Chapter 3 Chapter 3 A tall young general walked around...

The Ji Mansion was given by the government and they had lived there for a few years. Although it was not magnificent with carved beams and painted rafters, it was spacious and grand. It took almost a cup of tea to walk slowly from the small courtyard where Fang Ying lived to the courtyard where Li lived.

It was a bone-chilling early morning in late autumn. Fang Ying had already put on a quilted jacket, but she was still kept awake by the cold wind as she walked along. Even her restless heart seemed to be frozen, no longer beating wildly.

Entering Li's courtyard, the lights were on in the room, clearly someone who couldn't sleep and had gotten up early. Fang Ying walked along the corridor. Before she even reached the door, Li's personal maid Fang Gui lifted the curtain to wait for her, and greeted her with a smile, "Sixth Lady, you're up so early today."

"Yeah, I can't sleep." Fang Ying replied, then asked, "Is Madam up?"

"Yes, Madam didn't sleep well either."

While the two were talking, Fang Ying entered the room and saw that Li was already dressed and sitting on the couch, leaning against a small table.

"It's cold outside, right? Come and sit down." Li didn't let Fang Ying bow, and instead handed the hot water bottle in her hand to her.

Afterwards, Li told about a dream she had at night, and the maid reported that the second son Ji Yanshou and the fifth son Ji Yanhui were coming to pay their respects to the lady and say goodbye, and would then leave the city to wait.

Li took Fang Ying to the main hall next door, met the two brothers, and gave them a few instructions. After they left, breakfast was served. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law ate it without any appetite. Several concubines and daughters-in-law also came with their children to pay their respects.

Li and her husband Ji Guangting had three sons, namely Dalang, Erlang and Liulang. Several concubines gave birth to three more sons and four daughters. Now Sanlang and Silang are both with their father in the Zhangde Army in Xiangzhou. Si Niang is the only daughter who has not yet married. Even so, the room was full of people.

"Let's all go back first. Liu Lang has entered the city and must go to see the emperor first. I heard that he has to offer prisoners. It's uncertain when he can enter the house. Let's meet him together after he arrives home."

Li had no mood to talk to irrelevant people. She only kept her second daughter-in-law Yue Qing'e and two granddaughters, and sent the rest away with a few words.

Before Fang Ying married into the Ji family, she got along well with Yue Qing'e. Now, after being sisters-in-law for two years, their relationship has become even closer. Her two daughters also like to be close to Fang Ying. Now that there are no outsiders around, the older one pesters Fang Ying and wants her aunt to play with her.

"Okay, Yun'er, stop bothering your aunt. I don't feel like playing with you today." Yue Qing'e pulled her five-year-old daughter over and glanced at Fang Ying with a smile, her eyes full of teasing.

Yun'er looked up at her aunt and asked innocently, "What's wrong, aunt? Did you catch a cold?"

Her sister caught a cold two days ago and fell ill. Her mother didn't let her go to play with her sister, so she thought her aunt was the same.

Fang Ying smiled and shook her head: "No, auntie will play with you." She walked over, took Yun'er's hand, and said to Yue Qing'e, "Sister-in-law, please talk to mother. Yun'er and I will go play outside for a while." Sitting here is useless and she might as well find something to do.

Li watched them leave and whispered to Yue Qing'e, "Ying'er is probably even more uneasy than I am."

Yue Qing'e smiled and nodded: "After all, Liu Lang was not here when we got married. I wonder if Liu Lang is satisfied with seeing Ying'er?"

"What is he dissatisfied with? If it weren't for a blessing in disguise, he wouldn't have been able to marry such a good girl like Ying'er?" Li deliberately said in front of the servants beside her second daughter-in-law.

In fact, Mrs. Li's attitude towards her youngest son was not as certain as she said. After all, this brat had never been the kind of child who listened to his parents and followed the rules since he was young.

But the more this happened, the more she had to say this, lest Liu Lang come back and really give Fang Ying a hard time, and the servants in the mansion also look down on Fang Ying because her family wasn't prominent enough.

She wanted everyone in the mansion to know that no matter what Liu Lang's attitude was, she had decided on this daughter-in-law and would always support Fang Ying.

Fang Ying accompanied Xiao Yun'er in playing twirl rope in the outer room. The little girl laughed non-stop, and they couldn't hear what was said in the inner room at all. But it was also good this way. With this carefree laughter, time didn't seem so unbearable.

At two quarters past the hour of Si, the servant who had followed Ji Yanshou to the city gate finally rushed back to report that he had seen Ji Liulang enter the city with General Hao and the Third Prince.

When Li heard this, her eyes instantly turned red. She asked in a trembling voice, "Did you see it with your own eyes? How is Liu Lang? Did he lose weight? He's not injured, right?"

The servant said, "Madam, I saw with my own eyes Liu Lang wearing a helmet and fine-scale armor, majestically riding on a pure black horse without a single spot of other colors. He looked in the best of spirits!"

"Stop talking nonsense. He... is so majestic?" Li was amused by the servant and laughed back the tears that were about to flow out.

"I dare not tell lies. Hehe, if you don't believe me, wait until Liu Lang comes home and you can see for yourself. He is really majestic, but a little dark."

Li felt half relieved, and with a smile on her face, she asked someone to give the servant a reward and asked him to report back when he had any news.

After confirming that the people had entered the city, the atmosphere in Li's room suddenly became relaxed. Yue Qing'e took out the menu prepared for the family dinner tonight and handed it to Li. "Would you like to add any dishes?"

Li took a quick look at the food and saw that most of it was the Sichuan cuisine that she and her sixth son Yanlang liked, so she said, "Very good, let's roast another lamb."

Yue Qing'e agreed and immediately ordered the lamb to be slaughtered. She felt quite puzzled. Her mother-in-law had never liked lamb, and in recent years, for Liu Lang, she had doubled her devotion to Buddhism and even given up meat and become a vegetarian. Why would she think of roasting a whole lamb today? Could it be that Liu Lang liked it? Why didn't she remember?

Fang Ying, who was standing nearby, heard this and felt delighted. She loved meat the most, especially lamb roasted with lots of spices. With this roasted whole lamb, it was no big deal for her to meet the husband who fell from the sky today.

Unfortunately, she couldn't eat the mutton for the time being, but news about her husband kept coming back: he had gone to the Taimiao to prepare to offer the captives; he came out of the Taimiao and went to Xuande Gate; he went to Xuande Gate to prepare to offer the captives to the emperor; after the captive offering ceremony, the emperor summoned him.

It was already noon. Li was worried that her son, who hadn't eaten breakfast, would be hungry before returning from his visit to the emperor, so she asked the kitchen to prepare some food. Halfway through giving the order, she saw Fang Ying, who was talking to Yun'er with her arm around her, and asked casually, "Are you hungry? Should I ask the kitchen to fry some meat patties for you?"

Fang Ying hadn't eaten properly that morning, so when she heard the word "meat pie," her stomach immediately felt empty. However, she was too embarrassed to say it directly, so she lowered her head and asked Xiao Yun'er if she wanted to eat it.

The child was greedy and got hungry quickly, so of course he nodded and said he wanted to eat. So when the news came that the emperor had given Ji Liulang a meal and that he had to eat before returning home, Fang Ying had already eaten three small meat patties.

While her mother-in-law was changing clothes, Yue Qing'e quietly teased Fang Ying, "I thought you couldn't eat anything today."

"I thought so too." Fang Ying took a sip of tea and smiled to herself, "But this meat pie is so delicious, sister-in-law, would you like to try one?"

Yue Qing'e glanced at her and said, "You are indeed a fool with good fortune." She told Fang Ying what her mother-in-law had said that morning, and finally said, "But you can't just rely on your mother to protect you. You also have to find a way to please Liu Lang."

"Sister-in-law is right, but I really don't understand these things. How about you teach me how to control my husband?" Fang Ying joked.

Yue Qing'e glared, but before she could say anything, Li came back. She could only give her sister-in-law a look that said, "Just wait for me to deal with you next time."

Fang Ying smiled and turned to Li and said, "It seems that he won't be back for a while. Why don't you go take a nap first? We'll wait here and call you when we have news."

Yue Qing'e agreed, but Li refused, saying that she couldn't sleep. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law continued to chat casually. After another two minutes, someone finally brought back a message saying that the meal had been served and Liu Lang would leave the palace soon.

Li sat up straight immediately, no longer in the mood for idle chat. After a while, she couldn't even sit still and couldn't help but walk to the window to take a look.

Upon seeing this, Yue Qing'e hurriedly dispatched more people to guard the gates of the mansion, and told them to pass the message to everyone when they saw them. Even so, Li still couldn't sit down, so she simply went to the outer hall to wait.

Fang Ying also became nervous involuntarily. She followed Li and stood by the window, staring blankly at the screen wall inside the courtyard gate.

Ji Liulang, whose real name was Yanlang, was the youngest son of Princess Yaohua of Shu. He was deeply loved by the first lord of Shu in his childhood. He was raised in the palace and ate and slept with the first lord's children. He was very opinionated since childhood, arrogant, and daring. He was once a famous devil in Shu.

He should know now that the wife his family married for him during his disappearance was her, right?

Fang Ying took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She wasn't afraid; she was confident enough... Just as she was thinking this, someone flashed in from outside the screen wall and quickly walked down the steps outside the hall. Fang Ying immediately held her breath and listened to Li's impatient question, "Are we home yet?"

"Madam, not yet, but the three gentlemen have already mounted their horses outside the palace gates. They will be home in no time!"

Li let out a breath, calmed herself down, turned back inside and drank a cup of tea. When she looked back again, she found Fang Ying still standing under the window.

She couldn't help but smile, but she didn't call Fang Ying. She just stared at her daughter-in-law's back and listened to the maids' constant reports: "The gentlemen have entered the house!" "They have dismounted!" "Sixth Brother has rushed to the second gate!"

The second door leads directly to the main hall. When Li heard this, she took two steps at a time and rushed to the main hall door again.

Seeing her staggering, Fang Ying was afraid that her mother-in-law would fall, so she hurriedly took two steps forward to support her. Yue Qing'e and the maids also rushed forward. At this moment, heavy and powerful footsteps accompanied by the friction of armor were heard. Everyone looked up and saw a tall young general walking around the screen wall and striding in.

The man wore a helmet that covered his forehead, so when Fang Ying saw him, she first noticed his eyes, which were very similar to Li's. His eyes were bright and scorching, and his black pupils were full of eagerness. After seeing their group of people, they quickly turned red and flashed with tears.

"mother!"

Ji Yanlang called out loudly, then strode up the stairs and fell heavily to his knees with a thud. Fang Ying, who was standing next to Li, felt the ground tremble.

But at this moment, she was the only one who noticed such an insignificant matter, because before Ji Yanlang could finish saying "My unfilial son Yanlang is back", Li hugged her son and cried out loud.

On the other side, Yue Qing'e and the maids all covered their faces with their handkerchiefs and cried when they saw this scene. Even Ji Yanshou and Ji Yanhui, who followed Ji Yanlang in, stopped and wiped their tears. The courtyard was filled with crying for a while.

Only Fang Ying couldn't cry at all, so she took out the silk handkerchief that she had dipped in ginger juice in advance, pressed it gently against the corner of her eyes, and tears immediately burst out.

After crying for a while, Yue Qing'e cheered up first, reached out to support Li, and advised: "Mother, it's cold outside, let's go in and talk."

The maids also followed suit, some helped to support Li, and some came to support Fang Ying. The brothers Ji Yanshou and Ji Yanhui also came forward, holding Ji Yanlang on the left and right, and walked into the hall together.

Li sat on the chair, wiped her tears, and came back to her senses. She looked at her youngest son again and found that he had indeed become much darker and his face was rougher than before. He was no longer the jade-like young man he used to be. Her eyes immediately became sore and she started to cry.

Ji Yanlang took off his helmet and armor, knelt down on the prayer mat again, kowtowed to his mother in a very upright manner, and said at the same time: "Mother, your son is back."

Hearing his choked voice, Li couldn't hold back any longer. Tears fell in strings and she uttered the three words "get up quickly" incoherently.

Yue Qing'e glanced at Fang Ying and saw that she was crying even harder than her mother-in-law. Knowing that she couldn't rely on her today, she gestured to her husband to help Liu Lang. She stepped forward, moved closer to her mother-in-law, and said with a smile, "Mother, do you think Liu Lang has grown taller? It seems to me that he is even taller than Er Lang now."

When Li heard this, she quickly wiped away her tears and looked carefully. Ji Yanshou cooperated with his wife, pulled up his sixth brother and stood beside him, really comparing his height with his younger brother.

"Really..." Li looked left and right, and finally smiled. "I remember when Liu Lang left, he was about the same height as Er Lang. Now he's probably two inches taller, isn't he?"

Ji Yanlang glanced sideways at his brother, stretched out his hand to measure, and said with a smile: "Less than two inches, but my son can still grow, but my second brother can't."

Everyone in the room laughed approvingly, except Ji Yanshou, who stretched out his fist and punched his younger brother lightly: "I am not tall anymore, but I am still your second brother!"

Ji Yanlang covered the place where his brother had hit him and complained to Li: "Mom, my second brother hit me!"

"What's wrong with hitting you? I see you have thick skin now, so it won't hurt even if I hit you." Li said with a smile.

Ji Yanlang walked a few steps to Li, bent down and sat on the footstool, and said in a naughty way: "Mother, look carefully, where is my skin thick? It's obvious that you don't care about me anymore, and you still say that I don't feel pain!"

Li was both angry and amused. She raised her hand and slapped him, scolding him, "You are already grown up, and you are still acting like a scoundrel. Get up!"

Ji Yanlang refused and raised his head and said, "Do you think you don't love me anymore because I've become tanned and ugly?"

Looking at him from such a close distance, his skin color was indeed a lot darker, his cheeks were dry and flaky, and although he had a strong build, in the eyes of a mother, he seemed too thin.

Li was distressed, but when she said the last sentence, she thought of Fang Ying. She suppressed her sadness, turned around to look at her daughter-in-law standing behind her, and scolded with a smile: "Why don't you get up? Your wife is watching!"

Ji Yanlang froze and followed his mother's gaze, meeting a pair of red and swollen eyes. He immediately jumped up as if stung by something and stood aside.

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