Chapter 68 068 A Storm is Brewing!
While the emperor's family was eating mutton in the palace, the Luo family in Ganquan Town also asked the town's butcher to help slaughter the black goat that their young son-in-law had presented as a gift.
This black goat weighs over 60 jin (approximately 30 kg), and the butcher estimates it will yield about 30 jin (approximately 15 kg) of meat. Given that the weather is getting warmer and the meat won't keep for long, Wang Qiuyue decided that this meal would not only include her two daughters and sons-in-law, but also her in-laws, her son Luo Song's old brothers and superiors in Xiying, as well as the brothers and superiors she met after being selected for the Imperial Guard this year, including the village head who often looked after them.
It was as if Luo Song was destined to join the City Patrol Guard. Three years ago, when he first arrived in the capital, Xiao Rong wanted to use his connections to get Luo Song into the City Patrol Guard, but Xiao Yu dissuaded him and he was assigned to the West Camp instead. As a result, this year, both the Upper Four Guards and the Lower Nine Guards of the Imperial Guard were selecting new recruits. Luo Song, with his strong physique, good performance in the civil and military examinations, and his marriage relationship with Xiao Yu, was assigned to the City Patrol Guard, which had the most trivial and tiring tasks among the Lower Nine Guards.
But for the Luo family, the city patrol guards were also highly sought after!
The sisters, Luo Fu and Luo Lan, returned to their parents' home the night before, accompanied by their husbands and children. The men went to watch the butcher slaughter sheep in the morning, while the sisters stayed with their mother, chatting about everyday matters. Luo Fu had her own network of connections, and Luo Lan frequently interacted with the female relatives of Pei Xingshu's colleagues; the sisters always managed to bring back some interesting tidbits about the officialdom in the capital.
Wang Qiuyue listened with great interest, and then revealed two of her troubles: her youngest daughter had been married for four years but still hadn't gotten pregnant, and her son was twenty-three and still a bachelor.
Luo Fu retorted, "My mother-in-law isn't worried, why is Mother so anxious?"
Roland: "That's right. My sister and brother-in-law have only been married for three years and five months, and they've only been together for one year and two months. In between, my brother-in-law went to jail twice and was away on a business trip to four counties for half a month. Mother, please don't worry, maybe my sister will have good news this year."
Luo Fu: "Yes, the black goat your son-in-law brought back is for getting pregnant. My sister and I ate it and we're guaranteed to get pregnant. Maybe Mom can even give us another little brother or sister..."
Wang Qiuyue reached out and pinched her youngest daughter's mouth, thus interrupting Luo Fu's string of inappropriate words.
After laughing, Luo Fu became concerned about her brother's marriage: "Last month, Mother said that another matchmaker introduced a pretty girl. What, brother, didn't you like her?"
Wang Qiuyue: "Your brother is busy. He went drinking with his new brothers from the city patrol on the tenth day of the month. We were planning to have him go on a matchmaking today, but it turned into a lamb dinner instead, so we had to postpone it until the end of the month."
She couldn't bear to buy such good feed to feed a goat. Rather than letting the black goat get thinner and thinner, she would rather eat it while it still had plenty of meat.
Roland: "Mother is still too anxious. My brother has joined the Imperial Guard, which is quite prestigious among some minor officials' families in the capital. If we wait a little longer, perhaps I can find him a daughter from an official's family..."
Wang Qiuyue: "Absolutely not. I don't have the money to buy them a house in the capital. It would be a disservice to the daughter of an official to live in town. Besides, your brother is big and strong, so he's more suited to marrying a woman from the same village as him. When your brother is on duty, my daughter-in-law and I can keep each other company at home."
The fact that Deng's conversations with the two daughters-in-law from wealthy families were not agreeable serves as a lesson for her, and that marrying a daughter-in-law from a wealthy family also cost her even more money!
As they chatted, the men returned carrying three large basins. Luo Song carried a basin full of over thirty pounds of meat, Pei Xingshu carried a basin of lamb bones to be used for stewing, and Xiao Yu carried a lamb's head and four lamb hooves. Luo Dayuan, who had difficulty walking and carried nothing, walked behind his sons and sons-in-law with a smile.
Seeing this, Wang Qiuyue's eyelids twitched violently a few times. In her opinion, there was no need to ask her two handsome sons-in-law who were officials to do such dirty work. Her son could have just made a few more trips to carry it back. But the two sons-in-law offered to help, and her daughters did not stop them. They even smiled quite satisfiedly.
The meat was sent to the kitchen, where the Luo family's cook and two women from the village who were skilled at preparing banquets took over.
The two sisters, Luo Fu and her husband, each brought a basin of water to their husbands who had worked so hard for them.
Luo Song: "..."
Wang Qiuyue seized the opportunity to tease her son: "You're envious too? Then hurry up and marry a wife so she'll cherish you!"
Luo Song: "It's okay, my brother-in-law and I will wash in the same basin."
Pei Xingshu: "..."
Roland secretly kicked her younger brother who had come closer, telling him to wait in line. Luo Fu, who was standing next to her, was also ready to kick her older brother, but Luo Song didn't even tilt his head toward his brother-in-law from the Marquis's mansion. He picked up a basin and started scooping water.
With nothing much to do in the courtyard, Luo Fu led Xiao Yu to the west wing where the couple lived, where they had left two sets of everyday clothes.
As soon as the door behind him closed, Xiao Yu immediately took off his outer robe, which was stained with the smell of mutton, revealing a thin white undershirt underneath.
Luo Fu took out a set of sky-blue spring robes from the cabinet and helped him change while she said with a smile, "You are always straightforward with your father, elder brother and second elder brother. You would never do anything you don't like. Why are you so polite when you come to our house? My mother would never want to make you two good sons-in-law work. You don't have to do anything. She likes you just sitting there cleanly."
Xiao Yu looked at the lady in front of him and explained, "These past two years have caused my parents-in-law a lot of worry. I'll do what I can to help them so that I can feel less guilty."
Luo Fu lowered her eyes and said, "It's enough that you have the intention. You don't need to force yourself to do things you don't like."
Xiao Yu: "I like anything related to my wife."
Those words were so sweet that Luo Fu couldn't resist hugging him.
Xiao Yu's throat bobbed, and he whispered in his wife's ear, "At the lunch banquet, Madam can eat more mutton."
On the seventeenth, the lady must have eaten a lot at the princess's residence, and the nourishment made her feel hot all over at night and unable to sleep. Her hands also followed him and became restless.
Luo Fu casually pinched his waist!
.
On March 21, after taking more than ten days off, Xiao Yu was finally going to work at the Censorate again.
The head of the Censorate was a fifth-rank official, wearing a light scarlet robe embroidered with white swan patterns and a ten-pronged gold belt around his waist.
The crimson hue added a touch of dashing charm to Xiao Yu's otherwise upright and scholarly air, making him even more eye-catching than when he rode through the streets as the top scholar three years ago.
Luo Fu looked at it again and again, and muttered to herself, "Other fifth-rank officials can show their high rank by wearing scarlet robes, but you look frivolous in this. Do you think the censors of the Censorate will respect you?"
Xiao Yu looked in the mirror and thought about how her brother-in-law, Pei Xingshu, had grown a beard and looked more mature and composed than before. She pondered, "Should I start growing a beard too?"
Luo Fu: "...Let's talk about it after you turn thirty."
Xiao Yu was amused by his wife's conflicted expression, as she both disapproved of his flamboyant attire and didn't want him to grow a beard. After receiving a glare from her, Xiao Yu stopped laughing and said seriously, "Don't worry, Madam. Two years ago, the censors of the three academies already treated me with respect. After that incident, they will treat me even less based on my appearance. If they do, I will reprimand them."
Luo Fu was just trying to make conversation because he was too handsome. This man wasn't afraid of even the emperor or the crown prince, and his superior, Doctor Fan, had already remonstrated with him. How could he be bullied by the censors under his command?
"Let's go, let's go, come back early tonight."
The more she urged him, the more reluctant Xiao Yu became to leave. He returned and pressed his wife down on the couch, kissing her for a full quarter of an hour. Several times, Luo Fu's hands wanted to untie his alluring gold belt.
Fortunately, Xiao Yu was rational enough to leave in time, so the couple did not do anything to disrespect the imperial censor's robes.
After Xiao Yu left, Luo Fu, who had been entangled with her husband for over ten days, suddenly felt uneasy again. She sat listlessly in the main room, wondering whether to go to her sister-in-law to hear her predictions about the candidates for the top rank in this year's imperial examination or to visit her sister. Just then, the gatekeeper came to report that Princess Kangping had sent someone to invite the Third Madam to the Princess's residence to admire the flowers.
At the princess's invitation, Luo Fu immediately perked up, tidied herself up again, and set off in her carriage.
Kangping's invitation to Luo Fu to admire the flowers was a pretense; his real purpose was to reveal to Luo Fu that his mother was going to choose concubines for his two elder brothers.
Luo Fu immediately thought of Princess Fu and asked with barely concealed worry, "If Prince Fu takes a concubine, will the Princess...?"
"Heartbroken?" Kang Ping said the word for her. Seeing Luo Fu nod, Kang Ping said as if he had heard a joke, "Do you think all the noble families in the capital are like your Marquis of Zhongyi's mansion, where none of the masters and young masters take concubines? Impossible. Every man with a bit of power and wealth has concubines, and princes are even less likely to be exceptions. Take my fourth brother for example. Before his wife entered the family, he already had concubines. He only took two at a time, and when he got tired of them, he would send them out to replace them with new ones. Compared to my eldest, second, and third brothers, my fourth brother is indeed not particularly fond of women, but he has very discerning eyes. Every concubine he takes in is a beauty, and a beauty that is different from his wife's."
Luo Fu remained silent. Admittedly, Prince Fu was entitled to such treatment, but the thought that the aloof and refined Princess Fu had to endure her husband openly having affairs with countless beautiful concubines made Luo Fu feel somewhat choked up.
Kangping saw through her and laughed at her, "It's like the emperor isn't worried but the eunuch is. Fourth Sister-in-law has long since stopped caring, why are you getting so hung up on this?"
Luo Fu quickly adjusted her mood and changed the subject, saying, "Are you only choosing concubines for Prince Qi and Prince Fu? As for Prince Shun... never mind, at least I don't have to worry about Princess Shun."
Kangping: "Emperor Huangdi is my third brother's biological father. Even he complains that my third brother is too lazy to arrange a concubine for him. Do you think my third sister-in-law would care which concubine my third brother sleeps in?"
Luo Fu: "..."
Seeing that his close friend from a small town was only thinking about love and sentimentality, Kang Ping helplessly poked Luo Fu's forehead and gently advised, "Now that you've come to the capital and have been stuck with such a troublesome husband, you should start to think about the officialdom whenever you hear any news, no matter whether what you think is right or wrong."
Luo Fu feigned pain and groaned, rubbing her forehead as she looked blankly at the princess.
Kang Ping casually waved his fan, waiting for her to figure things out herself.
Luo Fu was already thinking about it. She had only just revealed the information to the princess, and the prince and princess mentioned were the princess's close relatives. Luo Fu didn't want to think too deeply about it in front of the princess.
Compared to the Crown Prince, the three princes do have fewer children, but it's been more than a decade since then. The imperial grandsons are all approaching marriageable age. Why is the Emperor suddenly concerned about the number of children of his two grown sons?
The Emperor disliked Prince Shun, so he refused to select a concubine for him.
The Emperor did not choose a concubine for the Crown Prince. Although the Crown Prince has no shortage of offspring, as one of the two sons neglected by his own father, would the Crown Prince feel that he, like Prince Shun, was disliked by his father? Especially at this critical juncture when the Emperor's transfer of Xiao Yu back to the capital was somewhat of a slap in the face to the Crown Prince.
So, did the Emperor really dislike the Crown Prince? Even she could guess that the Crown Prince was the mastermind behind the corruption case back then. Could the wise and powerful founding emperor be fooled by the Crown Prince's clever excuses?
Her mind raced, and Luo Fu winked at the princess.
Kang Ping laughed and said, "You're not completely stupid. Of course, I was just guessing. I just called you over to chat."
Luo Fu: "...All four princes are your own brothers. If anything unexpected happens, aren't you worried, Princess?"
Kangping stretched out her right hand, painted with bright red nail polish, and waved it at Luo Fu: "Even a person's five fingers are of different lengths, let alone five siblings? I'm not afraid to tell you, of my four brothers, I have the least close relationship with my eldest brother, who is seventeen years older than me. We've never had any conflicts, but we've never played together. We're not close enough, you understand?"
Luo Fu understood.
"We've talked too much today," Kangping said regretfully as he looked at Luo Fu one last time. "I'll ignore you for a while. Once things have settled down, we'll see if we're still meant to be."
If the eldest brother's position remains stable, he won't mind if his younger sister gets close to Xiao Yu's wife.
Now that her elder brother's position is unstable, her continued closeness to Xiao Yu's wife is seen as betrayal in his eyes.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Here it is! 100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow~
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com