"Big Brother, I... boohoo, your little brother has such a bitter lot! A widower in my old age! Boohoo!"
Liu Cheng'en kicked him in disgust.
"You ignorant fool! I keep telling you to read more, but you never listen! What widower? That's a man whose wife died. You're divorcing your wife!"
"Oh, right. Then I'm not one."
Liu Chengze sniffled, and his heart seemed to hurt a little less.
But Liu Cheng'en's heart ached terribly.
He had specially prepared new clothes today to meet his little granddaughter, and his rotten little brother had dirtied them just like that. What rotten luck!
"Father, my eldest brother and his wife will be back soon too. Should we start preparing dinner?"
"Yes, yes! Prepare a pot of fine green tea too. My little granddaughter is sure to like it!"
Shen Yunying went off to make the arrangements.
With nothing to do before dinner, Jiang Chen ran inside to soak in the bath, while Jiang Shuyue and Zhou Sesong stayed outside playing with the cat.
Jiang Shuyue asked, "Xiao Sheng, your father looks several years younger than the emperor. Why did you say the emperor calls him Second Brother?"
"My father was originally Third Brother, but he thought Uncle Emperor was silly and foolish, always looking like he was asking for a beating, without any of the dignity an older brother should have. So he fought Uncle Emperor and insisted on being his second brother."
"He dared to beat up the emperor? That's impressive."
"That's not all. I heard Uncle Emperor was naughty from childhood. Even the late emperor couldn't control him. Only after Father appeared and thrashed Uncle Emperor did he behave himself. The late emperor was very pleased."
Jiang Shuyue said, "Pleased? The late emperor... sounds rather interesting."
The system said, *[That's