Peaceful Farm Life

Chapter 503: Chapter 503: Out of Breath, No Need to Go Out_1

They chatted idly for a while before An Jing asked Xiao Changyi to join her in a leisurely game of chess, taking their time as there was no rush.

Time trickled by slowly.

On the next day, as soon as it was dawn, Meng Lanqing and Meng Zhuqing left, while Xiao Changyi and An Jing had a quick breakfast before going to sleep in the inner room.

On the fourth day of the new year, Meng Zhuqing came again, still with a bruised and swollen face.

An Jing looked at Meng Zhuqing’s swollen head, ”What happened to you? Did your brother beat you up again?”

Meng Zhuqing nodded, ”Um. Right after leaving from your place on the first day of the year, he caught up with me on the road and gave me a thrashing.”

An Jing was silent for a moment, then asked curiously, ”Why did he beat you?”

Meng Zhuqing shook his head, ”I don’t know.”

”How about I have my husband send someone to beat him up for you, to take revenge?”

Meng Zhuqing immediately shook his head, ”Madam, please don’t do that. I’m used to it, I’m not angry, there’s no need for revenge.”

I’m used to it...

An Jing didn’t know what to say anymore.

Then she briskly changed the subject, ”What brings you here today?”

Only then did Meng Zhuqing take out a rather large wooden box from his bag, opened it, and inside there was a stack of white paper along with two letters.

White paper?!

An Jing was excited the moment she saw the white paper. They actually made it!

Xiao Changyi’s eyes briefly gleamed.

”These are from the Crown Prince,” Meng Zhuqing said respectfully. ”They were delivered to me this morning and entrusted to me to pass on to the Prince. He says the white paper has already been produced. These are for you and the Madam to try writing on, and the first batch has been test-marketed with pleasing results, so there likely won’t be increased taxes this year.” He continued, ”There is also a letter from the Emperor and the Crown Prince for the Prince.”

Once Xiao Changyi took the letters, he told Meng Zhuqing to leave.

An Jing picked up a sheet of white paper and examined it in her hands, ”Husband, the quality of this white paper seems quite good.”

Xiao Changyi said, ”If you like it, I’ll have Chengyu send more.”

An Jing was immediately happy, ”There’s no need for that, our house isn’t lacking in paper. Remember how much we bought from the town last time?” She really didn’t care much about the color of the paper she used for writing.

Xiao Changyi didn’t say anything more and instead opened the letters with An Jing to read. They started with the one from the Emperor of Xiyun, which was filled with words of concern, and Xiao Changyi and An Jing quickly finished reading it.

Then, they began to read the letter from Su Chengyu.

Su Chengyu’s letter was indeed thick.

It seemed even thicker than the last one.

Su Chengyu, excited about the white paper breakthrough, wrote several pages just about that, followed by a pile of minor details. Among these trifles, one caught the attention of An Jing and Xiao Changyi.

That was the matter of Chilin Kingdom seeking a marital alliance with Xiyun Kingdom.

The Emperor of Xiyun was reluctant to marry off his princess daughters to other countries, preferring instead to choose a Commandery Princess as the bride. However, the Princes and Commandery Princes didn’t want their daughters to be married off to foreign lands either. At this point, Linghe volunteered to marry into the Chilin Kingdom; thereafter, the Emperor of Xiyun agreed, conferring Linghe the title ’Princess Chengyin’ and marrying her off as a consort to the Emperor of Chilin, with the escort troops having set off a month ago.

An Jing frowned, ”Chengyu says Linghe is acting out of noble righteousness, but why do I feel like she’s up to no good?”

Xiao Changyi was silent, yet his slightly narrowed eyes clearly showed he didn’t agree with the Emperor of Xiyun’s decision at all.

Seeing Xiao Changyi’s disapproval, An Jing pondered for a long while before speaking again, ”Maybe we are overthinking it. After all, her family is here in Xiyun. If she did anything against the interests of Xiyun, the Pingjun Prince’s Mansion would be the first to suffer.”