Chapter 172: Chapter 172: The Lucky Farr is at Ease, While the Husband with No Heirs is Busy Pursuing His Wife 32
Zhezhi was only three and a half years old, dressed in a lotus pink skirt with two rings of snow-white fur around the cuffs and neckline. Her round, fluffy face was encased within, delicately pretty as porcelain. Her hair was combed into two little buns, one on the left and one on the right, each adorned with fuzzy tassels that made them look both fragrant and warm.
Behind her followed two little maids, both appearing quite young, frolicking alongside her.
“Little Miss, over here, look! Did I write this correctly?” The maid on the left drew two characters and showed them to Zhezhi.
Zhezhi leaned over like a little adult with her hands clasped behind her. She shook her head and said crisply, “Maid Sister, I think you’re missing a stroke here.”
She finished speaking and casually took up the brush. Her small hand struggled to grip it, but she was ticulous, even resembling an old schoolmaster from the academy at that mont.
Fu Huaichu dismounted the carriage but did not approach. Instead, he quietly watched Zhezhi teach the maid how to write, stroke by stroke.
During those days in Jiangnan, he had only a fraction of his power with him and only understood a small part about Su Zhiruan.
After returning to the Capital City, he had soone investigate Su Zhiruan in detail. To his surprise, when he received the thick dossier, his heart skipped a beat.
It took so ti to read through, but he then realized her abilities far surpassed those of the average person. With just her talents, if she were born a male, even entering the court as an official would not be out of the question.
Instead of buying properties with the money he had rewarded her, she had disguised herself with the villagers of the Su Family as rchants from the Western Regions. At the border, they engaged in trade on both sides and, after amassing connections, expanded their business scope separately towards Jiangnan and the Capital City. By now, those outside who knew of Su Zhiruan even assud her to be the Family Head of the Su Family.
Fu Huaichu was lost in thought.
Right at that mont, he felt soone tugging at his sleeve. Looking down, he saw a little round mound on tiptoes, reaching out her hand to tug at his sleeve.
The round mound, Zhezhi, pouted with her little nose turning red. Her soft, tender face had the appealing plumpness of baby fat, creamy and pillowy. She said in a delicate voice, “Daddy, did you co to find Mommy?”
When Zhezhi called out “Daddy,” the two little maids who were about to follow her abruptly stopped in their tracks. They exchanged glances and saw the surprise in each other’s eyes.
They had always believed that the master and miss’s father was no longer in this world, as no one in the residence had ever ntioned him. But they never expected that Zhezhi would suddenly call this man who appeared out of nowhere “Daddy.”
“I ca to find your Mommy and also to see my Zhezhi and your brother,” Fu Huaichu’s heart lted instantly. He doted on his little daughter. When he was in Jiangnan, he often visited the Su residence to see Zheye and Zhezhi, frequently bringing gifts collected from various places for them. He spoke gently, “Does Zhezhi want to go out and play with Daddy?”
“I want to go out and play,” Zhezhi was still very young and, having never seen her father since she was a baby, hadn’t enjoyed his company. She reached out her little hand and wrapped herself around Fu Huaichu, clinging to him, “Mommy went out for business today, and brother is learning swordsmanship in the residence. Only Zhezhi is alone, will Daddy take out?”
“Of course I will,” Fu Huaichu hugged the soft Zhezhi tightly. She slled milky, and for the first ti in twenty-four years, he held a child this close—a child connected to him by blood, his own little daughter. His heart turned to mush. “Where does Zhezhi want to go and play?”
“I want to visit Grandpa and Grandma, and I also want to go to Daddy’s residence,” Zhezhi blinked her eyes as she was held, “I haven’t seen Grandpa and Grandma for a long ti. I miss Daddy, and I really miss Grandpa and Grandma too.”
Fu Huaichu felt deeply moved. At that mont, holding his little daughter in his arms and thinking of Su Zhiruan, he suddenly began to regret.
Originally, he believed that Su Zhiruan was deeply in love with Su Erniu and, in addition, she was unwilling to be a concubine. Amidst a mix of complex emotions, he did not force her; instead, he bestowed gifts upon her and then left first.
If he had known at that ti that she was already pregnant with his child, pregnant with Zheye and Zhezhi, then no matter what, even if Su Zhiruan would hate him, would despise him, he would have forcibly taken her back to the Capital City.
Fortunately, it was not too late now.
“Let’s go,” Fu Huaichu said as he picked up Zhezhi, planning to get onto the carriage.
But just at that mont, two little maids stepped forward, “Young Master, please wait.”
Fu Huaichu glanced over with an indifferent gaze.
The little maid on the left mustered her courage to speak, “Young Master, we are the little miss’s maids. The little miss is young, and we are commanded by the Madam to stay by her side; we ask that the Young Master please not make it difficult for us.”
Zhezhi fluttered, “Daddy, take them with us too. Mother told not to run around. If the two maid sisters go back alone, they will definitely be punished.”
Hearing Zhezhi’s words, the two little maids were so touched that they were about to cry, both of their eyes filled with tears.
“Then follow,” Fu Huaichu nodded in agreent. After that, the coachman moved forward to make space for the two little maids on the driver’s bench. They hurriedly followed and sat down, and soon the carriage entered the official road.
The appearance of the carriage was not remarkable, but inside it was warm and cosy.
“Zhizhi, do you want to be a Commandery Princess?” Fu Huaichu asked as he watched her sit in the carriage, propping up her chin to chat with her.
Zhezhi lifted her big eyes. She tilted her head, full of curiosity, “Daddy, what is a Commandery Princess?”
Fu Huaichu smiled, patted the little girl’s head, and gently persuaded, “If you beco a Commandery Princess, you will have endless new clothes, lots of pretty jewelry, even a fief, and everyone in the world will know and respect Zhizhi. You will also have countless toys, countless treasures of gold and pearls, and you will forever be Daddy’s prized treasure.”
Looking at Zhezhi’s bright eyes blinking, as if pondering, he felt a softness in his heart.
Indeed, people’s thoughts can change, and change quickly, Fu Huaichu deeply believed.
Before he knew he and Su Zhiruan had two children, he wasn’t very concerned about marriage or beauty. He didn’t want much, only knew he had to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of the Crown Prince, but as years passed, he found that in the dull monotony of life, the birth of new lives and the presence of innocent children who depended on him wholeheartedly was the true aning of passing on the family line. Watching the children, like a blank slate, grow up bit by bit felt as if his own life was continuing through them.
The Fu Huaichu, who was once indifferent to marriage, now also wanted to marry Su Zhiruan honorably, making her his Crown Princess Consort, with one child as his Princely Heir and the other as the treasured little Commandery Princess.
“Daddy, Zhizhi doesn’t want to be a Commandery Princess,” unexpectedly, Zhezhi counted on her fingers as she thought seriously, then tugged on Fu Huaichu’s sleeve, “Zhizhi wants Daddy and Mother to be together, and for our family to never be apart.”
Fu Huaichu did not expect the little girl to think this way. He smiled, “Alright, Daddy will try his best, and our family will never be apart.”
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