"Red dates and black chicken soup." Ye Zi’an laughed, "The black chicken was brought over by Mother in the morning, she said it’s to nourish your body."
Upon hearing this, Yang Chuxia gave Ye Zi’an a glare. Her mother must be worried that they were overworking their youthful bodies, and what’s worse, this guy still had the cheek to laugh about it.
By the time they reached the dining room downstairs, Mu Shaoling and Luo Linhao were already seated, evidently waiting to be fed.
Seeing the two of them coming down, Mu Shaoling snorted coldly and continued to feign sleep.
Luo Linhao, that little imp, had his big eyes wide open, scanning Yang Chuxia and Ye Zi’an up and down, before suddenly announcing, "Looks like my cousin is about to be settled."
"You must be too idle, aren’t you?" Ye Zi’an knocked him on the head, "Have you studied? Have you practiced your martial arts?"
"Cousin, are you frustrated or something? You don’t look like it, with a face full of spring breeze. My cousin-in-law also looks glowing. Why are you concerned about my studies?"
Luo Linhao must have inherited Old Mu’s genes, having a keen interest in martial arts while treating literacy as a necessary evil or occasionally reading military strategies. If you ask him to compose poems or prose, he will complain about it being too pompous or old-fashioned. Hence, he dreaded being questioned about his studies.
"Mr. Luo will be back soon, let him continue tutoring you." Ye Zi’an, seemingly disregarded his teasing, continued solemnly, "It’s not ok to only practice martial arts and ignore studying, otherwise you’ll end up an illiterate brawler. If you want to join the army as a general, every one of them is well-read in military strategies. Even if they don’t write elegant prose, at least it’s coherent, right? A general must write memorials. If you can’t even do that properly, won’t that reflect poorly on your competence?"
"Cousin, are you overextending this a bit? I was just thinking you two got up a bit late, and you took the opportunity to lecture me?" Luo Linhao slumped, "Besides, don’t we have stewards and staff to write memorials? Are they not being paid to do so?"
"Huh, are you going to rely on the staff for everything? Some things can’t be known by outsiders." Ye Zi’an patted his shoulder and said, "Hence, focus on your studies. Don’t always sneak peeks at your cousin-in-law and me. Got it?"
Mu Shaoling sneered at this.
Then he said, "You dare to pick on Linhao, picking on a child aren’t we? Linhao has plenty of years to study. Unlike some others, who are just about to face their real test, instead of studying hard, are busy daydreaming. Aren’t they afraid of hurting their backs, and being unable to sit on the exam bench?"
"Hahahaha..." Once they heard Mu Shaoling join in the banter, Luo Linhao burst into laughter.
Yang Chuxia found the situation even more awkward as they teased Ye Zi’an back and forth.
Ye Zi’an, realizing her unease, said, "Darling, go check if dinner is ready. If it is, request for it to be served."
"Okay." Saying that, Yang Chuxia was about to leave.
Mu Shaoling, however, commented, "Such a prude! Your skin has actually grown thinner after marriage."
"Shut up! If you want to eat, sit down and wait patiently. If not, get out of my sight." Unable to hold back, Yang Chuxia turned around and yelled at him, before heading to the kitchen.
Behind her, came Mu Shaoling’s voice, "Tsk tsk, only you could put up with this irascible woman."