Marry a Northern Song Dynasty civil servant

Chapter 8

"Ling'er is right." He pulled the basket closer, gave Lu Ling a reassuring smile, and then looked directly at Song Xiaohua, whose face was full of disbelief: "It's getting late, you should just go and rest."

"You really can handle...that...you can manage it?"

"yes."

A single, clean word, concise yet powerful, instantly dispelled all of Song Xiaohua's doubts.

Some people possess qualities that inspire complete trust without any reason, and Lu Ziqi is undoubtedly one of them.

Chapter Ten: The Magistrate's Wife's Morning

That night, Song Xiaohua had the sweetest and most peaceful sleep she had had since transmigrating.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Song Xiaohua got up early.

Firstly, I was thinking about my dog, and secondly, I've been sleeping a lot lately. I probably turn off the lights and go to bed around 8 p.m. at the latest, and I can sleep until about 9 a.m. in the morning.

Under the guise of recuperating, she finally managed to make up for all the sleep she had missed during her previous working life, where she had to get up earlier than the chickens and go to bed later than the dogs.

Open the door, take a deep breath, and feel refreshed in the near-pure oxygen concentration.

Actually, life without television, the internet, magazines, or all sorts of dazzling and mesmerizing entertainment facilities isn't so bad.

Because it's simple, it's easy to satisfy.

Today will be a beautiful day, today will be a wonderful day, and today, Song Xiaohua will officially begin her happy life as the wife of the magistrate of the Song Dynasty!

The first thing I did after getting up was, as usual, to fetch water from the water tank in the kitchen and wash up.

Although Song Xiaohua doesn't have the courage to take a cold shower, she is used to washing her face with cold water, which is good for her skin!

As for brushing her teeth, that was rather frustrating. After she transmigrated, she learned that the Song Dynasty already had toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and even supposedly scented soap. However, the toothpaste tasted very strange, and the toothbrushes were even more bizarre, made of horsehair or pig tail hair. Regardless of whether they were comfortable to use, just thinking about it made her feel nauseous.

Therefore, Song Xiaohua chose to use her fingers instead of a toothbrush. In addition, she remembered that tea leaves have teeth-cleaning properties, so she would chew a few mouthfuls morning and night, thinking that this would ensure good oral hygiene.

After washing my face, I just pat it dry and that's it. I don't need to apply any toner, cream, or ointment. There's no pollution, the climate is good, and people's skin doesn't have many problems. Plus, I'm young and don't need any skincare.

However, Song Xiaohua still believes that skin care should start from childhood, and moreover, she does need some additional means to improve her external conditions. She should start planning to make her own beauty products as soon as possible.

After washing up, she took out a wooden comb from her waist and carefully combed her waist-length hair.

Song Xiaohua always had long, flowing hair when she was in school. Later, she was too busy with work to take care of it, so she reluctantly cut it short. Now, she feels like she has regained what she lost, and she will treat it with care.

Unfortunately, although the hair has grown longer, the quality is not very good. It is dry, yellow, lacks luster, and has some split ends. This is probably due to inadequate internal nutrition and external care.

However, Song Xiaohua is confident that it won't be long before she can make her current long hair look like the standard for a shampoo commercial without needing any post-production Photoshop.

Don't forget, she's a rich and carefree "parasite" now. I refuse to believe she can't outlast a few strands of hair...

Bathed in the rising sun, Song Xiaohua combed her hair, breathed in the fresh air, and strolled leisurely in the courtyard. She was fully appreciating a beauty of the morning that she had never noticed before, so much so that she did not notice the door to the study being slowly opened from the inside.

Lu Ziqi stood at the door with Lu Ling in his hand, looking at Song Xiaohua, whose expression was full of joy and leisure. Suddenly, he was a little puzzled and a little dazed. Was this quiet woman in front of him really the same woman who had been so outrageous in her words and actions yesterday that she made people both laugh and cry and had a headache?

Which one is the real her, or are they all the real her? How could Lu Ziqi, who always prided himself on his keen insight, be so blind to a mere young girl…

"Good morning, Mother!"

Lu Ling's crisp greeting finally drew Song Xiaohua's attention to the father and son, and she was immediately surprised: "You're up already? So early! I thought you were going to sleep a little longer!"

"Ling'er gets up at dawn every day!"

"Mao Shi..." Song Xiaohua wasn't quite sure what the hour corresponded to, so she nodded vaguely, "Good morning! Where's Wuque?"

“Inside the room. Father brought me here to pay my respects to Mother, so I can’t bring it with me.”

"Ling'er, why don't you go check now?" Before Song Xiaohua could ask any more questions, Lu Ziqi leaned down and gently patted his son's head: "If it crawls out and hides under the bed, you won't be able to find it!"

"Ah! That's right!" Upon hearing this, Lu Ling disregarded everything else and rushed into the west wing bedroom.

Lu Ziqi watched his little figure safely enter the door before shaking his head affectionately. He then turned to Song Xiaohua, who seemed lost in thought, and said with a gentle smile, "Good morning."

"Good morning." Song Xiaohua's gaze swept over the study behind him, but she didn't say anything more.

“Every morning after Ling’er gets up, he comes to greet his birth mother.” Lu Ziqi learned from Lu Ling that she had been getting up late due to poor health recently, so she probably didn’t know this yet: “His birth mother’s memorial tablet is placed in the study.”

"Oh..." Song Xiaohua had already guessed, so she wasn't surprised. After thinking for a moment, she asked uncertainly, "Then... should I also go to that... place and offer a prayer?"

Lu Ziqi smiled faintly, answering a question unrelated to the one asked: "I had Ling'er come to pay his respects every day so that he wouldn't forget his birth mother. You..."

"I understand, I understand, this is how it should be."

Seeing that he didn't seem to want her to go in, Song Xiaohua breathed a sigh of relief. In any case, it was always awkward and uncomfortable to keep bowing to the memorial tablet of an unknown dead person, so it was best to leave quickly for the time being: "I'll go boil some water for Ling'er to wash her face."

As she spoke, she tried to use a hairpin to casually tie up her hair, but because she was in a hurry and her technique was not very good, she couldn't manage it even after several tries.

While she was busy with her head down, she suddenly felt a white garment sway in front of her eyes, and a warm and steady hand took the hairpin and then gently inserted it into her hair.

Looking up, all that could be seen was a chin with faint bluish stubble, its features sharply defined. The face, bathed in the brilliant glow of the sunset, had a dazzling, iridescent quality, obscuring any expression.

A strange feeling suddenly rose in Song Xiaohua's heart. After a quick assessment, she concluded that this was a typical symptom of 'infatuation'.

Faced with such a handsome and well-built man's tender and gentle nature, who wouldn't be smitten?!

Before she could even feign shyness to enhance the 'seduction' effect, Lu Ziqi had already taken a step back, tilted his head to look her over, and said with a smile, "I'm going to the county government office. I'll be back around noon."

"Huh? It's barely dawn, what time do you start work... um... start your workday?"

"I had some unfinished official business, so I'll be working earlier these days."

"At least eat something before you leave!"

“It’s alright, I can eat at the county government office. If you feel bored, go chat with Aunt Zhang for a while. If you need to buy anything, just take the money from the place I told you about yesterday. From now on, you can arrange all the household expenses without informing me.”

"Okay, no problem, don't worry!" Song Xiaohua happily assured him, then looked at him and asked, "By the way, was Wuque well-behaved last night?"

Lu Ziqi sighed softly: "Fortunately, after feeding it rice porridge twice, it slept relatively soundly."

"You fed it yourself?"

"Could it be Ling'er?"

Song Xiaohua suppressed a laugh, then stood on tiptoe and patted his shoulder with a serious expression: "You're in a good mood, keep it up!"

After barely sleeping all night, my mood is actually not bad? Well then, let's keep it up...

Lu Ziqi rubbed his temples and smiled wryly.

Song Xiaohua then noticed that he looked very tired, and his voice was a little hoarse compared to yesterday. He probably hadn't rested well because of the dog. Then she thought about it; he had been traveling for many days and should be extremely exhausted, yet he had come back and, on a whim, decided to play a prank on her…

A wave of guilt washed over me, but I didn't know what to say. After hesitating for a while, I finally managed to utter the words that my wife usually said to her husband before he left for work: "Be careful on the road and come back early."

Although Lu Ziqi found these words a little strange, they were quite heartwarming, so he smiled and responded.

As he stepped out and turned to close the courtyard gate, he looked at the smiling woman waving goodbye to him in front of the study. He couldn't help but smile, but his heart ached.

Why, for a fleeting moment just now, did I not want her to see Tong'er, or rather, did I not want Tong'er to see her...?

Author's Note: Regarding the toothpaste and toothbrush issue, this is just something I casually researched and made up on.

Chapter Eleven: A Swift Strike