Chapter 3, Section 3: The quilt was filled with a faint fragrance of a woman.
Jiang Ninghui stiffened, and without turning her head, said, "I was being petty."
After saying that, she fled back to the south-facing room as if she were escaping.
Zhao Zhixue sat at the pearwood table reviewing his lessons for the day. Jiang Ninghui turned off another kerosene lamp and placed it on the table. Seeing her husband studying so intently, she didn't want to disturb him. She waited until Pei Duo had prepared hot water and returned to the room before taking a wooden basin to the kitchen to fetch hot water for washing up.
After Jiang Ninghui finished her work, Zhao Zhixue closed the book.
Seeing her husband rubbing his sore neck, Jiang Ninghui got up and walked behind him. She gently placed her slender fingers on Zhao Zhixue's shoulders to massage and relieve his fatigue. Her massage technique was excellent, and she pressed right on the sore spots on Zhao Zhixue's shoulders.
"My wife still loves me the most."
Zhao Zhixue smiled and closed his eyes, enjoying the leisure time as Jiang Ninghui massaged him.
He asked, "How are your parents at home? Are they in good health?"
Jiang Ninghui's voice was a little stuffy: "Both of them are in good health!"
Zhao Zhixue finally noticed that Jiang Ninghui's tone was off. He turned around and took her two hands in his: "You don't sound happy. Is something bothering you?"
Jiang Ninghui looked at him reproachfully: "Young Master Pei and your husband live in the same courtyard, why didn't you tell me beforehand? And you even brought me..." As she spoke, her beautiful face flushed with embarrassment: "You brought me to Young Master Pei's room to do that kind of thing, where do you put me? And what do you take Young Master Pei for?"
Zhao Zhixue thought it was something serious: "So it's because you're angry with me over such a trivial matter?"
Jiang Ninghui's face stiffened: "How can you think this is such a trivial matter, my lord?!"
Zhao Zhixue squeezed her hand: "Okay, okay, it was my fault. Just now, Brother Pei called me to his room and gave me a good scolding. I have already explained to Brother Pei and apologized."
He got up and led Jiang Ninghui to the bedside, taking her hand and touching the bedding.
I got a damp patch, and a large one at that.
Jiang Ninghui looked up in surprise, and Zhao Zhixue explained, "I accidentally spilled water on the mattress at noon. When you came, the mattress was still wet. I was afraid you would get cold, so I went to Pei's room. It was my oversight that I didn't tell you beforehand that Pei also lived here."
Jiang Ninghui lowered her eyelashes, and the events of the afternoon resurfaced in her mind.
She pulled her hand away and said, "I'd rather stay cold than do that kind of thing in someone else's house."
Zhao Zhixue laughed and said, "I assure my wife that this will never happen again."
Having said all that, Jiang Ninghui couldn't continue arguing, so she asked Zhao Zhixue, "Why is Young Master Pei staying here?"
Zhao Zhixue: "The school in town doesn't have accommodation facilities. I happened to see a small courtyard for rent here, so I discussed it with Brother Pei and we split the rent to rent this courtyard."
The mattress was still a bit damp, so it wasn't very comfortable to sleep on at night.
After Zhao Zhixue finished washing up, he asked Jiang Ninghui to lie on his inside side. He lay in that still slightly damp spot, but Jiang Ninghui was unwilling. She was afraid that her husband would catch a cold and it would affect his studies. If her in-laws found out that she had made her husband sick as soon as she arrived, they would probably scold her.
Helpless, Zhao Zhixue got up and took two of his outer robes from the wardrobe, spreading them on the damp floor: "Alright, stop arguing with me."
The lights were off in the room. Jiang Ninghui lay on the inside of the bed, staring at the window bathed in moonlight.
When I'm in a new place, I can't fall asleep for a while.
She felt a warmth from the hand resting on her lower abdomen. Zhao Zhixue turned to the side, his fingers meandering up Jiang Ninghui's wrist.
Jiang Ninghui stiffened, immediately withdrew her hand, and pressed it against the inside of the bed: "My lord, you have to go to school at the end of the morning tomorrow, so you should go to sleep early. Before I came, Mother specifically asked me to tell you to study hard and not to think about anything else."
She understood what her husband meant.
But she didn't want to, and was unwilling to.
She had already done it once that morning, and now Young Master Pei was still next door. The two rooms were only separated by a wall, and the next room could hear even the slightest noise. She really couldn't do these things with her husband as if nothing had happened.
Zhao Zhixue's hand was suddenly empty, and the people around him stuck more paper to the wall.
He sighed silently and could only turn around and lie facing upwards.
The wife his parents chose for him was perfect in every way, except that she was too old-fashioned and dull, and she was stubborn and inflexible. Even though his mother told him to study hard and not think about anything else, how could matters between husband and wife be considered other matters?
If he doesn't say anything and she doesn't say anything either, who can know?
The couple on one side were both preoccupied with their own thoughts and couldn't fall asleep, and Pei Duo next door was also awake.
Even though the room had been ventilated all afternoon, the woman's faint scent still lingered on the bed.
Pei Duo rolled up the bedding and placed it on the chair. He lay down fully clothed on the cold, hard wooden bed, put his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes to rest.
He had practiced martial arts with his father since childhood, and his hearing was always excellent. Even when the doors and windows next door were closed, he could still hear the two people talking in hushed tones.
The young man's clear and bright eyes furrowed almost imperceptibly.
It seems he'll have to find a separate courtyard to move out of and live with the couple, which would be inconvenient for both of them.
Early the next morning.
Jiang Ninghui remembered that her husband and Young Master Pei had to go to school at the end of the morning, so she got up at 2:45 AM.
I was getting ready to wash up and go to the kitchen to prepare breakfast when I opened the door and saw a white straw-colored bed sheet and quilt hanging in the yard. It must have been washed not long ago, because there were a few drops of water dripping from under the bed sheet.
This is the quilt on Young Master Pei's bed; she covered herself with it yesterday.
Yesterday, she was wrapped up in heavy, airtight blankets, and the scent of cedarwood seeped into her skin—it was all Pei Duo's scent.
Jiang Ninghui glanced subconsciously at the room to the north. The door was closed and the window was half open. Through the crack, she could vaguely see the young man's jade-colored robe draped over the edge of the table. Thinking of what happened yesterday, an embarrassed blush crept onto Jiang Ninghui's face.
She hurriedly looked away and scurried into the kitchen, where she washed up and began preparing breakfast.
Shortly after, footsteps could be heard outside the kitchen.
Jiang Ninghui thought her husband had arrived. She added some hot water to the wooden basin, and carrying the basin, she turned towards the kitchen door with a smile: "Husband—" When she saw that the person who stepped inside was Pei Duo, she swallowed the word "husband" back and hurriedly changed her address: "Young Master Pei."
The young man was extremely tall. Today he was wearing a jade-colored cross-collar robe and had his hair tied up with a jade hairpin. As he stepped into the kitchen, his shadow, cast by the light and shadow, instantly covered Jiang Ninghui.
Pei Duo nodded and called out, "Sister-in-law."
He placed a tael of silver on the table by the window: "Sister-in-law, I don't have time to go to town to buy things. Please keep this tael of silver. I'll need your help with buying things and cooking."
The young man added one last thing: "This is my food allowance for this month."
Jiang Ninghui had never seen such a large amount of silver in her life. The most money she had ever seen was only a few dozen copper coins. She hadn't even glanced at the five taels of silver that the Zhao family gave to the Jiang family.
Moreover, how could Young Master Pei possibly afford only one tael of silver a month? One tael would be enough for him to live on for several months.
Jiang Ninghui truthfully told Pei Duo that one tael of silver was enough to eat for several months.
Upon hearing this, the young man said calmly, "Sister-in-law, you can decide what to do."
When Zhao Zhixue got up, Jiang Ninghui told him about it. Zhao Zhixue comforted him, saying, "It's okay. He'll give you the food money later. Just don't accept it for now."
Zhao Zhixue was somewhat surprised that Pei Duo would spend one tael of silver a month on food expenses.
You know, poor families would sell their daughters for a tael of silver. His family spent five taels of silver to marry Jiang Ninghui. His parents complained about this a lot in private. If it weren't for the fact that Jiang Ninghui's birth chart was auspicious for him and could help him pass the imperial examinations and be the best, his parents would not have been willing to spend that money.
The Pei family were outsiders who moved to Xiping Village seventeen years ago.
Pei's father said he was a镖师 (bodyguard/escort), and his wife was a fallen noblewoman. Their original town had been looted by bandits, and they fled here to settle down. Pei's father was indeed skilled in martial arts and often took Pei Duo into the mountains to hunt. When they hunted large beasts, they would share them with the villagers. Everyone in Xiping Village said that the Pei couple were loving, harmonious, kind, and good-hearted.
He was four years older than Pei Duo, and his desire to study and pass the imperial examinations was influenced by Pei Duo.
Zhao Zhixue often thought that if he had a mother as talented as Pei Duo, perhaps he too could have achieved first place in the academy examination at a young age, just like Pei Duo.
After breakfast, Zhao Zhixue and Pei Duo went to the school.
With nothing to do at home, Jiang Ninghui decided to clean the house inside and out.
She didn't go to Pei Duo's room, but only swept the area outside Pei Duo's window and the outside of his house.
The courtyard gate swung open, and a laugh rang out, followed by a woman's loud voice: "Oh, young lady, who are you in this courtyard?"
Jiang Ninghui wiped the thin layer of sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, turned around and looked at the woman who was leading a child in. The woman's hair was wrapped with a brown headscarf, and she was wearing a chestnut-colored straight-collared short jacket and trousers. She was plump and had two dimples on her cheeks when she smiled.
The woman introduced herself in a very familiar manner. Her name was Mu Hua, and she lived in the small courtyard next door. Her husband worked with merchants on ships and only came back a few times a year or two. She stayed at home to look after the courtyard and the children.
Jiang Ninghui didn't have many friends growing up. When she was at her parents' home, she had endless chores to do every day.
After marrying into the Zhao family, the only people she could talk to at home were her husband and mother-in-law. Her father-in-law seemed to dislike her, and would snort whenever he saw her. Jiang Ninghui guessed that her father-in-law was upset about the five taels of silver and was taking it out on her.
She could only swallow her bitterness and say nothing, and she had to pray every day that God would be kind to her and help her again and again so that her husband could win first place.
Otherwise, her life in the Zhao family would probably be worse than death.
Mu Hua was a talkative and witty person. Jiang Ninghui chatted with her for a while and felt her depressed mood improve considerably. Mu Hua asked, "Young lady, there are two scholars living in this courtyard. Which one is your husband?"
Before Jiang Ninghui could speak, Mu Hua's son suddenly pointed outside the courtyard: "The young scholar has returned."
Jiang Ninghui looked up and saw Pei Duo, who had been gone for an hour.
Why did he come back early?
Mu Hua had met this young scholar several times. Not to mention this alley, she couldn't find another man as handsome as him in the entire Qingping Town.
Then look at Miss Jiang. She has a fair complexion, a delicate oval face, arched eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes, and porcelain-white skin. When she smiles, her eyes sparkle with a captivating brightness.
I must say, she and this young scholar are quite a good match.
Mu Hua smiled and said, "Young lady, let me guess, is this your husband?"
She had a loud voice, just as Pei Duo stepped through the door.
The young man lifted his thin eyelids and his gaze fell directly on Jiang Ninghui.
The other person's eyes were as deep as a pool, and that calm, emotionless glance made Jiang Ninghui's scalp tighten instantly. She hadn't forgotten the embarrassing and shameful thing that happened yesterday, and today she was mistaken for a husband and wife again.
A note from the author:
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There's a red envelope in this chapter!
Pei Duo: Sister-in-law Mu has a good eye; he's the right man.
Jiang Ninghui: ???
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