Chapter 710: Couple and Companion (2)
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
She was in the midst of eating happily when she was suddenly mentioned. Before she could react, she choked.
“In that case, it’s my fault. I’ll apologize to Fourth Sister-in-law.” All Yu hurriedly apologized to Zhou Chuchu.
Zhou Chuchu waved her hand. “It’s not that serious. I’m just gluttonous. What were you talking about just now? Seafood? Our family has indeed handled a seafood business in the past few years, but we’ve suffered more losses than profit, so Grandpa usually brings it back to our family to eat. I know some seafood recipes, such as this sea crab…”
Everyone listened to Zhou Chuchu’s explanation as they tasted the delicacies and listened to the Gourmet Sutra. When the sea crab was served on the table, everyone felt that the seafood was much more delicious than they had imagined.
Usually, the Wang Family would eat at the same table as the Old Madam. The Old Madam basically didn’t involve herself much in major decisions, leaving it up to others to figure things out. As long as things weren’t too far off course, she was content. Nevertheless, she still placed great emphasis on etiquette and refinement, a trait that the Wang family wasn’t accustomed to, as it was something she used to care about the least in the past.
For example, at the dining table, the old lady did not allow everyone to laugh and talk together. Only after one person finished speaking, were the others allowed to continue.
Now that Old Madam Wang wasn’t controlling them for the time being, everyone could speak freely. The entire house was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
Qin Huai was also in a good mood. He even ate an extra bowl of rice than usual.
After the meal, Qin Huai should have left, but when he thought about returning to Duke Yong Manor, although it was much better there compared to other places, it still retained the air of an aristocratic family, lacking a certain warmth of human interaction.
He had bought a house next door. Even though it was only a wall away, it felt much colder.
“Big Brother All You, accompany me to digest my food.” After Ah Yu finished speaking to Zhu’er, she turned around and walked to Qin Huai’s side. “Let’s take a walk in your courtyard. 1 haven’t seen it recently. I wonder how the flowers 1 planted have grown.”
Qin Huai smiled. “Let’s go.”
When Zhu’er saw this, he followed over. “I’ll go too! Big Sister, don’t worry. I water the flowers every day. They grow very well.”
The two of them notified Liu Shi and the others before bringing Zhu’er to the house next door.
After arriving, Chi Jia carried Zhu’er up and took him to the other areas. There were many things to play with at night there. As soon as Zhu’er arrived, he played and forgot to look at the flowers.
When there was no one else around, Qin Huai said to Ah Yu, “It’s not convenient for me to tell you in the Imperial City during the day. I’ve investigated some things about the village. It’s not far off from your grandmother’s analysis.”
“Have you told Auntie Empress?” Ah Yu asked. “Does she believe you?”
Qin Huai: “She can only trust me.”
Actually, long before they arrived at Wanning City, Empress Qin had already received the news through the eagle messenger and made the corresponding arrangements. Before they were halfway through their journey, Empress Qin had already sent a large number of people to Hu Family Village.
Actually, they couldn’t be sure if they had alerted the enemy that night, but only by pretending that they had not, would the other party reduce their suspicion to the greatest extent.
As long as they left, they would express their attitude. With Old Madam Wang guarding the village and taking charge of the overall situation, it should not be difficult to delay for enough time.
Even if it was difficult for others, it should be easy for her.
This was because after combining all kinds of information, Qin Huai had already determined that Old Madam Wang was Princess Yong Chang. If she was such a talented person and had experience living among the commoners, she would naturally be able to do things more easily.
Qin Huai did not tell Ah Yu in too much detail because he did not want her to worry too much. Moreover, the royal family was not a clean and peaceful place. There was no need to tell Ah Yu those things that could not be revealed.
Ah Yu did not ask further and only said, “If you need my help with anything, don’t stand on ceremony with me.”
“If there’s really a need, I naturally won’t stand on ceremony.”
Ah Yu patted Qin Huai’s shoulder and said heroically, “That’s right. After all, we’ll be husband and wife in the future.”
This slap was very firm and her tone was very carefree, as if she was not talking about a husband and wife, but a sworn brother. She was filled with chivalry.
However, if you were to ask Qin Huai to specifically pinpoint what was amiss, he couldn’t really put his finger on it. Matters of marital affection were something he could sense but not fully comprehend.
In the less refined families of Wanning City, boys as young as 10 would start exploring sexual relations regularly, and for those a bit older, arrangements for concubines would be made by the age of 12.
As for girls, they would begin receiving teachings about marital affairs, the ways of husband and wife, how to serve parents-in-law, educate their own children, and manage household servants by the age of 11 or 12. They would study these matters for about four to five years before entering into formal marriage.
Qin Huai was not interested in this.
From the looks of it, Ah Yu was not in the mood to study this either.
“Yes, we’re husband and wife,” Qin Huai continued. “We’re also companions worth trusting.”
With that, the two of them looked at each other and smiled.
Time flowed like water. Summer passed and autumn came. After a heavy rain, Wanning City began to feel cool.
In the blink of an eye, it was the second day of August. Old Madam Wang and Old man Wang were on the way back, only more than a hundred miles away from Wanning City.
The people driving the carriage were two young men from the village. At a fork in the road, the entire carriage suddenly shook violently.
A junior said, “Oh no, the shaft is broken!”
“Grandpa Wang, Grandma Wang, hold on tight. 1’11 go down and take a look.” The other junior jumped out of the carriage.
At this moment, more than ten people suddenly crawled out of the bushes on both sides of the carriage. All of them were masked and holding knives. They stared at them with unfriendly eyes. “Leave the goods behind and I’ll spare your dog lives!”
“Not good, we encountered robbers!” The two juniors quickly jumped onto the carriage and were about to enter the carriage to look for the two old masters when someone held a knife against their necks.
The person in the lead smiled and said, “Yo, are you still planning to be a cowardly turtle?”
Old man Wang was about to speak when Old Madam Wang patted the back of his hand and mouthed a few words.
“I’ll count to three. If you don’t come down, don’t blame me for being rude. Three…”
“Go ahead and count, I want to see how many of you gutsy dogs dare to lay a hand on them!” The voice of Old Lady Wang came from the carriage, “If those two young ones are even missing a strand of hair, I can guarantee that not a single blade of grass will grow on your grave in the future.”
The leader:”…” Why was this different from what they had imagined?