Chapter 14

 

As the sun set, Chen Jingzong stood outside the wall of his home, which was as tall as a person, with the game in his hand. He whistled and threw the game over the wall, then the person jumped and climbed onto the wall too.

At this time, he saw the little maid Zhu’er standing in the small cross yard of the west wing, raising her face and reporting to him urgently: “Prince Consort, Princess is entertaining the old madam, please be quiet!”

Chen Jingzong understood and handed the game to Zhu’er. He jumped down lightly and made almost no sound.

After spending a day in the mountains, he had a lot of dirt on his body. If he went out at this time, his mother would definitely notice him.

Chen Jingzong flicked the dirt on his clothes and asked Zhu’er: “It’s late, what is the old madam doing here?”

Zhu’er shook her head: “I don’t know either. It’s just when Sister Chao Yun gave me some instruction at the corridor, I seem to hear the old madam telling the princess not to be angry.”

Chen Jingzong stopped moving. She was the ancestor, who would dare to provoke her?

In the main room not far away, Sun shi made sure that her daughter-in-law princess didn’t take the gossip in the garden seriously. While relaxing, she suddenly thought of her Old Four and asked strangely: “It’s almost lunch time, why didn’t I see the Old Four?”

Hua Yang was half disgusted and half smiling: “Who knows, I haven’t seen him for most of the day. But don’t worry, Mom, he will definitely show up when the food is actually served.”

Fooling a child like Wan Yi, Hua Yang could evade by saying that Chen Jingzong was sleeping in, but the person in front of her was her mother-in-law, the one who dared to go into the house to wake his son up.

Sun shi guessed that the Old Four had gone out secretly, only it was difficult to tell her daughter-in-law princess and let her see a joke, but she couldn’t help but dislike him a bit.

But her dislike was different from Luo Yuyan’s ridicule. Hua Yang could see her mother-in-law’s love for her son.

Hua Yang suddenly asked: “Mom, Eldest Brother and Third Brother are all good at studying, then why Prince Consort chose to practice martial arts?”

In fact, she had been curious about this question in her previous life, but at that time she was not that close to the Chen family. Directly asking Chen Jingzong would have been like pointing out his shortcomings, and asking her mother-in-law might have been seen as criticizing someone else’s son to their face.

In this life, she treated Sun shi closer, so that she could talk about her family members more freely.

Seeing that her daughter-in-law’s eyes were only filled with curiosity and no other hidden meaning, Sun shi shook her head and sighed, “Well, this cannot be blamed on Jingzong entirely.”

After she married Chen Tingjian, she gave birth to four sons.

The Old One won Zhuangyuan title, the Old Two also had the honor of being a Juren before he died of illness, and the Old Three won the Tanhua title. The reading talents of these three brothers naturally did not need to be said.

As for the Old Four, when he was a child he was like his brothers, had red lips, white teeth, and pretty eyebrows. He could memorize poems and words very quickly, and he looked like a scholar seedling.

The unfortunate thing was that the Old Four was the youngest. Even if he had the same talent, he couldn’t stand up to the three brothers who were older than him. As a result, the sentence that the Old Four heard most when he was a child turned out to be “Shilang should study hard, grow up like your older brothers!”

Or maybe in school, the Old Four would occasionally play around with his homework and make mistakes, and the teachers would say to him: “So naughty, very different from your elder brother back then!”

Sometimes he was not as good as the eldest brother, sometimes he was not as good as the second brother, and sometimes he was not as good as the third brother. In short, no matter how well the Old Four did, with three brothers at the front, it would be difficult to show the Old Four’s intelligence.

If the teacher was an outsider or even relatives and friends, there was no need to take their words to heart. But at home, the person who disliked the Old Four the most was her husband, Chen Tingjian.

Colleagues in the officialdom praised her husband for being gentle, steady and dignified. However, at home and in front of the children, her husband was a strict father through and through.

In particular, her husband was still young at that time and was even less patient with the children.

The Old One was steady, the Old Two was sickly, and the Old Three was slick. These three rarely get scolded.

The Old Four was more out-tempered and received the most training. However, the Old Four had a hard bone. The more he was trained, the less he wanted to study. He even went to the military attache’s house next door to practice martial arts with his children.

Whether it was the general situation that the imperial court valued literature over martial arts, or her husband’s own selfish motives as a civil official, he hoped that the Old Four would study hard and gain fame. In order to make the Old Four gave up learning martial arts, her husband ignored her objections and used various tricks on the Old Four, such as grounding and family law. In the end, she couldn’t stand it anymore and threatened her husband that she would move back to the old house, only then her husband unwillingly hired a martial arts master for the Old Four.

The father and son were fed up with each other. When the Old Four was ten years old, he stubbornly took the martial arts master back to Lingzhou.

Thinking of the years she spent apart from her fourth son, Sun shi sighed again.

Hua Yang finally understood why there was a martial arts son in Cabinet Elder’s family.

“Alright, I should go back. If the Old Four comes back too late, I will teach him a lesson tomorrow. Princess, don’t be angry with him.”

Before leaving, Sun shi still worried about her missing son.

Hua Yang smiled and sent her mother-in-law to the gate of the courtyard. When she turned around, she saw Chen Jingzong walking out of the west wing.

In the setting sun, he was dressed in plain clothes, his figure was tall, and both sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing a pair of slender and strong forearms.

The couple walked to the main room almost at the same time.

“Why was Mom here?” Chen Jingzong looked at her and asked.

Hua Yang smiled: “It’s such a small thing. Not worth mentioning again.”

She really didn’t take Luo Yuyan’s little thoughts to heart. Some women regarded their husbands as their honor. But she was a princess, it was the man that should be proud to be her prince consort.

“Go take a bath, we’ll have lunch later.”

Leaving the sweaty man, Hua Yang went to the side room to rest.

Chen Jingzong:…..

He couldn’t see her anger, on the contrary, he could see that she was somewhat proud and complacent!

.

After nightfall, Chen Jingzong rinsed his mouth several times before walking towards the Babu bed.

“Turn out the lights.” Hua Yang said without any refutation.

Chen Jingzong: “What’s wrong with being able to see?”

Hua Yang just glared at him.

Chen Jingzong didn’t want to spoil her mood, so he honestly went to put out all the lights.

When he came to the bedside, his breath was already like fire.

Hua Yang was lying lazily, and Chen Jingzong came to hug her. She seemed to be asleep and didn’t respond. It wasn’t until Chen Jingzong pull her to sit in his embrace that Hua Yang cried out in surprise and tried to move away.

“Just like this.” Chen Jingzong held her firmly.

But he was like a branding iron, how could Hua Yang sit still?

Just as she was about to suggest lying down, Chen Jingzong suddenly grabbed her thin night clothes and pulled them down her shoulders.

Hua Yang immediately hugged his head.

In the previous life, she married him for four years, but had never experienced anything like this. Now that she knew this wonderful taste, Hua Yang could no longer bear to let him die.

No matter how many shortcomings he had during the day, he was really good at night. Even though there were many strong military attachés outside, she didn’t bother to find the second one.

When she reached the peak, Hua Yang almost scratched her most cherished Shu brocade mattress.

Just rolling around like this, it wasn’t until the middle of the night that there was no movement or sound inside the Babu bed.

Hua Yang lay softly on Chen Jingzong’s broad chest, her white and smooth body moved with his strong breathing.

Chen Jingzong held her shoulders and his satisfaction evident as he said, “This is what being husband and wife means. This is what I call living a good life. Once we’ve completed our mourning period, I’ll make sure you have an even better life.”

The word “better” was particularly emphasized.

After all, he worked hard that night, but got nothing good, so his heart felt stifled with fire.

Hua Yang didn’t answer his vulgar words, and unconsciously pressed his collarbone with her fingertips, saying weakly: “I want to go and burn the incense to the old lady.”

Chen Jingzong looked at her in surprise: “It’s been hot lately, you don’t even go out of the house, you still want to burn incense?”

Hua Yang hummed: “The hotter it gets, the more sincere I am.”

Chen Jingzong could tell: “You really want to go?”

Hua Yang had already found an excuse. While venting her anger by using her nails to mark crescent moons on his strong flesh, she said guiltily: “After all, we are in mourning, but we have done so many unethical things. You may not care, but I always feel guilty, so I want to go to the old lady’s grave to repent and ask her for forgiveness.”

Nothing wrong with burning incense, but Chen Jingzong really didn’t want her to toss in vain on hot summer days, so he comforted her: “The old lady is from the country, not so particular…”

Hua Yang pinched him hard.

Chen Jingzong took a long breath: “Okay, just go. Then tomorrow morning? Let’s go early and come back early while it’s cool.”

Hua Yang was satisfied, let go of his hand and said: “The day after tomorrow. I’m afraid I won’t be able to get up tomorrow morning.”

Although Chen Jingzong did not laugh out loud, his chest vibrated, obviously very proud.

After a day of rest, in the evening, Hua Yang and Chen Jingzong went to the Main House to meet Sun shi. Chen Tingjian heard that his daughter-in-law princess was here, so he put down his books and went into the hall.

After the greeting, Chen Jingzong said: “Mom, the Princess had a dream last night. She dreamed of an old woman. From her description, I thought she seems similar to grandmother. The Princess was a little scared. She has been feeling uneasy all day, so I want to take her to offer incense for grandmother tomorrow morning.”

Hua Yang cooperated and showed uneasiness.

Sun shi was very surprised. Her daughter-in-law princess had never seen the old lady, but she could dream of her?

Whether it was true or not, it made the princess afraid, and it was all the fault of their Chen family.

Chen Tingjian then spoke: “It’s probably because the Princess didn’t care about her status and come to mourn the old lady, so she was so happy that she unintentionally bumped into the Princess. In that case, tomorrow this minister will accompany the Princess, and this minister will tell the old lady not to disturb the Princess again.”

Dreaming about the old lady was just an excuse for Hua Yang and Chen Jingzong to offer incense. But Chen Tingjian was so serious. Hua Yang felt ashamed for deceiving her father-in-law, but Chen Jingzong was secretly amused. What kind of cabinet elder actually believed in ghosts and gods.

He showed disdain, but Hua Yang threw him a sharp look. How could father-in-law believe in ghosts and gods? He was just saying this to appease her.

After the prince consort behaved honestly, Hua Yang said to Chen Tingjian again: “I won’t bother Father, Mom, brothers and sisters-in-law with this matter. I’ll just ask Prince Consort to accompany me. Traveling with many people is troublesome, and it can delay time. If the neighbors see, they will also wonder if something big happened in our house.”

Chen Tingjian was very hesitant.

Chen Jingzong sneered: “With me protecting the Princess, what are you worried about?”

Chen Tingjian looked over with dissatisfaction. What he was afraid of was that his son would mess around halfway and not take good care of the princess.

If the princess had not been present, he would have said this.

The father and son could not live in harmony for a day. Sun shi was tired and made the decision: “The Princess is thoughtful, so just listen to the Princess. I will ask people to prepare the incense. You will bring four more guards tomorrow morning.”

Chen Jingzong was about to say that he didn’t need an escort when Hua Yang gave him a gentle tug. Her purpose was to burn incense, and it was not a secret. It would be better to have an escort with them, which proved that she was not looking for an excuse to pull Chen Jingzong out for sightseeing.

The matter was then settled.

After the young couple left, Sun shi scolded her husband: “Let the Old Four to go out alone with the princess, so the young couple can develop their feelings. If you bring the whole family with you, what’s the point?”

Chen Tingjian seemed to have heard a big joke: “The Old Four like that, how can the princess have feelings for him? They are like heaven and earth!”

If it weren’t for the emperor and empress took the initiative to arrange this marriage, even if Chen Tingjian had a hundred layers of face, he would never propose to marry the imperial princess for his fourth son.

By chance, a rough guy like the Old Four married the princess. The Old Four took all the good thing and the princess suffered all the grievances!

Sun shi then quietly: “The emperor praised the Old Four for his bravery, but looking at your disdain, it seems that you are the Princess’s biological father.”

“Nonsense!” Chen Tingjian’s expression changed drastically as he gave his wife a rare scolding. He then lowered his voice and explained: “Such rebellious words, be careful of what comes out of your mouth.”

Sun shi pouted: “Not to mention that, I just think that the relationship between husband and wife has little to do with each other’s status. If the Princess dislikes the Old Four, then we have no right to interfere. But if the Princess doesn’t dislike the Old Four, yet you still look at the Old Four unpleasantly every day, I’m afraid that in the end the Princess will blame you for being too rude to her Prince Consort. The day before yesterday, Third Ddaughter-in-law was having a bad temper, implying that the Old Four didn’t know how to study and just have brute strength, and the Princess had a fit on the spot…”

Chen Tingjian frowned: “Third Daughter-in-law had a bad temper? Towards the Princess?”

Sun shi: “What I mean is that the Princess has shown signs of protecting our Old Four. Yet you…”

Chen Tingjian didn’t believe it, so he interrupted his wife and said, “Let’s talk about Third Daughter-in-law first. I’m the father-in-law and can’t come forward. As the mother-in-law, you go and warn her not to be disrespectful to the Princess again.”

Sun shi: “She has a big belly, what should I say?”

Chen Tingjian’s face darkened: “You can’t forget your dignity even if you have a big belly. If you can’t say it, call the Old Three over and let him say it.”

Sun shi had a headache: “Forget it, let me say it.”

If this matter become big, she was afraid that her third daughter-in-law would give birth prematurely!

.

The next morning, Chen Jingzong accompanied Hua Yang and set off early.

There were many mountains near Shiqiao Town, one of which was reserved to bury the dead by local people. The ancestral graves of the Chen family were also there.

The coachman drove the carriage, and the princess and the prince consort sat inside.

The carriage was not big to begin with, and Chen Jingzong’s whole body was full of heat, making Hua Yang very uncomfortable.

Chen Jingzong was about to raise the curtain.

Hua Yang patted his hand with the handle of the fan: “Where’s your decorum?”

She was a princess, how could he open the curtains and let others see her?

She thought Chen Jingzong was crude, and Chen Jingzong couldn’t stand her aloofness, so he simply turned around and opened the curtains on his side.

Hua Yang immediately covered her face with the circular fan.

Chen Jingzong stuck his head out of the window.

“Hey, is Old Four going out?” A neighbor saw him and greeted him with a smile.

Chen Jingzong lived in his hometown the longest and was kind to his neighbors. He replied: “Yes, I dreamed of our old lady, so I’ll go and offer her some incense.”

The neighbor: “Our Old Four is still filial.”

As he spoke, the neighbor’s eyes curiously glanced into the carriage.

However, Chen Jingzong held the curtains open with one hand, exposing only his head and shoulders, so the neighbors could not see anything.

When the carriage left the town and there was no one in the fields along the road, Chen Jingzong hung up the curtains.

The refreshing morning breeze blew over. Hua Yang glanced at Chen Jingzong and slowly lowered the fan.

Chen Jingzong leaned against the corner of the carriage, his eyes scanning unscrupulously over her flushed face and her plump lips. Occasionally, the carriage shook, and her clothes swung, making people unable to take their eyes off of her.

Hua Yang felt as if his gaze had turned into a pair of hands.

The longer he looked at her, the more embarrassed she became. Finally, she became angry and hit him with the fan handle.

Chen Jingzong pulled down the curtain with one hand, then grabbed her wrist with both hands and slammed the person against the carriage wall.

It was broad daylight, and there was a coachman in the front and guards at the back. Hua Yang’s whole body was burning with rage, she gritted his teeth and scolded him: “Presumptuous!”

Chen Jingzong: “I’m even more presumptuous at night, don’t you like it too?”

Before the words finished, he took a bite.

The Author has something to say:

This book is really about how a couple makes their lives better and better. You can imagine the rhythm of a popcorn family drama

Translator’s note:

Also I don’t think this novel as sexual, more “dirty mind! dirty mind!”

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