At dusk, as the last ray of sunset in the yard was about to disappear, Chao Yun finally heard a short whistle coming from the west ear room.
She patted her chest and said happily to the princess who was sitting in the main room reading a book: "He's back, the prince consort is finally back!"
Huayang finally let go of her worried heart. It was so late at night, and she was a little worried that Chen Jingzong might have had an accident in the mountains, such as being bitten by a poisonous snake or accidentally falling off a cliff.
She only has this one prince consort, and even though he has a lot of flaws, it's better to have him than not have him.
Huayang likes to be the most honorable princess in the capital, rather than the most honorable "widow".
Along with the sound of steady and powerful footsteps, a tall and majestic figure appeared at the door, making the main room a little darker.
Huayang raised his head, his eyes swept across Chen Jingzong's seemingly handsome and serious face, and quickly fell into his hands.
This time he didn't bring back any prey. In his left hand he was holding three oil-paper bags, and in his right hand he was holding... a jar of wine!
Huayang frowned, she almost forgot that in her previous life, Chen Jingzong drank a few sips of wine almost every meal!
"Where did the wine come from?" she asked in a low voice.
Seeing that his master was about to get angry, Chao Yun quickly lowered his head and retreated.
Chen Jingzong didn't care. He stepped in and put the wine jar on the table. He sat down again and explained while picking up the teapot to pour tea: "I shot two rabbits this morning and went over the hill to another town more than ten miles away to exchange them for wine."
He said it easily, but he actually climbed over mountains and walked more than 20 miles back and forth, just for a jar of wine!
Huayang hated the smell of alcohol, and also didn't like the fact that Chen Jingzong spent so much time buying alcohol.
"I've already eaten the meat, so what's wrong with drinking some wine?"
Chen Jingzong looked at her face and couldn't understand her temper.
"I don't like you drinking," she said bluntly.
Chen Jingzong straightened his expression, recalled for a moment, and said: "The condition that you let me sleep in your bed does not include abstaining from alcohol. If you think the smell is too strong, I promise to brush my teeth carefully."
Huayang was silent.
Another reason why she hated drinking was her father in the palace.
When her father summoned ministers, he acted like a wise ruler, but in private he liked to drink and indulge. When she was nine years old, Huayang accidentally saw her father forcing a palace maid after drinking. Her father's red face, vulgar words, and obscene behavior were once Huayang's nightmares. As a result, she began to resist seeing her father from that year, and it was difficult for her to suppress the disgust in her heart when she saw him.
Chen Jingzong only had a small drink, but Huayang was very worried that one day he would drink too much and force her like his father forced the palace maid.
She recalled that once she and Chen Jingzong went to her uncle's house for a banquet. Chen Jingzong drank too much that day. Huayang came out of the shower and found him sitting on the edge of the bed, reeking of alcohol, staring at her with his dark eyes.
Huayang appeared calm on the surface, and coldly told him to go sleep in the front yard, but in fact his hands hidden in his sleeves were shaking uncontrollably.
So what if she was a princess? When she was alone with Chen Jingzong, she was just an ordinary woman who was powerless and couldn't even break Chen Jingzong's hand.
Fortunately, Chen Jingzong still listened to her that night.
This person is like this, constantly doing things that make her disgusted, but after his death he always makes her remember some of his good qualities.
"One bowl at most, no more." Huayang compromised again.
Chen Jingzong: "One bowl at ordinary times, when you encounter happy or sad events, don't bother me?"
Hua Yang snorted, "It's up to you. If you're drunk, go find a room to sleep by yourself. Don't come to my place."
But I was puzzled in my heart. He could even turn a deaf ear to the scolding from his own father, so why could he be sad
Chen Jingzong didn't comment. After quenching his thirst, he pushed the three oil-paper bags over and said, "I also bought some snacks. There's nothing good in town. If you like them, eat them. If you don't like them, leave them for me."
Huayang glanced at the oil paper bag.
The spoiled princess would not even do something as simple as untying a rope, let alone doing any rough work.
Seeing that she didn't move, Chen Jingzong sneered, untied the rope in a few seconds, and unfolded the oil paper.
Huayang saw a bag of melon seeds, a bag of dried meat, and a bag of dried apricots.
Compared with the special snacks in the palace, these three packs are much worse in every aspect. The melon seeds are not full enough, the dried meat is not bright red enough, and the apricots are all small.
But in the nearby villages and towns, these three packages are already high-quality goods, and are things that the Chen family, who is in mourning, cannot purchase now.
Mourning is to remember the deceased. The more grief you show, the more people will praise you for being filial. If you still have the mood to eat snacks, what's the point
Everyone knows that mourning is hard, and officials even have to do so and delay their future careers. However, filial piety is as strong as a mountain, and a scholarly family like the Chen family must pay more attention to etiquette.
"Will I have a stomachache after eating it?" Huayang didn't have much confidence in things from small places.
Chen Jingzong: "Just try it and you'll know. Anyway, I ate it and nothing happened."
Huayang hesitated for a moment, but decided to wait until he really felt hungry.
"Dinner isn't ready yet, go take a shower first."
He was covered in dust and Huayang didn't want to even look at him.
Chen Jingzong ordered Chaoyun at the door: "Just bring a bucket of cold water, no need to boil it."
Huayang frowned: "Can a bucket of water wash it clean?" It's not even enough for her to wash her hair.
Chen Jingzong looked over and said, "I'm not doing anything, what's the point of washing it so clean?"
If she slept with him, he could brush her from head to toe to ensure that she was satisfied in every way.
Huayang blushed.
At the beginning, she really thought too simply, believing that the son of the elder would definitely be a gentleman even if he practiced martial arts!
Zhu'er went to fetch water, while Chaoyun went to the inner room to get a set of clothes for Chen Jingzong, put them on the shelf next to the bathtub, and then left.
Huayang asked her to put away the jar of wine and three packets of snacks and continue sitting in the main room.
Not long after Chen Jingzong entered, the sound of splashing water came from the west room, followed by the peculiar sound of a wet towel being rubbed along someone's back.
It seemed as if the two guards from his aunt's house appeared before Huayang's eyes again.
She didn't look at their faces carefully, but she remembered their broad shoulders and thin waists and abdomens deeply.
In comparison, Chen Jingzong's body is better looking, with a more slender figure, and his muscles are firm and well-proportioned.
Fucuitang.
Luo Yuyan was feeling uncomfortable after sitting for a long time and was walking slowly in the yard. Erlang and Sanlang were squatting under a tree playing with ants. Chen Xiaozong, who had been teaching all day, was lying comfortably in the next room to rest.
The maid from the main house brought dinner, which was dumplings with three-fresh vegetarian fillings, three vegetarian dishes, and an egg drop soup.
Luo Yuyan watched the maids come in and leave, feeling very unhappy.
People are like this. They don’t cherish meat when they can eat it every day. If they haven’t eaten meat for three months, they will be particularly greedy!
"Mom, let's go in and eat." Erlang was hungry, so he threw away the small wooden stick in his hand and stood up and said.
Luo Yuyan nodded and was about to walk in when the aroma of stewed chicken suddenly wafted over from Siyi Hall.
Luo Yuyan looked at her two sons calmly.
Erlang and Sanlang both sniffed hard.
After confirming his look with his brother, Sanlang happily ran to his mother and said, "Mom, there's meat!"
Luo Yuyan hissed, told her sons not to make any noise, and then called Chen Xiaozong out.
This time the aroma of the stewed chicken was stronger, and Chen Xiaozong also smelled it.
He smiled, what a good old man, he lied without blinking!
Today's dinner at Siyitang included stewed chicken and wine, and Chen Jingzong enjoyed it very much.
Huayang put down his chopsticks when he was 70% full.
"Is there another bowl left? Do you want one?" Chen Jingzong looked at the soup bowl and asked her.
Huayang: "Drink it."
Chen Jingzong poured the chicken soup into a bowl and drank it all in a few big gulps.
Huayang: …
She knew that she would never be able to train her husband to be a gentleman in this lifetime.
After she has solved the Chen family's problem, if she has another life, she might be able to look for someone with outstanding appearance and manners again.
"Prince Consort, the master wants you to come over after dinner."
Zhen'er came over to report.
Huayang was surprised: "Could it be that Big Brother has also smelled something?"
Chen Jingzong thought for a moment and said, "Even if my brother smelled it, he would just pretend not to know for your sake. He must have come to me for something else."
When he said that, Huayang remembered: "My eldest brother also sent someone to look for you this afternoon. I said you were busy catching mice last night and catching up on sleep during the day."
Chen Jingzong: "Okay, I'll go over and take a look."
After rinsing his mouth carefully, Chen Jingzong went to Guanhe Hall.
Chen Bozong stood in the corridor, watching his fourth brother walking towards Siyi Hall from afar. His hair was still half wet, so he was sure that his fourth brother had slept all day and woke up covered in sweat before taking a bath.
"I heard that you were catching mice last night and were busy until several o'clock in the morning?" Chen Bozong asked seriously.
Chen Jingzong lied: "I don't remember clearly, but it was almost dawn."
Chen Bozong: "Even so, you shouldn't spend the whole day sleeping. It's not nice."
Chen Jingzong frowned: "Don't worry about my business, tell me, why are you looking for me?"
Chen Bozong: "That's why. Not to mention how the princess sees you, Wanyi went to have lunch with the princess at noon. As the fourth uncle, don't you feel ashamed when your niece finds out that you slept in?"
Chen Jingzong narrowed his eyes and finally understood the whole story.
He perfunctorily said, "Ashamed, I won't sleep with you anymore."
Chen Bozong: …
Knowing that his fourth brother had only agreed casually and pretending to admit his mistake honestly, he couldn't teach him a lesson any further.
"The emperor has married the princess into our Chen family. This is a great favor from heaven. You should observe etiquette in front of the princess and not act recklessly."
"Okay, I'll kowtow to her three times every day when we meet."
"you… "
Chen Jingzong ignored him and turned back.
When passing by Fucuitang, he happened to meet Chen Xiaozong who was walking out of the door.
When they met, Chen Xiaozong smiled first, like a fox with a jade face: "Where did you come back from, fourth brother?"
Chen Jingzong stopped and asked, "What's the matter?"
Chen Xiaozong walked over and caught a glimpse of a figure at the other end of the corridor. When he looked over, he only saw the corner of his elder brother's clothes flash by.
"Brother is looking for you?" Chen Xiaozong asked curiously.
Chen Jingzong: "It has nothing to do with you."
Chen Xiaozong: "Okay, then let's just talk about our own. You, you, yesterday the maid said she could smell the smell of fried fish over there, but I didn't believe it. Today we all smell the aroma of stewed chicken over there, are you still going to quibble?"
He spoke in a teasing tone, with an easygoing attitude that said, "Although you broke the rules, you're my brother so I won't scold you."
Chen Jingzong said expressionlessly: "We only stewed the chicken mushrooms."
Chen Xiaozong smiled and patted his shoulder: "Don't worry, Third Brother won't expose you."
Chen Jingzong pushed his hand away and said, "If I ate it, I ate it. If I didn't eat it, I didn't eat it. I won't admit to something I didn't do. If you don't believe me, you can search our kitchen and that will clear our name."
Chen Xiaozong's smile froze. Even if there was no princess, it would be too embarrassing for a scholar like him to rummage through his brother's kitchen.
Seeing that his younger brother was determined to keep his mouth shut, Chen Xiaozong had to change his words and said helplessly, "Fourth brother, I didn't mean to laugh at you for being a glutton. To be honest, being a vegetarian for a year is really too demanding. My eldest brother and I can still stand it if we just read books every day without using any energy. But if you want to practice martial arts and keep fit, you can't stand eating only vegetarian food. I understand. I came to see you because of your third sister-in-law."
Chen Jingzong's cold expression eased slightly.
Chen Xiaozong saw hope and his expression became more sincere. He took his brother's arm and walked to the side two steps. "Your third sister-in-law got pregnant at the wrong time this time. Fortunately, she is in good health and has not had any miscarriages all the way here. But her complexion is obviously not as good as when she was pregnant with Erlang and the others. She is listless during the day and often has leg cramps at night. This is all because she eats too much vegetarian food."
"She is sensible and endures all the hardships. But as her husband, I can't bear to see her crying from cramps. What's more, she can't eat well and the baby in her belly can't grow well."
"Fourth brother, I know you are very capable and can catch wild game in the mountains. For the sake of your third sister-in-law and the unborn nephew and niece, next time you catch wild game, can you give a bowl to your third sister-in-law? Just one bowl, for your third sister-in-law to nourish her body, I don't need it."
These words were spoken with such sincerity that they were quite touching.
Chen Jingzong was silent for a moment, then said, "Third brother has a deep love for third sister-in-law, I admire that very much, but I really didn't cheat, please believe me."
Chen Xiaozong looked at him in disbelief, unable to accept that even after he said so, the fourth brother still refused to admit it!
The next moment, Chen Jingzong said again: "But Third Sister-in-law's health is more important. I am willing to find an opportunity to go into the mountains to get her some food."
Chen Xiaozong's astonishment immediately turned into relief. He knew that although the fourth brother was rough, he would never ignore the brotherhood.
Chen Jingzong: "However, if my father finds out about this, he will punish me and I will have to kneel in the ancestral hall for a few days. If I were not married yet, I would not mind kneeling for my third brother and his wife. But now I am married and I don't want the princess to look down on me anymore. So please write a letter stating that it was you who asked me to go to the mountain, so that I don't have to worry about it. This is also for the harmony between me and the princess."
Chen Xiaozong: …
Why did the fourth brother say this in a roundabout way, and not just once
Chen Jingzong looked at the sky and said, "If Third Brother agrees, you can go and write the agreement now. I'll wait for you here. If Third Brother doesn't want to write the agreement, then we'll just pretend we never said that."
After saying this, he waited for a while, and seeing that his brother was hesitant, he was about to leave.
Chen Xiaozong subconsciously grabbed his arm.
Chen Jingzong looked over calmly.
Chen Xiaozong knew that he had been deceived by this seemingly rough and naive younger brother.
Since he came to ask his fourth brother for help for his wife tonight, if he gave up just because of a piece of paper, the deep affection and loyalty just shown would instantly become a joke.
But if he wrote the receipt to his fourth brother, he would be the one to kneel in the ancestral hall as punishment by his father when the truth was revealed.
The father doesn’t care if his wife has cramps in the middle of the night. Even if there is an extenuating circumstance, the punishment must still be imposed!
If I had known this earlier, if I had known this earlier…
Can he ignore his wife's grievances
Chen Xiaozong, who knew exactly what he would choose, smiled, pointed at his brother, and shook his head, saying, "You wait here."
A quarter of an hour later, Chen Xiaozong came back with a lantern in his hand.
Chen Jingzong unfolded the document and read it carefully under the light. He was sure that his third brother had not played tricks with the words, and gave him a meaningful look: "Third brother is very considerate."
Chen Xiaozong sighed: "I just hope you act carefully and don't let father catch you."
Chen Jingzong: "I'll try my best. By the way, when I bring back prey, I will ask the maid to inform Third Sister-in-law, and then ask Third Sister-in-law to send someone who knows how to cook here. The princess is very strict about rules, and I'm afraid she won't let her maids eat meat during this period."
Chen Xiaozong really wanted to ask, if the princess really disdained it, then the fish and chicken these past two days were prepared by the fourth brother himself, and he ate them all alone
But the fourth sister refused to admit that he had cheated. Some things could only be kept tacit. Besides, it was only natural for the princess's maid to only serve the princess.
After the two brothers finished their plot, they went home.
Chen Jingzong found Huayang sitting on the bed in the inner room.
"Why did you take so long?" Huayang asked casually.
Chen Jingzong sat down on the edge of the bed and handed her the document in his sleeve.
Huayang took it suspiciously, and after reading it, she looked at Chen Jingzong in confusion.
Chen Jingzong smiled and said, "With this, we can eat whatever we want in the future. If something happens, Third Brother will take care of it for us."
This was also good news for Huayang, who couldn't help but laugh: "How did you do that?"
Chen Xiaozong was a true third place winner in the imperial examination, so how could a rough man like Chen Jingzong deceive him
Chen Jingzong had nothing to be proud of: "The third sister-in-law was pregnant, and she took advantage of his weakness, so he had no choice but to agree."
After hearing this, Huayang looked at the handwriting of the third place winner Qingfeng Langyue and could not hide his envy: "Third brother is so good to third sister-in-law."
Intellectuals value their reputation the most. For the sake of his wife, Chen Sanlang was willing to give away the evidence.
If Chen Sanlang had not yet married when her mother arranged the marriage, she would have married Chen Sanlang, and the couple would have lived in harmony, so there would have been no need for her to be so upset.
Suddenly, a cold sneer came from above my head, and the document in my hand was snatched away.
Realizing that his little thoughts had been seen through by him, Huayang couldn't help feeling embarrassed. He pulled up the quilt as if he was sleepy and lay down with his back to him.
"I was the one who went into the mountains and hunted, but he got all the credit."
Huayang blinked at the mockery.
Well, Chen Jia Silang was also quite nice. Chen Sanlang loved his wife so much that he needed help from his brothers. Chen Silang directly brought fish, chicken and three packs of snacks to her table.
(End of this chapter)