Tiger Owl

Chapter 141 The First Day of the Lunar New Year
Before they knew it, it was the first day of the first month of the seventh year of Jian'an. Gan Ning went to the military camp early in the morning and, as in previous years, celebrated the New Year with the soldiers.

The mansion was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and Da Qiao, just like last year, distributed year-end bonuses to the servants.

Xiao Qiao didn't go anywhere today. She knew Gan Lang would come back drunk, and she had to stay and take care of him.

There was a field stove in the yard with a medicine pot on it, bubbling away, simmering a hangover remedy that not only helped with sobering up but also protected the stomach.

Xiao Qiao squatted to the side, fanning the fire with a fan. She would occasionally crane her neck to look at the doorway. She was hoping that Gan Lang would come back drunk so that she could strip him naked like last year. She hadn't looked closely last year, but today she was going to study him carefully.

Xiao Qiao was filled with anticipation.

Around noon, Gan Ning returned, indeed drunk.

He couldn't help but get drunk. His soldiers took turns toasting him, and he collapsed before he could even eat a bite of food.

The guards helped him into the mansion, and Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao quickly stepped forward to support Gan Ning.

"Ayu, quickly help your husband into the inner room!"

Da Qiao went to arrange for hot water, while Xiao Qiao triumphantly helped Gan Lang into the study and laid him down.

Gan Ning is not completely drunk today; he is still somewhat conscious.

"Da Qiao, get me a glass of water, I'm dying of thirst!"

"I'm coming!"

Xiao Qiao brought over some hangover tea, held Gan Ning's head, and fed him the tea.

After drinking the tea, Gan Ning lay down again in a daze. Xiao Qiao said with a smile, "Now we'll start slaughtering the sheep. I'll shave this big-tailed sheep of yours first, until it's completely shaved."

She knelt beside Gan Ning and began to undo his belt. Suddenly, she froze as a hand slipped inside her skirt.
Xiao Qiao blushed deeply and trembled all over. She was all talk and no action, but this was the first time she had ever been touched by a man.

"No! No! Gan Lang, let go!"

At this moment, Da Qiao came over with two maids carrying a large bucket of hot water. When she saw that her sister was trembling badly, she immediately noticed that her husband's hand was in the wrong place. Da Qiao was both angry and amused. She quickly went forward and pulled Xiao Qiao aside, and then gestured for Xiao Qiao to close the door.

"My dear husband, let me give you a warm bath so you can get some sleep."

"Hmm!" Gan Ning mumbled a dazed reply.

Da Qiao gave her sister a wink, and the two of them together helped Gan Ning take off his clothes and covered him with a blanket. Xiao Qiao was still trembling, and when she took off Gan Ning's lower clothes, she was so ashamed that she couldn't even open her eyes.

After warming his body and covering himself with thick blankets, Gan Ning quickly fell into a deep sleep.

The two sisters packed up the water bucket and took it away. The maid at the door carried the bucket away, and then Da Qiao hugged her younger sister and said softly, "I told you so! You're not ready yet. Wait another two years! When your body is more mature, you'll naturally be able to accept it."

Xiao Qiao lowered her head, on the verge of tears, "Sister, I'm so useless!"

"It's nothing, it's normal. I guess Yunqing is the same as you."

Just then, a maid ran in and said, "Madam, Miss Xu is back!"

Da Qiao was taken aback. Why was Xu Wei back?
She and Xiao Qiao hurried out and, sure enough, saw Xu Wei, wearing a cloak, enter the mansion. Da Qiao stepped forward and hugged her, asking in surprise, "Yun Qing, what happened?"

Xu Wei sighed, "It's a long story, let's go back to our room and talk about it!"

In the room, Xu Wei took off her outer clothes, sat at the table, holding a steaming teacup in her hands, sipped the hot tea slowly, and recounted the events of the past month.

Xiao Qiao's eyes widened in surprise. "So your grandmother was this wicked?"

"Ayu!"

Da Qiao glared at her sister, "Don't talk nonsense!"

Xu Wei lowered her eyes and whispered, "She's not actually a bad person. She's just rather domineering, only considering the family's interests and never thinking about my feelings or asking if I'm willing. That's how all heads of large families are." Da Qiao nodded and asked, "Why is she so determined to have you marry into the Sun family? Last time it was Sun Yi, and this time it's Sun Kuang?"

"I heard that the Xu family and the Sun family have a generational marriage agreement, so my grandmother married from the Sun family to the Xu family, and Wu Hou married my cousin Xu Fen. So she was determined to marry me into the Sun family in order to uphold this agreement."

Xiao Qiao said with dissatisfaction, "They are treating their children and grandchildren as bargaining chips. I think it's a good thing that they have expelled Sister Xu from the family. At least we don't have to be at their mercy anymore."

"What is your father's attitude?" Da Qiao asked again.

"I do not know either!"

Xu Wei lowered her head, not daring to tell Gan Ning about her father's obstruction of her departure. She hadn't yet decided whether to tell him.

“Hey! Fathers usually protect their daughters, Yunqing, don’t worry. If you don’t want to leave, I’ll go and talk to my husband.”

"Thank you sister!"

Da Qiao suddenly remembered the charcoal brazier in her husband's study. A little worried, she quickly said, "I'll go check the study. You two continue chatting. I'll be right back."

A charcoal fire was burning in the study. She forgot to check if any windows were open, and Da Qiao got up and left anxiously.

"What's wrong?" Xu Wei asked with a smile.

Xiao Qiao pouted and said, "Gan Lang is drunk in the military camp and sleeping in the study! She's worried about him."

"Oh! Sister Qiao is such a virtuous wife!"

"What's that?"

Xiao Qiao lowered her voice and chuckled, "Gan Lang mistook me for his elder sister just now and actually touched me!"

"Hey! This seems interesting. Tell me about it."

Da Qiao rushed back to the study like a gust of wind. She pushed open the door and felt a wave of heat hit her. Fortunately, there was no suffocating smell of charcoal. She looked around carefully and found that a window was open.

Da Qiao breathed a sigh of relief and quickly went to the bedside. She saw that her husband was breathing evenly and sleeping soundly. She felt a surge of sweetness in her heart, leaned down and gently kissed her lover's face, and then covered him with the quilt.

She didn't want to leave, so she instructed the housekeeper to tidy up Xu Wei's room and boil water for her to bathe.

After settling Xu Wei in, Da Qiao sat down next to her husband, picked up a needle and thread, and began sewing a pair of socks. These were New Year's socks for her husband, and they were almost finished.

Gan Ning woke up at dusk with a terrible headache. Da Qiao quickly brought him ginger tea and a brain-clearing soup. After drinking the soup, the pain gradually disappeared.

After taking a couple more sips of ginger tea, Gan Ning asked Da Qiao, "I think I heard you say earlier that Xu Wei is back?"

"Yes, she didn't go to Kuaiji County, she just went to Dantu County, stayed there for two days and then came back."

Gan Ning's face darkened. Xu Peng actually dared to lie to him. He asked again, "Did he say why we didn't go to Kuaiji County?"

Da Qiao nodded. "Yun Qing said that her father has been transferred to the imperial court to serve as the Imperial Censor. He is no longer the Prefect of Kuaiji County. Her father is in Dantu County and will be going to take up his post soon."

"I see," Gan Ning's expression softened slightly. "When you were talking to her, did she seem very upset?"

"No! I felt she was very happy and comfortable, like she was at home."

Gan Ning breathed a sigh of relief; he had been worried that Xu Wei would be bullied when he returned to Jiangdong.

"Husband, should I call her over so you can talk to her?"

Gan Ning pondered for a moment and said, "Go and see. If it's inconvenient for her, then forget it. If it is, then have her come over."

(End of this chapter)