They gazed at each other in silence until Shang Yueli broke the awkwardness with a strained laugh.
“Husband, you’re awake.”
Mu Yunsheng remained silent but kept busy. He roughly hauled Mu Shicai out first, then carefully picked up Shang Yueli and immediately wrapped her in dry clothes before carrying her to the fireside to warm up.
Shang Yueli obediently nestled in Mu Yunsheng’s arms, idly tugging at his sleeve. “Husband, why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Are you still in pain? Let me check…”
“Don’t move.”
Shang Yueli’s previously fidgeting limbs froze instantly when she felt the massive bulge beneath her. Her eyes widened in disbelief, filled with retrospective fear.
Wasn’t Mu Yunsheng supposed to be infertile?
Wasn’t he incapable?
How could he still have reactions!
Despite all her previous teasing and flirtation with Mu Yunsheng, if it ever came down to actual action, she’d definitely be the first to chicken out!
Mu Yunsheng closed his eyes briefly and exhaled a heavy breath. Looking at the radiant woman in his arms, he forcefully suppressed the restless stirring in his heart.
……
“Cough, cough, cough—” Mu Shicai regained consciousness.
Clutching Jiang Xia, he wept and complained, “Mother, that bad woman not only stole my jerky but also pushed me in!”
He trembled all over, utterly terrified.
“That’s nonsense! When did I ever steal your jerky?”
Shang Yueli glanced back and noticed the small bundle in Su Moli’s hand—it was the very jerky Jiang Xia’s family had given Mu Shicai.
Lin Zhiman blinked. “I thought that bundle in your hand looked familiar. So you stole Shicai’s jerky!”
Su Moli stubbornly denied it. “This jerky was given to me by my third brother! How could it possibly be yours!”
Mu Tai Qi rolled up his sleeves and approached. “Miss Su, stealing my son’s jerky is one thing, but how could you be so vicious as to push an eleven-year-old child into the water!”
“I never pushed him!”
As tensions rose and a fight seemed imminent, Su San timidly interjected, “Um… I found the jerky on the road. I didn’t know it belonged to your son. Please don’t blame my younger sister—she had no idea about this.”
“What?”
Before the Mu family could react, Su Moli became agitated first.
“Third Brother, how could you do such a sneaky thing? I’m so disappointed in you!”
With that, she threw the jerky at the feet of the wailing Mu Shicai and angrily went to squat facing the wall.
For a moment, silence fell in the cave. The surroundings grew utterly quiet, leaving only the patter of rain outside.
Shang Yueli, nestled in Mu Yunsheng’s arms, boredly flipped through a medical book. Thankfully, the System came with real-time translation; otherwise, she’d never understand these scribbled characters.
“Chicken soup, fish soup, mutton soup…”
The more Shang Yueli read, the more something felt off. Why was the book filled with recipes instead of medical knowledge?
Could it be that she got a fake copy?
That shouldn’t be possible. The System had verified it and even added 3 merit points—it couldn’t possibly be fake.
“Gurgle—”
She closed the book and looked up at Mu Yunsheng.
Remembering her previous embarrassment, Shang Yueli deliberately asked, “Husband, was that your stomach or the baby’s?”
Mu Yunsheng replied without changing expression, “The baby’s hungry.”
“How about we cook something ourselves? It’s pouring outside anyway, so we can’t go out,” Shang Yueli suggested.
Lin Zhiman, who had been eavesdropping furtively nearby, quickly chimed in, “Good idea.”
Shang Yueli turned to Gu Mang. Such matters required the official’s approval; otherwise, they wouldn’t get to eat anything warm.
Gu Mang wiped his sword without looking back. “I have no objections.”
Before Shang Yueli could speak, he added after a moment’s thought, “If you want supplies, pay for them. That’s the rule.”
“Deal!” Shang Yueli agreed immediately. After all, money was the last thing she lacked.
Once the clothes were nearly dry, she promptly extricated herself from Mu Yunsheng’s warm embrace.
Shang Yueli surveyed the abundant ingredients on the flatbed cart, pondering what to cook.
Ginger, coarse salt, red dates, chicken…
“Got it!”
Shang Yueli spent a considerable amount of silver to purchase various ingredients and tools from the officials.
She asked Mu Yunsheng to start the fire and set up the pot, but the man who had spent most of his life on the battlefield couldn’t even manage the most basic task of lighting a fire. Instead, he ended up smudging his face with soot.
“Hahaha, you look so ridiculous right now,” Shang Yueli felt she was laughing like a villain.
She couldn’t help it—seeing Mu Yunsheng’s usually aloof face smeared like a stray cat was just too amusing.
Lin Zhiman shooed him away. “Yueli, these aunties can handle it. Just tell me what to do!”
Shang Yueli smiled. “Alright!”
She first rinsed the ingredients with water, then peeled the ginger.
After washing the fresh chicken, she diced it with a dagger and placed it in a pot of cold water.
“Brother Gu, do you have any liquor?”
Gu Mang paused in sharpening his blade, gritting his teeth. “Twenty taels of silver!”
“Deal.”
Shang Yueli paid without hesitation and took one of Gu Mang’s few liquor jars.
She poured a ladle of liquor into the pot, added ginger slices, and brought it to a boil to blanch the chicken.
Soon, the pot began to bubble with a “gurgling” sound.
Shang Yueli skimmed off the scum with a ladle, then removed the chicken and rinsed it with water.
The cave filled with a rich, savory aroma of meat, making everyone swallow repeatedly.
After the chicken was blanched, she started a new pot, adding the chicken, red dates, and the remaining ginger slices. She poured in enough water to cover the ingredients and brought it to a boil.
During the wait, the Mu family gathered together unusually harmoniously to chat.
“Auntie, I remember you said earlier that Second Uncle seduced you. Was that true?”
Everyone loves gossip, and Shang Yueli was no exception.
Munching on melon seeds, she blinked eagerly at Lin Zhiman.
Mu Yunsheng sat nearby, pretending not to care, but his ears were subtly perked up.
Wang Shi covered her mouth in shock. “Yueli, aren’t you putting your aunt in an awkward position?”
Lin Zhiman shook her head. “Sister-in-law, it’s fine. There’s nothing I can’t talk about.”
She glanced at Mu Tairan, who was resting with his eyes closed, lowered her voice, and spoke rapidly, “Truth is, I was after his money, and he was after my looks.”
Lin Zhiman clapped her hands together. “So we hit it off and got together.”
“Ah, such bad luck! I’d only been married into the Mu family for a month when you all were raided. I hadn’t enjoyed any blessings and had to follow you into hardship. Such is my bitter fate!”
Xiao Fu asked innocently, “Then, Second Madam, why didn’t you divorce Second Master?”
Lin Zhiman snorted.
“That scoundrel called me his sweetheart, his darling. He said…”
Lin Zhiman lowered her voice, imitating Mu Tairan’s tone: “If you want a divorce, you’ll have to take my corpse with you!”
“Hahaha, I never expected Second Brother to be such a romantic,” Wang Shi laughed, unable to contain her amusement.
“That’s not how it was at all.”
“You ghost! You walk without making a sound!” Lin Zhiman patted her chest, thoroughly frightened.
Mu Tairan had approached unnoticed at some point.
“You woman, taking the chance while I’m away to ruin my reputation.”
He nudged Lin Zhiman aside and sat down next to everyone.
“Since everyone is so curious, I’ll tell you myself how she seduced me…”