Chapter 70.2: Husband, I"ll Wait for You
Xiaoqi really did head back first with the beautiful missus and Old Man Qian. Under Mother Song"s request, she also brought Qiu Tong along. As they slowly made their way back to Tongxu, the first round of snow had already melted.
Song Liangzhuo only left the prison ten days after Xiaoqi had departed. No one told him about Xiaoqi being pregnant and he also didn"t have the time to ask. Immediately after he recovered from his injuries, he started investigating the case regarding the bribery of officials with the Ministry of Justice.
Xiaoqi was living very well in Tongxu with the exception of the fact that she missed Song Liangzhuo a little. The good thing was, around every ten days to half a month, there would be letters from Ruzhou. Reading the letters then replying to the letters in detail had already became Xiaoqi"s happiest occupation during this time.
When the end of the year drew close, Chen Zigong also sent a letter from the capital. The letter said that his home wasn"t unbearably cold either. He said that he would go to Tongxu to play with her after he found what he desired.
Xiaoqi was a bit confused after reading it. Since he was a grand w.a.n.g ye, of course his house wouldn"t be cold. She didn"t dare to say for sure about other stuff, but there was definitely enough coal for fire.
Xiaoqi rented a little room that was diagonally opposite the city gates in a teahouse near the city entrance. Every day, she would ride a carriage over to sit in the room for a couple hours. When she was bored, she would sit next to the fire pan and roast chestnuts to eat.
It took a little over a month to investigate the bribery case thoroughly. There were two officials in the imperial court involved, one of them being Inspector General Li. His Majesty personally gave a decree that removed their official t.i.tles and banished them. Due to this matter, Wei niang niang also lost her gui pin* t.i.tle. As for the Fu family, due to their involvement in both the murder case and the bribery case, those who were searched and seized were seized, and those who deserved to be executed were executed.
I"ve recently looked into the t.i.tles a bit more due to translating Phoenix, and what I"ve noticed is that wiki translates "fei" as consort and "pin" as concubine. Also, with most rankings, "fei" t.i.tles come below that of empress, the "pin" t.i.tles come below "fei" and "ladies" t.i.tles come below pin. That"s the general ranking. "Gui" which is usually translated to "n.o.ble" also usually is ranked highest in each of the respective "fei", "pin" and "ladies" category. Though each dynasty uses slightly different systems, it can be inferred that "gui pin" is the highest rank below that of "fei" t.i.tles.
Everything was wrapped up with a written period. Song Qingyun seemed to have thought things through and borrowed the excuse of his body being ill to resign from being an official. As for Song Liangzhuo, he returned to being a seventh rank county head magistrate.
This time, it was the entire family that returned together to Tongxu. However, they still kept the courtyard they had in Ruzhou. Mother Song was thinking that they could bring their grandchildren here to Ruzhou to play once they were a bit older. At that time, it would be much better to stay at their own house rather than stay in an inn. Mother Song was also still hanging onto the promises Song Qingyun made earlier. They decided to fall behind a little and head over to the hot springs to watch the sunrise first. When Song Liangzhuo rushed and made it back to Tongxu, it was already the twenty-fifth of the twelfth lunar month.
On this day, Xiaoqi had ridden over to the teahouse on the carriage to sit for a while as usual. There were two large basins of coal fire placed in the room and the weather outside was also sunny and cloudless. Even with the window open it was still nice and warm.
Xiaoqi had only sat a while before she started to feel sleepy. Even while eating sweets, she still yawned nonstop. Qiu Tong looked at Xiaoqi"s face that had turned quite round and took away the dessert plates, leaving only the candied fruit on the table. Xiaoqi didn"t seem hungry either, however, she still twirled the candied fruits and ate happily. In the end, she was seriously bored and decided to just use pliers to pick up the chestnuts and roast them in the fire pan. T/N4
When Song Liangzhuo appeared riding a horse, all of Xiaoqi"s drowsiness disappeared with a quiver. She was invigorated as she leaned over the window and waved towards the city gates. With some unknown line of thought, after Song Liangzhuo entered the city, he chose to sweep his line of sight over all the entrances and second story windows of all the inns and teahouses. When he saw Xiaoqi who was waving her hand, he smiled.
Song Liangzhuo who had madly rushed the entire way here wasn"t anxious anymore now. On the contrary, he gently kicked his horse and slowly approached. Xiaoqi leaned over the window and smiled so much only her teeth showed while her eyes disappeared. Only when Song Liangzhuo entered the teahouse did she reluctantly turn around to look towards the door.
Qiu Tong had long already opened the door while smiling. Once Song Liangzhuo entered, she closed the door and left. Xiaoqi only smiled and was stupidly happy for half the day without saying a single word. Song Liangzhuo also smiled with her for a long time before he started to realize that smiling towards each other like this was a bit childish. So, he then walked over and sat down next to the table.
Xiaoqi turned around and clipped out a chestnut from the fire pan. She placed it on the table to cool for a bit before she said, "It"s really tasty. Is Husband hungry?"
Song Liangzhuo didn"t reply. He reached out and pulled Xiaoqi into his arms, then said with a smile, "Qi er has gotten fat from eating."
Xiaoqi twisted her body and blushed as she gave Song Liangzhuo a big kiss on the corner of his mouth. Climbing to sit on his leg, she said, "My mom said I"m not one person, I"m three people. Three people are naturally heavier than one person."
Song Liangzhuo lifted his brows, not understanding.
Xiaoqi pouted as she picked at Song Liangzhuo"s chest. "Mom didn"t tell you?"
Song Liangzhuo shook his head.
Xiaoqi pouted as she humphed. "I have babies now."
"Oh."
"Oh?" Xiaoqi turned to look at Song Liangzhuo"s eyes, astonished. Refusing to give up, she said, "My beautiful mom said it"s two. She said my great-grandmother had a pair of sisters too."
Song Liangzhuo gave another dumb "oh" in reply.
Xiaoqi angrily hit Song Liangzhuo and knitted her brows, upset. "You"re still "oh"ing. You don"t even like ba…"
The rest of the words were drowned out by Song Liangzhuo"s kiss. Song Liangzhuo kissed without order, kissing her nose, eyes, and mouth all randomly. In the end, after leaving a bunch of bites on Xiaoqi"s lips, he hugged Xiaoqi tightly and closed his eyes as he rested on her shoulder. From his appearance, he looked very calm. Of course, that was if his lips that had been hooked into a smile this entire time and his slightly trembling fingertips were ignored.
When Xiaoqi was once again free, she rubbed her burning lips and felt her face turn a little hot. He seriously bit a little too hard. It even hurts a little.
Song Liangzhuo rubbed Xiaoqi"s stomach and quietly felt it for a long time. In the end, he was unhappy with the thick cotton-padded clothes that were blocking his hand and stuck his hand inside to press it against her belly. Only after feeling it for a long time did he say, "No wonder you got fat. You do need to eat more. But, why is it still flat?"
Xiaoqi curled her lips. "Mom said that I"ll only look pregnant after four months. And it"s not flat either, it"s bulging a bit now."
Song Liangzhuo laughed "haha". "I thought it would get a lot bigger since there"s two."
Upon hearing that, Xiaoqi also felt curious and lowered her head to look at her stomach. The two stared at that stomach for half a day before they returned to their senses again.
Xiaoqi, a bit foolishly infatuated, stared at Song Liangzhuo"s face. Seeing the smile on his face grow bigger and bigger, she flattened her mouth and tugged at his cheek. Her eyes turned a bit as she thought, then she said, "Husband still owes me one thing."
Song Liangzhuo rubbed his face against Xiaoqi"s head. "I owe you a peach flower dam. When our children can run all over, we"ll go together to see the dam that"s filled with peach flowers."
Xiaoqi smiled with her lips closed as she imagined the family of three, no, it"s the family of four frolicking and running around on the peach flower dam. Before she got to deciding who would be running at the very front, she was abruptly lifted by Song Liangzhuo.
Xiaoqi cried out softly as she wrapped her arms around Song Liangzhuo"s neck. Song Liangzhuo said with a smile, "Let"s go home. We"ll never part again."
Xiaoqi kicked her legs as her eyes curved from smiling. It"s really great, they"ll never part again.
{Full Text End}
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Proofread by Ocelot
[Chiyomira’s Corner]
AAaaaah!!! It"s finally done!! So sweet~~
7/17 Haha, I didn"t make it in time~ But lol, it"s finally here~
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