Job Change
Three days of honeymoon, one day for the tea ceremony and visiting relatives—for the rest of the time, she seemed to show no sign of wanting to nurture their relationship. He felt sullen. They were both inside; she was handling official business on the table, and he was half-reclining on the bed.
The room was quiet, with only the rustling sound of pens scratching on paper, soft breathing, and a gentle autumn breeze whistling in through the window.
"Madam," he called out listlessly.
The girl's eyes flickered slightly, she paused writing, her gaze full of seriousness towards her work. "What is it?"
Seeing that she was paying attention to him, he sat up straight and asked, "Is there... anywhere you'd like to go?"
"..." Her breath hitched, and she looked up at him. "No."
Seeing how boring she was, he sighed, "Why have you become so boring?"
"What? General, do you regret marrying me?" She slowly and methodically sorted through the documents.
Peng Xuan'an lowered his eyes and suppressed his smile. "How could I dare? What are you busy with, Madam?" He got up curiously and walked closer to the desk.
"..." Pang Linqiu quickly closed the folded document, not wanting him to see it. She looked at him warily, raising an eyebrow to warn him: "General, are you perhaps planning to break the first rule?"
Peng Xuan'an was stunned and stood still, not daring to get any closer. "I..." He hesitated, wanting to say something but swallowing his words.
Pang Linqiu began tidying up the documents on the table, then sighed and asked, "Don't you have any military or official business to attend to?"
Peng Xuan'an shook his head. After the battle in Liguo, the emperor was overjoyed and rewarded him with many jewels before allowing him to recuperate for a period of time.
"Not at the moment," he replied cheerfully.
"When will you go to war again?" came a strange question.
Peng Xuan'an was puzzled, but still replied, "After the war with Liguo, the remaining four countries have all come to offer gifts to show their sincerity. There is no possibility of launching an expedition within the next forty years. Why are you asking this?"
"If you go to war and suddenly don't return one day, I'll find another one."
"??!!!"
Peng Xuan'an frowned, then laughed in exasperation. "Is Madam so eager to find another husband?" He approached her step by step, looking down at her. "Is Madam so unwilling to remain a widow for me?" He pressed on aggressively. "Is Madam so eager to leave me?"
Three "just like that..." Pang Linqiu looked completely nonchalant and indifferent. "Don't you think so? You're a military general, your life and death are not important to you. I'm still young, and I was born..." She hadn't finished speaking.
Peng Xuan'an then quickly said, "I will change jobs tomorrow."
"?"
“I will no longer serve as a military officer. I do not wish for such a beautiful lady to be widowed at such a young age, nor do I wish to give her away to someone else.”
Pang Linqiu scoffed, looking down on him: "Do you have the ability to handle things like a civil official?" Her father was a civil official, and she knew quite a bit about them.
Peng Xuan'an knew she didn't trust his abilities, but he didn't know how to prove it to her. He thought about how he had taken the imperial examinations before, but after passing and obtaining an official position, he hadn't really handled any official duties and had directly switched to a military post. He found civil service boring, and being at the age of youthful arrogance, he rushed to the battlefield with a heart full of enthusiasm.
His parents tried their best to persuade him to stay away from the battlefield and become a civil official to assist the emperor in governing the country, but he was stubborn and refused their advice time and time again.
He rested his hands on the table, frowning. "Does my wife distrust her husband so much?"
Pang Linqiu nodded.
"Fine!" Seeing her distrust of him, he turned and headed for the door. "I'll go ask His Majesty right now!" He was determined to prove her wrong.
Pang Linqiu watched his departing figure and sighed softly. She didn't want to resort to such reverse psychology, mainly because she was too lazy to lower herself to patiently persuade him. If it weren't for his parents' request, she generally wouldn't bother with such matters.
Peng Xuan'an entered the palace to pay his respects to the emperor. To his surprise, the emperor hesitated only briefly before readily agreeing to his request. He thought to himself that the war had long since ended, and the important task now was to revitalize the nation.
On the same day, an imperial edict was issued, bestowing upon Peng Xuan'an the title of Minister of the Third Rank, with the honorary title "Zhuxing," and granting him a new plaque inscribed "Minister's Residence."
It was good that no one objected; on the contrary, his military friends lamented that he had changed careers and could no longer go to the battlefield with them.
When the news reached Peng's parents, they were overjoyed, but Pang Linqiu remained unmoved. She felt a pang of envy and jealousy towards him. Why? She envied that his parents doted on him and respected his choices. She didn't understand why, when he clearly didn't lack love, he always craved her affection.
"Madam, Madam." Seeing that she was lost in thought, he raised his hand and waved it in front of her.
Pang Linqiu snapped out of her daze, puzzled. "What are you doing?"
He smiled broadly. "His Majesty is pleased and has granted me another five days of rest." He gently held her hands in his, his deep eyes filled with childlike joy. "My lady, would you like to accompany me for a stroll around Luo City?"
He suddenly announced his intention to visit Luocheng because of Qin Xiangde's suggestion; he himself had been hesitant about going. He then consulted several ministers who were particularly fond of their wives, seeking their opinions. They said anywhere was fine, as long as both parties were happy. He also learned from Qin Xiangde that she preferred visiting Luocheng, though that was a memory from when she was a child.
Pang Linqiu lowered her eyes, showing hesitation. After thinking about it, she realized that the place was one she needed to inspect anyway, so she nodded and agreed, "Okay."
The two arrived in Luocheng in the blink of an eye. Peng Xuan'an tried his best to make her happy and paid more attention to the process of traveling together and the feelings that developed.
Over the next few days, the two had a good time together. Peng Xuan'an began to doubt whether the second rule of their agreement could really be followed. Wasn't it supposed to be that she'd agree if they were happy? After several attempts to coax and persuade her, her smiling face instantly turned cold. Her mood soured; bringing this up felt like stepping on a landmine, every time she mentioned it, she stepped on it again.
He desperately wanted it, but she wouldn't have it. He tried to suppress his desire several times, but it only made him feel more uncomfortable, so he had to relieve himself. He could already imagine how difficult the days to come would be.
Every day, he would follow behind her like a clock-in, pleading pitifully, "Can I today?"
In the end, she would always say coldly, "I'm not in the mood." "I'm tired, no." "I'm on my period." "Seeing you annoys me, no."
Two months passed in the blink of an eye. Heavy snow covered the soil, creating a vast expanse of white, and the branches were bent low by the frost and snow. The snow was ankle-deep, making each step difficult.
Pang Linqiu opened an inn in a town called Anfeng, about fifty li from the capital. Peng Xuan'an was attending court in the capital, and Pang Linqiu tried to return home in the evenings.
One quiet day, pedestrians hurried home, the sky darkened as if a heavy snow was about to fall. The wind was biting cold. Pang Linqiu, dressed in a fur coat and holding a hand warmer, was accompanied by a maid in white.
It started snowing, falling like heavy rain. A cold wind, carrying frost and snow, swept over, and fewer and fewer pedestrians appeared on the road.
Seeing this, the maid beside her opened a paper umbrella to shield her mistress from the snow.
Seeing that Pang Linqiu was still walking slowly along the path, Xi Shuang said, "Madam, it's snowing."
She gave a soft "hmm," looked around, and saw that the snow was falling heavier, with snow beginning to pile up on the walls of the courtyard. She also began to feel cold, exhaling a puff of white breath. "Xi Shuang, let's go back to the inn."
As she turned to leave, she heard a weak voice behind her, "So...cold...ah, Mother..." The voice sounded like a sob.
Pang Linqiu turned around and saw a raised snowdrift, different from the snow around her. It was trembling slightly, and there seemed to be a person under the snowdrift. She turned back and went over to take a look.
She crouched down and shoved through the snowdrift, tilting the umbrella towards her to prevent the snow from falling. She saw a small, grayish face, red from the cold, with disheveled hair, a gaunt appearance, shivering, and eyes closed.
Pang Linqiu felt a pang of pity and handed the hand warmer she was holding to the child's icy little hands, her brow furrowed with worry, "Child, are you alright?"
The child felt the warmth from the hand, opened a sliver of her eye, and looked at the person in front of her with teary eyes. Her pale lips moved slightly, but she couldn't utter a word. The child's vision of Pang Linqiu was blurry and overlapping; she couldn't make out who this person was.
From the child's weak voice, Pang Linqiu could vaguely understand what she was saying: "Mother, don't... throw it away..."
She roughly understood that the child had been abandoned here. Her face filled with worry, she unbuttoned her fur coat to brush the frost off her body. Seeing this, Xi Shuang quickly stopped her, "Madam, use my coat, don't get it stained..."
Pang Linqiu didn't care about anything else; she followed the principle of proximity. She wrapped the child in a thick fur coat and held her in her arms. She could clearly feel the child's body temperature; she was trembling. The child was very light and thin, clearly malnourished. Her heart was filled with anxiety and worry. Carrying the frail child, she ran towards her inn. The road was slippery, and her breath turned into white mist.
Xi Shuangguan got up and hurriedly followed.
Pang Linqiu returned to the inn, which was nearly empty. Panting, she called out urgently towards the kitchen, "Aunt Lu! Aunt Lu!"
The kitchen curtain was lifted, and a middle-aged woman came out. "Hey! Hey! What's wrong, Madam?" She hurriedly ran over to ask what was wrong.
Seeing a shivering child in Pang Linqiu's arms, she exclaimed in surprise, "Oh! Whose child is this?"
"Aunt Lu, you...you quickly boil some water...ah...warm this child up..." she said between breaths.
Aunt Lu took the person from Pang Linqiu's arms and said, "Okay, I'll go right now."
Seeing Aunt Lu leading her towards the room, Pang Linqiu felt relieved and found a stool to sit down. She then called over the waiter, "Lu Chi, go to the kitchen and tell them to make some food for the child when he comes back." She rested her head for a while.
Lu Chi is Aunt Lu's son. She took pity on the mother and son who were wandering the streets, so she took them in and let them work at the inn. Business is pretty good now, but with the heavy snow, there are fewer customers, and the inn is quite quiet.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
