Chapter 1306: Mutual Affection

Gu Jinli saw this and knew he was truly upset, so she raised her hand and hugged him, smiling, "Don’t be sad. One day, you’ll be able to avenge them."

She was speaking with a double meaning, saying he could avenge those fallen soldiers and his family.

Perhaps others didn’t understand, but she knew well that, as the son of a military family, protecting the border and defending the people was ingrained in him. The loss of several cities in Great Chu and the death of hundreds of thousands of soldiers was a hatred comparable to the massacre of his own family.

Gu Jinli gently patted his back and said in a coaxing tone, "Cry if you want, I won’t make fun of you."

Qin San Lang’s body visibly paused, and he tightened his arms around her, but said, "I won’t cry. It’s not the time to cry yet... If I did, even if you don’t make fun of me, Father and Second Brother would."

Gu Jinli curiously asked, "What about your Eldest Brother and Mother? Wouldn’t they make fun of you?"

Qin San Lang shook his head, "No, Eldest Brother dotes on me too much. If I cried, he’d just comfort me. As for Mother, she’d hope I’d cry more. She says I was too quiet as a child, didn’t cry much, which wasn’t like a child at all."

Gu Jinli laughed, "Listening to you, I think your mother must have quite a playful side."

Qin San Lang thought for a moment and said, "Mother does love to play with us, but in front of outsiders, she doesn’t laugh much."

An old nanny by Mother’s side says Mother used to be someone who didn’t smile much. It was only after she married Father that she slowly changed and became more playful.

The old nanny often said, "When they got engaged, everyone in the Capital said Miss and the master weren’t a match. Many noble ladies said the master was crude and short-tempered, and if angry, might punch Miss to death. But after getting married, the master cherished Miss deeply, to the envy of all the young ladies in the Capital, who were astonished to find the master wasn’t a brute but a romantic."

At the end, the old nanny’s expression always carried a touch of pride as she added, "Miss truly married the right person."

Gu Jinli said, "That’s because your father cherished her. A woman only truly lives freely and becomes lively and playful when she marries the right person."

Qin San Lang, after hearing this, sat up a bit and looked at her, saying, "I will also spoil Xiao Yu, so she can live freely."

Gu Jinli laughed, raised her hand and poked his very serious face, saying, "Hmm, I believe you."

She added, "Don’t worry, I’ll spoil you too."

Qin San Lang laughed out loud, moved closer to her, and pressed his forehead against hers, saying, "Xiao Yu already spoils me a lot."

When he first met her, she seemed very cold and ruthless. Hmm, she might also have thought of herself as very coldhearted, but she didn’t realize she was actually very affectionate. Even with Aunt Da Gui being so annoying, she didn’t poison her.

She was even better to him. Just because he helped protect her family along the way, she always made him things to eat. Seeing that he liked grilled fish, she would make him grilled fish whenever she had the chance.

Then there was the beef. Cattle were labor animals, and beef was both expensive and hard to come by, yet she had Boss Hu from Futai Building help find the best beef to make jerky for him. She’d make a whole bag at once, enough to last him half a month.

And the only reason she made him the beef was seeing that he had to work hard in the Military Office at such a young age. She said eating beef was good for the body and gave strength, so she spared no expense in making it for him.

Thinking back on everything since they met, he felt more and more that she was exceptionally good to him.

He hoped Xiao Yu would always treat him well, but...

Gu Jinli looked at him and laughed, "I’m good to you because you’re good to me. But if you dare treat me badly, I’ll poison you immediately!"

Qin San Lang laughed and asked, "So ruthless, would you poison me right away? Can’t you give a few days’ grace?"

Gu Jinli nodded, "Hmm, of course, I don’t hold overnight grudges."

After thinking for a moment, she added, "Or I might just poison you enough to disable you, take half of your family fortune, and leave."

Qin San Lang laughed, "I’ll give you all the Silver and help you test the poison, let’s not separate, okay?"

Gu Jinli thought about it and said, "Seeing as you’re so sincere, okay."

However, aren’t you two forgetting that you’re only engaged and not yet married? Is there even a need for you two to talk about separation?

But no matter, the two of them liked it this way.

Gu Jinli pinched his face and asked, "Still feeling sad?"

Qin San Lang said, "Much better, thank you, Xiao Yu, for comforting me."

If it weren’t for her coming, he would have been sad for a long time. But God wasn’t unfair to him, bringing her to him.

Gu Jinli smiled and said, "Then let’s go home. We’ve roasted a whole lamb, three of them, in fact. Grandpa Qin said you used to love eating this, so eat to your heart’s content."

With so many people, three wouldn’t be enough.

But Qin San Lang asked, "Is there grilled fish? I like fish."

"How can you still want grilled fish, aren’t you tired of it?" Gu Jinli said, "During a big festival, you should eat the rare and luxurious things we usually can’t have."

After speaking, she froze, because Qin San Lang was looking at her with a smile, a look in his eyes that made her blush.

Gu Jinli reminded herself to stay calm, that she was a spirit from modern times. Unfortunately, she couldn’t hold on and blushed.

Embarrassed and angry, she said, "What are you looking at? No fish to eat today!"

With that, she took out a bamboo whistle and blew it six times. Erqing and Feng Jin heard the sound, and immediately came over from a distance, driving the mule cart away.

Qin San Lang’s horse had been with him for years, and was quite intelligent, following the moving mule cart even without a rider.

Gu Jinli’s temper flared up and vanished quickly, she asked Qin San Lang, "Tired? You should take a nap, I’ll wake you when we get home."

Saying this, she let him lie down and took a sheepskin blanket to cover him.

Qin San Lang rested his head on her lap, holding her hand, closed his eyes, and said, "Xiao Yu, don’t worry about me. I’m fine, I’ll hold on."

If he couldn’t handle even this much, what could he do?

Gu Jinli said, "I know you can hold on, but I want you to be happy."

She didn’t want to see him sad and holding it in.

She added, "Stop talking nonsense, go to sleep."

"Okay." Qin San Lang responded and quickly fell asleep.

He always fell asleep easily beside her, and slept soundly.

Gu Jinli knocked on the carriage and told Feng Jin, who was driving, "Slow down, no need to rush home."

This way, he could sleep a bit longer.

"Yes." Feng Jin complied, and drove the cart at half the usual speed. Originally, they would have reached home by afternoon, but this time, it was evening when they arrived.

But Gu Jinli didn’t want the family to worry, so she had Erqing go back ahead to inform them.

Qin San Lang woke up before they entered the village. Gu Jinli handed him a cup of hot water, saying, "Drink this to wake up."

"Okay." Qin San Lang took it and drank it in a few sips. He then hugged her reluctantly before getting off the cart neatly when they reached home, and went to see Elder Qin.

Seeing that Elder Qin just smiled a little less and wasn’t too sad, he felt more at ease.

"You’re back, why so late? Everyone’s waiting for you to have dinner." Elder Qin said, somewhat displeased with Qin San Lang.