QT: Grace To Grass Counterattack System

He Yuan turned to glare at Cao Luomei. "Cao Luomei, even with all our proprietress's teachings, you still managed to utter a suggestion like this. I don't know what kind of noble lady you want to grow up to be."

They all frowned and even Cao Feng's face twitched but He Yuan continued. "Auntie and Miss Chen are both guests in this household. Even if auntie is related to grandmother, the ties are very distant. What kind of noble household makes guests to raise their own family child?

-Us insiders might know the truth of the matter but people outside wouldn't see it that way. What if they start spreading rumours that the Cao household turns their guests into caretakers after living with them for some months?

-Not only that, Miss Chen is an unmarried lady. The damage this would cause to her reputation is not small and what about the Chen family? What do you think they would do when they realize their daughter has been made to look after our Cao family child?"

The more He Yuan spoke, the uglier the matriarch's face became and the angrier the remaining females became. Again, he ignored their expressions and looked at Chen Bi.

"Miss Chen, you come from a long line of scholars, how could you not understand such simple etiquette? You're going to make people misunderstand and think that grandmother pressured you with her illness!"

"Cao Yuemei, it's enough. You've gotten your point across," The matriarch pinched the space between her brows and looked to Chen Bi. "The child is right. This would lead to too many misunderstandings. It's better if the child is returned to my courtyard."

He Yuan gave a distressed look. "Grandmother how could that be? You're not strong enough and newborns are especially prone to illness. I have enlisted the help of a reliable wet nurse and two older servants with lots of experience.

-How about this, if you're worried about my younger brother's safety, you could instruct your head maid to perform periodic supervision to ensure he is well taken care of. This way, both the baby and the reputation of all parties would remain unblemished."

The matriarch looked at He Yuan thoughtfully. "It's not... A bad idea. We would do just that. Yuemei, you now have a sensible head on your shoulders. You should spend more time with this old lady."

Cao Luomei's eyes widened. "But-"

"But what?" He Yuan cut in. "Cao Luomei, it's already bad enough that you ignored your teachings and gave a suggestion that targeted a fellow noble lady's reputation. What are you dissatisfied with this time?"

Cao Luomei glared at He Yuan but the matriarch laughed out loud. "Yuemei, take it easy on Luomei. She is just a child and didn't think her words through before speaking."

Since the matriarch gave her a way out, Cao Luomei happily accepted it and pouted with a spoiled look on her face. "I just wanted the best for my younger brother."

The matriarch laughed again. "Silly child, I know."

Chen Bi and her mother stared at them with constipated looks on their faces but He Yuan directly looked away. He couldn't be bothered to watch anymore.

If it was Cao Yuemei that had given such a suggestion, she would have been rebuked to the high heavens by every party involved but now that it was Cao Luomei, she was young and hence permitted to make mistakes.

What premium bullshitting.

After that day, He Yuan gained full custody of Cao Xiwang. He was well aware that the matriarch would no longer be interested in raising the child just like in the past life.

This time, his daily routine changed a bit and during his 'study' time, he wrote down different medical techniques instead. He was doing this in order to be able to teach Cao Xiwang when he reached learning age.

Normally, this would be unnecessary but if he planned on separating Cao Luomei from the rest of her harem members then he had to be present on or before the time of their meeting. Cao Luomei met the general in the capital but it was different for the genius doctor.

He'd have to look for a way to head over to the frontlines with Cao Luomei and when he did, he needed Cao Xiwang to be able to at least have a layer of protection. Having knowledge in medicine was actually a good form of protection.

He Yuan also spent more of his time visiting the matriarch's courtyard. He had no good feeling for the old lady but he needed to accumulate her goodwill on Cao Yuemei's and Cao Xiwang's behalf.

He Yuan also found another way to skip breakfast at Cao Long's courtyard. Since Xiwang was still a baby, he was too young to appear at the breakfast table so He Yuan gave the excuse that he needed to watch over the baby diligently.

Cao Long had no objections to this, he didn't care much for the child. In fact, right from the moment Cao Xiwang was born, Cao Long had only seen him for a total of two times. He Yuan was dumbfounded whenever he thought of this.

Even dogs would look after their young so what exactly was Cao Long's problem? Wan Ruo had committed a crime but what did the baby have to do with it? It wasn't as if the child didn't belong to him.

It took a month for Chen Bi and her mother to be 'politely' kicked out of the Cao mansion. It turned out that Chen Bi had directly gone with her plan of drugging Cao Long this time and had been kicked out even earlier.

He Yuan diligently raised Cao Xiwang and monitored things on Cao Luomei's end at the same time. Her relationship with Yu Ming had gotten better and better as the months flew by and no one was surprised by his constant presence in the Cao mansion anymore.

Another thing He Yuan noticed was that Yu Ming seemed to be paying extra attention to him. For what reason? He had no idea and wasn't planning on finding out. This was an ancient realm, the less contact he had with the imperial family, who had total authority over the lives of the people, the better.

Although there were times where he was curious about Yu Ming. The fact that the first prince had made no move to poison Wan Ruo in this lifetime had not skipped his notice.

"Big sis you're not paying attention again!" A soft, childish voice pulled He Yuan from his thoughts.

The owner of the voice had long black hair held up by a single silver hairpin, a smooth round face, large eyes, a cute button nose and lips that were currently twisted into a sad pout.

He Yuan arched his lips in exasperation. This was his eighth year in this realm and Cao Xiwang was seven years old.

Although the child had a reserved personality around others, he was bubbly and overexcited whenever he was with He Yuan. At certain times, he was too much to handle but He Yuan was patient.

The current Cao Xiwang was nothing like the depressed and cowardly second son from Cao Yuemei's past life. He was also very intelligent and diligently memorized the medicinal ingredients and techniques He Yuan taught him.

Of course He Yuan did not teach him everything, just the ingredients that were unique to this particular ancient realm and even then, he didn't dare to teach the kid too much. If not, how would he explain Cao Yuemei's sudden extensive knowledge of medicine to others?

He Yuan raised his fingers and gently flicked the child's forehead. "What is it now?"

Cao Xiwang pumped his small fists. "I'm hungry. Big sis, you had promised to take me out to eat delicious things if I memorised the method for the curing gray flame poison, you can't go back on your words now!"

He Yuan scratched his nose. He seemed to have made such a promise two days ago. Who knew the kid would memorise the complicated method in two days? He felt a little regretful now, he had set the bar too low!

"Fine." He Yuan was about to beckon Wu Bai over when a servant walked into the garden and bowed.

"Second miss, second master. The prime minister instructed me to invite the both of you to have lunch in his courtyard."

He Yuan frowned and Cao Xiwang looked stricken. When the kid was much younger, he had been very enthusiastic about his father, the left prime minister, and used to try his best to follow him everywhere.

But the prime minister was always formal around him. Cao Xiwang wasn't bothered about this, thinking that his father's character was just like that and he needed to be cold to everyone to demand respect.

Things changed the older he grew. He realized that his father treated his eldest brother and eldest sister different! Cao Xiwang used to clamor to enter his father's study all the time but had been rebuked repeatedly by the prime minister.

So imagine his shock when he found out that Cao Feng and Cao Luomei were free to enter and leave as they pleased. He could understand the freedom given to Cao Feng, as he was most likely to succeed the prime minister and needed to learn but how about Cao Luomei? What was his father's excuse?

He realized then that his father did not just like him and his sister. That day, he'd cried himself to sleep in his sister's arms.

He Yuan was well aware of the prime minister's feelings about Cao Yuemei and Cao Xiwang for a long time but he refrained from educating Cao Xiwang. He felt it was much better that the kid found out himself.

Although the child was much more heartbroken this way, the firsthand experience had taught him not to expect too much from others. In these times, if he wasn't smartened up from a young age, then he would most likely fall prey to the schemes of the people around him.

He Yuan rose from the bench and straightened his clothes. He was about to follow after the servant when he caught sight of Cao Xiwang staring at him with large, pitiful eyes.

He sighed and held out his hand to the kid. Cao Xiwang happily got up and held He Yuan's palm with a bright smile. "Big sis is still the one who treats me the best!"

And then they walked over to Cao Long's courtyard. It was better to get this over with as quickly as they could.