Chapter 793: He's Learned to Say He's Tired

During the busy farming season, Gu Jiaojiao always helped Leng Yuan manage his health, both through his diet and with the medicinal herbs she prepared.

‘This man simply doesn’t know how to take care of himself.’ Now that she suddenly heard him say he was tired, Gu Jiaojiao’s first reaction was, surprisingly, happiness.

She often took his pulse, so she was well aware of the state of his health.

When her master passed down his formulas to her, many of them were prescriptions previously used by the Emperor.

The Emperor had to manage countless affairs and worried about so many things every day. If it weren’t for an Imperial Physician constantly watching over him, he could have worked himself to death.

She would pick out the formulas from that collection that were suitable for Leng Yuan.

But even the best formulas had to be paired with proper rest. She was gratified that her husband was finally learning to balance work and leisure.

Leng Yuan: …

This wasn’t going as he’d expected.

‘I said I was tired. Shouldn’t my dear wife feel sorry for me? Why does she look so happy?!’

In the end, Leng Yuan washed up and returned to their room at Gu Jiaojiao’s urging.

After seeing him to the room, Gu Jiaojiao was about to turn and leave when he suddenly pulled her into an embrace from behind.

Gu Jiaojiao didn’t move.

His voice was low and raspy, carrying a hint of seduction.

“Rest with me for a bit? Hmm?”

In the end, they lay down on the bed to rest together.

‘Things were perfectly normal, yet somehow, they had ended up here.’

Gu Jiaojiao actually managed to fall asleep.

She was asleep, but Leng Yuan wasn’t the least bit drowsy. The events of the day had affected him more than he’d let on.

He had heard the villagers gossiping about how he’d been married for so long without any children. He’d never paid it any mind before, but seeing Da Zhuang’s wife leave today made him start to reflect on his own thoughtlessness.

‘As a man, it’s easy for me to not care about such things, but can a young woman truly not care?’

He wasn’t unaware that some of the villagers had venomous tongues.

Right after his parents passed away, plenty of villagers had gossiped about him. He hadn’t cared back then and simply ignored them. Later, when he found work and moved over here to live by himself, he heard even less of their talk.

He could let them talk about him, but he would not stand for them talking about his wife.

When Gu Jiaojiao woke up, the sky outside had already grown dark.

She glanced to her side and saw he was long gone. She quickly got up and went outside, just in time to see Leng Yuan emerging from the kitchen wearing her apron.

“You’re up. Perfect timing for dinner.”

Gu Jiaojiao washed her face to wake herself up, then went out and sat at the dining table.

Dinner was simple: cornmeal porridge, mixed-flour steamed buns, a stir-fried vegetable dish, some fried meatballs, and a cold appetizer.

It was simple, yet hearty.

After dinner, Gu Jiaojiao and Leng Yuan would usually sit in the courtyard to admire the moon, sometimes even composing poetry together.

But today was different. After cleaning up the kitchen, Leng Yuan announced he was going out. He also told Gu Jiaojiao to bolt the main door, saying he wouldn’t be coming back that way.

Gu Jiaojiao: …

‘He didn’t have to specifically point out he was going to climb the wall.’

After Leng Yuan left, Gu Jiaojiao and the two little ones stayed outside to watch the moon.

Influenced by Leng Yuan and Gu Jiaojiao, the two children began composing poems about the moon in the courtyard.

Gu Jiaojiao listened from the side, nodding in approval.

‘Not bad,’ she thought. ‘The children’s poetic vocabulary has grown.’

Meanwhile, Leng Yuan went straight to the village chief’s house.

The summer moonlight was bright, illuminating everything clearly. It was a popular time for visiting neighbors. Under the old locust tree in the center of the village, a group of aunties sat around, chatting away.

The village chief’s wife was out, and the chief himself had gone to check on the pigs again; it seemed one was due to give birth today.

When Leng Yuan entered the courtyard, he saw Xu Chongshan strolling around, holding his son.