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

chapter 70

If people had only murmured compliments about the Wenquxing coming down to earth when Qi Ming, the third son of the Qi family, took first place in the county examination last time, now, merely two months later, he had taken first place in the prefectural examination again — and this time, it was truly being talked about as something miraculous.

As soon as the messenger of good news arrived, Qi Ming's father immediately held a grand feast, caring not at all how much silver it cost.

Madam Liu, who was usually extremely careful with every penny, was also extraordinarily generous this time, and the smile on her face never faded.

Ye Jiao did not go along this time, instead staying behind in the courtyard.

There were too many people out front, and collisions were unavoidable; Ye Jiao had never been the sort of person who liked pushing through crowds, and Madam Liu also doted on her, having a full serving of all the dishes from the feast brought out to her anyway. The little ginseng was more than happy to not go join the excitement out front.

However, just as the feast was starting, Ye Pingrong came to see Ye Jiao.

Ye Jiao was eating at the time, and when she saw her older brother arrive, she said to Xiaosu: "Go get an extra pair of chopsticks."

Xiaosu answered with an assent, brought up a bowl and chopsticks, and set them out.

Ye Pingrong did not stand on ceremony with his younger sister. After sitting down, he first set the box he was holding aside, then sat and ate lunch with Ye Jiao.

It was only when he set his chopsticks down that Ye Jiao had not finished eating yet.

Ye Pingrong's worry was different from other people's. He was unmarried, and did not know how much a woman should eat when pregnant. He was just happy to see Ye Jiao eating with such a good appetite, thinking that being able to eat was a blessing, and that was very good.

It was only after Ye Jiao finished two bowls of pork rib soup that she set her bowl down contentedly, had the table cleared away, and looked at Ye Pingrong with a smile: "Brother, what brings you to see me today?"

"I came to send something for my master, and I also came to check on you." As he spoke, Ye Pingrong handed the box he had been holding to Ye Jiao.

Probably because everyone who had come to see her recently had brought gifts, Ye Jiao was not very surprised this time. She thanked him with a smile, reached out to take it, opened it, and saw inside several toys that children liked.

Though there were many things, it was clear that they had been carefully arranged.

On the left were the things boys liked: a small cuju ball, a toy horse; on the right were the things girls liked: colorful rope, a shuttlecock — everything was prepared extremely thoroughly.

Ye Jiao told Xiaosu to put them away, then smiled at Ye Pingrong: "It's still several months before the baby is born, big brother, you prepared this a little early."

Ye Pingrong looked at Ye Jiao gently. He was normally steady and stern in front of outsiders, but in front of Ye Jiao, he even softened his voice a lot: "I have some things I need to go do. When my nephew or niece is born, I'm afraid I won't be back yet. So I thought I would prepare the meeting gift early, as a gift from me, the uncle."

Even though little ginseng had never seen a woman give birth before, with Madam Liu and Madam Fang talking to her every day about it, Ye Jiao could estimate that she had conceived in the first lunar month, and the baby would be born between the ninth and tenth month. Right now, it was not even the fifth month yet.

Calculating that, Ye Pingrong would be gone for at least four months.

Little ginseng had a kind temperament; she remembered anyone who treated her well. If it were anyone else gone for four months, little ginseng would not care what they were doing. But hearing Ye Pingrong's words, she became worried: "What business do you have to go that keeps you gone so long? Is it war again?"

Seeing she was worried, Ye Pingrong quickly said: "How could it be war? The border is peaceful now. The last battle we fought will keep the Rongdi from invading for ten years. Even if I wanted to accumulate military merit, there's no opportunity."

Hearing that he did not have to go to the battlefield, Ye Jiao relaxed.

She could tell that Ye Pingrong was being quite evasive about what he was going to do this time, so she did not ask more than that, just said: "Then big brother must remember to take care of yourself. If it really gets to be too much, just resign and come back. Even doing business is fine."

Official affairs are not something you can just leave whenever you want, just like Ye Pingrong: even if he wanted to throw in the towel now, Prince Duan would not let him go.

And the thing he had to do this time was return to the capital to see Meng Chengxiang, Prince Duan's father-in-law. He did not know when he would be able to come back.

He could not even say clearly whether the cold, harsh border battlefield was more dangerous, or the splendid, luxurious capital city.

But Ye Jiao's words made Ye Pingrong's heart feel very warm. He smiled and nodded in agreement: "Alright, if things really get too hard, I'll come find my little sister."

Ye Jiao also smiled and nodded.

But before Ye Pingrong left, Ye Jiao called him back, found a brocade bag she had prepared herself, with a tassel she had woven herself, and was going to give it to Ye Pingrong.

But for some reason, little ginseng still plucked a leaf of stone bud grass and stuffed it inside before giving it to him.

Ye Pingrong put it away, then left.

The feast in the front courtyard did not end until dark. The next day, Madam Liu was so busy she went straight to the temple, because she had made a vow before Qi Ming took the imperial examination. Now that her wish had come true and Sanlang had taken first place, naturally she had to go fulfill her vow.

Madam Fang went with Madam Liu, so she could also share in the good fortune.

But Ye Jiao did not go along. After all, the temple has a lot of incense, and the smell is not something a pregnant woman should be exposed to, so Madam Liu told Ye Jiao to stay home.

Qi Yun also stayed home with her.

But today, Second Master Qi did not go to the study to handle business. Instead, he took Ye Jiao walking back and forth in the Qi family garden.

"Husband, we can just walk around in our own courtyard, can't we?" Although Ye Jiao liked going out for a walk, she did not want to delay Qi Yun's business. "With Xiaosu here, walking around is fine for me."

Qi Yun smiled and tightened his grip on her hand, saying slowly: "Doctor Li told me last time that walking more is good for your body, so you won't have a hard time when the time comes."

Doctor Li paid extremely close attention to his employer, and reminded him of everything in great detail. Qi Yun did not let him tell all these things to Ye Jiao. Second Master Qi thought: my wife is already working hard carrying the baby, these things are numerous and complicated, I can just remember them for her.

And in Doctor Li's instructions, he had mentioned Ye Jiao's tendency to sleep a lot.

Compared to other pregnant women, Ye Jiao only sleeping more was actually much easier; she suffered far less hardship than most.

It was just that when you sleep a lot, your body gets lazy, and you do not feel like moving. But if a pregnant person does not move much, labor will be more difficult.

Qi Yun remembered this, so he specifically set aside time to walk with Ye Jiao. Besides, yesterday all the shop stewards had come to the Qi family to drink, and the several large jars of Jinzun wine Qi Yun had gotten were all drunk dry. Most of the stewards went home drunk, and today they would mostly not be in any mood to discuss business anyway.

Today was nice weather, walking with his wife made Qi Yun's heart feel very comfortable.

But as they walked, Qi Yun looked to Ye Jiao's side: "Where is the stone bud grass? You usually bring it when you go out."

Ye Jiao replied with a smile: "It bore fruit, so it doesn't need to sun itself specially. Just leaving it in the house is fine."

Qi Yun nodded. He did not ask what kind of fruit the stone bud grass had bore, he just felt relieved in his heart.

The flowerpot is heavy, it was worrying to have Ye Jiao carrying it every day. It's good that she doesn't have to do this anymore.

The man let Ye Jiao hold his arm, and Ye Jiao was happy to lean on him. The two walked slowly and steadily along the garden corridor. Every so often, Ye Jiao stepped to make her shadow press against Qi Yun's shadow, and when it overlapped when they turned a corner, it made little ginseng laugh.

This was clearly not anything particularly funny, but seeing Ye Jiao happy, Qi Yun also curved the corners of his mouth, and inexplicably felt happy too.

It was now spring, when all things come back to life, and the flowers and plants in the yard were blooming particularly brilliantly.

Although Qi Yun was born weak and did not like going out, the more he cooped himself up, the more he loved the brilliant colors of the outside world. Otherwise, he would not have planted so many famous and precious flowers in his courtyard back then.

Even when he was at his sickest, he would still find a chance to go look at those flowers and plants, treasuring them greatly.

It was just that now that Ye Jiao had come into his life, Qi Yun had someone to place all his hopes on; his heart and eyes were full of his wife.

New people replaced old flowers; he did not even feel bad clearing it all out to plant medicinal herbs. Now when he looked at the flowers and plants on both sides, he had no interest in appreciating them at all; his whole heart was on Ye Jiao.

Little ginseng did not particularly care for them either; she was just happy to do something together with Qi Yun.

Even just walking around the garden felt very interesting to her.

Just then, a gentle breeze blew over.

Spring wind is different from winter wind.

In the severe cold of the twelfth lunar month, the wind blows sharp and cutting; when it hits your body it is like a knife scraping you, a dull ache.

But in spring, no matter the temperature, spring wind always brings warmth, with a comfortable feeling that people love.

Ye Jiao paused her steps, leaned out of the corridor to look around, then turned back to Qi Yun and said: "Husband, this weather is perfect for flying kites."

Compared to paper kites without whistles, she liked kites more. When they fly they make that whirring sound, it's so interesting.

Hearing this, Qi Yun looked at Xiaosu, and Xiaosu immediately answered: "The two we made before got a bit torn, and the colors aren't very bright anymore. Tiezi and I will make a new one these days."

Ye Jiao smiled, reached out and stroked Xiaosu's hair: "Remember to tie a whistle on it."

"I got it."

Of course Qi Yun would not stop her from having fun, he just instructed: "It's fine to fly a kite, but you can't do the work yourself. Just let them get it up in the air and then you can hold the line."

Ye Jiao knew he was worried she would fall, so she replied with a smile: "I never wanted to fly it myself anyway. Running around and still can't get it up. I'll just be happy pulling the line when it's up."

"Why is that? Other people love flying kites up into the sky, but for my wife it's just hard work?"

Ye Jiao answered frankly: "I'm afraid of getting tired."

Qi Yun couldn't help but laugh: "How could I forget, my wife has always been afraid of getting tired. She's afraid of tiredness and afraid of hardship, I can't even think of when she's not afraid."

Little ginseng actually thought about this carefully: "There are times I'm not afraid."

Qi Yun asked casually: "When?"

"When I'm studying books, no matter what you want to do to me, husband, I've never said I was afraid."

Qi Yun: ...

Only the two of them could understand this; anyone else would not get it, but Qi Yun couldn't help but feel choked up by it.

They had clearly done everything before, and he had played every trick he could think of, but every time Ye Jiao said this kind of thing so frankly, Second Master Qi felt his ears heat up.

He coughed lightly, and said softly: "You can't say this to other people."

Ye Jiao imitated him, lowering her voice: "Don't worry, I only say this to you."

Qi Yun smiled and did not say anything else, but after walking a little further, he still could not hold back: "We haven't finished studying yet. After the baby is born, we'll think about it carefully together again."

Ye Jiao answered with an assent, a smile on her face.

But after that, Ye Jiao could not help but put her hand on her belly, stroked it, and looked up at Qi Yun: "Last time Huiniang came to see me, we talked about naming the baby. I kept forgetting to ask, have you picked out names yet, husband?"

Qi Yun nodded. Naming the child was an important matter, it should be thought of early.

Although according to tradition, the formal name is not given until four months after the child is born, it is never bad to prepare early, so he told Ye Jiao: "If it's a daughter, we'll call her Qian'er, the meaning is good. If it's a son, following the family tree, our child's generation should have the bamboo radical in the name, a single character Ce."

Ye Jiao was stunned: "Bamboo radical? But Little Stone is just called Little Stone, where's the bamboo?"

This made Second Master Qi laugh, and he reached out to pinch her cheek, saying slowly: "Little Stone is just his baby name, people give baby names to make it easier for the child to grow up. His formal name is Qi Du, for the meaning of loyalty."

This was the first time Ye Jiao had heard that Little Stone had a formal name. They had gotten used to calling him Little Stone, so the formal name was rarely mentioned.

She then thought about the two names Qi Yun had thought of, Qian and Ce. Ye Jiao did not know if their meanings were good or not — after all, little ginseng had only learned to read not long ago, just recognizing all the characters was already progress — but since Qi Yun had thought of them, they could not be wrong, and they sounded smooth when she said them, so she smiled.

But since Little Stone was a baby name, their child should also have a baby name: "Since sister-in-law's child is called Little Stone, what should our child's baby name be? Little Pebble?"

Qi Yun's eyebrows jumped.

Although people usually say cheap, common names make it easier for children to survive, but if his child was called Little Pebble, I'm afraid he would have to laugh a little every time he called the name.

He coughed lightly, Qi Yun said: "There's no rush for a baby name, we can pick one after the child is born." Afraid Ye Jiao would insist, he changed the subject, "Looks like the weather is nice today, how about we have hot pot for dinner, I'll have the small kitchen make it with chicken broth, alright?"

Sure enough, Ye Jiao smiled and nodded, touched her belly, and put the idea of picking a baby name aside for now.

They turned another corner, and Tiezi came running over: "Second Young Master, there's an old woman out front who says she has something to ask to see the master of the house."

Qi Yun's expression was calm: "Did she say what family she's from?"

"No, but her clothes are really loud, all colorful."

These days, common people wear plain clothes; bright clothes are mostly for wealthy families, but wealthy families would never wear something that's just all colorful. People dressed like this are mostly the gossips and matchmakers that do business among the common townsfolk.

Qi Yun guessed right away that this must be a matchmaker, and the only person in the Qi family who is old enough to marry is Third Young Master Qi.

Without a second thought, he refused: "Just tell her all the masters of the house are out, everyone has their own business, tell her to come again another day."

Tiezi did not ask questions, answered with an assent and quickly left.

Ye Jiao was curious: "There have been a lot of people coming to the house lately, what are they all here for?"

Qi Yun kept pulling Ye Jiao forward, and his voice softened a little: "Our family is quite prominent now. Sanlang got two first places, no matter what his future is, there will be no shortage of people wanting to form a marriage alliance with us. Normally Mother and older sister-in-law are at home, we don't need to worry if anyone comes. But if they happen to be out, it's inevitable they'll come bother you."

Ye Jiao looked at Qi Yun: "Is Sanlang getting married?"

"According to Mother's thinking, she's not very willing to arrange a marriage for him this early." Qi Yun gently put his hand on Ye Jiao's waist to make her walk easier.

Ye Jiao thought over Qi Yun's words carefully: "I'll do as you say. If it's like today, when Mother and Eldest Sister-in-law are not home, I just won't see anyone who comes to call."

Qi Yun nodded and said with a smile: "My Jiao Niang is so clever."

But there was one more thing Qi Yun did not say.

When he married Ye Jiao and Ye Jiao married him, the two of them were essentially a blind arranged marriage. Qi Yun even went to the wedding altar with a divorce document ready. If he had not heard Ye Jiao say that she could barely even eat enough at her parents' home, Qi Yun would probably have taken out the divorce document long ago, and he would never have gotten this jade-like delicate wife of his.

This was a good marriage, and Qi Yun was even extremely grateful that he was lucky enough to marry Ye Jiao.

But not everyone could have such good fortune as he did, nor could everyone have the same good luck that Ye Jiao had.

As the second elder brother, he should not interfere with Qi Ming's marriage. Ye Jiao also did not understand these matters, it was best to leave everything to their parents.

They turned another corner, and arrived at the yard where the household kept poultry and livestock.

The Qi family was wealthy, and they had had a lot of new income recently, so they had plenty of extra money to repair and improve various parts of the house.

The original livestock yard had been expanded, with additional fences and enclosing walls added, and everything should have been stable and in order.

Yet at this moment, a dark-colored thing was standing proudly on top of the enclosing wall, pacing back and forth with great pomp in its slow steps.

Qi Yun stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes.

Ye Jiao followed his gaze and looked over, saying in surprise: "Isn't that Xiao Hei?"

Xiao Hei heard his own name, actually stopped his steps, and curiously poked his head down below.

Xiaosu couldn't stand how little this rooster cared about its own life, she almost wanted to grab something and chase it off the wall!

Didn't she hear Second Young Master say he wanted chicken soup for dinner? If it doesn't leave now, it really will get stewed!

But what Qi Yun had his eye on was not the meat of this big rooster, it was the feathers on its tail.

After the last time he plucked all of Xiao Hei's tail feathers to make a kite, the rooster had been bald ever since, his tail completely bare. If it weren't for the cockscomb on its head, it wouldn't look any different from the female hens.

But this time when Qi Yun looked at Xiao Hei, it had a whole tail of beautiful tail feathers, looking very proud and impressive.

Qi Yun suddenly turned to look at Ye Jiao: "Jiao Niang, didn't you say you wanted to fly a kite before?"

Ye Jiao nodded.

"Perfect then." Qi Yun looked at Xiao Hei, "Its feathers have grown back, let's pluck them."

Xiaosu: ...oh.

In the end, Xiao Hei still could not keep his tail feathers, and became a little bald rooster again. But lately Xiao Hei's feathers have been growing much faster than before. They grow back after being plucked, just like chives, you can harvest one crop after another.

They tied up seven or eight feather shuttlecocks just with the plucked feathers. Ye Jiao thought that she would not have to worry about having shuttlecocks to kick for at least a whole year.

The days passed by leisurely like this, and in the blink of an eye, high summer arrived, and it was time for the Qi family's merchant caravan to set off.