Murong Xiude looked at Shen Xiangwan with big watery eyes, and he pouted. "Wan Er, don't worry, I only want to marry you when I grow up."
Shen Xiangwan was stunned for a while before she bursted out laughing. "What? Do you think that if I give you a kiss, you have to be responsible for me?"
She couldn’t believe that he would think like that.
"Dear Sister, I know that a woman's reputation is more important than anything else. Don't worry, I mean what I say."
He held her hand tightly, reassuring her.
The seriousness in his face made Shen Xiang laugh uncontrollably.
Shen Xiangwan stopped laughing when he began puffing his cheeks and protested with tears in his eyes.
She reached out and tickled his nose. "You will only marry me, huh?"
She stifled a giggle. It was hard to imagine how a little boy like him could have the idea of marrying a wife.
"Yes, I will only marry you!"
However, when she saw the way he had answered her without hesitation, Shen Xiangwan was very surprised.
"Oh! But powerful men would always wish to marry a lot of wives. Are you saying you don’t want to do that?"
Murong Xiude shook his head. "I don’t want to. Back then, a Mama told me that Mother's health was getting worse and worse because she was too worried. I asked Mama why Mother was always so worried, then Mama sighed and told me that it was because Father had too many concubines, and Mother was not happy with that. Mama also told me that, in fact, a woman who really cares about her own man, would never be willing to share him with others. The same goes for men who don’t want to see their own wives cuddled and kissed by another man. I don’t want to make my wife sad, so I will not marry multiple women."
The smile on Shen Xiangwan's face disappeared. She turned her head and sighed softly.
Murong Xiude's character was so innocent.
He would do great things in the future if he were to be taught properly. But unfortunately, she and him were not on the same road, after all. She was only a servant girl, and he was a neglected Young Master.
No matter how, the master is the master, and the slave is the slave. Their identities alone had already created an insurmountable gap between them.
"Jiuye, what you said is indeed true. In fact, there are only a few women who are willing to share their men with others. It's just that… you are born in such a family, and with your identity, I am afraid that you can’t avoid marrying multiple wives."
The Young Masters in the Duke’s mansion, even the b*stard sons would all be expected to marry at least a few wives.
Murong Xiude still could not understand the complicated adult world.
"I don't want to, I only want you, can it be only the two of us in the future?" He suddenly looked timid and somewhat nervous as he stared at her, begging.
Noticing the hope in his eyes, Shen Xiangwan's heart twinged. Could he be serious?
Her face fell instantly. "Do you deserve to marry me? With your status as the Duke’s ninth son? But you are so poor and miserable, and you even need help with your three meals in a day. When you were bullied, I even apologized to the bullies and asked them to let you go."
His eyes widened, and his breathing quickened. He asked embarrassingly, "Wan Er, what do you mean?"
She really didn't want to hit him again, so she made a face and stretched out her hand to pat his backside.
"Okay, let's not talk about marrying me anymore. People will laugh at you. No one would think about marrying wives all the time, even little boys know they will be laughed at if they say that. What you have to do now is think of how to survive in this mansion, and how to get out of your current situation. As long as you grow stronger, your wife will naturally come to you."
Murong Xiude's eyes lit up. He clasped Shen Xiangwan's hand tightly. "When I become stronger, will you be willing to be my wife?"
Shen Xiangwan tilted her head sadly. "If you can still have this kind of thought when you become stronger, maybe I will."
‘I will become stronger.’ He did not say those words out loud and only silently told himself that. He wanted to be strong so he could be qualified to marry a wife.
He wished to sleep on Shen Xiangwan’s warm shoulders.
He really wanted to fall asleep beside her.
He felt excited as he finally established the first big ambition in his life—to become stronger, to change, ao he could shelter her from any danger.
To Shen Xiangwan's joy, He Deping seemed to be changing his mind about refusing to be Murong Xiude's teacher.
When he was teaching Xiaoqi that day, he was surprised by one of Xiaoqi’s unusual views on a matter.
"Based on your personality, you would never be able to make such a guess. Tell me, who told you the analysis for this story?" He Deping stared coldly at Xiaoqi.
He had always hated liars and cheaters. The reason why he agreed to teach Xiaoqi was that he was clever. Besides, Shen Xiangwan was also polite to him. He was willing to take care of Xiaoqi for her sake. But if Xiaoqi's character was not good, he would not bother to teach him anymore.
Xiaoqi slowly bowed his head under He Deping’s questioning glare.
"It was... It was Jiuye who taught me this."
"Oh!" He Deping was surprised.
The answer that Xiaoqi gave just now was a verse from the Lun Yu, which aimed to persuade people to do good. He told Xiaoqi the story beforehand and instructed him to think about the story before giving him an answer today.
"Initially, my answer was to feel pity for the poor mother and son, and to give them some money so that they can go home and live. However, Young Master told me that this is not appropriate. He quoted that ‘give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’ He then explained to me that what he meant was that instead of giving them money and letting them be forcibly robbed by those who were stronger than them, it would be better to point out a clear way that would benefit the both of them for life, and it is best to teach them to earn money by their own ability. If we can’t do that, we might as well just watch them being bullied."
He Deping stared at Xiaoqi thoughtfully. Visibly, he looked calm, but emotions were surging in his heart.
"The Ninth Young Master… How old is he now?" he asked gently.
"Mr. He, he is eight years old this year."
"Eight years old..."
Murong Xiude could already come up with this kind of answer at only eight years of age. He Deping wondered what kind of talent this child had.
"Does he have good teachers or smart friends?"
Xiaoqi tilted and shook his head. "No, Jiuye is very pitiful. Before I went to stay with him, he was always bullied. Later, when the steward saw that I was weak, he disliked me and threw me to Jiuye’s courtyard. Those who were more capable were sent to the other courtyards to work as servants. Nowadays, Jiuye can finally eat better, and he is no longer bullied at bedtime."
Xiaoqi thought that since He Deping was one of them, he could reveal Murong Xiude’s true situation to him.
Xiaoqi felt that Murong Xiude was actually very pitiful.
He had never felt love from his parents, and he was also bullied by many people. Even though he was a Young Master, he had lived a life worse than a slave.
Although Xiaoqi was now a slave, he still had his mother, older sister, and Mr. Jiang, who would occasionally tell him stories and the principles of life.
He even ate the same food and used the same things as his Young Master. In comparison, Xiaoqi felt that he was living a much better life than Murong Xiude. He sympathized with the weak, therefore when He Deping asked about Murong Xiude, he quickly took the opportunity to tell him about Murong Xiude’s sufferings.