274: Chapter 0274 Reunion of Husband and Wife

The carriage curtain opened, and a short, dark-skinned man stepped out excitedly.

"Your subordinate Chang Youkui pays respects to General Lin!"

Chang Youkui said with emotion, "I never expected the General to wait in the cold wind for your subordinate. I am ashamed!"

Lin Xiao was stunned for a few seconds and glanced at Mu Wanying beside him. She shook her head, indicating that she also did not know Chang Youkui was taking office today.

"Chang Youkui, Yong Province is close to the Capital Region. There are more gentry and powerful clans here, and the interpersonal relationships are complex."

"I did not transfer you here to enjoy life, but to gnaw on hard bones. You must live up to my trust!"

Chang Youkui's eyes teared up. "General Lin, rest assured, your subordinate will definitely do his utmost and will not refuse even death!"

"It hasn't reached the point of life or death. Just do what needs to be done. If you die, where else would I find another Iron-Faced Judge?"

Lin Xiao smiled and helped him up.

After sending Chang Youkui away, Lin Xiao sighed gloomily.

"It made me happy for nothing. Why is it him?"

Mu Wanying smiled. "Husband, Chang Youkui is willing to die in your service. Your words are too hurtful."

"I'm not looking down on him, but isn't this a waste of my emotions?"

After waiting for another half an hour, two fast horses rapidly approached from a distance.

On the horses were two young women wearing veils. Although they were wearing thick fur coats, their beautiful figures were still visible.

The two women rode with an imposing, heroic air, like two gusts of wind—one red and one blue—passing quickly through the main street.

"Husband!"

The woman in the red fur coat came to a sudden stop, dismounted, and her cape swirled like a red lotus.

She ran toward Lin Xiao, disregarding the public, and threw herself directly into his arms!

"Wife, why did you come on horseback?"

Lin Xiao felt immense heartache. In this cold weather, why not take a carriage? It would be much warmer with a charcoal stove!

"It doesn't matter, I am not afraid of the cold," Xiao Qingxuan said, pulling off her veil to reveal a flushed face.

Although her body was not afraid of the cold, her face had clearly been irritated by the cold wind.

"Isn't it to save time?"

Leng Bingyan, who dismounted behind her, looked speechless. "We could have set off the day before yesterday, and taking a carriage would have been fine."

"But before we left, another group of refugees swarmed outside Hanyang, and she stayed behind to settle them properly before she was willing to move."

"It was clearly fine to let the inspector general and the others handle it. They are already very proficient in the prevention rules Husband provided."

"With all this back and forth, since we promised to arrive today, the carriage was too slow, so we had to switch to horses."

"I must have owed you in my past life. Being your sister, riding horses back and forth every day, my waist is almost broken."

Xiao Qingxuan was both annoyed and amused. "Yaner, you've been nagging me the whole way. Stop talking."

Lin Xiao looked at Xiao Qingxuan, who was noticeably thinner and even had some dark circles under her eyes, and felt immense heartache.

For someone with the strength of a Martial Arts Grandmaster like Xiao Qingxuan, being this exhausted meant she definitely hadn't slept peacefully recently.

It was he who asked her to keep an eye on the disaster situation in E Prefecture, so she had tried her best and fought until the very last moment.

During these days, although he was busy fighting, his woman was also fighting another "battle" against the plague.

"Silly wife, what if you were a day late? If you had rested in the carriage, could I blame you?"

Lin Xiao held her hand, not knowing what to say.

"No, I just wanted to see you sooner, Husband. Otherwise, I couldn't sleep peacefully."

Xiao Qingxuan looked up at the plaque that read "Generals Mansion".

"In the blink of an eye, Husband has already changed the Prince's Mansion into the Generals Mansion. I have missed so much..."

Xiao Qingxuan's eyes were a bit unfocused. In just over half a year, the poor scholar she married had actually vaguely become the King of the North?

This speed of ascent was probably rare in the history of the entire Tianwu Continent.

She couldn't help but wonder, could it really be that the spirits of her Imperial Father and Mother had sent this man to her side?

Lin Xiao laughed. "It's fine. I won't do any official business today. I'll just tell you what has happened recently."

"Come, come, you've been traveling through the night, you must be hungry. I specifically had someone prepare a copper pot. Let's have some hot pot, eat some meat, drink some mutton soup, and replenish your energy!"

As Lin Xiao spoke, he pulled Leng Bingyan, who was beside him, into his arms as well.

"Yaner, don't be angry anymore. If Qingxuan doesn't love you, I, your husband, will love you!"

Although Leng Bingyan was happy in her heart, she was still very shy about being seen by others outside. She half-heartedly resisted and urged him to go inside quickly, so as not to be a laughingstock.

Seeing the women's shy appearance, Lin Xiao became even more enthusiastic. He lowered his head and gave both women a big kiss on the cheek.

Arriving at the back garden, the servants serving Lin Xiao all withdrew.

Today was a family banquet, a purely family banquet, and no outsiders were needed to be present.

Xiao Qingxuan and Leng Bingyan were truly hungry. Learning from Lin Xiao's way of eating, they dipped the scooped-up mutton into the thick, secret sauce and put it into their mouths...

The hot, milky-scented mutton, accompanied by the rich aroma of sesame, made the women's souls leave their bodies!

"Husband! Is this the sesame paste you mentioned before?" Xiao Qingxuan realized.

"That's right. Yong Province is, after all, the most prosperous place in the North, and the ingredients are also richer."

Lin Xiao added some minced coriander for Xiao Qingxuan. "Wife, why not try this too."

Xiao Qingxuan sniffed it and blinked. "Isn't this coriander? Can this also be eaten with mutton?"

"Try it, it has a unique flavor!"

Lin Xiao only found out when preparing ingredients yesterday that there was coriander in the Great Gan, but it was generally used as medicine, and not much was consumed by the common people.

Mainly because ordinary people didn't have much chance to eat beef or mutton, and just eating coriander was indeed quite niche.

"It's a pity that Su Wansha hasn't arrived yet, otherwise she would definitely like it. This sesame paste and coriander paired with mutton would definitely make Baiyu Pavilion popular again."

Xiao Qingxuan felt it was a pity.

The few women in the family each had different divisions of labor, and Su Wansha was equivalent to Xiao Qingxuan's right-hand assistant.

During the days when Xiao Qingxuan was not in Cang Province, apart from the daily work of the Northern Trade Alliance, Su Wansha was also the one worrying about epidemic prevention.

"It doesn't matter. After we finish the business here in Yong Province, we will return to Cang Province for the New Year, and we will naturally be reunited by then."

Although Yong Province was more prosperous, it lacked a sense of belonging.

Lin Xiao still wanted to return to Cang Province to spend the New Year with the old brothers who had followed him to fight the Northern Barbarians from the beginning, and with the fellow villagers.

Moreover, his official position was still General Yunhui guarding the border, and he was also the Earl of Cangbei, with his fief in Cang Province.

Right now was a time to conserve strength, and he didn't need to do anything too flashy that would give people something to gossip about.

"The matter you mentioned you need to be busy with is how to rectify the two hundred thousand troops entrenched in Yong Province, right?"

Xiao Qingxuan picked up a skewer of roasted mutton. She actually preferred roasted meat because she didn't have much chance to eat meat so boldly in the palace before.

"Yes," Lin Xiao nodded. "To govern the North, the military comes first. Only when the morale of the army is stable can we talk about other things."

"This matter is of great importance, and I must go all out, so I had to have you come here to take control of the overall situation for me and handle the government affairs."

"Only in this way can I stretch my arms and legs and focus on dealing with the military issues."