Count Jing'an harrumphed, clearly disinclined to bother with He Ying and her daughter.
It wasn't just He Ying and Miss Pan who felt extremely awkward from being ignored, but Matriarch He as well.
He Ying and Miss Pan had been under her care and protection after all.
Once everyone in the parlour had finished greeting Count Jing'an, it was finally He Dalang's turn.
He Changqi hadn't seen his father in years. He missed his father just as much as anyone else in the family, but he knew that it was his own fault that his father was coldly ignoring him now.
Count Jing'an finally cast his gaze upon his disappointing eldest son. Fury and frustration warred within him. In a deep voice, he ordered, "Follow me to the study."
He Changqi stood up and followed the count out of Qingxi Hall with his head bowed.
Now that the count had returned, the entire estate was bursting with joy.
The news quickly spread to Countess Jing'an's courtyard. The countess disregarded her ailing health and immediately tried to get out of bed to see the husband she hadn't laid eyes upon in years.
Luckily, He Changdi and Chu Lian arrived just in time to stop her, otherwise the countess might have made her condition worse.
That night, the entire family gathered in the outer court's parlour to have a reunion dinner.
Even He Erlang returned to the estate earlier than usual.
The estate was bustling with noise and excitement. It was even livelier than it was on New Year's Day. The dishes served for dinner were personally cooked by Chu Lian and her handmaids.
There was fragrant stir-fried pork, spicy stir-fried beef, griddle shredded cabbage, poached fish slices, old duck soup... There were more than ten dishes in total and they were all things that Count Jing'an had never eaten before.
After the meal, he couldn't help but compliment his youngest daughter-in-law's cooking.
Since his belly was now full with an extremely satisfying reunion dinner, Count Jing'an's mood was much improved compared to when he was dealing with the mess that Dalang had created.
That night, Count Jing'an led his two little granddaughters and his wife back to their courtyard.
Within the main bedroom of Countess Jing'an's courtyard, the servants had already retreated, leaving the couple to themselves. Their two granddaughters had been taken to bed by their nursemaids.
Count Jing'an took his wife's hand and led her to sit by the desk. The couple was very close and they hadn't met in many years, so they were full of longing. Right now, the two of them had much to say to each other.
The count was the most concerned about his wife's health.
Although he had already received He Changdi's letter, stating that his wife's illness had been cured, he couldn't rest easy without seeing it for himself.
Now that his previously bedridden wife was standing before him with a pair of healthy, ruddy cheeks, he was elated beyond belief.
The burly middle-aged general's eyes reddened. He gripped his wife's hand and said, "Peiwen, you're finally all better."
Countess Jing'an, Liu Peiwen, smiled along with her husband. "Yes, I'm all better. Those days when I was trapped in bed feel like a dream now..."
"Tell me what the person who healed you is like. Great Doctor Miao?"
Count Jing'an knew roughly how his wife had been cured, but he wasn't clear on the details involved.
Countess Jing'an knew that he would ask about it, so she explained the entire situation from start to end patiently.
It took her a whole hour to finish explaining it all. She smiled as she looked at her husband. "It must be the heavens who couldn't bear to see me lying in bed and helped to cure me earlier so I could welcome you back home!"
The count chuckled and nodded. He lamented, "Sanlang's wife is really our He Family's lucky star. If not for her, Great Doctor Miao wouldn't have stayed in our estate so readily and helped to cure your illness. Although Mother is getting old and becoming more muddle-headed, she must have been guided by a greater power when she went to plead for this marriage for Sanlang. I'll go thank Great Doctor Miao myself tomorrow."
Countess Jing'an nodded in agreement. "Yes, we should thank him personally."
Immediately after, she seemed to have thought of something as she let out a giggle and said, "Husband, now that you mention it, Sanlang has been growing more and more ever since his wife married into our family. He's a marquis now! Could Sanlang's wife be a lucky star for her husband as well?"
Count Jing'an burst into laughter and reminded his wife, "Remember not to mention this out of our rooms; let's just keep it as a joke between us. This kind of talk can't be spread outside, or it might draw disaster upon us."
Now that the count had returned, Countess Jing'an had found her pillar of support once again. Her mind was now clearer than before. She hurriedly replied, "I understand."
The two drank their tea together. When the count noticed that his wife was looking at him as if she had something she didn't quite dare to say, he had a good guess at what she was keeping in. He sighed softly and said, "Dalang is honest and considerate to the bone. I know he's loyal to the family. It's not completely his fault that his marriage with Madam Zou turned out this way. The two of them have already divorced now, so don't think too much about it. We have to take each day as it comes. As for He Ying's child, don't worry. As long as I'm here, I'll never approve of their marriage. Even if Dalang were to marry again, his second wife has to be a good, kindly lady. Otherwise, Little An and Little Lin will be the ones who'll suffer."
Madam Liu hadn't expected her husband to have made a clear decision on the matter. It was as if a great burden had been lifted from her heart.
She leaned against her husband's side as the tightly wound nerves in her heart relaxed.
It was the fifteenth of the month today. A full moon hung in the sky, casting its bright light down upon the estate. When the pale moonlight filtered through the half-opened window, it lit up a small area before their lounge.
The old couple lifted their heads to behold the moon outside the window, a sense of fulfillment warming their hearts.
As they enjoyed this warm moment together, they didn't know that there had been a very different outcome in their past life. House Jing'an had come to an end just two months later from this day.
Back then, Countess Jing'an had been bedridden from her old illness. The estate had been ransacked by imperial troops searching for evidence, and the matriarch had fallen ill and had become bedridden as well.
The count had been arrested and publicly executed in the market, while the three He brothers had been exiled to the north.
That nightmarish ending was drifting further and further away from them...
He Changdi stood by the window, staring at the full moon above in a daze. The cool moonlight threw a bright silver cloak over He Sanlang, setting him aglow.
He stood with his hands behind his back. The spring night breeze brushed over his skin, lifting up the two locks of hair by his face, making him look like a deity who had descended upon the earth.
Chu Lian had woken up in the middle of her sleep thirsty. When she opened her eyes and found that her personal heat source had disappeared, she sat up dazedly. She pushed aside the gauze bed curtains and looked towards the outside.
There was only a single dim lamp lit in the room, so Chu Lian spotted He Changdi immediately under the light of the moon.
She found it strange that her husband was standing at the window in the middle of the night and in such thin clothes. It was still spring, and the nights were cold.
Chu Lian slipped her feet into her night slippers and found He Changdi's cloak in a corner. She walked up to him and tiptoed to place the cloak around his shoulders.
"It's late; why aren't you sleeping?" Chu Lian's sleep-addled voice was slightly hoarse.
The usual wit and clarity in her almond-shaped eyes had given way to a misty sleepiness.
He Sanlang felt something warm on his shoulders. That warmth seemed to seep directly into his chest, making his chilled heart beat faster.
He suddenly reached out and tucked Chu Lian under his arms. Then, he bent his head and asked gently, "Why are you awake?"
His dear wife slept like a log on most days. Even earthquakes wouldn't be able to wake her up.
Chu Lian wasn't totally awake yet. Her eyes were fighting to stay open. Thus, she simply leaned on her husband and put her head against his chest. She mumbled, "I was thirsty when I woke up. I saw that you weren't in bed so I came to look for you."
He Sanlang noticed that his wife's head was bobbing as she spoke, seemingly about to fall back asleep on the spot. The corner of his lips curled up helplessly. The dark mood he had been in was completely swept away by his wife's adorable appearance.
He kissed the top of her head.
"You're still sleepy?"
Chu Lian's consciousness was already slipping away. She wrapped her arms tighter around He Sanlang's narrow waist and murmured, "Slee... py..."
He Sanlang resisted the urge to chuckle. "Didn't you get up for water?"
Right after he finished speaking, he realised that Chu Lian had already nodded right off while bound tightly to his waist.
This little troublemaker.
He Changdi's heart was flooded with sweetness and helplessness.
Having this little woman in his arms, he felt like he was raising a spoiled little daughter.
He Changdi bent down and moved Chu Lian's grip around his waist up to his neck instead. His palms went under Chu Lian's pert bottom and he lifted her up like a child...
Chu Lian was still leaning against his chest, unaware of her surroundings.
He Changdi spared one hand to pinch her flushed cheeks before turning and walking over to the bed. He set her down and pulled the covers over her to keep her warm.
Instead of blowing out the lamp and getting into bed himself, he walked over to the desk and set a small cup of cold water on the little clay stove. Then, he waited for it to warm up.
Once that was done, he took the warm teacup and brought it over to the bedside. He Changdi took a sip of water into his mouth and fed it to Chu Lian with a kiss.
The sleeping woman subconsciously gulped down the warm water in her mouth and inadvertently licked her lips. That little action made He Changdi's pupils dilate.
He took in a deep breath and turned around, setting the teacup down on the bedside table. He sat for a long moment before he finally sidled back under the bed covers to Chu Lian's side. Out of habit, he reached over to tuck Chu Lian into his embrace.
With his wife's familiar fragrance around him, He Changdi's messy thoughts slowly calmed down.
Although the fate of House Jing'an had been rewritten in this life and he had been able to avoid many of the disasters that had befallen them in his past, even to the point of earning a noble title for himself, he couldn't help the inescapable worries that plagued his mind.
He was worried that this was all just a dream. That when he awoke again, he would be faced with the cruel reality of his past life.
It wasn't until he had Chu Lian in his arms, when he could feel her living, breathing body before him, that He Changi could be sure that all this was real.
Once he had calmed down his chaotic emotions, sleep overcame him.
Even at this late hour of the night, within a room in Qingxi Hall, Muxiang remained wide awake.
Both the door and the windows of the room were firmly shut. Not a candle was lit, making it completely black.
In the darkness, Muxiang sat fully dressed on her bed like a sinister, silent spectre.
She was still in a daze. She couldn't believe that Count Jing'an had returned earlier than expected.
This wasn't what happened in her past life!
Ever since the count had returned, the situation she had been pushing the estate into was now ruined. It wasn't possible to use Matriarch He and He Ying to achieve her own motives anymore.
She bit her lip and inwardly cursed Count Jing'an.
In this dark and seemingly boundless place, Muxiang's eyes were lit with a fearsome, poisonous glow.
She scratched at the brocade bedsheets under her, vowing to herself that she would get what she wanted, no matter how vicious she had to be.
......
The next day, Count Jing'an, He Changjue, and He Changdi headed for the palace together.
Since the count had just returned to the capital, he had to attend the morning court before going over to the Ministry of War to hand over his matters, transfer his token of authority, and so on. There was plenty to do.
He had managed to return to the estate in time yesterday because he had secretly sneaked in some free time.
Once Count Jing'an returned his token of authority, which gave him command over the troops in the south, he would be bestowed a slack position in the capital and enjoy his retirement. This was the usual way that most of the defender generals retired, so it wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
Qinzheng Hall within the palace.
Court had been dismissed by now, so Count Jing'an had been summoned into Qinzheng Hall alone.
Since Count Jing'an had just returned from Mingzhou and he was an important general who had defended the borders for decades, it wasn't strange that the Chengping Emperor had summoned him for a private conversation.
Dressed in a military official's court outfit, the large and burly Count Jing'an stood like a mountain before the doors of Qinzheng Hall. When Eunuch Wei came out to invite him in, the count followed behind the eunuch carefully.
A glint flashed through Count Jing'an's eyes while his head was bowed. His determination could be seen on the set of his brows. He took in a deep breath and lifted his head, his gaze landing upon a figure dressed in imperial yellow.
Although the emperor was approaching fifty, he remained clean shaven. The men of the Great Wu didn't keep beards, and the emperor had followed that rule.
The beardless emperor looked five to six years younger than his real age, making him look in his early forties.
However, Count Jing'an was different.
Although he was younger than the emperor by a year, his face had been weathered by hardship and there were a few strands of white in his hair, making him look much older.
The wrinkles at the corners of his mouth were prominent. Adding on to that his beard, he looked a decade older than the emperor.
Upon hearing the footsteps of the approaching count, the emperor looked up from the imperial reports and gazed upon Count Jing'an.
There was an unreadable look in the emperor's eyes. It wasn't appreciation towards a loyal subject, nor admiration. It was far from trust and gratitude as well.
In a nutshell, it was a strange look.
"He Yanwen. It's been years since we last met. We hope you're doing fine." The Chengping Emperor threw out these unexpected words with a straight face, causing his trusted attendant, Eunuch Wei, to tremble a little behind him.
Count Jing'an bowed his head and body slightly, giving the emperor an appropriate salute, not an inch more or less.
"Defender General of the South, He Yanwen, greets Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty!"
The Chengping Emperor's tone cooled all of a sudden. "Long live? He Yanwen, you had better drop all pretenses. If you truly wished for Us to live a long life, then you wouldn't have done that in the past!"
Count Jing'an had a bitter smile in his heart. As expected, despite the many years that had passed, the emperor hadn't forgotten that incident in the past.
However, the past is dead. There was no way to return to that time again.
Count Jing'an inwardly sighed. "This humble official will accept any punishment Your Majesty wishes."
The emperor flew into a rage upon seeing the count's unruffled appearance. The anger that he had been suppressing for years instantly ignited, warping his mien beyond recognition.
He shoved the extremely priceless jade Jingtai teapot off his desk, roaring furiously, "He Yanwen! Don't you assume that We don't dare to sentence you to death! If she hadn't pled mercy for you back then, We would have split you into a thousand pieces by now!"
Count Jing'an lowered his eyes, but his burly body remained standing strong like a majestic mountain. He was a staunch, unyielding obstacle in the emperor's eyes.
"This humble official will accept any punishment Your Majesty wishes."