How could someone be unhappy living in a matriarchal society?

Chapter 90 Nightmare at Midnight

After pouring Chu Ci a cup of tea, Zhou Wu smiled and said, "Thanks to you, my business has been doing much better lately." With that, she handed the teacup to Chu Ci.

Chu Ci took the teacup, drank it all in one gulp, and looked at Zhou Wu with a smile, "Since that's the case, shouldn't you give me a discount when I buy a horse here?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wu's eyes lit up, and she quickly asked, "What, are you going to buy it now?"

Chu Ci nodded and held up two fingers. "I want to buy two horses, one to carry people and the other to carry goods."

Zhou Wu suddenly realized, "Oh~ I see, you're planning to go to Kyoto, right?"

Chu Ci nodded again, indicating his agreement: "That's right, I want to set off as soon as possible to avoid the weather being too hot and suffering on the road."

Zhou Wu nodded in deep agreement, "That's right. If we delay any longer, it will probably get hotter and hotter."

She finished her tea, stood up, and led Chu Ci to the horse stable to choose horses.

Upon entering the horse pen, Chu Ci quickly took a liking to a robust brown horse. She stepped forward, stroked its back, and turned to ask Zhou Wu, "How much does this horse cost?"

Zhou Wu glanced at the horse, a hint of admiration flashing in her eyes, but then shook her head, replying with a touch of regret, "Madam Chu, I'm so sorry, this horse is not for sale. How about you take a look at some of the other horses?"

Chu Ci was a little disappointed, but she didn't insist. "Alright then."

She looked around twice more and finally chose two tall, strong black horses with glossy coats.

After paying, she led the two horses home.

At this time, Shi An had already tidied up the vegetables and rabbits in the backyard. Seeing Chu Ci return, he planned to have her use a horse to carry these things and distribute them to the neighbors.

After all, during their time living in Kongtong Alley, their neighbors had helped them a lot, and Shi An had even attended their child's one-month celebration.

Chu Ci readily agreed and went to deliver it with Shi An.

Because they chatted with their neighbors for a while longer, it was already dark when they went home.

Shi An looked at Chu Ci and said, "We'll set off for Kyoto at daybreak tomorrow. There aren't many places to buy food along the way, so I need to hurry up and make some pancakes as provisions."

As he spoke, he hurriedly went to the kitchen, lit a fire, and began preparing the ingredients.

Chu Ci wasn't idle either; she helped Shi An knead and mix the dough.

The two worked together for more than an hour and finally finished preparing the dry rations.

After dinner, Chu Ci went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Shi An continued packing his luggage to take to Kyoto.

When Chu Ci came out after drying her hair, she was surprised to see only two large packages on the table and asked, "So few?"

Shi An explained: "When my wife went out in the afternoon, I exchanged all the silver in the house for gold beads, and also took some clothes and items that I didn't need to the pawnshop to exchange for silver, which saved a lot of space."

Upon hearing this, Chu Ci happily kissed Shi An and praised, "My husband is so clever!"

Shi An blushed slightly, took Chu Ci's hand and led her back to the bedroom. He said gently to her, "My lady, let's rest early tonight. We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow, and we'll definitely be very tired."

Chu Ci reached out and put her arm around Shi An's waist, pulling him onto the bed. "Okay, let's sleep together then."

"it is good."

After the lights were turned off, Chu Ci quickly drifted off to sleep, her breathing even and deep.

Shi An lay quietly in Chu Ci's arms, listening to her steady and powerful heartbeat.

The sound made him feel safe and warm, as if the whole world had become peaceful.

However, the fact that he was about to go to Kyoto filled him with nervousness and unease.

A year ago, he left Kyoto covered in dirt and grime, mingling with other slaves.

Now, however, I have to return to that familiar place and face the people and things that I used to know.

Shi An's feelings were extremely complicated, a mixture of memories of the past and worries about the future.

He held Chu Ci's hand tightly, their fingers intertwined, trying to draw strength from her body heat.

At the same time, he tried to regulate his breathing and force himself to relax so that he could fall asleep as soon as possible.

However, in the middle of the night, a soft sobbing sound suddenly broke the silence of the room.

Chu Ci was awakened by the crying and subconsciously turned to look at Shi An beside her. She saw that he had his eyes closed, his face full of pain, and he kept crying out something.

Chu Ci felt a pang of heartache and quickly pulled the person into a tight embrace, gently comforting her, "Shi An, don't be afraid, I'm here. It's all fake, all fake..."

Perhaps sensing the gentleness and care of Chu Ci, Shi An's emotions gradually calmed down, and she stopped crying.

But he remained immersed in the dream, his eyes closed and his brows furrowed, seemingly still troubled by the nightmare.

Chu Ci pulled Shi An into a tight embrace, gently patting his back as if coaxing a three-year-old child.

Soon after, Shi Anzhu slept much more peacefully, and the crying stopped.

Chu Ci gazed at the redness at the corner of her husband's eyes, her heart filled with pity and tenderness.

She carefully pulled out a blanket and gently covered them both, then tenderly kissed Shi An's cheek, whispering, "Everything will be alright. I will definitely find out the truth about what happened back then..."

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Chu Ci had already opened his eyes.

The clear chirping of birds drifted into the room through the window, and the air was filled with a faint fragrance of flowers and grass, which made people feel happy.

Chu Ci got out of bed quietly, dressed, and walked briskly towards the kitchen.

She skillfully lit the stove and began preparing breakfast.

She scrambled the only two eggs she had at home, and then used the little flour she had left to make a pot of steaming hot dumpling soup.

After everything was ready, Chu Ci put the breakfast on the stove to keep it warm, then returned to the bedroom, picked up the still-sleeping Shi An, and took a nap.

When the two woke up again, the sun was already high in the sky.

They quickly finished their simple washing up and sat down to enjoy breakfast.

Chu Ci looked at Shi An, then suddenly remembered something. She took out a piece of brocade cloth from the cabinet, folded it in half, and wrapped it around her and Shi An's mouths and noses.

Shi An watched Chu Ci's actions with curiosity and asked in confusion, "My lady, why are you doing this?"

Chu Ci smiled and explained, "We'll be traveling on horseback, which will raise a lot of dust on the road. This will help protect us from the dust."

After saying that, Chu Ci moved the two large bags of luggage to one of the black horses, and then rode the other horse with Shi An.

Before leaving, Shi An took one last look at the plum tree in the courtyard, his heart filled with emotion.

The road ahead is long, but I hope to see this plum tree again someday.