Reborn in the Three Kingdoms: Da Qiao Doesn't Want to Be a Widow Anymore

Chapter 322 Snowman
Zhou Yu never appeared until after Qiao's mother was buried and Sun Quan led Qiao Wei and his party away from Wan County.

He had military duties to attend to, and Qiao Rong was merely a concubine to him. It would be against the rules for him to personally attend the funeral.

Qiao Rong held Zhou Xun in her arms in the car, lost in thought, seemingly pondering something.

Qiao Wei sat down next to Qiao Rong, looking at Zhou Xun sleeping soundly in his arms, his eyes softened, "It's hard for him to be jostled around in the carriage while he's still an infant."

Fortunately, Zhou Xun was able to eat and sleep well and did not show any signs of discomfort.

Aside from the occasional spitting up of milk, which keeps everyone busy and flustered.

Sun Deng was very curious about his younger brother and would come to see him several times a day. Of course, he would also show his slight dissatisfaction that his younger brother was still unable to eat, drink, and take care of himself.

Qiao Wei taught him an idiom: "saying one thing but meaning another."

Sun Quan had political and military affairs to attend to, and the funeral of Qiao's mother had already delayed things for a long time. So he quickly rode to Jingkou first, while Qiao Wei and Qiao Rong returned to Wu County to arrange everything before setting off from Wu County to Jingkou.

Tai Shi Xiang volunteered to stay and accompany Qiao Wei on his journey, and to coordinate the guards to protect the safety of the women.

Qiao Rong peered out of the carriage window and saw Tai Shi Xiang and Sun An riding side by side at the front of the procession, exchanging a few words now and then.

Qiao Rong said in a low voice, "I had heard that General Taishi was quite arrogant, yet he agreed to stay as a guard?"

“He is a smart man. The safety of the women is at stake. Although it may not seem as impressive as going to the front lines, he should not be entrusted with this task unless he is someone whom the lord trusts deeply.”

After all, no one can entrust their assets, wife, and children to someone else.

Qiao Wei thought for a moment, "It was probably General Taishi who gave him the idea."

Most of Sun Quan's guards were family retainers who had followed him for many years, and Taishi Xiang could not easily compete with them in terms of seniority and achievements.

On the contrary, apart from Youxie and his sister, Qiao Wei doesn't have many trustworthy guards around him.

Moreover, as the eldest son of the legitimate wife, Sun Deng will inevitably need to choose a bodyguard in a year or two. If he can gain the trust and favor of the wife and the young master, he will surely gain the favor of Sun Quan as well.

After two months of fussing, sending Youye and Xiaoye to their new posts, and even having their packed luggage arrive several days later, Qiao Wei and his group finally arrived in Jingkou.

Zhang Hong and his group walked out of the council hall, while two of the bolder young civil officials were still discussing the matter.

"This is quite strange. It's not even mealtime yet, and you're already willing to release them?"

Zhang Hong said, "Just now, General Yourou said a few words, and Your Excellency seemed a little distracted. You must be meeting someone important."

Zhang Zhao looked knowing. "Then it must be the madam who has arrived."

He shook his head slightly. This young couple was just a bit too hasty.

"The New Year is almost here again, and it will be lively with Madam's arrival."

The new Marquis's residence in Jingkou is much larger than the previous Sun residence, and it is also more carefully divided into front and back yards.

To avoid suspicion, Qiao Rong, Yuan Langlang, and Sun Quan and Qiao Wei's residences were not only separated by a river, but even the walls and doors protecting their courtyards were separate.

A chilly winter breeze swept across the corridor as Sun Quan returned from official business, a faint scent of ink still lingering on his fingertips. In the courtyard, several children were dressing up a snowman with Qiao Wei.

Qiao Wei was wearing a red cloak. Snowflakes were falling from the trees, and the stray hairs at her temples were fluttering slightly from her breath. Her small face was slightly red from the cold, which made her look even prettier than if she had applied rouge.

Meanwhile, Sun Deng, who was wrapped up like a ball in clothes and a hat, was holding a small plate of rice cakes. He was enjoying his meal but didn't forget to share. He followed his older brother, swaying as he went, and then gave the cakes to his older brother and sister one by one.

The snow on the ground was still slippery, and he lost his footing, almost falling. Luckily, Youhui reacted quickly and caught him. Sun Deng wasn't scared at all; in fact, he found it amusing, giggling as he took a piece of rice cake from the plate and handed it to Youhui. "Thank you, Youhui. The rice cake is delicious; you should have some too!"

"Thank you, young master." Youhui squatted down, smiling happily. "It's really delicious."

Qiao Rong and Yuan Langlang sat by the stove with Zhou Xun in their arms, watching the children play and chatting.

Sun Quan unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, and the gloom between his brows from handling military affairs for days gradually dissipated.

The commotion in the courtyard made him feel more comfortable than the victory reports written by Huang Zhong and Lü Meng on his desk.

Qiao Wei held Sun Min's hand and painted eyes on the snow doll, but Qiao Wei was really not good at painting, and the eyes looked a bit strange no matter how you looked at them.

Qiao Wei could only add ink and continue revising, waiting for her to finish before examining it.

Okay, this seems even stranger now.

Even Sun Min couldn't help but frown, "Auntie, ugly..."

She's good at drawing organizational diagrams, but when it comes to drawing people... she really hasn't developed that skill.

Just as she was about to give up, a pair of broad, kind hands reached out from behind her and took the pen from her hand. Qiao Wei turned around, "Lord Jun?"

Sun Deng stumbled over and hugged Sun Quan's leg, looking up and calling out, "Father!"

I also smeared his leg with my saliva.

Sun Quan reached out with his left hand and pulled the person into his arms. The children also called out, "Uncle, Uncle!"

Sun Quan agreed to all of them, and then made a slight modification to the snowman's eyes, instantly giving the snowman's features a more expressive look.

"Indeed, professional matters should be left to professionals." Qiao Wei couldn't help but sigh. He had clearly seen Sun Quan casually sketch a few lines, but the resulting effect was completely different.

Sun Quan put down his pen, took Qiao Wei's hand to warm her up, and said, "It's not like you've never seen snow before, why are you fooling around with the kids?"

"Is it fun?"

"I think you haven't taken enough medicine!" Sun Quan scolded her, but he didn't let her go back to her room. "What else do you want to draw?"

Sun Min tugged at Sun Quan's sleeve and pointed to another, smaller snowman on the stone table beside them. "Uncle, could you draw one for my snowman too?"

Sun Quan accepted all requests and, as Sun Min requested, painted beautiful facial features on the snowmen of various sizes that the children had built.

"Uncle is amazing!" The children clapped their hands and jumped around in the snow. Sun Min added, "He's even more amazing than Auntie."

Qiao Wei felt honored upon hearing the first half of the sentence, but the second half was not so pleasant. He frowned, pretending to be angry, and muttered under his breath, "You can't be so unfair, praising one while belittling the other!"

Sun Min grinned and hid behind Sun Quan, not afraid of Qiao Wei at all.

Sun Quan chuckled and said, “Your aunt’s real skill isn’t in this. As you meet more people in the future, you’ll realize just how amazing your aunt is.”

As she spoke, she took Qiao Wei's hand and led the children into the house. "I could smell the aroma of dinner being prepared in the corridor tonight."

"I've prepared a dish called 'Zhuidou Shan,' shall I?"

The "Zhuidou Shan" was actually the Eastern Han Dynasty version of hot pot, but it was served in a single vessel per person, much like the individual hot pots we eat today.