Chapter 311: Chapter 180: Let’s Be Blunt, You’re Done as a County Magistrate.
Lu Yuan spent the day strolling around the Provincial City with Su Liyan.
As his wife, it was only natural for Su Liyan to take good care of Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan lay sprawled on the bed, completely still, relaxing his weary body.
Su Liyan brought a basin of hot water to the bedside and sat down on a small stool.
"Dearest, let me wash your feet first." Su Liyan served Lu Yuan just as she always had.
Lu Yuan sat up and said, "Same as always. Let’s wash them together."
With that, Lu Yuan helped Su Liyan up from the stool and had her sit on the bed.
Su Liyan shifted to sit beside her man on the edge of the bed.
The two of them dipped their feet into the hot water together.
Lu Yuan used his foot to rub the dirt off his wife’s.
Lu Yuan’s foot kept slipping on his wife’s smooth skin.
Lu Yuan said, "Darling, your feet are as cold as ever."
His wife was a Snake Woman of the Half-demon Race, and her body temperature was a few degrees lower than an ordinary person’s.
Lu Yuan had even tried to use tonics to build up her constitution, but it hadn’t seemed to have any effect.
It seemed to be a difference between species; the body temperature of a Snake Woman from the Half-demon Race was simply lower than a normal person’s.
Su Liyan gazed at her husband with deep affection, inching closer before planting a firm kiss on Lu Yuan’s lips.
Lu Yuan felt his wife’s passion and responded in kind.
His wife had learned so much now; she was no longer as reserved as she had been at the beginning.
Su Liyan’s long, pointed snake tongue swirled with incredible agility.
Lu Yuan loved these moments when it was just the two of them.
If his daughter Bengbeng were around, she would probably be kicking him with her little feet again.
His daughter Bengbeng couldn’t stand to see Lu Yuan "bullying" her mother.
The cool sensation of her snake tongue felt to Lu Yuan like taking a bite of ice cream on a hot day and letting it rest in his mouth.
In the summer, a mouthful of ice cream slowly melting is cool on the tongue and warm in the heart.
Lu Yuan eagerly responded to his wife.
With his left hand, Lu Yuan pulled back the folded quilt on the bed.
The two of them slid under it with perfect understanding.
No one bothered to put out the lamp.
Their feet, just pulled from the washbasin, were still dripping wet.
They hastily wiped them on the edge of the bed to dry off the water droplets.
After drying their feet, Lu Yuan and Su Liyan lay down to rest.
They didn’t even take the washbasin out, leaving it by the bed and figuring they would empty it in the morning.
The space under the quilt was small, and the world inside it soon turned upside down.
Clothes were tossed out, one piece after another.
A series of squeaks and creaks filled the air.
When the sun was high in the sky, a deeply satisfied Lu Yuan and Su Liyan picked up the clothes they had tossed under the bed the night before.
His eyes still heavy with sleep, Lu Yuan nearly tripped over the washbasin they hadn’t taken out last night.
Lu Yuan patted the dust from his clothes and gave them a few shakes.
Su Liyan stayed on the bed, wrapped in the quilt, waiting for her husband to hand her clothes to her.
Lu Yuan sorted the clothes on the floor, placing his wife’s on the bed and pulling on his own while still standing beside it.
Su Liyan first put on her smallclothes. The little pink scraps of fabric were like mere strips of cloth, barely covering anything.
Lu Yuan, already dressed, sat on a stool with his chin resting on his hand, watching his wife.
Not wanting to make her husband wait too long, Su Liyan quickly threw on her outer robe and tied it shut, then left the room on Lu Yuan’s arm without even putting on any makeup.
Su Liyan wasn’t one for makeup anyway.
Lu Yuan went down the stairs with his wife on his arm and headed to the main hall on the first floor.
Lu Yuan ordered stir-fried shiitake mushrooms, stir-fried lamb, mung bean soup, fragrant rice, and a complimentary saucer of small pickles from the innkeeper.
Once all the dishes arrived, the two began to eat.
Lu Yuan had woken up rather late, so there weren’t many people left in the Post House’s main hall.
His retainers had already eaten and were now busy with chores like feeding the horses.
Just as the two were enjoying their meal, an elderly man walked down from a room on the second floor.
The man cautiously approached Lu Yuan, cupped his hands in a salute, and called out, "Lord Lu, Lord Lu..."
Lu Yuan paused, chopsticks in hand, and sized up the man before him.
’Isn’t this the fellow who’s a County Magistrate in the fiefdom governed by King Lu?’
’He was the one who cried his eyes out, tears streaming down his old face, and even kowtowed to me twice.’
Lu Yuan and he both served under the same Governor.
Lu Yuan slapped his forehead, pulled out the stool beside him, and gestured for the man to sit.
Lu Yuan said politely, "We’re both just magistrates of small counties. There are no ’lords’ here."
The County Magistrate slowly sat down and said, "Lord Lu, to think we’d meet here."
Lu Yuan had completely forgotten about the matter this County Magistrate had entrusted to him.
’If this County Magistrate finds out I haven’t put in a good word for him at all, I hope he won’t be like that Old Turtle from the Tongtian River and stab me in the back.’
Before Lu Yuan could speak, the County Magistrate sighed. "Sigh... I’ve accomplished nothing as a magistrate over there. I don’t even know what to report this time, and I don’t dare speak carelessly. I implore you, Lord Lu, to beg the Lord Governor to have me transferred."
Lu Yuan replied, "To be honest, my relationship with the Governor isn’t that great, but I’ll see if I can put in a word for you when the time comes."
The County Magistrate immediately stood up and bowed again and again, thanking him profusely.
Word of how Lu Yuan was faring in Taiping City had spread as rumors among the officials, big and small, throughout Qilu Province. Most had come to believe he was a close relative of the Lord Governor.
Lu Yuan saw the County Magistrate off, finished his breakfast, and returned to their room with Su Liyan.
"Darling, why isn’t your little brother here yet? I’m supposed to have my audience with the Governor this afternoon."
Lu Yuan calculated the days. ’My brother-in-law should be here by now.’
KNOCK KNOCK...
"Master Nephew!" a retainer called from outside the door as he knocked.
