Zhao Jiaqi sat by the bedside and sighed silently. What her husband said made sense; even a clay figurine has a temper!
"Su Ya, go tell Yu Xiaoshuang that the Prince will be meeting the Commander-in-Chief tomorrow to discuss important matters. He's busy these few days and doesn't have time to see him. Tell him to come back in a few days!"
The person under the covers grinned from ear to ear upon hearing this. He threw off the quilt, no longer feigning sleep, and called out to Su Ya, "Not in the next few days, but not for the next month! If he asks what he's busy with, tell him one thing: my Prince can't sleep because there's always a vicious dog staring at him from under the bed. This month, the Prince will exterminate these vicious dogs!"
Lack of education is truly terrifying. All of this could have been summarized in a single sentence!
Seeing Su Ya lowering her head and reciting the Prince's words, Zhao Jiaqi felt amused!
Never mind, she thought. Let her husband do as he pleased. Everyone knows they are simple folk, barely literate. It's already good if they can recognize most characters, so why argue over words?
In the front hall, Su Ya relayed the Prince's message to Yu Xiaoshuang exactly as instructed.
Yu Xiaoshuang's face turned ashen. Not only had he been insulted, but he was also mocked and threatened. However, all his anger was extinguished when he thought of the Jin Dynasty's impending downfall. He didn't want to slit his own throat with a three-inch dagger; he hadn't lived enough yet!
After a moment of silence, he left with the words, "I will come again tomorrow!"
Su Ya watched his departing back, a slight curl to her lips. If only he had known this day would come, why would he have acted that way in the first place?
Upon returning, Su Ya informed her husband and wife of Yu Xiaoshuang's exact words.
Zhao Jiaqi raised an eyebrow at him and smiled, "This is like the 'Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage' story. If he truly had Liu Bei's determination, that would be wonderful!"
Thatched cottage? Liu Bei?
Hearing this, Fan Zehao immediately wrapped his arm around her waist, flipped her over, and pinned her beneath him. He asked, face to face, "Who are they? Are they very clever? Do you like them a lot?"
Zhao Jiaqi: ...
Just now, she had thought he wasn't very cultured, but now she realized her mistake!
After more than half the night of exertion and deep discussion, Fan Zehao finally understood that "thatched cottage" was not a person, and Liu Bei was merely an old man who had passed away!
As long as they were old and not as good-looking as him, he was satisfied. He then hugged his sleeping wife and went off to dreamland.
The next morning, before they had even woken up, Yu Xiaoshuang arrived at the Prince's manor, requesting an audience with the Prince as he had done the day before.
"Does he not understand human language? We clearly said no time for a month, so tell him to scram!"
Fan Zehao, still groggy from sleep, was disturbed by the news and yelled at the person relaying the message.
The woman beside him tugged at him, "Why are you so angry? Yu Xiaoshuang is the emperor of a nation, after all. The steward would naturally send someone to report. You can't even say things nicely, and you have quite a temper when you wake up!"
His shouting was making her ears ache. This man in his thirties was still so full of energy!
Zhao Jiaqi, who was getting dressed, didn't hear him retort. She turned around and saw him staring intently at her. Embarrassed, she grabbed a pillow and threw it at him, "What are you looking at? Get up quickly!"
He chuckled, wiped his mouth, and said, "I've noticed your figure is becoming more ample, especially your upper body. Has the Prince's manor's good food made you fat?"
Hearing this, Zhao Jiaqi immediately became alert. She ran to the bronze mirror, lifted her clothes, and carefully examined her body.
Her curves were in all the right places, her waist was slender, her hips were perky, and her abdomen wasn't covered in excess fat. Where was she fat?
"Haha, hahaha!" The man on the bed burst into laughter at her reaction.
He laughed so hard he was doubled over, tears streaming from his eyes!
Seeing him like this, she knew she had been tricked. Annoyed, she realized she had worried for nothing and charged towards him in two quick steps, "I'll make you laugh so hard you'll cry!"
They say a man's mouth is full of deceit, and it's true.
The two began to tussle on the bed, their laughter and angry shouts echoing outside. The children, who rarely came to greet them, exchanged glances upon hearing the commotion.
Yu Meng blinked her eyes and said, "Mom and Dad are preparing to have a fourth child!"
Yao Yao and Sen Sen agreed with their sister, nodding and saying, "Judging by their posture, I suspect the fourth child will be a boy!"
"Second brother, I think it should be a gentle little sister!"
Sen Sen didn't want just another brother. His dream was to have a gentle little sister, someone who wouldn't have the fiery temper of their elder sister, who would hit them at the slightest provocation and lacked the quiet demeanor of a girl.
He looked at his elder sister, who was hands on her hips, and Sen Sen worried. Who would dare marry such a woman?
He feared that if she were taken home, she wouldn't be a wife, but a female version of a demon.
Seeing their parents like this, the three children didn't disturb them and ran off to their grandmother's courtyard for breakfast.
The couple had had their fill of play. Breakfast time had long passed. As they stepped out, they learned that the children's teachers had brought them back.
This made them overjoyed. Fan Zehao mused, "When they were little, I didn't feel that much longing for them. But as they grow older and leave home, even for a few days, I miss them terribly. Do you think I'm getting old?"
Zhao Jiaqi glanced at him and chuckled, "You're not old, you're just cheap."
Having just been "disciplined," he dared not retort when his wife called him cheap. He grumbled inwardly, thinking his wife missed the children even more than he did. Wasn't that cheap?
However, he only dared to think such thoughts.
He chuckled, shamelessly pressed against her, and said, "You are the woman I dote on. Everything you say is right, even your farts smell fragrant and pungent!"
Hmph, men! They only had mouths that could babble and were skilled at pleasing others!
Zhao Jiaqi was puzzled. He was usually quite taciturn. After all these years, she hadn't heard him utter many sweet words. What had gotten into him lately? His mouth seemed to be smeared with honey, spewing out a torrent of sweet talk as if it cost nothing!
At lunch, the family of five reunited for a meal. Before they could cherish the moment long enough, the children, as soon as they put down their chopsticks, ran off to Fan Xu Dong's house to play with their sisters.
Zhao Jiaqi gazed at the lively dining hall, which had suddenly become deserted. She couldn't help but sigh, "The children have grown up. Why do I feel they are not as cute as they were when they were little?"
"Children grow up and eventually start their own families and careers. You can't keep them by your side forever. So, you need to be more accepting, like me. When they're grown, let them go. The sky is vast; let them fly. You still have me. After I've dealt with these matters, I will fulfill the promise I made to you years ago."
Zhao Jiaqi looked at him curiously, wondering what promise he was referring to.