Qiao couldn’t tell this was a staged act, she wouldn’t have honed her acting skills over the years. Alas, life demands acting skills at every turn.
The middle-aged man seemed to just notice them, "There was a little incident in the mansion; sorry for the wait."
Lin Qiao subtly rolled her eyes, quickly smiled, and shook her head, "It’s no trouble at all. Even waiting a few more hours is reasonable. I’ve heard others praise the Prime Minister for being competent, and indeed, that seems true. Even scolding a servant requires personal attention."
"Tingfan, you should learn from the Prime Minister."
Her expression was genuine, without a hint of sarcasm.
The middle-aged man, Wang Shen, gave her a glance, his eyes slightly cold but spoke humorously, "The General’s wife jests. You’re probably far more capable than I am. I hear you often do farm work in the village, something I wouldn’t know how to do."
This was a subtle jab at calling them country bumpkins.
"Yes, still farming."
Lin Qiao paused for a moment, smiling sincerely, "With the Prime Minister’s deep interest, perhaps another day Tingfan can teach you."
Wang Shen felt her words were prickly, though her expression didn’t suggest it, assuming he was overthinking it, just a country woman after all.
"I’ll definitely come when I have time."
"This afternoon seems free, would the Prime Minister like to join us? Heard that there’s nothing planned for you this afternoon."
Lin Qiao’s soft tone cornered Wang Shen, leaving him speechless.
Lin Qiao secretly curled her lips, thinking that compared to her acting skills, they’d need to practice for decades more.
Song Tingfan didn’t say anything, seemingly indulging her.
In the end, it was the Prime Minister’s butler who smoothed things over, "General’s wife, perhaps another day. The Prime Minister has business to attend to this afternoon."
Lin Qiao replied with a regretful "Oh," "What a pity then, we were just about to fertilize the fields, and I thought the Prime Minister could experience it a little, as many scholars often visit our village."
A mouth like a spraying manure pipe.
Others didn’t understand her meaning, only found her coarse.
Only Song Tingfan realized, giving her a glance, "It’s getting late, let’s go."
Once they left the mansion and boarded the carriage, Lin Qiao couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Catching Song Tingfan’s gaze, she touched her nose, "This didn’t cause you trouble, did it?"
She acted so well, at most, they’d think she was coarse.
"No trouble." Song Tingfan shook his head, and added, "Not an issue for you, at all."
Lin Qiao paused briefly, couldn’t help but cough a few times, changing the subject, "How many more houses?"
"A little over twenty."
"..."
Fortunately, there weren’t many more with higher rank than Song Tingfan, so they just handed over the return gifts to the servants, and still returned past noon.
Li Guifen and the others hadn’t eaten yet, waiting for them. When they saw them return, they went to serve dishes and rice. The maid next to them wanted to help but didn’t know how to, and nervously glanced at Song Tingfan.
Lin Qiao couldn’t stand it, "You all go, we don’t need help here."
The maid left with a sigh of relief.
With no outsiders around, Li Guifen let out a sigh, "I told those little girls to rest, but they refused, insisting on standing there. It made even me afraid to sit."
Lin Qiao chuckled, then looked at the child who had turned his head without calling her, "Ahem, Ling’er."
Lin Ling pouted with anger, a look of wanting to be coaxed.
"Not going to eat the sugar figure? Then mom will eat it."
Lin Qiao conjured a sugar figure from her sleeve like magic, immediately catching Lin Ling’s attention, his big eyes fixated on the candy.
Unable to resist, he clamored, "I want it, mom, I want it."
"Ah, I gave it to your grandma already." Lin Qiao deliberately teased him.
Li Guifen couldn’t bear seeing her grandson anxious and quickly gave him the sugar figure, "Your mom’s teasing you."
Lin Ling licked it once, his eyes curving into a smile, "Grandma, mom’s naughty, always teasing me."
Already born quite adorable, even more so when he smiles, Li Guifen affectionately patted his head, agreeing, "Your mom’s naughty."
"No, mom’s not naughty, not one bit, she’s very good to me." Lin Ling couldn’t bear anyone saying otherwise about his mom, looking at Li Guifen with serious eyes.
Li Guifen was taken aback: "..."
Lin Qiao shamelessly laughed out loud, "Alright, eat quickly. After you’re done, your dad will teach you calligraphy this afternoon."
Lin Ling’s eyes lit up, "Dad, will you really teach me calligraphy?"
Everyone else had their dads teach them calligraphy, now he has one too.
Song Tingfan nodded, "Yes."
"Yay, dad will teach me calligraphy." Lin Ling quickly found himself unable to laugh.
...
Now on the fifth time getting hit across the hand, Lin Ling was close to tears, looking at Lin Qiao for help, "Mom～"
Lin Qiao pretended not to hear, ahem, finally there’s someone who can manage him while learning calligraphy.
