Chapter 1 The Birth of Sons

In the new year, on the second day of the second month, Tan Weishi gave birth to Ye Tao's eldest son, Ye Wenxuan, even becoming a mother earlier than Dai Yun. Although the Ye family had only entered the public eye a few years ago, it had already become one of the most prominent families in Dongping. The birth of Ye Tao's eldest son inevitably meant that this prominent family was transforming into a new aristocratic clan. And it also meant that they needed to start compiling the family tree. Everyone seemed very interested in this matter. Both the Tan family and the Dai family eagerly offered suggestions, but even Qi Zhentao, who had a long-standing friendship with Ye Tao, couldn't get a word in edgewise. The name sounded a bit old-fashioned, but at least it had a certain charm.

Ye Wenxuan also had another name: Tan Zhaoxing... because Ye Tao had essentially abducted Tan Xiaopei's two precious daughters. Under Tan Xiaopei's coercion and enticement, Ye Tao finally allowed Tan Weishi's son to be entered into the Tan clan's genealogy, to enjoy the status, position, and responsibilities of the current royal family and future imperial family. And Ye Tao, who had been influenced by modern thought, naturally didn't insist that his eldest son had to bear his surname, smoothly granting his emperor father-in-law's wish.

Towards the end of the month, Dai Yun gave birth to Ye Tao's second son, Ye Wenji. Although Dai Yun's baby was late, he inherited his mother's strong constitution and showed none of the problems that late-born children might experience. However, he was clearly a much quieter child than his mother.

The birth of Ye Tao's two sons stirred the hearts of countless people. And Tan Weiran finally lost the opportunity to show off his own child to Ye Tao. Tan Weiran and Dai Xi's child, Tan Zhaolin, fully inherited the best features of both parents, with skin as delicate as jade. He was incredibly adorable, and although he was only a year old, he already seemed very intelligent. There was also Lu Dan and Huang Wan's daughter, Lu Yixin, Golan's two-year-old granddaughter, Yadan, and her one-and-a-half-year-old younger daughter, Ying'er... and many of Ye Tao's companions also had children or were expecting, as they were all relatively young. A group photo of Ye Tao's two children in the middle, surrounded by a crowd of other children, looked extremely lively. This photo was enlarged to three feet square, and about a hundred copies were printed. And all these people understood very well that Ye Tao did indeed have his magical qualities, but he was not a soul-snatching sorcerer. Photography, first and foremost, had firmly seized the market demand for children's photography. Every parent wanted to record their child's growth. Because Ye Tao had developed photography technology to a relatively reliable state before releasing it, although the prices of cameras and film were not at all affordable for ordinary people, at least this relatively high-end group could afford it and didn't consider it a burden. And since these people all lived around Ningyuan, Ye Tao temporarily only established a photography studio in Ningyuan, to handle developing, printing, enlarging, and occasionally provide photography technique guidance. He also took on the photography needs of those who hadn't bought their own cameras. It wasn't that Ye Tao was stingy and only willing to set up one branch, but because photography technology was still in a phase of rapid development. Having too many branches would make it too expensive to update the technology with each new generation.

But at the full-moon celebration for Ye Tao's two sons, everyone raised another issue. In Yunzhou, due to the differences in environment and atmosphere compared to the original Dongping territories, even Tan Weiran and Dai Xi had only set up a small courtyard, with only a limited number of servants. Because Yunzhou had already begun to allow women to hold positions in the Jinglüe (Pacification) Prefecture's various agencies, the energetic Dai Xi, with Tan Weiran's support, had already taken the position of Chief of the Administrative and Personnel Department of the expanded Northern Frontier Jinglüe Prefecture. And Lu Dan wasn't comfortable letting Huang Wan go to Zhenzhou, so she had Huang Wan stay in Yunzhou to do whatever she wanted. As a result, the talented Huang Wan also joined the Document Department of the Jinglüe Prefecture. On one hand, they hoped that the children of these close relatives and friends could grow up together from a young age and become the best of friends, and perhaps there might even be opportunities for further intermarriage in the future. On the other hand, it was also because everyone was indeed a little worried about leaving the children in the care of servants. Adding to this the desire for all these children to receive the highly regarded Dai family-style education, everyone proposed an idea: to gather these children together for care and education. And the place everyone trusted most was Ye Tao's carefully managed and constructed manor outside Ningyuan City, which had already formed a complete complex of buildings. Moreover, it had complete communication and transportation facilities, making it very convenient for everyone to come and go... And Ye Tao, with a shrug, approved the construction of the Yunzhou Central Kindergarten.

He also understood that these well-informed people had their eyes on the activity area that Ye Tao had built in a corner of the manor ever since he knew that his two wives were pregnant. There were brightly colored slides, climbing frames, swings, rocking horses, and other toys. The entire ground was paved with pressed flooring made of rubber granules mixed with a deep reddish-orange color. Even if the weather was bad, it didn't matter. The entire activity area had a retractable roof that could be opened at any time. The curved trusses allowed the children to play freely inside, without any pillars obstructing them. The roof was covered with a layer of finely woven canvas treated with adhesive spray. There were also small design elements between the canvas and the trusses to tighten and bulge the entire canvas, both giving the entire roof a geometric aesthetic and preventing rainwater from staying on the roof for even a moment, ensuring that this thin, translucent roof was effective in preventing rain. The entire activity area was surrounded by a ring of evergreen plants, which were lush and beautiful, interspersed with a few pine trees that had been trimmed into animal shapes. Outside the activity area, there would be a small zoo in the future. There were already several pairs of rabbits, several cats and dogs, and a pair of deer. Qi Zhentao had written a letter saying that he would get Ye Tao a few pairs of parrots to keep as pets in the future. The peacocks that Chun Nan had gifted to Ye Tao were already on their way. However, the Tibetan mastiffs, falcons, and other more ferocious animals that Golan had given to Ye Tao had not been moved over. Counting Ye Tao's richly stocked stables, the manor had a very rich variety of animals. And that wasn't enough. For the sake of the children, Ye Tao had forcibly renovated the entire manor, eliminating all potential safety hazards. All the roads had guard walls and handrails on both sides. All the places connecting to the hillside had guard walls built. The longer staircases were re-handled, divided into sections for buffering. Even if the children ran wildly throughout the entire manor, nothing major would happen. Ye Tao was also planning to treat all the roads in the manor with a non-slip surface. There would be a two-foot-wide non-slip lane made of rubber granules in the middle of each road. No one thought it was necessary, because Ye Tao's children would inevitably receive everyone's attention, and the manor was full of guards, servants, maids, and Yunzhou officials of all levels coming and going…

There was also the new wing of the manor, which was barely completed on time and just put into use. It was prepared for Ye Tao's children, but it was a bit ridiculously large, easily accommodating dozens of children. The top of the new wing had a passageway that directly connected to the top floor of the manor's main building, which Ye Tao, Tan Weixin, and Dai Yun used as offices. The bottom of the new wing directly led to the colorful activity area and the zoo. The new wing, which was four stories high, had absolutely ample activity space on each floor. The top floor was the new solarium, currently used as a nursery. Inside the entire solarium, there was not a trace of paint. It was entirely made of natural wood that had been treated with high temperature and high pressure. Under the current technological conditions, even the processing of this kind of wood was extremely expensive. The solarium was connected to an incredibly large landscaped balcony, but the materials used for the floors inside and outside were different. The connection point between the two types of flooring was a groove made of obsidian, which directed rainwater into the sewer during rain. For the sake of visual uniformity, even the manhole covers for the sewer were made of obsidian. The third floor would be the library in the future, but the rows of bookshelves inside were still empty. The second floor had bedrooms, living rooms, classrooms, and indoor playrooms, while the first floor, in addition to the entrances and exits, had a dining room, kitchen, dressing room, and ample storage space.

Many people have this situation before becoming fathers: they want to prepare everything, prepare the best things they can, so that their children have an ideal environment from a young age. But probably no one can do it like Ye Tao. Just looking at the delicate and ingenious children's furniture, one could imagine how much Ye Tao was looking forward to his children, and how much he loved and understood children. And those various series of toys, divided by age, from a few months to teenagers, as well as the mountains of various sizes of plush toys piled up in several rooms, were enough to make all the adults want to try them, to rub and knead them. Almost every parent who came with their children had to take something away in the end, in order to drag their children away from this place that had such a great attraction for children. No one had imagined that Ye Tao would be so knowledgeable about children's needs. And Ye Tao, indeed, was enjoying it. He used to be a master at designing toys and furniture.

No one dared to calculate how much money Ye Tao had spent in these few months to prepare for the birth of his two children. Actually, it couldn't be calculated. Many things from the Ye Family Workshop might seem like simple processing from an internal perspective, but to outsiders, they were all exclusive technologies that couldn't be priced. Everyone thought that the rubber granule flooring and the rubber skin wrapped around the slides and climbing frames were very useful, but everyone knew that only Ye Tao was willing to use them like this. Since that's the case, why not send the children here?

While Ye Tao was doing such extensive preparation work, Dai Yun and Tan Weishi were very touched, and Tan Weixin often suppressed her laughter while filling in the gaps and enriching some details, making some improvements, and never calculating the cost. The Ye family's trouble was that they had too much money to spend, not that they didn't have enough. With the Tan family's harmonious and free atmosphere, the Dai family's already classic home education, and Ye Tao's unrestrained creativity and vast knowledge, everyone was very optimistic about the two children's future. Moreover, the Ye family didn't have the problem of who would inherit the family business in the future. The eldest son, Ye Wenxuan, because he was also entered into the Tan clan's genealogy, was very likely to inherit Ye Tao's various affairs in the court in the future, or be appointed as a member of the imperial clan. The second son, Ye Wenji, would have to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the continued development of the entire Ye Family Workshop system. But this would depend on the two children's abilities and their own wishes in the future, as Ye Tao repeatedly emphasized. But in any case, it was good to let the children have some close friends from a young age.