Chapter 7: Husband and Wife United

Dan Yuerong found it difficult to manage the people sent by the Old Madam, it caused her to feel a bit unpleasant. She could not do too much about this matter. Otherwise, Old Madame would think that she was a jealous person. So, she waited for Shen Wenhua to come home before immediately telling him what had happened. “Wenhua, Mother sent some people over today.”

“En, regarding the people mother sent over, it is fine to just give them a greeting. Now that you are pregnant, you need to avoid anything tiring.” Shen Wenhua did not think too deeply about the people sent over by his mother. From his perspective, since the child in Dan Yuerong’s belly might be his Di son, no matter how dissatisfied his mother was with his wife, she would not treat Dan Yuerong too poorly.

 “Mother has sent over two momo who have served at her side. There is Zhao momo to help manage the affairs of the Fu ¹, and Qian momo to supervise my meals. This is a good arrangement, but the other two maids…” With a solemn expression on her face, Dan Yuerong looked at Shen Wenhua. They had been married for many years and Shen Wenhua had treated her extremely well, so Dan Yuerong knew that she was blessed. In their journey as husband and wife, they never had a large argument. Both of them had deep affections for the other and treasured their loving relationship. That was why, in their day-to-day lives, neither of them had ever done anything that would damage their relationship.

 Looking at Shen Wenhua, she naturally knew how he looked at this matter.

Now that she was pregnant, there must be someone to tend to Shen Wenhua. This was the natural order, and Dan Yuerong understood this clearly.

Shen Wenhua was originally happy after seeing that his mother wanted to take care of the child, but to hear that two maids had been sent over, Shen Wenhua’s brows wrinkled up. “Apart from the momos, who else came?” Perhaps mother was confused. Rong-er just became pregnant, but she sent maids over, so wasn’t that just one more thing for Rong-er to worry about?

“One of them, Xi Que, came from mother’s house. The other is from the branch family. They both have just reached the marriageable age, and look refined and genteel… Wenhua, you…” Before she could finish, Shen Wenhua interrupted her, “Second younger brother, what is he doing sticking his nose in someone else’s matter?” Had this second younger brother of his become more foolish? How does he manage things in his own house?

“He must be thinking of your welfare. Just look at me. I am pregnant now, and it is inconvenient for me to serve you. We will let the maids stay in the Fu, this way it will make them feel at ease. We must avoid getting into a disagreement with them.” Through the years that they had been married, Dan Yuerong clearly knew that Shen Wenhua had treated her well. These years, in order for her to not suffer any hardships, Shen Wenhua had willingly stayed away from the capital and moved to Jingnan. All of this was done to avoid Old Madam, who always made life difficult for her. Shen Wenhua’s consideration made Dan Yuerong feel touched, and she was unwilling to make things difficult for Shen Wenhua.

However, when Shen Wenhua frowned, Dan Yuerong quickly regretted these words. “Rong-er, what do you mean by these words? In the beginning, I made an oath to my honorable teacher that I would only take you as my wife in this life. That oath, I have not forgotten, so you must not say these words again!”

Strictly speaking, these two had started off as childhood friends, both innocent and naive relating to matters of love. Dan Yuerong’s father, although he was not an official, was actually a well-known scholar with great influence among the intellectuals, so much that he even opened the famous Lushan academy, where a lot of young and capable scholars graduated from. At that time, Shen Wenhua attended the Lushan academy to study. By chance, he met Dan Yuerong, and the two people fell mutually in love. After Shen Wenhua became distinguished in the imperial exam and became an official, he personally asked his honorable teacher to marry Dan Yuerong. It was like a fairy tale.

However, it was because of this that Shen Wenhua refused the marriage arranged by his mother. In addition, Scholar Dan was not an official, so naturally, Mother Shen was unhappy.

“Wenhua, I remember your promise. But, mother sent these people…” This was not the second time, and Dan Yuerong also knew that, until Shen Wenhua took in a concubine, Mother Shen was unlikely to give up on this matter! Honestly, Dan Yuerong did not want to disturb the relationship between her husband and his mother.

But, to let her husband take in a concubine, how could her heart feel at ease?

“Okay, Rong-er, let’s not talk about this anymore. The words I said back then will never change, and I can handle mother. Now, you must carefully look after your body so that you can give birth to a son for me. At that time, mother will be happy, and a lot of things will be resolved!” Shen Wenhua knew that his mother was not an unreasonable person, she just had a few knots in her heart. He believed that, with time, one day his mother would accept Dan Yuerong, and he would not need to stand in between the two of them.

“But what if it’s a daughter? If that’s the case, will you not like it?”

“Whether it’s a son or daughter, I will like it. The truth is, if it’s another cute and clever daughter like Shu-er, then I will be happy! So, you do not need to worry!” Shen Wenhua’s held Dan Yuerong’s hand. Although he wanted a son, to him, a daughter was the same, he would also like it.

“Other people always hope for a son, while you…only you would hope for a daughter!” Knowing that Shen Wenhua’s words were sincere, Dan Yuerong herself felt a son or daughter was the same. But a son would be good for them, so Dan Yuerong really hoped that this child was a son!

“What’s wrong with wanting a daughter? Daughters and sons are both cute and adorable, but aren’t daughters even better? Sometimes, a son can be naughty and can be a headache!” Shen Wenhua happily laughed and embraced Dan Yuerong. These intimate actions were nothing new to these two people, for they had been married for many years.

“Even if a daughter is good, in the end, it can’t be compared to having a son. Especially since mother, she…” If that were not the case, these years, Mother Shen would not have treated her with such ill will.

“Okay, even if it is a girl, later, I will just work harder. We will definitely have a son eventually!”

“What if it’s a daughter?” At that moment, she was worried that she may have jinxed it by saying it out loud. Dan Yuerong felt that, because of her pregnancy, she had become somewhat overly sensitive.

“If it is a daughter, we can recruit a son-in-law, so that way we will not have to worry about our daughter being bullied!” Shen Wenhua was very optimistic, and from his words, it was clear that he would never consider accepting a concubine. Dan Yuerong was touched. “Look at you, if this talk of recruiting a son-in-law were to spread out, you, a third-ranked official and top scorer of the imperial exam, would be seen as a joke!” If he was without a son at his funeral to pay respects and carry on his legacy, then it would not only be Mother Shen that wouldn’t let it happen, but even she did not have the heart for it.  

“Keke. So we have to work hard. This husband is still confident that his vitality has not waned. Wife can rest assured!” At these words, Dan Yuerong’s cheeks instantly turned scarlet. “You are a grown man. How can you be so frivolous?”

“I treat Furen like this because I am frivolous. What should I do? Furen, I want you…” An atmosphere of desire washed over them, and Dan Yuerong’s face immediately turned bright red.

1. Household