Transmigrated as a Cannon Fodder Wife A in Ancient Times - Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Wei Lan finished instructing the maids and then obediently sat there waiting for her dinner. She had been fully focused on carving jade from noon onward, and on top of that, Lu Zijin had just bitten her for a good while, so she was truly very hungry now, with her stomach rumbling nonstop.

Wei Lan picked up the small black bundle from the round table, preparing to place it on the dressing table.

Lu Zijin naturally noticed and asked, “What’s that in your hand?”

Wei Lan’s eyes lit up a bit, and like she was presenting a treasure, she hugged the small bundle and came to Lu Zijin’s side. “Madam, this is the raw emerald I got. I was thinking of making an emerald bracelet for you, and then carving a jade plaque as well.”

As Wei Lan spoke, she took out the raw emerald and handed it to Lu Zijin for her to see.

Lu Zijin lay on her side on Wei Lan’s bed, watching the little Qianyuan eagerly present her treasure to her.

She wasn’t interested in the raw emerald itself—after all, her family had money, and she had never lacked for gold, stones, or jade since childhood. What was rare was the little Qianyuan’s thoughtfulness; even after going out to watch the competition, she had still thought of her.

Lu Zijin lifted her gaze to look at Wei Lan and saw that Wei Lan’s eyes were bright, just like a puppy waiting for its owner to praise it. Lu Zijin was quite satisfied with this.

“Good, then thank you, my lord. I’m looking forward to wearing the jade bracelet and plaque you make for me.” Lu Zijin smiled at Wei Lan and said.

“Don’t worry, the jade bracelet and plaque I carve will definitely be especially pretty, and this white ice emerald has really nice clarity. Madam, your skin is already fair, so it should match your complexion very well.” Wei Lan chattered on, even holding the raw emerald up to Lu Zijin’s wrist to compare, and the more she looked, the more she felt that Lu Zijin would look great wearing it later.

Seeing how happily Wei Lan was talking, Lu Zijin couldn’t help but curve her eyebrows a little in response.

She had dealt with matters all day today, so Lu Zijin wasn’t in the mood for anything else, but when she was with Wei Lan, she would unconsciously relax. “Good, then I’ll wait for you, my lord.”

“Mm-hmm, I work fast on things like this, so I shouldn’t make you wait too long.” Wei Lan squatted by the bed, her hands gripping the edge as she looked at Lu Zijin.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Lan spoke up. “Madam, could I touch your wrist? When I make the bracelet, I need to know the approximate size.”

Lu Zijin extended her arm. “Go ahead and touch.”

Hearing Lu Zijin agree, Wei Lan then obediently touched it. She roughly estimated that Lu Zijin’s size was about 54, so she just needed to be careful with that when cutting the jade later.

“All measured, Madam.” Wei Lan still felt like Lu Zijin seemed tired, and she couldn’t help but think that what she had done today really wasn’t quite right—after all, Lu Zijin had so much to handle in a day, and now she was worrying about her, which had made her run over this late.

Wei Lan flopped softly against the bed’s edge, carefully reaching out to tug at Lu Zijin’s sleeve. “Madam, sorry, I made you worry today. Are you tired?”

Seeing that Wei Lan seemed a bit guilty, Lu Zijin reached out and pinched the side of Wei Lan’s face. “It’s fine. Next time, don’t go out for so long without saying anything. You’re my Qianyuan, so worrying about you is only natural.”

“Good, then next time I go out, I’ll definitely tell the people in the courtyard.” Wei Lan obediently agreed.

“Mm, that’s good.”

The little Qianyuan was so obedient—even after her bonding spot had been bitten swollen by her, she was still worrying about whether she would be worn out.

Lu Zijin’s lips curved a little, and marrying Wei Lan back home really was the most correct thing she had done in this recent stretch of time.

While the two talked, the maids brought in the food.

Wei Lan’s stomach rumbled twice, and she looked at Lu Zijin with pleading eyes. “Madam, do you want to eat some with me?”

Lu Zijin wasn’t that hungry to begin with and hadn’t eaten much for dinner, but thinking of how Wei Lan ate, she agreed.

“Good, I didn’t eat much for dinner anyway. When I heard you weren’t back by that hour, I came straight over.” Lu Zijin’s gaze rested on Wei Lan as she said leisurely.

Wei Lan suddenly felt even more apologetic and scooted closer to say obediently, “Ah, you didn’t even eat dinner just to wait for me?”

Lu Zijin’s lips curved slightly. She propped herself up and reached out to touch the side of Wei Lan’s face. “It’s nothing. Eating with you now is the same. It’s just that I’m a bit low on energy. Otherwise, my lord, would you help me change clothes?”

“Sure.” Wei Lan had been feeling quite bad about making Lu Zijin wait for her for so long, so she quickly agreed.

She obediently picked up the clothes from the floor, then thought of Lu Zijin’s cleanliness habit and ran to the cabinet to grab her own clothes instead.

“Madam, would you wear mine first? They’re all new.” As Wei Lan spoke, she happily brought over a set of light blue clothes.

Lu Zijin nodded with a smile. “Good, I’ll do as you say.”

Seeing Lu Zijin agree, Wei Lan smiled at her, then obediently draped the outer clothes over Lu Zijin’s shoulders. “Madam, stretch out your arms. I’ll help you put them on.”

Wei Lan reminded her dutifully, and Lu Zijin curved her eyebrows, cooperating with the little Qianyuan to get dressed.

Wei Lan bowed her head to tie Lu Zijin’s inner belt, then picked up the waist sash and tied that on too.

She smiled at Lu Zijin. “All done, Madam.”

“Good, then thank you, my lord, for helping me.” Lu Zijin looked at the thoughtful and obedient little Qianyuan in front of her, her mood especially good.

“No need, no need. Madam, sit down quickly. Don’t wear yourself out.” As Wei Lan spoke, she went over to help Lu Zijin sit on the round stool, then sat down beside her.

Wei Lan looked at the increasingly plentiful delicious food in front of her, her eyes practically glowing. “Madam, I’ll start eating then. I’m too hungry.”

“Eat up. Don’t rush—eat slowly.” Lu Zijin ladled a bowl of ginseng chicken soup for Wei Lan and placed it by her hand.

“Good, thank you, Madam.” Wei Lan thanked her while already going after a piece of pork rib, and in the time it took to speak, she had eaten more than half of it.

Lu Zijin watched Wei Lan’s eating manner, her eyes curving a bit. Seeing how much Wei Lan enjoyed it, she herself started to feel a little hungry, just like how modern people liked watching food videos—watching made you hungry too.

Lu Zijin picked up some rice and dishes and ate slowly, while over there, Wei Lan could finish a pork rib in a few bites. If Lu Zijin was picking at her food bit by bit, then Wei Lan was sweeping across the dishes on the table like a storm, leaving every bowl and plate clean wherever she went.

After eating three pork ribs and two lamb ribs in a row, Wei Lan finally felt like there was something in her stomach to hold her over. She drank a few sips of chicken soup to moisten her throat and prepared to keep eating heartily.

Lu Zijin had already finished eating by then. She didn’t eat much in the evenings anyway, and plus she had eaten a little at Jingchen Courtyard earlier, so a few bites filled her up.

Seeing that Wei Lan had no time to shell crabs, Lu Zijin had someone bring a small copper basin. After washing her hands, she took a bowl and shelled all the crab meat into it. She shelled three in a row before stopping and placing the bowl in front of Wei Lan. “Eat up. It’s all crab meat and roe.”

Wei Lan’s eyes lit up right away. She really loved eating crab, but she had been too hungry earlier to bother with it. But Lu Zijin had shelled them all for her again, like last time, and this time she had even used a big bowl.

She immediately gave Lu Zijin a big smile. “Thank you, Madam.”

As she spoke, Wei Lan picked up the small bowl of crab meat and roe, added a spoonful of fragrant rice to it, then mixed the roe, meat, and rice together.

Wei Lan scooped up a spoonful and tasted it. The fresh sweetness of the crab meat, the rich flavor of the roe, paired with the unique aroma of the carbs—one bite down, and Wei Lan’s eyes narrowed in delight. What kind of heavenly life was this? It was just too delicious.

She just knew it—this life of eating soft rice, she could live it for ten thousand years!

“Madam, this is really delicious.” As she spoke, Wei Lan shoveled at the crab meat and roe mixed rice in the bowl with her spoon, not even minding whether Lu Zijin replied or not.

Lu Zijin propped her chin and watched Wei Lan, her eyebrows curving slightly. Ever since the people in her family were gone, it seemed like only when she was with Wei Lan did she feel like she had a home.

Wei Lan ate like she was wolfing it down, her table manners quite ordinary, but seeing how much she enjoyed it made Lu Zijin inexplicably happy too. Keeping such an obedient little Qianyuan by her side seemed pretty nice.

Wei Lan didn’t know what Lu Zijin was thinking. She was focused on scarfing down her food, and only after wiping out most of the dishes on the table did she leisurely sip some chicken soup. She had to admit, the food at the Lu Mansion was truly delicious.

Meanwhile, the bathwater had been heated on the other side. Qing Zhi came in, curtsied to the two of them, and asked, “Miss, do you want to bathe now? Or later?”

“Now. Have them prepare it.” Lu Zijin instructed.

“Yes.” Qing Zhi hurried to call people to arrange it.

Wei Lan looked at Lu Zijin, still holding her bowl and obediently drinking soup.

Lu Zijin’s gaze turned to her, and she smiled as she asked, “I’ll wash first, and you can wash after, okay?”

“Good. I’ll do whatever Madam says.” Wei Lan, used to being obedient, replied right away.

Lu Zijin nodded at her, quite pleased with her compliant attitude.

The bath bucket was prepared quickly over there, and Lu Zijin got up and smiled at Wei Lan. “Then I’ll go first.”

“Mm-hmm, go ahead, Madam. You’ve been busy all day—rest early later.” Wei Lan said quite obediently.

She called the maids to clear the bowls and plates from the table. Once the maids had all gone out, Wei Lan carefully went to the dressing table and put the five thousand taels of silver notes from her bosom into the small wooden cabinet below.

This was her private savings—she couldn’t let Madam know about it.

Lu Zijin was soaking in the bath over there and naturally didn’t know Wei Lan was hiding her pocket money. She only soaked for a short while before coming out, changing into new under and middle garments from Wei Lan’s side. As she dried her hair, Lu Zijin walked out.

When she went out, Wei Lan was sitting obediently by the round table.

“I’ve finished washing. You should bathe soon too.” Lu Zijin instructed while drying her damp hair.

“Mm-hmm, I’ll help you dry it.” Wei Lan very cooperatively took a dry cloth and helped dry Lu Zijin’s wet hair. She smelled the faint white sandalwood scent on Lu Zijin and couldn’t help but sigh, “It smells so good.”

Lu Zijin’s lips curved a little. She had deliberately let it out for Wei Lan to smell—the little Qianyuan’s body could only have her scent. “If you like it, you can smell it often from now on.”

Wei Lan nodded. “I like it.”

As she spoke, her hands didn’t stop. Lu Zijin’s hair was long and black—really pretty.

Wei Lan’s movements were very gentle, her eyes bright as she looked at Lu Zijin. “Madam’s hair is really nice—long and straight.”

Lu Zijin looked at Wei Lan, who was blowing rainbow farts at her, and her eyes curved a bit. “All right, I’ll dry the rest myself. Go bathe quickly, and rest early later.”

“Mm, then I’ll go.” Wei Lan obediently went to bathe. Her day had gone quite smoothly today—not only had she taken first place, but she had also earned five thousand taels of silver plus a raw emerald. Though Madam had pinned her down and bitten her a few times, she was still very happy.

In a great mood, Wei Lan stripped off her clothes and got into the bath, but thinking that Lu Zijin was still waiting for her, she didn’t soak too long. In no time, she came out of the bucket, changed into new undergarments, and walked out from behind the screen.

Lu Zijin was reclining on the bed with her eyes closed, resting. Wei Lan carefully walked over, her gaze falling on Lu Zijin’s face. Putting everything else aside, Lu Zijin was truly very pretty.

As if sensing Wei Lan’s gaze, Lu Zijin opened her eyes. “Dry your hair properly before sleeping.”

“Good.” Wei Lan obediently changed out several dry cloths, wiping her hair until it no longer dripped. She had someone clean up the bath area thoroughly, then finally got onto the bed and let down the bed curtains.

The candle on the outside candlestick was still lit, so after the curtains dropped, the light inside was a bit dim.

Wei Lan obediently pulled back the quilt and lay down, turning to look toward Lu Zijin. She found this experience a little novel. She and Lu Zijin had only slept together once before, but that time neither of them had been in good shape—Lu Zijin had been in her heat cycle, and she herself had had a fever, and it had been an afternoon nap besides. Later, after her fever broke, she had slept in the room next to Lu Zijin’s that night.

So strictly speaking, this was their first time spending the night together. Wei Lan actually felt a bit happy about it.

As for the reason, Wei Lan figured it was probably because after coming to this world, she had interacted the most with Lu Zijin, and Lu Zijin had indirectly helped her a lot. Without Lu Zijin’s money, she wouldn’t have been able to buy a full set of carving tools so quickly. She was pretty grateful to Lu Zijin.

Sensing Wei Lan’s hot gaze, Lu Zijin opened her eyes. She wanted to remind Wei Lan about the relationship between them—even if she thought Wei Lan was pretty good now, that didn’t mean she was really willing to do anything with Wei Lan, much less bond with her. As for what happened today, it was purely her possessiveness acting up, so she had thought of leaving a mark overnight.

But when Lu Zijin opened her eyes and saw Wei Lan’s bright eyes, the words that would have spoiled the mood stuck in her throat and wouldn’t come out. Wei Lan’s eyes were very pretty and very clear. Lu Zijin let out an imperceptible soft sigh and asked gently, “Not sleeping? Why are you looking at me?”

“This is still our first time sleeping together at night. Madam, you’re really pretty.” Wei Lan praised sweetly, her eyebrows curving along with her words, making her look even more obedient.

Lu Zijin really couldn’t bring herself to say anything harsh to such a face. On the contrary, with the little Qianyuan being so compliant, for some reason, her heart felt a little itchy.

Lu Zijin closed her eyes slightly, then opened them again. Fine, whatever—she was the Qianyuan she had married back, after all. As long as they didn’t bond, doing other things on ordinary days seemed fine? Anyway, Wei Lan was so obedient that if she didn’t let her bond, she wouldn’t dare to.

“My lord, why are you sleeping so far away? Come closer.” Lu Zijin blinked at Wei Lan and patted the spot beside her, signaling for Wei Lan to scoot over.

Wei Lan’s ear tips turned a little red, but she still obediently lay over.

Lu Zijin reached out and poked the side of Wei Lan’s shoulder. “Lie flat.”

“Good.” Wei Lan continued to lie flat as Lu Zijin said, and the next moment, she found a soft body in her arms—Lu Zijin had lain down in her embrace.

The side of Wei Lan’s face flushed a little. This was still the first time they had held each other when it wasn’t Lu Zijin’s heat cycle.

Wei Lan’s body was a bit stiff after all, and she didn’t dare to reach out and hold Lu Zijin, just lying there obediently. Because Lu Zijin was in her arms, the tip of her nose and mouth were filled with the scent of white sandalwood.

As if sensing Wei Lan’s stiffness, Lu Zijin smiled and lifted her gaze to her, reaching out to touch the side of Wei Lan’s face. “Relax, I won’t bite you today.”

“Good.” Wei Lan looked down at Lu Zijin in her arms and agreed obediently. With Lu Zijin’s soft body leaning against her, Wei Lan kind of wanted to hold her, but she didn’t dare, so she asked softly, “Madam, can I hug you? My hands have nowhere to put.”

Lu Zijin was amused by her—the little Qianyuan was too obedient, even asking permission in advance to hug her.

Lu Zijin’s fingertip lightly tapped the tip of Wei Lan’s nose. “Of course you can.”

“Madam, you’re so nice.” Wei Lan smiled at Lu Zijin and praised sweetly.

Wei Lan relaxed her body to let Lu Zijin lean more comfortably, then reached out and hugged Lu Zijin’s waist.

“Go to sleep early.” Lu Zijin closed her eyes again, nuzzled a bit in Wei Lan’s arms, and with the scent of new snow from Wei Lan, she fell asleep in no time.

It was the same for Wei Lan—her sleep quality was good to begin with, and with the boost from Lu Zijin’s messenger scent, she soon fell into a deep, sound sleep.

Lu Zijin slept very peacefully that night, and when she woke again, daylight was already bright. She rarely slept until this hour.

She looked at Wei Lan, who was still holding her and sleeping soundly.

Lu Zijin reached out and tugged at Wei Lan’s arm, which was draped around her waist, and then heard the person beneath her hum a few times and hold her even tighter.

Lu Zijin had things to handle in the morning and couldn’t stay like this with Wei Lan.

Though the little Qianyuan’s sleeping face was pretty cute, making Lu Zijin feel a bit reluctant, she still reached out and poked the side of Wei Lan’s face, saying gently, “My lord, wake up. It’s late—time to get up.”

“Mm~” Wei Lan hummed, hugging tighter and burying her face in the side of Lu Zijin’s shoulder to nuzzle, before opening her eyes in a just-woken-up daze.

“Time to get up?” Wei Lan wasn’t fully awake yet, her voice soft and mushy.

“Mm, I have things to handle this morning. If you’re still sleepy, sleep a bit more.” Lu Zijin touched Wei Lan’s face and said gently.

“No, I’ll get up with you.” Wei Lan let go of the arm hugging Lu Zijin’s lower back and propped herself up too.

Seeing that Wei Lan wanted to keep her company, Lu Zijin’s eyes curved a bit. “Good, then let’s get up. I’ll have them prepare things for washing.”

Lu Zijin called out to the outside, and the little maids on duty outside immediately went to prepare. Qing Zhi hurried in to help Lu Zijin dress.

Wei Lan’s eyes were straight, clearly still a bit not awake. She mechanically pulled on her clothes, looking like she might fall asleep again any second.

Lu Zijin finished arranging her own clothes and, seeing Wei Lan in this half-asleep state, was immediately amused. She pulled Wei Lan in front of her, reached out to help straighten Wei Lan’s clothes, and tied her waist sash.

“All done. Breakfast will be ready soon—go wash up.” Lu Zijin said with a smile.

“Good.” Wei Lan agreed obediently, and only after washing her face did she start to wake up a bit.

Lu Zijin kept her company for a simple breakfast, then left with her people.

Wei Lan looked at the now-empty bedroom, still a bit unaccustomed, but she was also quite happy. With Lu Zijin gone, she could go carve jade.

But she still closed the door right away, took out the private savings she had hidden under the dressing table, and put them back into the brocade box on the top shelf of the wardrobe. Only after doing that did she relax a little.

Wei Lan changed into her work clothes in the bedroom. When she went out, she instructed the maids at the door to prepare tea and water for her, and if she didn’t call them for the rest of the time, they shouldn’t come disturb her.

After giving those instructions, she hugged her small bundle and went into the workshop.

Wei Lan stretched a bit and took the raw emerald out of the small bundle. No wonder emeralds sold for so much—they were really pretty. The white ice emerald was very clear and looked especially textured.

With material like this, Wei Lan didn’t want to waste a bit of it. After thinking a moment, besides opening a bracelet, it seemed she could also get a jade hairpin from the side.

Wei Lan poured some pomegranate juice into a small dish, then used a pointed brush to sketch a rough outline, drawing the general shape of the bracelet.

She sat down at the lathe and began carefully cutting the raw stone bit by bit. This raw stone had good quality, so Wei Lan cut with special care—because even scraps of this quality would look great polished into beads to wear on the hand.

In no time, Wei Lan had cut out the bracelet, and the large middle piece of bracelet core material could be used to carve the jade plaque. As for the remaining long strip of material, Wei Lan planned to carve a jade hairpin from it, and the rest of the scraps should yield four or five beads at 10 carats.

With everything planned out, Wei Lan switched tools and started grinding, smoothing the edges of the bracelet. This process required special care, and she had to keep water dripping on the jade bracelet at all times, or it might crack.

Wei Lan had especially good patience, polishing every spot carefully, and making sure the finished bracelet’s size would be around 54, so it would look good and feel comfortable when Lu Zijin wore it.

Just polishing the bracelet took up Wei Lan’s whole morning. She wasn’t hungry at noon, and since there were no electric lights in ancient times, she couldn’t work at night, so she especially cherished this daytime stretch. After the initial polishing of the bracelet, she started on the wood grinding for finer work, followed by the final skin grinding step.

By the time all the polishing steps were done, it was almost dark outside.

Wei Lan soaked the bracelet in water to clean it, then gently wiped it dry with clean velvet cloth.

She opened the door, and light poured in from outside. Wei Lan picked up the bracelet and held it to the light, watching it with a smile that never left her face.

The white ice quality jade bracelet was clear all through, with fine and smooth texture that made the skin look even fairer.

Wei Lan was over the moon—this jade bracelet would look amazing on Lu Zijin!