My Fantastic Chef Wife

387. Go to the North

Translator: ChowvanLee

At night, Xiao Baoshan returned home and had dinner with the children.

After the children got full, a few old maids brought them to take showers. Ye Xiaoxian told him about Xiao Baocheng.

“Baocheng and a few rich fops of the capital city are hanging together recently. They owed more than 200 taels of silver and couldn’t afford the debt. Today, Baocheng took the money from our family.”

Xiao Baoshan paused and then asked, “We have so much money?”

“They were all given by the imperial family and I sold a lot of gold and silver jewelry. Otherwise, where do we get all this money? And we really become poor now.”

Xiao Baoshan thought for a moment before looking at Ye Xiaoxian and saying, “I’m really sorry. If you encounter such things in the future, let me handle it.”

“What will you do?” Ye Xiaoxian asked with a smile.

“Obviously, I will beat Baocheng first and punish him for not spending money during this period. He will repay the debt through work.”

Ye Xiaoxian said, “He can’t make so much money in his whole life. Forget it, after this, he must know that he was wrong. Besides, I’ve made everything clearly today. In the future, if both of their families make such a mistake again, it has nothing to do with us.”

“That’s right. We’ve done everything we can do.” Xiao Baoshan added, “However, if it happens again, I still have to talk to them. It’s okay to intimidate them.”

Ye Xiaoxian said, “If you got time. During this period, you have been so busy and can only go home at night. And now you have to deal with family affairs. It’s really hard for you.”

Xiao Baoshan said, “There are indeed a lot of things waiting for me to deal with recently, but after I arrange the soldiers from all over the place, I can take a vacation. I plan to stay with you.”

“Really?” Ye Xiaoxian asked.

Xiao Baoshan added, “Yeah, after everything is ready, I’ll take you around the country. Didn’t you say that you want to have a long and nice trip around the Great Qi Dynasty? You’ve been to the south and the west, and you’ve never been to the east and the north.”

Ye Xiaoxian said happily, “Then I want to go to the north.”

“Okay.” Xiao Baoshan added, “Although wars always break out in the north, there are immense plains and people there are really kind and honest. We can go there.”

Ye Xiaoxian asked, “We take two children with us?”

“Of course, our children should go out to see the world from a young age. When they meet troubles in the future, they will have their own judgment.”

Only at this moment did Ye Xiaoxian feel much better.

…

At the end of October, another banquet was held in the palace.

After Li Chengru became the Emperor, he had always advised the people of the Daqi fief to live a frugal life. People in the imperial palace had done the same. Therefore, very few people would hold banquets in the palace.

Ye Xiaoxian didn’t know what this banquet was for. Until she entered the palace, she realized that all wives had come today.

It turned out to be a banquet held in the imperial harem hosted by a few imperial of the Emperor.

It had been more than two months since the choosing concubines ceremony. Although the Empress hadn’t yet to be decided, the four great concubines had already been selected. When Ye Xiaoxian arrived in the palace, she learned that the four big concubines were selected on the order of pregnancy in addition to their family background.

Back then, when she had entered the palace to help Li Chengru choose imperial concubines, Li Chengru looked like he had no interest in women. However, it had only been two months and a half amount of imperial concubines had actually been pregnant!

Ye Xiaoxian’s jaw dropped.

And the atmosphere among these imperial concubines was nothing like what she had imagined. These imperial concubines actually looked calm, contented and they all called each other ‘sis’.

Ye Xiaoxian was really curious what kind of trick had Li Chengru played?

After the banquet started, the four big concubines sat at the front. The concubine Shu opened her mouth first, “I invite everyone here today is not because of anything serious. However, this is important, too. Because this involves the royal descendants, I want to ask everyone to give us some advice. Most of the concubines in the palace now are pregnant, but we are young and have no experience in giving birth. We have been taught by old maids and physicians have told us what to do, but old maids have never given birth to children and physicians are males. They’re definitely not as experienced as you about what it feels like. Therefore, I invite everyone here today to provide some experience and feelings for imperial concubines in the imperial harem.”

Ye Xiaoxian understood. ‘No wonder all wives here have had given birth to children.’

‘And Li Chengru is really… straightforward.’

‘Why did he pretend to be innocent back then?’

After the guests figured out the purpose of the banquet, they gave imperial concubines their blessings and started talking about their experiences.

“When I was pregnant with my eldest son, I was so nauseous and vomited six months. Strangely, I didn’t vomit when I was with my eldest daughter. It was pretty easy.”

“I’m the opposite of you. I didn’t vomit when I got pregnant the first time. The second time I kept vomiting. When I was pregnant with the third one, I vomited for three months. However, I was nauseous all the time and couldn’t have anything at all so I lost a lot of weight.”

“I’m different. I didn’t vomit once during pregnancy. It was very easy. I suspect that my children are here to repay a kindness.”

“…”

Ye Xiaoxian also told her experience. She was pregnant twice and stopped vomiting after four months. Then her appetite got better and she wanted to eat anything she saw.

The imperial concubines were getting more interested in their stories. They even asked someone to record them and analyzed what it looked like to have a boy or a girl.

But in the end, they didn’t get a conclusion.

Because someone’s tummy was round, but she gave birth to a boy while someone’s tummy was pointed, she gave birth to a girl.

But this time, the atmosphere was really good. When everyone ate, drank, and chatted, an afternoon passed.

Just as the banquet was about to end, Ye Xiaoxian also heard imperial concubines talking about whose place the emperor would go tonight. Everyone said it was Concubine Zhang.

One of them smiled and asked, “Pardon me, Madams, may I ask you if His Majesty picks a name card casually every day or you take turns?”

The Concubine Shu answered, “Now we’re taking turns. No matter if we’re pregnant or not, everyone has a chance. His Majesty will sleep with every concubine. He isn’t particularly fond of anyone. In his eyes, we are all his concubines.”

“…” Ye Xiaoxian silently gave Li Chengru a thumbs up in her heart.

‘Brilliant, really brilliant!’

‘If every emperor of every different dynasty is like Li Chengru, how could there be any conflict in the imperial harem?’

…

On the second day after the banquet, emergency news spread from the north: The army of the Northern Qing Kingdom was provoking again!

Early on, the Great Qi Dynasty had been in civil strife. The Northern Qing Kingdom did not launch an attack at that time, but did it when the situation of the Great Qi Dynasty gradually stabilized, which meant that they made clear of the situation: The Emperor had just occupied the throne and the garrison across the country was not strong. The army of the Northern Qing Kingdom had been recovering for some time. Now that the Northern Qing Kingdom had a well-trained army with strong soldiers and sturdy horses, the Great Qi Dynasty was not their match.

At this time, the Northern Qing Kingdom might be able to occupy the northern desert again.

The Great Qi Dynasty had been through a long war and now its national treasury was almost empty. It couldn’t afford another war. The ministers were also suffering from the war and they didn’t want to break their peaceful life again.

However, who should they send now?

Li Chengru sat on the throne and frowned.

There was now a new general guarding in the north, but if he couldn’t resist the enemy. The Great Qi Dynasty would be in a very passive situation now.

Hence, the ministers cast their eyes over Xiao Baoshan one after another.

After the founding of the new dynasty, Xiao Baoshan was regarded as the War God. When the war broke out, they naturally thought of Xiao Baoshan.

Xiao Baoshan had successors, such as generals from all over the place he cultivated, like Qian Qi and others.

However, these people put their hopes on Xiao Baoshan and thought that as long as Xiao Baoshan came to the battlefield, he would be the winner.

Under everyone’s expectant gazes, Xiao Baoshan stood on the spot for a while, then he looked at them and said, “Your Majesty, I ask to go and defend the north!”

His voice fell and there were exhalation sounds in the hall.

Xiao Baoshan was their hope. When the imperial court needed him, he was willing to bear the responsibility. He would apply for going to the battlefield and was the pillar of the country.

Li Chengru asked, “But General Xiao has been fighting for the country for so many years. Now that you have finally reunited with your family. It’s time for you to enjoy your life. It’s unfair for you to send you to fight now.”

His words were for Xiao Baoshan and also for everyone present.

All of the ministers felt a little ashamed.

Xiao Baoshan said, “I request to go the north with my family to maintain the stability of the north.”

Now they just needed guarding in the north to intimidate the Northern Qing Kingdom. There might not be a war. What’s more, if the war broke out, the Northern Qing Kingdom might not be able to win the war. Even if they won, Xiao Baoshan would escort his family to the capital city and would not let them stay on the front line of the battlefield.

After Xiao Baoshan made his statement, the ministers sighed in relief.

They didn’t expect that Xiao Baoshan was willing to go to the north and would be so firm.

Li Chengru said, “Well, since General Xiao is willing to give up on the life in the capital city and is willing to guard the north, it means that he is a good general. I announce that from today onwards, Xiao Baoshan will take the title of Duke Dingbei and his posterity will enjoy the protection of Great Qi Dynasty for generations.”

General was a position, but Duke was a rank of nobility. Even if his future descendants wouldn’t go to the battlefield, the court would issue salaries to them for life.

Xiao Baoshan accepted the order and yelled, “Please accept my appreciation, Your Majesty!”

…

Soon, the news that Xiao Baoshan was going to the north spread through the capital city.

Xiao Baoshan had always been popular with the people on the street. In teahouses and restaurants, storytellers kept talking about him and made him a god-like figure.

Ye Xiaoxian was the last to know the news.

She didn’t go out today. She was at home during the day to make dessert for two children. Later, she checked the children’s learning and had a nap in the afternoon. When she woke up, the chief steward told her about the news.

The chief steward first said to Ye Xiaoxian, “Madam, you and the general are going to the north in two days. Do we need to pack up the things at home first?”

‘The North?’

Ye Xiaoxian was confused, “What does it mean?”