Chapter 472: Fang Jinxiu Gives Birth Again

Chapter 472: Fang Jinxiu Gives Birth Again

Zheng Ji laughed and said, "Since you're all here, that's great. I was worried the festival would be quiet. Come on, let's go eat zongzi."

As they walked, he continued, "Fortunately, I prepared plenty of food. Otherwise, with all of you coming one by one, I'd be worried there wouldn't be enough to eat."

Just as they were about to start eating the zongzi, two more people arrived.

Zheng Hongqi and Zheng Hongxu from next door came over.

"Father, we've come to celebrate the festival with you."

Zheng Ji was surprised. "Did you climb over the wall too? With so many people disappearing, will that crazy woman come over and cause trouble?"

"Climb over the wall?" The two looked puzzled. "No, we came through the front gate."

"Through the front gate?" Zheng Hongxing asked, "Did Mother allow you to leave?"

Zheng Hongqi replied, "She can't control us now. Jinxiu is about to give birth, so she took the midwife to the Lu family. I think she won't be back until evening, or maybe not even today if it takes long. So we hurried over as soon as she left."

As he spoke, two uncles arrived.

"Brother-in-law, we have nowhere else to celebrate. Can you accommodate us?"

With everyone gathered, Zheng Ji was momentarily stunned.

Then he laughed happily, "Good, good, it's perfect that you're all here. Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother, please take your seats. Start with the zongzi; I'll tell the kitchen to cook the rest."

Zheng Ji thought he might soon feign illness and return home. It was uncertain whether he would ever gather his children like this again while alive.

He happily arranged everything, worried there might not be enough food, so he sent someone to order more from a restaurant nearby.

"There might be many orders today, so give them extra money."

"Yes, sir."

Cui Yongnian stopped him, "Uncle, there's no need for that. They prepared plenty next door. We can just bring some over."

Zheng Ji said, "I dare not eat hers. If I do, she'll come over and scold me to death."

Cui Huai said, "They made plenty. Not eating it would be a waste. Let me go get it. I'll say it's for me and see if she dares to scold me."

Cui Tai added, "You don't need to worry at all. Qingqing took Xiao Luo away. As long as those two aren't around, no one will dare to say anything."

Everyone looked at each other, thinking it made sense.

Cui Huai went next door to instruct the cooks to prepare and send over the food. They would receive it under the wall.

Zheng Hongqi felt frustrated thinking about how Lady Zheng had abandoned the whole family to attend to the adopted daughter on such a happy day.

"I really don't understand why Mother treats her so well. We are her biological children. Look at how she treats us compared to Jinxiu."

Zheng Hongxu said, "Mother has always favored Jinxiu. Why didn't you say anything before?"

"What could I say before? I... I was bewitched."

Zheng Ji glanced at him, "Enough, let's enjoy this rare moment without bringing up unhappy things."

The mood was somewhat dampened by the topic.

It wasn't until Zheng Jinyu brought in the zongzi that the atmosphere livened up again.

"Hmm, what flavor is this? It smells so fragrant, like osmanthus."

Zheng Jinyu said, "That's the osmanthus flavor."

"This one is salty with a yolk inside. It must be the salted egg yolk flavor."

"And mine has several pieces of meat. It must be the cured meat flavor."

"Mine has lots of red beans. It must be the red bean flavor."

Everyone had different flavors, and it was their first time seeing zongzi made in so many varieties.

"Jinyu, how did you think of making zongzi with different flavors?"

Zheng Jinyu smiled lightly, "I just experimented. I made whatever tasted good."

"That's brilliant. I should learn this and bring the method back to Qinghe." Cui Tai praised it endlessly.

Zheng Jinyu said, "If Sixth Uncle likes it, I'll make more another day and send some to you."

"Haha, great, then I won't refuse."

The group happily celebrated the festival. Just after lunch, as everyone put down their chopsticks, Concubine Luo arrived.

The laughter and chatter abruptly stopped.

Concubine Luo bowed her head and approached Zheng Ji respectfully, saying, "Sir, Madam has returned."

Zheng Ji snorted, "So she's back. Do I need to go pay my respects to her?"

This left Concubine Luo speechless.

Seeing so many people present, Lady Luo hesitated to speak.

Zheng Ji said indifferently, "There are no outsiders here, so just say what you have to say. Can you not complete the task your mistress assigned you?"

Lady Luo was reprimanded until her face turned pale, and she whispered, "Miss Jinxiu has given birth to another son. Madam asked me to convey her congratulations to you, sir. She asks if you could forgive Miss Jinxiu for the sake of your grandson. It's been two years, and she knows she was wrong."

"Hmph." Zheng Ji sneered, "What does forgiving her for the sake of my grandson mean? Who does her son think he is? What does he have to do with me? Why should I forgive her for his sake?"

Lady Luo was once again left speechless.

Finally, she bowed and, under everyone's gaze, left in embarrassment.

Lady He sighed softly and spoke up weakly on Lady Luo's behalf, "Sir, actually, Lady Luo is quite a good person, a sympathetic and understanding companion."

Zheng Ji gave him a cold look, "Does it matter whether she is sympathetic or not? Is she my concubine? No, even if she bore me a son, she wouldn't be. She belongs to Cui Qingqing; she is Cui Qingqing's sympathetic and understanding companion."

Seeing that Zheng Ji expressed his displeasure towards Lady Luo so bluntly in front of Zheng Hongxing, Lady He finally felt relieved.

Lady Luo was Zheng Hongxing's birth mother, and seeing his mother being reprimanded affected him as well.

Zheng Jinyu quietly asked him, "What flavor of zongzi did you eat today?"

He was taken aback and then replied, "Red dates."

"Do you like it? If you do, I can send you some more."

Zheng Hongxing smiled and said, "I want one of each flavor."

"That works too; I'll make sure you try them all."

The elders started chatting about other topics, and everyone soon forgot about Lady Luo's visit.

After having a bit of wine, Cui Yongnian whispered to Zheng Jinyu, "Your Lady He is not simple."

Zheng Jinyu was startled, "What do you mean?"

Cui Yongnian chuckled and said, "She's sowing discord."

Huh?

Zheng Jinyu recalled Lady He's words earlier. At first glance, they seemed to be speaking in favor of Lady Luo.

But upon deeper reflection, they were indeed insinuating and sowing discord.

Given Zheng Lao's understanding of Lady Luo, how could he not know she was sympathetic and understanding?

He knew, and he also knew that she was loyal to Lady Zheng, being Lady Zheng's sympathetic and understanding companion.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have given his own woman to her when he separated from Lady Zheng.

Such an obvious fact, did she need to remind him?

Clearly, she did it deliberately to remind Zheng Lao who Lady Luo belonged to, making him dislike them even more.