My Naive Ginseng Spirit Wife and My Cultured, Scheming, Delicate Husband

chapter86

Ye Jiao had a guess in her heart, but she didn't say it directly. Instead, she looked at Ye Pingrong with a smiling face and said, "Brother, you're finally back."

It was just an ordinary sentence, nothing out of the ordinary, yet it almost brought tears to Ye Pingrong's eyes.

His trip to the capital was indeed full of dangers. He was ambushed before he even reached the city. Even though Ye Pingrong was skilled in martial arts, two fists are no match for four hands, and he was seriously injured. If Princess Huaining hadn't passed by and picked him up, he would have surely lost his life there.

Even when he was later sent to Prime Minister Meng's residence, and the best doctors were called in, they all marveled at Ye Pingrong's good fortune. An ordinary person would have already succumbed to such severe injuries, but he managed to hold on until Princess Huaining arrived, and survived only thanks to the magic medicine she carried with her. It was truly a trip to the gates of hell, only to be dragged back by force.

Now, after completing the errand assigned by Chu Chengyun, Ye Pingrong had returned to see his younger sister, and it felt like a whole lifetime had passed.

Ye Pingrong stood there straight, his lips trembling slightly, before he called out in a hoarse voice, "Jiaoniang..."

Ye Jiao blinked, lifted her skirt, stepped inside, and walked slowly to stand in front of Ye Pingrong. She smiled and looked up at him, saying, "Brother, you've been gone for so long. The cloth tiger you bought for Xubao has already frayed at the seams, and he hasn't even gotten a chance to thank you yet."

Ye Pingrong actually had a lot to say, but these words involved royal secrets that he couldn't speak of directly. Fortunately, Ye Jiao changed the subject to something else, which diverted his attention: "Who is Xubao?"

Ye Jiao subtly wrapped her hand around Ye Pingrong's empty wrist. When she felt that his body was unharmed, she quietly let go, then smiled and said, "My child. He's three months old. His given name is Qi Ce, and his infant name is Xubao."

Jiaoniang... already has a child...

Ye Pingrong was in a trance for a moment. It always felt that ever since he came back from the battlefield, he had not seen Jiaoniang many times, and every meeting brought something new.

First time, Jiaoniang got married.

Second time, Jiaoniang was pregnant.

This time, even better, the child is already three months old.

But all of these were happy events, great happy events. A smile appeared on Ye Pingrong's face, and his tiger-like eyes looked extremely gentle at this moment: "Good, very good. My nephew's name is well chosen. Xubao, just hearing the name, he must be an obedient and sensible child."

And in his emotional excitement, Ye Pingrong didn't notice that his hand had been tightly held all this time.

The woman in the rich robes who was holding his hand tightly was the seventh princess of the current emperor, titled Princess Huaining.

She was born of imperial blood, and because she was favored by the emperor, she had lived freely since she was little, doing whatever she wanted, very uninhibited. She had her own fiefdom, and her maternal uncle was the First-rank Cavalry General of the court, the elder brother of her mother Consort Guo. Among all the princesses, she lived the most carefree life.

Now, Huaining had taken a liking to Ye Pingrong, and coincidentally, her father the emperor missed Chu Chengyun. The old emperor also knew that several of his princes were restless, and his ministers were all divided into different factions with intertwined interests. So Huaining took the opportunity to request an imperial decree to go out and find people.

On the surface, she was accompanying the empress dowager on a trip, but in reality, after leaving the capital, she separated from the empress dowager, and headed straight here with her father's decree to find her third imperial brother.

The only difference was that Prime Minister Meng never actually ordered Ye Pingrong to go with Princess Huaining; that was just an excuse Huaining made up to fool Ye Pingrong.

Any person with a brain would realize that a prime minister would never incite a seventh-rank commandant under Prince Duan to escort a princess out of the capital. That was never something Ye Pingrong should have done. Only an honest, even somewhat foolish man like Ye Pingrong would believe it.

After all, she had saved Ye Pingrong's life, and Ye Pingrong would never imagine that a noble princess would take a fancy to him.

But Huaining just happened to like his straightforwardness. Besides, Ye Pingrong was her third brother's commandant, and with him along, it would be much easier for her to find people. So she traveled together with him, and even when Ye Pingrong wanted to come home, she insisted on coming along with him.

Now seeing Ye Pingrong being close to Ye Jiao, she also developed a good impression of this young girl, and looked her over carefully.

It had to be said that Ye Jiao was extremely beautiful. She had bright eyes and white teeth, apricot eyes and peach cheeks, and her eyes were especially beautiful, clear and translucent, like two pools of spring water.

People who grew up in the deep palace, even someone with a straightforward temper like Huaining, had seen too many treacherous schemes. That was why she fell in love at first sight with the bold and upright Ye Pingrong. Apart from his character, she was also attracted by his purity.

Now seeing Ye Jiao with her clear eyes, Huaining liked her even more, and even felt a little proud in her heart.

She really is Dlang's little sister. You can tell at a glance that she's a good person.

While Huaining was sizing up Ye Jiao, Ye Jiao was also watching them.

Although little ginseng had watched the clouds roll and clouds spread for over a thousand years, the creatures she** most were little fox and her scholar husband. She didn't have deep interactions with other people or demons, so she wasn't very good at reading character from appearance.

But her heart was pure and true, and many things that others couldn't see, Ye Jiao could see through at a glance.

Her elder brother was an upright man, he clearly distinguished right from wrong. Otherwise, he wouldn't have resolutely split the family and left no room for maneuver after he found out that Ye Erlang had "sold" her to the Qi family.

Such a straightforward man would never do anything of false pretense, yet he was letting this richly dressed woman pull him along like this.

Little ginseng thought, even if big brother doesn't say it out loud, most likely he has already... what was that thing the little fox said... right, most likely he "gave in".

The gorgeously dressed woman lifted a bright smile, let go of Ye Pingrong, strode over, and firmly grasped Ye Jiao's hand. Her voice was clear and crisp: "I can tell at a glance that you are Dlang's little sister, just as straightforward as he is, so likable."

Ye Jiao thought her temper was straightforward and could feel her closeness, so she smiled and held her back, saying softly: "Greetings, Your Highness."

Ye Pingrong was stunned for a moment, then felt chagrin, thinking he must have accidentally revealed Huaining's identity just now.

He didn't want to drag his little sister into these matters, and now he still slipped up.

But Ye Jiao just thought that was what she was called, so she called her that.

Ordinary commoners don't just get to meet nobles casually, and little ginseng had only been human for a short time, so naturally she didn't know what it meant. She heard her elder brother call her that, so she called her that too.

Huaining originally wanted Ye Jiao to call her sister-in-law directly. After all, although the little princess was overbearing, she was clear-sighted. Ye Pingrong was just stubborn on the surface, but his heart had long softened.

To Huaining, the person she had her eye on was already hers. Those tedious formalities were for ordinary women, but for a princess like her, she could do whatever she wanted, no one could control her.

But Huaining also knew that although Ye Pingrong was handsome and brave, he was slow on the uptake and thin-skinned. She didn't want to push him too hard, so she smiled and said: "Good sister, just call me Huaining. I'm two years older than you, I deserve to be called your elder sister."

Little ginseng thought she had guessed correctly, so a smile appeared on her face, and she curtsied politely to her: "Greetings, sister Huaining."

"Greetings, sister."

Then, a small gold ingot appeared in Ye Jiao's hand. Ye Jiao was a little confused, but Xiao Su knew this was a meeting gift the woman was giving to Second Young Mistress.

But giving a gold ingot as a meeting gift for a first meeting was even more than the** money of ordinary families.

Her generosity made Xiao Su glance at Ye Pingrong unconsciously, thinking in her heart that Second Young Mistress's elder brother had found an impressive wife. So rich and so beautiful, she looked exceptionally matching standing next to Young Master Ye.

Ye Jiao also thought this elder sister had a good temper, and the smile on her face became more sincere.

Ye Pingrong, who had been holding back from speaking, finally came back to his senses. Hearing them calling each other sister, his heart jumped in alarm.

Princess Huaining is a good person, that's true, but she wouldn't be nice to someone for no reason. What she's doing now is clearly trying to win Jiaoniang over!

He just lost his focus for a moment, and they were already calling each other sisters.

If he didn't speak now, his simple, innocent little sister would definitely be fooled by her.

Afraid that Ye Jiao would misunderstand further, Ye Pingrong hurriedly stepped over and took the gold ingot from Ye Jiao's hand: "Jiaoniang, nothing is settled yet, we are not..."

Ye Jiao looked at the gold ingot that came and went in her hand in confusion, and Xiao Su also looked confused.

It was Huaining who took out another gold ingot and gave it to Ye Jiao, saying to her with a hint of apology: "It doesn't matter, sister will just give you another one." Then she turned her head to look at Ye Pingrong, with a look of condemnation on her face, "Don't be so stingy with our sister."

Ye Pingrong: ...

If it was going into battle to kill enemies, Ye Pingrong had never feared anyone. But when it came to arguing with words instead of fighting, he was always at a loss for words.

He still held that small gold ingot in his hand, but his head was a mess.

Earlier, when Ye Pingrong was injured, Huaining always liked to get close to him, saying she was afraid his wound was too serious and came to help him. She forced Ye Pingrong to get used to it.

He got so used to it that he couldn't change it now.

Logically speaking, he hadn't known Huaining for long. She was a royal princess, and he was just a rough man. He shouldn't even dare think of climbing such a high connection. But to say he had no favorable impression of Huaining at all would also be a lie.

The thing Ye Pingrong was worst at in his whole life was lying.

He couldn't sort it out. It was clearly cold weather, almost winter, yet sweat broke out on the man's forehead.

In the end, Ye Pingrong chose to put the small gold ingot back into Ye Jiao's palm, then stood silently behind Huaining, his handsome, sturdy face stiff as a board, making it impossible to figure out what he was thinking.

Huaining just smiled, pulled Ye Jiao's hand and sat down with her, and started talking.

Ye Jiao wanted to talk to her elder brother's beloved, and Huaining also wanted to get close to her, so the two of them got familiar with each other quickly in no time.

Ye Pingrong didn't say anything, just sat to the side, still not figuring out what the situation was now.

Just then, a servant boy entered the front hall, bowed to them after seeing them.

Ye Jiao turned her head to look at him: "What is it?"

"Reporting to Second Young Mistress, someone delivered a name card, says it needs to be given to Second Young Master."

There are many people who send name cards to find Qi Yun on a normal day, so Ye Jiao said: "He should be in the study. You can go look for him there."

The boy bowed again, then trotted to the study to pass the message.

When the name card was handed to Qi Yun, he opened it and looked at it, his brows furrowed slightly.

Steward Song was just reading out the recent income, and when he saw Qi Yun's expression, he stopped talking, waved the boy away, then asked softly: "Dongjia, is something troubling you?"

Qi Yun closed the name card, his voice calm: "It's the Third Young Master who sent the name card, inviting me to his residence for a talk."

When Steward Song heard this, he didn't think it was strange.

Now Qi Yun's health is much better. When he goes out these days, he doesn't need to be as cautious as before. Even though Second Young Mistress worries every time, and makes Qi Yun wrap himself up like a big fluffy ball before letting him go out, but since his health has improved so much, going to Third Young Master's residence isn't that difficult.

Thinking of this, Steward Song smiled and said: "It's just right. The caravan sent a message back, it's good to inform Third Young Master."

But Qi Yun didn't nod. After the assassination a few days ago, Qi Yun knew that everything related to Third Young Master had to be handled carefully, and he needed to weigh the pros and cons before deciding whether to go or not.

He calmly put the name card aside, and Qi Yun continued talking to Steward Song about the matters of the shops.

When the sky gradually darkened and Steward Song took his leave, Qi Yun picked up the name card, put on his outer robe, and returned to his own courtyard.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw Ye Jiao rocking a small cradle. Xubao was lying on his back inside, wearing a tiger-head hat, his chubby hands and feet spread wide, sleeping extraordinarily soundly.

When Ye Jiao saw him come back, she let Xiao Su take over rocking the cradle, and she walked out of the room softly. After closing the door to the inner room, she smiled and said to Qi Yun: "Husband, you're finally back."

Qi Yun's heart was actually still uncertain about Third Young Master's invitation, but the moment he saw Ye Jiao, his heart softened, and a smile appeared on his face: "Did Jiaoniang miss me?"

"I missed you, and I'm also hungry, waiting for you to eat." As Ye Jiao spoke, she went to tell Tiezi to inform the small kitchen to prepare the table.

Qi Yun reached out and gently placed his hand on Ye Jiao's lower abdomen, rubbing it: "Next time if I come back late, you can eat first, don't go hungry."

But Ye Jiao shook her head, her voice soft: "No, I have to wait for you. I can't eat if I don't see you."

Qi Yun wanted to say, do you really have to see me to have an appetite for eating?

But soon the man put himself in her shoes. If Ye Jiao was delayed and didn't come back, he was afraid he would also be too anxious to eat.

It's best not to demand things from your wife that you can't do yourself.

His eyebrows softened even more, and Qi Yun pulled her to sit aside.

It would take a while from telling the small kitchen to finishing the meal, so Qi Yun took the snack box that was always kept in the room, pinched a piece of osmanthus cake from it and handed it to Ye Jiao, ready to say something to divert his wife's attention: "I see Xubao's tiger-head hat is new. Did Mother give it to him?"

Ye Jiao opened her mouth, let him feed her the cake. After the osmanthus cake melted in her mouth, she took a sip of warm water, then replied: "Big brother bought it."

Originally, Ye Pingrong just came to see Ye Jiao, and didn't think about anything else. Only when he arrived and Ye Jiao reminded him did he realize that his nephew was already three months old.

Then, he hurried out and ran to buy a beautiful, soft tiger-head hat as a meeting gift.

Only Ye Pingrong would do such a thing as buying a gift on the spot right in front of everyone. But Huaining thought it was interesting, little ginseng didn't care, so no one thought there was anything wrong with it.

When Qi Yun heard this, he was a little surprised: "Big brother came today?"

"Mm, he brought someone with him." When Ye Jiao saw Qi Yun didn't move, she took the initiative to pull Qi Yun's hand, brought the remaining half piece of osmanthus cake to her mouth, and bit it off in one go. The sweet taste made little ginseng narrow her eyes.

Qi Yun remembered that last time Third Young Master said Ye Pingrong would bring someone back, so he wasn't surprised when he heard this.

By this time the dishes were already set on the table, and Xiao Su had retreated after Xubao fell asleep. The room became quiet again.

When Qi Yun and Ye Jiao sat down at the table, he remembered to ask: "Jiaoniang, who came with big brother?"

Ye Jiao was concentrating on picking up a quail egg with the tip of her thin chopsticks. When she heard the question, she answered without thinking: "It's a young woman, holding hands with big brother. She said her father is seriously ill, and he misses his child when he's on his sickbed, so she came to find her brother who ran away from home to go back. But she has two names, called Huaining and also Your Highness. I think Huaining sounds nicer."

Qi Yun: ...

Ye Jiao didn't hear Qi Yun reply, so she looked over in confusion.

But Qi Yun had already adjusted his emotions. He picked up a quail egg for Ye Jiao, put it in her bowl, and said softly: "Eat first. As for what Your Highness