Tiger Owl

Chapter 217 Visiting the Temple Fair Together
Gan Ning ate dinner and drank a few cups of wine in his study, patiently waiting for the auspicious time to arrive.

At this moment, the sound of drums could be heard in the distance, signaling the arrival of Hai Shi (9-11 PM), an auspicious time for the evening, perfect for sacrifices, weddings, and the like.
Gan Ning downed the wine in his glass in one gulp, then slowly stood up. At that moment, the door opened, and Xu Wei walked in.

"My love, the time has come, come with me!"

Gan Ning grasped her hand and smiled, "You seem very happy?"

Xu Wei nodded, "I'm happy for Ayu. She's waited five years, and this moment has finally come. I wish her all the best!"

After a pause, Xu Wei continued, "If we're going to spend our lives together and accept each other, there won't be any family conflicts."

Gan Ning entered Xiao Qiao's courtyard. Xu Wei gently closed the gate, and Gan Ning locked it before going into the room.

The room was brightly lit by wedding candles, and Xiao Qiao, dressed in a beautiful wedding gown and wearing a phoenix crown, sat shyly in front of the bed.

Gan Ning sat down beside her, put his arm around her, and laughed, "Little rapeseed has finally grown up!"

Xiao Qiao covered her mouth and chuckled. Gan Ning pulled her into his arms and whispered in her ear, "Do you want to turn off the lights?"

Xiao Qiao nodded gently. Gan Ning got up and extinguished the candles, plunging the room into darkness. Gan Ning carried his beloved wife into the tent and lowered the curtains.

Outside, light snow was falling, and the cold was biting, but inside the bridal chamber, spring was in the air. Xiao Qiao had finally waited for the most important moment of her life.

That night, she became a happy young woman.

As dawn broke, Xiao Qiao was once again taken by her husband to a blissful world that captivated her.

Countless hours passed, and Xiao Qiao remained with her eyes closed, unwilling to awaken from her blissful state.

"Shall I go to the temple fair with you?" Gan Ning whispered in her ear.

"Ok!"

Xiao Qiao slowly opened her beautiful eyes. The room was dimly lit, and she saw her husband's handsome face. She couldn't help but kiss him.

The two kissed for a long time before Xiao Qiao suddenly realized what was happening and excitedly hugged Gan Ning, asking, "What did you just say?"

"I mean, I'll go to the temple fair with you, and bring your older sister and Yunqing with me."

When her older sister was mentioned, Xiao Qiao became a little discouraged and mumbled, "My older sister will be angry."

"With me here with you, of course she won't be angry."

Xiao Qiao blinked her beautiful eyes and said happily, "Then my husband should go and tell my sister."

"It's dawn, let's get up!"

“I will help my husband get dressed, and I will also make him ginseng soup! This is the rule, and I always keep it in mind.”

Xiao Qiao sat up, and Gan Ning was immediately dazzled by her bright skin. Compared to Da Qiao and Xu Wei's fair skin, Xiao Qiao's skin had a porcelain-like quality with a rosy glow, which was extremely pleasing to the eye and truly captivated Gan Ning.

Stepping out of the house, a fresh, cold wind rushed towards me. It was already daylight, the courtyard was quiet, and the snow on the ground was a foot deep.

"Ayu, I'm going to the study now!"

Xiao Qiao was busy brewing ginseng tea for her husband when she quickly agreed, "Go ahead, husband! I'll bring the ginseng tea over in a bit!"

Gan Ning opened the courtyard gate, and Xiao Qiao's two personal maids hurriedly bowed and slipped into the courtyard along the gate to start tidying up the rooms and sweeping the yard.

As soon as Gan Ning left, Xu Wei sneaked in and asked Xiao Qiao with a grin, "See? I wasn't wrong, was I?"

Xiao Qiao blushed and nodded, "That feeling is so beautiful, I really like it."

"He's yours for the next few days, enjoy it!"

"Oh, right, my husband said he'd come with us to the temple fair."

"today?"

Xiao Qiao nodded, "Anyway, the annual reward was already given yesterday, and we're free this morning, so let's go for a stroll and come back. My husband has to go to the military camp at noon."

Although Xu Wei didn't particularly like joining in the fun, she was willing to go with her husband. "Alright then! Let's go together. I want to buy some exotic flowers and plants."

After breakfast, Gan Ning took Xu Wei and Xiao Qiao into the carriage. Da Qiao had to take care of the child and couldn't go with them.

The New Year temple fair is held at the City God Temple. Chaisang has a strong commercial atmosphere and places great importance on the New Year temple fair. Every year, it is crowded with people, making it difficult to walk. In contrast, Nanchang County is lively during the Spring Festival on the second day of the second lunar month, but the temple fair is much quieter than in Chaisang.

The carriage stopped opposite the City God Temple. Looking at the dense crowd, Xiao Qiao and Xu Wei were stunned. There were too many people. How were they supposed to walk around?
"Husband, why don't we go back? There are so many people, we can't even squeeze in."

Gan Ning waved his hand and laughed, "Wait a minute!"

Before long, the guards dispersed the crowd at the temple fair's main entrance, revealing a driveway entrance. This was a driveway that Gan Ning had arranged a few days earlier to open, separated by heavy barriers, to facilitate the transport of goods and allow the families of high-ranking officials to participate in the temple fair. This was the first time this had happened this year.

"Hey! Bottle."

Xiao Qiao suddenly saw her friends Yang Ping'er and Qiao Jingjing, who were also standing outside the gate in a daze. There were too many people, and they didn't dare to go in.

Xiao Qiao quickly opened the car door and shouted, "Ping'er, Jingjing!"

Yang Ping'er is the youngest daughter of Xiao Qiao's uncle Yang Jing, while Qiao Jingjing is the daughter of her second uncle Qiao An. They are about the same age as Xiao Qiao and have ordinary appearances. They are already engaged, but have not yet gotten married.

The two girls saw Xiao Qiao and quickly ran over, "Ayu, didn't you say you weren't coming?"

The two suddenly saw Gan Ning, and immediately understood. They both stuck out their tongues in embarrassment.

Gan Ning smiled slightly and said, "I'm going to the military camp anyway. You four can take a ride to the temple fair! If you need anything, just have the guards buy it for you. You don't need to get off the carriage."

Gan Ning gave Xu Wei a wink, signaling her to keep an eye on the three women and not to get off the carriage.

Xu Wei smiled and nodded, "Don't worry, husband! We'll just take a quick look around and then head back; we won't get out of the car."

Gan Ning left with his personal guards, and a dozen guards and four female attendants escorted the carriage as it slowly drove into the road.

It must be said that Gan Ning's departure was a wise move. Although Xiao Qiao was reluctant to see her husband leave, the four of them relaxed immediately after Gan Ning left, and the carriage was filled with laughter and chatter all the way.

The New Year temple fair is actually a New Year's worship of the City God, while the Spring Festival on the second day of the second lunar month is a rural worship of the Earth God. Various activities are held at the same time, attracting a large number of people to participate. Many people bring local specialties to participate in the temple fair and sell them to raise money for their travel expenses.

Therefore, the local specialties at the temple fair are very distinctive, especially those from Lushan Mountain, as well as those from the Yangtze River region.

The sounds of hawking and shouting rose and fell. Suddenly, Xiao Qiao's eyes lit up, and she shouted, "Stop the car! Stop the car!"

The carriage stopped, and Xu Wei asked, puzzled, "Ayu, what did you see?"

Xiao Qiao pointed and asked, "Look, what is that person holding in their hand?"

A large crowd surrounded a small stall. The stall owner held up an enormous, deep yellow tuber, which looked very tempting to everyone around. Many people were haggling over the price, but the stall owner ignored them and shouted, "Ten strings of cash, not a penny less!"

"That's ginger, isn't it?" Yang Ping'er asked hesitantly.

"It's not ginger!"

Qiao Jingjing recognized it, "It looks like Solomon's Seal!"

The four women were all amazed; they couldn't believe that there was such a large Solomon's Seal.

Xiao Qiao whispered to Xu Wei with a grin, "Let's buy it together to help my husband get better."

Xu Wei blushed. "If you want to buy it, just buy it yourself. Why are you dragging me into this?"

"You said it! Then I'll buy it myself."

Xiao Qiao took out ten taels of silver and handed it to the female guard, Sang Ye.

Sang Ye pushed through the crowd and squeezed forward. The man was indeed selling Solomon's Seal, which he had dug up on Mount Lu. It weighed more than 20 jin and was at least a thousand years old.

If you had connections, even if the price was 100 strings of cash, the wealthy would snap it up. But this is a temple fair, a place where ordinary people gather. If the price is 10 strings of cash, no one can afford it.

Under the envious gazes of countless people, Sang Ye directly bought this extremely rare thousand-year-old Solomon's Seal for ten taels of silver.

(End of this chapter)