Chapter 554 I Did Not Break My Promise
After their duties were over, the officials left the Dali Temple one after another.
Lord Zhang approached Qi Yunwen and asked in a low voice, "Lord Qi, what's wrong with the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices today? He always presents himself so well, he's never been sloppy."
Qi Yunwen said thoughtfully, "I guess you guessed right."
Suddenly, Gu Jingxi's voice rang out from behind him: "Guessed what?"
Qi Yunwen slowly turned her head to look at him and smiled, "Yaoling, you don't really need to ruin yourself like this. Not every girl will be interested in you."
Gu Jingxi frowned, looking at him as if he were an idiot, and scoffed, "I think you're just bored, that's why you're overthinking things. But it's okay, you won't have time to overthink things for long."
Qi Yunwen: "...?"
Gu Jingxi didn't look at him again and started walking out.
Lord Zhang asked in a low voice, "Lord Qi, what is the meaning of the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices' words?"
Qi Yunwen replied, "They probably got it right, that's why they panicked."
Lord Zhang said, "The Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices really looks young. If no one mentions it, who would guess that he is thirty-two years old? This face is attractive to young girls, so it's normal that the Seventh Princess of Anguo would take a liking to him."
Qi Yunwen laughed and said, "You're still bringing up the Seventh Princess? Be careful he doesn't get angry with you."
Lord Zhang immediately fell silent.
-
The Changxing Marquis's Residence.
After returning home, Gu Jingxi first went to Shou'an Hall to pay his respects to Old Madam Gu before returning to Weirui Pavilion.
As soon as he entered the room, he looked around and saw A Yao lying on the soft couch by the window, leaning against the soft pillows, her eyes closed, as if she was asleep. Gu Jingxi walked over slowly, sat on the soft couch, and carefully examined the face he had been thinking about day and night. He noticed that she seemed to have lost a little weight, and knew that she hadn't been eating well lately.
Meng Jinyao seemed to sense someone watching her. She slowly opened her eyes, and when she saw the person in front of her, she was so shocked that her eyes widened suddenly, and all sleepiness vanished instantly: "Husband, you... how did you get yourself into this state?"
Gu Jingxi asked with a smile, "Didn't Ayao tell me to listen to my mother and grow a beard in the future?"
Actually, it wasn't intentional on his part. He had been so busy for the past two weeks that he hadn't had a moment to spare and hadn't even thought about taking care of himself. Before leaving home, he told Ayao that he would be back in ten days or two weeks, and today marks exactly two weeks. He kept his promise.
Meng Jinyao stared at his unshaven face and couldn't help but shake her head: "Husband, I still think there are some things we don't need to listen to Mother about." As she spoke, she thought for a moment and added, "I'm not saying you're not good-looking now, you do look quite rugged, but you're a civil official, not a military general, so you don't need to be like that."
Gu Jingxi nodded with a smile: "Yes, I'll do whatever Ayao says."
Meng Jinyao looked at him closely, noticing the weariness between his brows, and asked with heartache, "Husband, do you still need to be busy?"
"No need, everything is done, and His Majesty even granted me a three-day holiday." Gu Jingxi reached out and pulled her into his arms, whispering in her ear, "Ayao, it's exactly half a month, and your husband has kept his promise."
Meng Jinyao was slightly taken aback, then belatedly realized that it had been exactly half a month since her husband left home.
Gu Jingxi said again, "Ayao, I miss you."
Meng Jinyao smiled and said, "Wanwan misses you too."
Gu Jingxi asked, "Didn't Wanwan's mother think about it?"
"I'd like to."
As Meng Jinyao spoke, she kissed him on the cheek. It would have been better if she hadn't kissed him, because his beard was prickly.
Seeing this, Gu Jingxi asked again, "What's wrong?"
Meng Jinyao shook her head: "It's nothing. Do you want to see Wanwan? You've been away from home for half a month. Children forget things easily, and I don't know if she still remembers you."
Gu Jingxi responded and then called for a maid to come in and fetch the wet nurse to bring the child over.
Before long, the wet nurse brought Wanwan over.
Having not seen his son for half a month, Gu Jingxi also missed him very much. He took the adorable little dumpling from the wet nurse's hands and looked at his son's chubby little face. Suddenly, his fatherly love overflowed and he couldn't help but lower his head to kiss him.
Seeing this, Meng Jinyao was about to stop him, but it was too late. Her husband had already kissed her twice, and then she heard her son crying loudly.
Gu Jingxi was stunned for a moment. Before, when he held his son, his son would smile and interact with him. Now, he would cry when he saw him. He looked at his wife with a depressed expression: "It's only been half a month since I last saw him, and this kid has already forgotten me."
Meng Jinyao didn't want to say it was because his beard was prickly, as children's skin is delicate and a prick would hurt even more. She simply said, "Husband, I guess it's because you have a beard that Wanwan doesn't recognize you."
Gu Jingxi remained silent, handed her the wailing son, and said, "I'll go to the clean room first and take a bath while I'm at it."
After he left, the wet nurse said, "Madam, the young master still recognizes the Marquis. When the Marquis held him, he was smiling. He only cried after the Marquis kissed him. I guess he was pricked by the Marquis's beard."
Meng Jinyao smiled and replied while coaxing the child, "I know. I didn't tell him the truth because I was afraid he would feel bad and guilty. He can just shave his beard."
The wet nurse understood after hearing this.
Half an hour later, Gu Jingxi came out of the clean room.
Looking at him now that he had shaved and regained his handsome appearance, Meng Jinyao found him very pleasing to the eye and said, "Husband, you look better like this."
Gu Jingxi laughed and said, "That beard, it wasn't that I intentionally didn't shave it."
Meng Jinyao nodded repeatedly: "I know you're following your mother's advice."
Gu Jingxi was slightly taken aback, then gently shook his head. Never mind, if he said he was too busy to take care of himself, Ayao would probably feel sorry for him.
Thinking this, he changed the subject: "It's dinner time, is Ayao hungry?"
Meng Jinyao nodded gently: "A little. My husband must be hungry too. I'll go and have someone prepare the meal." As she spoke, she turned and went out to find a maid to give instructions.
During the meal, Gu Jingxi saw that the table was full of his favorite dishes, and he knew that A Yao had specially instructed the kitchen to prepare them after learning that he had returned in the afternoon. A warm feeling welled up in his heart, and all the busyness of the past few days was comforted, and his physical fatigue seemed to have lessened a lot.
He placed a piece of fish on Meng Jinyao's plate and asked softly, "Has Ayao not had a good appetite lately?"
Meng Jinyao shook her head: "No, everything is fine."
"Little liar, you can't fool me." Gu Jingxi looked at her face. "You've lost weight."
Meng Jinyao paused in her eating. She hadn't had much of an appetite lately, but she hadn't noticed that she had lost weight.
Gu Jingxi seemed to understand why A Yao had a poor appetite; it was because of him. She probably didn't know what he was going to do after suddenly leaving the capital and was worried about him. He said softly, "Now that I'm back in the capital, I'll keep a close eye on your eating habits and make sure you regain all the weight you lost."
Meng Jinyao smiled and said, "Alright, then my husband will have to keep a close eye on things."
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