Chapter 102 Chapter 102 She unconsciously pressed her lower abdomen, it was difficult...
Fang Ying didn't think this was a punishment. She didn't even think that the emperor would punish Concubine Zhang for this matter. Prince Zhaoyi was poisoned, and she, a woman in the inner chamber, didn't believe that it was the work of the King of Chu. The emperor, who was so talented and strategic and conquered all the countries, had never doubted his concubines?
There had certainly been suspicions and secret investigations, but in the end, whether due to the passage of time and the lack of concrete evidence, or for other considerations, the concubines were all safe and sound.
Compared with this major case, Princess Heqing was just throwing a tantrum. Why was it worth punishing Concubine Zhang for it?
"There's still a war going on in the north, so they probably don't want to cause any more trouble." Fang Ying finally answered.
Upon hearing this, Li couldn't help but frown and said, "It's already the beginning of winter, why haven't the Hu people retreated yet?"
"Yes." Fang Ying sighed, "This battle is still going on and will never end."
She chatted with Li for a while, and seeing that Ji Yanlang had not returned home yet, she excused herself and went back to her room to take care of a few household chores before Ji Yanlang entered the house.
"Why are you so late today?" Fang Ying asked.
"I'm afraid it will be this late in the future." Ji Yanlang took off his cloak and asked Fang Ying, "When did you come back?"
Fang Ying took the cloak and handed it to the maid, saying, "I've been back for half an hour." Then she pressed, "Are you going to send reinforcements?"
As Ji Yanlang walked towards the inner room, he replied, "They didn't say anything explicitly, they just told us to intensify our training."
"Just now my mother told me that it's already this late, why haven't the Hu people retreated yet..."
Ji Yanlang lowered his voice and said, "It seems that the leader of the Hu people has arrived in Youzhou."
Fang Ying's eyes widened in surprise as he continued, "The Hu people are used to being violent and tyrannical. Last year, not only did we conquer Northern Zhao, we also recaptured cities they'd seized and laid siege to Youzhou. They wanted to retaliate, but were defeated at Mancheng and Yanmen. This time, if the king personally leads the expedition and doesn't bite us hard, how will he explain himself when he returns?"
"Will the fight last until the New Year?"
"It shouldn't be that serious." Ji Yanlang changed into his casual robes. "They can't take that long. Besides..."
He paused briefly and warned Fang Ying: "Don't tell mother what I said to you."
Fang Ying nodded in agreement, and Ji Yanlang then continued, "From what I can see from the superiors' opinions today, perhaps the emperor is also interested in meeting the leader of the Hu people."
“…”
"I was just guessing." Seeing Fang Ying's expression change, Ji Yanlang quickly changed his words, "The Hu people's leader is already trapped there, unable to advance or retreat. Now is not the time to win. Our army can just hold on. There is really no need for the emperor to lead the army in person."
There is no need for that, but for Ji Yanlang to make such a guess, there must be signs in the camp that the emperor is planning to lead the army in person.
Fang Ying was a little worried, but this was not something they could control, and worrying would not help. As long as there was no military order, life had to go on as usual.
In a blink of an eye, the fifteenth day passed, the weather turned cold, and the first snow of the winter fell. Ji Yanlang returned home early and said to Fang Ying, "Now you can spend the winter at home in peace."
Fang Ying was surprised: "Have the enemy retreated?"
"It won't retreat soon." Ji Yanlang pointed out the window, "The snow is melting and the roads are covered with ice. I slipped on my horse back home, let alone the north."
"It's cold in the north, maybe the snow won't melt."
"It's not much colder than Bianjing. Besides, the snow won't melt, which is even more troublesome. The horses can't run, and the noise is too loud. At night, when the moon shines, it's as bright as day, and both horses and men are prone to frostbite."
Ji Yanlang enumerated a bunch of disadvantages of fighting after the snow, and sure enough, a few days later, news came that the snow was heavy in Xiongzhou and the Hu people were withdrawing.
"Fortunately, your father was able to return in time to preside over Si Niang's wedding."
"yes."
Ji Yanlang smiled and agreed with his mother at that time, and also said a few witty words to cheer her up. Unexpectedly, a few days later, he heard in the camp that although Xiongzhou reported a victory, in fact, some people saw that the Hu cavalry retreated on their own, and wanted to take advantage of the credit, so they secretly led troops to pursue them. However, they were killed by the well-prepared enemy army and retreated in panic.
When he got home, he told Fang Ying about it with a sullen face. She was also surprised and asked, "Does the government know about this?"
"It must have been earlier than we knew."
"That……"
Ji Yanlang sighed: "It's not a good time for the emperor to get angry now." After all, the good news has been spread throughout the country. If the matter is exposed at this time, the loss of face is the least of the problems. The only thing is that the morale will be damaged, and they will be afraid to fight against the Hu people in the future.
Seeing that he had made his point clearly, yet still looked resentful, Fang Ying simply put the matter aside and talked about some family matters to dilute the matter.
"The room for the tutor has been cleaned up. Do you want to go and take a look?"
Ji Yanlang and his second brother Ji Yanshou had been working on it for several months and finally found a well-educated man with good character to come and stay at the Ji Mansion. They agreed to come at the end of the month. Fang Ying had been having people clean up the empty house these past two days.
"Is the classroom ready?" Ji Yanlang asked.
"Well, the only thing left is the desk waiting for you and second uncle to choose. Also, shouldn't we hang some calligraphy and paintings on the four walls?" Fang Ying found something for him to do.
How could Ji Yanlang understand calligraphy and painting? He said directly: "I'll go find my second brother and go over to take a look together."
He did not return until before dinner, and they talked about this matter while having dinner at Li's courtyard. After returning to her room in the evening, Fang Ying brought up matters of her mother's family again - her cousin who had returned to his hometown to take the imperial examination had indeed failed.
"Grandfather said his academic knowledge wasn't solid enough and he needed to work hard, so he kept him with him to study and didn't call him back, waiting for next year to take the exam. My stepmother said that regardless of whether my cousin passed the exam or not, Grandfather's spirits have improved."
Ji Yanlang smiled and said, "Isn't that just killing two birds with one stone?"
Fang Ying nodded: "My cousin is eager to learn, and my grandfather is happy. His health has improved a lot."
The two chatted about some gossip, and Ji Yanlang didn't even think about the disgraceful battle in Xiongzhou, and went to bed early.
After that, the tutor came into the house, and as Si Niang's wedding date approached, the house became increasingly busy. Sometimes, when Ji Yanlang returned home from work, Fang Ying was not in the room. In the evening, when they were finally alone, she fell asleep from exhaustion before they could say a few words.
Ji Yanlang felt quite distressed when he saw this, so he would go home early after his shift every day and try his best to share more housework so that she could rest earlier.
When people get busy, time flies quickly and before we know it, it’s the end of November.
That day, Ji Yanlang heard in the camp that the emperor had issued an edict to summon his father back to the capital. He returned home happily and before he could tell Fang Ying the good news when he entered the room, he saw her getting up from the couch with the help of Lichun.
He hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
"No, I just have a little backache. I just asked Lichun to massage a few times." Fang Ying saw his face was full of joy when he came in, and then asked, "You look so happy, but is your father coming back?"
Ji Yanlang smiled and said, "Exactly, the decree has come down."
"Why don't you go and tell your mother?"
Ji Yanlang wanted to go with her, but seeing that she looked tired, he nodded and said, "I'll go now." He added, "I'll give you a massage when I come back. Their hands are weak and they won't be able to relieve your fatigue."
Fang Ying said, "I think it's just right. You have a strong hand, and it will hurt me if you press it again."
"I'll press it gently for you."
Fang Ying laughed: "Since you are so kind, I would be disrespectful to refuse. I have no choice but to accept it."
Ji Yanlang smiled, turned and walked out.
The weather has been cold recently and Fang Ying has been very busy, so the couple no longer went to Li's house for dinner. Seeing that it was still early, she asked someone to call the housekeeper over. She had just asked a few questions and before she got to the point, Ji Yanlang came back.
"You're back so soon?" Fang Ying asked in surprise.
"Once Mother heard that Father was coming back, how could she still listen to me?" Ji Yanlang smiled and untied his cloak, asking, "What are you busy with?"
"I want to double-check the kitchen shopping list."
The Ji family was marrying off their daughter, so as per the old custom, they had to hold a three-day banquet, starting from the fourth day of the first lunar month. The banquet lasted for three consecutive days, and the list of things to be purchased was several feet long.
Ji Yanlang glanced at the sky and said, "It's already this late, can we finish it?"
"We've checked the bulk of it, only some scattered items are left." Fang Ying explained and asked Ji Yanlang to go in and change clothes first. "We'll be there in a moment."
Ji Yanlang nodded, went into the inner room to change into casual clothes, and waited until Fang Ying and the housekeeper finished checking the accounts before getting up and leaving.
"Are you hungry?" Fang Ying stood up and stretched her waist. "Ask them to serve the food."
Ji Yanlang walked over to her and sat down, raising his hand to pinch her neck. "No hurry, let me massage you first. Were you keeping your head down just now? You're stiff here."
"Well, a little."
His palms were warm and the strength was moderate, and the massage felt quite comfortable, so Fang Ying relaxed and let him continue.
Ji Yanlang massaged from her neck to her shoulders. Feeling that it was not tiring for Fang Ying to sit like that, he asked her to lie on the pillow and massaged her waist.
"Does it hurt here?" he asked while pressing his hand.
Fang Ying felt an itchy spot on her waist, and she couldn't help but twist it away, laughing twice: "It doesn't hurt here, just a little sore, maybe it's time for my period."
As she spoke, she remembered and asked Lichun, "Isn't it too late this month?"
"It's late..." Lichun said as he counted the days in his mind. As he counted, he felt something was wrong. "Oh, this is not just late."
Ji Yanlang was still massaging Fang Ying's waist, not thinking too much, and asked casually: "What? It's so late?"
Fang Ying suddenly raised her head and asked Lichun, "What day last month did you finish?"
"I remember it was before the snow fell, it should be the fourteenth or fifteenth..." Lichun couldn't remember exactly, so she went out and called Xingniang in.
Ji Yanlang finally understood a little, "Could it be?"
Seeing him stunned, Fang Ying quickly said, "Not necessarily. I'm always a few days late."
Xing Niang was calculating the date with Li Chun when she heard this and interrupted, "It's not that late. My wife was clean on the 14th of last month. According to the usual practice, she should have come by the 20th of this month at the latest. Today is the 28th..."
The more she spoke, the more joyful her face became: "We servants are so busy that we have to wait for Madam to ask about such an important matter..."
Ji Yanlang hurriedly helped Fang Ying up, his eyes fixed on her belly. He felt as if in a dream and stammered, "Then... I..."
Fang Ying was also a little flustered, but she managed to remain calm and said, "Something happened, so it's possible to postpone it for a few days. Don't make it public for now..."
"I'll go get the imperial physician."
Ji Yanlang stood up and was about to leave. Fang Ying quickly reached out and held him back, saying, "Why are you so anxious? Even if you're really pregnant, it's so early in the month that the imperial physician can't tell what's going on. They're still asking about the last date of your period. Have you forgotten?"
"Is... is that so?" Ji Yanlang couldn't think of anything now. He sat back down blankly, and before he could sit still, he stood up again. "Then I'll go ask Mom."
Fang Ying held him tightly, "Mom is having dinner right now, don't startle her."
"What should we do then?"
"What do you mean?" Fang Ying was amused by his flustered look. "I'm fine. Just be careful and wait a few days."
"Really? Don't you need to see the imperial physician?" Ji Yanlang was still worried, "You still have back pain."
Fang Ying said, "Back pain is not a big deal. You have to have dizziness, nausea, vomiting, etc. before you can call the imperial physician."
Ji Yanlang regained consciousness at this time. "Isn't back pain one of the discomforts of pregnancy? Come to think of it, you really haven't had a good appetite these past two days. I thought you were just tired."
Lichun also said, "Yes, my wife loves mutton the most. Yesterday, the kitchen made a mutton pot and sent it to me, but she only ate two bites and stopped eating."
Fang Ying said, "It's because the mutton is too fatty."
"There are also oranges," Xing Niang continued. "They were newly delivered today. Wu Niang only ate one slice and her eyes narrowed because of the sourness. Madam, not only didn't mind the sourness, she even thought it was refreshing and appetizing, so she ate two in one go."
“…”
Ji Yanlang, Lichun and Xingniang all stared at Fang Ying with their six eyes, staring so hard that she unconsciously pressed her lower abdomen. Is it really possible that she is pregnant?
"Let's serve the food first." Fang Ying suppressed her thousands of thoughts and looked at Ji Yanlang, "We'll talk after dinner."
Ji Yanlang nodded, held her other hand, and said softly, "Don't be afraid, I'll take care of everything."
Seeing that Lichun and Xingniang had both left, Fang Ying teased him, "And you? Who was the one running around in circles in panic just now?"
"That's not what I meant..." Ji Yanlang couldn't help laughing when he thought of his silly look just now. "I never thought about it that way. Suddenly saying that you might be pregnant..."
He looked at Fang Ying's lower abdomen covered by her palm again, and stretched out his empty hand, pressing lightly on her hand.
This feeling was very wonderful. Fang Ying felt her heart was particularly soft and she couldn't help but tilt her head and lean on his shoulder.
The two of them sat in silence for a while, until they heard the sound of dishes being placed outside. Ji Yanlang kissed her forehead and said softly, "Let's go and have dinner first."
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