Zhutian: Since I was a child, I have been happy to be a father

On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, everyone in the Yongchang Marquis' Mansion was busy changing the door gods, couplets, and oiling peach charms, and hanging red lanterns from inside to outside and lighting them all night long.

The next morning, Chen Tao and others followed the old man into the palace to pay their respects, and then returned to worship their ancestors with the Liang family's branch branches.

There was naturally a banquet in the evening, and men and women still ate at separate tables.

The table where Chen Tao sat included his eldest brother Liang Xuan, his second brother Liang Ye, his third brother Liang Hui, as well as several brothers of the same generation from other branches.

The Liang family's dispute between legitimate and illegitimate children was known even to outsiders, not to mention the uncles and brothers in the family. The outside crowd could only watch the excitement from afar, but the family members were more concerned because it was related to their own interests.

Apart from anything else, just the specific instructions on how to look at the things delivered from the farm every year all depend on the instructions of the head of the family.

In this case, wouldn't everyone support whoever is closer to themselves and more generous?

Of course, having said that, the support of these relatives is useless.

The real decision makers are the old man and the emperor in the palace.

Liang Xuan put down his wine glass and suddenly looked at Chen Tao: "Fourth brother, I heard that you went to the Governor's Mansion to drink a few days ago?"

Gu Tingye did invite Chen Tao again four days ago, wanting to compete again, as if he refused to admit defeat. Don't get me wrong, the two of them were competing in drinking capacity.

Considering that he was treating, Chen Tao not only did not refuse, but was also very polite and ordered two more singing girls, who sang for most of the night.

While Gu Er was willing to admit defeat, he also thought that Sheng Minglan was his concubine now, and with her small body, she would fall apart if he got a little serious!
It feels a bit unpleasant.

But it wasn't too uncomfortable.

Chen Tao smiled and nodded: "Brother is really well-informed, he knows even such a small matter clearly. I was indeed invited to drink at the Governor General Gu's mansion, and listened to him talk about the process of suppressing the rebellion and destroying the Hu people. I was eager to follow the army to the north, and fight side by side with you, brother, to kill the enemy and make achievements."

Although they had tasted tea together, the number of times was still rare. He was not yet willing to stand on the same side as Gu Er, so there was naturally no need to talk about these things in the mansion.

I only talked to Minglan about it.

But Minglan is not a fool. Now as Chen Tao's concubine, she will not rush him to curry favor with Gu Er and pursue advancement.

Although she only knew a little bit about the means of competing for favor in the harem and her views on politics were quite frivolous, she had watched many costume dramas before traveling through time, and she understood to some extent that serving the emperor was like serving a tiger.

There is ample time.

Her most important task right now is actually to give birth to a son.

Liang Xuan was unhappy, but he smiled and praised:
"Fourth brother has really made progress! Not only has he been practicing martial arts, and developed such a strong and healthy body, he also loves reading and writing, and is a man of both civil and military talents! He is also dedicated to his work in the military department, and everyone praises him. No wonder the master praises you!"

Liang Xuan was not worried that his fourth brother would snatch the title from him, but the problem was that his fourth brother was the younger brother of his second brother. The more outstanding he was, the more points he would give to his second brother.

This made him very upset.

Chen Tao deliberately sighed, "I don't have the heart to do anything. But now that I have married two beloved wives and my eldest sister-in-law's favorite cousin as a concubine, for them, I can only put on my armor and fight to make achievements in the economy and official career."

Damn it, I gave you Chun Ge to wear down your fighting spirit, not to make you work hard for her!

Liang Xuan had long felt that his wife was not very reliable. Now it seemed that he had lost not only his wife but also his army, and suffered a huge loss.

Liang Ye raised his glass and praised: "Mother is indeed very discerning. She knows that my fourth brother will work hard to make progress after he has a wife and children. Come, let me toast you!"

In fact, Liang Han is set up to have a good talent. As long as he has a virtuous wife who can encourage him to make progress, rather than someone like Molan who gives him a daughter, he can achieve something.

It is of course one-sided to blame only women, but it is also not objective to say that there is no influence at all.

It is true that you should marry a virtuous woman.

Chen Tao also raised his glass and said, "I should toast to you! Second sister-in-law is very caring to Molan and the others. She gives them clothes and food, and anything good. I don't know how to repay such a great kindness."

This is very straightforward.

The second sister-in-law takes care of her sisters-in-law, so what is the eldest sister-in-law doing?

Liang Xuan is quite cunning, but his expression still looks unhappy.

Although younger brothers should be respectful, older brothers should also be friendly!

After hearing what Chen Tao said, the brothers from the side branches and the same generation who sat at the same table also felt that Liang Da and his wife were not kind.

So what if you become more successful?
If he doesn't even treat his half brother who has no chance of inheriting the title well, how can we expect him to give much benefit to the poor people in the side branches after he becomes a marquis in the future?
Liang Ye finished the cup, patted Chen Tao's shoulder gently, and said happily: "Fourth brother is not only getting stronger, but also more capable. If he joins the army and kills the enemy in the future, he will definitely win another marquisate for my Liang family!"

After that, he suggested: "Come on, let's go toast to our mother together!"

Chen Tao readily agreed.

The third brother also said he wanted to go together.

Seeing this situation, Liang Xuan naturally had to show filial piety to his stepmother.

Men go east and women go west.

After entering the west wing, Chen Tao and others toasted Mrs. Liang together.

After the toast, they chatted for a few minutes and then Liang Xuan and others left first.

However, Chen Tao did not leave. Instead, he asked the maid to bring him a stool and sat between Mrs. Liang and his second sister-in-law.

On the other side are the eldest sister-in-law and the third sister-in-law.

The sisters Molan and Minglan sat below their second sister-in-law.

Mrs. Liang was naturally very happy to have Chen Tao accompany her, and immediately picked up a piece of duck's paw and put it in his bowl.

Seeing this, the second sister-in-law also smiled and poured wine for her brother-in-law.

It's nothing.

Chen Tao is Jia Baoyu, so it is normal for him to drink with his sisters and sister-in-law.

Madam Liang joked, "You don't want to go drink with your brothers, but insist on hanging out with us women. You are such a loser."

She said this to Chen Tao's sister-in-law.

Grandma Liang and Liang Xuan always thought they had worked hard and made great contributions, and that the whole family benefited from them, and they deliberately said that Madam Liang treated them harshly.

Firstly, Mrs. Liang was not good at dealing with shrews. Secondly, Liang Ye, the eldest son, was indeed mediocre and could not be compared with Liang Xuan.

But it's different now.

Chen Tao's performance as a servant at the Xicheng Bingmasi was quite good. Although his tenure was short, he did solve several important cases. He also handled the tasks assigned to him very well, which won him a lot of praise. He also earned some money from the charcoal tribute. He was very promising!

Mrs. Liang also felt more confident because of this.

Of course, Grandma Liang still looked down on her fourth uncle, thinking that Chen Tao had achieved some success entirely by flattery or the favoritism of his father-in-law, and not by his own ability.

She had reason to think so.

Because the old man does have some preference for Chen Tao now, and Chen Tao was very rude in showing off his money.

Why be polite?

He favored his eldest son out of wedlock and spent a lot of time and money to pave the way for him, but he still ended up raising an ungrateful person.

He is indeed an ungrateful person.

At first glance, it seems that Liang Da was resentful because he failed to inherit the title, and he thought his three younger brothers were a burden and wanted to separate from his brothers. But what was the reality?

Even if he inherits the title, will he be good to his three brothers? Only a fool would believe that.

Mrs. Liang, who is so sarcastic and mean that she always makes indirect accusations, would never tolerate her own brothers-in-law if she really became the wife of a marquis.

Second Madam Liang said, "Madam, you are wrong. Fourth Uncle is so young, but he has already held an important position. He is very steady in his work and has a bright future. How can he be hopeless? If my brother could have one tenth of Fourth Uncle's ability, my mother wouldn't have to worry about him all day long."

This sister-in-law was gentle and dignified, and she never contradicted her elders, but at this time she bravely expressed her different opinions.

Grandma Liang was very unhappy. She snorted but didn't say anything.

Under normal circumstances, she would definitely be sarcastic, but Chen Tao was here and she couldn't say it to his face.

It’s okay not to brag.

Mrs. Liang glanced at her and happily suggested:
"Han'er, your second sister-in-law thinks so highly of you, why are you just focusing on eating? Give her a toast."

Chen Tao put down his chopsticks with a smile, poured wine for his second sister-in-law, and then toasted her.

Then he turned to the other side and poured wine for the eldest sister-in-law and the third sister-in-law, toasting each of them, doing all the superficial work.

The third sister-in-law has a very low presence.

Her husband Liang Laosan was a writer but had little achievement. He was also a bastard's son, so he just lived a carefree life and had no desire to fight.

After toasting his sister-in-law, Chen Tao came behind Molan, held her shoulders, and announced to everyone with a smile:

"To let you all know, Mo'er is pregnant, so she will only drink tea tonight to avoid drinking alcohol to harm her body."

Mrs. Liang was surprised, then she asked with joy:

"When did you call the doctor? How old is the baby? Why didn't you tell me? Ming girl also drank tea, could it be that she is pregnant too? This is too fast!"

Chen Tao moved to the side, also put his arm around Minglan's shoulders, and explained with a smile:

"The doctor said that Mo'er's child is more than a month old, and the doctor couldn't diagnose Minglan's child, but I guess I have one too. Minglan knows some medical skills and said that drinking during pregnancy will make the child stupid, so she stopped drinking. When Mo'er heard this, she didn't dare to drink anymore."

Yes, that's what I said.

Not only did Minglan say this, she also invented flying chess!

As for mahjong, poker, etc., she did not dare to take them out, for fear that her young husband would become addicted to gambling and lose his ambition.

When Mrs. Liang heard this, she quickly asked Molan and Minglan to come to her side and show concern for her two daughters-in-law.

The wine ends and everyone disperses.

Inside Molan's house.

Chen Tao's family gathered together to celebrate the New Year.

A rosewood eight-immortal table is just big enough for Chen Tao, Molan, Minglan, Chunge, as well as Yuanyuan, Xiuzhu, Hongyu and Caijin.

There are only seven women now, which is indeed not as good as Tang Bohu. We have to find another one, so that it will be more spectacular.

On the table was a flying chess diagram that was similar to the one in later generations, and it was drawn by the "inventor" Minglan herself.

Chun Ge couldn't roll a six, so he couldn't make a move. So he put the dice into Chen Tao's hand and said, "Brother, help me roll a six!"

Yuanyuan sat next to Chen Tao, unable to bear to watch.

It’s not because Chun Ge is acting coquettishly, but because we have come to ancient times to play flying chess.

Molan laughed and said, "How can you play like that? If you can't roll six, just admit defeat. Don't play rogue. Caijin is still waiting to play!"

The rule is that the first person to finish gets to play the next round, and the remaining three have to give the other three to the people around them.

Of course, in order to prevent people like Chen Tao who have good luck in gambling from continuing to play, an additional rule was set that one person can only play two rounds in a row at most.

So Yuanyuan also has something to play with.

She complained while playing.

child time.

When the new year came, all the women went their separate ways.

Minglan pulled Chen Tao and said to the unhappy Molan with a smile:
"Fourth sister, although my husband thinks I am pregnant, Doctor Wang has not found out after all, so it may not be true, so my husband still has to go to my place tonight."

Mo Lan said angrily: "I don't even know if this baby is a boy or a girl, can't you wait patiently for a year or two? There is no other sister like you in this world!"

It sounds like we really have a deep sisterly love. It's so disgusting!

Minglan snorted, "I can wait, but can Aunt Wan wait? If you don't let my husband accompany me, he will go find her. In another three to five months, she will definitely be pregnant again. If it's a son, what are you going to do? I'm doing this for your own good! If you can't give birth, let me do it!"

Chen Tao complained: "Sister, I'm still here!"

Minglan scolded, "I wouldn't have bothered to tell you if you weren't here! You should think about us, not just Chun Ge and her childbirth. If you have another illegitimate son, there will be chaos and unrest in the family."

Then she lectured Molan: "Isn't that the truth? You don't know anything, you just know how to be jealous and use seductive tricks, but you don't learn to walk the right path. You are corrupting your good husband!"

In Minglan's case, men are generally innocent and are led astray by bad women at home or outside.

Molan said in a stern voice, "How dare you call me a foxy woman? Didn't you call your husband daddy at night? You are too... Humph, I won't scold you on New Year's Day. Tonight, your husband must accompany me, your legal wife. You can either go back or stay as a maid. It's your choice!"

Minglan sneered: "Well, just open your eyes and see how your husband made me pregnant!"

Wait, if you guys do this, what will happen if our relationship improves? How can I watch the show?

Chen Tao declined politely, "I have to go to the palace to pay my respects at five o'clock, so I need to rest early. How about you two sleep together, and I'll go find Chun Ge. She just gave birth not long ago, so I won't do anything rash."

The two sisters said in unison: "No!"

They both knew very well that Chun Ge was their husband's first love and they had a deep affection for her, so they couldn't just let the two of them be together.

In the book, Minglan also approves of Molan's strategy of sending a girl away, and thinks that it is okay for a man to play with a maid or a concubine, but he must not develop feelings for her, otherwise it would be very dangerous.

Molan was extremely helpless and sighed with a depressed look on her face: "Brother Han, you should go with Minglan!"

Today's outcome - Molan lost.

at night.

Minglan used her chubby little hands to undress Chen Tao while asking seriously, "The Liang family has a treasure that many people have seen, but not many have touched. Do you know what it is?"

Chen Tao pondered for a moment and said, "I can't guess it, please enlighten me, madam."

Minglan, like a female gangster, snuggled into his arms, kissed him and said, "It's my husband's body! The Queen of the Kingdom of Women is the national treasure of the Western Liang Kingdom. Tang Seng doesn't know how to appreciate it, and is simply wasting it. My husband is also a treasure. If I can't play with him for a day, I will have trouble falling asleep."

It’s so fucking hot!
According to the book, there are ten days of annual leave.

But as a junior, I have no choice but to attend banquets and entertain guests. It would take several days just to attend banquets and entertain guests.

I also have to accompany my wife back to her parents' home. (End of this chapter)