Chapter 278: Mid-Autumn Festival, Reunion
Song Jingning picked up a coat and wanted to put it on Ye Chutang.
But as soon as he took a step, he heard a woman's terrified scream.
It came from a woman who was also wearing inner clothes and preparing to change clothes.
She wrapped the thick cloth that had fallen to the ground around herself and huddled in a corner in fear.
The man in the shop turned around belatedly.
The shopkeeper's face turned pale with fright.
She walked quickly forward, called the maid who was serving the guests, and asked her to pull up the black cloth.
"Mrs. Qi, I'm sorry, I didn't know Miss Yunyan would do you any harm."
After saying that, the shopkeeper's eyes fell on Ye Chutang's bulging belly, and his face turned even paler.
She now understood why Ye Chutang chose a tube top and high-waisted Liuxian skirt.
To cover the pregnant belly!
As a result of her negligence, her pregnancy was exposed by Yunyan, the courtesan of Baihua Tower.
Thinking of this, the shopkeeper was so frightened that her legs went limp, fearing that Ye Chutang would vent his anger on her.
She quickly promised, "Mrs. Qi, you are frightened. I will pack these two sets of clothes for you as an apology from our shop. If you see anything else you like, you can take it away."
Ye Chutang looked at the cautious shopkeeper and put on his clothes calmly.
After putting on her clothes, she asked, "Who is that Yunyan?"
The shopkeeper quickly explained Yunyan's identity.
Yunyan was a courtesan who had just been selected at Baihua Tower. She was spotted by Lieutenant General Deng and was kept by him.
Lieutenant General Deng planned to redeem her and even negotiated a price with the brothel owner.
Becoming a concubine or mistress is the best destination for women in brothels.
As a result, the plan for the post station failed, and Lieutenant General Deng took the blame for Su Chengzong and was killed by Qi Yanzhou.
Yunyan had no one to protect her, and immediately became a living signboard of being available to anyone in Baihua Tower.
For her, this was like going from heaven to hell.
Most women would just accept their fate, after all, there are many prostitutes who have been deceived and cheated on.
"Madam Qi, I was negligent and didn't notice Miss Yunyan's abnormality."
The shopkeeper really didn't expect Yunyan's hatred to be so great that she dared to attack Ye Chutang in public.
It's crazy!
After hearing this, Ye Chutang chuckled.
"What did I do to make Yunyan feel that I was a pushover?"
"It's Yunyan's eyesight that's poor."
"No, she was smart enough to know that she couldn't kill me, so she ruined my reputation."
The shopkeeper couldn't refute it.
Yunyan is just a worthless life, no one will care if she dies.
But Ye Chutang is a talented and beautiful genius doctor, and will be the mother of the country in the future.
Now that her body has been seen by a man from another world, she is afraid that she can no longer be the queen.
Moreover, Ye Chutang's belly was quite big, and it was obvious that she was six or seven months pregnant.
But at that time, she and Qi Yanzhou had not yet married...
The shopkeeper felt that he might have known a big secret that he shouldn't have known.
She was extremely panicked, fearing that Ye Chutang would kill her to silence her.
But she also thought that so many people saw it, and Ye Chutang couldn't kill them all.
Then he put his heart back into his stomach.
She wanted to ask Ye Chutang how to deal with Yunyan, but she heard discussions outside the cubicle.
"Mrs. Qi is actually pregnant. It's completely invisible behind her skirt."
"The belly is quite big, it looks like it's at least six months pregnant!"
"Don't say such nonsense. Madam Qi and Master Qi have only been married for more than four months."
"Ah? Then the baby in her belly is..."
Song Jingning was very angry when he heard this.
He was just about to explain on Ye Chutang's behalf that she was pregnant with twins when Qi Yanzhou's voice rang out from outside the shop.
"The children are mine. They are twins that are more than four months old, so my belly is much bigger than that of a single baby."
As he spoke, he entered the clothing shop, closed the door, and glanced at everyone coldly.
"The reason why my husband and I kept the pregnancy a secret was to prevent our enemies from harming the child. If the news of Atang's pregnancy gets out and causes her and the child to get into trouble, everyone present will be killed, and our entire clan will be wiped out!"
His words turned into a sharp knife, placed on everyone's neck.
Everyone was so scared that they swore immediately: they would not say a word that they shouldn’t say, otherwise the whole family would be struck by lightning.
And they all believed what Qi Yanzhou said.
After all, no man would acknowledge another man's child.
Especially this person will rule the world in the future!
Qi Yanzhou knew very well that threats and oaths could not restrain everyone's mouth.
But this is the best way to deal with it right now.
He retracted his gaze, took off his coat, and ordered, "Everyone, look here!"
Everyone's eyes fell on Qi Yanzhou, who was wearing a snow-white inner garment.
Including Ye Chutang who came out of the cubicle.
She immediately understood Qi Yanzhou's intention of taking off his coat.
Now, he has also been seen naked by foreign women.
They are both the same, so don't look down on each other in the future.
If anyone uses the fact that she was seen naked by a foreign man to slander her, they are slandering Qi Yanzhou!
Ye Chutang was moved and walked to Qi Yanzhou.
"Put it on. You have such a great figure, but don't let anyone with ulterior motives see you."
Qi Yanzhou's serious expression cracked, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised.
He quickly put on his clothes and looked at the anxious shopkeeper who was following Ye Chutang.
"Register all the people and their families. I will confirm the list before I leave Ningzhou City. If anyone dares to falsify the information, then they will be punished."
"Yes, Master Qi."
The shopkeeper immediately asked people to prepare writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone to record the names.
No one dared to cheat and everyone honestly reported the names of their family members.
After all, Su Chengzong, who had 60,000 troops stationed there, was sent to prison, so they didn't dare to confront Qi Yanzhou head-on.
There were two tables in the northwest corner of the clothing shop, filled with snacks.
Customers can take a break here.
Qi Yanzhou pulled Ye Chutang to sit down at the table.
His eyes fell on Yunyan who was lying unconscious on the ground.
The shopkeeper felt that Yunyan, who was only wearing a bellyband, was unsightly, so he covered her with clothes.
So Qi Yanzhou didn't see the indecent scene.
He asked Ye Chutang, "Atang, how do you plan to deal with Yunyan?"
Ye Chutang picked up the cloud cake from the plate, took a bite, felt sick of it, and put it down again.
She said nonchalantly, "Cut off her tongue, sever her limbs, and send her to the lowest-class brothel."
Since Yunyan doesn't want to serve high-quality clients, then she should serve low-quality ones.
Only in this way can she experience what it means to be worse off than dead!
Song Jingning didn't want people to think that Ye Chutang was too cruel, so he spoke for her.
"Fighting tooth for tooth, well done."
Qi Yanzhou said in a slightly cold tone, "Atang, you are still too kind. If it were me, I would throw her to the beggars."
After saying that, he looked at the people who were queuing up in an orderly manner to write their names.
"I've changed my mind. Killing people is not enough. If you dare to reveal that Atang is pregnant, the men will be slaves and the women will be prostitutes. This will last for generations in our family until there are no descendants!"
This triggered another round of oaths from everyone.
A quarter of an hour later.
The shopkeeper handed the written list to Qi Yanzhou.
Qi Yanzhou glanced casually and saw that the shopkeeper had written his family's name on the list, so he accepted it with satisfaction.
"Boss, you can open the door for business now."
After that, he asked, "How much silver is the dress my wife likes?"
The shopkeeper quickly packed up the two sets of clothes and handed them to Ye Chutang.
"It is my fault for frightening Madam Qi. This dress is my apology."
"I just want the pink one. How much is it?"
The shopkeeper didn't dare to force it and just quoted the cost price.
"Three taels of silver."
Qi Yanzhou put down five taels of silver, took the clothes chosen by Ye Chutang, and left with her.
As for the unconscious Yunyan, his subordinates will take care of her for him.
Song Jingning stood up and followed the two of them.
After leaving the clothing store, he said to Qi Yanzhou: "Since you are here, I won't see you off. See you tomorrow."
"Okay, see you tomorrow."
Song Jingning returned to the academy, while Qi Yanzhou and Ye Chutang returned to the post station.
Nan Xiao, who was protecting secretly, went to deal with Yunyan.
Because the clothing shop had been closed for a while, many people wanted to find out what had happened, but they found out nothing.
All I know is that those who were locked in the shop all looked unhappy when they came out.
But this episode did not affect the liveliness of Ningzhou City.
Although Mid-Autumn Festival is not until tomorrow, there is a strong festive atmosphere tonight.
Ye Chutang's good mood was not affected, and he kept tasting mooncakes on the way back.
If you think it tastes good, buy some and send it to Han Chong and others tomorrow.
After returning to the inn, they took a shower and lay down on the bed.
Qi Yanzhou held Ye Chutang in his arms and said, "Your pregnancy will not be kept secret for too long. At most, it will reach the emperor's ears in a month."
Although those people in the clothing shop won’t say it proactively.
But there will definitely be people who like to pry around.
Once the exile team leaves Ningzhou City, the threatened people will relax their vigilance, and a meal of wine can make some people tell the truth.
Ye Chutang’s main belief has always been to conceal something if possible, but to be careful if you can’t.
"If the dog emperor dares to take advantage of my child, I will make him have no descendants!"
No matter what the destiny of the country is, no one can stop her!
Qi Yanzhou's hand fell on Ye Chutang's belly and stroked it gently.
"Atang, don't worry, I won't let anyone hurt you and the child."
Ye Chutang turned around and faced Qi Yanzhou.
"Have you finished dealing with the aftermath of Ningzhou City?"
"The big things have been dealt with. Wu Changfeng and Li Shun will handle the minor details."
Of course, his people will also be involved to prevent these two people from taking advantage of the opportunity to seize military power.
"Who is in charge of the 60,000 garrison troops now?"
"On the surface, they are a few generals who are restraining each other, but behind the scenes, they are the old subordinates of the Qi family army."
When Qi Yanzhou mentioned the Qi Family Army, Ye Chutang asked curiously, "If you were to rebel, how many of the Qi Family Army would you be able to get to obey your orders?"
The Qi family army had 500,000 troops at its peak.
Later, because the emperor was wary of them, the Qi family handed over 200,000 troops and only left 300,000 to garrison the border.
After the Qi family pacified the border, the emperor took away another 100,000 soldiers, and the garrison became 200,000.
When the emperor no longer needed the Qi family to threaten the border, he summoned the Qi family back to Beijing and forced them to hand over all their military power.
From then on, the Qi family army was dispersed, especially the elite soldiers who only obeyed the Qi family's orders.
Half of them were forced to retire, and the other half were suppressed and wasted their time.
Of course, there are many old subordinates who have connections with the Qi family.
If Qi Yanzhou summoned the Qi family army in the name of treason, he should be able to gather 50,000 soldiers.
Fifty thousand soldiers may not sound like a lot, but these people are willing to fight for the Qi family.
The most important thing is that they can attract more people to join the Qi family.
With his current prestige, if he raises the banner of rebellion, the Qi family army will have at least 120,000 soldiers.
Ye Chutang was a little surprised after listening to Qi Yanzhou's analysis.
"One hundred and twenty thousand is not a small number. Add your troops in southern Xinjiang and it will be enough to overthrow the imperial power."
Qi Yanzhou placed a kiss on Ye Chutang's forehead.
"It is easy to overthrow the emperor, but it is difficult to defend the country."
So he did not engage in direct conflict with the emperor, but chose to retreat step by step.
Otherwise, if civil war breaks out, people will suffer.
"Take your time. I hope the emperor Qin Muyun is looking for is a benevolent monarch who serves the country and the people."
During her exile, she saw too many suffering people.
There have been some changes in ideas.
Before, she just wanted to live her life well.
Now, she not only wants to live a good life herself, but also wants the country to be peaceful and the people to live in peace.
Qi Yanzhou gently rubbed Ye Chutang's head with his chin and said affirmatively: "I definitely will."
The founding monarch has always been the popular choice.
Ye Chutang felt a little sleepy. He responded vaguely and closed his eyes.
The next moment, she suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, why was the village where we stopped before massacred?"
Qi Yanzhou found out the reason but didn't tell Ye Chutang because he felt that it was something that couldn't be discussed.
Now that Ye Chutang asked, he had to tell him.
"The villagers found a Tianshan snow lotus on the cliff, and the whole village worked together to dig it up.
This snow lotus is of excellent quality. If I sell it to a pharmacy, I can earn a thousand taels of silver.
Snow lotus was very effective in treating Su Xuerong's heart disease. When Su Chengzong learned about it, he massacred the whole village and snatched the snow lotus. ”
After hearing this, Ye Chutang immediately opened his eyes.
"Su Xuerong ate it?"
"She ate it. She had frequent heart problems before. After eating the snow lotus, her health improved a lot."
"Does she know?"
Qi Yanzhou sighed, "She doesn't know."
Although Su Xuerong is the beneficiary in this matter, she cannot be blamed.
The person who was wrong was the greedy Su Chengzong!
Ye Chutang also sighed, "It's time and fate. When will the Su family be beheaded?"
"After the Mid-Autumn Festival."
After Qi Yanzhou finished speaking, he kissed Ye Chutang's eyes.
"Don't think about it. The dead are gone. Go to sleep."
Ye Chutang nodded, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.
***
The next day.
Ye Chutang changed into the high-waisted Liuxian skirt she bought yesterday and combed her hair into a beautiful bun.
Qi Yanzhou hadn't seen her dressed up for a long time and couldn't take his eyes off her.
"When we get to Tianshan County, I will buy you all kinds of beautiful clothes and you can wear them however you want."
Ye Chutang was not a vain person, so he quickly refused.
"No, just do whatever makes you feel comfortable. Getting dressed takes too much time."
"Your maid is here, so you don't have to do anything."
"That's true. According to the time, Shan'er and Aunt Jin should have arrived in Tianshan County."
Qi Yanzhou inserted a white jade hairpin with a crabapple flower pattern into Ye Chutang's black hair.
"We should receive a letter from them in the next two days."
Every ten days or half a month, Jinzhi would write a letter to Ye Chutang to report her safety.
Ye Chutang looked at the hairpin in the bronze mirror and raised his hand to touch it.
She likes the style of crabapple flowers.
She stood up and kissed Qi Yanzhou's handsome face, "Let's go and make dumplings."
People in the north eat dumplings during festivals, which symbolizes wealth and reunion.
When the two arrived at the lobby, everyone was up and sitting around the table, making dumplings.
Ingot-shaped dumplings filled half of the table.
Ye Chutang and Qi Yanzhou sat down and made dumplings with everyone.
Aunt Xu cleaned some copper coins and made a lot of longevity dumplings.
When the sun rises, the dumplings are ready.
Ye Chutang was lucky, as he found three out of ten dumplings that came with copper coins.
She joked, "Auntie, thanks to you, my teeth are about to fall out."
Aunt Xu raised her lips and said with a smile: "Madam is so lucky. She will surely live a long and healthy life, have a lot of money, and turn misfortune into good fortune."
"I like to hear that. Don't cook at noon. Let's go to the restaurant and have a big meal."
Sun Chu nodded in agreement, "Let's go to my restaurant. It's my treat."
Ye Chutang didn't be polite to him.
"Not only should we be invited, but the National Defense Army should also be invited."
"Yes, please."
Sun Chu’s restaurant is very big and can accommodate at least three hundred people.
Although the restaurant had already been booked for many Mid-Autumn Festival banquets, the remaining seats were enough to host a banquet for the National Protection Army.
After breakfast, Ye Chutang asked Aunt Xu, Old Madam Qi and Qi Qingyu to play mahjong.
The men either practiced martial arts or played chess.
Time flies and it's already noon.
A group of people set out in a mighty procession to the restaurant.
The streets are very lively today, with laughter and joy everywhere.
The blood from the night before was thoroughly washed away.
Since the peace and bustle of Ningzhou City were brought about by Qi Yanzhou, he was stuffed with a lot of mooncakes on the way to the restaurant.
But he didn't take them all. Instead, he gave them to the children he met along the way.
When we arrived at the restaurant, they had just finished delivering.
Sun Chu had already greeted the shopkeeper and the kitchen staff.
He arranged thirteen tables, each with eighteen dishes, just enough to accommodate the guests.
Ye Chutang looked at the turntable made of wood with great familiarity.
Seeing Ye Chutang's eyes sparkle, Sun Chu smiled and asked, "Am I really amazing?"
Ye Chutang gave a thumbs up without hesitation.
“Very impressive.”
Sun Chu stretched out his hand towards Ye Chutang, "Isn't it time to give me the medicinal recipe we agreed on before?"
Ye Chutang waved his hand away, "Why are you in such a hurry? I'll write it to you after dinner."
"Okay, I'll wait."
Soon, the delicious food was served.
After Sun Chu taught everyone how to use the turntable, he called out, "Eat quickly. These are the best-selling dishes in the restaurant. There are all kinds of flavors. If you like any of them, eat more. If not, add more."
Everyone was already very familiar with him, so there was no false politeness and the meal was very enjoyable for both the host and the guests.
I also drank a lot of wine.
Mr. Qi and Qi Hean were both drunk, recounting the hardships they had experienced along the way.
Madam Qi couldn't bear to watch it any longer and said, "Why are you talking about this on such a nice day? Go back to sleep."
She was a bold and outspoken person, but also a thoughtful person. The old man always listened to her and immediately shut up.
"Well, go back to bed."
Qi Yanzhou said, "Mom, I'll ask Han Chong to send someone to take Dad back to the post station to rest. It's rare for you to come out, so go for a walk on the street with your elder sister."
Just as Madam Qi was about to refuse, Qi Qingyu grabbed her arm.
"Okay, it's settled."
The old lady looked at her two grandchildren and gently poked her daughter between the eyebrows.
"Your two children are too young, and there are too many people on the street. You should go back."
Sun Shaoping said quickly, "Mother-in-law, leave the child to me. You and A-Yu can go around and ask A-Yu to buy you anything you like."
His legs have almost healed, and he has no problem holding the child in one hand and holding the child with the other.
Mrs. Qi had indeed not gone shopping for a long time, so she nodded.
"Okay, if you can't bring the child here, ask your father-in-law to help look after the child."
"My son-in-law knows."
Qi Yanzhou stood up and said, "Atang and I will go to the academy in a while. We won't be back for dinner tonight, so you don't have to prepare for us."
Old Madam Qi knew that the couple had their own ideas and did not object.
"Okay, remember to eat mooncakes."
Before leaving the restaurant, Ye Chutang wrote ten medicinal food recipes for Sun Chu as agreed.
"When I have time, I will research more medicinal recipes and let you open a healthy food restaurant."
Sun Chu put the prescription in his arms very preciously.
"Okay, I'll give you 50% of the profit."
"Mr. Sun is so generous, it's settled!"
After the two men finished talking, everyone got up and left the restaurant, each going their separate ways.
Ye Chutang and Qi Yanzhou went to Huating Academy.
When passing by Li Ji Winery, he paid the remaining money for the wine and asked the boss to send someone to deliver it to Wuhai County.
The journey was long and the travel expenses were quite high.
The two of them went to the escort company again and hired twenty escorts to escort them.
Ye Chutang thought that the world was in such a mess, so he said, "How about asking Wu Changfeng to get twenty officials to escort us?"
This wine is for Ma Weiyuan. It would be bad if anything unexpected happened on the road.
Qi Yanzhou also planned so.
"I will tell Wu Changfeng when I leave tomorrow."
Bandits are afraid of soldiers, and the official uniform can reduce the chance of accidents.
After finishing their work, the two quickly arrived at the academy.
The academy is open to the public today.
But like the Poetry Pavilion, you need to compose couplets related to the Mid-Autumn Festival, or write a poem related to the Mid-Autumn Festival.
As long as you are not too bad, you can enter the college.
Ye Chutang composed a couplet and Qi Yanzhou wrote a poem.
As soon as the two of them entered the academy, Song Jingning came to greet them.
"Everyone is competing in poetry. Do you want to go and have a look? There's a good chance of winning."
Ye Chutang became interested. "What's the prize?"
"A complete set of the best four treasures of the study: Xuan brush, Hui ink, Chengxintang paper, and Duan inkstone."
"Let's go and join in the fun."
When Ye Chutang said he wanted to join in the fun, he really meant it.
She did not use those timeless quatrains to curry favor.
After all, she had no shortage of pens, ink, paper and inkstone, and wanted to leave them to someone who needed them more.
Song Jingning knew that Ye Chutang was hiding her talent, so he smiled and said, "Mrs. Qi's literary talent is more than this, don't let these students look down on you. You can give up the prize, but you can't lose your literary talent."
Ye Chutang thought that his talent and fame were something he had worked so hard to obtain, and it would be a shame to lose it.
"Then I'll be welcome."
She wrote a Tang Dynasty poem and a Song Dynasty ci, and with the extra points for calligraphy, she won first place.
The prize was given to the student who ranked second only to her.
After the poetry competition, Ye Chutang and Song Jingning distributed mooncakes to the school's servants and teachers.
Qi Yanzhou did not disturb the two siblings and drank tea in the main hall by himself.
After distributing the mooncakes, the sun had already set.
The academy prepared a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet.
The front yard is formed into a closed rectangle by four square dining tables.
The table was filled with food, all different.
Everyone has a bowl and a pair of chopsticks, and they walk slowly along the table, picking up whatever they want to eat. It's very interesting.
After dinner, it got dark.
Next is the students’ favorite lantern.
The competition is not only about the appearance of the lamp, but also about the couplets or riddles under the lamp.
Ye Chutang did not participate.
Song Jingning took her and Qi Yanzhou to the courtyard where he lived temporarily to watch the moon and eat moon cakes.
"Brother, we are leaving tomorrow, what about you?"
"Same, I came to Ningzhou City just to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with you."
After saying that, Song Jingning looked at Qi Yanzhou and asked, "Can you make it to Tianshan County before the New Year?"
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