That evening, An Jing not only made hot and sour noodles but also stewed a particularly large pork bone.
Then, An Jing and Xiao Changyi were nibbling on the bone while eating the hot and sour noodles. The weather had already cooled down, eating these things could immediately warm someone up, and they were quite flavorful.
"Husband, it’s not too sour, is it?"
"This is really suitable for winter, right?" It was already winter, and they had both put on their winter clothes, which they had specifically gone to Wanbu Pavilion to buy.
"Then, next year let’s plant more sweet potatoes, so we can make more noodles."
"If you don’t sell them, planting so much should still be enough for us to eat."
An Jing thought about it and felt that made sense, so she said, "Then let’s plant more rice next year, we eat rice every meal, unlike noodles, which are nice to eat occasionally, but I’d get tired if I had to eat them every day."
After dinner, in the kitchen, Xiao Changyi stood in front of the stove washing dishes, while An Jing walked around the dining table, feeling a bit full, she walked to aid her digestion.
Just then, the gate to the courtyard was knocked on.
Hearing the sound, An Jing wondered who would come to see them at this hour; they were on the edge of the mountains, and ordinary people would not dare to come at night. Just as she was about to ask who was outside, she heard the door being knocked on again, with a different rhythm from before, but still with a discernible pattern.
An Jing immediately realized this might be a secret signal, and her gaze quickly turned to her husband to see if he had noticed it, but her husband loudly said, "Come in."
An Jing: "..." So it was a secret signal with her husband...
An Jing quickly walked to the kitchen door just in time to see a shadow climbing over the wall into their courtyard.
A line of black lines instantly formed on An Jing’s forehead. Actually, opening the door for you wouldn’t have taken much effort.
There were traps set up all around this wall, let’s not have a situation where no beasts are caught but you end up losing your life.
With the oil lamp lit in the kitchen, the shadow climbed over the wall and headed straight for the kitchen.
An Jing then realized the shadow was Meng Zhuqing, who, dressed in Qingyi and still with a sword hanging at his waist, had a bundle on his back this day.
"Madam." Upon seeing An Jing, Meng Zhuqing respectfully knelt down to greet her.
An Jing didn’t let Meng Zhuqing get up, but just stepped aside to make way, pointing towards the kitchen, "Your master is in there."
Meng Zhuqing hesitated, then got up and entered the kitchen. Upon seeing Xiao Changyi washing dishes, he was stunned; he had never seen their master so ’domesticated’.
After snapping back to reality, he hurriedly bowed and knelt again, greeting, "Master."
An Jing walked back to the dining table and kept walking around it to aid digestion, but her gaze kept shifting towards where Xiao Changyi and Meng Zhuqing were.
Xiao Changyi didn’t speak, continuing to wash dishes, acting as if Meng Zhuqing didn’t exist.
Meng Zhuqing seemed accustomed to it; after a long wait, seeing that Xiao Changyi wasn’t speaking, he took the initiative to report, "Master, the Emperor and the Crown Prince have sent letters for you." As he said this, Meng Zhuqing took out two letters from his bundle, respectfully holding them up even higher than his head.
Xiao Changyi wasn’t in a hurry to take the letters, continuing to wash the dishes.
But An Jing was getting tired of watching. Meng Zhuqing holding up the letters must have been tired too, so she walked over, intending to take the letters, but Meng Zhuqing didn’t want to hand them to her.