Chapter 830 - 832 Ah Chun is a big vinegar jar_1
Because they were to depart early the next morning, Jiang Yichun was busy tallying the number of people, and by the time he returned to the yard, it was already time to light the lamps.
After the maid had heated up dinner, he ate, played with his son for a while, then took Bai Ruozhu back to the room. Dengdeng was staying with Lin Ping’er tonight; according to her, it would be quite some time before she could see her precious grandson again, so she insisted on sleeping with him tonight.
Bai Ruozhu could not help but mutter under her breath, "It will also be a long time before she sees me again, so why doesn’t she ask me to sleep with them too?"
Once back in the room, Bai Ruozhu brought up Dang Youshen, whom Tu Bai had mentioned, and also relayed what she overhear from her second brother about Dang Youshen’s uncle, Jiao Congwen, being a man of the Duke of Duan.
"I understand, don’t worry. He wouldn’t dare do anything to your second brother, at most he’ll try to needle him with words. I will have someone keep a close eye on him," said Jiang Yichun, though his tone carried a hint of sourness.
Bai Ruozhu could not resist curling her lip. Even her brothers’ attractions made him jealous? Her man was truly the greatest vinegar jar of all time, even more formidable than Fei Xuanling’s wife.
Seeing her drift off, Jiang Yichun pulled her onto his lap abruptly, and with a mischievous smile, he asked, "What are you fabricating about your husband now?"
His pulling motion happened to grasp the area where Tu Ying had manhandled her. She winced with pain and couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath.
"What’s wrong?" Jiang Yichun became anxious, hurriedly checking where he had grabbed her. Upon inspection, he found a ring of dark bruises, clearly marks from someone gripping her wrist too tightly.
Jiang Yichun’s expression turned frosty in an instant, so cold that Bai Ruozhu sitting on his thigh could have been chilled. He asked with heartache, "Who did this?"
Without even needing to think, he knew that no one would leave their own wrist bruised; it must have been caused by someone else.
Bai Ruozhu saw his reaction and involuntarily shrank back, saying, "It was Tu Ying, that girl. She asked about my second brother’s health, and I briefly mentioned a few things, but I didn’t expect her to get so worked up. You know she’s trained in martial arts and is very strong, she just couldn’t control her strength for a moment."
Jiang Yichun stared at the imprint for a while before suddenly remarking, "This doesn’t seem like a woman’s handprint. You’re not hiding something from me, are you?"
With those words, Bai Ruozhu instantly grew unhappy. What did he mean she was hiding something? Did she not deserve his trust?
Angerly pushing away his hand, she stood up from his lap and said discontentedly, "If you don’t trust me, fine. Ask Tu Ying yourself before we depart tomorrow. I don’t have time to bicker with you; I’m going to sleep!"
After speaking, she took off her outer garment and went straight to bed.
Jiang Yichun sulked for a while, thinking to himself that he was just concerned for her, worried that she might be bullied and not willing to tell him. Just as he turned to speak, he discovered that Bai Ruozhu had already fallen asleep.
In his heart, he felt so frustrated he could nearly spit blood. There he was sulking, yet she could carelessly fall into a deep sleep.
In fact, Bai Ruozhu was genuinely wronged. With their departure approaching, she had been running errands, visiting Lady Meng, diagnosing Yu Hongxiu and her twins, handling matters at the Commerce Association, speaking with her mother at home, and worrying about what to pack for the journey; she was genuinely exhausted, and soon after being upset, her eyelids grew heavy, and she fell asleep.
Jiang Yichun continued to feel aggravated, but after a while, he helplessly rose from his chair with a sigh. He then went to the cabinet, took out some ointment, and tiptoed to the bedside. He carefully rolled up the sleeve of Bai Ruozhu’s arm and began gently applying the ointment.
Bai Ruozhu slept in a daze, feeling as if someone was applying ointment to her. The corners of her lips lifted slightly, and she fell back into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Bai Ruozhu woke up to the faint smell of medicine. With her keen sense of smell, how could she not detect the scent of the ointment on her wrist? She opened her eyes to look, but found that Jiang Yichun was not in bed, nor in the room.
She couldn’t help but purse her lips into a smile. He still knew how to be considerate of her. Alright, she decided she would go to the extent of not being angry.
She got up, changed her clothes, and called the maid to bring water for her to wash up, then headed to the main house.
Inside the room, Lin Ping’er was holding Dengdeng and feeding him millet porridge, looking extremely reluctant to let go. Bai Ruozhu felt a tinge of sorrow, thinking that this time after returning home, she wouldn’t run around anymore. Even if there were things to do, she would leave Dengdeng to accompany their parents.
"Mother, we will be setting off in a bit," Bai Ruozhu said, suppressing the sour feeling in her heart as she walked over.
Lin Ping’er and Bai Yihong held onto Bai Ruozhu, giving her lengthy instructions: to take good care of herself outside, take care of the child, Yichun, and also to keep an eye on her second brother, and so on. Although their words were somewhat nagging, Bai Ruozhu listened patiently with a smile, because she felt that this was what was real, the familial warmth she had been longing for.
After a while, Jiang Yichun and Bai Zepei came to the main house together, and that was when Bai Ruozhu found out that Jiang Yichun had gone early in the morning to speak with her second brother. She quickly glanced at both of their faces, but seeing their cold expressions, she couldn’t discern anything unusual.
Soon, Bai Ruozhu’s eldest brother arrived at the main house, helping his heavily pregnant wife. Ruozhu took her sister-in-law’s pulse again to make sure she was in good health and to put her own mind at ease. Their mother had found an experienced midwife for her sister-in-law, and Ruozhu had left many emergency pills for her mother. Even if Ruozhu was not around, she was certain her sister-in-law would have a smooth delivery.
Her sister-in-law, unlike Yu Hongxiu, wasn’t having twins. Besides being in good health, and having conceived only after reaching the age of eighteen, there were not many risks involved.
Later, other people from the yard came to say goodbye. Bai Ruozhu and her family hastily ate breakfast, chatted for a few moments, then had the servants load the luggage onto the horse carriage and bid farewell to their family members.
This time, Bai Ruozhu only brought half of her dark guards, leaving the rest to protect her family. To be more inconspicuous, she only allowed Jianqi and three other dark guards to follow her closely, while the others hid in the distance for clandestine protection, to avoid attracting attention from those accompanying them and prevent people from commenting on the size of her retinue.
Upon arriving at the rendezvous point, many people had already gathered. Bai Zepei went to meet the principal of the Study Palace and the leading teacher. He would naturally take the horse carriage arranged by the Study Palace, sharing it with a few classmates. Meanwhile, Jiang Yichun rode on horseback, accompanied by his guard troops to offer protection, leaving only Bai Ruozhu and Dengdeng in the carriage.
After a short while, Tu Ying and Tu Bai arrived. Tu Bai went to mingle with people from the Study Palace, and Bai Ruozhu happily waved her hand at Tu Ying, calling out to her. Tu Ying happily started towards her, but halfway there, Jiang Yichun intercepted her.
Bai Ruozhu watched from the carriage with cold sweat streaming down her face. What on earth was her man doing? With so many people gathered, why was he intercepting Tu Ying? Could it be that he was about to interrogate Tu Ying about that fingerprint?
Jiang Yichun greeted Tu Ying with a fist salute, politely saying, "I would be grateful if Miss Tu could take extra care of Ruozhu during the trip."
Tu Ying reciprocated the salute, "Certainly. Rest assured, Lord Jiang, I will protect Ruozhu."
"That would be good, but refrain from pinching her wrist from now on," Jiang Yichun said coolly.
Tu Ying paused, but quickly recalled that she had inadvertently applied too much strength yesterday. She gave an embarrassed chuckle, "Sorry, it won’t happen again."