Chapter 446 The Couple

Lin Changning rubbed his aching back and grinned at Qi Erge, saying, "I've really been slacking off these past six months. I've only been cutting wheat all morning, and my back is already a little sore."

Qi Rong looked up at Lin Changning's sunburnt face and chuckled, "It's alright, go back and rest first. We'll continue this afternoon. You're still injured. If you can't hold on, just tell me and we can rest under the shed."

Lin Changning shook his head: "My injuries are almost fully healed, I'm fine, I can still do some farm work."

As they spoke, the two followed behind the King of Chu and his generals toward the tent.

Princess Chu and many noble families from Taiyuan were sitting on mats under the canopy. A large canopy had been set up around them with cloth, seemingly to prevent the relatives of Taiyuan officials from suffering from heatstroke. They had even thoughtfully placed many buckets of ice under the canopy.

As soon as Lin Changning stepped under the shed, he felt a slight chill as the wind blew against his cheeks.

Under the shed, a group of people were keeping the princess company, along with Li Mingshu and the others. The group consisted of relatives of Taiyuan officials, mostly wives, with a few older faces representing the mothers of the Taiyuan officials.

Upon learning that the princess and the noblewoman would be accompanying the prince during the autumn harvest, the group of people also invited their relatives to come over despite the sweltering heat to keep the princess and the noblewoman company and relieve their boredom.

When Princess Consort Chu saw Prince Chu approaching, she stood up, her eyes crinkling into a smile, and walked towards her prince.

Holding a handkerchief, she walked up to the prince and wiped his sweat, saying, "I've had some mung bean water prepared. Your Highness, please come and have some to cool off."

After saying that, he looked at Lin Changning and the others behind the King of Chu and said, "You guys should also avoid getting heatstroke. Come and have some cooling tea."

Lin Changning, along with Li Mingxiu and the others, thanked the princess and went straight into the shed.

Li Mingshu put down Yue'er from her arms, picked up a bowl of mung bean water, and walked to Lin Changning's side.

"Are you thirsty? Drink some mung bean water. I was going to get you some chilled water, but your third grandfather said you shouldn't eat cold things lately, so I prepared some warm water for you."

Lin Changning smiled broadly at Li Mingshu and casually took the mung bean soup, drinking it all in one gulp. Li Mingshu took a handkerchief and wiped the corners of Lin Changning's mouth, noticing the beads of sweat on his eyebrows and forehead.

"Come rest under the shed for a while. Someone will bring your food up in a bit. I brought you a braised pork knuckle today, stewed until it's very tender."

Lin Changning's eyes lit up. Although there was no shortage of food at home, she was indeed a little hungry after working all morning. The stewed pork knuckle, tender and soft, paired with rice was the perfect dish to eat on this hot day.

Lin Changning chuckled and said, "Thank you, my wife..."

The interaction between the two drew envious glances from a group of women in the audience, with several older women covering their mouths and laughing as they spoke.

"Lord Lin and the Princess are truly a loving couple. Look at how sweet they are together, they probably can't be separated."

"Who can disagree? What a perfect couple, they're the envy of everyone."

Watching her parents showing affection in front of her, Yue'er struggled to break free from the maid's arms and rushed straight towards Lin Changning.

Lin Changning saw Yue'er running over and subconsciously bent down to hug her and pick her up. His smooth and effortless movements made the group of women next to him envious.

Yue'er hugged Lin Changning's neck and proudly raised her head, imitating her mother, and rolled up her little sleeves to wipe Lin Changning's face: "Daddy, Yue'er will wipe your face too, we two are also a loving couple."

Lin Changning couldn't help but laugh, and Yue Tong's childish voice also made the women next to him burst into laughter.

"Oh my, that's hilarious, Miss Yue'er. Do you even know what 'deeply in love between husband and wife' means? You can't just use that word carelessly."

Yue'er didn't understand, but she proudly raised her chin: "Doesn't it just mean that I have a good relationship with Father? Yue'er has a good relationship with Father too."

The child's innocent words inevitably drew laughter from the women in the room.

"Oh dear, this child!"

Li Mingshu couldn't help but laugh and pinched Yue'er's cheek: "伉俪 means a deep affection between husband and wife. Father and mother are husband and wife. Yue'er can't use idioms randomly."

Lin Changning held Yue'er and bounced her around, nodding as he did so, and then flicked Yue'er's little head with his hand.

"Yue'er and her father must have a deep father-daughter bond..."

Yue'er chuckled as she rubbed her head where Lin Changning had flicked her: "Alright, as long as we're close, that's all that matters. My father and I have a great relationship and deep affection!"

Lin Changning, holding his daughter in one arm, was escorted to his seat by Li Mingshu.

Not far from them, the prince and princess watched the two's little interaction with a smile of satisfaction. The princess sat down next to the prince, holding a small fan in her hand, and fanned the two of them with a cool breeze. She said softly, "Look at Shu'er and her husband, they are quite like you and me back then."

The King of Chu turned his head to look at his queen and smiled gently, saying in a low voice, "You weren't as gentle as our daughter back then. I remember you pinched my waist all over when you first married into the family, leaving it all bruised and purple."

The princess rolled her eyes at the king and snorted softly, "If you had been as considerate as Changning back then, would I have pinched you?"

The King of Chu back then was a hothead. During the autumn harvest, he was harvesting wheat in the capital with his queen. Because he was newly married and adored his queen, he couldn't resist and lost his temper in front of his father, the emperor. He hugged his queen and spun her around several times, which frightened her so much that her face turned pale.

That's when she pinched the King of Chu hard on the waist during the meal.

The King of Chu touched his nose somewhat guiltily: "Back then, I was about the same age as Changning, and I really couldn't resist when I met the one I loved."

The words comforted the Queen of Chu. She gave a soft hum and handed the King of Chu a glass of chilled fruit wine, scolding him, "You're always so unserious. Have some wine to shut your mouth."

But after seeing that the King of Chu had drunk several cups in a row, he directly pressed down on the King of Chu's hand and coughed lightly.

"That's enough. The physician said you shouldn't be exposed to cold things. There's some boiled mung bean water in the corridor. Someone, bring over some warm mung bean water."

The King of Chu watched helplessly as his queen snatched away the pot of chilled fruit wine from his hand. He smacked his lips, tasted it, and sighed, letting his queen have someone bring him mung bean water.

He gulped down the bowl of wine, glanced at Li Mingxiu and the others who were drinking chilled beverages, gave a soft snort, and pointed at them as he spoke.

"Take away all the chilled drinks from his three tables. It's not good to drink cold drinks. Replace them with mung bean water."

Li Mingxiu suddenly looked up and saw the mischievous look in his father's eyes. He couldn't help but complain, "Father, you can't be greedy for coolness. The three of us are fine."

The King of Chu looked at his son and gently turned his head to look at his queen: "Your mother said that eating cold things is not good for your health. Take it away, take it away, and replace it with mung bean water."

Qi Rong remained silent, gulping down several mouthfuls of chilled wine. By the time the maid brought over the mung bean water, he had already finished a pot of chilled fruit wine.

Li Mingde followed suit without arguing and started gulping down the wine from the pot.

When the maidservants approached Li Mingxiu, he glared at the two uncivilized women and exclaimed, "Huh? No? You two?"

Qi Rong had already let go of Li Mingxiu's hand, accepted the mung bean water handed to him by the maid, and smiled without saying a word.

Li Mingxiu angrily gulped down a few mouthfuls, glared at the two of them, and then took the mung bean water.

Damn it, I always knew the second son in the family was the most cunning!