The husband who forced her to marry her couldn't keep her warm, and she didn't want him to

Minghui Hall

The servants came in one after another, placed breakfast on the table, and waited for their master's instructions.

Madam Jiang stood up from the bed and said to Madam Hu beside her:

"Make the bed softer... Ask the kitchen to make the mung bean soup softer. I remember that Xiaowu's wife likes sweet food, so remember to put some sugar in it. It will cool down the heat and suppress the taste of the beans."

Mother Hu smiled and softly agreed, "Madam, I gave you all these instructions yesterday."

"Don't use ice. She just came out of confinement and her spleen and stomach will be damaged." Old Madam Jiang still felt uneasy and kept giving instructions while sitting on the chair in front of the dining table.

She looked at the empty seat beside her. Her husband, who always urged her to come, had not shown up today.

"Go and see what the Duke is doing. Even though it's summer, meals should still be eaten while hot."

Just as he finished speaking, the Duke strode in from outside, "Why are you in such a hurry? The food won't even get cold until lunch!"

After hearing this, Old Madam Jiang glanced at the Duke, raised her hand to scoop a bowl of minced meat porridge, placed it on his usual seat, and then looked over again with a look of surprise.

The Duke was sitting in the chair opposite her. Noticing his wife's gaze, he slightly raised one eyebrow and said in a loud voice, "Why don't you recognize me?"

Madam Jiang seemed to be seeing him for the first time, with a smile on her face, "The last time I saw the Duke like this was thirty-five years ago."

But he was much younger then than he is now.

The Duke raised his arm and scooped up his chest with his rough hands. He didn't touch anything, which reminded him that he had shaved his beard clean in the morning.

He sat up straight with a serious look on his face. He cleared his throat and asked, "In the summer, we always have to be cooler. How about that? Will this make us look more kind?"

Mrs. Jiang did not answer his question immediately.

It was only at this moment that she realized that her husband had changed a lot from head to toe and was very different from before.

His graying hair was neatly trimmed and held high on his head with a crown. He had shaved off his beard after decades of growth.

He always liked to wear a coarse cloth short robe in summer, but today he wore a green Taoist robe embroidered with five blessings and longevity.

The last time I saw him dressed so neatly was when the Duke went to the Chang family in Nanzhili with a betrothal gift to propose to her.

After she got married and became pregnant, the Duke started growing a beard again. After so many years, Old Madam Jiang almost forgot what he looked like originally.

Madam Jiang scooped a mouthful of minced meat porridge, and realized that her husband was still waiting for her answer. After swallowing the food in her mouth, she smiled and said:

"Nuonuo and Tuanzi are less than two months old, how can they recognize people? Your husband is a little too nervous."

The Duke denied it without hesitation, saying in a gruff voice, "What a joke! It's not my first day as a grandfather! I'm already a great-grandfather, how can I be afraid of two babies?"

Madam Jiang nodded, "You are right."

He secretly laughed at him in his heart, because he also knew that he was an old man.

I went to Yuanyuan Hall several times, but just wanted to see the twin grandchildren, but I was too arrogant to go in.

Whenever she came back from Yuanyuan Hall, she would ask about the two children tirelessly.

The steps were placed at his feet, and the Duke stopped arguing.

Xiaowu's wife was always timid and frightened when she saw him. How could her child be so brave?

......

On the first day after Gu Jinchu came out of confinement, she brought her two children to Minghui Hall to pay her respects to the Duke and the Duchess.

Nuonuo and Tuanzi, the brother and sister, have never seen their grandfather.

Qingyu, the maidservant beside Madam Jiang, was standing in front of the main hall door. When she saw Gu Jinchu and his servants appear behind the hanging flower gate, she turned around and went inside to report:

"Madam, the Fifth Madam has come with the Sixth Miss and the Tenth Young Master to pay their respects."

In the west room, the Duke and his wife were sitting on the Luohan bed.

Hearing the servant's words, Madam Jiang's face was filled with joy, while the Duke coughed lightly, with a serious face, sitting there with a daunting attitude.

After Gu Jinchu entered the room, he bowed and greeted the two elders sitting at the top, and said with a smile: "Nuonuo and Tuanzi are here to pay their respects to grandpa and grandma."

The two wet nurses held the children, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed respectfully to the Duke and the Duchess.

Madam Jiang said a few good words repeatedly, raised her hand to signal, and smiled lovingly, "Carry the children to sit on the kang, it's still cool now."

Mother Hu walked over and led the two wet nurses towards the big kang by the window to talk to the Fifth Lady.

"The Madam knew that the Fifth Madam would be the first to come and pay her respects after she finished her confinement, so she ordered the brocade mattresses on the kang to be replaced with thick fine cloth. The window sashes were also treated, for fear that the wind would blow on the two young masters."

Gu Jinchu nodded: "Mother is very kind to children."

Before the Duke could get a good look at the two white and tender babies, they were being carried further and further away from him.

Hearing what they said, he put his elbows on the table beside him and said, "How can the descendants of the Jiang family be so delicate!"

Old Madam Jiang held her granddaughter in her arms and sat on the edge of the kang with a smile on her face, not even looking at her husband who was not far away.

Today, the two children are wearing bright red bellybands, which make their skin look even whiter and tenderer, and they are very adorable.

The Tuanzi bellyband is embroidered with a cute little tiger, while the Nuo Nuo bellyband is embroidered with a phoenix wearing a peony.

One can tell at a glance which one is the older sister and which one is the younger brother.

Gu Jinchu looked at the Duke sitting above him, smiled respectfully and said, "Tuanzi is very tough, he won't cry when he's full. It's tiring to hold him in my arms after just over a month, father, would you like to hold him?"

Upon hearing this, the Duke supported himself on his knees, stood up from the bed, and walked towards the big kang by the window with slow and steady steps.

Gu Jinchu remembered that in his previous life, the Duke had difficulty walking at this time, but now he seemed to be fine.

When he was about to come over, she lowered her eyes and turned to the side on tiptoe to make room for the Duke.

Xiaowu's wife is young and even more courageous. The Duke thought to himself that it was a good thing that he had sorted it out.

When he picked up Tuanzi from the kang, his attention was all on his chubby grandson.

Among the children, the Duke held his youngest son in his arms when he was young and practiced martial arts with him. The other children, including his grandchildren, had never been held in his arms by the Duke.

After Madam Jiang corrected him several times, the Duke placed his rough hands, like a palm-leaf fan, on Tuanzi's buttocks and let the child lie between his arms and body.

Tuanzi was just as Gu Jinchu said, very strong, and didn't cry or make a fuss in his grandfather's arms.

The big, round eyes looked at his grandfather. His white, tender arms, as plump as lotus roots, and his powerful, fat legs kicked wildly.

It seemed like he was quite happy being manipulated like this.

Mrs. Jiang was reluctantly satisfied with this, and she was still complaining in a low voice:

"Be gentle, Tuanzi is so delicate, don't hurt him... Nuonuo, don't even think about it, my granddaughter is very delicate, please get out of the way..."