Going Back on Your Words

Noticing Jiang Danhe’s uneasiness, Shao Zhan frowned and got up and went to his side. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m fine.” Jiang Danhe resisted the urge to retreat. If he were to do that, it would be as good as announcing that something was up.

“That’s strange,” Shao Zhan said to him. Then, he turned around and walked past him. “Let’s have breakfast together.”

Jiang Danhe held his breath. He waited for the man to move away before walking out the door. Once Shao Zhan was outside, he heaved a sigh of relief and followed behind the emperor hesitantly. He hoped that his dignity would still be intact later.

As he walked, he chanted in his heart, “If my heart is calm, I will naturally feel cool…”

“Something on your mind recently?”

Shao Zhan asked him as they walked.

“No.” Jiang Danhe shook his head. “What could be on his mind, other than this damn body fragrance?”

Shao Zhan glanced back at him. Who would believe those words? “Your dark circles are more honest than your mouth.”

“…” Jiang Danhe touched his eyes. Really? He really didn’t notice any dark circles.

Shao Zhan laughed and shook his head. Jiang Danhe was really something. Running around with dark circles under his eyes.

“By the way, did you see the stoves in the hall?”

“I did. They weren’t there yesterday.”

Jiang Danhe thought of the different stove that he saw in court the day before.

“Are they much warmer than the old ones?”

“Indeed.” Jiang Danhe did not expect to sweat from the heat even though he was wearing so little today. Although the stove looked small, it was quite powerful.

Shao Zhan smiled at him. “It’s all thanks to your wife.”

Jiang Danhe was stunned for a moment and felt inexplicably shy. “Xiaoguo?”

Shao Zhan glanced sideways at the man who smiled at the mention of Xiaoguo. “That’s right, it’s Xiaoguo…”

The last two words were said in a mimic of Jiang Danhe’s tone, and he responded in annoyance, “I can call her that, but you can’t.”

Shao Zhan laughed. He understood what Jiang Danhe meant and he said helplessly, “Yes, yes, yes. Mrs. Jiang, right?”

Jiang Danhe did not feel awkward when he heard this. He nodded firmly. She has always been Mrs. Jiang. ‘Xiaoguo’ was a more personal form of address. Outsiders were banned from calling her name directly.

At the dining table, when the eunuchs had finished tasting the dishes, Shao Zhan dismissed everyone, leaving Jiang Danhe and himself in the room.

Seeing this, Jiang Danhe’s mind raced.

“The Xiongnu might be making a big move soon.”

Jiang Danhe listened attentively. He was also very concerned about the Xiongnu. Ever since Shao Zhan ascended the throne, they had been up to no good and were constantly provoking the Shao Kingdom. However, when the Shao Kingdom sent troops, the Xiongnu would immediately retreat. Their ways and actions were very despicable.

However, it didn’t seem right to directly crusade against the Xiongnu, after all, they did not cause any harm to the Shao Kingdom. If the Shao Kingdom were to send troops because of trivial conflicts, it could attract criticism from other countries. If that happened, the consequences could be dire, as it might lead to the surrounding countries starting a war against them.

The current Shao Kingdom has quite a powerful presence, and could well afford to disregard the smaller nations. But the Xiongnu was behaving like a fly—it did not not cause them harm, but its presence was quite revolting.

Imagine living a good life, but having to face a group of annoying flies that would fly past from time to time. It was disgusting, and annoying. Therefore, the Shao Kingdom had to think of a foolproof plan that would not require them to mobilize their troops, and yet was effective enough to debilitate the Xiongnu.

Shao Zhan looked at Jiang Danhe, who was deep in thoughts, and subconsciously softened his actions. He was very confident about Jiang Danhe’s intelligence. With him thinking of a way to resolve this matter, he could rest assured that Jiang Danhe would come up with something good.

–

In Peach Blossom Village.

“Mother, why is the weather getting colder?”

Zhuang Zhuang’s voice sounded weak. He curled up under the blanket and refused to get out of bed.

Xiaoguo crossed her arms and leaned against the bed, looking at Zhuang Zhuang’s dramatic behavior with interest.

Zhuang Zhuang secretly opened one eye from under the blanket. Why wasn’t his mother saying anything?

“Hi…”

Seeing the beautiful face right in front of him, Zhuang Zhuang was shocked. He exclaimed in fright and did not look as weak as before.

“That’s enough!” Xiaoguo touched Zhuang Zhuang’s butt and patted it a few times with controlled strength. Ignoring the exaggerated screams, she said, “Hurry up and get off the bed. It’s time to eat!”

“It’s cold…”

“Why are you cold? It’s no longer last night when you ran around buck-naked.”

“Mother, I’ll get up immediately.” Zhuang Zhuang knew that there was no way he could get out of this, so he quickly got out of bed, revealing his upper body.

The red undergarment he was wearing made him look like he just stepped out of a Chinese new year poster. He looked just as chubby as the kids in those drawings.

“Jiang Qingwen, you really should lose weight.”

Xiaoguo said those hurtful words mercilessly. He was cute, but he was also fat. His belly was round and bulging.

When Zhuang Zhuang heard this, he pursed his lips and looked like he was about to cry. However, Xiaoguo did not like this habit of his. Whenever she commented about him being fat, he would get upset. However, he still continued stuffing himself at every meal.

“Hurry up and get up. If you don’t get up soon, you can say goodbye to the roast duck for dinner…”

Xiaoguo said in a tempting manner.

Alright, it wasn’t completely Zhuang Zhuang’s fault that he was fat. She was partly to blame. She always enjoyed watching Zhuang Zhuang eat. The more he ate, the happier she was.

“You always talk about making roast duck.”

Zhuang Zhuang did not show his usual excitement. Instead, he continued putting on his clothes calmly. He was sick of hearing about the roast duck, but his mother could not stop talking about it.

“…” Xiaoguo was a little embarrassed. She remembered that she had said it many times before, but because of various unknown reasons, she kept procrastinating. She didn’t expect Zhuang Zhuang to remember what she had said.

“Hey, it’s true this time…” Xiaoguo said again. She was serious. Why didn’t Zhuang Zhuang believe her?

“Yes… you’re serious.” Zhuang Zhuang lowered his head and put on his socks.

This time, it was real. The last time was also real. Even the last last time was real too.

“…” Xiaoguo pursed her lips. Did she have such little credibility now…?

Seeing that Zhuang Zhuang wasn’t taking her seriously, Xiaoguo pretended to feel sorry for him. “Sigh… It seems that I have to put away the duck hanging in the kitchen.”

“Hmm? Really?”

Zhuang Zhuang stopped what he was doing and straightened up. He looked at her suspiciously, trying to determine if she was telling the truth.

Xiaoguo couldn’t take it anymore and gave him a hard knock on the head. This brat still didn’t believe her.

“Time to eat.”

Xiaoguo pointed at Zhuang Zhuang with her chin and led him out of the room.

Zhuang Zhuang rubbed his head and followed behind her silently. He was wrong. He shouldn’t have suspected his mother.

In fact, Xiaoguo wasn’t lying to him. Some time ago, she kept mentioning that she would make roasted duck, but she never did. There were indeed some unknown forces at play. However, when she woke up this morning, the first thing she did was to get the duck out of the fridge and defrost it in warm water.

Zhuang Zhuang arrived at the kitchen and he immediately saw the duck soaking in the water.

“Mother?!”

Zhuang Zhuang looked at the duck in disbelief.

Xiaoguo held her cheek with one hand and looked at Zhuang Zhuang with a teasing smile. “Are you calling me or the duck?”

“Hehe, Mother is the best!” Zhuang Zhuang jumped to Xiaoguo’s side and hugged her arm adoringly.

He had long been drooling over the roast duck that his mother had described, but he never had a chance to taste it. To think that he will be eating it tonight. “Hehe…”

“Mother, are we having the duck for lunch today?”

He couldn’t wait until dinner time.

“Unfortunately, no.”

Xiaoguo felt sorry for Zhuang Zhuang. He must be feeling very disappointed now…

As soon as she said that, Zhuang Zhuang immediately looked listless and dispirited.

It wasn’t until he saw Xiaoguo cleaning the ducks that he perked up.

He quickly went to Xiaoguo’s side and started chattering like a little sparrow, and hovering by her side to help out.

Actually, there wasn’t much for him to do. It was just difficult for him to sit around and do nothing. He kept himself busy running around the kitchen, as if Xiaoguo would start roasting the duck earlier if he did that.