Cowardly Stepmother Dressed As the Hero

Chapter 35



Unexpectedly, after some wild thoughts, he finally came to such a conclusion, Cao Mi couldn’t hold back for a while, and burst out laughing.

The veteran cadre looked at her coldly and asked with a frown, “What’s so funny.”

Cao Mi knew that he was being rude, and quickly restrained himself.

With an unfinished smile on her face, she asked again, “The lord said last night that I can draw the money of the palace, so why can’t you use my things arbitrarily?”

Qi You glanced at her, and actually gave a reply: “I am your husband, it is only right and proper to give you money, you are a wife, you only need to be a housekeeper and raise children.”

He said, turned his head and continued to explain: “Men and women have different divisions of labor, and this has been the case since ancient times.

“Only when the husband is hopeless and unable to support the family up and down, does he need to rely on his wife for help.”

Cao Mi digested it for a while, and finally figured out what he meant.

Oh, it turns out that it is not some old cadre who dotes on his wife, but a straight man with a very high consciousness in the feudal society.

In fact, this kind of person’s theory, at first glance, there is no problem with it.

But after savouring it carefully, Cao Mi found that he did not put himself in the same position as him at all.

His wife is an accessory and his responsibility, and he is not even qualified to stand by his side and provide him with assistance.

Thinking of this, Cao Mi felt a little uncomfortable, but she couldn’t get angry.

After all, in this day and age, such thinking is the mainstream. And Qi You is already considered to be one of these people who has done a relatively good job.

Although he also has such thoughts, he will not limit his wife’s words and deeds, or even prevent her from showing up and doing what he wants to do outside.

Thinking of this, Cao Mi didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.

After a while, she said, “This is not help.”

Qi You looked at her, and Cao Mi took the time to explain: “You made the decision to build the city wall, and the entire Bei’an palace is under your protection, and must bear the corresponding burden.

“I am also a member of the Bei’an Palace. If I don’t have a cement factory right now, that’s all. The things happen to be mine, so I can naturally contribute to this effort.

“It’s not about me helping you, it’s about me and you…” Cao Mi pointed to himself and then to Qi You, “We share the responsibility.”

Qi You forgot to answer for a while.

It took him a moment to ponder the word “shared responsibility”.

After all, no one had ever said that to him since he was sensible. The invincible King of Bei’an does not need to “share the burden”, but only needs sharp weapons and elite soldiers.

For a time, he fell into deep confusion, and he had a few more questions about the unpredictable wife beside him.

But soon, he dismissed his unwarranted thoughts.

The woman in front of her is petite and delicate, and she can’t even take care of a palace. What are you talking about “shared responsibility” with him?

But Cao Mi, taking advantage of his silence for a while, had already settled the matter on his own: “That’s it. I’ll prepare a thousand jins of cement and five masons for Feng Ping first. Put it in the Rongguang Villa, and the prince will send someone directly to the villa to pick it up when the time comes, is that okay?”

Qi You came back to his senses, frowned and wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, he still only said “um”: “Just do as you said.”

Cao Mi nodded slightly smugly, “Well, my concubine took it down.”

After that, the Cao Mi family stayed in the villa for one night, and the next afternoon, Qi You took Cao Mi and three children home.

Before leaving, Cao Mi saw Qi Liu at the gate of the villa.

After he bowed to Qi You and Cao Mi, he told him, “My lord, according to your instructions, the three horses in the general are brought here.”

Qi You nodded: “Well, send it to the villa, a few veterinarians were left here by me, they know what to do.”

Qi Liu bowed to take orders, and led a few horses behind him into the villa.

From their conversation, Cao Mi probably guessed their intentions.

The tall and beautiful horses that Qi Liu brought are all from the mother!

It seems that after Qi You’s people inspected the flames yesterday, Qi You directly sent people back to pass the letter and made arrangements.

For a while, Cao Mi didn’t know how to react.

After Qi You and Qi Liu finished talking, they no longer delayed and ordered the convoy to set off. Cao Mi could only lie on the side of the window of the carriage, looking at the smear of red in the distance with a complicated look.

The flames, who didn’t know anything, seemed to have taken two steps towards Qi Liu because of the discovery of the same kind.

Cao Mi can only comfort himself, which may be a good thing. Qi You left the veterinarian on his side, this time at least to know whether Rie Yan’s fertility is still available. And if they are really affected, they can also treat the flames in time.

Thinking of this, Cao Mi retracted his thoughts and turned to take care of the three children in the carriage.

Back at the palace, several people were a little tired. After dinner, they each rested early.

After that, the Bei’an Palace returned to its former tranquility.

——

When Lin Yi opened the door and came in, Qi Rui was sitting in front of the desk, thinking about a math problem left by Cao Mi last night.

He heard the door open, looked up, and shouted in surprise, “Teacher?”

Lin Yi nodded and smiled at him: “I have nothing to do today, I thought you were probably there, so I came over earlier.”

As he said, he approached Qi Rui: “Are you reviewing the ‘Junde’ chapter?”

Qi Rui was stunned for a moment, then put away the paper in front of him.

But taking advantage of this time, Lin Yi still saw the content on the page – it wasn’t the “Book of Gentlemen” he was talking to Qi Rui recently, but some other crooked symbols.

He frowned and was about to teach a few sentences, when he heard Qi Rui say, “Teacher, I have already reviewed the ‘Junde’ chapter.”

“Oh?” Lin Yi smiled and asked, “A gentleman’s journey…”

Qi Rui got up from his seat and answered smoothly: “A gentleman travels the world with virtue, so he doesn’t have to worry about being out of position.”

Lin Yi nodded in surprise, and checked two more sentences.

Originally, he thought Qi Rui, who was obsessed with miscellaneous studies, could pick up every sentence.

Lin Yi couldn’t, so he had to suppress his dissatisfaction and start lecturing directly.

Since Lin Yi knew that Qi Rui had memorized the whole chapter, he accelerated the pace of the lecture a little today. When he finished his speech, he realized that there were still two quarters of an hour before the get out of class ended.

While packing up his lesson plans, he said to Qi Rui, “You are extremely capable of learning, but I underestimated you some time ago.”

Qi Rui closed the book and said obediently, “Mr. Xie for the praise.”

Lin Yi thought about it for a while, and then said, “It’s very good that you have such talent, but remember to use your energy on the right path, and don’t indulge in sidetracking.”

Hearing this, Qi Rui raised his head in confusion.

He knew that Lin Yi was reprimanding him, but he didn’t know where he was wrong, so he asked honestly, “Let’s talk about it? I don’t know what the teacher said?”

“What?” Lin Yi smiled and walked towards Qi Rui.

He pointed to the sheets of paper that Qi Rui had put at the bottom, and asked back, “Aren’t you just looking at some rambling things before I came?”

“These?” Qi Rui took out the pieces of paper.

That was the arithmetic that Cao Mi taught him.

After Cao Mi sent some of the female masters to Rongguang Villa, he saw that all those who stayed were “elites”, so he stopped teaching according to the normal progress.

She copied a lot of knowledge and let Zhou Xue lead others to learn by herself, and occasionally only went over to explain their doubts.

In this way, children like Qi Rui can’t keep up with the progress over there.

But seeing that he was interested, Cao Mi would also talk to him about relevant knowledge when he was free.

Qi Rui explained to Lin Yi, “This is not a straitjacket, but an arithmetic taught by my mother.”

“Arithmetic?” Lin Yi pondered this somewhat unfamiliar vocabulary, and then understood after a while, “I understand, the ‘number’ in the six arts of a gentleman.”

Qi Rui nodded.

Lin Toi warned him: “‘Six arts’, of course, is also a category you need to dabble in, but now that you are in the enlightenment stage, spending your energy on these areas is not worth the loss.

“You just need to follow my arrangement and read a few books for getting started.”

In other words, Cao Mi was Qi You’s mother, and Lin Yi couldn’t say anything. In exchange for someone else to arrange a course for his own introductory disciple without authorization, Lin Yi would definitely come to the door to do the theory.

Qi Rui pursed her lips.

He tried to fight: “What the teacher teaches is. But learning arithmetic is what the students are interested in. The students see these things without delaying the tasks assigned by the teacher. The students also understand what the teacher teaches.”

Lin Yi heard the words and sneered: “Do you know? I have a classmate who has good knowledge and outstanding ability. When I studied with him, everyone said that he was the best among our group. Will be able to step into the sky.

“But then he got hooked on counting.

“Since then, he has put aside the scriptures and drummed up something he doesn’t know about every day. Now that this year is approaching, he still achieves nothing and is regarded as a laughing stock.”

After talking bitterly about his classmates, Lin Yi turned the topic back to Qi Rui.

“Qi Rui, you are the future King of Bei’an, you should know how to choose. Classics, history and talent are the guarantee for your future, and what’s the use of counting?

“Do you need to measure the weight with the person, or do you need to measure the length with the person?

“Now, you spend your energy on counting. When you grow up, will you have the energy and ability to use it to protect your family, defend your country, and honor your ancestors?”

He had already said these words very seriously, but Qi Rui still frowned, showing no signs of admitting his mistake.

He looked at Lin Yi and said word by word, “Teacher, the students just feel that if they have spare energy, they might as well study other things. Besides, my mother also told the students…”

“Okay!” Lin Yi interrupted him.

At this moment, he looked at Qi Rui’s eyes, and he hated that iron was not steel, as if he was looking at the classmate who had gone astray.

But he quickly calmed down.

He knew the weight of the mother’s identity in the child’s mind. At this moment, he suddenly understood—

The problem was not with Qi Rui, but with his mother who led him into the “wrong path”.

So he turned back to his desk, picked up a brush and wrote a letter.

With anger in his heart, he wrote the letter quickly and long. At the end, he checked it again, and although he felt that the words were a bit sharp, there was nothing that needed to be edited.

So he quietly waited for the ink to dry, then put it in an envelope and returned to Qi Rui.

“The teacher already knows what you think.” Lin Yi handed the letter to Qi Rui and said, “Please give this letter to the princess, and the matter will be decided later.”

Qi Rui fixedly looked at the letter, and after a long while, he finally took it and said “Okay”.

Lin Yi was satisfied with this, and after setting up today’s study plan for him, he left directly.

So after dinner that day, Cao Mi was having fun with the twins, but found that Qi Rui was not in high spirits.

She put Qi An and Qi Ran in her arms, looked at Qi Rui with concern and asked, “Rui Er, what’s the matter?”

Qi Rui glanced at her, closed her eyes and shook her head: “It’s nothing.”

Cao Mi was a little puzzled and asked a few more questions, but Qi Rui never responded positively.

In the end, Cao Mi gave up, changed the subject, and made the twins laugh again.

In the middle of the night, Qi Rui returned to his courtyard, just finished washing up, and when he was lying on the bed and was about to go to bed, he suddenly heard the maid in his room saying, “Master, the princess is here.”

Qi Rui was a little surprised, and saw that Cao Mi had entered the house in a blink of an eye.

In Cao Mi’s eyes, a child like Qi Rui couldn’t be more polite. Now that there are three children in the family, he is the one who makes him the most worry-free.

But she also knew that Qi Rui was sensitive and used to keep things in her heart. Otherwise, a few months ago, he would not have directly suffocated anorexia because he suspected that he had killed his mother.

So tonight, when he noticed his abnormality, but found that he wouldn’t say anything, Cao Mi didn’t ask questions on the surface, but he made up his mind long ago.

She waited until the twins left, and then found an opportunity to go to Qi Rui’s yard to find him.

At this time, Qi Rui was already lying on the bed, and when he saw Cao Mi, he remembered to salute.

Cao Mi took two quick steps, came to the bed, and held him down.

“Mother came here quietly to find you tonight, so let’s talk like this, no need to be polite.”

Qi Rui heard the words and lay down again.

“Today, you have something on your mind, right?” Cao Mi asked tentatively.

But she quickly added: “It’s okay, if you don’t want to say it, don’t force it.”

Qi Rui didn’t move, just lay on the bed quietly and looked at her.

Cao Mi then said to himself: “Since you don’t want to say it, then listen to your mother?”

She waited for a while before Qi Rui’s rebuttal, so she continued: “Our Qi Rui is a very smart and sensible child, I know that the usual small things will definitely not be difficult for our Qi Rui.

“What can we Qi Rui hide in our hearts must be something Qi Rui takes very seriously.

“Mother may not be able to help you solve it, but I hope you remember that our Qi Rui is the most precious and important part.

“If you find that something, a person, or a relationship, in the end, requires you to do it at the cost of hurting yourself, then it must be wrong.”

Cao Mi really had lingering fears about Qi Rui’s anorexia before, and she didn’t want this smart child to fall into any dead end again.

But she was afraid that she would overreact, maybe Qi Rui was just in a bad mood.

So she said the above, thought about it, and finally added: “Although you don’t want to tell your mother, but your mother is always waiting for you to share your thoughts with me. When you think about it, or if you are willing, Just sneak over and tell my mother, okay?”

Qi Rui lay on the bed and nodded.

Cao Mi then helped him tuck the quilt: “Okay, mother is done. You have a good rest, mother will go first.”

After speaking, she stood up and prepared to leave.

But Qi Rui finally spoke at this time.

He said softly, “Mother…”

“Huh?” Cao Mi sat back again, leaned over and asked, “You said.”

“If there is a person…” Qi Rui seems to be thinking about his words: “What he said is completely different from what you told me, what should I do?”

“Is it different?” Cao Mi thought about Qi Rui carefully.

She is a modern person, and she is especially unprepared in front of children. On weekdays, her words, deeds and behaviors will convey some modern concepts to children intentionally or unintentionally.

Cao Mi sometimes worries too.

After all, although the modern concept must be more advanced, it is not necessarily suitable for the current dynasty.

In this era of feudal rule, when you talk about human rights and equality with those in power who hold the power of life and death, you are really asking for your own death.

But before she came up with a good solution, Qi Rui had already begun to face this problem.

Cao Mi thought about it and said, “In this world, everyone is different and has different concepts and ideas, which is normal.”

She didn’t ask what the things that were different from her were, because she couldn’t tell what was right and what was wrong.

But she hoped that Qi Rui could tell the difference.

“Everyone around you will probably try to tell you what they think and shape you in the direction they want.

“But it doesn’t matter, other people’s ideas are other people’s, they can only provide you with a reference, the decision is yours.

“Qi Rui has to learn to distinguish between right and wrong and what he wants.”

“But I can’t tell the difference.” Qi Rui’s voice seemed a little low this night: “What if I choose the wrong one?”

Cao Mi laughed at his troubled appearance, thought for a while, and then said, “It doesn’t matter, you are still young. You have many opportunities for trial and error, and you have the power to start over.”

Qi Rui didn’t seem satisfied with this answer.

He asked eagerly, “When will I grow up?”

Cao Mi smiled and thought for a while before answering: “Twenty weak crowns, thirty stand up. Some people think that a 20-year-old boy should be reasonable, and some people think that a 30-year-old needs to be independent, and it all depends on what outsiders say. already.”

Qi Rui was silent for a moment.

After a while, he asked softly, “What do you think about your mother?”

Cao Mi touched the top of his hair and said earnestly, “In my mother’s place, you will always be a child.”

Qi Rui stared at her in confusion.

Cao Mi explained with a smile: “Qi Rui will become better and better, and gradually grow into a person who can be admired.

“But it doesn’t matter, no matter how old you are, with your mother, you will always have the right to make mistakes and the privilege of being exempt.”

In the dark bed, Cao Mi couldn’t see Qi Rui’s expression clearly, but she heard the child’s breathing gradually getting deeper.

After a while, Qi Rui spoke again: “Mr. Lin gave me a letter and asked me to give it to my mother.”

“Huh?” Cao Mi was stunned for a moment.

Immediately she understood that Qi Rui should be explaining what happened today.

“Originally, I didn’t want to send the letter to my mother.” Qi Rui said again.

Cao Mi smiled and asked back, “Did your mother’s words just now make you change your mind?”

“No.” Qi Rui replied, “I know it’s wrong to hide it, but I still don’t want to give it.”

“Why?” Cao Mi couldn’t understand.

“I have read the contents of the letter, and my mother will definitely be unhappy when she sees it.” Qi Rui explained.

Cao Mi raised his eyebrows: “So what?”

“But I know now that my mother won’t.” Qi Rui added softly.

He moved under the quilt and took out a letter that had been folded several times from his undershirt.

Cao Mi took the letter.

She thought for a while, and said to Qi Rui, “Okay, now that the matter is settled, you don’t have to worry. Mother go back to read the letter. Now, go to sleep.”

After she finished speaking, she smiled, left the edge of the bed, and covered the bed curtain for Qi Rui again.

“Mother…” Just when Cao Mi wanted to leave, Qi Rui’s muffled voice came from the bed tent.

“Huh?” Cao Mi didn’t sit back again this time, but responded to him standing there.

But Qi Rui’s next sentence almost made Cao Mi unable to stand.

“You’re not the same as the mother you used to be.” He in the bed said word by word.

Cao Mi was a little confused.

She didn’t know who Qi Rui’s “previous mother” was referring to, and she didn’t know if Qi Rui had discovered anything.

Just when she was undecided whether to fool Qi Rui a few words, Qi Rui said again: “But this is very good… I like your mother.”

Cao Mi had a thousand words stuck in his throat for a moment, smiled, and before leaving, he finally said: “I see…you sleep well.”

Back in the room, Cao Mi took a shower first.

Taking this opportunity, she also calmed down her chaotic thoughts.

After digesting what Qi Rui said before she left, she sat under the candle and opened the letter from Lin Yi.

Cao Mi browsed through it, and probably knew what Lin Yi meant.

Qi You, an old friend, has a very high culture. He cited several allusions in history, such as Meng’s mother breaking weaving and persuading her to learn, and finally asked Cao Mi why Meng’s mother and others worked so hard to educate the famous sages through the ages. And Cao Mi is also a mother, she doesn’t want to persuade him to learn, but does the opposite, teaching Qi Rui Zaxue, and diverting his energy?

Of course, the words in the letter were quite sharp. After Cao Mi read it, he probably knew why he almost went into exile back then.

She thought for a while, then picked up a pen and wrote a letter to Lin Yi. After that, she breathed a sigh of relief and went back to rest.

The next day, instead of giving the letter to Qi Rui, she instructed Dongli to deliver the letter in person.

And she herself told Qi Rui about it during breakfast, so that he no longer had to worry about it.

After hearing this, Qi Rui nodded to her as usual, and said, “Okay.”

After the letter was sent, Cao Mi stopped paying attention.

Because of Qi You, he has to leave again.

“I just sent the cement to Fengping, do I need the prince to go there in person?” Cao Mi was a little confused.

She used to think that most of the royal family members were a group of people who were lying down and enjoying themselves.

But only after seeing how busy Qi You was, did she realize how naive she was before.

Of course, she asked this not because she was reluctant to travel, but if the children did not see their father for several days, they would start asking Cao Mi. Then around the topic “Where is Dad going”, there are 100,000 whys.

When Qi You heard her words, he responded, “Well…it was not necessary.”

“Huh?” Cao Mi looked up at him suspiciously.

Qi You motioned for her to take a few steps back, then strode her long legs and got on the horse.

Then, he lowered his head and responded lightly to Cao Mi.

His voice was very soft, Cao Mi didn’t hear what he said clearly, only vaguely heard the words “for you” and “business”.

She knew that she must have heard it wrong, and when she was about to ask, Qi You had already set off.

Cao Mi could only stand silently and watch them leave.

The author has something to say: A gentleman roams the world with virtue, so he does not suffer from lack of position. ——Song Hu Hong

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution: Mo Qiyi, 10 bottles of nothing to say;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!


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