"Pft! Hahaha..." Shen Liang burst into laughter and hugged his stomach. He laughed unsteadily. Can he say the lord's expression and aggrieved expression was particulary humorous.
"You're actually laughing? Hurry and come up with a solution for me. If he continues to cry, then the entire Marquis Dongling Manor would be awakened by him," Pei Yuanxian headed over to him with a dark face while hugging the little rice bun. Could what his second brother did even be considered humane? Heavens know that in the short three days this little ancestor had been delivered to his manor, the Qingping Manor had been turned upside down by him. His fourth brother, that useless b*stard simply ran away at a speed like there was oil on his feel. Just them wait until Pei Yuanxian freed his hands of this. He'll deal with them!
"Cough. Cough... You want me to come up with something for you? What can I do?" Shen Liang suppressed his urge to laugh as he opened up the quilt and looked inside. The little one was still crying heavily. His entire face had been flustered red. But still, he was able to see how adorable the little one was. "Say, where did you conjure up this little one? What? The duke has been too idle these days and want to change his career into a nanny?"
"...." Pei Yuanxian glared at him. Who wanted to change careers and be a nanny? He was forced, alright? If he had know his second brother would send this little ancestor back for him to take care of, even if he was beaten to death, he would have never agreed.
Knock, knock!
"Liangliang, why is there the sound of children's crying in your room," accompanied by the knock on his door, Fu Ying's voice also carried in. Shen Liang gave Pei Yuanxian a glare that could not be considered kind the least bit before he headed over to open the door. Not only was Fu Ying there, Qi Yue and Qi Xuan had also been awakened. Yaoguang was nowhere in sight. Most likely because he had already known Pei Yuanxian would be here. He was most likely with Tianquan and the other, hiding somewhere now.
"This... Duke, how are you..."
"Where did the child come from?"
"My lord..."
Seeing the situation in the room, Fu Ying and the other two gaped in unison and started to speak their shock at the same time. They pointed at Pei Yuanxian and then the child, and was reduced to a loss at what to focus on.
"Is the child hungry? He's crying too miserably," Shen Liang didn't explain. He didn't bother wasting time and words and simply left the three standing at the door before walking back. In his previous life, he never had the chance to be a dad. He was never even pregnant once. In terms of caring for children, he was as inexperienced as one can be.
"It can't be. He just ate before he left the manor. Perhaps he wetted himself?" In comparison, Pei Yuanxian, who had been forced to care for the child for three days now was more experienced. As he spoke, he rested the crying child on the table and attempted to untie the quilt but the child's cry made him more and more restless. Even after several attempts, he couldn't untie the knot.
"My lord, my lord, please be more gentle...." Fu Ying, who had finally reacted and couldn't bear the sight any further hurriedly stepped forward to untie the quilt. The child inside was actually naked. He didn't even have a diaper on. Fu Ying raised his head and looked at Pei Yuanxian with extreme speechlessness.
Pei Yuanxian also found himself panicked with embarrassment: "Only a few month-old boy. He's equally ugly with or without clothes."
Was this an issue of whether the child was ugly or not?
Shen Liang who was listening on the side rubbed his temple. Was it so hard to just admit that Pei Yuanxian didn't know how to do anything?
"Are there clothes?" Fu Ying saw through the duke but didn't condemn him. He reached out and lifted the naked little rice bun. He didn't forget to take out his outer attire and drape it over the infant. He had no choice. The baby really did wet himself. The quit was soaked with pee.
"Tianshu, still isn't scramming in for this lord?" seeing the child had already ceased crying and was only sniffing in Fu Ying's arms, Pei Yuanxian roared outside. Tianshu, who was carrying a large baggage immediately flew in through the window. Along with him, Tianquan, Tianxuan, Yuheng, and Yaoguang, all of them looked physically and mentally exhausted. It was evident that they had been tossed around quite a bit.
"Allow me," Qi Yue took the baggage from Tianshu's hand and opened it smoothly. He selected a set of soft inner ear and handed them over to Fu Ying, who was wiping the infant's buttocks with a wet handkerchief. After looking through the baggage, they found another small quit. They two of them cooperated tacitly and put the clothes on the child before rewrapping him back up in a clean set of quilts two to three times. The little rice bun finally felt comfortable and suckled on his finger. At ease, he slowly drifted to sleep again.
"Liangliang, it's still your people who are more useful and impressive," Pei Yuanxian, who watched the entire process gave them a thumbs-up without hesitation. Once the little ancestor started crying, it would last for half an hour. Only when the little ancestor was tired who the cries cease. Pei Yuanxian had felt inclined to directly hit his own sleep acupuncture and force himself into an unending sleep several times in the past three days already.
With an annoyed glance thrown Pei Yuanxian's way, Shen Liang then headed over to the child. He couldn't help but poke the child's pink, plump face with distress: "Uncle Fu, take him back to your room and look over him for now. There are some matters I need to speak with the Duke about in private."
"En. I suspect this child is only four to five months old. If possible, I'll have to bother the lord to send some milk or goat milk over to our room. He will most likely grow hungry halfway through the night," Fu Ying was not someone who had could not understand Shen Liang's meaning. After he delivered his request, he and Qi Xuan and Qi Yue left together. They didn't forget to bring along with them the wet quilt and the baggage of children's necessities.
"This subordinate will go prepare the little master's supper right now," seeing Pei Yuanxian's gaze, Tianshu flew away sensibly.
"Um that, Wangfei, we won't disturb you from your private talk with the master anymore," Tianquan, Tianxuan, and Yuheng, who had been left behind exchanged nervous glances with one another, scared to stay or leave. Fortunately, Yaoguang was a clever one. After speaking, without waiting for the two masters' response, he took his three brothers and left the room.
"Exactly what is going on?" All joking aside, when only the two of them remained in the room, Shen Liang found a seat and sat down before asking seriously. He didn't truly think Pei Yuanxian would be truly idle to the point where he decided to become someone's nanny.
"It's a long story," breathing out exaggeratedly, Pei Yuanxian took a seat beside Shen Liang and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Then make it short."
The child had already been delivered to his manor. Did Pei Yuanxian still believe he had the qualifications to hide anything from him.
Pei Yuanxian forced down the cup of tea before turning to him: "If I told you the child is your brother's, would you believe me?"
"What?!" Shen Liang's pupils shrank as he reached out and grabbed Pei Yuanxian: "What did you say? Say that again? Whose child did you say he was?"
That was impossible. In his previous life, he had never.... no, based on how foolish his previous life's self had been and the situation he reduced himself into, even if there was such a child, Pei Yuanxian would have never sent the child to him. Could... the child really be elder brother's? Elder brother actually had a descendent?
Hot tears rolled down his eyes. The fact that Shen Da had his own child truly made Shen Liang excited.
"Liangliang..." Pei Yuanxian did not expect him to actually start crying. He only felt a stab of distress as though someone had gripped onto his heart and squeezed it hard. His slender fingers reached out subconsciously to catch the falling tears, "You silly one. What is there to cry about? Shen Da having a child means you're an Uncle now. Shouldn't you be happy instead?"
If Pei Yuanxian wasn't sure before whether what he felt for Shen Liang was only temporary amusement or sincere liking, then Shen Liang's tears gave him the answer he was looking for. He really had fell in love with this stubborn and shrewd little one.
"En..." He shook his head vehemently as his tears continued to bobble out and stream down his face. Shen Liang raised his head and wiped his tears away indiscriminately, "I'm just too happy. You didn't lie to me, did you? He really is my elder brother's child?"
Because he truly cared, he was also afraid. Shen Liang held his breath as he awaited Pei Yuanxian's response, fearful that Pei Yuanxian would tell him everything was only a joke.
"You fool," Understanding his gaze, Pei Yuanxian patted his head and then pulled him into an embrace: "How could this lord use such a matter to joke with you? He is indeed Shen Da's son. His name is Shen You and he is already five months old. Do you know why Shen Da named him Shen You? Because he hoped that the Heavens would bless this war to proceed and end smoothly, that they would bless his younger brother. Those were what he said in his letter."
Strictly speaking, he didn't know Shen Da that well. It was only because his second eldest brother had taken a favor to him that Pei Yuanxian had seen him two to three times. But even so, he could tell that the man loved his younger brother deeply. For him to fight so fiercely without regard for his life on the battlefield, it was all so he could fight on the front lines and make a name for himself as soon as possible as to become his younger brother's indestructible support in the future.
Even Pei Yuanxian had to admit that Shen Da was a good brother.
"En..."
Leaning against him, Shen Liang couldn't control his tears. His brother doted on him, that he had always known. In his previous life, when he heard that his brother had lost his life, he directly vomited blood right where he stood. It was only after a year of recuperation that Shen Liang fully recovered. But even then, regardless of when, as long as he thought of his brother, his heart would feel suffocated and in pain. He never thought that his respected brother actually died by the hands of the members of the Shen Family and the man he had been adamant on marrying!
"En?" keenly aware of the protruding murderous intent steaming from the one in his arms, Pei Yuanxian lowered his head strangely. But when he wanted to take a good look, the strong murderous aura had dissipated without a trace.
"Thank you, Pei Yuanxian," after suppressing his leaked emotions, Shen Liang cleaned his tears away and thanked the man sincerely. If it weren't for him, who knew how long it would've taken for him to know that he was already an uncle and that he had such an adorable little nephew.
"What are you being polite to me for? You'll become this lord's person sooner or later. In the future, don't let this lord hear the words 'thank you' coming from you anymore."
He had recovered quite fast...
Pei Yuanxian comforted Shen Liang and felt distressed for the boy. He couldn't help himself as he scraped his finger down Shen Liang's nose bridge dotingly.
"Alright," Shen Liang nodded his head as he looked at him. He then smiled, "Ah right, who is the child's mother."
If there is a sister-in-law, then he had to think of a way to bring her back and let her rest and settle down first. Of course, Shen Liang wouldn't bring her back to the Marquis Donglin Manor. This place was nothing more than a nest of wolves and tigers. It would suffice with just him to handle these monsters. He would think of a way to buy a big manor outside for his sister-in-law and give her the best possible life he could. He would take good care of them mother and son for his brother.
"You finally remembered?" Pei Yuanxian gave him a mocking look. He then leaned against the table, reached out and clasped his hands tightly. His gaze rested on the dark night outside the window, "This matter must remain absolutely confidential. Besides us brothers, only those who are the closest to us know as well. Our Qin Empire's God of War is actually a Ger. he was an orphan and was adopted by our master since young. Afterwards, our master took us in one by one later on as well. We naturally became his family. It was him who took a liking to your brother who he found desperately charging at the front lines of the battlefield fiercely and vehemently. He thought of all possible methods to transfer your brother to his side. As for how exactly he ended winning over your brother, I have no idea. I only know that the two of them shouldn't have married yet." If the two were married, his second eldest brother would've told him. But Shen Da wasn't a man who would horse around without even marrying the other party either. This child was most likely an accident.
Huo Yelin was a Ger?
This was definitely a secret that would pierce through the sky if known. The Qin Empire did not discriminate against Gers, but there were laws that clearly stipulated that Gers were not allowed to be officials. He became known at the age of fourteen. When he was in his mid-teens, he had repeatedly made many military achievements and exploits, defeating enemy after enemy. Since then, his title as the God of War had been revered and spreaded like wildfire. If people were to know that the God of War who had overwhelmed countless enemies was actually a Ger, wouldn't the Qin Empire be turned upside down?
But, what shocked Shen Liang the most wasn't this. It was that the God of War, Huo Yeling was actually his sister-in-law!