Ch 116 (Extra 2): The Regent’s Farmer Husband

During the Winter Solstice, the entire court took seven days off, and the academy followed the same holiday schedule.

Jiang Ji and Lu Huaizhou brought both sides of the family to a hot spring villa in the suburbs for a vacation.

The villa was built halfway up a mountain. Many years ago, several natural hot spring pools had been discovered there, leading to the construction of multiple villas, most of which belonged to high-ranking officials or wealthy merchants.

Back then, after Lu Huaizhou achieved great military merit on the frontier and returned victorious, the late emperor intended to reward him with a residence. Lu Huaizhou learned that the court had recently confiscated a hot spring villa in this area from a disgraced official.

Thinking of his grandfather, whose health had been poor with age, Lu Huaizhou knew that hot springs would benefit his recovery. He declined all other rewards and only requested this villa from the late emperor.

Later, Old Master Lu recuperated here for four or five years, and his health gradually improved considerably.

The villa itself was quite large, consisting of four courtyards with many rooms. Original translation at HololoNovels dot com. There was even a separate courtyard specifically for hot spring bathing, and the servants had already prepared all the rooms after receiving advance notice.

When the Lu and Jiang families arrived, they quickly settled into their accommodations. Jiang Ji and Lu Huaizhou chose a quieter room in the rear courtyard.

As the weather grew colder by the day, the mountain air was even chillier. After enduring over half a shichen of carriage travel in the cold, everyone felt somewhat chilled.

Once they had settled in, Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei immediately ran toward the hot spring courtyard.

This was not their first visit. The two boys dragged Lu Huaichuan along, while Jiang Ji went together with Lu Huaizhou.

The hot spring courtyard had two separate pools, with men’s and women’s baths divided into different rooms.

Inside the bathing room, the temperature was much warmer, with wisps of steam curling through the air. Several pots of flowers and plants bloomed nearby.

Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei stripped down to their shorts and jumped straight into the water. The two little troublemakers were already over ten years old now. With regular milk and proper nutrition, they had grown much taller, already reaching Jiang Ji’s chest.

“You two have splashed all the water out again. Don’t start playing in the water,” Jiang Ji said as he walked in, already getting a headache at the sight of them.

“We’re not splashing around!” Jiang Nan protested, sinking completely into the water with only his head sticking out. “Brother, you’re making things up.”

Jiang Bei nodded. “Exactly. We haven’t even started playing yet.”

“Hah, you’d better not.” Jiang Ji slowly stepped into the pool and leaned against the edge, the hot spring water rising to his shoulders. He let out a comfortable sigh.

The spring water here remained at around forty-one to forty-two degrees year-round, making it perfect for soaking during this season.

The Lu brothers entered one after another. Lu Huaizhou sat beside Jiang Ji, stretching one arm out across the edge of the pool behind him.

Jiang Ji met his gaze briefly but said nothing.

Lu Huaichuan carried in a pot of tea and placed it on the floor.

“Is the water too hot?”

“It’s perfect,” Jiang Nan answered loudly. “Brother Huaichuan, hurry up and get in. It’s really comfortable.”

Lu Huaichuan went behind the screen to undress before joining them in the pool.

Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei couldn’t sit still at all. Before long, they ignored their brother’s warnings and started splashing around again, even dragging Lu Huaichuan into their games.

Although Lu Huaichuan was already in his twenties and had entered official service, he still retained some youthful liveliness. When playing with Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei, he looked like another child among them.

But the boys didn’t dare splash water toward Lu Huaizhou. Jiang Ji also had no interest in joining their childish games, so he moved closer to Lu Huaizhou to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lu Huaizhou slid his hand beneath the water and wrapped it around Jiang Ji’s waist.

Jiang Ji’s waist was rather sensitive. He shot Lu Huaizhou a glance and whispered softly,

“Don’t.”

Lu Huaizhou paused. No one knew Jiang Ji’s body better than he did. Hearing this, his fingers immediately stopped moving.

Jiang Ji had never closed his livestream. He glanced at it, only to find that the screen had exploded with comments.

【Ooooh, the Regent’s body is incredible.】

【Eight-pack abs!】

【As expected of someone who practices martial arts. Those muscles… wow. His body fat percentage must be super low.】

【Hiss~】

【Jiang Ji is eating very well.】

Jiang Ji: “……”

He glanced at the man beside him.

Defined abs. Adonis belt. A handsome face. Endless energy. Impressive stamina.

Thinking about those blissful moments that felt almost heavenly, Jiang Ji’s cheeks grew warm.

He really was eating very well.

But having others point it out so directly still felt embarrassing.

Without hesitation, he shut off the livestream.

Lu Huaizhou poured him a cup of tea and handed it over. Jiang Ji accepted it and drank it all.

“Jiang Nan, Jiang Bei, you’ve been soaking for a quarter of an hour already. Your faces are red. It’s time to get out,” Jiang Ji reminded them.

Jiang Nan still hadn’t had enough.

“Brother, I’m not dizzy. Can I soak a little longer?”

Jiang Ji refused.

“No. You’ll faint if you stay any longer. If that happens, you won’t be able to soak tomorrow.”

“But I want to stay in a bit longer…”

Jiang Bei, who was usually more obedient, tugged on Jiang Nan’s arm.

“Come on. We can soak again tomorrow. If you faint, you won’t be able to soak tomorrow or the day after. Wouldn’t that be a loss?”

Jiang Nan fell silent before reluctantly climbing out of the pool.

The waiting servants, Xiao Qi and Xiao Ba, hurried over with towels to wrap the two boys up. They led them to the nearby bathing tubs to wash off, dry themselves, and put on clean clothes so they wouldn’t catch a chill.

“Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei should each drink two cups of water. Xiao Qi, Xiao Ba, let them bathe and dress themselves,” Jiang Ji instructed, his voice coming from behind them like someone who had eyes in the back of his head.

Xiao Qi and Xiao Ba always couldn’t help but want to assist Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei because they were still young. Every time Jiang Ji saw it, he had to remind them.

“Understood, Your Grace,” Xiao Qi and Xiao Ba replied. They had originally intended to help scrub the boys’ backs, but now they didn’t dare.

Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei washed themselves with clean water, helped scrub each other’s backs, dried off, got dressed, and drank two cups of tea to replenish their fluids before leaving.

Jiang Ji and the others also got out one after another, washed up, and put on their clothes.

After soaking in the hot springs, their bodies felt wonderfully warm. They rested for a while, and soon it was time for lunch.

After lunch, Jiang Ji and Lu Huaizhou skipped their afternoon naps and went for a walk to aid digestion.

The villa was located halfway up the mountain, and directly ahead stretched an open expanse with broad views and breathtaking scenery.

The trees on the mountain had long since shed all their leaves. The ground was covered in a thick layer of fallen foliage that crunched beneath their feet, carrying a distinctly wintery atmosphere.

The two of them slowly climbed upward along the forest path.

Halfway up, Jiang Ji suddenly stopped. Staring into the woods beside them, he raised one hand to signal Lu Huaizhou to stop and pointed in another direction.

Following where Jiang Ji indicated, Lu Huaizhou spotted a gray rabbit on a hillside about ten meters away, hugging a grass root while nibbling on it.

Jiang Ji looked at Lu Huaizhou, raised an eyebrow, and mimed drawing a bow and shooting an arrow.

Lu Huaizhou understood. Turning toward Chen Feng, who was following behind them, Chen Feng handed over the bow he had been carrying.

Lu Huaizhou accepted it and then passed it to Jiang Ji.

Jiang Ji was extremely excited. He didn’t go hunting often, but since he’d happened upon the opportunity, he wasn’t about to be polite.

Just as he drew the bow and prepared to shoot, suddenly, from another direction, whoosh, whoosh two arrows flew through the air.

Neither hit their mark.

Startled, the wild rabbit dropped the grass root and dashed away.

Jiang Ji: “……”

“Aiya! It ran away! It ran away! We were just a little bit off!” Jiang Bei’s voice came from nearby.

Jiang Ji stared at the arrows embedded at least a meter away from where the rabbit had been: “……”

Over there, Jiang Nan grumbled, “I told you it was too far away! I said we should get a little closer, but you all insisted we’d scare the rabbit away!”

Jiang Nan, Jiang Bei, and Lu Huaichuan emerged from the other side of the hillside and happened to spot Jiang Ji and the others.

“Aiya, Big Brother, you’re hunting too?” Jiang Bei held his bow excitedly. Seeing his eldest brother made him eager to run over.

“Slow down. Don’t run. Be careful not to fall,” Jiang Ji sighed in relief as he lowered the bow, though he couldn’t resist complaining, “If you two hadn’t fired those arrows just now, we’d have had rabbit meat for dinner tonight.”

Jiang Nan scratched his head.

“……We didn’t know you were over here, Brother. Besides, we thought we had hit it.”

Jiang Bei asked again, “Brother, are you hunting too? Did you catch anything?”

Jiang Ji replied, “No, we were just taking a walk and happened to run into it.”

“Oh, we also saw a mountain pheasant earlier, but we didn’t catch that either,” Jiang Nan said regretfully.

They had come out specifically to practice hunting. Every time they visited the villa, Lu Jiu would bring them out for target practice. Several years had passed, and they still hadn’t successfully hit anything.

“Then keep working hard. We’re leaving now.” Jiang Ji returned the bow to Chen Feng.

Jiang Bei asked, “Brother, won’t you come hunting with us?”

“You kids have fun by yourselves.” Jiang Ji waved his hand and continued walking uphill.

Jiang Ji and Lu Huaizhou reached the mountaintop, admired the scenery for a while, and then headed back.

By evening, Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei returned, beaming as they carried two mountain pheasants and a wild rabbit.

Jiang Ji was surprised.

“You caught those?”

Jiang Nan shook his head.

“No, Brother Lu Jiu caught them.”

Jiang Ji: “……Fine. I’ll cook dinner tonight.”

“Wow, that’s great~”

Jiang Nan and Jiang Bei cheered. Although Sister-in-law Guihua’s cooking was also delicious, they still liked Big Brother’s cooking the most.

That evening, Jiang Ji personally cooked the meal while Zhao Ru and Madam Lu made dumplings. The entire family enjoyed a lavish reunion dinner together to celebrate the Winter Solstice.

Before bed, Jiang Ji and Lu Huaizhou went for another soak in the hot springs. Back in their room, the two curled up together beneath the blankets, holding each other close and kissing affectionately.

Since there was no court session the next day, Lu Huaizhou finally let himself indulge.

The unfamiliar setting brought a sense of novelty and excitement. Jiang Ji clung to Lu Huaizhou’s shoulders, his voice breaking into fragments from the overwhelming sensations.

“Y-you… aren’t you being a little… too excited?”

“Hm?” Lu Huaizhou kissed the reddened corner of Jiang Ji’s eyes and chuckled softly. “Aren’t you the same? Do you like it here?”

Jiang Ji: “……Take it slow.” Starting off this intensely was a bit too much for him.

“Alright.” Lu Huaizhou obediently gentled his movements.

After a while, Jiang Ji became dissatisfied again.

“Stop teasing me.”

Lu Huaizhou raised an eyebrow. “Wasn’t it you who said…”

“Since when have you become so obedient?” Jiang Ji glared at him and said irritably.

Lu Huaizhou let out a soft laugh and suppressed his smile.

“Then tell me what you want. Let me hear it.”

Jiang Ji pressed down on his head and whispered two words into his ear.

In the next instant, Lu Huaizhou’s gaze darkened. He kissed Jiang Ji fiercely, not allowing him to utter another word.

Jiang Ji: “……”

Fine then. This switch was still as effective as ever.

The Winter Solstice had passed, and the coldest days of winter were approaching.

Yet no matter how bitterly cold the wind outside became, it could never enter the house filled with warmth and affection.

Spring had never disappeared from the Regent’s residence.

— End of the Story —

🌾🌾🌾🌾🌾