Chapter 1234 – Preparing for War, Rest and Recuperation (13)
After the great battle, it turns out New Year’s doesn’t come easy.
The busy keep being busy, the ones needing overtime continue to work late, but there’s one standout, Feng Zhen, that oddball, sticking out like a sore thumb in the crowd.
Yang Si slammed the table, making it creak like ancient wood.
“No way! I’m getting married and taking leave—”
The entire administrative hall was nearly buried under heavy bamboo scrolls, moving required cat-like stealth.
Everyone was in deep waters, while that old rascal Feng Zhen had a chit from the Lord and dashed off to handle his wedding plans.
Why should he get special treatment?
Is there discrimination against married folks and older singles?!
Yang Si noticed Feng Zhen lounging at home doing nothing, and his heart was thrown off balance.
Feng Zhen held a platter of dried fruits in one hand and a slender bamboo skewer in the other, poking a piece and tossing it into his mouth.
Calmly, he said, “Jing Rong, be careful—walls have ears. As a minister favored by the Lord, how can you use such a flimsy excuse to shirk your responsibilities? If the Lord found out, he would be furious and deeply disappointed. One shouldn’t sacrifice big things over small.”
Yang Si was practically laughing in anger.
“Do you know that deceiving the Lord is also a grave offense?”
Feng Zhen was using his wedding preparations as a reason for leave, and Jiang Pengji thought it strange that Feng Zhen had no elders in his family to help with the wedding. So, she generously approved his leave, giving him not just this year’s holiday but also lifting some of Feng Zhen’s burdens and shuffling that pressure onto someone else.
With one major worker absent, didn’t that just pile on the work for others?
At the very least, many would be working until New Year’s morning, and even if they dawdled a bit, they’d still have to stay in the study battling it out after the New Year’s Eve dinner.
Jiang Pengji’s officers mostly lived close, many in the central area, neighbors or just a couple of streets apart.
Yang Si visited Feng Zhen to check on his wedding prep progress.
It was shocking—where was the Feng Zhen rumored to be jumping around in chaos?
Before him lay a laid-back sloth perched on a low couch by an open window, sipping sake and nibbling dried fruits—who was this scoundrel?!
Feng Zhen claimed he was on leave to prepare for his wedding, yet here he was, secretly indulging in sleep—how was this not deception?
Faced with Yang Si’s threats, Feng Zhen remained unfazed, smiling lightly as he said, “I truly didn’t deceive the Lord.”
Yang Si asked, “If you’re lounging here, who’s handling your wedding?”
Feng Zhen proudly puffed out his chest and declared, “Who else but my clever and capable son? A son should be like this!”
Yang Si: “…”
First, he was showered with dog food by Feng Zhen, and now he was getting son-bragged at—couldn’t someone spare a thought for the older single guys?
Feng Zhen smugly picked at his teeth with the skewer and said, “How can you lonely souls understand the joys of a wise wife and filial son bringing prosperity to the household?”
Yang Si immediately grimaced in disgust and gritted his teeth, “You should let that Madam Wang take a good look at your character!”
Such a crude action—how could Feng Zhen have the gall to do that in front of others?
Feng Zhen said, “In time, you’ll see the fun of married life, Jing Rong—you just don’t understand couple’s humor—”
Yang Si: “…”
Seriously, enough is enough (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
Successfully grossing out Yang Si, Feng Zhen hummed a little tune. He lounged on the small couch, a loose top slipping off his shoulder to reveal an elegant green scholar’s robe, hair tied loosely, black locks cascading over his shoulder. Supporting himself with one hand on the couch, he took a cup steaming with hot drink and sipped. Just then, a gust of cold wind blew in through the window, sending fine white snow drifting onto his head and hair—
“Rui Xue Zhao Feng Nian—next year will surely be a bountiful harvest—”
Murmuring pleasantly, the New Year’s spirit already thick in the air, common folks dressed in heavy new winter clothes were bustling about the streets.
After a few years of development, the entire Xiangyang County had truly felt like Wanzhou’s commercial center, with merchants coming and going in a steady stream.
Buildings in Xiangyang were gradually being renovated from the old, run-down wooden and stone houses into elegant green-tiled wooden homes.
The streets were lined with clean, tidy stone or blue brickwork, spacious and neat.
As the city was continuously expanded, the original city gates were remade into inner gates, with another two gates added in the process.
In terms of prosperity, today’s Xiangyang County was no less than the old capital city, and it could even surpass it in some respects.
The population grew from around twenty to thirty thousand to over three hundred thousand.
As the New Year approached, the markets were painted red, with vendors eagerly pushing their goods on both sides of the street.
A heavy snow had fallen recently, and the county office issued a decree for all households to clear the snow, to prevent excessive snow buildup causing buildings to collapse.
This decree had been upheld for several years, and the common folks were already accustomed to it.
Initially, some immigrants to the area scoffed at it, only to see a resident slip and break a bone trudging past their home, leading to a furious lawsuit. The county sent officials to inspect the snow situation, adjudged that the family had failed to clear snow properly, with a fine imposed, and the head of the household ended up in jail for three days as punishment. After that hefty fine, no one dared defy the county’s decree again.
Years passed, and snow clearing had evolved into a seasonal family entertainment project.
Yang Si passed through a residential alley and, over a high courtyard wall, caught a glimpse of a sturdy figure dressed in black, shoveling snow from a rooftop.
“Isn’t that General Fu?”
Muttering to himself, Yang Si quickly motioned for the carriage to stop.
He tiptoed, trying to see better.
Fu Wang was muscular and robust, wearing a black tight-fitting outfit that clung to his body and showcased his well-defined muscles—who wouldn’t be envious of that broad shoulders and narrow waist?!
He rolled his sleeves up to the elbows, his forearm muscles bulging from effort, holding a large broom used for snow clearing in both hands.
“That doesn’t seem like General Fu’s residence, does it?”
Yang Si glanced around at the surroundings, confirming again that he hadn’t misremembered.
“Go, knock on the door, and just say the master has come to visit General Fu.”
Inside, Fu Wang was just as bewildered.
He and Yang Si weren’t particularly close, so why would the latter come to visit him, and especially at Madam Hui Jun’s place?
Yes, Fu Wang was currently at Hui Jun’s house visiting her children while also helping clear the snow from her rooftop.
With only a few older women and maidservants at Hui Jun’s house and the building being relatively high, they had difficulty climbing, so Fu Wang volunteered.
Having grown up amid wolf packs, Fu Wang’s style was clearly wolf-like.
Patiently stalking his prey, he made sure to blend into their lives before he’d make his move with overwhelming power!
It wasn’t a fear of failure, just a fear of losing one’s patience.
Starting as friends, gradually deepening the bond—Hui Jun hadn’t resisted having him teach her two children; it was a good sign.
