"Ugh!"
Jiang Yu vomited.
She never imagined there would come a day when eating would make her throw up.
It was simply unthinkable.
She was experiencing this moment.
Everything she ate made her want to vomit, every smell made her nauseous.
Her face turned pale from the vomiting.
The normally energetic and lively woman now had an air of fragility about her.
This gave Meng Shaoxia quite a fright.
In one day, he wrote three letters to the Capital City.
After some thought, he hurriedly wrote two more letters to his grandfather guarding the border.
In recent years, Meng Shaoxia's relationship with his family hadn't grown distant, but rather closer.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
He was now "my darling boy" in his mother's words.
When he was around, he was still a "little rascal" to her.
His relationship with his grandfather had also grown closer.
Mainly because of the food he sent, as well as warm clothing - thoughtful, practical items that even saved lives.
These days in the imperial court, the Emperor indulged in pleasure and feared Old General Meng's military power growing too strong. Even knowing that someone was embezzling military funds, he turned a blind eye, not caring. After all, in the end, it didn't matter - they could still fight wars and win them. Giving them so much military pay, who knows who it was feeding.
The soldiers on the front lines fought in tattered clothes, freezing or starving to death before they even entered battle.
Old General Meng had written to the Emperor pleading for aid, but to no avail.
If he were truly an unscrupulous general, he might have simply led a rebellion.
But Old General Meng still had a strong sense of duty, adhering to his responsibilities and guarding the nation's borders.
His conscience wouldn't allow it.
As an old general, he went around begging for aid.
In the end, the most help he received came from someone with origins as a rebel.
The young men at the border may never have eaten grain from the Capital City, but they had eaten Jiang Family's noodles, dried meat, and biscuits.
Of course, the Jiang Family wasn't purely doing charity work. They had established a trade route with thin profits, unafraid of bandits. Now it wasn't just the Jiang Family anymore. As long as there was profit, even if small, people could do business in every corner of the world.
General Meng wasn't a businessman, and felt somewhat embarrassed, feeling that his grandson staying with their family was taking advantage of their kindness.
Meng Shaoxia carefully tended to Little Yu'er, his heart jumping at the slightest frown on her face.
Usually, Little Yu'er never complained of illness or pain, except for a few years ago when she first experienced menstruation and appeared a bit weak. Normally, when they went together to climb mountains and wade through streams to pick mushrooms, she was incredibly energetic.
Now that she was slightly weak, Meng Shaoxia couldn't even attend his classes properly. His position was already nominal, mainly assisting his father-in-law. His father-in-law had already skipped work because his daughter was pregnant, so he had even more reason to do so.
He paced around the room asking, "Little Yu'er, what would you like to eat? I'll make it for you."
Jiang Yu found it amusing, as she had never seen her husband cook before.
However, Grandma had said that unused power is wasted power. In a marriage, women can sometimes act a little spoiled. There's no need to be too virtuous - that's just for show in front of others. There's no need to pretend with your husband; it's part of the couple's intimacy.
She said, "Well, I'd like to eat noodles, noodles that you knead."
"Alright, I'll go knead them for you." Meng Shaoxia stood up excitedly.
Then he worried about leaving her alone.
He looked at the maid disapprovingly, feeling that she was too clumsy to take good care of Little Yu'er.
"You teach me, and watch me knead," Meng Shaoxia said, still wanting to keep Little Yu'er in his sight for peace of mind.
"Okay."
The young couple pattered towards the kitchen.
"Slow down."
"Don't run."
"Feeling unwell again?"
"Take it easy, take it easy."
"Not unwell, just suddenly craving pickled vegetables?"
"Then I'll make pickled vegetable noodles."
...
In the front hall.
Jiang Changtian said, "When I received news from Magistrate Huang that Old Lady Jiang had accused me of kidnapping her granddaughter, I was quite startled. Fortunately, Imperial Censor He was present, so I couldn't bear this false accusation. Therefore, I sent people to search Jingzhou thoroughly overnight, and finally found Jiang Wan."
Jiang Wan looked at the room full of people in shock and pushed Young Master Liu away.
However, due to her weak body, she failed to push him away successfully. It looked as if she had struggled a bit before falling back into Young Master Liu's embrace.
Under everyone's gaze.
Old Lady Jiang's hands shook with anger.
Jiang Wan lowered her head. Her dreams had been her greatest support, something she hadn't even told her father or grandmother. Now, the contents of her dreams were known not only to her but also to Jiang Changtian and Imperial Censor He. How was this any different from the whole world knowing?
Jiang Wan looked at Chu Xi sitting opposite her. His gaze was gentle, his robes clean and tidy.
He was just like in her dreams, seemingly passionate towards others, but actually cold-hearted, very much like his father, the King.
Old Lady Jiang was also trembling continuously. She couldn't believe that the girl she had carefully educated and nurtured would do something like eloping with someone.
But Jiang Wan was in a difficult position and didn't dare to speak about her dreams.
She had her reasons.
She didn't want to die in Ming County.
Now, with Chu Xi so close, he seemed like her hope, her future right before her eyes.
But she knew that Chu Xi couldn't tolerate even the slightest flaw, and was vengeful. In her previous life, although she had been Meng Shaoxia's fiancée, she and Meng Shaoxia had been completely innocent, never crossing any boundaries. Even so, after entering the Crown Prince's Mansion, he would still occasionally look down on her.
Now, in front of him, she had been embracing another man. If she were to directly deny it now, not only would it provoke his disgust, but it would also make her seem lacking in integrity.
Could he still become the Crown Prince in this life? So many things had changed.
Sometimes, when you speak a wish aloud, it loses its power.
Jiang Wan gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and simply admitted, "Grandmother, Father, Young Master Liu and I fell in love at first sight. I... I was wrong."
A naive, love-struck girl was still better than a fickle woman.
Jiang Wan closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face.
Young Master Liu's eyes reddened with joy.
He knew that Qingqing liked him too.
Jiang Huaisheng, who had been reciting sutras since he entered, suddenly stepped forward, pulled Wan'er away, and slapped her.
"When a child is not taught, it is the father's fault. You are not like your mother. Your mother left, that was my mistake. But you, why would you do this?"
Jiang Huaisheng then slapped himself, the sound heavy.
Jiang Wan felt dizzy. Her father's slap made her nose start running again, and she wiped it with her handkerchief.
After wiping for a while, it suddenly stopped flowing. She didn't feel as uncomfortable, and her head stopped buzzing, except for the pain in her cheek.
Jiang Huaisheng was utterly disappointed.
Old Lady Jiang was so angry she kept tapping her cane.
Chu Xi hadn't expected to witness such a scene.
This cousin, who he had thought to be wise, whose back view he had seen in a painting in his mother's room, had actually made him feel a subtle attraction, making him want to see her face.
Although meeting in this awkward scenario was uncomfortable, he had to admit that she was an extremely beautiful woman face to face.
However, the girl his mother had always praised for her rare wisdom had actually eloped with someone because of love at such a young age.
Perhaps love makes people foolish?
He despised this the most. A person who couldn't even control their emotions and desires, what great things could they achieve?
This cousin was quite good-looking, but seemed to lack intelligence.
Jiang Changtian admired Jiang Wan's performance in this scene.
Sitting opposite was Chu Xi, who she had said was the biggest winner in her previous life, and also her husband. They had entered the grand hall together, reached the pinnacle, wore grand ceremonial robes, and received the worship of all under heaven.
Now she managed to remain calm and even dragged in that muddle-headed Young Master Liu.
Compared to her, even he seemed like a good person.
...
