The Idle Consort

Chapter 96

Li Wenchuan had once believed that all mothers were like this—distant from their own children, hoping they would grow up, stand on their own, and no longer be birds unable to leave the nest.

Later, he traveled far and wide and discovered that it was not so. The hunter Sun's wife was a very gentle woman. Her child was already in his early teens, yet in many ways, she did not treat him like a child of that age.

When the child shirked work or did something wrong, she would scold him, then patiently teach him. She slowly told the child things Consort Yang had never told him, pulling apart and breaking down the vast, tangled mass called life so the child could understand it.

Consort Yang only made him accept things, never explaining why.

The clothes that child wore had all been sewn by the Sun Family's wife. His winter cotton clothes were thick and warm. She had even mended Li Wenchuan's clothes before. Unable to hold back, Li Wenchuan said with some disappointment, "My mother... my mother has never made clothes for me."

The Sun Family's wife looked up in surprise, confusion in her eyes. There was no woman who could not do needlework; even sheltered young ladies had to learn it. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Perhaps your mother is not very good at it and is afraid she will not do it well. That might only make you unhappy."

Over these past days, she had also realized that this young man before her was likely a young master from a wealthy family traveling abroad. Naturally, his mother was a woman of status... Yet the Sun Family's wife still could not understand. If it were her, even if she did not know how,