Chapter 95: Still good looking even when old
During breakfast the next day, Qi Wuhan told Jiang Lan where Xie Yun lived.
It is right near the Huajian Cottage. The area is quiet and secluded, hidden away from the city, and is suitable for retreat.
"Do you want to go over and take a look?" Qi Wuhan asked in a normal tone, looking very generous.
Jiang Lan thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Let's wait until Cousin Yun comes out of confinement before we go." As soon as she finished speaking, he held her face in his hands. Qi Wuhan raised his eyebrows and asked sourly, "Why are you so happy when your little cousin is mentioned?"
The magnanimity of the previous second is gone~
“.…..”
Jiang Lan felt that she was really wronged, so she stopped smiling.
"Feeling guilty?"
“.….”
Jiang Lan was really helpless. It was wrong to laugh, and it was wrong not to laugh either. This man was really unreasonable...
The next moment Qi Wuhan came over and kissed her, with a wicked smile on his lips, as if his trick had succeeded. "This is called flirting, the young lady hasn't gotten the hang of it yet~" Jiang Lan blushed and scolded him in a low voice, picked up the bun and stuffed it into his mouth, telling him to eat honestly.
Qi Wuhan told her another serious matter, about the Wu family.
Yesterday, Jiang Cheng let slip that he wanted to become a relative of a noble family like the Wu family.
Jiang Lan mentioned this to Qi Wuhan in the evening, and he took it to heart.
Lord Wu was a Counselor, a clean official, and came from a family of scholars with strict family traditions. His third daughter was still unmarried and had reached marriageable age.
"I heard that Miss Wu San is beautiful and intelligent, with both talent and beauty, and she is a good match for my elder brother." This time, Qi Wuhan also felt that his father-in-law had a good vision. Although the Wu family was not a powerful marquisate, it was a family of integrity and was respected by others.
"Have you seen this third girl?" Jiang Lan asked curiously.
"Ling Feng told me all that." Qi Wuhan replied with a smile.
Ling Feng, who was standing outside the door at this moment, felt a chill on his back. His own Lord must be using him as a shield again.
After breakfast, Qi Wuhan took Ling Feng out to inspect the military camp.
After Jiang Lan embroidered for a while in the house, Butler Shi came over with a visiting card. After Gui'er presented the visiting card to Jiang Lan, Butler Shi reported that the young lady of the Marquis of Changxing's Mansion had arrived.
Jiang Lan was a little surprised. She didn't expect that the first person to visit her after she got married would be this young lady. Moreover, it was cold now, and no one in the family was willing to go out to visit relatives and friends.
She asked Gui'er to go and invite the person over quickly, as it was warm inside.
When Gui'er brought Madam Gu into the house, a warm current rushed towards them, warming up every part of their body.
There was a faint fragrance lingering in the room, but there was no incense burning. It was like the fragrance coming from hair and clothes, which was heated by the heat from the stove and became a warm fragrance. It was very pleasant and not pungent at all.
Madam Gu was originally wearing a cloak, but she took it off after entering the room. Gui'er took the cloak and put it away. Jiang Lan came over and took her to sit on the couch. Then Qing'er poured a cup of hot tea and placed it in front of her, and then asked Gui'er to leave together.
Seeing that both of them had left, Madam Gu's favorable impression of Jiang Lan increased a little more. When she entered the house, she left the maid outside because she had something to say in private.
When Jiang Lan saw her enter the room alone, she guessed her intention and gave Qing'er some instructions. After Qing'er served tea, she called Gui'er to leave together.
"I'm really sorry about what happened last time." Madam Gu stood up and apologized to Jiang Lan. Jiang Lan hurriedly helped her up. At first she didn't understand what happened, but then she figured it out. It wasn't difficult to guess.
The two had met twice in total. Once was at a banquet hosted by the Queen Mother. They just nodded and greeted each other and there was nothing wrong. The second time they met was at the Marquis of Changxing's Mansion, but it was Gu Jincheng who should apologize.
But Jiang Lan didn't want to criticize Gu Jincheng in front of Madam Gu, and she also knew that this matter had nothing to do with her, so she asked her not to take it to heart.
Madam Gu felt even more ashamed, because the maid who took Jiang Lan there was someone close to her. Although she really didn't know about it and it was Gu Jincheng who asked the maid to do it without telling her, she still blamed herself in her heart. After all, it was someone close to her who made the mistake, and she should bear the blame.
"He must have been out of his mind to do such a stupid thing!" Madam Gu scolded Gu Jincheng, her face turning pale with anger. Jiang Lan picked up the cup of hot tea and handed it to her. After Madam Gu drank a sip of the tea, she felt calmer and comforted Jiang Lan, "Don't take the gossip outside seriously. I heard that the carriage that delivered the betrothal gifts was as long as a street. It must have taken a lot of thought and effort to prepare. If you really care about someone, no matter how much effort you put in, it's worth it." Madam Gu didn't know if it was because of the sad things that came back to her, but a trace of sadness flashed through her heart and she was a little absent-minded.
Jiang Lan didn't know what had happened between her and Gu Jincheng that led to the current estrangement, and it was difficult to comfort her. She turned her eyes and saw Yuanbao dozing on a wintersweet branch, so she led her to see Yuanbao.
Looking at Yuanbao's naive appearance, Madam Gu also smiled and felt better.
When Qi Wuhan came back in the afternoon, he brought a gift for Jiang Lan.
He walked into the house with his hands behind his back, and a bright red plum blossom emerged from behind his shoulder. He asked Jiang Lan to guess what he brought back for her?
Jiang Lan saw the red plum blossom at a glance, and pretended not to know. She asked him curiously what he brought. Qi Wuhan smiled and took his hand out from behind his back.
I hold a graceful red plum blossom in my hand. On the branch is a bright red plum blossom, and the rest are buds that are about to bloom. If they are placed in a vase and kept for two days, they will bloom one after another.
Jiang Lan asked Qing'er and Gui'er to get a vase, and reminded them to get a white porcelain vase, so that they would look good together.
After the two of them brought a white porcelain vase, Jiang Lan poured a little water into the vase, then put the plum blossoms in it, looked around, and asked the two of them to put it on the dressing table.
Qi Wuhan leaned on the couch and watched her arranging flowers and pouring water with interest, teasingly saying that she was more beautiful than flowers. Jiang Lan gave him a glare, and he reached out to hold her hand. As soon as Jiang Lan came over, he put his arm around her waist and held her in his arms.
Qing'er and Gui'er immediately retreated, not daring to delay for even a second.
Jiang Lan asked him where he picked the plum blossoms. Qi Wuhan said that on his way back, he saw that the plum blossoms in someone else's yard had grown outside the wall, so he picked the most beautiful one.
“.…..”
Jiang Lan's mind was a little twitchy after hearing this, and a word automatically popped up in her mind: cheating...
"I don't want it anymore. Take it back and give it back to the owner." She was about to take the plum blossoms out of the vase, but just as she stood up, he hugged her in his arms. He smiled mischievously and said lovingly, "I'm kidding. I picked these on the mountain outside the city."
"You're out of town?" Jiang Lan was a little surprised.
Qi Wuhan replied lovingly, "The military camp is outside the city, so it's on the way. I'll just go to the mountains for a walk. I'll catch a little rabbit for you next time."
"I have gold ingots, that's all I need~" Jiang Lan also liked the little rabbit, but she didn't want him to go wandering around in the mountains just for this. What if he ran into wolves, tigers or leopards?
Qi Wuhan knew that she was worried about him so he didn't mention it again. Jiang Lan told him that Madam Gu came over in the morning and asked about Madam Gu and Gu Jincheng.
Qi Wuhan was not very clear about it either, but he had a rough guess about the reason for the rift between the two of them, so he told Jiang Lan the whole story first.
Gu Jincheng, Madam Gu and the current Crown Princess have known each other since childhood and have a good relationship. Later, the emperor granted the marriage and the Crown Princess married the Crown Prince. At that time, someone spread rumors that the Crown Princess had secretly married Gu Jincheng before marrying the Crown Prince. The emperor ordered a strict investigation into the people who spread the rumors. Afterwards, Gu Jincheng married Madam Gu and the rumors subsided.
"Could it be that the one he likes in his heart is..." Jiang Lan paused here and did not say the last name.
Qi Wuhan said, "One night of marriage means a hundred nights of love. There is no doubt that there is affection between the two of them, but..." He smiled self-deprecatingly and stroked Jiang Lan's face with heartache, "Maybe it's like me, I didn't explain it clearly earlier..."
Jiang Lan shook her head and said, "You are different from him."
Qi Wuhan smiled and said, "What's the difference?"
Jiang Lan replied seriously, "You're prettier than him."
Qi Wuhan laughed dumbly, "You like my face so much, then when I get old and become unattractive, will you no longer like it?"
"He'll look good even when he's old." Jiang Lan looked at his peach blossom eyes that were as beautiful and alluring as a vixen's, and was very sure that even after another forty or fifty years, these eyes would still be so beautiful that she would be fascinated.
Qi Wuhan looked at those eyes as clear and pure as stars with a gentle smile. No matter how much time passed, it would make his heart beat fast. "Xiao Lan'er will always be a little fairy. She will never grow old in my heart."
The fairy sounds pretty nice...
After two days of heavy snow, it was so cold outside that no one could be seen walking around.
However, Qi Wuhan would go to the military camp for inspection every day. Sometimes he would come back early in the morning, and sometimes he would come back late when it was almost dark.
But today, until it was almost dark, there was no sound of horse hooves coming from the gate.
Jiang Lan couldn't help but worry. Seeing that it was getting dark, she took Qing'er and Gui'er to the gate to wait. Butler Shi comforted her and said that nothing would happen, and that they must have been delayed by something in the military camp.
After waiting for a while, the sound of horse hooves was heard.
Jiang Lan breathed a sigh of relief, but when she saw that it was Ling Feng and two black-armored guards who returned, her heart tightened again. She asked him, "Where is the Marquis?" Ling Feng replied, "The Marquis is staying in the military camp tonight. Madam, don't worry."
Afterwards, Ling Feng told Jiang Lan the details.
Because of heavy snow for two consecutive days, a team that had gone out for investigation did not return in time and the people had not been found yet. Qi Wuhan stayed in the military camp and asked Ling Feng to come back first to report to Jiang Lan that he was safe so that she would not worry.
Jiang Lan asked someone to go to the kitchen to make some food for the three of them. Ling Feng said that he had already eaten in the barracks, so Jiang Lan asked someone to prepare ginger soup and asked him and the two black-armored guards to drink a bowl to drive away the cold.
After drinking the ginger soup, Ling Feng asked the two black-armored guards to go back to the barracks first. He stayed behind to protect Jiang Lan according to Qi Wuhan's order.
At night, Jiang Lan lay in bed feeling empty around her. She was used to sleeping in his arms and was not used to sleeping alone. After tossing and turning a few times, she felt sleepy and fell asleep in a daze...
When I opened my eyes, it was already daylight.
During breakfast, Ling Feng came to report, "The Marquis sent a letter saying that he would stay in the military camp for two more days, so Madam, don't worry."
Jiang Lan asked Ling Feng to go to the military camp as well, as she was safe in the mansion.
Ling Feng resolutely carried out the order given to him by Qi Wuhan and must stay in the mansion and not leave his post without permission.
Jiang Lan stopped trying to persuade her.
After all, military orders are as heavy as a mountain.
…
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