Chapter 206 Jiang Yuan Returns

Chapter 206 Jiang Yuan Returns

What Xie Wanniang didn't know was that Haitang and the others, who thought it was too hard for her to separate from her husband so soon after getting married and support the family alone, actually longed for Jiang Yuan to return even more than she did. However, they didn't want their negative emotions to affect Xie Wanniang, so they all hid their expectations well.

When they were with her, their expressions, words, and even body language were all perfectly normal; in fact, they were quite cautious.

Xie Wanniang had no idea that she had become a tragic figure in their eyes; she felt that she was living a pretty comfortable life.

She didn't need Jiang Yuan to stay by her side every moment, protecting her like a delicate greenhouse flower unable to face the storms of the outside world alone.

Rather than becoming a flower, she would rather be a stone of a special material, with sharp edges and corners, strong armor, and sharp blades.

She simply missed Jiang Yuan because she hadn't seen him in a long time.

After tidying herself up, Xie Wanniang, with a touch of longing for her handsome husband, came to the center of the courtyard.

Even in the dead of winter, and as the year draws to a close, she continues to practice martial arts.

Influenced by her, Haitang and the guards also became extremely diligent.

Everyone practiced martial arts every day, morning and evening, as if in a competition. If anyone fell behind, they would feel a sense of unease and urgency without anyone else saying anything.

Xiao Yang therefore visited Hao Yu more and more frequently. She was eager to practice until she could finally reciprocate Xie Wan Niang's kindness after receiving so many gifts from her.

What she didn't know was that Xie Wanniang had already heard from Haitang about Xiaoyang secretly learning martial arts from Hao Yu when she sent Haitang to deliver something to Chen Shi.

The reason why neither the mistress nor the servant asked Xiao Yang was because Haitang had already heard from Chen Shi that Xiao Yang was secretly practicing martial arts behind their backs so that he could give her young lady a surprise when the opportunity arose.

The children know how to be grateful and are even willing to make efforts to repay Xie Wanniang. This is something that they should cooperate with, keep secret, and look forward to.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Just when Xie Wanniang thought that Jiang Yuan was unlikely to return, Jiang Yuan returned, travel-worn, with some personal guards.

After the exciting and exhilarating meeting and the lively conversation, Hao Yu, Chen Shi, Haitang, and the others tactfully made excuses to leave, leaving the newly reunited couple alone.

Only she and Jiang Yuan were left in the room. Without thinking, Xie Wanniang ran over and sat down next to Jiang Yuan.

She asked Jiang Yuan, "Why did you suddenly come back? I thought you were going to stay at Zijing Pass forever."

Jiang Yuan smiled and stroked her smooth, black hair. "The young master said that since I had just gotten married, it was not appropriate for me to stay and guard, so he sent me back."

The reason they returned so late was that the generals who were assigned to guard duty had already been given a break by Chang Yao.

They went home early to have a short reunion with their parents, wives, and children before rushing back to Zijing Pass to replace Jiang Yuan and the others.

As for those below the rank of Qianzong, the vast majority of them came from military households, and their families lived in military households villages near their garrison. When they were not on duty, they could go home every day, so there was no question of them taking special leave to visit their families.

The very few people from other prefectures had no family members accompanying them, and a few days was simply not enough time for them to travel back and forth to their hometowns, so naturally they wouldn't compete with Jiang Yuan and the others for the holiday.

After hearing his words, Xie Wanniang tilted her head and asked, "Then why don't you send some things over to reward those who couldn't go home for the New Year?"

Jiang Yuan thought for a moment, "It's not impossible."

Xie Wanniang smiled, "Then I'll have someone order a few more pigs, and buy some chickens and ducks too."

This time, she didn't plan to send cooked dishes, but rather live pigs, chickens, and ducks, along with her pre-prepared braising sauce.

Of course, she would also prepare and send over other ingredients needed for making the pork stew, such as scallions, garlic, dried cabbage, and buckwheat noodles.

Thinking this, Xie Wanniang couldn't help but reach out and take the charcoal pencil and notebook that she had placed on the table.

Pork, chicken, and duck are all ingredients used in making "pig-killing feast." However, braised dishes don't necessarily have to be limited to meat. As the saying goes, everything can be braised. Eggs, vegetables, peanuts, and bean products can all be added.

Unfortunately, it's not as easy to buy seaweed, fish, shrimp, and other seafood here as it is in Tang County; otherwise, she could send some dried seafood to Zijingguan.

As she thought and wrote, Xie Wanniang soon listed a lot of things on the paper.

She tore off the list and handed it to Haitang, saying, "Have the restaurant purchase a batch of ingredients for me as soon as possible, according to this quantity and type."

Haitang responded with a "yes" and turned to run away. Xie Wanniang then looked at her husband, whom she had neglected for a while, and asked, "Do you want to take a bath first?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head, "I'll shower tonight, but I can change my clothes first."

After saying that, he ran to the yard and drew a bucket of ice-cold well water.

Under Xie Wanniang's increasingly shocked gaze, he washed his face, neck, ears, and hands with cold water.

He walked into the house, shaking off the water droplets, and his eyes met Xie Wanniang's mixed gaze of shock and admiration. He explained in a low voice, a little embarrassed, "I'm used to washing like this in the military camp. Did I scare you?"

Xie Wanniang handed him the cloth, saying, "You're not so badly frightened, but you should still be more careful in the future."

He's so reckless now because he's young, Xie Wanniang is afraid he'll suffer when he gets old.

Jiang Yuan nodded obediently, "Okay."

In the military camp, there was no time to be particular about these things, but back home, he could do his best, within his capabilities, to put Xie Wanniang at ease.

As the two were talking, Jiang Yuan quickly wiped the water droplets off his clothes, then found an old set of clothes he had left at home and put them on. He then carefully threw the dusty clothes into the wooden bucket.

Xie Wanniang asked him, "Is there anything I should be careful about when washing these clothes?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head, "It's just a regular cotton robe, there's nothing to be careful about."

Xie Wanniang nodded to indicate that she understood, "Then I'll have Haitang take it to the old women who do manual labor to clean."

Jiang Yuan hummed in agreement. "I heard from the Crown Prince that you presented the court with methods for purifying wine and preparing a special wine for treating wounds?"

Xie Wanniang nodded, "Originally, I wanted to pass on these two little tricks to the young master through you, but when we were in the prefectural city, the Lady of the Marquis took the time to meet with me. I thought that since the young master would also need to contact the Empress through the Lady of the Marquis anyway, I might as well ask the Lady of the Marquis to help me with this."