Volume 1 Chapter 11: Feed Medicine

  That soft couch is placed in father's house, convenient for mother to take care of father. The location of the soft couch is just beside father's sickbed.

  Just as Xie Wenjing's mother refused to let Xie Wenjing feed the medicine, the weak and powerless Xie Chengyu suddenly waved his hand at Xie Wenjing's mother, meaning that she should rest too, and let her daughter Xie Wenjing feed the medicine.

  Xie Wenjing's mother was taken aback, thinking that her husband wanted to get close to their daughter, so she agreed to the request of the father and daughter. Although he leaned on the soft couch, his eyes were still fixed on Xie Wenjing, fearing that she would feed him in front of her father.

  Xie Wenjing quickly pulled out a piece of cotton cloth from her sleeve and folded it under her father's neck, covering the original cotton cloth that was already there. This process was quick and stealthy, and Xie Wenjing's mother didn't even notice.

  Xie Wenjing turned her back on her mother and looked at her father's shallow breathing, feeling bitter in her heart.

  Xie Chengyu also looked at his daughter, with a deep and profound gaze, but the loving look in his eyes was still very obvious.

  This girl has always been obedient, but she never wanted to take medicine for herself. Just now, when the girl saw that old woman's good ginseng, why didn't her eyes show the same excitement as her mother's?

  "Dad, I'm not a good daughter, but this is the first time I've given you medicine. Dad, I believe that you'll definitely get better and can personally teach my brother to read and also teach me how to paint, right?"

  Xie Wenjing was carrying her mother on her back, while feeding her father a mouthful of medicine. However, as she fed him, Xie Wenjing intentionally spoke softly and said nice things, but poured the medicine down her father's neck and onto the cotton cloth below.

  "Ah, Dad believes." Just as Xie Wenyin's mother was about to get up and take a look at how Xie Wenyin's first dose of medicine was going, Xie Wenyin's father suddenly said three weak words, causing Xie Wenyin's mother to relax immediately. She didn't expect that with her daughter feeding the medicine, her husband would be in high spirits. Let their daughter accompany her father well then.

  "Dad, I used to love watching you walk with your clothes fluttering in the wind. I thought mom had married the most charming man in the world and I was even envious!"

  Xie Wenjing said as she poured another large mouthful of medicine into her father's mouth, on the cotton cloth under his neck.

  "Nonsense!" Xie Wenjing's mother scolded her daughter, feeling embarrassed by her own words.

  "Haha! Is that so?" Xie Wenyin's father chuckled lightly, revealing Xie Chengyu's extremely good mood at this time.

  "Dad, I want little brother to grow up and be just like you! By then, who knows which little girl will be lucky enough to marry him!"

  Xie Wenjing spilled another spoonful of medicine.

  "You child, once you leave this door, absolutely don't tell others these things, or else you'll be ridiculed!"

  Xie Wenjing's mother also felt relieved and smiled as she reminded her daughter. Xie Wenjing's mother thought that her daughter was intentionally saying this to make her father happy, but unexpectedly, he really was very happy indeed.

  "Mother, I understand, otherwise why would I ask Liu Aunty to leave? Can't let outsiders hear what I'm saying!"

  Xie Wenjing's calm words revealed that in her eyes, Liu Niang was not considered a member of their own family.

  "Wenjing, you can't say that about your Aunt Liu. These past two years, since she entered the bamboo garden, taking care of your father, she often doesn't even take off her clothes, especially at night, often switching with your mother to look after your father."

  "If it weren't for her helping your mother, your mother alone really couldn't take care of your father. You can't say such things to her in the future, or you'll hurt her feelings."

  Xie Wenjing's mother immediately spoke of her merits to Liu Yiniang. After two years of pretending, Liu Yiniang successfully moved Xie Wenjing's heart, not only making her accept her but also being grateful to her.

  "Daughter, have you ever thought that if there was no Liu Yiniang, you would still have Wu Ayi by your side, and Father would also have Li Shu, not to mention the maids in the bamboo garden. With so many people taking care of Father, do you really need a Liu Yiniang?"

  Xie Wenjing tried to make her mother realize something, she and her aunt's position is arch-nemesis, there is no possibility of being good sisters.

  "Wenjing, in other people's families, there may be discord between wives and concubines, but our Xie family has never had that. Your grandmother and your aunt's grandmother married your grandfather together and have always supported each other."

  Now that your father is ill, Liu Niang can rush to serve as a concubine, and your father will be able to recover. Mother thanks her for this. For the past two years, she has been extremely respectful to mother and very patiently taken care of your father. You should also show respect to her.

  Besides, the Zhao family you will marry into in the future is a well-known family in Yangzhou. It's inevitable that there will be concubines entering the household. You must have a broad mind and cannot give rise to jealousy, damaging the harmony of the whole family. Otherwise, outsiders will laugh at you."

  Xie Wenjing's mother thought her daughter was disgusted with her father's concubine, and quickly educated her daughter with her own understanding of the magnanimity of being a wife.

  Xie Wenjing's eyebrows unconsciously furrowed, and suddenly she found that her father's eyebrows were also tightly furrowed. Did Father not like Liu Niang? Or did Father think he had said too much?

  "Mother, I know, you rest for a while, I'll give father his medicine. Father has been eating well all along!" Xie Wenjing didn't want to continue the topic of Liu Yiniang anymore.

  Liu Lingling's two years of showing off were not in vain, and her mother's heart had softened. She had been moved by Liu Lingling earlier, but she didn't know that it was her father's idea that a few words from her today could change her mother's mind.

  However, Dad was a bit strange today. He fed himself the medicine, but it all flowed down his chin and onto the cotton cloth on his neck. Yet he didn't make a sound, cooperating very well.

  Is it because Dad endured it for the first time he took medicine, or is it because Dad actually suspected these medicines in his heart?

  Xie Wenjing stared blankly at her father's eyes, trying to see something.

  Xie Wenjing's mother realized that her daughter hadn't actually listened to what she had said, and suddenly spoke softly to Xie Wenjing.

  "Wenjing, remember this: in this world, filial piety is greater than heaven. When elders treat younger generations with kindness, the younger generation should be grateful and cannot despise or question them. Otherwise, they will be labeled as unfilial and will find it hard to move forward."

  "When you come to your husband's family, be sure to restrain your own temper, serve your husband well, respect your parents-in-law, and also treat your younger brother- and sister-in-law kindly."

  Xie Wenjing was suddenly startled, and her mother hinted that she was either a concubine arranged by her father's family or a concubine who came in with the momentum of rushing into happiness. Naturally, she couldn't be disliked, otherwise it would be unfilial.

  "But mother, I'm a bit worried. What if I go to the Zhao's house and Mrs. Zhao doesn't like me? She might intentionally bully me or even poison me. Would I still have to watch as she brings me poisoned medicine, knowing full well what it is, and eat it to my death?"

  Xie Wenjing said this while staring at her father, looking to see if he was suspicious of the old woman.

  Xie Wenjing noticed Father's momentary stiffness, and even a hint of anger, but it was only for an instant before he recovered. It wasn't until then that Xie Wenjing was certain that Father had already suspected the old woman's sinister intentions.