After Linghe and the others left, An Jing said to Xiao Changyi, "Husband, it seems that Commandery Princess Linghe hasn’t given up. She may come again."
Xiao Changyi replied with the same line, "I’ll deal with it together with you."
An Jing immediately beamed with joy, hugged Xiao Changyi’s neck, and leaned on his back, "Husband, you are so good." As she spoke, she rubbed her face against his ear.
Xiao Changyi turned his head slightly.
An Jing quickly pecked Xiao Changyi on the lips and then smiled cheerfully, "Husband, I’m hungry. Let’s make some food."
Although she said that, An Jing was still hugging Xiao Changyi’s neck and lying on his back, unwilling to get off.
Xiao Changyi didn’t ask her to get down but instead gently hummed in agreement, put down the bamboo strips he had been holding, and with An Jing on his back, stood up and walked towards the kitchen.
An Jing’s chin rested on Xiao Changyi’s shoulder, "Husband, make me a fried sunny-side-up egg for lunch. I suddenly feel like having one."
"Hmm. What else do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you." After repeated practice, he had learned to make quite a few dishes, and they tasted not too bad.
Without any reservation, An Jing made her request. After all, he was her husband, and she had no reason to be polite: "Then let’s also stir-fry some bacon. We still have quite a lot at home. We should eat it before it goes bad."
The next day, after breakfast, An Jing and Xiao Changyi led the ox and carried the plow to the field to plow. The sweet potato shoots had grown well, and it was time to make mounds for planting them.
Mounding is a cultivation method where crops are planted on soil raised above ground level. Here, the sweet potatoes were to be planted using this mounding method.
First, they loosened the soil with the plow, and then used a hoe to form mounds, lined up in rows, one next to the other.
When Linghe and Li Wuyu arrived, they saw the scene of Xiao Changyi guiding the plow and driving the ox through the field.
Both of them were somewhat shocked. After all, Xiao Changyi was a prince. They could barely accept him making bamboo baskets yesterday since they knew about him planting vegetables in the Imperial Garden, but a prince plowing the field like a farmer was something they found hard to accept.
In their eyes, Xiao Changyi was not only a prince but also a Great General with illustrious military achievements; he should have been majestic and imposing, not in this state!
However, Li Wuyu was slightly better off as, after all, whatever Xiao Changyi did had nothing to do with her.
It was Princess Linghe who felt as if she had been struck by lightning, standing at the foot of the hill, unable to snap back to reality for a long while.
When Linghe finally got her bearings, she tried to console herself inwardly, telling herself that it would be all right once Xiao Changyi returned to the Capital. He wouldn’t be forever; it was just temporary, just temporary... temporary...
After mentally preparing herself, Linghe walked towards An Jing and Xiao Changyi with Li Wuyu.
Xiao Changyi was plowing the field ahead, and An Jing was forming mounds on the plowed soil with a hoe.
Actually, An Jing had noticed Li Wuyu and Linghe earlier, but seeing them stand at the foot of the mountain without coming up, she understood that they must have been taken aback by her husband’s current appearance, so she didn’t call out to them.
It wasn’t until Li Wuyu and Linghe came to her side that An Jing cheerfully said, "You’ve come at the right time. Come on, help me make the mounds. I can’t handle it alone."
Before Linghe and Li Wuyu could even bow in greeting, An Jing had already stuffed a hoe into each of their hands. Linghe and Li Wuyu: "..."