The inner room in the east wing was filled with the fragrance of osmanthus and orchids. The room was not big to begin with, and with four beauties of different ages living in it, there was naturally a fresh fragrance everywhere.
The dressing table in front of the paper window is also Lu Ming's desk. Lu Ming was fiddling with a few boxes of matches casually, but in his mind, he was thinking about the various terrains in Guishan.
Less than a step behind them was the earthen kang. Erika, Xueruo, and Xiaoguo and Daguo were all sitting on the edge of the kang.
Da Guo and Xiao Guo were hugging each other and whispering. When the two sisters were not quarreling, they were very affectionate to each other.
Erika was quietly teaching Xueruo addition and subtraction of two-digit numbers. It was summer vacation now, but even if school started, it was unknown whether Xueruo would transfer to Guinan. Compared with children of the same age, she had fallen behind in many subjects. Erika was thoughtful and had been helping her with her lessons in her spare time.
There were footsteps outside the door curtain, and Granny Tuolong's voice said, "Master, Aunt Pei and Aunt Zou have finished looking at the environment here."
Grandma Tuolong took the two of them around the public areas outside, such as the bathroom, dining room, kitchen, etc. that were converted from the west wing.
"Yeah." Lu Ming agreed.
The door curtain was lifted, and Granny Tuolong led Pei Wanjun and Zou in.
Grandma Tuolong began to introduce the two of them. Erika was called "Madam", and Xueruo and Xiaoguo and Daguo, the two concubines, were to be called "Miss".
Grandma Tuolong naturally knew clearly in her mind that even if the master's incarnation of the legal wife, that is, Erika, could actually enter the master's house, it was still unclear. Even if she did, she would be ranked among the twenty or so concubines.
As for Pei and Zou, their identities here are aunts and concubines. Even if the master is willing to take them in after he has used them, they are just two foot-washing maids. Even if they are favored by the master, in the master's real palace, they are just palace maids with great luck, not comparable to ordinary maidens, not to mention the difference in status between them and Da Guo and Xiao Guo.
As for Grandma Tuolong herself, she was humble and treated the two of them in a subordinate manner. After all, here, Grandma Tuolong was just a cooking maid.
Over there, Mrs. Pei and Mrs. Zou, as Granny Tuolong had said, knelt down and greeted the lady and the young ladies in turn.
Pei Wanjun looked cold, but there was still some surprise in her eyes, as well as some shameful sadness. She was surprised that this demon had so many beauties around him. She was sad because she was a young lady, but now she had become a concubine and had to behave properly to these girls. Moreover, it seemed that this demon was just like the legend, and liked to be mean. In the eyes of this demon, she was probably old and ugly. What was even more sad was that she came with a mission to please this demon, but even so, when the demon got tired of her, he would send her back to the Gao family. At that time, she was afraid that only death could end all the humiliation.
On the other hand, Zou was busy and spoke sweetly, even kneeling down and kowtowed to several young ladies, which made Lu Ming dumbfounded.
Obviously, for Zou, she was already grateful to be able to return to her previous life and did not want to be driven away again.
Although this was a government office and the conditions were a bit difficult, the moment she was changed into soft and silky silk clothes before being picked up, she burst into tears.
…
In the evening, Ji Fukui, the Minister of the Armed Work Department, was not in the restaurant. He had gone to the towns and villages in several counties below to inspect the formation and training of the agricultural guards.
However, his wife Liao came. Normally, since her husband was not at home, it would be normal for her to take the opportunity to return to her home in Wanzhou to enjoy a few days of happiness. But she chose to stay. She was smart and also considered her husband's future. It would be better for her to get along with many wives of officials here. If she went back to Wanzhou, no matter how many reasons she gave, people would know what was going on.
Moreover, Ms. Zhang is her husband's immediate superior, and her wife is virtuous and hardworking, which is also a plus for her husband.
Indeed, soon, except for Pei Wanjun, the women became friends. After the meal, Lu Ming, Sun Pojun and Sun Chonggu drank tea and chatted, while the women went outside to the courtyard to chat, eat melon seeds and talk about family matters.
Pei Wanjun and Sun Pojun's wife Wang spoke the least, but gradually, the two of them sat together and whispered. It was obvious that both of them were ladies from wealthy families who had received a good education, had insights, values, and so on, and they had a common language.
Zou, Liao and Sun Chonggu's wife Yao were cracking melon seeds and chattering like orioles, with laughter from time to time.
"In Guishan, we have found out some information. Cheng Dasui is indeed not in the mountain. He should be living in seclusion in Haixi, waiting to make a comeback." Lu Ming took out a booklet and handed it to Sun Pojun. "These are the tribes that have been sorted out temporarily. After Liu Taisui's tribe was annihilated, people from Shibaguaizi Cave have come again. He Longtian's tribe has about 500 people. They were originally Cheng Dasui's guards. Now they are armed by Haixi and are well-equipped."
Sun Pojun looked at the booklet with a serious expression, "They placed elite armed forces in Shibaguaizi Cave. They are waiting for us to fall asleep and then attack the county town of Southern Guangxi! The deterrence and influence created by that will be great enough. Moreover, maybe our headquarters are among their targets."
Lu Ming nodded and smiled again: "I was thinking, let's make a plan to knock out He Longtian's army again."
"Ah?" Sun Pojun looked surprised, but then smiled and said nothing.
Lu Ming knew that he naturally thought that he was talking nonsense. Last time it was just a blind cat catching a dead mouse. In addition, Liu Taisui's troops were just scattered soldiers and bandits, consisting of Liu Taisui's bodyguards and former county patrolmen. There were not many people, only one or two hundred. The equipment from Haixi had not been delivered yet, and they had no vigilance and no sentry posts. That's why he gathered them together and annihilated them.
Today, He Longtian's group should be considered one of the most powerful among the bandits in Guishan. How could they repeat the same mistakes
The Eighteen-Bend Cave is extremely difficult to find. Once you enter it, you may not be able to find it the second time. Moreover, there are many caves there, and it may not be in the same cave as the original one of Liu Taisui's tribe.
Not to mention, the sentry posts on the mountain have an absolute advantage in observation perspective. If we climb the mountain, we will definitely be discovered early. Then we may not be able to suppress the bandits, but will be sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth.
Even if most of the 302nd Brigade was deployed, the enemy would flee at the sight of them. Apart from causing the soldiers to complain about returning empty-handed and damaging their morale, there would be no results. They might even be shot by gangsters familiar with the terrain, resulting in unnecessary casualties among soldiers and even officers, which would not be worth the loss.
Not only Sun Pojun thought so, but the military adviser sent by Haixi and He Longtian must have thought so as well.
There were some fish that slipped through the net in Liu Taisui's army, but no one could say for sure. Even if they said that Liu Taisui attached great importance to the sentinels, no one would believe it. At the very least, it was certain that the sentinels he sent out were all pigs.
Thinking about it, Lu Ming smiled at Sun Pojun: "This, I need to think about it carefully, let's discuss it later."
Sun Pojun nodded, "Okay." But it was obviously just perfunctory, and the stiff scarred face didn't even smile to cope with it.
Sun Chonggu was obviously feeling bored, and said, "Even if we march into the mountains with a large army, can we still not wipe out these small bandits?"
He was not discussing military affairs on Lu Ming's side; he just wanted to express his views.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "We can study it."
At the same time, Sun Pojun said, "Don't take it so lightly!"
Sun Chonggu's face darkened and he stood up. "I'm going back to my room to rest." He walked to the door and stopped. "Pojun, come to my room for a moment!"
Sun Pojun stood up expressionlessly, "Commissioner, we'll talk again tomorrow."
Lu Ming nodded and watched the two people leave, thoughtfully.
I always have a feeling that Sun Pojun is not the dull guy who only knows how to fight as rumored. The more I get along with him, the stronger this feeling becomes.
Therefore, he seemed to have no emotional intelligence and lost face for Sun Chonggu several times. Others might think that he was a powerful general, but not a good assistant minister.
But I don't think so. This guy is completely different from Gao Yuhu, who is simple-minded and strong-limbed. I still can't figure out what he is thinking. I am afraid of this guy. He has great ambitions and I have to be careful.
There was no need to think about alienating the relationship between him and Sun Chonggu. We could just wait and see what happened.
At least he cooperated in suppressing bandits.
But there are some things that I need to ask the Military Intelligence Department to investigate carefully.