Chapter 642

At the third quarter of the Yin hour (before 4:00 AM),

It was pitch black inside the bedroom.

"Hoo!"

The sound of someone letting out a long sigh came.

Inside the bed curtains,

On the bed,

Xu Zaijing, who had been lying flat, opened his eyes; all he saw was darkness.

Xu Zaijing was just about to close his eyes for a brief nap,

Suddenly,

A flash of white light streaked by,

Instantly illuminating the inside and outside of the bed curtains.

This flash instantly made Xu Zaijing lose all sleepiness.

Less than a breath later,

"Boom!"

A continuous, massive roll of thunder exploded from the sky.

When Xu Zaijing lifted the bed curtains and sat on the edge of the bed,

"Woo!"

The sound of a wild wind howling past outside the window, blowing against the plants and trees in the courtyard, came.

The bedroom door was opened, and Yun Xiang, carrying a candle stand, walked in.

"Young Master, I see that it is about to rain heavily outside. Are we still going today?"

Xu Zaijing rubbed his face and said, "Mm! We are."

"Yes."

Under Yun Xiang's service, Xu Zaijing began to wash his face and get dressed.

Subsequently,

Yun Xiang rummaged through Xu Zaijing's wardrobe, which was full of various clothes, for a while.

Soon, she unfolded a folded, high-quality rainproof oilcloth cloak in front of Xu Zaijing.

After Xu Zaijing put on the cloak, he looked at Yun Xiang, who was also about to put on an oilcloth cloak to the side, and said, "Autumn has arrived, the rain is a bit chilly, wear something leather."

Yun Xiang looked at Xu Zaijing by the candlelight and said, "Yes, Young Master."

A moment later,

The master and servant, both dressed neatly, stood at the doorway of the house,

Opened the room door,

A somewhat cold, chilly wind rushed toward them, blowing the lantern in Yun Xiang's hand until it swayed.

In the faint candlelight,

The flowers and trees in the courtyard were blown until they looked like bared fangs and brandished claws, swaying incessantly.

This made Hua Xiang very naturally move closer to Xu Zaijing's side.

After walking a few steps along the veranda, the master and servant entered the courtyard.

"Clop... clop..."

Sparse raindrops pelted down on the two of them.

The wind was a bit strong,

Yun Xiang had to press down on the bamboo hat on her head with one hand to prevent it from being blown away.

But the lantern in her hand was also blown until it swayed incessantly.

"Mm."

Looking at Xu Zaijing, who had reached out his hand to the side, Yun Xiang smiled with some embarrassment and handed the lantern to Xu Zaijing.

"Thank you, Young Master!"

After leaving the courtyard,

Entering the passageway to the horse racing track,

The wind suddenly became much stronger, and the raindrops also became dense.

The backs of the master and servant felt as if they were being pushed by the wind, and they felt very relaxed walking.

When they arrived at the horse racing track,

Xu Zaijing saw that the lantern in front of his master's wooden house had actually been taken down.

It must be because the wind was too strong at this time, and it was not good to keep the lantern hanging outside; if it were blown down or blown away and broken, that would be bad.

After entering the wooden house,

When Xu Zaijing put on the sandbag vest, which was about the same weight as armor, and slowly walked out, the wind and rain seemed to have become even heavier.

Yun Xiang, standing behind Xu Zaijing, looked at the way the raindrops splashed in front of the door by the candlelight on the table in the wooden house and said, "Young Master, is this what they call 'rain pouring down like a waterfall'?"

Xu Zaijing smiled at her and stepped into the curtain of rain; after just a few steps, he disappeared from Yun Xiang's field of vision.

Qingyun to the side also nodded at Yun Xiang and followed.

In weather with thunder, lightning, and heavy rain, one naturally could not practice archery.

The refined steel long spear that Xu Zaijing was accustomed to using in the past was also placed steadily inside the wooden house.

In this kind of weather, in the open and flat horse racing track, wearing a suit of metal armor and holding a refined steel long spear, wouldn't that be...

Walking in the heavy rain,

Cool raindrops slapped against his face,

Standing in the dark rain, Xu Zaijing actually felt a sense of excitement and happiness in his heart.

Soon, the sandbag vest on his body became heavy after being soaked with rainwater, and the icy rainwater also soaked into his close-fitting clothes.

Running slowly on the horse racing track, Xu Zaijing began to train.

The sound of wind and rain outside was very loud, and Yun Xiang, sitting in the wooden house, would hear the 'woo-woo' sound of the wind outside from time to time.

Yun Xiang, feeling a bit bored, walked a few steps toward the door; after opening the room door, she looked outside curiously, but all she saw was darkness besides raindrops.

Blown by the autumn wind, Yun Xiang hurriedly shrank back and closed the room door.

As the sky gradually brightened, the rain also gradually eased.

On the horse racing track,

Xu Zaijing, who had been running and training for a long time, had breathing that was slightly rapid.

When passing the wooden house on the long side again,

Qingyun, who was following behind Xu Zaijing, leaned on his knees with both hands, looked at Xu Zaijing in front, and shouted panting, "Young Master, no, I can't do it anymore, let me rest!"

As he spoke, Qingyun continued to pant heavily.

Xu Zaijing smiled and shook his head, "Fine, you rest first! I'll practice for a while longer."

Hearing this, Qingyun nodded, and after laboriously taking off the sandbags on his body and throwing them aside, he collapsed on the muddy ground regardless of the mud and water.

Xu Zaijing continued to run lightly on the track.

Although he was already used to it, Qingyun still shook his head with some frustration as he watched his Young Master's figure.

Subsequently, Qingyun's gaze shifted, and he saw a Xu family maid walking quickly toward this side from the direction leading to the main gate.

Qingyun's heart stirred, and he hurriedly shouted toward Xu Zaijing, "Young Master!"

The Xu family matriarch's courtyard,

Outside the main room,

Xu Zaijing, who had excellent hearing, listened with knitted brows to his mother's painful groans inside the room.

Madam Zhu, who was wearing a sash, walked out from inside the room.

She looked at Madam Xie, Hualan, and Zaihang outside the room and nodded with a smile.

Before Madam Xie and the others could speak, Madam Zhu looked at Xu Zaijing, who was covered in mud and water, and said, "Jing-ge'er, the Madam knows you were still practicing martial arts and training this morning, and you are soaked through from head to toe."

"It just so happens that the Madam ordered people to prepare ginger soup to ward off the cold in advance; you should go bathe and drink the soup to ward off the cold first, so that the Madam doesn't worry about you at a critical moment and divide her strength and energy."

Zaihang looked back at Xu Zaijing and said, "Little Five, listen to Mother, go quickly!"

Madam Xie nodded, "We are here!"

Hualan also nodded.

A cold wind blew, and Xu Zaijing shivered slightly, saying, "Alright, then I will go first."

Madam Zhu looked at Xu Zaijing and said, "Go on, Jing-ge'er, no need to rush."

"Okay!" After scanning the crowd, Xu Zaijing turned and walked outside.

Inside the bathhouse,

The large wooden tub was emitting steaming white vapor,

Xu Zaijing sat inside, holding a large bowl of ginger soup, and regardless of the fact that the soup was a bit hot, he poured it into his mouth quite quickly.

After finishing the ginger soup, Xu Zaijing looked down at the hot water emitting white vapor in the tub, turned his head, and said to Yun Xiang, who was standing to the side, "Hurry up and bring the bath towel over."

"Young Master, you've only just entered the tub, and you also said that the rainwater is cold now, soak a bit longer..."

Looking at Xu Zaijing's expression, Yun Xiang hurriedly turned around and handed the bath towel to Xu Zaijing.

After drying his body in a few quick motions, Xu Zaijing changed into a new set of undergarments, reached out to take his clothes, and walked outside wearing his outer coat.

"Young Master! Your hair isn't dry yet!"

Yun Xiang shouted, chasing after Xu Zaijing.

But Xu Zaijing moved as fast as flying, and Yun Xiang couldn't catch up even by jogging.

Xu Zaijing, having changed into new clothes, arrived at his mother's courtyard,

Looking around, he discovered that his sister-in-law and elder brother were both standing at the doorway of the main room with smiles on their faces.

"Wah! Wah!"

The loud crying of an infant came from inside the room.

"How... so fast?" Xu Zaijing said, dumbfounded.

Madam Xie, Hualan, and the others in front looked back at Xu Zaijing and then focused their attention inside the room.

Soon,

Madam Zhu walked out again.

Looking at the crowd outside the room, Madam Zhu smiled, "Congratulations to everyone, the Madam has given birth to a girl, both mother and daughter are safe!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd in the courtyard laughed one after another.

The corners of Xu Zaijing's mouth couldn't be suppressed, and he looked at Zaihang and the others with a smile, "Haha! I have a younger sister now too."

Two quarters of an hour later,

The room where Madam Sun gave birth was cleaned up, and Xu Zaijing and the others walked in one after another.

The three children of the Xu family's grandchildren generation also followed in the crowd.

The room was draped with bed curtains.

Inside the bed curtains,

Madam Xie and Hualan were talking with their mother-in-law,

Outside the bed curtains,

Xu Zaijing sat to the side holding his little sister, with Zaihang and Xu Xingdai by his side.

Looking at the infant in the swaddling clothes who had only wailed a few times since being born, Xu Xingdai said, "Little Uncle, Little Aunt looks so ugly..."

Zaihang smiled and touched his nephew's head, "You and Zhong-ge'er were the same when you were just born."

When Madam Sun was smiling and talking to her two sons through the bed curtains,

"Mother! Mother!"

The call of a woman came from outside the room.

"The Eldest Young Lady has arrived."

A maid outside the door reported.

"Where is she?"

Soon,

Pingmei entered the room in a flurry, followed by Madam Bai and Tingyi, who both had expressions of concern.

Looking at Xu Zaijing holding the swaddling clothes outside the bed curtains, Pingmei said in surprise, "Little Five..."

Xu Zaijing smiled, "Eldest Sister, we have an extra younger sister."

After Pingmei held her for a while, perhaps because she was hungry, Xu Sixth Young Lady began to wail at the top of her lungs.

The wet nurse who had been found long ago hurriedly took her over.

By the time Anmei brought her son and came with Madam Pan, Xu Sixth Young Lady had already fallen asleep again.

As the saying goes, if it rains in the morning, it will be clear for the day,

When Zhu Qinghu's mother, the aunt of Xu Zaijing and the others, arrived at the Xu family, the sun had already risen from the east.

In the morning,

The news that the wife of the Marquis of Yongyi had happily given birth to a precious daughter spread throughout Bianjing.

There were post horses galloping toward the northwest with reward money.

Jiying Lane,

The Sheng family,

Old Madam Sheng shook her head with a smile on her face, her tone quite helpless, and said to the two maids, Fang and Cui, to the side, "I am already at such an old age, yet a month from now, I will actually be able to go eat the full-month wine for my nephew's wife."

The two maids also smiled at each other upon hearing this.

(End of chapter)