Chapter 51, Chapter 51, Part 5...

Chapter 51

At this moment, it's hard to describe Yao Anhui's feelings in words; they are a mix of emotions, but mostly moved.

There were many reasons why Yao Anhui initially wanted to get married. One reason was that the original owner of this body was in a bad situation at the time, and she didn't know that her ability to jinx someone could be upgraded, so she could only save herself.

It's because she hates trouble. Staying in the original owner's hometown would cause a lot of trouble. She's worried that people the original owner knew would notice the difference between her and the original owner, and that there would be scum who covet the original owner.

The bigger problem was that with her overly beautiful face and frail appearance, without the protection of her family, there would only be more people with the same ideas as Wu Xingye, and Yao Anhui chose to solve the problem once and for all.

The military environment was relatively less chaotic, and Guan Kangde was a strong ally who could protect her and reduce a lot of trouble for her.

Most importantly, in both her past and present lives, Yao Anhui has always wanted a home of her own and to have her own children; this has become an obsession for her.

Yao Anhui chose to marry Lu Yuanqing not because she fell in love with him, but because Lu Yuanqing's personality meant that the two of them would not argue too much over trivial matters, which was extremely attractive to someone who wanted a simple life.

Another major reason was that the three people Guan Kangde arranged for her to meet were all exceptionally outstanding individuals. In the eyes of the world, Yao Anhui was not good enough for any one of them.

However, compared to Wu Chengan and Jiao Jingming, Lu Yuanqing's family background is not as complicated. He is the only person in the Lu family, which puts him far ahead of others for people who dislike mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationships.

Yao Anhui married Lu Yuanqing not because of love, but because of societal norms; it was a decision Yao Anhui made after weighing the pros and cons.

Yao Anhui was undoubtedly lucky. Lu Yuanqing was as reasonable as ever. Lu Yuanqing was taciturn and not a likable person, but Yao Anhui disliked people who were good at flattery and ingratiating themselves.

Lu Yuanqing's actions spoke for themselves, hitting the bullseye perfectly.

After marriage, Lu Yuanqing was meticulous and considerate. Whenever he was home, Yao Anhui didn't need to do anything; Lu Yuanqing took care of her in every possible way.

Not to mention that you wouldn't see someone like Lu Yuanqing in feudal society, Yao Anhui has never seen a man who would wash his wife's clothes, let alone cook, wash dishes, or clean the house since she came here.

Even Hua Fangling, who came from a more open-minded later era, jokingly called Lu Yuanqing a good man that was hard to find even with a lantern.

However, Lu Yuanqing is not without his flaws. He is probably what Hua Fangling calls the "common problem" of male protagonists in period novels: he is restrained during the day but turns into a wolf at night. Yao Anhui is particularly good at this.

After getting married, Yao Anhui's affection for Lu Yuanqing grew stronger day by day, and her liking for him increased day by day. Just when Yao Anhui thought Lu Yuanqing was already very good, Lu Yuanqing would behave even better.

Just like now, Yao Anhui's feelings are really complicated. Yao Anhui didn't expect that under the circumstances last night, Lu Yuanqing still remembered the taro root she wanted and even arranged for other people who stayed in the army to help.

A seed of love had sprouted in Yao Anhui's heart, quietly growing when she wasn't paying attention. Lu Yuanqing's kindness to her quietly became the fertilizer for its growth.

By the time Yao Anhui discovered it, the seed named "love" had already sprouted two small leaves.

"Sister-in-law... Sister-in-law, where should we put this taro stem?" The young soldier's voice interrupted Yao Anhui's thoughts.

"Let's just leave it here. We can wash it together and make pickled taro stems," Yao Anhui pointed to an empty space next to a well.

"OK."

After the young soldiers put down the taro stems, Yao Anhui brought out a sweet soup, a high-standard form of hospitality these days: "You've worked hard, have some water."

"Have you had breakfast yet? I haven't made breakfast yet, so have something to eat first." Yao Anhui brought out some biscuits and tomatoes and cucumbers picked from the garden.

"Thank you, sister-in-law." The young soldier, who was thirsty, drank the cup in one gulp and was then overwhelmed by the sweetness of the sugar water.

It wasn't that Yao Anhui put in too much sugar and made it too sweet; it was just that the young soldier hadn't expected Yao Anhui to make them sugar water and was caught off guard.

The young soldiers had all been in the army for less than half a year. They had previously done chores for the military wives. These days, the minimum rank for someone to accompany a soldier is company commander. The military wives come from all over the country and have all sorts of personalities.

They were all quite well-mannered and didn't look down on men just because they were of high social standing. Most of them were gentle and polite, but there was always a certain distance between them. Yao Anhui was the second military dependent to win their favor.

The first one is naturally Hua Fangling. As someone who has a strong professional bias towards soldiers, police officers, and firefighters, it was destined that Hua Fangling could not be indifferent to them. She would always treat them warmly whenever they met, which made Hua Fangling very popular among the soldiers.

However, how could Hua Fangling, who grew up in peacetime, possibly compare to the winners of palace intrigue in their ability to win people's hearts?

This isn't meant to be derogatory, and Yao Anhui wasn't trying to win people over. It's just that habits are really hard to change. Even in a different world, some habits are still ingrained in one's bones.

Having climbed from a lowly palace maid to the position of Imperial Concubine, no one knew better than Yao Anhui how insignificant a seemingly insignificant person could be. Many schemes in the harem could collapse or be averted because of an unassuming little person.

Of course, Yao Anhui is always the victor.

Yao Anhui started as a lowly palace maid and was very good at planning for herself. In the beginning, she deliberately and secretly made connections in order to leave the palace. When she could, she did not mind helping some people without endangering her own life.

She has encountered ungrateful bastards before, but they have all been thoroughly humiliated by those who know how to repay kindness. Several times, people have even risked their lives to deliver messages to her.

In short, Yao Anhui never overlooked any minor figure. In the harem, Consort Hui was the most popular concubine, without exception.

Yao Anhui never physically punished her servants. If the maids and eunuchs in her palace were to die, they would be given medicine instead of being sent to the cold palace to die. They were also often given rewards during festivals. When other concubines were in trouble, she would do her best to protect them instead of pushing them out as shields.

Having served in the imperial harem for over a decade, Yao Anhui had become accustomed to wearing a gentle mask, habitually displaying generosity, and over time, her acting skills had become so refined that they seemed ingrained in her very being.

It's fair to say that Hua Fangling's loss to her was well-deserved!

The young soldier felt that Yao Anhui was more likable than Hua Fangling. Hua Fangling was warm and thoughtful, but Yao Anhui was gentle and generous. Being looked at by her was like being surrounded by tenderness, as if they were the most valued and important people.

This is completely different from the feeling I had when I was with Hua Fangling, so it's no wonder that Hua Fangling lost to her.

"Sister-in-law, are there any other ones over there? Should we put them here too?" The two young soldiers exchanged a glance, and one of them asked.

"There's more? You didn't cut down the whole taro plant, did you?" Yao Anhui was stunned. There were two whole loads, four large bundles, of them. Because the taro stems were very light, they were bundled into very large bundles, and the visual effect of them piled together was quite impressive.

Yao Anhui originally thought that all the taro stems that had been cut were here, and she hadn't asked Lu Yuanqing to cut them all back yesterday.

To everyone's surprise, the two young soldiers grinned and said, "We've already cut it off; we'll go pick it back now."

Yao Anhui looked slightly uneasy, but she quickly recovered, so fast that it was impossible to notice.

"Thank you so much for your hard work. I'll send you some pickled taro stems when they're ready, and I'll invite you over for dinner when my husband comes back." Yao Anhui said with gratitude, and warmly invited them to come over for dinner.

At eighteen or nineteen, they are at an age where they can't resist the temptation of delicious food. When they heard Yao Anhui say that she would treat them to a meal, their smiles became even brighter. Being invited to a meal by a superior is not an opportunity that everyone has, let alone the superior of a superior.

Another thing is that Yao Anhui, like Hua Fangling, is known in the military region for being generous with her money, willing to spend lavishly on food and drink. It is said that Yao's wife, like Hua's wife, is an excellent cook, which can be said to have raised expectations to the max.

"Thank you, sister-in-law." The two young soldiers smiled broadly, feeling that their decision to finish cutting the taro stems was absolutely right; otherwise, they wouldn't have enjoyed the meal that Sister Yao had treated them to.

Yes, they had picked up all the taro stems they had cut, but because Yao Anhui spoke to them softly and her smile was so sincere, and she offered them sweet soup, cookies, and fruit, they decided to cut more and finish cutting all the taro stems in that area.

Yao Anhui was also completely taken aback. She was just using her usual friendliness to take care of the young soldier and offer him some food and drinks.

As a result, she created a ton of things for herself to do. If she had known, she would never have done it.

Yes, Yao Anhui just wanted to make some pickled taro stems to add a dish to her family's winter table, but she didn't expect so much...you know, one pound of taro stems can make more than eight ounces of pickled taro stems.

Yao Anhui thought that several dozen kilograms of pickled taro stems would be enough for the whole winter, since pickled taro stems, pickled vegetables, and pickled cowpeas are all the same thing, and only one of them can appear on a dining table.

These four large bundles of taro stems on the ground must weigh over a hundred pounds. If they were all made into pickled taro stems, they could fill a large vat. Just the salt needed to make pickled taro stems would require buying dozens of pounds of salt.

Yao Anhui already had a headache from seeing so many taro stems, but heaven knows how stiff her lips were when she heard that there were still many that hadn't been picked.

Yao Anhui guessed that Lu Yuanqing probably didn't explain things clearly, which led to a misunderstanding.

But what can Yao Anhui do? Who can she blame?

You can't blame Lu Yuanqing. He went out to help with disaster relief in the middle of the night and still remembered what Yao Anhui said. Where can you find a man like that?

Why blame the young soldier who helped her? He came to work hungry early in the morning, and Yao Anhui had no right to blame him.

Yao Anhui can't blame anyone but herself for not explaining things clearly to Lu Yuanqing yesterday afternoon.

Not only that, Yao Anhui also had to hurry up and cook. People came to work so early in the morning, she couldn't let them go home on an empty stomach.

Just then, there were some steamed buns made from two kinds of flour that Lu Yuanqing had prepared for her at home, so Yao Anhui decided to heat them up and stir-fry some chili and pork for them to take home and eat.

Yao Anhui's mindset hadn't changed yet; as a young woman, it wasn't appropriate for her to eat at home with a boy who was only a few years younger than her.

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Author's Note: Yao Anhui's sorrow is... that great.