RATMOFANF: Chapter 72

 Glossary

·Xu Wanning (徐婉宁): Li Xian's wife.

·Li Xian (李显): Li Ling's elder brother.

·Kun Ge (坤哥儿): Son of Li Xian and Xu Wanning.

·Zhuang Jie (庄姐): Daughter of Li Xian and Xu Wanning. (Implied by context "daughter")

·Meiniang (媚娘): Concubine of Li Xian.

·Li Ling (李陵): The male protagonist, heir of Zhenguo Duke Manor.

·Shen Jingxiu (沈静姝): The female protagonist, wife of Li Ling.

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Chapter 72: I Find It Quite Satisfying

After the lively reunion dinner, everyone returned to their own courtyards to observe the New Year's Eve vigil.

Xu Wanning and Li Xian lived in the West Court, the farthest from the banquet hall. It was already late at night. Zhuang Jie couldn't resist sleepiness and had already fallen asleep on Xu Wanning's shoulder. The icy, slippery path made Li Xian worry his son might fall, so he also picked up Kun Ge. Each carrying a child, they walked back one after the other in silence.

Entering the West Court, they passed Meiniang's Chenxi Ge first. Xu Wanning, walking ahead, stopped and motioned with her chin to the wet nurse following behind, signaling her to take her son.

The wet nurse stepped forward, but Kun Ge clung to Li Xian's arms, whining, "Father is stronger. I want Father to carry me."

Kun Ge would turn four after the New Year and was sturdily built. The wet nurse already found it tiring to carry him—it couldn't compare to the comfort of his father's firm embrace.

Seeing the child didn't want her, the wet nurse looked helplessly at Xu Wanning.

Li Xian said, "Let's go. I'll carry him back." As he spoke, he hefted his son in his arms and said with a smile, "My son is a year older now and even heavier."

Kun Ge giggled happily in his father's arms.

Seeing this, Xu Wanning didn't insist further. She turned and continued carrying her daughter back.

Upon returning to Baitang Ju, Xu Wanning first took her daughter to the side chamber where she and the wet nurse stayed. Li Xian went directly to the main hall with his son.

After settling her daughter, Xu Wanning returned to the main hall to find Li Xian playing ball with their son in the outer room. With a cold face, she asked, "Why are you still here?"

Li Xian glanced up at her but didn't respond. Instead, he picked up the ball, looked at his son, and said with a smile, "Let's go. We'll eat the festive treats."

Kun Ge, pulling his father's hand, skipped happily into the inner room, chanting a folk rhyme: "One night connects two years, the fifth watch divides two years; eat the festive treats, and the coming year will be even better."

Li Xian picked three festive pastries from the Five Blessings fruit platter on the table. He placed one in his son's hand, then took another and put it in his son's other hand. He motioned with his chin toward Xu Wanning, signaling their son to deliver the treat to his mother.

Kun Ge ran up to Xu Wanning, holding the pastry up high. "Mother, eat the festive pastry!"

Xu Wanning bent down to take a bite of the pastry offered by her son, then straightened up and patted his head with a smile. "It's very late already. Let Mother take you to bed."

Kun Ge shook his head and ran back to Li Xian. "I won't sleep. I want to keep vigil with Father and Mother."

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Seeing Xu Wanning still wanted him to sleep, Kun Ge hugged Li Xian's leg and pleaded, "Father, I don't want to sleep. I want to keep vigil with you."

Li Xian lifted his son high, laughing heartily. "Alright, alright, we won't sleep. Kun Ge will keep vigil with Father and Mother."

Being lifted high by his father, Kun Ge giggled with delight.

Allowed to stay up, Kun Ge happily sat by the table and began counting the festive fruits, while Li Xian watched his son with a beaming smile.

But he was still a child after all. Despite declaring he wouldn't sleep, he couldn't hold out for long and soon dozed off, head on the table.

Li Xian carried his son to bed and said to Xu Wanning, "It's cold outside. Don't take him back. Let him sleep here."

Though she didn't reply, Xu Wanning agreed with Li Xian's suggestion. She stepped forward to tuck her son in and said without looking up, her tone flat, "You can leave now. We're going to sleep."

Li Xian took the chance to put an arm around her shoulder, smiling. "It's New Year's. Are you still going to be cross with me?"

Xu Wanning shot him a glare and said with a cold laugh, "Does turning a year older mean the eldest master will finally become more promising?"

Seeing her speak with sarcasm again, Li Xian patiently said, "Alright, alright. It's New Year's today. Let's both be pleasant."

Xu Wanning pushed him away and got into bed by herself. "Go away. With you not here, this lady will naturally be just fine."

Pushed off balance, Li Xian looked at Xu Wanning and sighed helplessly. After a long silence, he walked over to the candlestick by himself, extinguished the lamp, but then turned back and got into bed.

Seeing him actually stubbornly staying, Xu Wanning sat bolt upright. "What are you doing?" she demanded angrily.

Li Xian was already lying down. He pulled the quilt over himself and replied, "I've come back to sleep."

Xu Wanning kicked him with her leg. "This is my place. If you want to sleep, get out and go sleep in Chenxi Ge."

Li Xian said with a laugh, "This Baitang Ju was built when my great-grandfather was still alive. It's proper Li family property. Since when did it become yours?"

Xu Wanning yanked the quilt off him and pushed him. "Since I married into this family, it naturally became mine."

Li Xian took the opportunity to pull her into an embrace, still smiling. "By that logic, since you married in, you're also mine."

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Xu Wanning pushed him away, scolding, "Get lost. Don't feed me that cloying talk here. If you're not ashamed, I am."

As the two wrestled and bickered, the sound disturbed the deeply sleeping Kun Ge, who rubbed his eyes and turned over.

Li Xian quickly shushed her. "Stop making a fuss. Don't wake the child."

Naturally concerned about the child too, Xu Wanning indignantly grabbed her quilt and moved to the inner side of the bed, lying down next to her son. Li Xian, for his part, went to get another quilt and also lay down beside his son.

The husband and wife slept in the same bed, only with their son lying between them, and passed the night peacefully.

—

Back in Qingfeng Yuan,however, the lights were still brightly lit.

Upon returning to the main hall, Jingxiu took out the official token delivered by the eunuch that day and showed it to Li Ling. Li Ling examined it, then looked up at his young wife's beaming face sitting across from him. He said with a smile, "I personally requested this from His Majesty for you. How will you thank me?"

Jingxiu picked up a festive pastry from the table and offered it to Li Ling's lips. Li Ling opened his mouth and ate it. "Is it good?" Jingxiu asked.

Li Ling nodded, looking at his young wife. "You still haven't answered me. How will you thank me?"

Jingxiu took a bite of a pastry herself and said to him, "This festive pastry was made by my own hands for you."

Li Ling made an "oh" sound, picked up another piece himself, took a bite, and looked slyly at his young wife. "Is it truly made by my wife's own hands? No one else helped?"

Jingxiu chided him, "That was ages ago. How can you be so petty and still bring it up?"

After finishing one pastry, Li Ling brushed the crumbs from his hands and praised, "My wife's skills are truly excellent."

"Dong, dong, dong—" The bell tolled, marking midnight, followed by the crackling sounds of firecrackers.

The new year had gracefully arrived.

Li Ling held Jingxiu's hand as they stood under the eaves, looking up at the brilliant fireworks blooming in the vast sky. He murmured, "On this day last year, I stood here alone watching the fireworks. Do you know what I was thinking then?"

Jingxiu turned her head to look at him, teasing, "Someone like my husband must have been thinking about his future and ambitions."

Li Ling turned to her, pinched her ear lightly. "By this time last year, we had already completed the six rites and were engaged. Did you not think of me, your future husband, at all back then?"

(read @cherrybombbertranslations.blogspot)

Jingxiu chuckled. "We had only met once in such an embarrassing situation in the water. I didn't even see your face clearly. What was there to think about?"

Li Ling gave her a reproachful look. "Even if you didn't remember my face, since I saved you, you should at least have felt some gratitude toward me at that time."

Jingxiu shook her head, replying very honestly, "I didn't."

Li Ling gently pinched her ear again, saying through gritted teeth, "What a heartless little thing."

Jingxiu stood on her tiptoes, put her arms around his shoulders, and said to him, "What I was thinking then was: after the New Year, I would marry into such a prominent family. What would my life be like? Would my husband treat me sincerely?"

Li Ling gently kissed her lips. "And what do you think of the current situation?"

"I find it," she said, "quite satisfying."

Jingxiu's eyes sparkled with a brilliant light, more dazzling than the fireworks filling the sky.

(End of Chapter)

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Translator's Note: check out my other work— My Younger Sister Insisted On A Marriage Exchange Wanting To Make Me The Wife Of A Marquis and The Marquis’s Beloved is a Black-Hearted Lotus (⁠*⁠＾⁠3⁠＾⁠)⁠/⁠～⁠♡

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