Continued from the previous chapter →
After dismissing the ministers, Chu Changge stretched his back and looked at the sky. He then strolled towards the Qionglou Pavilion. He and Murong Yunshu had arranged to have afternoon tea together there. Although it was still early, it would be just right for him to stroll. If he still arrived early, that was fine. He would just wait for her.
When Chu Changge arrived at Qionglou Pavilion, he found that Murong Yunshu had come long before him.
As soon as Chu Changge walked into the small pavilion, Murong Yunshu spotted him and smiled lightly. "You're early."
"Isn't Madam here earlier?" Chu Changge asked with a smile, with his heart very happy. "Is Madam so eager to see her husband that she has waited beforehand?"
"I just sat down." Murong Yunshu said.
Chu Changge glanced at the tea that was about to reach the bottom of the cup in her hand and smiled lightly as he thoughtfully refilled it for her. He said as he poured, "This is the best Yuhou Longjing tea. It would be a waste if you were to drink it like a cattle."
Murong Yunshu's face was slightly embarrassed. She hesitated for a moment, then picked up the cup of tea and drank it all in one gulp. She looked at Chu Changge with incomparable frankness and requested, "Another cup."
The corners of Chu Changge's mouth slightly twitched. "Madam, this is tea, not wine. You can stop acting as if your heroism has reached the clouds."
"I'm just thirsty." Murong Yunshu responded extraordinarily calm.
".......your excuse is lame."
"I know."
"And yet you still use it?"
"I can't think of a better one."
"......" Chu Changge looked at her helplessly for a few seconds, then couldn't help but refill her cup again and stated leisurely, "You've always been a refined tea drinker. A cup of tea would take at least two to three-quarters of an hour for you to finish. With the amount of tea in the pot now, you had already drunk at least three cups before I came."
Murong Yunshu sighed in frustration as she questioned, "With an Emperor like you around, how are you going to get along with your government staff?" It was rare for her to tell a lie. Could he not be so wise? Could you please read this chapter at xinshou blogspot com?
Chu Changge raised his sword-shaped brows and commented, "I'm not interested in what they care about, and what I care about is none of their business."
Murong Yunshu puffed out a laugh and said, "If those lively government staff of yours heard these words, I wonder how cold their hearts will be."
"It's good to have a cold heart. With a cold heart, they won't have to be afraid of heatstroke."
"......" This statement sounded so familiar. Murong Yunshu suddenly wanted to know what Big Chu and Little Chu usually talked about when they got together. Inexplicably, the scene of the small one and the big one crouching in the corner and whispering to each other came to mind. "Pfft——" Murong Yunshu laughed at the scene playing in her head. Luckily, there was nothing in her mouth. Otherwise, the Big Chu that was sitting across from her would have been in trouble.
"What are you thinking that made you laugh like that?" Chu Changge asked, raising an eyebrow. He was not too happy that her mind was still wandering off while spending time with him.
"It's nothing." Murong Yunshu tried to put away her smile, but the corners of her eyes couldn't help but tilt upwards. "Nie Qing came to see me today." She changed the subject.
Chu Changge's expression immediately changed when he heard her words. "What does he want from you?"
Murong Yunshu narrowed her eyes at him strangely and questioned, "Why are you acting so nervous?"
"No, nothing......" Chu Changge coughed twice to withdraw his nervous expression and asked as if he was not too concerned, "Is there something he wanted from you?"
"It's nothing much. He and Feng Ling came to plead with me, hoping that I could help them go to Hua Tuo Mountain so that he could propose marriage to Feng Cheng. They asked me to talk to you about letting them out of town."
"So, what did you say?"
"I said 'people of the harem do not meddle in politics'." Murong Yunshu answered.
Chu Changge was slightly astonished by her words and then burst out laughing. "You really are the laziest woman I've ever seen."
Murong Yunshu's expression was indifferent. "Right back at you."
"Madam, you are flattering your husband too much. This husband of yours doesn't have your ability to put off trouble like that."
When Murong Yunshu heard what he said, she picked up the lid of the cup and slowly fanned the hot air from the mouth of the cup as she stated, "There are many troublesome people around who like to create trouble for you, so you have to learn the skill of pushing these troubles away. Otherwise, how can I have time to drink tea?" After saying that, she raised her pretty phoenix eyes to look at Chu Changge.
Troublesome people, who liked to create trouble......was he also counted as one? The corners of Chu Changge's mouth trembled a few times as he expressed his feeling with a hurt face, "As the saying goes, a virtuous wife at home is better than a good minister of a state. For Madam to be so 'idle and virtuous' is a bit unjust to not even share a little of it with her husband!"
"Can you not remind me again and again how troublesome it was for me to marry you finally?" Murong Yunshu smiled brightly.
The corners of Chu Changge's mouth twitched wildly, "Madam, I'm the one in trouble now, and you can't just run from your responsibility."
"At the root of it, it's because you're the one who created that troublesome little guy out of it."
"......you also have a part in creating him."
"When I gave birth to him, he was still a noble gongzi. Later, after hanging out with you for a long time, he became a local bully."
Chu Changge went speechless. Obviously, he and his son had become a benevolent father and a filial son. But in her eyes, how did they turn into fooling around with each other? If he took ten thousand steps back, even though Little Murong was now brazenly overbearing, with a black belly that was as dark as charcoal, he had never been sleazy at all! He was a very talented little young man by all accounts. Just as bad as he was when he was a child, but not too obviously bad.
Chu Changge was proud of himself when he thought of how much he had passed on to Little Murong. That old freak had passed on to him all that he had learned and created in his life. Although Chu Changge was too lazy to learn many of that old freak's martial arts, he knew them thoroughly by heart and had no problem passing them on to Little Murong. If there was one thing he was most pleased with, it was Little Murong's diligence and willingness to learn. These traits of his were also the point he was most puzzled by. He could always sit and never stood if he could. Even his father did not know what diligence was, so how could Little Murong be this diligent and studious? [T/C]
From morning to night, Little Murong had engaged himself in light martial arts and swordplay, Qi Men Dun Jia, learning the skills of mechanisms and accounting, read about medicine from the book of Qi Huang, as well as the four arts, horseback riding and archery. Plus the burden of the family given to him by his heartless mother, and occasionally he had to find time to create a bit of unhappiness for the people around him for him to have some fun...... [T/C]
When Chu Changge thought about it, he suddenly felt sympathy for Little Murong. Thinking of himself when he was a child, he had never been poisoned by anything other than salt.
"Madam, otherwise, let's give Murong a younger sister." Chu Changge suggested.
"Are you sure you want to create another troublesome little one?" Murong Yunshu asked rhetorically, frowning.
Chu Changge stated, "I have confidence in you."
"But I have no confidence in you."
"......don't worry. You have absolute control in your daughter's education."
Murong Yunshu thought about it for a moment and said, "Let's wait a few more years."
"Until when?"
"Let's wait until Murong grows up."
"He's old enough now to not bully his sister."
"I know. I meant to have another when he was old enough to help me with the baby." [T/C]
"……"
"This is to cultivate their brother and sister feelings."
"……"
"Did you have a falling out with Nie Qing?" Murong Yunshu asked with a sudden change of topic.
Chu Changge raised an eyebrow and said, "Having a falling out is a word only used between two acquaintances."
"......so you don't like the look of him?" Murong Yunshu switched to a more factual way of asking the question.
"I've never looked at him closely before." His tone was unusually awkward.
"......" Murong Yunshu looked at Chu Changge with that look of Little Murong and asked, "What exactly do you have against him?"
"Nothing."
"Then why won't you see him?"
Chu Changge said, "The Auxiliary Minister and the new Emperor were supposed to be at odds with each other."
Murong Yunshu rolled her eyes and looked at him without saying anything.
Chu Changge did not want to mention it, but he could not resist Murong Yunshu's insistent look for an answer, so he could only say sullenly, "He has bad intentions."
Umm. Murong Yunshu blanked for a moment. "When did he have any bad intentions?"
"He......" Chu Changge wanted to say something several times, but he hesitated. He finally said, "He lured those ministers to Jinling to force me to take the throne. That is his bad intentions."
"Didn't you take revenge on this matter a long time ago?" Murong Yunshu's eyes narrowed slightly. She always felt that what Chu Changge originally wanted to say was not this matter.
What Chu Changge wanted to say was indeed not this issue. He wanted to say that Nie Qing was looking at Murong Yunshu in a very wrong way. That kind of look, others might not understand, but he knew it well. That was simply the look a man gave when he looked at the woman he loved! What made him feel most stifled was that Nie Qing always gazed at her silently, never showing half of it, leaving him with no way to eradicate his love rival. [+]
He certainly wouldn't say anything if his rival didn't make his feelings clear.
Chu Changge wished Murong Yunshu would completely ignore Nie Qing.
Count yourself lucky that you have the good sense not to make a pass at her openly. Otherwise, even if you were Feng Ling's fiancé, I would have beaten you until you would be looking for your teeth all over the floor and blowing your brain out! Chu Changge often had this kind of thought to comfort his restless heart that wanted to beat someone up but could not find any excuse to do so.
*
The epidemic was getting worse in Jinling City, and although the city had been sealed off, Lincheng was not spared and was also affected. When Chu Changge heard the news of the epidemic spread outside, he was still discussing the battlefield situation with Old General Liu. At the same time, Murong Yunshu was competently filling her job as an 'idle' wife and mother by personally teaching Little Murong to draw portraits. The painting she used to teach him was the one she and Chu Changge had completed together back then.
As she explained while looking at the two people riding a horse together, free and happy, Murong Yunshu could not help but feel a little sad. With less freedom, albeit willingly, there was still some regret in her heart that they could not be as dashing as in the painting.
"Mom, did you paint this picture?" Chu Murong asked.
Murong Yunshu thought for a moment and said, "No, it was your Dad who drew it. He went to great lengths to woo your Mom back then."
Lu-er bravely rolled her eyes beside them. He already joined our household upon marriage, and Miss still want to take unfair advantage of him. Miss, you are an undeniably unscrupulous merchant.
"Isn't it?" Murong Yunshu looked sideways at Lu-er.
Uh, she had been discovered. Lu-er bowed her head with a look that she had done something wrong and said with a clear conscience, "Yes, it was Guye who chased Miss first."
"That doesn't sound sincere at all."
Lu-er immediately modified her previous remark. "Guye chased after Miss with great sincerity."
"......" Murong Yunshu gave Lu-er an amused glare and said, "It's not the addition of the word 'sincerity' that will make it sound sincere."
"Then, how should I do it?" Lu-er asked with great sincerity and without any shame to learn.
"To make others feel your sincerity, you must first believe what you say."
"Then, that will be very difficult." Lu-er frowned distressingly and muttered, "It was definitely Miss who chased after Guye...…"
The corner of Murong Yunshu's forehead jumped a few times while she gave a look of hatred towards Lu-er.
At this point, Chu Murong said, "It doesn't matter who chased who first. What matters is who married who."
Murong Yunshu's eyes lit up with joy. "Sure enough. You think like your Mom."
Chu Murong blinked with a puzzled look. "Eh? Wasn't it Mom who married Dad?"
"......" How dare you be a spy?
Noob Translator's Musing
There will be another chapter coming up...but a bit later. It's nearly finished.
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Black Belly Wife