Chapter Seventy: Fire in the backyard

  Chongzhen Emperor and the cabinet are still quite far away for Lin Chunhong. He is now very busy, with a batch of documents to be processed every day. These documents involve economic affairs of the Bangtai Group, administrative affairs of the village, training equipment affairs of the archers, various external coordination affairs... Every day, he is as busy as Emperor Chongzhen, until late at night.

  Moreover, Lin Chunhong also had to personally participate in the training of the archers, go deep into the military camp, and establish a deep bond with the officers and soldiers. This is crucial, if these archers are unfamiliar with themselves, on the one hand, it's easy to cause problems on the battlefield, and on the other hand, control may be lost, and they would have worked for nothing, doing someone else's bidding.

  Lin Chunhong was so anxious that he wished to split himself in two, staring at the mountainous pile of documents on his desk. He rubbed his eyes and sighed: At this rate, he would eventually ruin his eyes under the dim lamp light.

  If it were just busy, Lin Chunhong wouldn't think much of it, but what's annoying now is: the backyard has finally caught fire!

  Lin Chunhong and Zhou Feng have been married since, because he took into account that Zhou Feng was too young, they always calculated the date of their wedding night, but Zhou Feng's belly has not moved to this day. This worried Lin Chunhong's mother, Li Shi, who had lost her husband and two older sons, and her pursuit of a grandson had reached an extreme level. Li Shi was a woman with a strong personality, and after thinking for a long time, she came up with a plan.

  That day, Zhou Feng just came back from outside with Shu Yu, and rushed into the inner room in a hurry. Unintentionally, she almost bumped into someone, Zhou Feng took a closer look, it was Li Shi, Zhou Feng quickly bowed to greet her, smiling and saying: "Mother, you're standing here, I almost bumped into you, scared me!"

  Li smiled and beckoned: "Follow me!"

  Zhou Feng didn't know what was going on and followed Li Shi with a suspicious look, now the Lin Mansion occupied a vast area of land. Li Shi lived in the east courtyard, which was quite far from Lin Chunhong and Zhou Feng's room.

  "Little Phoenix, haven't you and Third Brother had a fight recently?" asked Li as she walked.

  This remark made Zhou Feng even more suspicious. What's wrong with this old lady today? She and her third brother are famous for their affection, why ask this suddenly?

  "Mother, don't worry, Third Brother has been very good to me."

  "That's good, that's good..."

  The two women walked and chatted, and before long, they arrived at the east wing house. Li Shi pressed Zhou Feng onto a chair behind a curtain and said: "I know you two are busy every day, I don't even know how your bodies are doing. It just so happens that a doctor came today, let's have him take your pulse!"

  "Mother, I'm fine, no need to take my pulse." Zhou Feng snuggled into Li Shi's arms and acted coquettishly.

  "Nonsense! Let the doctor take a look. If your body is weak, you need to nourish it quickly. What if you exhaust yourself?" Li said sternly, her tone not allowing Zhou Feng to object.

  Zhou Feng had no choice but to stretch out her right hand from behind the curtain for the doctor to take her pulse.

  The doctor furrowed his brow and examined for a long time before stopping. Li said to Zhou Feng, "Alright, let San Ge rest early every night, don't let him stay up too late!"

  Zhou Feng left the east wing with a suspicious look on his face, unable to understand Li Shi's abnormal behavior, and thought about it all the way.

  The doctor's conclusion was like a thunderclap to Mrs. Li: Zhou Feng had no problems at all! Could it be that Lin Chunhong was infertile?

  Li was like a lost soul, standing there in a daze, unsure of what to do.

  Zhou Feng casually mentioned the matter to her mother while chatting, and Zhou Wang's wife immediately understood Li's intention. She couldn't help but burst into flames, threw away the embroidery in her hand, and scolded: "You don't even look at your own little three who is like a ghost every day, you can't see anyone! You actually suspect that my little Feng won't give birth? Why not investigate your precious son?"

  Mother, it's not like that! Third Brother said that having intercourse seven days before or eight days after the menstrual period won't result in pregnancy. He saw how young I was and said it wasn't good for my body, so he calculated a auspicious date!

  Zhou Wang's mother-in-law heard this, her anger grew even stronger, and she pointed at Zhou Feng, scolding: "It's clear that he can't have children, yet he uses such words to deceive you. You still speak up for him, it really infuriates me to death!"

  "It's not cheating, Third Brother is right!"

  "Absolutely not," said Mrs. Zhou angrily. "I must go and reason with them. Do they think our family is one to be trifled with? How dare they bully us?"

  Having said that, she ran towards the East Wing like a flying bird, and Zhi Feng couldn't stop her, so he had to follow closely behind.

  Zhou Wang's wife strode into the east wing, already in a towering rage. She ran smack into Lin Chunhong and a scholar chatting and laughing together, and mistook the scholar for the doctor. Her anger flared even hotter, and she rounded on Lin Chunhong, cursing him: "You little scoundrel Lin! You've really made progress, teaming up with your mother to bully our family's Xiaofeng! Does our Xiaofeng look like someone you can bully?"

  Lin Chunhong didn't know what his mother-in-law meant, and thought he had offended her somewhere, so he hastily smiled and said: "Mother, you're joking! How dare I bully Xiaofeng? I'm not even able to dote on her enough!"

  Zhou Feng was afraid that Lin Chunhong would lose face in front of the guests, so she quickly stepped forward and pulled her mother: "Mother, let's talk about this later, Third Brother has guests."

  "What kind of crappy guest is this? Isn't he just that half-baked doctor? He dares to come out and lose face, what did he diagnose? Our little Feng is absolutely fine, you'd better take a look at whether Lin Xiao San can give birth!"

  Zhou Feng felt ashamed and anxious, using all her strength to prop up her mother, then turned around and said to Lin Chunhong: "Third brother, I'll explain later!"

  Zhou Fengniang was almost dragged back into the room by Zhou Feng, cursing Lin Chunhong and the doctor all the way.

  Lin Chunhong's face changed instantly. The guest he welcomed today was none other than Zhu Zhiyu, the person he had admired in his previous life!

  Losing face in front of the great Confucian scholar he had been trying to win over, and on top of that, it was about the embarrassing topic of childbirth, Lin Chunhong's emotions can be imagined.

  Looking at Lin Chunhong's gloomy face, Zhu Zhiyu smiled and said: "Every family has its own difficulties, no need to be discouraged by the classics."

  Lin Chunhong managed to squeeze out a smile and said, "A student's persistence and care led to misunderstandings at home, which made me laugh! Sir, have you ever heard of women avoiding sex seven days before and eight days after their period?"

  Zhu Zhiyu exclaimed in surprise: "Is this really true? I have never heard of such a thing!"

  Lin Chunhong smiled and said, "A rural doctor once mentioned it casually, but the student remembered it in his heart. Seeing that his wife was still young, he was afraid that giving birth would be harmful to her body, so he tried this method. It turned out that the doctor's words were not spoken lightly."

  Zhu Zhiyu sighed: "Among three people walking together, there must be one who can be my teacher. I think that even a common rural doctor has true knowledge and insight."

  Lin Chunhong said: "Knowledge comes from practice, isn't reading books blindly like trying to catch fish by climbing a tree?"

  Zhu Zhiyu was overjoyed and said, "This is exactly what is meant by 'knowledge and action are one'. It seems that the views of Dian Shi and I coincide without prior agreement. Without taking action, how can one gain true insight?"

  Having spoken, the two of them harbored a deep affection for each other and invited each other into the study to engage in a long conversation.

  It's quite amusing to say that their conversation actually started with the topic of contraception, which is unprecedented and unmatched.

  Lin Chunhong's explanation failed to convince Li.

  Mrs. Li thought that her son was weaving a deceitful lie to fool her. Now she shifted the target of her suspicion to the doctor, thinking that he was an incompetent physician and it was very likely that Zhou Feng was impotent! People always believe what they want to believe!

  Li's ultimate weapon was to demand that Lin Chunhong take a concubine immediately!

  Even if Zhou Feng did not object to Lin Chunhong taking a concubine, even if Zhou Wang's mother thought that it was normal for a man to have three wives and four concubines, how could she agree to Lin Chunhong taking a concubine in this situation? This is equivalent to telling everyone: Zhou Feng indeed has no fertility!

  Although Li was usually meticulous and decisive in her actions, she was blinded by Sunzi's words this time and did things that didn't make sense. Her demands were naturally met with Lin Chunhong's firm refusal.

  Lin Chunhong was very filial to his mother and considered that Zhou Feng had already passed twenty years of age, so there would be no major obstacles to giving birth. He finally put the plan to have a child on the agenda. As long as Zhou Feng's belly showed some movement, all contradictions would be resolved.

  As soon as Lin Chunhong stepped into the house, he was blocked by Zhou Feng: "Don't be in a hurry tonight, I have something important to discuss with you!"

  Zhou Feng pulled Lin Chunhong's sleeve, directly pulling him into the bedroom, closing the door, inserting the door bolt, turning around and staring at Lin Chunhong, without blinking.

  Looking at the lovely little Phoenix, Lin Chunhong took a few deep breaths and stepped forward, about to sweep Little Phoenix into his arms.

  Xiao Feng'er quickly jumped back, her face flushing red with anger, and scolded: "You're in such a hurry! Let's talk about the important matter first!"

  Lin Chunhong pounced on nothing, and hastily said: "Provoking my anger and then jumping away, what kind of thing is that? What's the real deal? What important matter can compare to human relationships and etiquette?"

  Xiao Feng said solemnly: "Yes! Na Cui sister as concubine!"

  Looking at Xiao Feng's serious expression, Lin Chunhong said with a straight face, just like Liu Xiaohui: "What joke are you talking about? I've never had such thoughts!" A woman's heart is like a needle in cotton, Lin Chunhong has an extra mind. Joke, trying to test me? As a husband, he didn't take the bait!

  How can Lin Chunhong's flickering eyes deceive his wife Xiaofeng?

  Xiao Feng'er said discontentedly: "What do you take me for? Without needing to probe, I wouldn't have known that you've been eyeing me for a long time! Now I'm talking serious business with you!"

  Zhou Feng sighed and continued: "Last time, my mother indeed lost face for you, I apologize to you. However, this can't be entirely blamed on my mother, after all, what you said is almost unbelievable to anyone. Now both families are at odds! Yesterday, when you weren't around, your mother-in-law and my mother had a big argument!"

  Lin Chunhong was silent and didn't speak, is it because of busy daily life that he neglected managing the household?

  "After the quarrel, my mother ordered me that no matter what reason, I must see a good omen this year and argue for her face..."

  Lin Chunhong was excited and said: "That's right, let's work together, come on, now..."

  After finishing, his hand reached into Zhou Feng's waist. Zhou Feng didn't stop him either, letting Lin Chunhong put his hand in her bosom. She continued to say: "Mother-in-law also sulkily said that she must let you take Cui sister as a concubine, and said that the Lin family's affairs don't need the Zhou family to worry about!"

  Lin Chunhong stopped his actions and said, "Old lady, old lady, why are you suddenly causing trouble? As soon as you mention your grandson, you don't care about anything else. Is this what happens when people get old?"

  "But I think my mother-in-law is right, even if something happens to me this year, you'll still need someone by your side. Cui sister has deep feelings for you and is very suitable!" Zhou Feng lowered her head, her voice hiding a hint of sadness.

  Lin Chunhong was deeply sympathetic, who would be willing to share their husband with others? He stroked Zhou Feng's hair and comforted her: "Don't think wildly, I don't have the idea of taking a concubine either. Besides, Cui Yu'er has long entered the Buddhist door, how can she come back!"

  Xiaofeng hastily said: "But everyone says I'm wrong, the warehouse opposite Aunt Wang said I shouldn't be jealous, if this continues, it will violate the seventh clause, even yesterday Father said I shouldn't stop you from taking a concubine..." Xiaofeng became more and more aggrieved as she spoke, unable to hold back her sobs, tears falling one by one onto Lin Chunhong's shoulder.

  Lin Chunhong gently patted Xiaofeng's back and said, "Don't worry, Xiaofeng. Once the child is born, everything will be fine. I'll take all the blame with you."

  Lin Chunhong's comfort made Xiaofeng cry even harder, sobbing and saying: "Now everyone says I stopped you from taking a concubine, even if I had children, it would still be the same..."

  Xiao Feng's sobs made Lin Chunhong heartbroken, unable to stop Xiao Feng from continuing to cry, so he took out his secret trick: holding up Zhou Feng's face, fiercely kissing her cherry little mouth.

  This trick was indeed effective, Zhou Feng not only stopped crying but also closed her eyes, humming in satisfaction.

  Lin Chunhong picked up Zhou Feng from the waist and walked down to the lower bunk without hesitation.

  Zhou Feng wrapped her arms around Lin Chunhong's neck, her eyes filled with tears and seduction, murmuring: "Third brother, I've grown up, we should have kids now, I've calculated it, we've passed the seventh day of the first month and the eighth day of the second month!"

  Thus, the two melted into one and devoted themselves to this great cause of creating human beings.