Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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As far as she could remember, Qi Ying had never slept so well and not woken up in the middle of the night, all this was like a dream.
The burning incense in the stove enveloped her like a thin gauze in the night, and the tassels hanging in front of the bed wrapped around a ray of clear moon outside the window. She touched the brocade and satin under her body and turned over gently.
Qi Ying woke up early the next day.
When she turned over and sat up, Si Xia and Ying Ge were already waiting next to her. She was a little embarrassed and whispered: “I’ll do it myself.”
The two maids were not reluctant, just stepping up to help when she needed help. Si Xia brought new winter clothes and said that they were all sent by Uncle Zhang last night. There were various colors and styles for her to choose.
Qi Ying only picked some light colors, these colors would look dull when others wore them, but she looked beautiful, wearing light colors made her look especially refined.
Ying Ge asked her, “Girl, do you want to go to the East Pavilion to have a meal with the general?”
She thought for a while and nodded slightly.
The two accompanied her, but Ji Rang was not in the room this early. The cold wind blew the dry bananas in the courtyard, and the snow had finally stopped after snowing all night.
Probably because the general was in good physical condition, so he didn’t use the heater. The room was cold. She rubbed her hands and told the maids to go back first and waited in the room by herself.
She didn’t look or touch anything randomly. At first, she sat obediently on the chair. After sitting for a long time, she got a little cold, then got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling porcelain vase in front of the window and bowed her head to sniff the fragrance of the plum blossoms.
The remaining flowers and leaves were a little withered. She felt it smelled good, so she smelled it a few more times.
Behind her came Ji Rang’s voice with a smile: “Do you like that flower?”
She was taken aback and turned around quickly. Ji Rang stood behind her, dressed in a black costume and high-tied black hair. She didn’t know when he came back. Under his smiling eyes, she asked in a low voice: “General, where have you been?”
Ji Rang loosened the black wristbands on his wrists and said, “Went to practice.” He stretched out two fingers and stroked her face with the back of his fingers. “Is it cold? You’re all frozen.”
She blushed again and shook her head with her eyes down.
Ji Rang turned to the table and poured himself a glass of water: “Don’t come here in the morning.”
Qi Ying paused, and the crimson faded quickly, leaving only a cramped paleness.
Ji Rang drank the water before continuing to say, “I will go to the West Yard after I practice. There is no heater here, and you will freeze.”
When he looked back, he caught the uneasiness in the little girl’s eyes, and was stunned for a moment, wondering where he had done wrong again. He sighed helplessly from the bottom of his heart, he had to learn how to get along with the little girl.
He put down the water glass, thought for a while, walked over and stretched out his hand to her: “Let’s go, go back and have breakfast.”
Qi Ying lowered her head and put her hand in his palm.
The palm of his hand was so warm. She could hold it all year round. He had thick calluses on his fingertips. Though when he held her hand, it felt very soft. As if he was afraid of pinching her, the warmth was continuously transmitted through the palm. His fingertips finally warmed her cold body.
There was a deserted sun in the sky, half an inch of morning light hung around them, and the snow had not melted, so there was a slight noise when they stepped on it.
She looked down and followed him, and suddenly heard him ask: “Do you like snow?”
She didn’t like it.
It was too cold when it snowed. On days without shelter, snow meant freezing.
But she probably also understood that people in the noble family always liked elegant things, and snow was among them.
So, she made a soft “um” sound.
Ji Rang don’t know if he saw her careful thoughts, but he laughed, and after a long time he said, “I didn’t like it before.”
Qi Ying couldn’t hold back, and asked curiously: “Then why do you like it now?”
Ji Rang smiled, put her little hand closer together, and said nothing.
In the west courtyard, Si Xia and Ying Ge had already prepared their breakfast. As soon as he entered the room, Qi Ying’s hair and eyelashes all condensed into water vapor. Ji Rang leaned over and brushed her skin. When his fingertips touched her skin, he was cold. After thinking about it, he stretched out two palms and held her small face and covered it gently.
She blushed at once.
Ji Rang thought to himself that the little girl was really shy.
After breakfast, he asked the maid to take the cloak and wrapped Qi Ying’s whole body before leading her out. He took her around the General’s Mansion. Although this mansion was not comparable to the high-ranking officials in Beijing, it was still a gift from the imperial court. It was large and spacious. A dozen courtyards were located one after the other, but it was extremely deserted because of the small population.
There were not many people in the house. Ji Rang took her to introduce to all of them. He probably instructed Uncle Zhang, so he didn’t call her madam anymore, only called her “Girl Ying”. Ji Rang wanted her to recognize the way around the entire mansion. He thought that the familiarity would make her feel at ease, and there was nothing wrong with it anyway, so he took the trouble to lead her around.
He probably spent a long time with the soldiers who were rumored to drink blood in the army, and he forgot that the little girl’s physical strength was not comparable to that of a man, not to mention that she had suffered some torture in the bandit village a few days ago and her body was still weak.
But she didn’t say anything, followed him silently, until later when Ji Rang found something was wrong, and tentatively asked: “Yingying, are you tired?”
Qi Ying: “…a little bit.”
Ji Rang wanted to kill himself.
He originally wanted to take her to see the northernmost lotus pond, where thin ice formed on the surface of the pond in winter, while red carp swimming in the water could be seen under the ice. He didn’t want to go now.
He released her hand and squatted down in front of her: “Come on, I will carry you back.”
Qi Ying’s clear pupils opened wide, and she stood still for a moment.
He turned around and smiled at her: “Don’t be afraid, come.”
She hesitated and walked over, slowly lying on his broad back.
His arms were very strong, he held under until his knees were bent, and when he stood up with her on his back, he was steady, and did not make her uncomfortable at all. She put her arms around his neck lightly, her chin resting on his shoulders, and she smelled his scent.
Ji Rang walked to the West Courtyard with her on his back and whispered: “Yingying.”
She tilted her head, looked at his side face, and responded obediently: “Yeah.”
He sighed: “If you’re tired or uncomfortable in the future; tell me, don’t bear it.”
She pursed her lips: “Okay.”
Ji Rang paused and said warmly: “I said that since you stayed, you should treat this as your home.”
The word home was too unfamiliar for her.
Suddenly once she possessed it, after everything, there would be some discomfort.
Ji Rang didn’t say anything, he sent her back to the West Yard, and let the maids serve her lunch, and then left quietly when she fell asleep, went back to his room, changed his clothes, and entered the palace.
The attendant routinely checked his waistband and asked with a casual smile: “You don’t have to go to court today, it’s cold, why did the general enter the palace?”
Ji Rang touched the tip of his nose: “This time this general suppressed the bandits on Fulong Mountain, some details need to be reported to your Majesty.”
That’s what he said, but after entering the palace, he went straight to the plum blossom garden, carefully selected for a long time, picked a few prosperous white plums, and was ready to leave the palace.
As soon as he walked out of the garden, he saw the eunuch who stayed next to the king, and as soon as he saw him, he greeted him: “Your Majesty heard that the general entered the palace, and the special servant came to look for you.”
Ji Rang narrowed his eyes and headed to the inner hall calmly.
As soon as he entered, he heard the king laugh and say: “General is in good spirits, and he entered the palace bearing with wind in winter, just to pick this white plum blossom.”
Ji Rang calmed down: “The plum blossoms in the palace are blessed by your Majesty, and they are very luxuriant. It is rare for the minister to see them living at the border, and I like them very much in my heart.”
The king smiled and waved his hand: “Since you like it, I will plant a few plants into your house in the future.” He changed the topic of the conversation, “I heard that, General brought a woman back the day when he killed the bandits?”
Ji Rang felt his fingers tremble lightly, and silently concealed: “It was an orphan saved by the minister from the mountain bandit. She was alone with nowhere to go, so the minister took her back to the mansion.”
The king slowly smiled and said: “General is kind. It’s just that this lone girl in the mountains is worthy of the lonely general of Zhenguo?”
Ji Rang raised his head to look at the high position, with a serious expression: “The world has not been unified for a day, thus this minister will not marry in a day, and there are no nameless female relatives, so your Majesty should not be worried.
The emperor slowly picked up the censer on the side of the sofa. After a while, he smiled as if nothing had happened: “You are young and energetic, and you should have a female by your side. Fanbang paid tribute of a lot of dancers a few days ago, and you go along and pick a few and take them back to your house.”
Ji Rang knelt down and saluted immediately, and said helplessly: “This general is wrong, the minister is not a greedy person, your majesty should stop embarrassing the minister.”
The king laughed a few times: “No matter who you are, it is natural for me to understand who you are. It is cold at night, so go back earlier.”
Ji Rang picked up the plum blossom from the side, resigned and left.
When he returned to Fuzhong, Qi Ying was already up, and Ji Rang saw her sitting at the window in a daze at the door. He withdrew, walked around behind the window, leaned against the wall, and shook the plum blossom toward the window.
He heard the little girl softly say “Yeah” and lean out half of her body. When she saw him, her eyes became bright, and she shouted softly: “General, you are back.”
He smiled and walked over, and passed the plum blossom to her through a window, “Newly picked, do you like it?”
Qi Ying lowered his head to sniff: “It smells so good.”
He couldn’t help touching her little head: “I asked Uncle Zhang to plant some in the west courtyard. When next winter arrives, it will bloom.”
She nodded obediently, thinking of something, and then said: “General, the Chinese New Year is about to come. Si Xia said to replace some lanterns, what style do you like?”
Ji Rang asked: “Will you do it too?”
She was a little embarrassed: “I’m not good at it, but I will help her with it.” Ji Rang smiled: “As long as you do it, I like
it.”
As expected, the little girl blushed again.
T/N: Why didn’t I know Ji Rang was so good at flirting, maybe it’s the age, after all older ginger is spicier!!!!
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Thank you for updating!!!!
He is good at flirting. Only with Qi Ying
Ah, I can just feeling the tragedy approaching though 🙁
Thanks for the chapter and stay safe!
older ginger is spicier… I will use this in the future!🤣
Thanks for the chapter 😘
Dude, he’s just that smooth :’)
I want my own Ji Rang as well!
My focus keep being led astray by my own KY-ness… 🙈 I’m more concerned whether the imperial family has something to do with JR’s death.
You know, maybe the war he’s died in was after he won the last decisive war for their empire. Like, the other empire/kingdom (s) has been subdued to the point they would need a few decades to rise in power enough to go in war again while all the bandit and the potential rebels also has been subdued. Temporarily, their empire wouldn’t need a service of such outstanding general.
In contrast, (based of QY’s narration) common people give more credit to JR for their save and prosperous country and they never mentioned the emperor and his imperial court’s contribution for it. As a male outsider (of imperial family), he’s free to come into and out of the Forbidden City and bring things (the plum branches) out from the city as if it’s his own courtyard. On top of that, he publicly refused to comply the emperor’s decree. Ofc, we know JR was really loyal. But, all of those still has a potential of danger (challenge) to the imperial might/influence in the empire and can be taken advantage of by ambitious people. If the emperor and the imperial court can’t see the threat, then their empire is the most happy-go-lucky empire I’ve ever read. If they saw it, but resist the temptation to get rid of him… Then, the emperor was an exceptionally magnanimous and wise ruler.