Chapter 66: Husband and wife win together
It was time for dinner, Gu Wen came home from work, and the family gathered together for dinner. Gu Youan sat with his sister Axuan as he usually did at home.
A Xuan leaned against her sister affectionately: "Sister, are you busy lately?"
"It's okay, it's all the same."
A Xuan laughed and said, "Sister, you have to go home today. A Xuan wants to go to your house and play."
Gu Youan pinched her cheek and said with a smile, "Still playing? A young lady your age should put in the effort to study. Reading and writing, or riding and archery, no matter what, you should at least be able to do one thing."
"Oh, I'm learning. Now I can shoot arrows very accurately and write well. My teacher even praised me the other day."
"real?"
Ah Xuan was unconvinced: "If you don't believe me, ask my sister-in-law."
Duan Wanniang was serving soup to her parents-in-law when she heard this and smiled, "Axuan's handwriting is very neat. It's not easy for a young lady of her age to write like this."
The Duan family was a family of civil servants, and Duan Wanniang had studied the Four Books and Five Classics since childhood, becoming quite accomplished in this area. Duan had little to do since she entered the family, so in her free time she accompanied her sister-in-law in her studies, and she was well aware of her sister-in-law's academic progress.
A Xuan looked at her sister proudly and said, "Did you hear that? My sister-in-law praised me for being so awesome."
Gu Wenxun said, "Although it's well written, it will be even better if you work harder. Don't slack off."
"Dad~"
Gu Wen ignored her, so Ah Xuan started to act coquettishly with her mother again: "I want to rest for a few days. Tell me to stay at my sister's house for a few days. I will be back in a few days."
Mrs. Du said, "Don't bother me, ask your sister."
A Xuan looked at her sister eagerly again: "I want to play."
Gu Youan couldn't help but laugh and said, "If you want to have fun, then go stay at Prince Qi's mansion for a few days."
"yeah!"
Ah Xuan jumped up happily and shouted, "I can go alone, no need to bring my husband along."
The whole family burst into laughter. What a girl!
Mrs. Du laughed and poked her arm: "Your brothers and sisters all love reading, why is it that you can't do that?"
A Xuan's eyes rolled around. "Of course my older brother and sister look like dad, and I look like you. Didn't you always say I look like you?"
Mrs. Du glared at her little daughter angrily and said, "I think you don't want to eat dinner."
Ah Xuan smiled flatteringly: "I need to eat, I need to eat. I'm growing, so I need to eat more."
"If you want to eat, don't tell lies to make me angry."
"How dare I get angry with you?"
Gu Youan picked up some food for Axuan: "Eat it. Eat more fish. It makes you smart."
There are three dishes of fish and shrimp on the table today, one is steamed, the other is braised, and the other is blanched. Gu Youan tasted them and they all tasted very good.
"Mrs. Yang's craftsmanship is getting better and better." Gu Youan praised casually.
Mrs. Du smiled and said, "Mrs. Yang's cooking skills are naturally good. Another thing is that the frozen sea fish we bought is fresh. As long as you add enough oil and salt, it will taste good no matter how you cook it."
When Gao Jin and his friends came back, they bought a lot of seafood in Shanhaiguan.
The eldest sister-in-law Duan said, "Liu Zhong, the eunuch who works for my sister, the general, sent us a basket of various vegetables, covered with a quilt. I went to take a look and it was very fresh."
Gu Youan picked up some food for his parents and said, "Sister-in-law, if you like it, I'll have someone bring it back later."
There was a dish of stir-fried Chinese cabbage and twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts on the table. All the vegetables used were fresh, and Gu Youan saw it just now.
Mrs. Du said hurriedly, "There's no need to send them often. We have plenty of food at home."
"Mother, Zhou Qi is not here, and I am the only master in the manor. There are several acres of greenhouses built on the farm. How can I eat all the vegetables I grow by myself?"
"You and Dad don't have to think too much. I'm the boss of Prince Qi's Mansion now. Even if Zhou Qi were here, he wouldn't bother me with such a small thing. As your daughter, I'm offering this as a filial gift to you. Just accept it."
Mrs. Du asked, "Why are you calling Prince Qi by his first name?"
Gu Youan didn't care: "What's wrong with calling him by his name? Aren't names meant to be called? If he's unhappy, he can just call me by my name."
"You...you know that's not what I meant."
Gu Youan smiled and said, "Mom, I know what you mean. You just want to say that I don't respect him enough."
"You still say that even though you know it."
"We are husband and wife, and I am not his subordinate. Why should I respect him? He is in my heart."
Mrs. Du felt something was wrong. "I have him in my heart," she said. "How could I say such words in public? How shameful!"
Seeing that her mother was speechless, Gu Youan quickly laughed and said, "I was just joking. Please don't meddle in our affairs."
Gu Wen was more aware of his daughter's unbridled behavior than Mrs. Du. He advised, "Don't get involved in young people's affairs. You'll feel better if you worry less."
Mrs. Du sighed, "They've all grown up. I can't control you anymore. So forget it."
Duan watched from the side and sighed in her heart that her aunt was really amazing. She was a well-known figure in both her parents' family and her husband's family.
However, this lady is very capable and has a bad temper, but she is still very protective of her family.
Gu Youan turned around and said to her, "Sister-in-law, when there are more vegetables ripening in the greenhouse in a few days, I will ask someone to send more over. You can take some back to your parents' home so that your parents can change their taste."
Duan quickly evaded the question: "How can this be good?"
Mrs. Du said, "Even though you married into our family, you are still your parents' daughter. Any gift, no matter how much, is a token of our appreciation."
Gu Youan suddenly thought of the many fruits stored in the space over the past few years that he had not had time to eat, including many tangerines, oranges, grapes, etc.
In previous years, she found various excuses to take some out for her family to consume. This year, she is the Princess of Qi, so it is much easier for her to take out some fresh fruits.
After the family had dinner, A Xuan ran back to her yard and asked the maid to pack her luggage. Gu Youan sent his parents back to the house, and she took out six boxes of fruit from the space.
She left three boxes for her parents and took three boxes away.
Gu Wen said, "Two boxes are enough. You can take four boxes and leave. If you can't finish them, you can give some as a reward."
"That's fine."
The box she used to pack the fruit was a large wooden box used by the Ping An Escort Agency for escorting convoys. One large box could hold more than 100 kilograms of medicinal materials, and two boxes of fruit were enough for the family to eat.
Two boxes were left behind, and the other four were asked to be carried away by Liu Zhong and a few servants.
"Dad, Mom, I'm going back first."
"Go back. Send Axuan back in a few days. Don't let that girl get carried away."
Without the need for his parents to send him off, Gu Youan took Axuan to the carriage and went back, and Duan personally saw them off.
Duan slowly returned to her own courtyard. Sister Zhang, who was beside her mother-in-law, came over with a smile and said, "Young Madam, the Master and the Madam have something for you. They have sent someone to bring it to your courtyard."
Duan smiled and said, "What good stuff?"
"You'll know when you go back and take a look." Mrs. Zhang added, "There's still plenty at home. If you need anything, just send someone to the storeroom to get it. If it's for you, you can take it back to your parents' home."
Duan Shi understood. Could it be that these were vegetables sent by Prince Qi's Mansion? Didn't they say they would be available in a few days?
When Duan returned to the house, she saw that there were no vegetables, but half a box of juicy fruits and a few pieces of silk.
Duan's personal maid was surprised and delighted: "Young Madam, look at these grapes! The stems are still green, so fresh. If I take these home, the master and the mistress will surely like them."
In the middle of winter, especially outside the Great Wall where water freezes into ice, it was really a joy to see such fresh fruits. Not only her parents liked them, but Duan also liked them.
Thinking of what Mrs. Zhang said, she instructed, "You don't have to take out everything. Pick up a dozen pounds of fruit, pack a few bunches of grapes, and then you can take them back home yourself."
"You're not going?"
"I won't go. After all, I am the daughter-in-law of the Gu family. Even though my parents-in-law are not difficult to deal with, I shouldn't go to my parents' home every other day."
Besides, Wenqing will be returning home from outside the city tomorrow. The couple have not seen each other for several days and miss each other very much.
The little girl nodded: "Young lady is really thoughtful."
Half an hour later, the Duan family received the fruits sent by the Gu family. The Duan couple immediately guessed that these fruits must be good things given by Princess Qi to the Gu family, and their daughter then distributed them to them.
Lord Duan smiled and said, "This marriage is well done."
Mrs. Duan also smiled and nodded, not because of these things, but because she could see the character of the Gu family from the things her daughter sent back. She knew at a glance that the daughter-in-law was a kind family.
Not to mention the Duan family, Liu Zhong and others who followed the princess back to the palace guessed that it must be the princess's caravan that specially transported it back from the interior, and did not think much about it.
No matter how new and interesting the stuff was, it was just a few boxes of fruit after all. In addition, the people around Gu Youan kept their mouths shut and no one talked nonsense to outsiders, so this matter happened naturally.
They brought back a few boxes of fruit, and the vegetables from the farm were ready to eat again. The beef and mutton sent from the grassland were made into various steaming hot pots, with a combination of meat and vegetables, which was a feast for the two sisters.
Axuan was so happy in Prince Qi's mansion that she didn't want to go home to study and practice martial arts. In the end, Mrs. Du came to pick her up in person, and Axuan reluctantly went back.
"Sister, please come back after the New Year. I haven't had the New Year banquet at the palace yet."
"I heard that the palace will hang lanterns during the New Year, I want to take a look."
"Sister, you must send someone to pick me up!"
Axuan talked a lot, and Mrs. Du thought she was not decent. She glared at her and pulled her, and finally took the girl home.
Gu Youan sent his mother and sister to the carriage, laughed for a long time at the second door, and then slowly returned to the house.
Gu Youan hugged his warm fur cloak and sighed, "It's almost the New Year, and I don't know when Zhou Qi will come back."
It has been ten days since I last received a letter from Zhou Qi. Logically, I should have received another letter from Prince Qi in the next one or two days.
I waited for three days, but there was no letter.
Gu Youan waited patiently for another two days, but there was no news.
Gu Youan couldn't sit still any longer, so she asked someone to call her chief guard, Li Xian.
"Choose a team of men and go to the Northeast Army base to see what the prince is doing."
"yes."
Li Xian took the order and set off. As soon as the team left the city, they met Xu Zhi leading his men back on horseback.
Xu Zhi was wearing a wolfskin robe, a gray rabbit fur hat, and a scarf to protect his face from the wind and snow. There was white frost on his eyelashes, and one could tell at a glance how hard it had been for him to travel this distance.
Li Xian stopped his horse and said, "Is there any news about the prince?"
Xu Zhi pulled off the cloth covering his face and grinned, "Your Highness is doing very well. The Northeastern Army has dealt a heavy blow to the Tartars who were raiding south. We have won a great victory. Once things over there are settled, Your Highness will return."
Li Xian breathed a sigh of relief: "This is indeed great news. Let's go back and report to the princess."
Li Xian and his men turned their horses back to the city. Xu Zhi rode over and walked with Li Xian. "There has been no news for half a month. The master must be getting anxious."
"Stop talking nonsense and go back to deliver the letter."
"Okay!"
The letter that Prince Qi wrote to Gu Youan was very detailed, including details such as who was the charging general, who killed the most enemy soldiers, and who were his troops... After this battle, many of the people he had planted in the dark in the Northeast Army would be able to come to the fore.
From then on, the Meng family was no longer needed as puppets.
Gu Youan smiled after reading the letter: "If nothing unexpected happens, your master will definitely be back before the New Year, and the mansion will be bustling with activity."
Xu Zhi hurriedly said: "The prince said earlier that he would definitely come back to spend the New Year with you."
Gu Youan hummed: "You still want to go?"
"yes."
Gu Youan said, "That's perfect. Bring a few boxes of things with you. Your master might find them very useful."
"As ordered by the princess."
Gu Youan secretly packed two boxes of fresh fruits, and asked the farm to pick a few boxes of long-lasting fruits and vegetables. He also prepared more than a dozen boxes of various precious silks, gold, silver and jewelry, and asked Xu Zhi to take them along.
Xu Zhi hesitated, wondering if these were too many.
Li Xian came over with his men and said, "If the princess wants to send it, we can just send it. The princess said that the prince can use it, so it must be correct."
"The snow is thick on the grassland and it's hard to walk. It's hard to deliver so many things."
"The princess has made preparations. What's the difference in this frame?"
Frame? Why... why is this frame so high?
Li Xian smiled and said, "This is the carriage frame of the Princess's caravan. We can use this frame to transport goods even in heavy snow, but it will be a little slower."
"It doesn't matter if it's slow, as long as we don't get stuck in the snow and can't move."
Xu Zhi and Li Xian led the team to the Northeast Army base. When these dozens of boxes were delivered to Prince Qi, Prince Qi immediately smiled.
It’s his fault. He has been so busy these days. Fortunately, An An still remembered and fixed the loophole for him.
"Come here, select a few boxes of good things and send them to the Zhenbei Grand Commander's Mansion. Send them before the New Year to bring some joy to our Grand Commander."
"yes."
Without the mediation of the Grand Commander of Zhenbei, what he wanted to do would not have gone so smoothly. He should be thankful.
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