On the day Li Huaiyu finished her confinement period, Jiang Xuanjin personally helped her change clothes, held her in his arms, and fed her. Then, they took a nap together on the bed.
Huaiyu turned her head and said, “You’re being so gentle today. You didn’t even dodge when I took advantage of you.”
Jiang Xuanjin’s eyebrows twitched as if he wanted to scold her, but after thinking about it, he calmed his expression and asked, “Is there anything you want?”
She moved closer, wrapping her arms and legs around him, and smiled, “There are many things. It would help if you asked Cheng Xu to bring some paper to write them down… But for now, I want to hear you tell a story.”
Reaching out to touch his face, Huaiyu added, “A cute story about little animals.”
Jiang Xuanjin: “…”
His wife’s requests were becoming more peculiar each day. He couldn’t fathom what was going through her mind.
Gently patting her back, Jiang Xuanjin awkwardly began, “Once upon a time, there was a cute little animal, um… a rabbit spirit. The rabbit spirit wanted to grow carrots for herself but couldn’t find fertile soil. So she asked the rabbit spirit living next door: Where can I find soil good for growing carrots?”
Huaiyu was slightly surprised. She hadn’t expected him to tell a story, but he did so with remarkable seriousness.
Moreover, his half-closed eyes and tender face made him look so charming that she wanted to build him a golden house!
His slender fingers brushed her cheek, sending tingles through her skin. He continued, “The neighbor told the rabbit spirit that there was a field with various wild vegetables beyond the mountain. The soil where the wild vegetables grew abundantly would be the best for growing carrots.”
“So the rabbit went over mountains and through rivers to dig up the soil.”
The soothing sound of his voice, warm and enveloping, made Huaiyu yawn as drowsiness overtook her.
Gently patting her, his voice grew softer, “But when the carrots grew, the rabbit spirit found that her carrots were not as big as her neighbor’s. She was puzzled and asked the neighbor: I worked as hard as you did, so why are my carrots not as good?”
“The neighbor said: Do you see the dwarf gourds growing over there? The rabbit spirit nodded.”
“The neighbor said: I dug the soil from beneath the dwarf gourds, and that’s how I grew the best carrots.”
“Why is that? The rabbit spirit didn’t understand.”
Smiling slightly, Jiang Xuanjin looked at her. She had already fallen asleep, her nose gently twitching like a cute little rabbit.
Holding this little rabbit tightly, he kissed her ear softly and slowly whispered the story’s conclusion:
“Because I love you.”
Dwarf gourd soil, I love you. The story was made up, but the last sentence was true.
The person in his arms slept soundly, as if she trusted him completely, without any defenses. Jiang Xuanjin quietly watched her, the satisfaction and joy in his eyes almost overflowing.
He had always thought the romantic verses of poets were frivolous and unrealistic, but being with her, he found some lines quite fitting.
Meeting her deepened his feelings, regretting not meeting her sooner. After knowing countless people, none compared to her.
…
Cheng Xu stood outside the door with a war report, not daring to interrupt.
The border was in crisis, with a large influx of refugees flooding various territories. The eastern part of the capital was in chaos. Xi Liang’s fifty thousand troops were only sixty miles from the capital. Jiu Wu and others were leading the resistance, but without a commander, the army’s morale was unstable, leading to several mishaps.
The master had already heard the news and knew what needed to be done. So today, he took out the armor that had been hidden for a long time and polished it several times.
This armor was used in the early years of Daxing’s loyalty war. It had been hidden for nine years, and over time, except for Liu Yunlie, no one in Northern Wei remembered that Lord Ziyang was skilled in martial arts and a master strategist.
Without looking at the war report in his hand, His Highness also had to say goodbye to his wife, but… Cheng Xu knew this was difficult to broach. His Highness’s greatest fear now was his wife’s sorrow.
So… let him accompany her for one more day, and find a suitable time to tell her.
When Huaiyu woke up, Jiang Xuanjin was sitting by the bed, asking her, “Do you want to go out for a walk?”
Her eyes lit up at these words, and she jumped out of bed, stepping on his shoes with her bare feet, and cheerfully said, “Yes, yes! I’m almost suffocated indoors. Finally, I can go out!”
Pinching her waist, he lifted her back onto the bed, helped her into an outer robe, and bent down to fetch her embroidered shoes and socks.
No matter how thick-skinned she tried to be, Li Huaiyu still blushed when he tried to put shoes on her. She grabbed his wrist and whispered, “I can do it myself.”
Jiang Xuanjin glanced at her, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “Shy?”
“…No, I just feel like if you do this, I’ll be struck by lightning.”
Jiang Xuanjin chuckled, pinched her ankle, and gently pushed her hand away, stubbornly putting on her shoes for her. After he stood up and looked down at her, he said, “I’m much taller than you.”
Huaiyu squinted her eyes. “So what? Are you looking down on short people?”
“No,” he pulled her up. “If lightning strikes, I’ll take it for you.”
Li Huaiyu: “…”
Qingsi stood at the door, watching the two masters come out, and cast a glance at them.
Usually, Lord Ziyang would be blushing and annoyed, but today, for some reason, Her Highness’s face was a deep shade of red.
Lord Ziyang still wore his teal silk robe embroidered with a hidden pattern of flying cranes. The Eldest Princess wore a matching teal outfit, though her skirt was adorned with proudly blooming peonies. The two walked out hand in hand, completely ignoring the people standing outside, heading straight for the gate.
Yufeng muttered without expression, “Just looking at their clothes, they don’t need to hold hands too.”
“What do you think?” Yufeng asked Cheng Xu, trying to find some sympathy from a fellow sufferer.
However, Cheng Xu sternly replied, “I won’t comment. The last time I did, I ended up cleaning the stables.”
Yufeng, feeling guilty, turned his head away and kept silent.
As if she hadn’t been outside in ages, Li Huaiyu found everything on the street fascinating. She wanted candied haws, kites, and sugar paintings, and Jiang Xuanjin indulged her every whim.
However, his uncovered face drew too much attention, and soon they were surrounded by townsfolk, unable to move.
Huaiyu, joyfully munching on her candied fruits, turned around and realized her companion was missing.
“This young man is so handsome! May I ask if you are married?” An elderly woman eagerly inquired, pointing to another side. “My daughter is over there; would you like to meet her?”
“Sir, please take this.” A young lady shyly handed him a scented sachet and quickly stepped back.
Some bolder ones even tried to grab his sleeve.
Huaiyu turned green with anger. Hands-on her hips, she stormed back, pushed through the crowd, and shielded him behind her. She shouted, “What do you think you’re doing in broad daylight?!”
Jiang Xuanjin stood behind her, watching her fierce demeanor. A glint of amusement flashed in his eyes, and he smiled slightly.
He could have easily walked away or scared the people off with a cold look, but… to be honest, he enjoyed seeing her stand protectively in front of him. It was a bit shameless, but he found her even cuter than the rabbit spirit who grew carrots.
She snatched his hand and dragged him along, causing Jiang Xuanjin to suppress a smirk, looking at her innocently. “Why didn’t you call out to me? What if I didn’t turn back to look at you?” she complained.
“You know I would.” He replied. “After all, you’re priceless.”
At the mention of this, Huaiyu’s lips twitched. When she had finished embroidering the outer robe for him, he had promised her a treasure in return. But when she finished and asked him for the treasure, he casually placed his hand in hers.
“Here, for you,” he said. “A priceless treasure.”
Coming back to her senses and wiping her face, Huaiyu sighed, “You mimic my shamelessness, of all things?”
Jiang Xuanjin thought about it seriously and then said, “Learn whatever is impressive.”
It made sense, leaving her with no retort. Huaiyu gritted her teeth and bit his wrist playfully.
He didn’t flinch, only said, “If you want meat, go to the restaurant up ahead.”
Huaiyu glanced up and grinned, “Lu Ji.”
Relieved, she pulled him along, trotting happily.
Pingling’s main city was saved. However, it was flooded with a large number of refugees, and the shops that Lu Jingxing had bought at a low price before had all become prosperous. Making a fortune, he renovated all the shops under Lu’s name on the frontline.
However, Lu Jingxing’s expression was far from good.
“You finally came!” He said helplessly, “Your Highness, please save me!”
Jiang Xuanjin sneered, grabbed him, and extended his hand toward Huaiyu, indifferently asking, “What’s wrong with Shopkeeper Lu?”
Staring at him, Lu Jingxing withdrew his hand and opened the repaired jade bone fan with a snap. “There’s a troublemaker in the shop. I can’t handle her, and the officials won’t intervene. I can only seek Your Highness’s help.”
“A troublemaker?!” Huaiyu’s eyes lit up. “In Pingling’s main city?”
Lu Jingxing thought for a moment and said, “She’s an outsider.”
“That explains it,” Huaiyu rolled up her sleeves. Standing tall, she said, “Leave it to me. I’ll teach her a lesson before handing her over to the officials!”
With that, she marched up the stairs proudly.
Jiang Xuanjin stood still, his eyebrows slightly raised. In his mind, he counted to ten.
Sure enough, when he reached ten, Li Huaiyu slinked back down dejectedly.
“What happened?” Lu Jingxing stared, “You couldn’t handle her?”
Scratching his chin, Huaiyu said, “It’s not a matter of whether I can handle her. It’s that I can’t handle it. Why did you have to provoke Mu Rongqi? Why dump the trouble onto me?”
Lu Jingxing felt wronged, “I was minding my own business, just running my shop. How did I provoke her? Without a word, she barged into my shop and had been drinking for three days, occupying the entire second floor. I can’t even conduct business!”
“With your skills, shouldn’t it be easy to throw her out?” Huaiyu asked.
Lu Jingxing’s face turned green. “Throw out Dongjin’s Hundred Flowers Jun? You lend me some courage!”
“What should we do then?” Huaiyu was also helpless, turning to Jiang Xuanjin. “Do you have a solution?”
“Yes,” Jiang Xuanjin nodded.
Lu Jingxing’s eyes lit up, immediately bowing to him, “Please enlighten us, Your Highness!”
“No problem,” Jiang Xuanjin said considerately, “Mu Rongqi is stubborn. Kind words won’t work on her. Go up and spar with her. If you lose, you won’t have the face to stay here.”
Lu Jingxing was pleased but also somewhat worried. “She won’t resort to force, will she?”
“No,” Jiang Xuanjin said, “The Hundred Flowers Jun has always been willing to accept defeat in a bet.”
Listening, Huaiyu couldn’t shake off the feeling that something wasn’t quite right. Was Mu Rongqi willing to accept defeat? Then why did she seem so sore about their past fights? Each time, she gritted her teeth and sought revenge.
“Alright, meat is out of the question now. We won’t delay Shopkeeper Lu’s efforts to rid the people of harm.” Jiang Xuanjin took her arm and walked out. “Farewell.”
Coming back to her senses, Huaiyu instinctively bid farewell too, muttering all the way, “Nothing will go wrong, will it?”
Glancing sideways, Jiang Xuanjin asked, displeased, “Worried about him?”
“No, no, no!” Realizing something was amiss, Huaiyu quickly hugged his arm and chuckled. “Why would I worry about him? If I have the time, I’d rather spend it hugging you.”
With a soft grunt, Jiang Xuanjin turned away.
The two strolled to the outskirts. The setting sun cast a warm glow, and Huaiyu chatted away happily all the way. But when they sat down on a large rock, she suddenly fell silent, gazing at the setting sun.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, puzzled, looking at her.
Huaiyu smirked, hugging her knees, and whispered, “When you leave, will it be months before I see you again?”
Taken aback, Jiang Xuanjin frowned. “You…”
Before he could figure out how to respond, she already knew.
With a glint in her eyes, Huaiyu chuckled, tilting her head to look at him. “I’m not stupid, you know.”
His throat tightened, and Jiang Xuanjin tightened his grip on her hand.
In his plan, today was meant to be a day of indulgence for her, letting her have her way in everything. To make up for what he would owe her later. Yet she knew everything, cooperated with everything, teased him, and acted mad at him. It looked as if she was indulging him instead.
Gently caressing the back of her hand, he whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“What’s there to be sorry about?” Huaiyu smiled. “You’ve done more than well enough.”
Long ago, she had asked him: If you could only choose between me and the people, whom would you choose? He had answered without hesitation: The people.
But now, seeing him tirelessly stabilizing the situation under such tension, freeing up so much time to accompany her, to be with her through her pregnancy and postpartum recovery, he didn’t easily abandon her for the people. In his heart, the weight of the people was equal to hers.
Just thinking about her made him smile from ear to ear.
“During the War of Loyalty, I witnessed His Highness’s brilliance.” With a dreamy gaze, Huaiyu said, “At that time, Lord Ziyang was decisive and resolute, fierce and daring. You probably don’t know, but the way you rode your horse was extremely handsome.”
Jiang Xuanjin was stunned.
When Emperor Xiao passed away and the feud between the feudal lords broke out, he rode into the palace, quelling the rebel army and breaking open the gates of Feiyun Palace. At that moment, Eldest Princess was kneeling on a soft couch, protecting her younger brother.
He couldn’t remember her expression at that moment, but looking at her now, Jiang Xuanjin said, “So, it was at that moment that you harbored ill intentions toward me.”
Huaiyu burst into laughter, rubbing his hand against her face. Her eyes met his, serious.
“So, this time, His Highness must return safely, so I can once again admire that brilliance.”