Mistakenly Connected to the Jade Flower Branch

Chapter 428 Writing a Letter

Le Xi poured a cup of red date, longan, and goji berry tea into Su Wuming's cup and placed it in front of him: "Wuming, do you usually write letters to your brother?"

Su Wuming nodded: "It is written."

Le Xi asked, "How often do you write?"

Su Wuming avoided Le Xi's gaze and looked down at the tea in front of him: "There's no particular pattern; I just write when I remember."

Lexi continued, "Will your brother write back to you?"

Su Wuming picked up his tea and took a slow sip: "...Occasionally! Sister-in-law, you and my brother are childhood sweethearts, so you should know that he is a very good person, just a little quiet."

As Le Xi spoke, she opened a letter: "Yun Ting used to complain to me that Wu Ming would write to his brother at the beginning of every month. Yun Fan and Yun Yao never wrote to him."

Since I married Qi Yang, I've received a letter from him at the beginning of each month. This month he sent me two. I read them to Wuming.

"No need!" Su Wuming refused rather hastily: "Sister-in-law, you don't need to tell me about your and my brother's private matters."

Le Xi couldn't listen to him: "My wife: all is well."

We recently passed through Gwangju and besieged Mengcheng. The reeds in Mengcheng were growing very well, and there were ducks everywhere in the water. The duck eggs were delicious.

Don't worry!

Lexi laughed as she read it aloud.

Su Wuming looked at her, puzzled: What's so funny?

Le Xi took a long time to stop laughing: "Wuming, you've read a lot. If you were to write about how the reeds grow very well, how many ducks are in the water, and how delicious the duck eggs are, how would you write it?"

Su Wuming thought for a moment: "Nine parts reeds and one part smoke, propelling out the duck-releasing boat of the southern neighbor."

He truly is a scholar; his words flow effortlessly.

Le Xi rolled up the letter and put it in the tea stove to burn without hesitation or appreciation: "I burned all the letters your brother used to send me every month."

Su Wuming stared blankly at the wisps of smoke rising from the sky, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

Le Xi pushed another letter in front of him: "I will open and read that letter myself. In return, let Wuming open this letter and read it to me."

How can something like this be related to reciprocity?

Su Wuming stared at the letter, as if he had made up his mind, and then picked it up and opened it.

The paper was filled with writing, but there were only four characters, large and sharp, like a general's spear:

“Xi:

Is it safe?

扬”

This was his dull and unromantic older brother, who even wrote letters to his wife with the efficiency of a warrior.

Su Wuming couldn't bring himself to read it aloud, and nervously pushed the letter in front of Le Xi.

Le Xi held back for a long time, but finally couldn't help but burst into laughter. Her brows relaxed, and there was no pretense in her expression.

Su Wuming breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: So what if she's dull and doesn't understand romance? At least my sister-in-law is genuinely happy.

Le Xi took a long time to stop laughing. She patted her chest and said, "Look, this is the kind of letter your brother would write."

Su Wuming tried his best to imitate Qi Yang's handwriting and letter-writing style, but in the end, he still couldn't quite capture it.

Su Wuming naturally asked, "Then I'll go back first. My sister-in-law has finished writing the letter and asked He Zhi to bring it to me. I'll send it to my brother."

Le Xi smiled enigmatically: "Did I say I would reply to him?"

Su Wuming was stunned. Her brother had already asked if she was alright. Shouldn't she reply to the letter?

Su Wuming gritted his teeth and said, "Sister-in-law, it was you who took the initiative to propose marriage to my brother."

Le Xi's smile remained unchanged: "So what?"

So what? Isn't that blatant bullying?

Su Wuming got up to say goodbye, and Le Xi personally escorted him to the door. Su Wuming didn't even turn his head back, and kept walking forward.

Le Xi counted her steps, and on the third step, she called out to him, "Nameless."

Su Wuming turned to look at Le Xi, but didn't speak first. However, there seemed to be expectation in his eyes: Le Xi felt guilty and was planning to reply.

Le Xi walked up to Su Wuming, her expression extremely serious: "Wuming, you are the best younger brother and the best son I have ever met."

Su Wuming looked at Le Xi, his eyes gradually reddening. Before the tears could fall, he turned and hurried away.

Su Wuming sat in the courtyard of the Su family mansion, staring blankly at the clump of Xiangfei bamboo in the corner, the words "You are the best younger brother and the best son I have ever met" echoing in his ears.

No one had ever made him want to cry with just a single sentence, but Le Xi did.

Is he the best younger brother?

Since Qi Yang joined the army, he wrote a letter to Qi Yang every month. When he didn't have much to write about, he would write about his family, the court, and strange and interesting stories.

There weren't actually that many things to write about at home, so he wrote in more detail, from the peach tree sprouting new shoots and the bamboo growing small bamboo shoots; to the peach tree growing tender green leaves and the small bamboo shoots growing a foot taller; then to the peach tree growing flower buds and the small bamboo shoots turning into small bamboo shoots...

The records of court affairs included who was transferred to a post outside the capital, who was transferred to the capital, which young master got married, and which young lady got married...

One strange tale describes a giant fish appearing on a beach on the East China Sea coast; the fish was bigger than a house…

Even when Su Wuming was transferred to Kunzhou as the acting prefect, he remembered to write a letter to Qi Yang.

But Qi Yang never replied to his letter, even in the dangerous Kunzhou where he didn't know kung fu.

The best son?

Would the best son be like him?

When his father was alive, he didn't really care about him, and his mother cared even less. After his father passed away, his mother spent her days praying to Buddha and copying scriptures, and she paid even less attention to him.

In other families, a son that age would have already had his parents arranging a marriage, and matchmakers would have been visiting long ago.

But there was no sign of anything happening at their house, as if their son had died.

The imperial court is not like the military camp, where merit determines success. The personnel relationships in the imperial court are intricate and complex, especially in the Hanlin Academy, which is under the emperor's watchful eye.

In front of Su Wuming, everyone praised him, saying that he was a favorite of the emperor and an imperial envoy who could execute first and report later with the imperial sword.

Only Su Wuming knew that he could only be an imperial envoy, and after that, he would have to return to the Hanlin Academy and watch the people around him become county magistrates, prefects, vice ministers... climbing up the ladder step by step.

After his father died, the Su family almost collapsed. Fortunately, the brothers were capable, but the Su family would never regain its former glory.

Qi Yang was fortunate to have followed General Xue's path, but his father completely blocked his path to becoming a civil official.

Now that Luo An is back, Su Wuming is even more uncertain. Who knows when Luo An might find a pretext to kill him?

Is this the kind of good younger brother and good son he wanted? Is this the kind of son he desired?

Qi Fei stood under the eaves, shocked as she looked at Su Wuming, who was in tears, and didn't know how to react for a moment.

Su Wuming was mature and self-disciplined from a young age, never needing his parents to worry about him. He excelled in the Imperial Academy and passed the imperial examination on his first try, successfully entering the Hanlin Academy. He helped the emperor solve his problems and became a favorite of the emperor.

Su Wuming was not fond of crying since childhood. When Su Wenzheng died, Qi Yang cried, but Su Wuming did not shed a single tear.

What happened today? Why are you crying like this?

Qi Fei didn't dare to make a sound. She took small steps closer and slowly squatted down, gently placing her hand on Su Wuming's shoulder, but dared not call out to him.

Su Wuming turned around and saw Qi Fei. As if remembering something, he picked up the vegetable basket next to him, stood up, and headed towards the kitchen.

Normally, Su Wuming would say to Qi Fei, "Mom, I'll go cook."

But now Su Wuming felt very tired, so tired that he didn't want to say a single word.