Feng Jin’s few words silenced the old man with the white beard.
“You, demonic priest, keep saying the child has golden eyes. Let me ask you, can golden eyes ever recover completely?”
“Golden eyes are a sign of demonic influence. Unless a Celestial Venerable shows mercy, golden eyes cannot improve. By protecting golden eyes, you are destroying the lineage of the Duke of Yue’s mansion. Saving one person and ruining a hundred is a sin!”
The old man with the white beard immediately found his footing and spoke with conviction.
Feng Jin let out a cold laugh, “What if I can cure the young master?”
“Impossible, golden eyes can never be cured!” The old man retorted directly. Sensing the situation was not favorable, he began to incite Madam Zhang, “Madam, this woman is spouting demonic lies to confuse the masses. Keeping the golden eyes will harm all the descendants of the Duke’s mansion!”
Madam Zhang was startled and fully believed the old man’s words, “Guards, seize this demoness and throw her out!”
“Who dares!” The usually meek Chu Ning’er’s demeanor instantly changed, “Anyone who dares to touch my child, I will fight them!”
Chu Ning’er tightly protected her child. This was the child she carried for ten months and gave birth to with her life. Even if he was an inauspicious demon, she would keep him.
“Why are you all standing there? Aren’t you going to move?” Madam Zhang impatiently urged as the servants dared not step forward.
“Stop everyone! Whether this child is a demon, a god, or a human, he is of our Duke’s mansion bloodline. I have fought on battlefields for many years, killed countless enemies, and seen all sorts of demons and ghosts. To bury my grandson alive solely on the说 of golden eyes, such a barbaric act will absolutely not happen under my watch!”
The Duke of Yue’s face was stern, his attitude resolute.
“My Lord, you are confused! Don’t you consider our second and third sons?”
Madam Zhang hurriedly tried to persuade him. She doted on her youngest son, the third son, the most, and he was already of marriageable age.
If it got out that the Duke of Yue’s mansion had a child with golden eyes, no young lady would be willing to marry into their family.
“I think you are the confused one!” The Duke of Yue was extremely displeased with Madam Zhang’s actions.
Usually, he tolerated her shortcomings, considering her hard work in managing the household affairs and their status as husband and wife of long standing. He had always turned a blind eye, letting things slide.
Today, she had gone so far as to be so foolish as to blindly believe in superstitions, intending to cause unrest in the household.
“Young Madam Ling, you said earlier that you could cure golden eyes. Is that true?”
If the golden eyes could be cured, that would be best.
“Since I dared to say it, I have absolute confidence.”
It was merely neonatal jaundice. If she couldn’t cure it, she would be unworthy of her reputation.
“Then we will trouble you, Young Madam, to treat him. As long as the child can be cured, our Duke of Yue’s mansion will spare no effort to repay your great kindness!”
“Sister, the child…” Chu Ning’er, with tears streaming down her face, held the child and looked pleadingly at Feng Jin.
“Don’t worry, I will save the child. You are still in your confinement period, go back to your room and rest.”
Feng Jin comforted Chu Ning’er, then paused and said, “Move all of the young master’s belongings to the Princess’s room.”
She couldn’t understand what ancient people were thinking. The mother and son were clearly separated, and they were not allowed to be in the same room.
Ten months of pregnancy, mother and child are deeply connected. After birth, the infant needs its mother the most.
“This is not in accordance with propriety. How can a mother and child share a room!”
Madam Zhang immediately jumped out to object. In noble families, children were meant to inherit the family lineage. Overly doting mothers spoiled their sons, and mothers were not to raise children personally.
Of her three sons, only the youngest, the third son, was raised by her side.
The rites and laws had been this way since ancient times; how could they be arbitrarily altered?
“Propriety? I only know the natural bond between mother and child. Children should be with their mothers. Moreover, the young master is currently weak, and it is even more crucial for the Princess to be by his side to care for him.”
Feng Jin’s persistent arguments left Madam Zhang speechless.
“This is our family matter, and it is not for an outsider like you to worry about. Don’t think that because you are the young madam of the Ling mansion, I dare not do anything to you!”
Having managed the Duke of Yue’s mansion for many years, no one had dared to talk back to her. Instantly, Madam Zhang’s expression soured.
“If Madam Duke of Yue knows that Feng Jin is the young madam of our Ling mansion, you should not speak such foolish words!”
Ling Mo Han’s face showed displeasure. With him standing right there, Madam Zhang dared to be so presumptuous.
She was completely disregarding his Ling mansion.
“A woman with long hair and little sense! What right do you have to speak here? Go to the back courtyard quickly and have the kitchen prepare a good meal to entertain our esteemed guests!”
The Duke of Yue berated her angrily, directly sending Madam Zhang away. A woman, who spoke without thinking.
The Ling family had been honored for generations. Old Master Ling had served as tutor to two emperors and held the position of Grand Tutor. Elder Master Ling was a鎮国将军 (Zhen Guo Jiang Jun - General who guards the nation) and had been enfeoffed as Duke. Ling Mo Han, at a young age, had achieved the highest honors and was already an Imperial Tutor.
During times of border crisis, he abandoned literary pursuits for military ones, decisively defeating enemy forces, and earning the title of God of War.
The Ling family in the Southern Chu held a position above all others, holding immense prestige. Although the Duke of Yue’s mansion held the title of Duke, it had declined by his generation, relying merely on ancestral favor.
Fortunately, the Emperor favored them, bestowing Princess Qing Ping in marriage to Liang Chen, which gradually brought some prosperity to the Duke of Yue’s mansion.
“Young General, Young Madam, please forgive this foolish woman for her lack of discretion!”
The Duke of Yue was very astute and instructed the servants to follow Feng Jin’s orders.
The child, perhaps sensing his mother’s presence, slept soundly.
“Sister, thank you. If you hadn’t stopped them in time, I might not have seen this child again!”
Chu Ning’er reached out to caress the child’s sleeping face. She had never looked at her child so closely since his birth.
She, who had carried him for ten months, was not even qualified to raise him.
“Waa… waa…” The baby in the cradle suddenly began to cry.
“He might be hungry,” Feng Jin stated her guess.
Chu Ning’er quickly summoned a wet nurse to feed the child.
“Waa… waa…”
“Princess, the young master is not eating!”
The wet nurse was sweating profusely. The baby in her arms seemed to be deliberately opposing her, refusing to eat even a single bite.
“Princess, the young master was fine yesterday and is not eating today.”
“This…”
Chu Ning’er also lacked experience and was at a loss on what to do.
“The child probably smells your scent and refuses to drink milk from others.”
The child is ultimately closest to his mother. Once he smells his mother’s scent, he naturally won’t get close to others.
“Then what should we do?” Chu Ning’er was full of regret. If she had known, she wouldn’t have held the child.
Hearing the child’s cries, she was filled with self-reproach.
“It’s very simple. You can feed the child yourself.”
It was the mother’s nature to feed her child; what was so difficult about it?
“I feed him myself?”
Chu Ning’er looked astonished. It was always the wet nurses who fed the children; mothers did not.