Chapter 151

Chapter 151

The reasons why the Han family's married-out daughters and sons, along with their husbands and children, wanted to follow were simple.

It was all because Han Zhang had already entered government service and been appointed to a fourth-rank official position.

Even though Yunyang Prefecture in Yanzhou was famously harsh and frigid, as a prefect (roughly equivalent to a modern-day prefecture-level city mayor)—the top official in the entire prefecture—life under his protection was far better than being an ordinary commoner in the capital!

After all, there was a saying: even the doorman of a prime minister's mansion outranks a seventh-rank official.

Being able to forge a connection with an official, even as a mere gatekeeper, elevated one above others.

Following the Han family's relocation to Yanzhou, setting aside other benefits, simply not being given a hard time or deliberately obstructed by yamen runners when paying taxes or performing corvée labor was enough to make people rush to jump at the chance.

Besides, most of the villagers near Shangpo Village had originally fled there as refugees, so they didn't harbor much reluctance to leave their native soil.

No one knew the real reason behind Han Zhang's appointment in Yanzhou; they only knew he'd shot up to the rank of fourth-rank prefect, enjoying the emperor's great favor, with a bright future ahead.

They were merely relocating with the Han family, not becoming live-in sons-in-law (married into the bride's family). And even if they were, given how the Han family treated their sons-in-law, that wasn't out of the question either!

In the face of wealth and glory, what are dignity and pride worth anyway?

Of course, some married-out daughters and sons, for various reasons, wanted to go but couldn't.

For these people, after discussions between Han Zhang and the clan elders,

they ultimately secretly gave them some silver to tide them over and arranged several safe houses they could hide in during times of trouble, so that if he eventually rose to prominence and these young women and men suffered repercussions, they would have an escape route.

You can't plan for every contingency; he could only do this much.

The Han family's stir was hard to miss, and the Crown Prince and Emperor Taixuan naturally caught wind of it.

However, Han Zhang fearing that Lord Jiayou would continue his vendetta and wanting to bring his clan along to Yanzhou for his post made perfect sense—they knew Jiayou's temperament well, so they harbored no suspicions.

Only Jiayou wept in his mansion in fury: "Does he avoid me like the plague? Relocating the whole clan? Does he plan to never return to the capital in his lifetime? What's so great about Shen Qinglan that he'd go this far for him..."

Moving an entire clan was no small matter. Even though the Han family wasn't large, settling land and property matters, packing belongings, saying goodbye to his four friends—all these arrangements would take a good several months at minimum.

And Han Zhang had a deadline for assuming his post.

So, after entrusting everything and waiting for Shen Qinglan to finish packing his dowry, he left the capital ahead of schedule with his husband.

The night before leaving the capital, Han Zhang did one more thing.

He slipped into the Chang Gongjun mansion and planted a mutated plant seed on Lord Jiayou's body.

A month later, the seed would sprout and instantly drain the life force from his body, making it look like he'd died of a sudden heart attack.

Lord Jiayou had too vengeful a nature, and he had even harbored murderous intentions toward his husband. As long as that man lived, Han Zhang couldn't rest easy!

But one couldn't just kill someone casually. With everything in the spotlight right now, if the Chang Gongjun died unnaturally, he'd be the prime suspect.

So, having him die suddenly after Han Zhang left the capital was the best outcome.

Everything was in place.

With Shen Qinglan's parents, Pan Taining, Kang Zhanxun, and others seeing them off, Han Zhang and Shen Qinglan, along with their servants and luggage, finally set sail from the capital, leaving that den of trouble behind.

"Father, Mother, Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, An Ge'er... you must remember to write to me often!"

As they departed, Shen Qinglan's eyes were rimmed with red as he shouted as loudly as he could toward the shore.

In all his life, he'd never truly been apart from his parents and older brother. Who knew how many years would pass before they'd meet again? He really didn't want to leave.

Han Zhang's heart ached to see it, and he gently drew him into his arms to comfort him: "Don't cry, my love. Within ten years, I swear I'll bring you back."

"Really?" Shen Qinglan looked up with glistening eyes, his voice still thick with tears. "Then you'd better keep your word, husband. Don't you dare lie to me."

"I promise."

Han Zhang nodded firmly, holding him close.

A river breeze swept by as the boat grew smaller and smaller in the distance, the capital's towering silhouette gradually fading from their view.

...

Yanzhou was by no means close to the capital.

Barring any unexpected delays, they would need to sail for half a month, then travel by carriage for another half month—a full month's journey in total—before reaching Yunyang Prefecture in Yanzhou.

By all rights, life on the boat should have been dull.

But Shen Qinglan really knew how to live the good life. Knowing that Yunyang Prefecture was remote and barren, and that they might not return to the capital for a long time, he had not only brought a vast array of items for clothing, food, housing, and travel.

He had also brought along numerous cooks, craftsmen, embroiderers, physicians... every kind of person needed for daily life, and on top of that, he even added two opera troupes and two storytellers!

One opera troupe to sing and dance for him, another to perform plays and dramas, and two storytellers to take turns reading novels to him—he had his "tyrant-style lifestyle" all figured out.

Han Zhang had already conditioned his body, so he didn't suffer from seasickness, spending every day on the boat eating, drinking, and watching performances.

Occasionally, when the mood struck, he would drag Han Zhang up to sing a few lines or act out a scene with him, laughing and playing at role-playing games with boundless delight.

Boredom was absolutely out of the question.

His husband loved these things, and Han Zhang was happy to indulge him. He also dredged up many plot ideas from web novels in his memory and gave them to the two storytellers to write into tales, saving them to tell his husband slowly.

On the food front, he didn't hold back either, sharing modern cooking knowledge with the chefs, who developed many delicious new dishes that made Shen Qinglan beam with joy.

But seeing him so utterly unrestrained, Qiao Dong, Qiao Xi, and the other close attendants grew secretly anxious and couldn't help urging:

"Young master, please exercise some restraint! The boat is already too cramped for activity, and if you keep eating and drinking like this every day, what will you do if your old clothes no longer fit when we disembark?"

Though the current era didn't worship thinness like the previous dynasty, an overly rotund figure was still considered inelegant.

Everyone loved beauty. The young master's husband treated him sincerely now, but if his looks deteriorated, who could guarantee the husband wouldn't change his heart?

The four close page boys watched their master, who was eating and playing even more foolishly than when he'd been in the inner chambers, growing more worried and more crestfallen with each passing thought.

But Shen Qinglan couldn't care less. He reached out and patted his own waist, speaking with a hint of proud smugness:

"No need to worry—your young master was born beautiful, and no matter how much I eat, I never gain weight! Don't believe me? Just look—"

With that, he spread his arms and spun lightly twice before everyone.

His shoulders were slender, his neck long, his arms fair and supple, his waist as trim as a bound bundle—still every bit the graceful young lad, his figure moving like a swimming dragon and fluttering like a startled swan.

Qiao Dong and the others stared in stunned amazement: "Ah, the young master truly hasn't gained a bit of weight—if anything, his figure looks even better than before..."

Better was an understatement. He was exactly right—not a fraction too plump, not a fraction too lean, a perfectly balanced, beautiful physique.

Yet even though the young master's appetite had grown considerably lately, and he hadn't skimped on sweet pastries, with no room on the boat to stretch his legs or throw a punch, how could he not show even a hint of plumpness?

But the evidence was right before their eyes... After racking their brains, the servants could only conclude that their young master was naturally gifted, just born with a beauty's bone structure, and they couldn't help but reveal looks of envy.

Seeing their expressions, Shen Qinglan's grin nearly stretched from ear to ear.

The fact that he could pig out every day without gaining weight was, of course, not due to some natural gift.

The real reason was that Han Zhang would regularly use his Power to tune up his husband's body. Obesity counted as an illness too, so the Power could fix that as well.

Otherwise, how could a guy who was so vain about his looks dare to stuff his face without a care?

It was all because he had an amazing husband!

After getting showered with compliments from his servants all day, Shen Qinglan was in a great mood, and that night he didn't hold back on "rewarding" Han Zhang. The couple's nights on the boat were especially lively and harmonious.

But as Shen Qinglan's appetite kept growing and he ate more and more,

Qiao Dong and the others started to get antsy: "Young master, you've been eating nearly twice as much as you did before we left the capital, and it's like this every day! This isn't just a healthy appetite—you must have been hit by some kind of curse! I'm going to go fetch a doctor to check you out!"

"Ah? Call a doctor? No need! I don't feel unwell, I've just been eating a bit more. It must be because I'm far from Chang Gongjun, and I'm in good spirits..."

The moment a doctor was mentioned, Shen Qinglan couldn't help but scrunch up his face, his expression full of resistance and reluctance.

Because the herbal medicine was way too bitter, and he really didn't want to drink it.

But when it came to his health, Qiao Dong and the others dug in their heels. Even though he was their master, they weren't about to listen to him this time.

In the end, the doctor was dragged over anyway.

Upon hearing the news, Han Zhang also hurried over from the cabin study, his expression full of concern: "Doctor Li, is my husband in good health?"

Sure, he'd been tuning up his husband's body every few days and hadn't noticed anything off, but there was always a chance he'd missed something, right?

Thinking carefully, his husband's recent appetite did indeed seem a bit too large.

But after taking the pulse, Doctor Li broke into a smile: "Congratulations, young master, congratulations, young lord—the young master is with child, just over one month along!"

"What? I, I'm pregnant? Truly?!"

Shen Qinglan was overcome with excitement upon hearing this—he finally had his husband's child.

Qiao Dong and the others were also overjoyed and immediately offered their congratulations in unison: "Congratulations, young master!"

Although most gē'ér took a while to get pregnant after getting married, their young master and young lord had such a close relationship, yet after more than a year of marriage there had been no news—they had actually been secretly anxious all along.

After all, feelings were always prone to change; only by bearing a child could one truly secure their footing in the husband's family.

Now, after all their hopes and waiting, their little master had finally arrived!