The Eldest Daughter-in-Law [Reborn] - Chapter 60

Xie Yunchu quickly understood what he meant.

Was he talking about the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month?

Wasn’t that what he had always dreamed of?

Xie Yunchu played dumb.

Wang Shuhuai could see that his wife was like a slippery loach. He wasn’t thick-skinned enough to discuss such things with his wife openly. He was just holding onto a little bit of anger in his heart and could not be described as very gentle.

Xie Yunchu, on the contrary, liked this energy.

Wang Shuhuai looked at his wife enjoying herself and wondered in his heart: if she liked it, why did she only book it for two days?

Xie Yunchu used to feel tired because she didn’t dare to trouble Wang Shuhuai. So, she acted more generously and didn’t have too many concerns. One must first take care of oneself before taking care of others. At that moment, her voice sounded like a string of honey.

No matter how polite Wang Shuhuai was, he couldn’t help but obey her orders.

Xie Yunchu was satisfied. Wang Shuhuai had always been a person who was difficult to sway. Even at that moment, his expression was still surprisingly calm.

He looked at his wife in his arms. Her face was as tender as a lotus, extremely beautiful, with a natural charm all concentrated in the beauty mole on her eyebrow. She was like a crabapple that he had ripened prematurely.

It turned out that a woman’s beauty was ever-changing.

On the night of mid-May, the cicadas were chirping non-stop.

Xie Yunchu was sweating and lying motionless on the bed, with her hair stuck to her temples and her cheeks flushed. Wang Shuhuai was already dressed and sitting on the edge of the bed. He found a snow-white handkerchief and handed it to Xie Yunchu. She took it and wiped herself a few times without even looking at her husband.

“Second Young Master, go wash first,” she said, looking lazy and nonchalant.

Wang Shuhuai suddenly felt a little depressed. She had not treated him like that just a while ago, but he was too lazy to argue with her. He went to the bathroom first. Xie Yunchu then asked Mama Lin to come in and help her to another room. Her legs were sore, she stumbled and could hardly walk. It was obvious that she had some strength left; otherwise, she really couldn’t have held on.

She was so tired that she didn’t say a word all night.

The next day, Wang Shuhuai disappeared again. Xie Yunchu had gotten used to it. The Third Madam sent a nanny over and asked Xie Yunchu to go to the Glazed Hall that day to teach the girls some skills. 

Mama Lin told Xie Yunchu, “The Second Miss didn’t want to attend the flower-viewing banquet, but the Third Madam forced her to go, so the Second Miss had no choice but to agree.”

“I see.”

Xie Yunchu was happy to accompany the girls in arranging flowers and reciting poems.

It wasn’t a difficult task.

Xie Yunchu’s father had always been very strict with her. Not only did she learn calligraphy and writing when she was young, but she also practiced flower arrangement, embroidery, chess, and pot-shooting every day. She had always been known as a talented woman in Beijing. That day, she read a few pages of “A New Account of Tales of the World” with several sisters-in-law. Wang Shuyi listened seriously, but Wang Shuya and Wang Shuqin were daydreaming.

Wang Shuhuai had been serving as an Imperial Edict. After the incident with Western Chu, the Emperor discovered that the young number-one scholar was quick-witted and intelligent, so he summoned him to his side for consultation.

Soon, Prince Xin asked for an audience and submitted a patrol plan to the Emperor. When the Emperor lowered his head to read it carefully, Wang Shuhuai and Prince Xin looked at each other.

One was calm and peaceful, the other as deep as the sea.

Their eyes briefly met and then quickly shifted away, neither paying further attention to the other.

Prince Xin did not indulge Wang Shuhuai’s habits, and Wang Shuhuai did not take Prince Xin seriously.

Two years ago, outside the Fengtian Hall on a rainy and thunderous day, Prince Xin had appeared disheveled, giving Wang Shuhuai a sharp, wolf-like glance. At that time, Wang Shuhuai was puzzled by the hostility, having no connection with Prince Xin. Later, he understood: that day, the Eldest Princess had summoned him into the palace and arranged for Xie Yunchu to be his wife.

Thus, Prince Xin must have coveted Xie Yunchu for a long time. Given his father-in-law’s character, if Prince Xin had not been a prince, Xie Yunchu might never have married him.

Realizing this, Wang Shuhuai felt uncomfortable.

As the Emperor read through the memorial, he looked up at Prince Xin. “Your patrol map shows that some troops from the northern border have been transferred to the border of Western Chu. Why is that? Yun’er, the Mongols have always been a threat to our Great Jin, and we must not take it lightly.”

Prince Xin bowed his head and calmly replied, “I am concerned that Western Chu might be deceitful, so I am using troops to intimidate them, preventing any treachery. Additionally, these troops pose as horsemen, allowing us to receive horses from Western Chu in the future, killing two birds with one stone.”

The Emperor frowned slightly and glanced at Wang Shuhuai.

Wang Shuhuai bowed to Prince Xin and said, “Your Highness Prince Xin, Prince Jing’an harbors animosity toward my family, not the Great Jin. The reason Western Chu is willing to exchange horses with the Great Jin is that they hope we can withstand the pressure from the northern Mongols, giving them a chance to recover. Prince Jing’an has ruled for many years. If he didn’t have such a broad mind, Western Chu would have been destroyed long ago. Your Highness’s actions may make Western Chu suspect that the Great Jin is playing both sides, which could be counterproductive.”

The Emperor closed the memorial and agreed, “You make sense, Yun’er. The peace talks have finally concluded and achieved results beyond our expectations. We must not easily anger Western Chu.”

Prince Xin’s expression remained unchanged. He bowed to the Emperor first, then looked at Wang Shuhuai and said in a low but aggressive voice, “Lord Wang, do you habitually pin your hopes on others? Do you expect everyone to be self-aware?”

Wang Shuhuai sensed that Prince Xin was targeting him. He lifted his robe and bowed again. “I never place my hopes on others. Firstly, I have a backup plan to constrain Western Chu. Since we are negotiating on the surface, we cannot deploy troops openly. Otherwise, it will break trust and harm both countries. Once a rift appears between Western Chu and Great Jin, the Mongols will take advantage of it. Can you fight on two fronts?”