The Princess and Her Rough-Rider Khan
Chapter 526 - 525 Envy the Mandarin Ducks, Not the Immortals (Second Update)

Chapter 526: 525 Envy the Mandarin Ducks, Not the Immortals (Second Update)

Yelu Yan followed Li Xianyun onto the carriage, wrapping his arms around her slender waist, and chuckled, "Shall we lie down?"

Bater and Jinwu had gently closed the carriage door from the outside.

Li Xianyun intended to bend over to take off her shoes, but Yelu Yan had already knelt down quickly. Supporting her straight leg with one hand, he removed her shoes with the other and neatly placed them aside.

Li Xianyun stepped on the thick soft carpet and quilt, walking back and forth twice, "It’s so comfortable, just like a bed."

Indeed, it was like a bed—once the seats on both sides were taken out, wasn’t its length and width just like a bed?

Yelu Yan watched her with a smile, his eyes brimming with indulgence.

After completing her third round, Li Xianyun finally sat down, softly leaning against the piled-up quilts, looking around, and raising her hand to touch the fluffy soft blankets hanging on the carriage walls.

"Husband, with such carriage compartments, I won’t be afraid of getting tired."

Yelu Yan took off his shoes and walked over to sit beside Li Xianyun, pulling her into his embrace and placing a hand warmer in her hands, boasting with self-satisfaction, "How about it? Are you satisfied with the arrangements?"

Li Xianyun’s lips curved into a smile, the hand warmer was nice and warm, comfortable to hold in her hand, "With Husband having taken personal care of it, how could I be anything but satisfied?"

She indeed looked captivating with "eyes full of expectation, and a smile so enchanting," leaving him utterly spellbound.

Li Xianyun wasn’t aware that this was all arranged by Yelu Yan’s orders until he mentioned it. The desire for credit was clear, so she knew she should properly sing his praises.

At her words, Yelu Yan laughed heartily.

Li Xianyun had a way with words, and if she wanted to appease someone, she could always make their heart bloom with joy.

Yelu Yan gently pinched Li Xianyun’s chin and tilted her small face up ever so slightly.

He doted on her beautiful face for a while, gazing into her eyes that were as clear as autumn waters, and teased, "With such sweet lips, let Husband have a taste."

Without waiting for Li Xianyun’s consent, he captured her lips with a domineering kiss, sucked deeply once, smacked twice, and chuckled, "Indeed very sweet."

Li Xianyun’s cheeks flushed red, and a smile unwittingly spread across her lips, "Flirtatious man, always taking advantage."

"Taking advantage of one’s own wife, who dares to object?" Yelu Yan laughed.

Li Xianyun smiled and said nothing, letting him press his lips to hers, intertwining passionately.

After all, sitting inside the carriage, they had nothing else to attend to, so she let him have his way.

Yelu Yan, mindful of her efforts from the previous night, did everything except for that, going through both the appropriate and the inappropriate acts.

The group traveled for seven or eight days before finally reaching Shangjing.

Along the way, Yelu Yan and Li Xianyun felt as if they were enjoying a flight together, night and day.

Initially, Li Xianyun indulged Yelu Yan’s mischiefs several times in the carriage, but in the following days, she firmly refused.

Without a place to bathe or change clothes, the inability to clean up was truly unbearable.

Knowing Li Xianyun always liked cleanliness, Yelu Yan no longer insisted and did many serious things besides being intimate with her.

Sometimes, Yelu Yan would embrace Li Xianyun from behind, resting his chin on her slender and attractive shoulders, his rough hands fiddling with her fingers one by one.

Sometimes, the two would lie in the carriage, feeling its rocking motion, listening to the rolling sound of the wheels, and chatting about everything under the sun.

Sometimes Li Xianyun would rest on Yelu Yan’s chest, gently stroking his somewhat prickly stubble and prominent Adam’s apple with her delicate hand, as if she could never touch enough.

Sometimes they simply embraced, sleeping soundly.

...

Besides the intimate gestures between the husband and wife, the two also attended to many serious matters.

Yelu Yan would deal with some government affairs inside the carriage.

When Li Xianyun was asleep, to avoid waking her, Yelu Yan would go outside to assign tasks.

Li Xianyun, in the rocking carriage, wrote a thick letter to Da Nai, the knowledge governor of Shuozhou.

She not only explained to Da Nai how to fumigate to eliminate toxins and how to prevent an epidemic resurgence, but also offered several suggestions for guiding the people of Shuozhou City towards prosperity given the current situation.

Li Xianyun, though she had only stayed in Shuozhou for a few days, had gained a thorough understanding of the geography and the distribution of the people there.

As winter arrived, the common folk could not earn money by grazing livestock; instead, they had to stay idle at home, but they could adapt to local conditions and find some ways to earn money—by processing and selling red dates and walnuts.

The Khitan, living on the grasslands, were already accustomed to the boundless vast grasslands, so they were keen on planting trees around their houses: walnut trees, peach trees, date trees, apricot trees, grapevines, and so on.

Walnut and red date trees were especially vital to plant. Come winter, every household had stored a large number of dried dates and walnuts.

When Li Xianyun visited various households for consultations, she saw that many because of an excess of red dates, fed them to their cattle and sheep—such a waste.

She wrote down the methods for preparing red dates and walnuts, roasting red dates, and honey walnuts separately on paper and had a guard deliver them to Da Nai.

Yelu Yan knew what she was doing as she bent over her desk writing the letter.

"Xianxian, aren’t you worried by doing this?"

"Worried about what?" Li Xianyun asked, puzzled.

"Worried about teaching the apprentice to starve the master," Yelu Yan said with a smile, "If everyone could make red date walnut, roasted red dates, and honey walnuts, your business would suffer."

"Husband, aren’t you being a bit narrow-minded? Wealth is, after all, extrinsic. If I can help more people improve their lives, why not do so? Besides..."

Yelu Yan watched her with a smile, waiting for her answer.

"Besides, I have more than these few ways to make money in my head. Even if these are used up, there are many other methods."

Yelu Yan embraced the delicate beauty in his arms, kissing her neck and cheeks, "My Xianxian is truly clever."

And so kind-hearted as well.

Sometimes, when Li Xianyun grew weary of riding in the carriage, she would step out to ride a horse for a while.

Yelu Yan wanted her to ride a horse with him.

But Li Xianyun, bashful by nature, insisted on riding alone.

Unable to persuade her, Yelu Yan simply let her be.

Clothed in thick garments while riding on the horses, the couple’s grace could not be concealed.

One was a naturally born majesty, awe-inspiring; the other was a delicate beauty, charming and vivacious.

The pair galloping on horses, with hooves lightly striking, their clothes fluttering and flying, they were a divine couple seldom seen in the world.

Yelu Yan finally understood what "envying neither mandarin ducks nor immortals" meant; being in the deep, loving company of his beloved woman was the ultimate bliss.

But good times were always fleeting.

They had to return to Shangjing.

The closer they got to Shangjing, the more excited and expectant Li Xianyun became, her heart brimming with the joy of seeing her family again.

Yelu Yan held her in his embrace, kissing her small face, discussing with her.

"Xianxian, you spend the day with father, mother, and your younger siblings, but in the evening, you must accompany your husband," he said.

Otherwise, he would not even get to spend time alone with her all day long.

Yelu Yan tried to look as pitiable as he could while speaking.

However, a certain little woman seemed utterly blind to this, draping her slender arms around his neck with a smile, "Husband, it’s not often that father and mother visit, I must be with them."

Meaning she couldn’t be with him in the evenings either.

"Then when will you accompany your husband?" Yelu Yan said aggrievedly.

He really was so clingy.

"I’ll find some time," she said.

At her words, Yelu Yan felt a surge of anger, almost wanting to kill her.

It was only when she was beneath him that she would behave a bit more submissively.