Chapter 45 The word "brother-in-law" sent a shockwave through He Beiqing

Main hall.

"Grandparents, I am your own granddaughter, how can you dislike me! Last time you kicked me out before I even gave you a massage for a short while!"

Jiang Shuifu pouted her lips and acted coquettishly towards them, while massaging their shoulders and backs.

Grandmother beamed with joy, nodding repeatedly and praising her for her filial piety and excellent cooking skills.

She playfully hopped behind Jiang Zongnan and hummed a few times in his ear: "I know Grandfather dislikes me, but I'll show you my real skills!"

The next moment, she cast a glance at the person a few steps away.

Before Jiang Zongnan could even wonder what was happening, two hands suddenly appeared on his shoulders.

Jiang Shuifu gave up her seat to He Beiqing and quietly returned to her grandmother's side to continue massaging her. Her grandmother looked at her, and she stuck out her tongue with a grin.

As soon as He Beiqing made his move, Jiang Zongnan straightened up, his eyes widening, and you could tell from his expression that he was comfortable.

He Beiqing's technique was unique and powerful, targeting acupoints and tendons on the body. He first pinched and pressed with both hands, then punched with his elbows, and finally rubbed with his fingers, combining both strength and gentleness.

In less than half an incense stick's time, Jiang Zongnan felt refreshed and his body felt more and more comfortable as the massage continued.

He then turned to look at the man whose face was completely covered by a veil, and deliberately teased, "I knew it wasn't my Fu'er. My Fu'er only knows how to fuss over this old geezer!"

Jiang Shuifu wouldn't stand for it. She immediately pushed He Beiqing aside and went to massage her grandmother. She then reached out and grabbed her grandfather, who was in agony under her control and surrendered with a smile.

"Oh dear! Just kidding. Fu'er is the best. No one can compare to the precious beads of our Jiang and Jiang families!"

The little hands on her shoulders finally stopped and began to massage her earnestly.

Her grandparents were getting old, and their bodies had accumulated a lot of discomfort and pain. She wanted to make them more comfortable, so she would often give them massages. She chose Yunzhu because she valued his skills; if Yunzhu gave them a massage, they would feel much better.

Unexpectedly, Yunzhu didn't come; instead, this man did.

But how did he know her intentions?

Perhaps he was smart and perceptive enough, but she always felt that he was secretly investigating her and watching her.

So the more she looked at him, the angrier she became, and the more furious she got, so she started picking fights with him:

"What are you slacking off for? If I hadn't seen you were starving and knew a few tricks, I wouldn't have fed you or bought you clothes! If I catch you again, you'll take your clothes off right now!"

Her sudden outburst naturally earned her a scolding from her grandparents, and her grandfather apologized to He Beiqing on her behalf, while also curiously asking him:

"Did you study this profession? Your skills are excellent! Since you have nowhere to go, why don't you stay at our manor? We, the Jiang family, will provide you with a monthly allowance."

Jiang Shuifu naturally didn't need to worry about him agreeing, and silently snorted at him. As expected, He Beiqing refused.

"I used to be a soldier. Injuries are inevitable in the army, so I learned quite a few skills. However, I never expected to suffer such a serious injury, losing most of my martial arts skills. Staying in the army would only be a burden, so I came to Su Yang. I also learned some musical instruments and dances from a young age, so I went to perform for money. And that's how I met you, Miss. You are our Fengyue..."

She saw that his words were becoming increasingly outrageous, utterly fabricated, and even mentioning brothels; he was simply taking revenge on her.

They really can't stand to suffer any loss!

Stingy! Extremely stingy!

Why did she have to run into a man like that?!

If her grandparents found out she had been to a place like that, she probably wouldn't be able to leave the house for the next two months. How could that be allowed! Su Yang's Flower Festival is coming soon, and she still wants to go see the lanterns!

So she immediately interrupted him, hurriedly turning her grandfather's face back: "Grandpa and Grandma, someone's here, they've brought something!"

She wasn't lying; someone had indeed come. The steward had brought several people from outside the mansion.

They carried two boxes, one inside the other, with extreme care, as if afraid of damaging them. After setting them down, they bowed and replied:

"Greetings, Master Jiang. These are tributes sent by our master: Jing peaches. There are three boxes in total. Please check them."

Jiang Zongnan accepted the gift, gave the men some silver as a reward, and asked them to convey his thanks to He Beiqing.

But he didn't know that He Beiqing was right beside him.

Of course, she had eaten the thorn peach and ginger water lily before. When she was still the Crown Princess, rare and exotic items from all over the country were sent to the Eastern Palace. Children loved them. She called out to the children playing in the inner courtyard:

"Tiger Brother, Bean Sister, Little Sister! Come and eat some delicious food! If you're late, there won't be any left!"

Before long, several children came running over, chattering excitedly, their eyes shining as they surrounded the three boxes of offerings.

Seeing this, Jiang Zongnan could only tell the servants to wash it and bring it up again. However, he couldn't help but scold them a few times. How could they be so eager to open the box as soon as it was delivered, as if they had never eaten before? It would make them a laughing stock.

Jiang Shuifu ignored her and stuffed two of the washed peaches into her grandparents' mouths. "These peaches won't last long, so we have to eat them as soon as they're delivered!"

The children were enjoying their food immensely. "Wow! This is called a thorn peach! Tiger, I've never seen one before! Bean, what about you?"

Doujie shook her head: "I've never seen this before, but there's ice under these thorn peaches! You can tell they're very valuable! My sister sent a letter before saying she wanted to send us some royal fruits. Sister, you're amazing!"

Jiang Shuifu was stunned for a few moments. She didn't expect Doujie to say these things. She was afraid that the children all thought that she was the one who gave them the gifts.

She had previously said she would send them some tributes to eat, but this kind of work had to be requested from Shen Jizhao, and he didn't care, so it always ended up being left unfinished.

Unexpectedly, the first offerings that her younger siblings, grandparents, and other relatives ate were from a different man.

The two older girls were exclaiming in amazement, but the little girl was quite clever and had already eaten several more than them. Jiang Shuifu couldn't help but pat her two cute little pigtails.

"Sister, you should eat too!"

Tiger and Bean didn't forget to feed Jiang Shuifu, who happily accepted the food.

Before long, Meibao took out two more thorny peaches and ran towards someone with her little feet pattering. She stood on tiptoe, stretched out her round little hands, blinked her big eyes, and said with a grin:

"Brother-in-law, your brother-in-law brought this over. Do you want some? It's really delicious!"

A deafening roar suddenly echoed across the sky, and the sky instantly darkened, signaling an imminent downpour.

The sudden roar startled the children, especially Mei Bao, whose tiptoeing feet twisted instantly, and she fell straight forward, clutching the veil in front of her.

He Beiqing quickly caught her, and Meibao took the opportunity to rush into his veil, hugged his leg, and started crying, her eyes narrowed into slits.

He looked at the two fallen peaches at his feet, crushed to pieces by his foot. Fortunately, his little sister in his arms was focused on crying and didn't look at him. He held her and gently comforted her.

He couldn't quite describe the feeling in his heart, but those two words were truly burning hot, making him feel like he was on fire.

He then thought again that his little sister Bao wasn't calling him, but rather thought that the peaches were a gift from His Highness the Crown Prince.

He corrected himself as if possessed, "It wasn't my brother-in-law who gave it to me, it was an older brother."

.

"You've finished massaging my shoulders, and you've eaten the peach. Now you should go!"

He Beiqing stopped her from closing the door with one hand, looking at her with a wry smile: "You're too heartless, Miss Fu!"

Jiang Shuifu stopped and stared at him intently: "Why do I feel like you're being a bit nosy?"

He Beiqing was used to such sarcasm; she could never speak to him calmly. But the next few words made his eyes narrow.

"It's about me! Or rather, it's about me!"

Meddling in other people's business is common, but to do it specifically to a woman, and repeatedly at that, reveals a deeper meaning upon closer examination.

Jiang Shuifu was genuinely puzzled and suspicious. What exactly was his purpose?

He Beiqing's eyes froze for a moment, and his heart skipped a beat. What nonsense was she talking about?

What was said unintentionally was taken to heart by the listener. He actually sensed a probing tone in the air, and a faint, unusual, romantic feeling seemed to float in the air.

He then admitted, "Yunzhu doesn't want to come. I asked him, and he said he doesn't want to see you and is pushing the task onto me..."

She slammed the door shut with a loud bang, and he quickly managed to create the last sliver of space for himself.

He blinked seriously through the narrow crack in the door, no longer joking:

"I consider us friends."

.

These past few days, Jiang Shuifu has been preparing lanterns for the Flower Festival.

This festival is in mid-February in the capital, but in Suzhou and Yangzhou it is in April or May. April and May are neither too hot nor too cold, and everyone dresses up in their finest clothes. Some even dress up as the twelve flower goddesses to show their love for the flower goddesses.

Everyone would make their own lanterns, and then compete in a special venue to see whose lantern was better and more beautiful. The final winner, chosen by the public, would receive a reward from Yuantingfang.

This year's prize is one of Yuantingfang's most prized possessions. There is only one Qiongsu Xianghuang in the entire Dabei area. It can be used to wash hands, scent clothes, and apply makeup. It is truly precious and valuable.

Jiang Shuifu certainly couldn't let this opportunity slip by. She had been staying up for several nights in a row designing patterns, but without any success.

As night fell, Meibao suddenly burst in, cheering excitedly:

"Sister, I found a crabapple blossom outside!"

Jiang Shuifu took a look and quickly scoffed, "Hmph! He's certainly persistent!"

This isn't a crabapple blossom at all; it's just a folded piece of paper with the words "See you at Meixi in five days" written on it.

She burned the note again, as if she could read his resentment, or rather, his grievances, in the lines he wrote.

At the end of that day, he asked her to meet him in a few days, but because she was wary of him and busy making lanterns, she didn't want to go. So he sent her letters every day in different ways: the day before yesterday it was Tiger, yesterday it was Bean, today...

She scooped up her little sister in her arms, brought her close to smell her, and deliberately wiped her mouth; "Little sister, what's that on your lips? It looks like sweet candy..."

She deliberately dragged out the sound, and sure enough, Mei Bao's eyes widened immediately, and she shook her little hands repeatedly.

"It's not candied hawthorn, it's not candied hawthorn! Meibao didn't eat candied hawthorn, she didn't eat any, no one bought her any!"

Jiang Shuifu knew it! She pinched her nose as punishment, "If there's another Flower Festival, I won't take you out, and you can forget about your rabbit lantern!"

Meibao nodded, making a soft, sobbing sound.

After several days of hard work and deep thought, Jiang Shuifu finally finalized her design: she wanted to make a handheld flower basket with a bird-shaped lamp.

The lamp surface is shaped like a flower basket, with flowers and leaves inside the basket as secondary elements, and swallows and sparrows as the central motif.

After finalizing the design, she began making it. She searched for many bamboo and wooden strips, Xuan paper, colored ropes, and all kinds of beads. Even the silk she used was top-quality Shu brocade.

She was determined to win the championship, so she stayed up late into the night to work hard again.

She was carefully whittling bamboo with a small knife, when she heard a pebble hit the window outside.

She ignored him and smashed the glass again, but he still ignored her, focusing on his work.

She carved bamboo strips for a long time, and the outside side smashed the windows for a long time; both sides could be described as persistent.

She stopped angrily when she had almost smashed the window of her house, then got up and strode out the window, shouting furiously at the man lying on the wall of the Jiang residence:

"I know it's you, He Beiqing. Why are you acting crazy here so late at night instead of sleeping!"

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Author's Note: The male protagonist glared at his younger sister: "Brother-in-law is right here! If you keep calling me that, I won't buy you candied hawthorns!" [Angry]

Little Sister: Waaaaah, I'm going to tell my older sister! [crying][crying]

Shen Gouzi: I was wrong [Please][Please]