Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 835: Sending Off for the Exam

"All packed up, ready to go anytime." Gu Jinli waved to him, then entered the guest hall in the front yard and handed him a wet cloth to wipe his face.

Qin San Lang washed his face, took the bowl of warm water she handed over, and drank it in a few gulps, visibly relaxed, and started talking about his time at the Prefecture garrison.

Gu Jinli was delighted to hear that General Guo still held him in high regard and shared some gossip about the Old Gu Family.

Seeing her joy, Qin San Lang laughed along; he loved seeing her cheerful and smart expression.

After she finished speaking, he asked, "Is everything arranged in the prefecture? Are You An and Daqing obedient? If they aren’t, let me know, and I’ll deal with them."

The people under his command were hers as well. If anyone dared disobey her, keeping them around was pointless.

Gu Jinli replied, "Everything’s settled, they’re very obedient. Daqing, Er Ping, Sanping, and Sanxi will stay behind. I’ll take Erqing back and find a chance to make her known, so she’ll be around me, and you can be at ease."

Compared to Erqing, she appreciated Daqing more. Daqing was talented, not losing to You An, and was responsible for the Chunfeng Pavilion affair. She left Daqing in the prefecture to keep an eye on the Old Gu Family.

She arranged for Qin San Lang’s subordinates partly because he told her they were hers too, and also because she knew he was busy. Waiting for him to return from the garrison to make arrangements would delay things.

They had known each other since fleeing from famine, endured hardships together, survived life-and-death situations, and now it’s been four whole years. Since last year, he started hinting to her in subtle ways, and she didn’t want to be overly coy, so she accepted all his offers, including manpower for her own use. Using it happily, he was even happier to see his resources being utilized by her.

Qin San Lang saw her spacing out while talking and amusingly stood up, approached her, and held her hand, asking, "What’s the matter? Daydreaming while talking—did you get dumber or was the gossip too captivating, or did you not sleep well last night?"

Gu Jinli glared at him, "Say one more word, and I’ll bite you."

Qin San Lang generously rolled up his sleeves and offered his arm to her mouth, "Go ahead, bite, I’m not afraid of pain."

Gu Jinli pushed his hand away disdainfully, "You’ve been traveling back in the dust all the way and haven’t bathed yet; I won’t bite."

Xiao Ji was thoroughly convinced—weren’t they in a hurry? Yet they were sluggish, and soon the city gates would close.

But Erqing stood nearby; this maid, taller and stronger than her, belonged to Qin Family’s third son and assisted him in protecting Bai Cai. Unable to beat Erqing, she had to relent and continued waiting.

Fortunately, You An arrived and said, "Master, Young Master, the things have been loaded onto the carriage; we can leave now."

"Alright, let’s go." Qin San Lang naturally took Gu Jinli’s hand, led her out of the guest hall, left the house, and boarded the carriage parked outside the gate.

Qin San Lang mentioned he hadn’t had lunch and felt hungry, knowing there was food on Gu Jinli’s carriage, he lifted the curtain and got on board.

Xiao Ji, however, was held back by Erqing and couldn’t get on the carriage.

Erqing said, "Wait until the master has finished eating before you come up to attend to the Young Master."

After speaking, she gave Xiao Ji a gentle smile that said, "You can’t beat me, you’d better be obedient."

Xiao Ji felt like crying, vowing to practice martial arts more diligently after returning to better protect the Young Master Bai Cai.

Erqing observed Xiao Ji’s almost teary state without feeling pity, believing Xiao Ji had lived too good a life, losing sense of hierarchy. Their group had been trained by the master to the standards of a noble family, requiring absolute obedience to the master house, and mistakes led to fatal consequences.

Erqing dragged Xiao Ji onto another carriage.

You An mounted his horse, riding ahead.

In the carriage, Gu Jinli took out the prepared food and laid it on the small table: "I made steamed buns, meat patties, fried crispy pork, stewed beef chunks, and fried lotus root. The millet porridge was simmered in a bamboo tube, drink from the tube."

Qin San Lang asked, "Did you make grilled fish? I smell grilled fish aroma."

Gu Jinli nodded, taking out two bamboo boxes, placing them on the table, "I grilled ten fish, saved four for you, cut them into pieces and put them in the bamboo box. But we’re in the carriage now; eating fish with bones isn’t convenient."

"No matter, I’m used to it." Qin San Lang took a piece of grilled fish, ate it in a few bites, spit out the fish bones into a clean bamboo box, and contentedly told Gu Jinli, "This is my favorite."

He took out a knife, cut the beef chunks into bite-sized pieces, and handed them to her, "You eat too; otherwise, once we leave the city, the road will be uneven, and eating will be a hassle."

Within the city, the carriage travels on stone-paved roads—relatively smooth; outside the city, it’s dirt roads, dusty and bumpy, making eating on the carriage difficult.

Gu Jinli nodded, sipping millet porridge and eating the neatly cut beef chunks.

On the street side, the prefecture’s townsfolk continued gossiping about the Old Gu Family, "Did you hear? The Old Gu Family’s second son wanted to visit his lover at the brothel, but got thrown out by the brothel’s bouncers, saying all the Old Gu Family people have venereal disease and weren’t allowed in."

"The Old Gu Family’s second son? Gu Youlu’s brother? Didn’t I hear he was very honest? Why would he go to a brothel for women?"

"Ha, honest? In the Old Gu Family, there’s no honest person; the whole family is doomed by women!"

"Tsk tsk, truly, none of the men in that family are decent. I heard the Old Gu Family still has unmarried daughters—how are they supposed to find suitors now?"

"Huh, talking about suitors? Staying home as old maids it is; if the Old Gu Family’s like that, who’d dare to marry their daughters? Heard they’re lofty, riding on Lord Lai’s coattails, aiming for noble families and official families. Now that trouble’s brewing, their sights have lowered, looking at affluent households."

"What? That decrepit household relying on living off others wants to marry into official families? Oh dear, with half their men having venereal disease, their imagination is wild!"

Gu Jinli listened to the outside gossip, occasionally bursting into laughter. Gu Ya and Little Sister Gu still dreamed of marrying into official families—dream on.

Once they were full, the carriage had already left the prefecture, moving onto the dirt road.

Qin San Lang packed the fish bones into a box, placed it on the front board of the carriage, and stowed the table to the side.

Gu Jinli packed the unfinished food into bamboo boxes, placed them into a chest, and seeing Qin San Lang looked a bit tired, knowing he hadn’t slept all night, she said, "Take a nap first, wake up and then get down."

Qin San Lang nodded, leaving the quilt for her, wrapping himself in a cloak to sleep.

Gu Jinli saw him, pulled the blanket over him, covering him, "Sleep well."

Qin San Lang smiled, closed his eyes, stretched his hand out from under the blanket, holding hers, as he did last time, sleeping with her hand in his.

The carriage sped along, returning to Songzi Manor by noon on February 14.

Gu Jin’an was already waiting at the manor, relieved upon seeing their return, "If you hadn’t come back soon, it’d be hard to keep it under wraps."

Gu Jinli laughed, "Big brother has the county examination tomorrow. I promised to come back to help him. I definitely won’t break my word."