RVW-46.2

Ah Nan has been recuperating in the city governor’s mansion for three days, but she has yet to move into her new residence even after three days. It was because Dr. Gu said that her illness this time was pretty severe and had weakened her body, it might have harmed her body fundamentally¹It basically means your body is kinda fucked and there might be “side effects” like allergies or something else more severe even if you have technically “recovered” from said illness. So she still needed to recuperate for quite some time and shouldn’t exert herself.

Chu Baning thoroughly agreed to that. So he made Mu Yuan’er tidy up the new house, adding more maidservants, cleaner servants, and such. Ah Nan just has to recuperate well to become fair and plump, just sit back and enjoy the result.

Chu Baning has been very busy these days. It seemed like the BeiYues had made some unusual movements, so he had to run to the barracks everyday. If it wasn’t because he now has a wife who was still recovering from illness, he wouldn’t have wanted to come out of the military camp after seeing such movements. It sure amused Wen Liang, General Zhao Geng, and the others, they have been constantly teasing him in private, making Chu Baning leave the camp with a dark expression every time.  

As for Ah Nan, she had been eating and sleeping well everyday. She had been chatting with City Governor Furen, playing with the City Governor family’s three year old daughter, discussing medical knowledge with Gu Xiaoyan, her life was basically very carefree and worry free.

City Governor He has been stationed in Tongcheng for ten years and only has one wife he tied knot²RAW: 结发夫妻, literally translates to hair-tied wife. In ancient times, the men usually had three wives and four concubines, but only the wife of the first marriage can be called hair-tied wife because there is a marriage ceremony in which the wife and husband cut a portion of their hair and tied them together to symbolize “tying” them together eternally. with, unlike how the officials usually have three wives and four concubines. The people of Tongcheng all knew that City Governor He loved his wife a lot, and for that reason he never took any concubine. While the City Governor Furen was a heroic woman who wasn’t inferior to men³帼国不让须眉的女中豪杰 basically means “a bold woman who doesn’t give way to men” and was used as an insult back in the day due to patriarchy, nowadays it’s seen in a more positive light. Back then when the BeiYues had attacked Tongcheng’s city gate, she organized the married women in the city to resist the enemy together, driving the invading BeiYues away. The war was bitter and brutal back then, but in the end Tongcheng had been able to defend itself and remain standing.

Perhaps, deep in the hearts of the people of Tongcheng, even the Emperor himself wasn’t revered as much as City Governor He and his wife. 

City Governor He and his wife have two sons and a daughter. The sons were eight years old and the other six years old, while the little daughter would be three years old this year. One could see from that that City Governor He and his wife’s relationship ran quite deep.

He Furen, Chu Shi, was a very insightful woman. Although she was a married woman, she dared to follow her husband to guard the borders and couldn’t be restrained in a room. She was far-sighted and knowledgeable, chatting with her could really enlighten one’s mind. As for Gu Xiaoyan, she was someone who appeared distant and indifferent on the surface, in reality she was an earnest little lady with a naive and clear conscience. She took care of Ah Nan and treated her injury wholeheartedly because Ah Nan had been amiable with her, so much so that when Ah Nan was a little interested in the medical book she brought, she was willing to stop reading and explained to Ah Nan the profound and difficult stuff written in the book.

Today, Chu Baning had left early in the morning once again. It was unclear whether he went to the camp or was abducted by the slacking Wen Liang to search for unlucky BeiYues outside the city. City Governor Furen was coming to visit Ah Nan again, carrying along her little daughter. The little girl of the City Governor He family was He Wanyu⁴Meaning graceful jade, nicknamed Niuniu. She was really round and plump like sticky rice, like a small bun, extremely cute and lovable. The moment Ah Nan first saw her, she immediately liked this little bun of a child. The reason for her fondness was very simple: The little bun’s appearance was like a shiny and smooth jade pearl like her, so familiar ah~~

The City Governor Furen also knew that Ah Nan liked her daughter, so when she had the time she would come visit Ah Nan with her daughter in her arms. He Furen might not have necessarily not wanted to curry favor with Su Wangfei, but she had a sense of propriety. She just brought her daughter over to play and didn’t speak words that shouldn’t have been said usually, making others feel a little closer to her.

Ah Nan was seated on the warm and cozy heated Kang. She was holding on to a portable stove and was wearing a fox fur coat. Ah Nan smilingly pinched on He family’s little Niuniu’s chubby cheeks, thinking ‘it turns out this is what people felt when pinching her cheeks.’ It sure was irresistible, she just couldn’t stop ah, no wonder her family’s Wang ye liked to pinch her. 

Xiao Niuniu was pinched by her until her cheeks went red, but she didn’t cry, only opened her black-grape-like eyes and looked at her. Ah Nan couldn’t help but gasp from all the cuteness, unable to resist hugging Xiao Niuniu and calling her affectionately.

“Wangfei sure loves children a lot. Wait until Wangfei’s body has fully recovered, then Wangfei and Wang ye will certainly able to have one.” He Furen lifted her hand to cover her smile, teasing her.

Ah Nan, blushing, fiddled with her clothes as she stammered out a few sentences but just couldn’t finish it, just like a little maiden. It sure made others couldn’t help but smile.

He Furen looked at Ah Nan’s small figure and saw her embarrassed expression, she really couldn’t help but laugh secretly. If she hadn’t known that this person was the Su Wangfei, He Furen would have thought  she was some family’s pampered little lady kept in the boudoir. She really couldn’t have imagined that this naive girl who seemed like she hadn’t thought of getting pregnant was someone who had been married off and become someone’s wife——Ancient people matured early. Whether it was their wisdom or their body’s maturity, none of them can be compared to Ah Nan, this fool who still maintained the consciousness of a modern person, most of the time people misunderstood her. Ah Nan would actually also be sixteen years old after the new year, and it was actually a common occurrence for people to have children at this age in ancient times. But who made a certain someone looked too youthful? It always inevitably caused misunderstanding ah.

After interacting with her for a few days, He Furen also could see that Su Wangfei wasn’t as reserved and aloof as the ladies in the capital, and was gentle and sweet-tempered, so she also dared to tease Ah Nan. 

“Furen, please have some tea,” Ru Lan had come bringing a well-steeped tea and then put a small dish of freshly made flaky pastry Xiang su⁵香酥 (xiang su) isn’t anything specific, it’s just something with crispy texture, could be fried duck, chicken, even something sweet like fried sweet potatoes , or it can also refer to “crispy” flaky pastry with layers (this is the one the story refers to) like croissant but with fillings (usually). 

The Xiang su were made by Zhang Momo herself. This type of pastry has been popular in the capital in recent years, the people in the borders have yet to see this kind of snack. He family’s Little Niuniu immediately glanced at Ah Nan after looking at it, then she timidly extended her plump hand to it. But Ru Cui didn’t dare let her directly touch it. The Xiang su were freshly made and were still scalding hot, so she quickly took a small bowl and used chopsticks to take one of those and put it into the bowl, then took a spoon and gave it to Xiao Niuniu for her to play.

Ah Nan invited He Furen and the accompanying Gu Xiaoyan to eat the pastry together. After eating it, both praised the pastry to high heaven. This Xiang su smelled and tasted sweet but not cloying, the outside layer was flaky and crunchy while the inside was tender and soft. It was indeed very delicious and loved by many madames and ladies.

When they were still in the middle of eating pastries, Ru Cui suddenly came in from outside and excitedly said, “Xiao jie, Wang ye and Lord Wen went went hunting today and has sent us something here.”

Ah Nan was really curious, what kind of things would Chu Baning send over? So she quickly got up and went to see it.

She immediately saw Mu Yuan’er when they reached the side hall. Carrying in his hands was an iron cage with two white and round little animals squeezing together. And they seemed to be foxes?

“Mu Da ge, these are foxes?” Ru Cui asked excitedly.

Mu Yuan’er nodded with a smile, then reached a hand inside the cage and grabbed a furry-white-ball fox, saying, “Today Wang ye and Councellor Wen went hunting and unexpectedly hunted a fox that has just given birth not long ago in the mountain forest near the Tiandie Valley. Wang ye also followed that mother fox’s trails and found these two newborn little foxes.”

Although they were born recently, these two little foxes’ heads were already pretty big. They looked like two rabbits from afar. 

Ah Nan looked at those two small white foxes and thought that they could eat fox hotpot today. She has just recently heard that there were some soldiers who were especially assigned to hunt on the mountain. The army camp also added a lot of wild game of carnivorous animals, making Chu Baning’s eyes turn black when seeing meat. 

Ru Cui also drooled as she looked at these two little foxes, then smiled brightly and said to Ah Nan, “Xiao jie, these two foxes are still tender, the meat must be very fragrant and soft, must be really delicious.”

Ah Nan nodded and aloofly said, “Wang ye has been working hard recently, we can use these foxes to give him some supplement.”

Everyone: “……….” Did Wang ye really hunt and bring them back to be eaten?

Mu Yuan’er looked at the two master and servant who were still happily talking, at a loss, he really wanted to speak but kept hesitating. In the end, he managed to muster up the courage and said, “Wangfei, Wang ye said these two little foxes are to keep you company and let you raise them well…….” Mu Yuan’er really wanted to cover his face and facepalm, his family’s Wangfei ohh, why was she so stupid? 

“……….”

Ah Nan’s expression went blank in an instant. She inwardly blamed a certain stupid maid angrily, it was all because she said for eating first! Causing her to accidentally follow up in front of everyone. She was pitted by this fool!

Ru Cui’s mouth slightly opened in surprise, she looked at Mu Yuan’er then with a firm and earnest expression, said to Ah Nan, “Xiao jie, they can still be eaten after they grow big!”

He Furen, Gu Xiaoyan, Mu Yuan’er, even Xiao Niuniu who didn’t understand anything, all looked towards Ah Nan. 

Ah Nan, under the heavy pressure, dryly said, “Haha…. Let’s talk about it later after they grow up…..”

Ru Lan’s face almost went blood red: These two fools, so shameful they threw their faces even to the borders.

Mu Yuan’er left with a wooden expression, inwardly thinking blankly on how he should recount Wangfei’s reactions to Wang ye. What if Wang ye directly let him feel the penetrating refreshing sensation of having his head submerged in winter’s icy water ah!

After Ah Nan brought everyone to watch the foxes for a while, she remembered that these foxes were undomesticated. Who knows how many germs were on their body, so she quickly called for the servants to take the foxes and give them a bath.

Everyone watched as Ah Nan got busy, not knowing what they should say. After a while, the atmosphere became a bit weird, He Furen and Gu Xiaoyan really didn’t know what kind of words they had to say. Little Niuniu, seeing no one was paying attention to her, stretched out her chubby hands and grabbed onto the Xiang su, gnawing at it, her plump little face was covered in crumbs.

Ah Nan silently shed tears in her mind, she knew that her image had been thrown out of the window. Ah Nan was in the middle of thinking what to say to restore her image when commotion was suddenly heard from outside. The commotion became louder and more noisy, causing He Furen’s expression to change, she told the maid beside her in a stern voice, “Gui Zhi, go and see who is causing trouble!”

Gui Zhi quickly ran outside, but she ran back hurriedly in less than a minute, her face deathly white. It was clear she was extremely scared. She then rapidly said, “Fu-, Furen, it is Zhao family’s Xiao jie. She-, she-….”

He Furen’s expression became more and more twisted as she heard her, with anger she said, “What does she want by coming here? I didn’t send his father any concubines, what could have made her cause such commotion?”

Except for the people from the City Governor Mansion who looked flustered, Ah Nan and the others who had just come to Tongcheng looked confused. They didn’t know who this “Zhao family’s Xiao jie” was, but they can see that she actually dared to directly come to the City Governor Mansion and caused such a ruckus, moreover she was even able to make He Furen revealed such an expression of clear loathing and disgust. 

Quickly, without even a need of a servant replying, everyone came to know what that Zhao family’s Xiao jie was here for. 

At this moment, only a sharp and clear voice of a woman could be heard from outside, smashing heavily onto the hearts of the people in the room, “Which one is Su Wangfei?! I, Zhao Qihua, want to see you!”