Once the first day of the New Year was over, the days that came after seemed to pass in a flash.
Liangzhou City was still snowed in, so anyone who wanted to travel long distances had to ride the snowboat that Chu Lian had ordered to be made.
According to Urihan, who had lived in the north for decades, the ice of winter would only melt in the second month of the year. When that happened, more than half of the snow-covered plains would turn into wetlands, which was just as dangerous as snow.
Urihan and her sons now lived in the He Estate. After spending some time with them, Urihan was now able to speak the common language used in the Great Wu at a basic level. Although her intonation was a little strange, there was no problem in communicating with day-to-day matters.
Having survived an arduous trial with Urihan and her sons, Chu Lian had a great relationship with them now. Urihan only had two sons and no daughters and Chu Lian was even younger than her eldest son Myeryen, so she doted on Chu Lian like her very own daughter.
The barbarians were a straightforward people and weren’t bound by complicated rules and etiquette like the nobles of the Great Wu Dynasty. As an honest young lady born in the modern world, Chu Lian found it easy to get along with Urihan. They acted more like long-lost relatives around each other.
The health of the eleven-year-old Narisong had slowly improved after days of proper nutritious food and medicine in the He Estate. Now the two brothers were working under Manager Qin.
Chu Lian had already discussed the matter of Urihan and her sons with He Sanlang. They were going to bring the three along with them when they returned to the capital, and they would stay with them from now on.
The usually ‘narrow-minded’ He Sanlang had generously agreed with Chu Lian’s suggestion for this matter. This had caused Chu Lian to confirm it with him again as she wasn’t sure if he had heard her clearly. Only then was she sure that he wasn’t joking.
Chu Lian was seated beside He Changdi’s bed with a bowl of medicine in hand. Finding her husband’s sudden geniality strange, she asked, “He Changdi, when did you become so agreeable?”
He Changdi shot a quick glance at her before he closed his eyes, hiding the flash of emotion in their depths. The changes in his mood couldn’t be detected from his even tone, “When have I ever been anything but agreeable?”
Chu Lian had been stirring the concoction in the bowl with a spoon. She rolled her eyes when she heard He Changdi’s reply, “When have you ever been agreeable? You get into a temper if I stay for just a moment longer with Sister Hui!”
The tips of He Changdi’s ears reddened. He then pursed his lips and remained silent.
During the time they had spent together in the past few days, they hadn’t been glued to each other the whole time, but they had still shared the same bed and ate all three meals together everyday. Now, they were both more familiar with each other.
Chu Lian had always been sharp-witted, so she had a much better understanding of how socially awkward her husband was now.
The fact that he had pursed his lips and maintained his silence probably meant that he had justified his own actions to himself a hundred times over.
Chu Lian’s mouth twitched. She wanted to stuff the bowl of medicine into his hands.
He Sanlang intentionally stayed still, so Chu Lian could only come to a compromise. What could she do since he was still injured?
She resigned herself to her fate, and lifted a spoonful of medicine to He Sanlang’s mouth.
It was only then that He Changdi finally opened his mouth to take the bitter medicine.
Chu Lian was speechless. She had tried tasting the medicine he was drinking out of curiosity before. It was bitter as hell! If she had the choice to, she wouldn’t be able to take a single sip.
Wouldn’t it better to just gulp it all down considering how bitter it was? Why did he insist on her feeding him spoonful by spoonful? Could it be that He Sanlang had lost his sense of taste? He even looked so happy drinking it, what a weirdo.
Chu Lian started discussing the matter at hand with him only after he had finished the last mouthful of medicine.
“I’ll be going out later, and I’ll probably only be able to return in the afternoon. The doctor will be coming to the estate later to prescribe more medicine, so let Laiyue attend to him.”
He Sanlang had initially been in a good mood. However, his wife’s words immediately made his mood take a turn for the worse.
There wasn’t much change in his expression, as he already had a cold and handsome face, but his eyes seemed to darken a little. His aura became so imposing that it would make others freeze up, but he didn’t realize that.
“Where are you going?”
Chu Lian knew that he was leaping to conclusions in his mind again, so she reassured him, “Get Laiyue to follow me then. I’ll have Wenqing and Uncle Mo stay behind to take care of things.”
They were husband and wife, so she didn’t want to keep him in the dark regarding what she was doing. Thus, she might as well open up everything she was doing to his watch. If Laiyue followed along, He Sanlang would definitely trust what Laiyue reported about her doings.
In the end, He Changdi agreed, but he didn’t forget to remind her, “Bring more guards with you.”
With a laugh, Chu Lian suddenly kissed him on the cheek, then quickly made her escape.
The sounds of her sweet bell-like laughter resounded in the room.
He Sanlang was stunned by Chu Lian’s sudden kiss. It was only after she was long gone that he managed to regain his senses. His first reaction was to blush hard.
Luckily, there was no one else in the room at this moment, otherwise they would have witnessed the poker-faced Third Young Master blushing after getting assaulted by Third Young Madam. The sight alone would likely shake them to their core and they might even worry that he had been possessed.
Manager Qin had already prepared the snowboats for departure.
Chu Lian was helped up onto the snowboat by Wenlan. She and Wenlan shared the snowboat with Li Yue.
Laiyue and Manager Qin sat in another.
The places they were heading to today weren’t too far away, it would only take about an hour to get to the closest one.
When they arrived at the first area, Chu Lian lifted the curtain in the carriage slightly to look at the six sturdy tents nearby.
There were barbarians travelling to the tent from all directions from time to time.
Most of the barbarians were herding yaks, horses and goats. There were also some who carried goat and yak skins. However, they all shared one common trait, which was their skinny bodies and haggard faces.
Someone with experience would be able to tell that they had become like this because of their quality of life.
It may not necessarily have been caused by a lack of food.
There could be a few causes for their haggard appearances. Not eating salt for a long time, or an imbalance of nutrition due to only eating meat for extended periods of time. It may even be due to them lacking coal to provide them warmth.
This small area with the six tents in the center was a simple market specially prepared for them to trade goods.
