Chapter 133 Chapter 133 He put his arm around her waist and picked her up, then...
Although they had prepared for the trip which would take several months, Fang Ying and Ji Yanlang did not expect that the emperor would not finally set out to return to Tokyo until after the Great Heat and the beginning of July, when Zhou Congshan had successfully given birth to a son.
During this period, Ji Yanlang wrote two letters back. The first letter was written shortly after he went to Xijing. In addition to writing about his experiences along the way and after arriving in Xijing, the rest was all about how much he missed Fang Ying and Honger.
Fang Ying's eyes were red with tears several times as she read the letter. She chose her words carefully when replying and wrote down all her thoughts for him on the paper.
Unexpectedly, there was no reply after the letter was sent. More than two months later, Ji Yanlang wrote back saying that he was ordered to go to Yinzhou and had just returned to Luoyang. The rest of the letter was full of his experiences in the west. There was a whole page just describing how good the Dangxiang horses were. He only briefly said at the end that he missed Fang Ying and her daughter very much.
Fang Ying was too embarrassed to tell anyone else, so she could only mutter to her daughter, "Your father saw a good horse and completely forgot about us."
“Ahh.”
Although Hong'er hasn't learned to speak yet, she loves to talk. No matter what Fang Ying says, she responds with humming and humming.
Fang Ying thought she was agreeing with him and nodded, "That's right. I'll settle the score with him when he comes back."
Despite his grumbling, Fang Ying still wrote back a letter and sent some money and other things because the emperor's letter said that he had no intention of returning to Tokyo.
It was already the beginning of June, and now there has been no news for a full month.
Fang Ying would look out the window from time to time after getting up in the morning, whether she was having dinner or doing housework.
Although she knew that the emperor was returning to the court and all officials had to go outside the city to welcome him, and her second uncle also said that he would send someone to send the news back in time, she was still uneasy. Yue Qing'e saw this and quickly assigned the tasks so that Fang Ying could return to her room earlier.
Fang Ying was a little embarrassed, but Yue Qing'e said, "If your second uncle had been away for five months before returning, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to sit still right now."
"Liu Lang has to go on a long journey every year, I'm used to it..."
"Yeah, now that I think about it, I've never really been able to stay at home for a full year since Rokuro came back."
Last year, I had nothing to do, but I sent my mother to Zhenzhou and was away from home for more than half a month.
"Hurry, go back to your room and wait. Maybe the imperial carriage has already entered the city." Yue Qing'e said finally.
Fang Ying appreciated her sister-in-law's kindness and returned to her room, where she absentmindedly played with Hong'er for a while. Sure enough, someone came to report that the emperor had entered the city and met Liu Lang. Soon, someone brought the luggage back, saying that Liu Lang had returned to the cavalry camp first and would return to the mansion later.
Fang Ying asked someone to go to the kitchen to pass on the message and boil some water to prepare the dishes. At the same time, she watched the maids unpack their luggage, count the clothes and take them for washing, and put away the remaining things.
By the time they had packed their bags, it was already past noon and Hong'er was fast asleep. Only then did Ji Yanlang finally step into the house.
Fang Ying couldn't help but go out and stood in the corridor waiting. She saw him walking towards her with big strides from afar. She was sighing that he had become darker and thinner. Ji Yanlang glanced over here and suddenly quickened his pace, almost running. It was obvious that he had also seen her.
She couldn't help but smile as she watched him rush into the yard like a gust of wind and stand in front of her. Just as she was about to speak, he put his arms around her waist and picked her up, carrying her directly into the main room.
"It's such a hot day, why are you standing outside waiting?" Ji Yanlang put Fang Ying down when he entered the room. Seeing the frightened look on her face, he realized that he had forgotten himself and hurriedly tried to make up for it.
"How hot can it get in the porch?" Fang Ying said with a smile, taking two steps back to look him up and down. "Are you tired? Do you want to eat first or take a shower first?"
Seeing that she didn't mind, Ji Yanlang immediately took her hand and said, "Take a shower first. You've worked up a sweat." He then looked into the inner room and asked, "Where's Hong'er? Is he asleep?"
"Well, not here. I slept in the side room."
While pulling him in, Fang Ying ordered the servants to fetch water and asked the maid to cut some melon to quench Ji Yanlang's thirst.
"Do you miss me?" Ji Yanlang asked Fang Ying while the maids were not following him.
Fang Ying looked up at him, unable to say she didn't want to, so she nodded.
Ji Yanlang's face lit up with a smile: "I miss you, too." He held Fang Ying's hand and pressed it against his chest, "I miss you so much that my heart is about to break."
"Bah." Fang Ying pulled her hand back, "I don't believe it."
Ji Yanlang wanted to say more, but Lichun brought tea. He had no choice but to pull Fang Ying to sit down first and sighed, "Finally, we're home."
"Why do you look so much thinner? Didn't you eat well in Xijing?"
"The food is alright, but I have a lot of errands to run. I'll tell you more about it when I have time."
Everyone had returned, so there was no need to ask in a hurry. Just then, the maid brought the cut melon over. Fang Ying asked him to eat the melon and said, "By the way, there's a new happy event in the family. Congratulations on becoming an uncle again."
Ji Yanlang was stunned: "Huh?"
"It's Si Niang. She just diagnosed it a few days ago." Fang Ying said with a smile.
"That's what I told you. There's no need to rush this matter. If the time comes for children, they will come naturally."
In the first month of the lunar year, Fourth Lady Ji Lanjun returned to her parents' home. She heard her sisters-in-law talking about the princess being pregnant and Fifth Sister-in-law being pregnant with her second child. She looked a little envious. Fang Ying saw this and asked her about it privately. She learned that the Liu family didn't say anything, but Princess Kangning was also pregnant. They got married in the same year, so she became anxious.
Fang Ying later learned it for Ji Yanlang, and Ji Yanlang said this sentence.
"I got the news from my second sister-in-law and went to visit her at the Duke's Mansion. The Liu family took very good care of her."
"Well, what about the pregnancy notes? Did you give them to her as well?"
Fang Ying said, "I asked her if she dared to watch it, but she hesitated, so I didn't mention it again."
Si Niang is a gentle and timid person. She doesn't want to watch it herself, so Fang Ying, as her sister-in-law, naturally can't force her.
Ji Yanlang also said, "Let her be. Speaking of uncles, guess who I met in Xijing?"
"Who?" His uncle was living in Tokyo. Suddenly, Fang Ying had a flash of inspiration. "Could it be someone from the Zhao family?"
Ji Yanlang clapped his hands and said, "My lady, you are truly foresighted. My eldest sister's father-in-law, Uncle Zhao, has been summoned to an audience. I heard the news and went over to wait for him and meet him."
Zhao Hanyun, the father-in-law of Ji family's eldest lady Wenjun, is now the prefect of Jinzhou. Fang Ying has heard that Jinzhou is northwest of Luoyang, only slightly farther from Luoyang to Bianliang. He remembered it from Si Niang's incident and asked about it, so Fang Ying naturally guessed it right.
"Uncle Zhao said everything is fine at home. My nephew Tonglang is already eight years old. He also said that he looks like me, exactly like me when I was a child." Ji Yanlang said with a smile, "I didn't see him many times when I was a child, so how can I tell he looks like me?"
Fang Ying smiled and said, "It's to show closeness. It's always right for a nephew to resemble his uncle."
Hot water was delivered just at this moment, and Fang Ying and Ji Yanlang went into the inner room to first untie his hair and unclog it.
Ji Yanlang sat down in the water, sighed comfortably, and asked casually, "Is everything okay at my father-in-law's house?"
"Well, everything is fine. A few days ago, Second Mother came over and said that Second Uncle couldn't stay in his hometown and urged Second Cousin to come to Beijing with him. Second Cousin complained to Grandfather, but Grandfather didn't get angry. He just asked First Uncle to find the clan leader to open the ancestral hall, saying that Second Uncle was unfilial and wanted to expel him from the family, as if he had never had this son."
Ji Yanlang was shocked: "Is my grandfather such a righteous person?"
"I'm just trying to scare my second uncle," Fang Ying said. "Firstly, my eldest uncle won't obey orders to go find the clan leader. Secondly, if I really expel my second uncle, what will happen to my two cousins?"
"That's easy. Just write it down on your uncle's knees." Ji Yanlang said with a smile, "It might be a good thing for my two cousins."
Fang Ying smiled and shook her head: "Even so, my grandmother will definitely stop me."
"Did Second Uncle admit his mistake?"
"He did acknowledge it, but he said it wasn't because he was unfilial. He was just afraid that it would hinder his second cousin's future. He didn't make any progress studying at home, and if he failed the imperial examination, he might as well return to Beijing and ask my father to help him find a job."
"Aren't you complaining that Grandfather didn't teach me well?"
Fang Ying smiled and said, "Yes, Grandfather wasn't angry at first, but when he heard this, he got really angry and wanted to beat my second uncle with his walking stick."
"Is this even written in the letter?" Ji Yanlang was surprised.
"Of course it wasn't written in the letter, but the person who delivered the letter was a member of the Pan clan. My father invited him to have a meal with him, so naturally he learned everything."
Ji Yanlang laughed when he heard this: "It's a pity that we went north when we arrived in Yanzhou instead of going south, otherwise we could have visited our grandparents."
"Aren't you going north to escort the imperial envoy? What is going on in Fengxiang that's worthy of the emperor's imperial commissioner?"
"Yes, there are great things to come when we go north." Ji Yanlang took advantage of Fang Ying's hair combing to turn around and whispered, "I went to Yinzhou this time and met the Dangxiang people. Only then did I understand the emperor's painstaking efforts."
Fang Ying looked up at him: "What do you mean?"
"Strong soldiers and strong horses are the root of disloyalty."
Fang Ying was surprised: "Didn't they submit a memorial of submission? They've also been paying tribute in recent years, right?"
"Yes, but they only paid tribute in the amount of a few hundred horses, far less than the imperial reward. I originally thought that these Tanguts were truly loyal. When we attacked Northern Zhao, they even sent troops. But when I went there, I realized that the soldiers and civilians of the Five Provinces only knew the Wu family, not the Chen Dynasty."
Wu was the royal surname of the previous dynasty. The ancestor of Dingnan Jiedushi was given the surname Wu for his contribution to suppressing the rebellion. Since then, he has occupied the five states for more than seventy years.
Ji Yanlang explained it to Fang Ying from the beginning, and finally sighed, "The Central Plains has changed several dynasties, but the Wu family has always been in charge. No wonder..."
"So, the government wants to take back the five states?"
"Of course, how can I allow others to sleep soundly beside my bed? Moreover, raising a tiger will bring trouble. If the Tanguts join forces with the Hu people in the north, won't our dynasty be attacked from all sides?"
Fang Ying wet his hair and began to wash it, saying casually, "I'm afraid it won't be that easy, right?"
"Yes, it's not as easy as taking Youzhou. But if we take the five states in Hexi, then march north to take Yunzhou, and then gradually advance eastward, there's no need to worry about not being able to recover the sixteen states."
As he spoke with great passion, he wanted to turn back, but Fang Ying was holding his hair and rubbing it gently. With two pulls, Ji Yanlang felt a sharp pain on his scalp and couldn't help but let out a hiss.
Fang Ying was at a loss for words: "Just talk, why are you moving around? Does it hurt?"
Ji Yanlang touched the top of his head and couldn't help laughing: "It's okay, it doesn't hurt much."
"Don't move." Fang Ying straightened his head and let him lie down a little, then she put her fingers in and gently rubbed his scalp. "I can see that your trip to the west has reignited the fire in your heart."
Ji Yanlang laughed and said, "It wasn't destroyed in the first place."
"It's not gone, it's just much smaller."
Ji Yanlang was silent for a moment before he sighed, "I was too obsessed with the idea that Youzhou was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and that the Hu cavalry could move freely and rush to our aid from three sides. I had no confidence in victory."
"Aren't you afraid of reinforcements if you attack Yunzhou?"
"Well, Taiyuan is already ours. As long as we take down the Dingnan Army, it will be much easier to attack from three sides."
"You've taken down Dingnan Army. I think you want their horses, right? You only write about horses when you write to me." Fang Ying finally couldn't help but said it.
Ji Yanlang didn't understand, and smiled to himself: "The army and horses are inseparable, so of course I want them all."
Fang Ying didn't say anything. She rinsed his long hair, wrapped it with a cloth, and rubbed his back.
Ji Yanlang was still immersed in his own thoughts, "Our cavalry still has too few horses. At least each person needs two horses to run fast..."
"If I pair you with two Tangut horses, do you not want to go home anymore?"
"Ah?" Ji Yanlang paused for a moment after Fang Ying interrupted him, then quickly said, "How could that be possible?"
Fang Ying stood up with the help of the wooden barrel, "I'm done, you can wash it slowly."
After saying that, he didn't care what Ji Yanlang said, he walked around the screen and pushed the door open to go out.
“…”
Ji Yanlang stared at the screen for a moment before realizing that what Fang Ying had just said was "you only write about horses when writing letters." He found it funny at first - Fang Ying, who always stuck to the facts and didn't lose her temper, actually got annoyed because he wrote a few more words about Dangxiang horses.
But then he thought, he had been away from home for five months and had only written two letters back, and he had spent so much time and effort writing about horses. No wonder Fang Ying was unhappy.
This was just like the day when he went to war and Fang Ying wrote him a letter full of meticulous accounts without mentioning lovesickness at all, which made him feel depressed while reading it.
Ji Yanlang felt sweet in his heart and couldn't help but smile. It seemed that she really missed him this time.
-----------------------
The author has something to say: Happy holidays [Good luck Lianlian]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
