Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Since the consummation of the marriage, his actions...
On the sixth day of the New Year, it snowed a little in the morning. Although it stopped after a while, the sky remained gloomy and the wind was strong and cold. Fang Ying wanted to go to the warm room in the back garden to take a look. If Lichun had not supported her on the way, she would have been blown to the ground by the wind.
Arriving at the warm room, the fire hadn't been lit yet, and it was as cold as an ice cellar. Fang Ying hurriedly asked the maid to light the stove. It would be difficult to truly warm up such a cold room without a little more fire. And it would surely get even colder in the evening. After a moment's thought, she ordered a large fumigation basket to be brought in and placed under the north window, and some thick, warm cushions to cover the seats.
After watching the fire burn, Fang Ying returned to her room and asked Lichun to find the large fur cloaks that she and Ji Yanlang wore in the cold winter, "in case you get cold on the way back after the banquet."
In the afternoon, Ji Yanlang came back from outside and also said he was cold. "I'll go to the warm room first. If it's not warm enough, I won't bother everyone going to the back garden."
"I've asked them to light the stove early and add a smoker. I wonder if it's warm now. Go check it out first."
"Thank goodness you're here." Ji Yanlang hugged Fang Ying and kissed her hard. The force was so strong that the whole room could hear the sound.
Fang Ying felt ashamed, embarrassed and annoyed, but before she could lash out, he turned and ran away, leaving her alone facing a room full of maids who were lowering their heads, not knowing whether they were laughing secretly. Fang Ying was extremely upset, and she pulled out a silk handkerchief to wipe her face vigorously, wishing she could catch up with Ji Yanlang and beat him up.
Ever since the wedding, his behavior has become more and more unbridled. He doesn't care how many people are standing in the room, he just holds hands, touches faces and hugs. I have told him several times, but not only has he not changed, he is even more excessive today. It seems that I can't talk to him without being serious.
Fang Ying went into the inner room, sat on the couch, and waited for him to come back while thinking about how to talk.
Lichun saw that her face was tense and her anger had not subsided. He knew that his wife was really angry, so he did not dare to persuade her. He quietly made tea and brought it to her. After his wife drank the tea and the anger on her face subsided, he said calmly: "It seems that my husband will not stay at home for many days."
Fang Ying glanced at her, and Lichun whispered, "I wonder when we'll be able to return home victorious from this expedition?"
Fang Ying understood what she meant. Ji Yanlang was about to leave, so there was no need to argue with him at this time. Besides, after the argument, he might be gone for a month or two, and he might not even remember her when he came back.
"Don't worry, I won't argue with him. I'll just talk about reason."
Lichun smiled apologetically: "My lady has always been the most reasonable, but... today is the day when my husband is treating my lady and the ladies to a banquet..."
"I know what's going on."
After Fang Ying said this, Lichun felt relieved and went to dry his cloak.
After a long while, Ji Yanlang finally came back. "Thanks to your early instructions, the warm room is already warm. It's just that there's no suitable place to roast the whole lamb. Can you ask the kitchen to roast and cut it up before sending it over?"
"Why not make a mutton soup pot instead? Roasted lamb should be eaten freshly roasted to avoid the smell of mutton."
This dish was originally ordered by Li for Fang Ying. Now that she said so, Ji Yanlang naturally listened to her.
Fang Ying asked if the other dishes were ready. Ji Yanlang said, "They're almost ready. I'll go invite Mother later, and when everyone is gathered, we can slowly serve the dishes. Oh, by the way, we've prepared the Liuxiang and Mianzhu honey wines that were given by the emperor last time. Mother prefers honey wine. Do you have a preference?"
"I also prefer honey wine. We have some candied green plums at home. You can ask them to soak a few in the wine pot before heating the wine. The flavor will be better."
Ji Yanlang smiled and tapped Fang Ying's nose: "You really love to eat and know how to eat."
Fang Ying tilted her head and said calmly, "Just talk, don't use force all the time."
Her expression suddenly turned cold. Ji Yanlang didn't understand why, so he just smiled and said, "We're in our own room, what are we afraid of?"
Fang Ying glanced at Lichun, and Lichun hurriedly retreated with the maids.
"Even in your own room, you have to be respectful," Fang Ying said sternly. "You always act like this in front of the maids. It makes you look frivolous and disrespectful, and it makes me look frivolous and shameless. What if someone in the room lets it slip and spreads the news to my third and fourth sisters-in-law? Do you think they will say that I came from a humble background and lost my mother at a young age, so I lack family education and don't know how to respect myself?"
The more she spoke, the more serious the smile on Ji Yanlang's face disappeared. "We are a loving couple, why would we bring up family education?"
"Even a loving couple doesn't have to be this affectionate. Take a father or mother, for example. They would do what you did before, in front of a room full of maids..." Fang Ying couldn't continue and had to skip, "Do you know how long I hid myself in shame and anger after you left, before I recovered?"
Thinking back to the noise he made when he kissed her when he came back earlier, Ji Yanlang finally understood why she brought up the matter so seriously. Although he didn't agree with it in his heart, thinking that Fang Ying was a young lady after all and had a thin skin, he admitted his mistake and said, "It was my fault at that time. I was so happy that I lost my sense of propriety. I won't do it again."
"I forgive you this time." Fang Ying didn't want to dwell on this matter. "But there's one thing. I don't like it when you point your finger at me like a child when you're happy. It makes me feel disrespected."
Seeing Ji Yanlang frowning after saying that, she softened her tone again: "We are going to be husband and wife for life, so I said whatever I wanted to say. I didn't mean to blame you, but just told you that I don't like that."
She said she wasn't accusing him, but Ji Yanlang couldn't help but defend himself: "This is just a display of affection and affection between husband and wife. How can it be considered disrespectful? Besides, if we still treat each other politely like outsiders, with you respecting me and me respecting you, what kind of husband and wife are we?"
"Even husbands and wives should respect each other like guests." Fang Ying couldn't help but retort, then remembered that it was not the right time to argue with him today, so she pulled it back and said, "I'm not talking about the kind of politeness and respect that I'm talking about for outsiders, but... let's put it this way, if I were to point my finger when I was happy..."
As she spoke, she stretched out her arm and tapped Ji Yanlang on the nose—the force and gesture were exactly the same as when he tapped himself—and then asked, "What do you think?"
Ji Yanlang didn't have time to react. He felt uncomfortable when she suddenly nodded at him. But, "Are you happy? You're clearly provoking me."
Fang Ying rolled her eyes and suddenly laughed: "Look at you, you're really angry. I was just imitating you, how can it be considered a provocation?"
The tone of these words was exactly the same as the one Ji Yanlang used to defend himself before. He was unable to answer for a moment, but he felt even more angry.
Fang Ying acted as if she hadn't noticed. She picked up the tea in front of her, which had already cooled, and took two slow sips before looking up at him. She asked, "Suppose I were trying to coax you and say 'Okay, don't be angry'. Would you rather I tap your forehead or nose, or take your hand and shake it? Both express affection and affection. Which do you prefer?"
There's no need to think, it's the latter, of course. Holding hands and shaking them is meant to coax people, but touching the forehead or nose and saying "Okay, don't be angry" is condescending and not allowing you to be angry anymore... Ji Yanlang finally roughly understood what Fang Ying meant. The disrespect she was talking about was not the disrespect that was based on etiquette, but disrespect towards her personally.
"In my opinion, there is a difference between intimacy and affection. I am your wife, not a concubine or maid, nor a junior or a kitten or puppy. I feel really uncomfortable when you treat me like that."
Fang Ying said as she moved closer to Ji Yanlang. She took the initiative to reach out and hold his arm that was resting on the small table. She tried to soften her voice and said, "Of course I know you didn't mean to do this. I also know that you want us to be closer as a couple. But the more you want to, the more I have to make my words clear. Otherwise, wouldn't I be letting you down?"
Ji Yanlang glanced at her soft hand on his arm and finally spoke: "I understand. Holding it in and not saying it makes you take it more to heart. You did the right thing."
"Thank you." Fang Ying smiled. "If I do something wrong in the future that makes you unhappy, please tell me directly and we can improve together."
Ji Yanlang wanted to say that he was very unhappy because she kept talking back to him one sentence at a time, but seeing that she was smiling and speaking softly, he swallowed his words and just replied, "Okay."
He turned and glanced out the window after answering, "It's almost time. Let's go and get Mother."
Fang Ying could see that he was still unhappy, but since he didn't say anything, she pretended not to notice. She agreed, turned around and called Lichun in to help her put on the cloak, and asked Ji Yanlang if he wanted to put it on too.
"I'm fine, you can wear it." Seeing that she was still thinking about him, Ji Yanlang felt much better.
"Then when you need to wear it, ask them to come back and get it."
The two of them went out together, first going to Li's courtyard to invite her, and then when they arrived at the warm room in the garden, Yue Qing'e, An, Cheng, and Gao had already arrived.
Ji Yanlang invited his mother and sisters-in-law to take their seats, then turned around and ordered the dishes to be served. Finally, he smiled at everyone at the table and said, "Today, I will serve you mother and sisters-in-law with wine, dishes, and soup. Everyone, please don't be polite and just serve me."
Li smiled and said, "Don't just talk nicely, pour me a cup of tea first."
Ji Yanlang agreed, took the tea prepared by the maid, and poured a cup for all the women at the table. After pouring the tea, he turned around and saw the warm wine. He remembered what Fang Ying said, and whispered to the maid to get some candied green plums and soak them in the honey wine.
At this time, the soup was served first. Ji Yanlang smiled and said, "It's cold today, so drink some soup to warm your stomach first. This bowl is Fenglelou's Hundred Flavor Soup. When I first came back, I met up with my old friends and went to Fenglelou a few times. I like their Hundred Flavor Soup the most."
As he spoke, he personally served a small bowl to Li, and then to each of his four sisters-in-law in turn. Finally, when it came to Fang Ying, she smiled and said, "I'm sorry to bother you. Let's call Lichun."
"That won't do. Mother has instructed us to do that." Ji Yanlang smiled and served Fang Ying a small bowl and handed it to her.
Yue Qing'e smiled and said to Li: "Liu Lang is becoming more obedient now."
Mrs. Li smiled but said nothing. Ji Yanlang pretended not to notice his sister-in-law was making fun of him and continued to introduce another bowl of soup. "That one is quail soup, also from Fengle Tower. It's lighter than the Baiwei soup."
After drinking two bowls of hot soup in a row, Fang Ying's stomach did feel warm. But when she looked up, she saw that most of the soup bowls in front of Li and several sisters-in-law were left empty, and she was the only one who drank both bowls of soup clean.
An saw this and laughed, "Look at Sixth Brother's wife, she's showing so much support to Sixth Brother that she's even cleaned up the soup."
"Then my third sister-in-law only drank two or three sips, but she deliberately didn't support me?" Ji Yanlang asked with a smile.
"I want to keep my appetite open to see what other delicious dishes you have prepared," An replied.
Ji Yanlang took the opportunity to introduce the dishes that had just been served to the women: "This is the cold dish from Changqinglou, red shredded crystal minced meat, shredded chicken with crispy bamboo shoots, and the other two dishes are braised pork and sweet osmanthus lotus root bought from another small shop."
After introducing the dishes and warming the wine, Ji Yanlang asked everyone what kind of wine they wanted, filled their glasses in turn, and then raised their glasses to toast. Everyone drank the first glass together before eating the food and wine.
Fang Ying had already tasted the braised pork yesterday, so she started by trying the red shredded crystal sashimi and shredded chicken with crispy bamboo shoots. While any home cook could make the crystal sashimi, it was rather spicy, somewhat masking the fishy aroma. The Changqinglou version wasn't spicy at all, and even slightly sweet, as if sugar had been added. She preferred it. The shredded chicken with crispy bamboo shoots was tossed in sesame oil and pepper; it was refreshing and delicious, perfect for drinking with wine.
After the cold dishes, the mutton soup pot with charcoal fire was served.
"We were originally planning to roast a whole lamb, but the weather wasn't good, so we couldn't find a suitable place to cook it," Ji Yanlang said, looking at his mother. "So I asked Fang Ying, and she changed it to a soup pot."
When Li heard that it was Fang Ying's idea, she just nodded without saying anything. Yue Qing'e immediately teased, "Fang Ying? Liu Lang, you should drink a glass of wine. How can you call me by my full name like that?"
Although An and Cheng had never gotten along with Yue Qing'e, everyone was happy at the banquet today, and they were the only young couple at the table, so who else could they tease if not them?
They also joined in the fun and said, "Second sister-in-law is right. This is outrageous. He should be fined a glass." "Just one fine is not enough. Liu Lang should also toast to his sixth brother and sister-in-law and apologize properly."
Mrs. Li watched them teasing their youngest son with a smile, but said nothing.
Ji Yanlang did not refuse and poured himself a glass of wine, saying, "I was wrong, I'll drink it as punishment." After drinking it all, he poured another glass, walked to Fang Ying, and toasted her, saying, "I apologize for my words just now. Please don't blame me."
Before Fang Ying could speak, An said, "That won't do. What do you mean by 'Madam'? Call her that properly."
"Isn't this a good name? I really don't know. Please teach me, sister-in-law." Ji Yanlang smiled and threw the difficult question back.
"How can you ask someone else to teach you this? What do you usually call your sixth brother's wife in your room?"
“…”Those names cannot be said at the table.
Seeing Ji Yanlang standing there in a daze, Yue Qing'e smiled and reminded him, "How does mother usually call Sixth Brother's sister-in-law?"
Ying'er? Ji Yanlang looked at Fang Ying, but for some reason, he was too embarrassed to call out.
Fang Ying thought he was asking for help, so she clinked her cup against his and drank it without caring what others said.
Ji Yanlang breathed a sigh of relief and drank as well, then turned back to introduce the new dishes.
-----------------------
The author has something to say: Sorry for the long wait, I will update one chapter first
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided nutrient solution between 2020-12-05 23:59:20 and 2020-12-09 21:01:59~
Thanks to the little angels who provided nutrient solution: 6 bottles for Matcha Film and Television Production Company; 1 bottle for Xue Xiaomiaomiao;
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
