Huayang would certainly not forget the days when she first married Chen Jingzong.
Chen Jingzong was handsome, and Huayang married him with beautiful expectations of married life. However, the terrible experience on her wedding night made her want to break up and return to the palace.
How could she give him a good face the next day when she was in so much pain
I thought his arms were too thick and his legs were too long, and I just thought that if he could learn to be gentle and refined like Chen Bochong and Chen Xiaozong, perhaps he would not be so rude and impatient.
Instead of correcting his own faults, he even criticized her attitude and deliberately acted according to her preferences
Seeing that Chen Jingzong was about to slurp the noodles again, Huayang pointed to the door angrily: "Go to the side room to eat!"
Only if the couple works together can they live a good life. Chen Jingzong refuses to cooperate, so why should Huayang tolerate him
In response, Chen Jingzong just looked at her, picked up his bowl and chopsticks and left.
Huayang returned to the inner room angrily.
Chao Yun followed in, helped the princess sit down and gently smoothed her back, saying distressedly: "Princess, don't be angry. Anger is harmful to your health. It's not worth it for such a small matter."
Huayang stared out the window. From here, she could just see Chen Jingzong stepping into the east wing. "I don't want to be angry, but you heard what he said, right?"
Chaoyun walked far away at first, but later she heard the princess was angry, so she quietly moved closer. Then she heard the prince consort say something shamelessly like "the princess has to cooperate as long as he wants her", which made the princess even more angry.
Don’t even mention the princess, Chaoyun is already so angry!
Okay, if the prince consort wants to sleep, the princess has to cooperate. Does that mean the princess is a singer
The princess is a precious girl, but the prince consort doesn't try to please her and take the initiative to fight for the opportunity to sleep with her at night. Instead, he complains about the princess's bad face and deliberately makes her angry
"I heard that. I want to push the prince consort onto the bench and give him a beating to vent your anger!"
As Chao Yun spoke, he glared at the east wing.
Huayang imagined that scene and felt a little better.
Chaoyun rubbed the princess' shoulders considerately. When she heard her breathing return to normal, she told her husband about hunting. "Princess, husband can be very annoying sometimes, but he still cares about you. He went out over the wall without eating breakfast, and brought back a pheasant and a fat fish. He asked Chaoyue to make soup for you to nourish your body."
She was very fair. She scolded the prince consort when he should, and praised him when he should.
Huayang was stunned.
In his previous life, Chen Jingzong didn't go out to cheat on his wife so early. After all, his grandmother had passed away and had only been buried for half a month.
Could it be that he received a benefit last night and was returning the favor in this way
But does she like that bowl of fish soup
She had clearly pointed the way for him and told him clearly what she wanted, but Chen Jingzong refused to agree!
"No, go tell Chaoyue that if he wants soup, let him cook it himself. You are not allowed to help. Just provide him with three normal meals a day."
Chao Yun hesitated for a moment, but she quickly made her choice!
On one side is an ordinary bowl of fish soup, and on the other side is the majesty of a princess. Of course, the latter is more important!
The princess has been so angry with her husband that he can’t be dismissed with just a bowl of fish soup.
Chao Yun came to the kitchen with a menacing look on his face.
Chaoyue was scraping fish scales with an apron tied around her waist. She didn't have the demeanor of a maidservant who used to be a princess.
However, Chaoyue enjoyed working for the princess. Thinking about how she would stew a pot of delicious fish soup for the princess later, the corners of her mouth were all curled up.
Chao Yun walked up to her and whispered for a while.
The smile on Chaoyue's face disappeared, and she told Chaoyun to serve the princess first. She wiped her hands, glanced at the half-shaved fat fish with a pity look, then walked out of the kitchen and came to the window sill of the east wing. She said in a calm voice: "Prince consort, the princess has ordered that she does not want to drink fish soup. If you want to drink it, go and stew it yourself."
Not long after she finished speaking, Chen Jingzong walked out, holding an empty bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other.
Chao Yue stood neither humble nor arrogant.
Chen Jingzong looked up at the room above; the window was closed, blocking the person inside.
Chen Jingzong frowned.
Even though they quarreled, he didn't get angry. She was a princess and had the right to look down on him. It was not a big deal and he didn't need to care.
But he couldn't bear to see her continue to wither away. After all, this was the hardship she had to endure just to marry him.
Chen Jingzong went to the kitchen and closed the doors and windows tightly.
Chaoyue listened outside for a while and then went to report to the princess.
Huayang was a little curious. She knew Chen Jingzong could roast game, but could he also cook fish soup? How many men in this world could cook
kitchen.
Chen Jingzong cleaned up the fish with quick movements.
My father was over 30 years old before he finally settled down in the capital and brought his whole family over. But my grandmother was not used to living there, so she endured it for a year before moving back to the old house with my second uncle's family.
When Chen Jingzong was ten years old, he also brought Master Wu back with him. He stayed there until he was eighteen, when his grandmother urged him to go to Beijing to make a career for himself.
During the eight years in between, the grandmother, who was born a country girl, liked to cook by herself, and Chen Jingzong often helped her, and thus learned the old lady's cooking skills.
The fish are native to the mountains. The terrain around the lake is steep and nearby hunters will not go there. There is no danger, and the fish in the lake grow fat and beautiful.
Chen Jingzong only cut off the fish head, marinated the fish body temporarily, and asked the maid to braise it for lunch.
The fish head was as big as his hand. It was fried first and then stewed to make soup over high heat.
It was very hot in front of the stove. When Chen Jingzong added firewood into it, a drop of sweat fell from his forehead.
Opening the window would make it cooler, but the aroma of the fish soup would also spread out. If the wind blew it into the main house, the old man would smell it and scold him again.
Chen Jingzong was not afraid of being scolded, but she thought less trouble was better than more, and she didn't want her family to suspect that she was also eating meat and talk about her behind her back.
After about a quarter of an hour, Chen Jingzong lifted the lid of the pot and saw that the soup inside had turned thick and white, with slippery tofu and umbrella-like mountain mushrooms rolling in it.
Chen Jingzong opened the cupboard, found a pastel-colored soup bowl with a peony pattern, and took out a set of matching bowls and chopsticks.
She seemed to like peonies very much, and the shadows of peonies could be seen everywhere inside and outside the house.
.
Chaoyun hid behind the window of the main room and saw the kitchen door open. The prince consort was also walking towards the upper room with a tray. He hurried to the inner room to report to the princess.
Huayang sat at the table with a piece of rice paper spread out in front of him, preparing to write a letter to his mother and younger brother in the capital.
In her previous life, she viewed Lingzhou as a remote and poor place, thinking that she came here to suffer and that there was nothing to write about, so she would only send a letter home before the end of the year as a perfunctory response.
Now, she wanted to write something interesting to convince her mother and brother that she was living well here.
I had just written "Your Majesty the Queen Mother" when Chaoyun came to report the news.
"You all should withdraw."
Huayang held the pen in his right hand and held up his sleeve with his left hand as he continued writing.
Chen Jingzong stepped into the main room carrying a tray and saw Chaoyun and Chaoyue coming out one after another.
He looked normal, and didn't seem to care that the maids knew that he had personally made fish soup for the princess.
Chaoyun and Chaoyue lowered their heads and stepped aside to make way for him. When Chen Jingzong passed by, the two women smelled the tempting aroma of soup.
Chao Yun swallowed helplessly.
For them, fish soup is indeed not a rare thing, but after not having it for three months, a bowl of fish soup becomes a delicacy.
Separated by a curtain.
Chen Jingzong walked straight to the desk and placed the tray opposite Huayang.
Huayang raised his head slightly, glanced at the soup bowl, and then concentrated on writing again.
Chen Jingzong opened the lid of the soup bowl, and a rich aroma immediately spread around.
Huayang's eyelashes moved slightly, but he seemed to smell nothing.
Chen Jingzong didn't look at what she was writing. He scooped a bowl of fish soup and left it alone. Then he sat down and picked up some boneless meat from the fish head with chopsticks and placed it alone in a small plate.
"The soup is still a little hot, let's eat the meat first."
After collecting five or six pieces of fish, Chen Jingzong pushed the plate towards her.
Chen Jingzong: "You are so thin, the old lady will feel distressed when she sees you."
Huayang: "How could that be? I treated you like a commodity right after I got married. I looked down on you every day and didn't even allow you to sleep in her bed. The old lady would only blame me for wronging her good grandson."
Chen Jingzong: …
"Don't worry, the old lady is timid. Even if I sleep on the floor every night, she won't dare to contradict the princess."
He quickly returned it.
Huayang looked at the dish of fish, then raised his eyes to look at him: "Since you are angry, why bother to show your courtesy to me?"
Chen Jingzong: "You have become skinny due to starvation in our house. If I don't fatten you up, I will have a hard time explaining to the Emperor when I return to Beijing."
Huayang continued writing: "I'm in a bad mood, so no matter how good the food is, I have no appetite."
Chen Jingzong: "Does it make you feel better if I eat quietly?"
Huayang defaults.
Chen Jingzong wanted to bring up the matter of going to bed again, but was afraid that the two would quarrel again, so he had to agree with her first: "Okay, just eat the meat and drink the soup obediently, and I will change."
Huayang really wanted to be nice to him, and now that she saw him take a step back, she didn't hesitate anymore.
She moved the paper and pen aside and took the plate.
Chen Jingzong immediately handed over the chopsticks.
The fish meat was very fresh and just the right amount of salty. Huayang ate it carefully and fortunately did not eat any fish bones.
Chen Jingzong sat opposite her, looking at her with her long drooping eyelashes, her thin, fair cheeks, and her lips that looked delicate and tempting.
As expected of a princess, she eats without making any sound, but it seems like she was born that way and people don't feel like she is doing it on purpose.
"If all the soldiers ate like you, the enemy's cavalry would have rushed into the camp."
Chen Jingzong said sarcastically.
Huayang didn't even look at him: "I'm not a soldier."
Chen Jingzong: "But I am a warrior. I can't learn to do what you do even if you kill me."
Huayang: "I didn't ask you to learn from me. Just learn from father and elder brother. Of course, you can eat and drink as you like when I'm not around."
Chen Jingzong sneered, but continued to pick out the fish meat for her, so that there were always five or six pieces of meat in front of her.
Huayang wanted to stop eating after eating seven or eight pieces.
Chen Jingzong was still digging out the fish head, and said without even raising his eyes: "Eat more, your breasts are almost gone."
Huayang: …
Chen Jingzong saw that she was blushing, not knowing whether it was anger or shame, and smiled: "Is it not okay to tell the truth? When you first got married, you looked a little fat."
I said fat to tease her, but she is actually plump.
He had seen many thin beauties in the capital, including his two sisters-in-law, who all looked like they would fall down in the wind. But she was different. She also had a slim waist, but round cheeks, like a plump and sweet peach, which made people want to pounce on her and take a bite.
Originally, the old man asked him to marry a princess who sounded difficult to serve, but Chen Jingzong was unwilling to do so. Until the day of the competition, Chen Jingzong saw her from afar, who was glowing white among the emperor and empress. Her whiteness, like the first snow, made his lower abdomen tighten.
He just wanted her sex. As long as she was willing to let him sleep with her, Chen Jingzong didn't care no matter how arrogant and disdainful she was during the day, or even how she called him a grandson.
Huayang was already angry at his foul language, and when she saw Chen Jingzong's eyes were specifically staring at her collar, she became even angrier.
It must be that she was too submissive to him last night, which encouraged his shamelessness.
She put down her chopsticks with a cold face: "I don't want to eat it anymore, you can take it away."
Chen Jingzong pushed the soup bowl towards her: "The soup is the main course. Try it. If it tastes good, you can forgive me for being so rude. If it tastes bad, I will add insult to injury. You can punish me as you wish."
Huayang's heart moved, he picked up the spoon and took a sip, frowned after drinking it, and just as he was about to speak, Chen Jingzong suddenly said: "If you say it tastes bad, then the rest of the fish soup is mine, and I will never go to the mountains to get game for you again, unless you sleep with me, one sleep for one day's worth of food."
Huayang: …
Chen Jingzong: "Now tell me the truth. From now on, no matter if you let me sleep or not, as long as I go to the mountains to find food, I will definitely bring you some back."
Huayang's face turned red, and he scolded him in a low voice: "Do you only think about sleeping every day?"
Chen Jingzong leaned back in his chair, looking as if it was not his fault: "You only give it to me once or twice, and you don't allow me to miss it?"
Huayang didn't want to talk to him about this, so he went to bed with a stern face.
She sat sideways with her face facing inward, revealing a slender neck with a peachy pink hue.
Chen Jingzong looked at her for a while, then walked over with the bowl of soup and sat opposite her.
Huayang didn't look at him.
Chen Jingzong sighed, "Drink it, your health is more important."
He raised the bowl to Huayang's mouth. Huayang turned his head and saw that there were several wet spots on Chen Jingzong's trouser legs and some mud on his shoes.
Thinking that he went to the mountains to hunt game without having breakfast in order to nourish her body, Huayang softened his heart.
She took the bowl of soup, lowered her eyes, and began to drink it spoonful by spoonful.
To be fair, Chen Jingzong’s cooking skills are good and the fish soup is delicious.
Because she drank, the atmosphere between the couple eased.
Chen Jingzong served her a second bowl.
After drinking it this time, Huayang never wanted it again.
Chen Jingzong was about to go back to the table when he suddenly remembered something and turned around to ask her, "I seem to smell medicine, but where do you feel uncomfortable?"
Hua Yang snorted, turned his face away and said, "I was afraid of getting pregnant, so I took a contraceptive pill, it's a bit bitter."
Chen Jingzong frowned: "An anti-ejaculation pill?"
Huayang briefly explained to him the effect of this medicine.
Medicines are poisonous to some extent, Chen Jingzong still didn't quite understand: "I told you to take it outside, why did you do this?"
Hua Yang grabbed his sleeves tightly, stared at him and said: "You saw it with your own eyes, can you be sure that not a drop was leaked? It has nothing to do with you if you dare to have feelings. It's me who wants to drink the abortion medicine, and it's me who may get sick or even die. You can just pretend that nothing happened!"
Is she stupid enough to take such a bitter medicine? Is it because she can't bear the consequences of getting pregnant during the mourning period
When Chen Jingzong saw that the corners of her eyes were red, he immediately felt a little regretful.
It was also his first time getting married and being a husband, and he subconsciously felt that as long as he did it outside, everything would be safe. He just didn't want her to suffer from taking medicine in vain.
"I was wrong, don't be angry." Chen Jingzong put the soup bowl aside, turned around, squatted in front of her, and held her hand to apologize.
Huayang shook off his hand with a cold face. All the anger he had suffered this morning came flooding back to him at this moment, and tears started to form on his eyelashes.
Chen Jingzong suddenly realized that he was not afraid of her bad face or her sarcasm, but he was afraid that she would feel wronged.
"Okay, I promise you, I won't think about that again until after the funeral, and you don't have to take any more medicine."
Huayang remained unmoved.
Chen Jingzong paused and continued, "From now on, I will eat properly, take a bath and rinse my mouth every day, and I promise that I will never give you a headache again."
Hua Yang finally lowered his eyelashes, looked at him and said: "You said this yourself. If you break your promise in the future, I will never treat you well again."
Chen Jingzong nodded repeatedly.
After ordering, he suddenly remembered, when had she ever been nice to him
(End of this chapter)