Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 361 - 360

Chapter 361: 360

She half sat up and asked, "Is Lingxuan back?"

Chu Lingxuan was taken aback, and as he lay on the bed, he said, "Why are you still awake so late?" He stretched out his arm to hug her into his arms and comforted her, "Don’t worry, we won’t let anything happen to you. Dad will come to Tang Garden tomorrow night, and we’ll discuss it further... Go to sleep, it’s late."

Smelling his familiar scent, Chen Afu also became sleepy and said before falling asleep, "Jin Bao flew away, it went to find the tricolored ball. I am worried, I don’t know if it might be in danger..."

Upon hearing this, Chu Lingxuan was overjoyed. That Jin Yanzi was truly a magical bird - it could coax children, could laugh, and even pull dung with Rong Zhao. The fact that it had gone to find the tricolored ball... If it could really find it and bring it back, his family could implement preventative measures in time.

He reassured her, "Don’t worry, Jin Yanzi is smart and capable, it won’t be in danger."

The next day, when Chen Afu woke up, Chu Lingxuan was already gone.

Hong Fei said, "The master had to attend to the court today, so he left early in the morning. He also said that he would come back for dinner tonight and asked us to prepare more dishes to go with alcohol..." Che Afu nodded. After Dabao had breakfast, Zhui Feng and his family sent him to school. Chen Afu then took out the gifts prepared for the main house’s washing-in-laws ceremony. Four zhuanyuji silver ingots, a pair of small silver bracelets, a small silver collar, two pieces of high-quality fine velvet, with two more chickens and fifty eggs added by the old woman. It was a lavish gift, certainly the best in Xiangluo Village.

After accompanying Chu Hanyan and Li Xuan to play in Fu Garden for a while, she went to Lu Garden. Madam Luo was also carrying fifty eggs and clasping four zhuanyuji silver ingots as she went with her.

Chen Ming had just returned from the county town, and Mrs. Wang was waiting for her. Seeing her arrive, they all went to the village together.

Hong Fei helped Chen Afu walk down this familiar path, which she hadn’t walked down in a long time. The farmers in the fields got up to greet them warmly, smiles on their faces.

"Chen Er, are you going to drink Dalong’s happy wine?"

Because of the boy being called Chen Dalong, out of respect, the villagers don’t call him "little dragon" as they usually do.

"Afu, oops, I mean, Granny Chu, it’s so rare to see you in the village."

Chen Ming and the others were laughing and chatting with them.

There were already many people in the Chen’s courtyard. Some were drinking tea inside the house, and others were cooling off under the trees. Granny Chen and Chen Ye were very pleased to see Chen Afu, heavily pregnant, arriving. It was a matter of great pride for them.

Granny Chen raised her voice and said, "Oh dear, our magpies never stop chattering. It’s as if we’re having a prestigious guest."

Chen Afu simply laughed with them, and then went straight to Mrs. Gao’s room with Mrs. Wang and Madam Luo.

Mrs. Hu, who was busy in the kitchen, heard that Chen Afu and Mrs. Wang had arrived. She hurriedly left the kitchen and headed for the east wing to see what gifts they had brought.

The servants unpacked the gifts from Chen Afu, and Mrs. Wang also took out her own gift. Mrs. Wang’s gift was a pair of small silver bracelets, a small silver locket, two chickens, and fifty eggs. The chickens and eggs were bought from the village, as she had given away most of those raised in the Lu Garden to Chen Afu.

Mrs. Hu was very pleased with these gifts and her laughter became much louder.

Chen Afu picked up Chen Dalong. The little fellow had just awakened and was blinking at Chen Afu with one eye open, while his little mouth turned up in a vague smile.

Granny Chen happily said, "Oh dear, our Dalong is so clever, already knowing how to flatter important people even at this young age."

Everyone in the room burst into laughter at this comment.

Granny Chen turned to Chen Dalong and said, "Dalong, pay attention, the one holding you is your aunt, when you grow up you must behave dutifully to your aunt."

The child blew two little bubbles, making Chen Afu so delighted that he kissed his little face, before handing him to Mrs. Wang.

Hu Cuicui also hurried into the room, trying to get close to Chen Afu, even holding Chen Afu’s arm and chatting. Hu Cuicui also mentioned her family, who lived in Sanqing County and owned several hundred acres of farmland and a shop.

Chen Afu honestly didn’t like this girl. She and Chen Aju used to bully young Afu many times, and the mean ideas mostly came from her. But he didn’t rebuke her, instead, he just pulled his arm back from her hug and exchanged some polite words with her.

Chen Aju also came, she stood at the door, wanting to get close but showing some disdain, she was torn.

Seeing that the room was crowded due to his presence and the air was extremely stuffy, Chen Afu had to stand up, tell Mrs. Gao to rest well, and then left the room.

In the courtyard, Chen Alan was carrying a little girl who was just over a year old. Chen Alan had given birth to a girl, which upset her in-laws. They named the little girl ’Hope for a Brother’.

Because the Chen family had become wealthy, her in-laws didn’t dare to treat Chen Alan badly.

Little ’Hope for a Brother’ was really cute, Chen Afu knelt down and teased the little girl, even laughing as he pinched her small face. Seeing that their master liked this child, Hong Fei quickly stuffed a pouch with a silver ingot into the little girl’s arms.

Chen Afu’s gesture was interpreted as showing respect to Chen Alan, which thrilled Alan’s mother-in-law to pieces, her face crinkling with delighted laughter. This silly girl, who people used to make fun of, was now a figure of respect in the eyes of the villagers.

Chen Afu didn’t stay for dinner, saying that at home there were both old and young folks who couldn’t do without her. Granny Chen, together with Chen Agu, Chen Aju, and Hu Cuicui, escorted her to the edge of the village. Chen Aju had been reluctant to go, but Granny Chen had pinched her in secret a couple of times to make her follow along.

In the late afternoon, after Chen Afu had taken a nap, she headed to the Fu Garden kitchen to get busy.

Marquis Chu was to come for dinner at Tang Garden that night, and Chen Afu wanted to prepare a decent meal for him. Since she didn’t like Rong Zhao, she had never sent any of the delicious food here to Marquis Chu.

Thinking about what Jin Yanzi had said, as well as Marquis Chu’s loneliness when he visited Yingxue Nunnery, and the reluctance in his eyes when he left the mountain, Chen Afu felt much sympathy for him. She wanted to do something good to show respect for him.

Most of the dishes were prepared by Mrs. Hua and the others, but she still wanted to prepare a few of her own special dishes.

Some sesame cucumbers, refreshing cucumber rolls, and smashed cucumbers, using the special small cucumbers grown in the Fu and Lu Gardens. With such good ingredients, everything would be delicious no matter how it’s cooked.

In Lu Garden she grabbed two half-grown roosters, made a salt-baked chicken dish, a cold chicken slice dish, and a spicy chicken dish.

She also stewed several types of meat and vegetables, plus a golden shrimp dish and a golden smooth pork dish.

The alcohol was soaking wine, this kind of wine didn’t just taste good, it was also nutritious.

Afterwards, she taught Mrs. Hua how to arrange the dishes with flowers.

In the evening, after letting the children have their dinner, she sent them back to their own courtyards, then Chen Afu continued with her preparations.

The meal was to be served in the old man’s room. The old man was sitting stern-faced in the side room waiting for his son. The news had made him nervous, but he didn’t know what to do. Major decisions in the family were usually made by his eldest and third sons. Although he was the elder, he was already accustomed to obeying them on important matters.

It wasn’t until it was dark that Chu Lingxuan returned on horseback. He had rushed back from Dingzhou, first going to Yanxiang Pavilion to bathe and change his clothes, then went to the front yard to wait.