Xu Ziyi's words piqued the great interest of Song Yinghuai and Xiao Rencheng.
After all, everyone was worried about the mood of the person at home.
Anyway, the ginger tea still needed to be boiled. So Xu Ziyi ordered someone to go back to the house and bring something over.
An incense stick's time later.
Song Yinghuai and Xiao Rencheng looked at the washboard in Xu Ziyi's hand with complicated expressions.
So this was... the magic weapon to coax one's wife?
Although the two of them held high positions, they recognized this thing and felt Xu Ziyi's full - fledged malice.
Wasn't this asking them to bend their knees, the knees of real men?
Seeing the resistant expressions on the two men's faces, Xu Ziyi scoffed. "Don't want to kneel? It's okay. Brother Xiao need not worry. Miss Lan is gentle - tempered, and Brother Xiao is considerate. It's impossible for his wife to be unhappy."
"But it may be different for the prince. Now Miss San has just recovered a bit. If you don't strike while the iron is hot and be more gentle, begging her to stay a few more days, you won't even have the chance to kneel in the future."
He threw the washboard back to the servant. "Take it back and put it away first. When you've thought it through, I'll lend it to you."
At the Waterside Pavilion.
The three Lan sisters gathered here. Caiyu was even happier when she saw Lan Guifan and Aye.
Lan Guifan said, "I went to the Qin region to find elder sister. I passed through Licheng first. Fortunately, General Zhu Xiao was there. Only then did I learn that elder sister had been taken to Yanjing by Lord Xiao. General Zhu took us in in Licheng."
"Later, when we learned that elder sister and the others were coming to Pengcheng, General Zhu sent people to escort us back to Pengcheng. We met them on the way."
Hearing that it was Zhu Xiao who had helped in this troubled world, Caiyu's expression softened a bit.
In her memories of Yanjing, Zhu Xiao's hearty laughter and chivalrous deeds had helped her avoid many disasters.
"Third sister," Lan Guifan said. "General Zhu said that he received a letter from the prince. The prince specifically told him to treat us well..."
"The prince knew that I liked playing with mechanisms, so he specially transferred Leng Fei here to teach me a lot of disassembly techniques for fire - arms and mechanisms!"
When Lan Guifan said this, his eyes sparkled as he fiddled with the latest small - sized fire - arm in his hand.
No man could resist playing with mechanisms and hidden weapons.
Actually, it wouldn't be bad for Song Yinghuai to be his brother - in - law.
Aye was licking his fur at Lan Guifan's feet, quite in agreement.
That heroic and simple - minded Zhu Xiao had found a hunting ground for it near the Qinling Mountains in Licheng, allowing it to play on the mountain every day and catch small animals.
It had regained the sense of freedom it had in the Qilian Mountains.
The words Zhu Xiao repeated every day were: "The prince told me that you're a wolf and you must like it here."
How thoughtful.
Aye patted the ground with his front hoofs to show his agreement.
Caiyu glanced at Lan Guifan and the wolf. "Just because you've stayed in Licheng for over a month, you've been easily bought off?"
"Isn't Brother A Li good to you?"
Lan Guifan said, "Well, Brother A Li is naturally good..."
But don't you have trouble accepting a relationship with him?
He had seen Brother A Li try to kiss Third Sister many times, but she always found various excuses to avoid it.
If she couldn't even accept a kiss, let alone the intimate relationship between a man and a woman.
Brother A Li was destined to be just a brother of the Lan family.
Third Sister had to find true happiness!
Aye thought: Brother A Li is very good, but the food he gives me are all fish from the seaside!
I want to eat pheasants and wild boars! This prince understands me better...
Lan Jinxiang and Lan Jinqin also glanced at each other.
They liked A Li too, but they had long known that A Li and Shu'er had no future.
So although Song Yinghuai might not be as good as A Li, since Shu'er liked him, they could only try their best to help from the side.
When Song Yinghuai and the other two entered the hall with the ginger tea, they saw the ladies laughing and chatting merrily, and their own moods lifted.
It seemed that his decision to send a carrier pigeon to tell Xiao Rencheng to bring Lan Jinqin back was a wise one.
Almost all the younger generations of the Lan family were here. Maybe Caiyu would be reluctant to leave?
The three men each held a cup of ginger tea and served their future wives.
Lan Jinxiang sized up Lan Jinqin and asked, "Elder sister, you don't look as well as when we last met... Xiao Rencheng, have you grown complacent now that you've been with my elder sister for so long and think she won't leave you?"
Xiao Rencheng's hand holding the ginger tea froze. He quickly forced a smile and said, "Miss Er has wronged me. These days, Qin'er has probably been exhausted from the journey and is often listless. How dare I be complacent?"
The most untouchable person in the Lan family was Miss Er. He had to explain clearly.
"Really?" Lan Jinxiang looked at Lan Jinqin doubtfully. "Elder sister, don't be so timid. Don't hide everything. You endured the Wen family for so many years. As for Lord Xiao..."
Pushed by Lan Jinxiang like this, Lan Jinqin was also very helpless. "I don't know what's wrong with me recently. I feel sleepy during the day, but I often toss and turn at night. I've been so exhausted by this reversed schedule that I can't hold on anymore."
Xiao Rencheng couldn't help but say, "Qin'er's temper has also been a bit strange recently. Sometimes she's sentimental, and sometimes she's irritable. I was thinking of finding a doctor as soon as we settled in Pengcheng!"
"She was fine in Yanjing, but as soon as we left Yanjing, she seemed like a different person."
Xiao Rencheng was just speaking casually, but Lan Jinqin really blushed suddenly. Thinking that his tone was complaining, her eyes instantly welled up with tears:
"My lord thinks I'm a nuisance."
Xiao Rencheng was stunned. "This... Madam, I didn't mean that..."
"Yes, you did." In the shocked gazes of everyone, Lan Jinqin's tears fell one after another. Just like a child's face in June, her mood changed instantly. "You just said that I've become a different person. You must have endured me for a long time, right?"
Xiao Rencheng gasped and quickly denied it. "Madam, I was just telling Second Sister about your situation. I'm worried about you..."
"Worried about what?" Lan Jinqin said resentfully. "I just can't sleep well. You've been so worried. Is it because I've been disturbing your sleep at night? If my lord is worried about this, you can just sleep in a separate room."
Separate rooms...
Xiao Rencheng's scalp went numb instantly.
He didn't even know what he had said just now. Why had they suddenly started talking about sleeping in separate rooms?
"Madam, how could I be worried about my own sleep? Even if Madam wakes me up every hour to serve you, I'd be willing." Xiao Rencheng held the ginger tea and chose his words carefully. "Come, Madam. Let's not think blindly. I said the wrong thing and made you worried... I've pounded ginger paste. I'll make you a foot - bath later, and you'll surely sleep well at night."
Fortunately, he had boiled the ginger tea and pounded the ginger paste with Song Yinghuai.
Lan Jinxiang looked at Lan Jinqin thoughtfully and suddenly said, "Elder sister, could it be that you're pregnant?"
These words were like a thunderbolt in the hall.
Both Lan Jinqin and Xiao Rencheng looked at her in shock. "What?"
Lan Jinxiang looked at the two dazed people and clicked her tongue.
"Some pregnant women may have their day and night schedules reversed. Some may have a sudden change in appetite, either a great increase or a great decrease. Some may even have a complete change in temperament, as if they've become a different person..."
Lan Jinqin and Xiao Rencheng were like statues, just listening to Lan Jinxiang talking non - stop without saying a word.
Song Yinghuai put down the ginger tea in his hand and summoned the steward of the Xu Mansion. "Go and invite the doctor in the mansion."
Whether a woman was pregnant or not could be known as soon as the doctor felt her pulse. There was no need for too much speculation.
He might lose his wits in front of Caiyu, but it didn't mean he'd be flustered about other things.
Now the one who should be flustered was Xiao Rencheng!
Xiao Rencheng was as dull as a wooden chicken, but Xu Ziyi couldn't help it. His face was full of anger:
"Lan Jinxiang! How do you know so clearly about the symptoms of a pregnant woman?"
He gasped and completely forgot his usual submissive attitude. He asked harshly:
"Could it be that you... you have a child in Tartary?!"