“That’s exactly what I was thinking. I wonder if you, sir, would be so kind as to allow this humble girl to stay here?”
“This…”
Xu Pingan looked at Li Yuer, who was smiling and so calm, and didn’t know how to react.
“Miss Yuer, please don’t make things difficult for me. Your presence here is indeed a bit inconvenient.”
He forced out that sentence, but who knew that Li Yuer, feigning ignorance, looked up, her moist eyes fixed on Xu Pingan’s.
“How inconvenient?”
This… what now?
He couldn’t possibly say, “I want to be intimate with my wife tonight, don’t get in the way,” could he?
Xu Pingan reluctantly agreed.
“Alright, alright, since Miss Yu’er likes this room, then from today onwards, this room is yours.”
At most, he’d be quieter at night.
If that didn’t work… he’d just set up another formation in the bedroom.
However, this Miss Li Yu’er truly didn’t treat herself as an outsider.
Naturally, there was nothing more to say after that.
The medicine cabinet that was previously in the west room had to be moved, as he would rely on it for his livelihood for the rest of his life.
Besides the medicine cabinet, the previous Arhat bed also had to be taken away, along with the “four treasures of the study” (writing brush, ink stick, ink slab, and paper), and the bookshelf.
As for what furniture was needed in the room, they would just move it from the newly built wing rooms.
Fortunately, the medicine cabinet Xu Pingan initially customized was assembled, so it could be disassembled at any time.
He also called Zhao Pingzhi over.
Two big men and two young women finally managed to completely clear out the west room before dark.
And our esteemed Princess Royal, however, did not intervene from beginning to end.
After all, her body simply couldn’t withstand any exercise right now.
While everyone else was working, she just sat there, leisurely sipping tea.
“Phew…”
Xu Pingan wiped the sweat from his forehead, let out a long sigh of relief, and nodded with satisfaction at the East Wing Room, which still exuded the scent of nanmu wood.
“As expected of Master Fang’s disciple, this house is really well-built.”
The floor was laid with two layers of wooden boards with an interlining.
The boards had been polished and waxed before they arrived, and the floor was smooth and gleaming.
All the walls were made of wood, the gaps were covered with mixed earth, and the outside was even painted white.
Thick nanmu logs, as wide as a waist, stood straight in the corners of the room, and the grain of the wood could still be seen on the outer layer, climbing upwards.
“Sir, is this about right?”
Zhao Pingzhi moved the last box of books into the room.
Even as a general who had been fighting for years, the hard work of the day made him break into a sweat.
“Hmm, thank you for your hard work, Brother Zhao…”
“No, no, sir should call me Old Zhao.”
Zhao Pingzhi had clearly grasped his position.
In this courtyard, his status was the lowest.
There was no need to mention the Princess Royal; she was a born master.
Zhao Pingzhi had vowed to be loyal to the Prince of Zhennan’s residence all his life, and now that the Princess Royal was the only bloodline of the Prince of Zhennan’s residence, she was naturally the current young master and future prince.
As for Xiaojing, there was even less need to mention her.
As the saying goes, “a seventh-rank official before the prime minister’s gate” means even a doorkeeper in the prime minister’s mansion could make a seventh-rank official bow.
Not to mention that this one was the future master’s personal maid, who knows, perhaps in the future, she would be the second-in-command in the princely mansion.
Xu Pingan’s status was also exceptionally high.
At least, during the period of the Princess Royal’s treatment, let alone a general like him, even if a prince came in person, they would have to treat him with utmost respect, as a distinguished guest.
As for Xu Pingan’s family, his wife, Pei Qi, naturally saw her status rise accordingly.
According to proper etiquette, she should have been personally hosted by the Princess Consort.
Counting it all up, apart from the small donkey in the courtyard, he was the lowest in rank in this entire compound.
So, what more was there to say? Although outside he was a general above ten thousand men, here he still had to be obedient.
“This… alright. Since Brother Zhao… Old Zhao is so insistent, I won’t stand on ceremony. Since the East Wing is to be used as a dispensary, then the West Wing will temporarily be yours. Tomorrow, people from the Fang family will come to renovate the backyard, and I’ll have to trouble Old Zhao with that then.”
“Sir, you’re too kind. Please don’t treat me as a general; just consider me a servant of the princess’s household. Just give me your orders. I, Old Zhao, may not have much else, but I certainly have plenty of strength.”
Zhao Pingzhi thumped his chest in agreement.
There wasn’t much to say that evening.
After settling Li Yu’er and Xiaojing, and then Zhao Pingzhi, Xu Pingan was thoroughly exhausted by the day’s events.
In the past, he might not have had such close contact with so many outsiders in an entire month, but today alone, he had met so many people.
He was a little unaccustomed to it.
Xu Pingan lay on the bed in the main house’s East Room, with his beloved little wife naturally by his side.
He gazed at the high-hanging full moon outside the window, lost in thought.
Because of the rare and precious herbs in this courtyard, no matter what kind of insects there were, they wouldn’t easily approach.
So, opening the window in the middle of the night to look at the moon was also very convenient.
“The moon is fullest on the sixteenth of the month… Although it’s the seventeenth today, this moon is truly round!”
Come to think of it, life here was really not as convenient as in his previous life; he always had to make his own food if he wanted to eat something.
Xu Pingan held his warm, soft, little wife, and a sense of peace settled in his heart.
This… perhaps this was the feeling of having a family?
Amidst the warmth, a bit more weight settled on his shoulder.
“Husband…”
“Hmm?”
“The one in the west room… Sister Yu’er, she…”
“What about her?”
Pei Qingxuan’s eyes held a hint of unease.
Her red lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but then held back.
“No… nothing.”
Although she said that, her body leaned closer to him, and the jade-like arm that was already draped around his neck tightened slightly.
Sensing the slight unease of the person beside him, Xu Pingan pulled Pei Qingxuan into his embrace.
“Don’t be afraid. No matter what happens, your husband is here.”
“Hmm…”
Did Xu Pingan not know?
Of course, he knew.
His silly wife’s thoughts were almost completely displayed on her face; she couldn’t hide anything.
Plus, with Li Yu’er’s behavior today, even he, being dull, had guessed some things.
If she didn’t want to say it, then so be it.
But she hadn’t considered that he had lived alone at the foot of distant mountains, unmarried even at twenty-five or twenty-six.
Wasn’t it because he didn’t want to get involved with people of prominent status?
Not to mention this Princess Royal Li Yu’er, even Miss Liu from the Liu family, had revealed her feelings many times over the years, yet he remained unmoved.
Or perhaps it was because this Miss Liu was a bit thin-skinned?