After they finished breakfast, Sima Hong wanted to take Mingyu out for a horseback ride, and take a walk outside while the weather was not too hot. Since Mingyu got married, she had not gone out again except for chatting with Madam Li a few times. There were few female relatives in Xi'an Mansion, and most of them were a generation older than her. When the girls and wives of the same age saw her, a fourth-rank imperial lady, they were more in awe than in affection, and they really had nothing in common.
Mingyu was naturally very happy to be able to go out for a horseback ride together.
After talking to Liu's wife, Mingyu prepared a water bag and changed her skirt. Zhuifeng had rested all night and eaten grass, so his black fur was shiny and smooth, and he was in high spirits. Mingyu smiled and touched Zhuifeng tied at the door. Her heart was full of irrepressible excitement and joy. She couldn't help but secretly despise herself. She was just going out for fun, but it was like going out for a walk with a prisoner. She was so useless. When she was a girl in the capital, she could go out whenever she wanted. Now that she is married, she is restricted everywhere.
Sima Hong looked at Mingyu with a smile. He didn't expect Mingyu to be so happy. He felt guilty. He had wronged Mingyu these days. If his father-in-law and mother-in-law in the capital knew about it, they would be heartbroken. He didn't think it was a big deal before, but after getting married, his love for Mingyu increased instead of decreasing. When he was on the expedition, he was tossing and turning in his tent alone in the dead of night. He couldn't help but imagine his future life with Mingyu. Mingyu and he had been married for three days, and maybe his daughter Yu'er was pregnant with his child. If it was a daughter, she would definitely look like Mingyu, and he would love her like the apple of his eye.
However, his daughter was not good either. She was pampered and raised like a sweetheart, but in the end she still had to marry someone else. When he thought about his and Mingyu's daughter, who didn't know where she was, being cheated away by some bastard in the future, he groaned in anger and gnashed his teeth, unable to sleep. He understood Xu Changqian's attitude towards him.
Although she didn't get pregnant in the first three days of her wedding, she might be pregnant this morning. It would be best if she could have two children at once, a girl and a son. Sima Hong stared at Mingyu's belly with great pleasure, his mind wandering in the void, thinking of beautiful things. Mingyu felt creepy when he saw his fiery gaze. "Are you still going?" Mingyu protested.
"Come on, don't worry." Sima Hong came to his senses and hurriedly said, but just as he untied Zhuifeng's reins, he heard someone knocking on the door and Lu Xuer's crisp voice came over, "Brother, it's me! Are you home?"
Mingyu was stunned for a moment and looked at Sima Hong. Sima Hong spread his hands and made helpless mouth movements. He didn't know how Commander Lu's daughter came here.
"Who is it?" Mingyu asked loudly. She knew it was Lu Xuer, but she just didn't want to open the door. Even though this was a war preparation area and etiquette was not important, it was too unreasonable for Lu Xuer, an unmarried girl, to come to her man's house so openly. Mingyu didn't say anything, but she felt uncomfortable in her heart.
Perhaps no one expected that it would be Mingyu who answered. There was silence outside the door for a few seconds before a voice rang out again, "It's me, Xu'er."
Mingyu opened the door. Lu Xuer glanced at her and looked inside. Seeing Sima Hong standing in the yard, her eyes lit up and she immediately went into the house. She waved the small wine jar in her hand at Sima Hong and said with a cheerful smile, "Brother, I heard you're back. We haven't seen each other for so long. I came to have a drink with you."
Before Sima Hong could speak, Mingyu laughed first, "Miss Lu, I'm afraid it's not appropriate today. We have something to go out for."
Lu Xuer turned around and stared at Mingyu with wide eyes, as if she had just seen Mingyu standing at the door. She pouted and said, "Do you have something to do? Hey... What is so important? Can't we do it later?" Then she looked at Sima Hong again, her expression full of coquettishness.
Mingyu resisted the urge to slap him, and just as she was about to speak, she heard Sima Hong say with a smile, "Miss Lu, we are busy today, let's talk about it another day." After a pause, Sima Hong couldn't help but add, "You are a girl, so you should drink less."
He was not a fool, nor had no women admired him. He knew what Lu Xuer was thinking, but firstly, he really didn't like women like Lu Xuer. Secondly, he was a son of a famous family, and the hierarchy between legitimate and illegitimate children was engraved in his bones. Not to mention that he didn't want to take a concubine, even if he did, he would only consider legitimate women with a clean family background and a good temper to bring Sima into the family to give birth to children. To put it bluntly, he looked down on Lu Xuer's background and her temperament. It was just because of Lu Sheng's face that Sima Hong was always polite to Lu Xuer. Since Lu Sheng didn't mention it, he was happy to pretend to be confused and didn't break the window paper.
"Brother, what do you mean? You seem to have changed after getting married!" Lu Xu'er didn't notice the unhappiness in Sima Hong's tone, and said unhappily, "Didn't we often drink together before?"
Mingyu glanced at Sima Hong. Oh, there was also the past?! How much else did she not know
Sima Hong smiled and shook his head. "After all, things are different now. I'm married and have to shoulder the responsibility of being the head of the family. How can I be the same as before? If you want to drink, call Lin Hui and the others to go to Lintong to find a quiet restaurant. I'll pay for it."
Lu Xuer was also furious. In her opinion, Mingyu was jealous and petty, and didn't want him to have any contact with her. She looked down on Mingyu's background. When she learned that Sima Hong was going to marry a woman who had been divorced and whose father and brother were only minor officials, she was angry and planned to make a scene at the wedding to make Mingyu look bad. When Mrs. Lu found out, she tried to persuade him to stop. Sima Hong was not a fool. If he really messed up his wedding day, he might find out who was behind it. If they made enemies, how could she marry him
Now that they are on her territory, what tricks does Xu want to play
"Why did you go so far to Lintong?" Lu Xuer said with a smile, "Brother, wait a minute. I'll go and call Lin Hui and the others to come over. You've been away for such a long time and have made such a great contribution. We have to celebrate for you."
With that, without waiting for Sima Hong to answer, Lu Xuer, dressed in a fiery red outfit, carrying two wine jars, turned around and ran away with a smile. Sima Hong could reject her alone, but she didn't believe that Sima Hong could reject a bunch of his friends in the army.
"What are you doing? Is this how the Lu family educates girls?" Mingyu frowned, her tone also filled with anger. Anyone with a bit of sense wouldn't do this. She really didn't take Lu Xuer seriously before, because she felt that Sima Hong had no feelings for Lu Xuer. As long as Sima Hong had no problem, she didn't think there was any problem. Could it be that Lu Xuer could force herself on Sima Hong
In Mingyu's view, it is normal for a young and innocent girl to like and admire a successful man. When the girl gets married and matures, she will understand the truth of life. As long as she does not interfere with her normal life, Mingyu feels that there is no need for her to be as vigilant as a petty woman, which would make her appear petty. But now that Miss Lu has shamelessly entered her house, she can no longer remain calm.
Sima Hong also frowned and held Mingyu's hand, "Don't you understand what I'm thinking? Don't take her to heart. I will talk to Commander Lu clearly. This kind of thing will never happen again." Thinking of Lu Sheng and that "Mrs. Lu"'s thoughts, he couldn't help but sneer. It was Lu Sheng's own business that he doted on his concubine and did nothing wrong, but don't think of using a girl born to a concubine without any status to control him and his wife.
In terms of status, he is a marquis, not inferior to Lu Sheng. In terms of seniority, he is still young but has made great military achievements, while Lu Sheng is already old. After Longxi is recovered and the Tianshui Marquisate is rebuilt, it is only a matter of time before Lu Sheng is recalled to the capital by the emperor. He wants to see whether this "Mrs. Lu", who is called the queen in Xi'an Prefecture, can make it to the capital.
"So can we go out today?" Mingyu asked anxiously.
Sima Hong shook his head. "She has called someone over. We can't let them get turned away."
Mingyu frowned when she heard this and muttered, "You finally came back, and we said we were going to go out for a walk, but it's ruined again."
Sima Hong didn't understand what "bathing in the hot spring" meant, but he could guess the general meaning. He smiled and hugged Mingyu, kissed her heavily on the face, and said with a smile: "After they leave in the afternoon, we will go out for a walk. I will definitely do what I promised you."
Mingyu quickly glanced at Sister Liu's room and saw that the door was closed. She breathed a sigh of relief and said with a red face and a smile: "Put me down, someone saw us!"
The two returned to the house and spent some time together. They came out when they thought someone was about to arrive. There were few vegetable vendors in Xi'an Prefecture, so the meat and food in Mingyu's house were all brought from the military camp mess. When Liu's wife went out one day, she accidentally met a vendor selling garlic sprouts. She bought a large bundle of garlic immediately, dug a small area under the eaves, planted the garlic in the ground, and picked two whenever she wanted to eat. They were very fresh.
Mingyu cut two pounds of cooked beef and fried some bacon with garlic sprouts. She wanted to make another dish, but Sima Hong stopped her and said with a smile, "I guess only three or four people will come. These are enough."
However, when Lu Xuer and her people came in, even Sima Hong was stunned. There were seven or eight people coming and going. Mingyu couldn't help but be amazed. Today was the first time that someone came to visit her after she married Sima Hong. She couldn't be too shabby and let people gossip about her. There was no place to buy vegetables at the moment, so Mingyu called Sister Liu and asked her to go to Madam Li's house and borrow some things.
Lu Xuer heard Mingyu's words to Liu Saozi at the door and curled her lips. She didn't care about it anyway. Turning around, she saw two white fluffy little creatures squatting in the bushes at the door. She picked them up by their ears and shouted in surprise, "Hey, there are rabbits. Just roast them and eat them with wine!"