At five o'clock on the second day, the entire city of Chang'an woke up to the sound of bells and drums declaring the dawn.
Liu Qinghuan sat up from the bed and touched her face subconsciously.
Chi Tao and Qing Zhi noticed the movement in the tent, they went up to help her up together, and waited for her to dress and freshen up. After breakfast, Liu Qinghuan looked at the sky, and it was time to greet Mrs. Xue.
Speaking of Xue Mu's mother, the Ning family, Liu Qinghuan had also heard many rumors about her. It is said that when she was young, she was a well-known talented woman in Chang'an City. Not only was she beautiful, but she also had good handwriting. At that time, there were no less princes and grandchildren in Chang'an City who admired her than the young princess who admired Xue Mu today. It's a pity that such a beauty doesn't love the romantic and suave talent, but prefers the general galloping on the battlefield. It is said—that's right, it is said that in a dark afternoon with the fragrance of flowers, Ning fell in love with the young general who came on horseback at first sight.
That person is Xue Cheng, the famous general of the Great Cheng.
There are many stories about the story of Ning Shi and Xue Cheng, General Xue, but the ending is surprisingly unified—the day was bright and sunny, and the 16-year-old Ning finally married into the Xue family.
At that time, Donggan Luo State invaded our border, Ning and Xue Cheng were forced to separate shortly after they got married, General Xue fought for almost consecutive years, and Ning and Ning even got together less and separated more, finally in the twenty-ninth year of Tianzheng, General Xue finally He repelled the Donggan Luo Kingdom, but unfortunately died on the battlefield. At that time Xue Mu was still young, Ning couldn't bear the blow, and couldn't afford to get sick.
Thinking of this, Liu Qinghuan couldn't help but feel a little bit embarrassed. She looked at the house in front of her eyes and focused slightly.
There was a faint scent of medicine in Ning's room. Liu Qinghuan walked up to her and knelt down, folded her hands on her chest and leaned forward slightly: "Aniang, Qinghuan is here to greet you."
Liu Qinghuan was born beautiful and lovely, but today she was wearing a fiery red pomegranate dress, with a pair of golden step rocks on her hair, which made her even more radiant. Looking at Pingting's figure in front of her, Ning felt mixed feelings. She remembered that her son had said to her when he was six years old: "Mom, I like that little dumpling."
Xue's family and Liu's family had a deep friendship, and the two families had frequent contacts, and Xue Mu and Liu Qinghuan had also known each other since childhood. Seeing that they had a good relationship at that time, the two families made a baby marriage for them. Later, Liu Qinghuan became friends with Tang Zibo, the adoptive son of King Yong, and gradually alienated Xue Mu. From then on, not to mention Xue Mu, even the Ning family rarely saw Liu Qinghuan. She thought that the marriage of the two families would also fall through, but she didn't expect that the two of them would still get married as scheduled.
Her family, Mu'er, finally married Xiao Tuanzi, whom he had been longing for, into the family.
The big maid next to her called her softly, and only then did Ning remember that Liu Qinghuan was still kneeling below.
Quickly ordering someone to help her up, Ning asked Liu Qinghuan to sit down on the couch beside her. After Liu Qinghuan sat down, she looked at Ning Shi with a smile on her face, and asked gently, "How is Auntie doing today?"
Ning's heart warmed up slightly. Qing Huan was already good-looking, and she was even more likable when she smiled like this. It's no wonder that Mu'er never forgot about her: "I'm very happy that you and Mu'er are married. My body is also much more refreshed than before.”
Speaking of this, Ning suddenly remembered the incident of Xue Musu staying by the lotus last night, and her originally warm mood suddenly turned dark.
She wanted to ask Liu Qinghuan, what does it mean that the young couple don't have a good bridal chamber on the wedding day and sleep separately? But several times when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them when they touched the smile on Liu Qinghuan's face. Ning had no choice but to say in a roundabout way: "Qing Huan, Mu'er has been leading troops all year round. He is good at marching and fighting, but when it comes to his daughter's thoughts, he may not understand his cousin and nephew. You have to be more considerate." He is."
"Yes, Qing Huan always remembers A Niang's teaching." Liu Qing Huan replied very obediently with the same smile on her face.
Ning choked, feeling that this topic could not go on.
The two chatted for a few more words, and Ning let Liu Qinghuan go back to her room. After Liu Qinghuan resigned, she breathed a sigh of relief, and finally managed to fool the old lady.
After lunch, Qing Zhi came to report: "Ma'am, Master Hou has returned, and is making tea on the lotus pavilion."
"Gencha?" Liu Qinghuan looked at her in surprise. Qing Zhi nodded and replied: "When Lord Hou encounters troubles or has something to discuss, he will go to the Lotus Pavilion to make tea.
Liu Qinghuan nodded thoughtfully, and then asked: "Does Hou Ye have any other hobbies?"
Qing Zhi thought for a while and said: "Master Hou is very good at drinking, people in the army say that Master Hou will never get drunk after a thousand cups."
Chitao also echoed the words: "In order to curry favor with the Marquis, some people in Chang'an City sent jars of famous wine to the Marquis' mansion as if they didn't need any money. Hmph, the wine they gave is not as good as the emperor's reward. "
Liu Qinghuan blinked, looked at them and said, "You two served Lord Hou before?"
Chitao Qingzhi was startled when she heard her question, and both knelt down on the ground: "Madam Mingcha, although the servants serve Lord Hou, they are just ordinary maids!"
Liu Qing smiled and asked back: "It's not an ordinary maid, what kind of maid is that?"
Scarlet peach: "..."
Qingzhi: "..."
There is always a feeling of being teased.
Liu Qinghuan asked the two girls to get up, and asked again: "Apart from wine?"
Qing Zhi said: "Master Hou still loves horses, Madam must have heard of Master Hou's two favorite horses, Jedi and Zhao Ye, they have made many contributions with Master Hou on the battlefield. In addition, Master Hou often went to Xishan with the emperor Hunting, so the Hou Mansion also raises lynxes and cheetahs, by the way, there is also a local leopard caught by Lord Hou in the Hou Mansion, which is less than a month old and very cute."
Liu Qinghuan was very satisfied with Qing Zhi's cooperative attitude of knowing everything and saying nothing. She took all the news she had learned into her heart, and stood up from the couch: "Let's go to the Lotus Pavilion to have a look."
In the garden of the Marquis of Yongning, there is a small pool called the Lotus Pond, where you can go boating in spring and enjoy flowers in summer. It was April, and although the lotus had not yet bloomed, many colorful buds could already be seen on the lotus pond. There were a few shadowy figures in the pavilion in the center of the pool. Liu Qinghuan walked across the floating bridge on the pool and walked into the lotus pavilion.
Xue Mu sat in the very center of the pavilion, with two men and a woman standing beside him. The young man on the left has a high nose and deep eye sockets, and is dressed as a barbarian. The young man next to him is wearing a round collar robe, black boots, and a long knife pinned to his waist. On the other side stood a delicate girl in green clothes, about seventeen or eighteen years old, with almond-eyed round face, staring at him without saying a word.
Liu Qinghuan's eyes swept across the three without a trace, and walked straight to Xue Mu. Just as Xue Mu sprinkled the tea powder into the center of the boiling water, he stopped what he was doing when he saw Liu Qinghuan approaching.
Liu Qinghuan was about to say hello to him, when a young barbarian suddenly jumped out and looked at her in surprise: "This is Mrs. Hou Ye?! It's really... Ulala!"
Liu Qinghuan was stunned, and looked at him with some doubts: "Ulala?"
The Hu man nodded excitedly, his eyes were extraordinarily bright: "We call the most beautiful woman Wu Lala."
Liu Qinghuan blinked and asked curiously, "Then what do you call the most handsome man?"
"Call the name."
Liu Qinghuan: "..."
Maybe she should ask the barbarian girl.
"Pengpeng." Xue Mu called out in a low voice as he pressed the fire on the charcoal. The barbarian boy twitched his lips and returned to his original position. Liu Qinghuan looked at him with a smile on his face: "Your name is Pengpeng?"
"That's right!" The Hu man replied proudly, "I gave myself a Chinese name, isn't it very wise and powerful?"
"Compared with your image, you are indeed very wise and powerful."
Peng Peng felt very proud of receiving the praise from Mrs. Hou Ye.
Xue Mu asked Liu Qinghuan to sit down opposite him, poured the freshly brewed tea into five celadon tea bowls in front of him, and handed a bowl to Liu Qinghuan: "Do you want to taste the tea I made?"
"Thank you, Lord Marquis." Liu Qinghuan took the tea bowl in his hand, the foam on her face was evenly thick, she blew lightly, and took a sip.
"How about it?"
Liu Qinghuan put down the tea bowl, and replied, "Qinghuan doesn't know much about tea, but what Master Hou cooks is good."
The girl in green at the side snorted disdainfully, Liu Qinghuan looked up at her, and said with a slight smile, "Do you think the tea made by Master Hou is not good?"
"I think you're talking sweet words!" The girl frowned and said to her.
The smile on Liu Qinghuan's face deepened instead: "Sweet words? So you mean that the tea made by Lord Hou is not good."
Girl: "..."
She opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but Xue Mu looked up at her, and she pursed her lips and said nothing. Xue Mu withdrew his gaze, looked at Liu Qinghuan and smiled: "Even if it's sweet talk, I like it."
Liu Qinghuan lowered her head shyly, Xue Mu slightly hooked her lips, and introduced to her: "The three of them are my subordinates, Pengpeng, you already know each other, this is Nuoyan, and this is Niantang."
Taking advantage of the situation, Liu Qinghuan sized them up a few more times, and then asked, "Did I disturb Lord Hou's discussion?"
Xue Mu picked up a celadon tea bowl and shook his head: "It's okay."
Seeing him drinking tea with his head down, Liu Qinghuan looked around and said, "However, other people's business discussions should be kept in the room as privately as possible. People like Lord Hou are rare."
Xue Mudao: "The field of vision here is wide, and the surrounding environment can be seen at a glance. Once someone approaches, they will be able to detect it."
Liu Qinghuan thought for a while and said, "What if it's lurking in the water?"
Xue Mu smiled: "Then his water skills must be very good."
Liu Qinghuan shut up. With Xue Mu's martial arts, if someone dives into the water, he will definitely be able to detect it. When you fall down, no matter how good your water skills are, he can make you float up as a corpse.
"By the way, is your maid back?"
"not yet."
Xue Mu pondered for a while, and said: "I have asked someone today, and the Wuhou Street envoy who was on duty last night did not catch any suspicious people."