The Grand Secretary's Child-Raising Diary

Lu Shiyan was summoned to the East Palace to lecture during the day. Winter days are short and night falls early. By the time he was escorted out of the East Gate by a young eunuch, the city gate was already lit up.

The carriage of the Marquis of Chengen's mansion was waiting alone outside. When the servant Shouyan saw his master coming out from afar, he quickly took out a hand warmer and went to greet him.

Once the carriage started moving slowly, Shouyan began to recount the events that had occurred at the Bai Ri Earl's residence while driving. Lu Shiyan listened without much emotion until he heard Shouyan say:

"After the third young master woke up from his afternoon nap, he refused to drink milk. Madam Chen reported this to the madam, and a doctor came to see him, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong." Shi Cai frowned almost imperceptibly.

Outside the curtain, Shouyan, having heard no instructions from his master, quietly drove the carriage, but inwardly felt indignant on behalf of his master.

The master was unlucky; despite being a person of exceptional talent and beauty, he was born into the womb of a concubine and became an illegitimate son. Fortunately, the master was ambitious and excelled in his studies from a young age. At only fourteen, he passed the preliminary examination and became the youngest scholar of his year.

But how could a son born of a concubine not be resented if he was better than the legitimate son born to the first wife in every way? The wife especially hated the second son, who was good at studying, and tried every means to suppress him.

If a family produces a 14-year-old scholar, they should support and raise him properly, waiting until he passes the imperial examination before considering marriage. This way, with his own abilities and the help of his in-laws, he can have a smoother path in the future when he enters the imperial court.

As soon as her son passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, his wife couldn't wait to force her niece from a distant branch of her family onto him. The son knew exactly what she was up to, but the status of her stepmother weighed on him, so even if he was dissatisfied, he had to grit his teeth and endure it.

The master married Qin Shi when he was seventeen. At first, the couple got along well, but the young mistress was not clear-headed. Although she had married her own young master, she was devoted to the main branch of the family.

During that time, the master was focused on preparing for the exam and neglected the young mistress. No one knows what kind of spell the madam had cast on the young mistress, but she did one foolish thing after another, which completely angered the master.

After the young master passed the imperial examination and entered the Hanlin Academy to become an official, the young mistress, having grown a few years older, seemed to have come to her senses and stopped trying to please the eldest son's wife. Only then did the couple regain some warmth in their relationship.

But just a few days later, the young mistress suffered a difficult childbirth and developed a chronic illness, eventually passing away. She left behind a young master who was also sickly, falling ill every now and then.

To put it bluntly, every time the young master cried and made a fuss, even a servant like Shouyan felt distressed.

Moreover, according to Shouyan's observation, the master didn't seem to like this child much.

.....

Lu Youning cried all afternoon. Logically speaking, even if he were an adult with the body of an eight-month-old baby, he should have some burdens. But the two wet nurses would feed him milk as long as he stopped crying.

If he could speak, he would surely tell people to go far away.

But all she could do when she opened her mouth was whine and scream, which gave the wet nurse an opportunity. To show her resistance and unwillingness, Lu Youning could only howl at the top of her lungs.

Songtao Courtyard was thrown into chaos by Lu Youning's antics. The two wet nurses, along with Chen Mama, looked several years older in just one afternoon, but Lu Youning was clearly in a worse state. How much strength could an eight-month-old baby have to withstand hours of crying without eating or sleeping?

Looking at the child's swollen eyelids and dry, chapped lips, Lu Shiyan felt a surge of inexplicable anger, even though he disliked the child. Granny Chen, used to being disrespectful to Qin Shi, was now trying to curry favor with Lu Shiyan. With a wrinkled old face, she said mournfully:

"Second Master, the Third Young Master is so unfortunate. Without his mother, anyone dares to mistreat him."

As soon as she said this, the two wet nurses cursed her under their breath as an old hag and started offering their own explanations, creating quite a commotion.

Lu Shiyan coldly looked at the child in the cradle, whose breathing was so light it was almost inaudible. For a moment, he actually agreed with what Chen's mother said. See? Children who are not loved by their fathers and have no mothers are just like this, not valued at all.

He stepped forward, reached out and pulled the small blanket closer to Lu Youning, then chuckled softly.

It was no secret in Songtao Courtyard that the Second Master wasn't very close to the Third Young Master, so his current actions seemed particularly abrupt. When Chen Mama saw this, her scalp tingled. They had been so busy arguing that they hadn't noticed that the Third Young Master had kicked off the blankets again, leaving his belly exposed.

Just as he was about to apologize, he heard the Second Master casually say, "Shouyan, drag all the servants in the young master's room to the courtyard and beat them."

Shouyan had served Lu Shiyan since childhood and knew best when his master was truly angry. Upon hearing this, he immediately took action and, before Chen Mama and the others could beg for mercy, he grabbed the man and threw him out.

Soon, the sound of slapping the cane echoed in the courtyard. Shouyan even considerately put a piece of wood in Chen Mama's mouth to chew on: "Don't feel aggrieved, old lady. Second Master entrusted Third Young Master to you because he trusts you. But look at how you've handled this task. Just bear with it and don't bother Second Master anymore."

Inside the house

With the wet nurse and Chen Mama gone, Lu Youning finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He was currently staring intently at his adoptive father in this life, his eyelids red and swollen, and finally came to a conclusion: 'A hypocrite, all pretense and cunning.'

He certainly intimidated everyone in the courtyard, but Lu Youning hadn't forgotten that Chen Mama had conspired with someone to kill him during the day. Now that he had been beaten because of him, he couldn't seek revenge on his father, so he would probably hold him responsible.

Lu Youning found her adoptive father increasingly unpleasant to look at.

The two wet nurses had someone to look after them, so they weren't as badly injured as Chen Mama. After being flogged and treated, they immediately returned to the young master's room to take care of him.

Seeing her wet nurse reach out to hug her, Lu Youning, feeling utterly hopeless, continued to wail at the top of her lungs, waving her little hands incessantly towards her cheap father.

Wet nurses all entered the household to serve after giving birth, and were in the prime of their maternal instincts. Even though she had just been beaten because of Lu Youning, seeing the child she had nursed and who had grown to such a small size crying like this, Wet Nurse Zhang still mustered up her courage and said:

"Second Master, it seems the young master is looking for you."

Lu Shiyan was annoyed by Lu Youning's crying and scoffed at the wet nurse's words. He and Qin Shi were only superficially harmonious, and if it weren't for Qin Shi's scheming, this child would never have been born.

When the child was eight months old, he would only glance at him through the cradle each time. How could he possibly be close to him now?

But perhaps he was distracted by the crying, and in order to quiet the little thing for a while, Lu Shiyan reached out his hand as if possessed.

Poor Lu Youning, after putting on a show against her conscience for so long, her inhuman father only extended a hand out of pity.

But something is better than nothing. Lu Youning immediately waved her little hand and tightly grasped her cheap father's thumb, and her crying stopped.

Zhang the wet nurse's eyes lit up, and she said excitedly, "As expected, father and son are of one heart. Our third young master is missing his father."