Bab 197: Chapter 196: Falling Ill

Everyone had a meal together. Marquis Chu shared a table with Chu Lingxuan, while Abbot Liao Chen and Chen Afu were at another table with the three children. Both tables were set up in a Zen room. It was clear that the Marquis was very fond of his former daughter-in-law, Liao Chen, and seemed to unambiguously align himself with her rather than his biological son.

After the meal, Marquis Chu took the children for an afternoon rest, while Chu Lingxuan, Chen Afu, and Abbot Liao Chen sat in the West Meditation Room chatting about domestic affairs.

The room was permeated with a light scent of agarwood. The bed was heated, and a coal basin was also set alight. A white jade flower goblet on the table and a pair of large blue-and-white vases, half the height of a person and placed in corners of the room, were filled with brilliantly blooming red plums. The room felt as warm and radiant as springtime.