“Second sister-in-law, you’ve finally come to see me. I’ve been waiting for you all day. I didn’t see you at the clinic, and I thought you weren’t coming,” Bai Yuxuan said coquettishly.
“I had some matters to attend to this morning, so I’m a bit late today,” Leng Ruo Li explained with a smile.
“Consort, don’t listen to her. Xuan’er, she’s just bored. Consort has so many things to do every day; she can’t possibly come to chat with you every day,”
The wife of Marquis Jing Yuan reprimanded Bai Yuxuan on the spot. Bai Yuxuan pouted aggrievedly.
“Xuan’er, your mother is right. Consort is so busy; where would she have so much time to spend with you?”
Marquis Jing Yuan gently tapped Bai Yuxuan’s forehead. Without Leng Ruo Li having to chase him out, he left the ward on his own, even closing the door behind him.
Seeing Marquis Jing Yuan leave the ward, Leng Ruo Li stopped chatting with Bai Yuxuan. She had the wife of Marquis Jing Yuan and the nurses she brought help Bai Yuxuan take off her trousers. Leng Ruo Li immediately began her examination and then applied medication.
After Leng Ruo Li finished applying medication to her daughter, the wife of Marquis Jing Yuan anxiously asked, “Consort, how is Xuan’er’s lower body?”
“Marchioness, please don’t worry. The princess’s incision is recovering well. However, it’s summer, and the temperature is hot, which can easily breed bacteria and cause inflammation. You can wash her private parts with a basin of warm water every day; this will help the wound heal,” Leng Ruo Li instructed the wife of Marquis Jing Yuan.
“Yes, Mother. I haven’t bathed in two or three days, and I’m starting to smell. Now even Second Sister-in-law will dislike me,” Bai Yuxuan said, giving Leng Ruo Li a grateful look and quickly agreeing.
“Oh, is that so? I’ve been treating Xuan’er as if she were in confinement.”
At this moment, the wife of Marquis Jing Yuan understood how foolish she had been, nearly causing great harm to her daughter.
“It’s alright. From today onwards, have someone bring a basin of warm water from the wood shed for the princess to wash up. It would be even better if you could give the princess a bath.”
Leng Ruo Li finished speaking with a slight smile.
“Alright, thank you for your reminder, Consort. I’ll have someone fetch a basin of warm water for Xuan’er to wash up in shortly,” the wife of Marquis Jing Yuan earnestly promised Leng Ruo Li.
…
In the evening, the night was deep.
Leng Ruo Li and Jun Mo Han arrived at General Leng’s residence by carriage.
This time, Leng Ruo Li did not have the steward alert her father. The couple quietly entered Leng Jinyu’s courtyard, but after searching around for a long time, they couldn’t find him.
Finally, the couple spotted him by the lake in the general’s mansion’s garden.
He was looking up at the dark night sky, his hands behind his back, standing motionless. His posture was tall and straight, like a pine tree, immersed in the dark twilight. His back looked extremely lonely, as if he were reminiscing about something.
“Daddy, what are you doing standing here?” Leng Ruo Li asked curiously.
Hearing Leng Ruo Li’s voice, Leng Jinyu quickly turned around.
“Li’er, you’re back!” Leng Jinyu said, looking at Leng Ruo Li with a beaming smile.
“Daddy, standing here on such a stuffy night, the mosquitoes must be having a feast,” Leng Ruo Li said to Leng Jinyu in jest.
“It’s alright, Daddy’s skin is thick. Those mosquitoes can’t get any blood from Daddy,” Leng Jinyu replied with a hearty laugh.
“That won’t do. Daddy, let’s go back to the courtyard.”
Leng Ruo Li walked over, took Leng Jinyu’s hand, and led him back to his courtyard.
Along the way, Leng Ruo Li looked at Leng Jinyu, who had been smiling at her, and her nose suddenly felt a sting.
“Daddy, are you missing Mother again?” Leng Ruo Li asked.
Upon hearing this, Leng Jinyu smiled and nodded.
“Your mother and I have been separated for seventeen years. Since I learned that your mother might still be alive, I’ve missed her more and more. I wonder how she’s doing on Cloud Mist Island? Has her poison been cured? Does she miss us too?”
When Leng Jinyu spoke of Xia Wan'er, his smiling face instantly turned sorrowful.
“Daddy, don’t worry. Mother must be thinking of us too, and she’s doing very, very well!”
Leng Ruo Li could only comfort Leng Jinyu this way.
“Li’er, Daddy wants to go find your mother now,” Leng Jinyu suddenly said to Leng Ruo Li.
Leng Jinyu’s words startled the Consort and King Leng.
“Daddy, you can’t leave the capital yet. Although the Emperor has dealt with the Duke of Lin’s mansion and Fei Pang, they still have many remnants in the court who will take this opportunity to stir up trouble and conspire. Moreover, Lin Zhenfan, who escaped the capital, still controls one-third of the Tianwu Kingdom’s military power. If Daddy leaves the capital now and Lin Zhenfan takes advantage of it to attack the capital, the capital will be in danger.”
Leng Ruo Li quickly found an excuse to persuade him.
Upon hearing this, Leng Jinyu smiled.
“Aren’t you two guarding the capital? With your intelligence and wisdom, even if Lin Zhenfan brings a thousand troops, he won’t be able to take the capital. Daddy is not worried.”
Leng Jinyu immediately retorted.
In fact, Leng Jinyu knew his beloved daughter’s intentions. She was using this excuse because she was worried about the dangers he might encounter on his journey to find Xia Wan’er alone.
“That still won’t do. We are still young and inexperienced; how can we compare to Daddy?”
Leng Ruo Li quickly flattered Leng Jinyu.
“Daddy, if you truly want to go find Mother, then after we’ve dealt with all the matters in the capital, we’ll go to Cloud Mist Island to find Mother together.”
Leng Ruo Li persuaded him again.
“Li’er is right, Father-in-law. If you leave the capital now, those corrupt officials in the court will know that my father, the Emperor, is lacking an arm, and they will surely take the opportunity to cause chaos,” Jun Mo Han added in agreement.
“Alright, I’ve been separated from Wan’er for over ten years, so a year or half a year more won’t make a difference.”
Saying this, a hint of helpless amusement appeared on Leng Jinyu’s face.
“Then, Daddy, you must keep your word, right? You absolutely cannot leave us behind and secretly go find Mother.”
Leng Ruo Li asked Leng Jinyu to guarantee it again.
“Alright, alright, alright!”
Leng Jinyu looked at Leng Ruo Li helplessly and said “alright” three times in a row.
Hearing this, Leng Ruo Li chuckled proudly.
“Let’s go, Daddy. We’ll go to your courtyard, and I’ll make some refreshing sweet soups for you.”
With that, Leng Ruo Li pulled Leng Jinyu into his Xilin Courtyard. Afterward, she instructed Jun Mo Han to keep her father company while she happily went to the corner of the courtyard’s corridor and slipped into her space.
She spent twenty minutes in her space making three refreshing sweet desserts. She brought out one bowl of rock sugar and lily with mung bean soup, one bowl of double-skin milk, and one bowl of eight-treasure congee.
The rock sugar and lily with mung bean soup and the eight-treasure congee were prepared by Leng Ruo Li the previous night when she was harvesting sweet potato seedlings in her space and had stored them in the refrigerator to freeze.
When Leng Ruo Li served the three desserts to Jun Mo Han and Leng Jinyu, they both unceremoniously picked up their preferred desserts and began to eat happily.
Originally, both Jun Mo Han and Leng Jinyu disliked sweets. However, after spending a long time with Leng Ruo Li, the father-in-law and son-in-law had also fallen in love with desserts.