Chapter 129 Chapter 129 Because your husband married Quan...
"That's because your husband married the best woman in the world." Ji Yanlang couldn't help but lean over and kiss her again, but he didn't dare to linger and quickly backed away.
He mentioned the words during the marriage consummation with the intention of using it as a joke to calm himself down, but Fang Ying praised him in such a way that made him even more upset.
Ji Yanlang simply asked his daughter: "Is Hong'er asleep?"
"Well, you fell asleep before you came back." Fang Ying naturally understood why he stepped away. A warm feeling surged in her heart as she followed his words, "By the way, there's another happy event at home today."
"What's the good news?"
Fang Ying smiled and said, "Fifth sister-in-law is pregnant."
"Really? That's great! During the full moon banquet, Fifth Brother told me that he also wanted to have a daughter."
“It certainly existed then.”
"Is Huaixiu also four years old? Who is older between him and Huaizhi?"
"Huaixiu is five months older."
"Well, my second brother said that starting next spring, he and Huaizhi will both start studying with Mr. Zhu."
Fang Ying was surprised: "So early?"
"My second brother said five years old isn't too early. Besides, I should just learn to read first. I won't have to memorize anything or do any homework. I'll just keep Huaiyun company. Otherwise, she won't like going."
Fang Ying smiled and said, "My second sister-in-law also said that Mr. Zhu used to teach young men. He was a bit strict and old-fashioned. Huaiyun was very afraid of him."
"Well, I told my second brother that we should hire two female teachers, like we did in Yangzhou. Girls don't study just to get into school or take the imperial examinations, so the teaching should be more interesting and less rigid."
"It's a pity that those teachers are all old and don't want to leave their hometown." Fang Ying sighed.
"No rush, the children are still young, just take your time to search."
The two chatted about family matters and gradually felt sleepy. Ji Yanlang also calmed down. He moved back and hugged Fang Ying, covered her with the quilt, and soon fell asleep.
The next day was a sunny day, and the rain had stopped in their courtyard. The maids came in and out with smiles on their faces.
Yesterday, Matron Zeng was worried that Liu Lang would go out drinking and not come home, and that the relationship between them would get even worse. Unexpectedly, they reconciled today. She naturally thought that Liu Niang listened to her and gave in, and she had an even higher opinion of Fang Ying.
Ji Yanlang woke up with a headache, so he didn't go to practice boxing. Through the window, he saw Madam Zeng walking around in the courtyard. He turned around and said to Fang Ying, "You know what? This old madam gave me a lecture yesterday."
Fang Ying had actually learned this from the maid, but she pretended not to know: "Madam Zeng?"
"Who else besides her?"
Fang Ying smiled and said, "You taught me a lesson too."
"Really? What did you say?" Ji Yanlang became curious.
"Tell me to be more accommodating and gentle with you, otherwise you won't like to go home and will always go out."
"..." Ji Yanlang hurriedly explained, "Yesterday, there was a new deputy commander who insisted on treating us. He was Princess Han's brother."
He omitted the part about wanting to drown his sorrows in alcohol and recounted the entire incident, "If Liu Quan hadn't intervened, I wouldn't have bothered with it."
Fang Ying didn't delve into it, only saying, "I heard that the Imperial Concubine is not satisfied with this princess's family background."
"Well, Liu Quan said that Cui Longxiang's father has been dead for several years, but if you want to satisfy the imperial concubine, I'm afraid there are not many families in the court who can do that."
"Yes, the Cui family has at least some merit in following the emperor, otherwise why would the emperor choose his daughter as his daughter-in-law?"
Ji Yanlang drank the rice soup in his bowl, looked back at the sky, and said, "If there is nothing to do in the camp today, I will come back early."
"Well, Second Uncle said he wants you and Fifth Uncle to write a letter to Mom and Dad together to announce the good news."
Fang Ying also put down the bowl, followed him into the inner room, and helped him change into his official robes.
Ji Yanlang looked at her and suddenly remembered what Matron Zeng had said yesterday. He asked, "Matron Zeng said yesterday that you had just given birth and couldn't get angry. You still need to take good care of yourself. The last sentence only mentioned the word 'month'. What did she mean?"
Fang Ying was stunned: "Yue?"
"Well, you still say that this shouldn't be said to gentlemen."
Fang Ying fastened his leather belt, picked up his cotton robe, and asked him, "Isn't it cold wearing this? Do you need a cloak?"
"It's not cold. It's not winter yet. There's no need."
Fang Ying helped him put it on, thought for a moment, and guessed, "Is it your period?"
"Hmm? What happened to your period?"
"My period hasn't come yet, and Madam Zeng told me to eat more food that replenishes qi and blood."
"Is it time for her period? How long does it usually take after giving birth?" Ji Yanlang became concerned.
"Everyone is different. Mammy said that if you don't breastfeed, it will come in a month, and some will come in four or five months. Mine is less than three months, so there's really no need to rush." Fang Ying straightened his collar and finally said, "It's better to come later."
Originally, the only benefit of being pregnant was that she wouldn't have her period. She had just given birth and didn't want it to come so soon.
Ji Yanlang seemed to be thinking about something. He went to the cavalry camp and asked Liu Quan a few more questions. After finishing his shift, he did not go home immediately, but went to see the imperial physician first to ask whether a woman's reluctance to have sex with her husband after giving birth was related to menstruation.
The imperial physician was surprised and asked him how he came up with this idea.
Ji Yanlang said that he was just guessing and had no basis.
"Commander Ji is a rare man for coming up with such a guess. When a wife refuses to have sex after giving birth, most men either ignore her and act forcefully, or take concubines or prostitutes, completely ignoring their wives. It's rare for a man to carefully investigate and find out the reason."
Ji Yanlang had consulted this imperial physician before Fang Ying became pregnant, and after Fang Ying became pregnant, he took her pulse regularly during the pregnancy. They visited each other frequently and knew each other well.
The imperial physician then spoke to him from the bottom of his heart, "Women wouldn't seek medical advice for this. Although I specialize in gynecology, I haven't seen many cases in the past twenty years. Based on previous records and my own medical experience, I suspect it's related to menstruation."
Ji Yanlang was delighted. "Will it all be better after menstruation?" The imperial physician shook his head. "Not necessarily. Menstruation is only one factor. If your body shape doesn't return to its original state after childbirth, it can also make you feel uncomfortable. You worry that your husband won't like it, and thus you won't want to have sex. There's also postpartum fatigue, a crying baby, and so on, which can also make you lose interest in sex. Of course, this is just an ordinary woman, and your family shouldn't be in such a situation."
Not only that, but also her figure. Although Fang Ying has not yet recovered to her former slenderness, she is not worried that he will dislike it... However, she slept in the delivery room for a night and had a nightmare. It is hard to say, giving birth has indeed changed her a lot.
Ji Yanlang decided to keep it in mind and ask her slowly when he got back.
He thanked the imperial physician and asked him to keep it a secret that he had come to seek advice today, and not to mention it when he took Fang Ying's pulse later.
"Don't worry, Commander Ji. I'll save it."
Ji Yanlang thanked him again and again before saying goodbye and leaving.
Because of this delay, when he returned to Ji's house, he was not earlier than usual, but a little later.
Fang Ying didn't ask, but just told him that she would pick up Fang Quan today and stay until the afternoon, and asked Xiang'er to go back to Fang's house with her.
"This kid is finally getting tougher." Fang Ying smiled and imitated him. "Didn't I give her a hundred coins as her monthly allowance? She occasionally buys some candy when she has the money. Erlang sees her greedy, but she's not stingy and always gives him a piece. Dalang also wants one when he hears about it, but she refuses to give it to him, saying he has his own monthly allowance, so why should he ask her for it? She's never asked for anything from Dalang before."
Ji Yanlang said: "That's right, that's the truth."
"But how could Dalang let it go? He turned around and went to complain to his mother."
Mrs. Pan did not call Fang Quan over because of the candy. She just asked the servants to grab a handful of candy and give it to the eldest son. Unexpectedly, before dinner, when the whole family was gathered, Fang Yi suddenly spoke up and asked his father and mother when he could get his monthly allowance.
"He said that my second sister and brother both had monthly allowances, but he didn't, and he always ate my second sister's candy for free. My father naturally asked what was going on, and my second mother took the opportunity to say that I was the one who gave him the monthly allowance."
Mrs. Pan was already angry, and upon hearing this, she scolded Fang Quan for being too talkative, saying that it was all her fault. As an elder sister, she didn't even give her brother a piece of candy when he asked for it. She didn't know what kind of books he had read, and she was not sensible at all.
"Second Mother didn't dare to talk back, but after hearing what I said, it seemed like she was blaming me for asking Chu Yin to teach her how to read and write, but it was a bad influence on her. She started crying and said that she had given Er Lang everything he asked for, but Da Lang never took her seriously as his sister and always snatched her things, even the little girl, so she was unwilling to give them to him."
Ji Yanlang frowned: "How can my mother-in-law be so partial to me?" Aren't they all my biological children?
Fang Ying was already used to it: "She's always like this."
"So how did it end?"
"My father lectured Dalang, making him copy 'A father is kind and a son is filial; an elder brother is virtuous and a younger brother is respectful to his elder brother; the elder is kind and the younger is obedient' fifty times. He also said he was already eight years old and was not allowed to go to his sister's room in the back anymore. The little maid was also returned to Erniang, and even the little maid was not allowed to serve in Erlang's room anymore. It turned out that he didn't know about the previous incident."
Ji Yanlang said, "If I had known this, I would have told you everything last time."
"I also thought he acquiesced." But after all, it was something that happened in Fang Quan's room, and it was not appropriate for Ji Yanlang to tell her father about it. It would be better for them to sit together as a family and talk about it.
"My father-in-law is sensible and knows what is important." Ji Yanlang said.
Fang Ying disagreed: "He only found out about this now. Is it all my stepmother's fault?" If she had put more thought into disciplining her children, it wouldn't have been like this.
Ji Yanlang immediately agreed: "You are right. I was so focused on my father-in-law's busy official duties that I might not have paid attention to the trivial matters at home. But Fang Sheng is already eight years old and has enrolled in a private school. I really shouldn't have left him like this."
"Yes, my stepmother only knows how to spoil him. If he is not disciplined, it is hard to say whether Fang Sheng can become a good person in the future, let alone an official."
"He's only eight years old, there's still time." Ji Yanlang comforted him and asked whether Hong'er was awake or asleep.
Fang Ying sent someone to check and found out that her daughter had just woken up. She and Ji Yanlang went over to play with her daughter for a while.
Seeing that it was getting late, Ji Yanlang just said that he would send someone to see if his second brother had returned home, but then Ji Yanshou sent someone to ask him to write a letter to Zhenzhou.
Fang Ying saw him off and told him to remember to send regards to Li when he wrote. "It's cold in Zhenzhou. I wonder if mother is getting used to living there."
"Why don't you just write a letter to Mom?" Ji Yanlang said, "Write down everything you want to say. Mom will be very happy when she receives it."
After he finished speaking, he left. Fang Ying went back to her room to think about it. She was really moved, but it was not easy for her to write the letter alone. The next day, after discussing with her two sisters-in-law, she took the lead and wrote a letter to Li in the name of all three of them.
Then the two letters were sent to Zhenzhou together with the Winter Solstice gifts. The two places were actually not far away, but it was inconvenient to travel between them in winter. It was late November when the reply letter from Zhenzhou arrived.
Fang Ying was holding Hong'er in the room, playing with her while waiting for Ji Yanlang. Unexpectedly, when he came back after reading the letter, his face was not only not smiling, but full of anger.
"Third brother has gotten into big trouble again."
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The author has something to say: Yes, Fang Ying is actually experiencing a low libido due to postpartum hormone changes.
In addition, "fathers are kind and sons are filial, brothers are good and younger brothers are respectful, the elder is kind and the younger is obedient" comes from "Book of Rites·Li Yun"
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