"Wood chips? Red pine? Or something else, I don't know. Please forgive my limited knowledge. I have never seen a man-made boat, and I really don't know what this thing is." It makes sense. Sichuan is not a place with crisscrossing rivers and lakes. Most of their boats are just ordinary river ferries and some cargo ships.
"I once saw people repairing a damaged boat on the shore in Yiling. Because the boat was unique, they stayed there for a long time, touching it back and forth, and got a lot of dirt. It was probably because at that time, their minds were on the strange shape of the boat, and they didn't pay much attention to the things in their hands. Now I think about it and get it."
"If Dong Zhuo is really building ships in Sichuan, he must be dumping out all the accumulated sawdust now. He wants to scare us and make us lose our composure." Liu Gui was a little surprised. Just looking at the situation in front, it was indeed scary enough.
"The people of Xiliang are not good at boats, so they are very determined this time. Oh, look, the color has changed a bit." The wood chips in the water have also turned yellow and white. And the last few miles seem to be mostly yellow chips. "They cut down everything, and I don't know what kind of tree this is."
"So what should we do now?" Yan Yan obviously had no good solution for this, because it was obvious that the scraps of shipbuilding could turn the Yangtze River into this state, so the number of warships in Yizhongxian must be a terrifying number. Dong Zhuo must be trying to warn us that he could come at any time, and once he came, he might send out his entire army. Yan Yan only had 10,000 soldiers, so he could only ask for my opinion and see how our army would be deployed.
"Let me think about it." I mean it, Dong Zhuo is impatient, otherwise he wouldn't have chased me for a hundred miles at night. But this can explain a lot: if Dong Zhuo comes, there are many possibilities if Dong Zhuo doesn't come.
I turned around with a serious expression, looking at the soldiers who were lined up and somewhat nervous. Most of the soldiers were looking at the river, holding their weapons tighter in their hands.
"It doesn't matter. If Dong Zhuo is coming from here, why would he leave these red and yellow sawdust for dozens of miles to inform us in advance so that we have time to call for reinforcements?" I explained loudly to everyone. Originally, the slope facing the river was so quiet, and the sound of the river surface full of sawdust was much louder than usual. My voice seemed very loud, and even echoed in the valley: "He must want us to think that he can attack at any time and has many ships, so that we are all panicked. By then, even if he comes, we have been worried all day and exhausted, and we can't stop him. Now you go back and rest, have a good rest, leave here in a few days, and wait for our army to set up pockets here, and teach Dong Zhuo a lesson." To be honest, my words didn't seem to have much weight when I heard them myself, as if they were casual. But I did it on purpose, because it seemed very relaxed and freehand, and it seemed that Dong Zhuo would take a long time to come. If I was too generous, it would seem that we were deliberately stabilizing the morale of the army.
But the effect was not very good, so I asked Yan Yan to give the order for everyone to return to their original places, and they left as if relieved. It seems that I may have been wrong, at least what I thought was not the same as what the soldiers thought.
When Wu Lan, Wu Ban and others were leaving the city, something seemed to happen. It was easy to hear some noise coming from the city gate. When I was discussing the matter on the river with everyone, a Yizhou soldier ran towards us desperately, stopped panting when he saw us, and reported a series of squeaking to General Yan in Yizhou accent.
"General Liu Gui, you go and give the orders. Let their general bring some followers into the city first, so the main force doesn't need to come in. Then, except for the people on guard on the city wall and the riverside, our people will go back first."
"My sister is here?" I couldn't understand what they were saying and could only get some information from Yan Yan's words.
Yan Yan didn't seem to like talking when he answered yes or no. He nodded again and said to me: "Marquis Fengyun, can you accompany me to the Arrow Tower to talk? There are some things I need to discuss with you."
I originally wanted to go see my sister, but his words made it impossible for me to go. If I made up an excuse to go, I was afraid that it would cause rifts between the people of Yizhou, so I had to grit my teeth and follow him.
However, on the way, I remembered something and said to the officials' sons who were still following us, "Liu Ye, go back and visit your father."
On the arrow tower, there were only Yan Yan and I, and our expressions were equally stiff.
"General Yan Yan, what do you think about this matter?"
"It's difficult. I can't quite guess Dong Zhuo's plan. I feel like there are many possibilities. That's the trouble."
I had the same idea as him, so I was also confused. I thought he would have a passionate talk, but the scene turned out to be a little too cold.
The Xiling Gorge is now filled with red, gray, yellow, and black, and has also buried anxiety, doubt, fear, and uneasiness in the hearts of everyone in Zigui.
"Is there anyone who has built a ship? Look among your soldiers. I want to ask." Yan Yantou agreed with my opinion. He also thought that this was the only thing that could be done at the moment.
But I don't think so. I think there is one more thing I have to do: Sister will be here soon. Although Yan Yan won't notice this now, he will be suspicious when he thinks about it later. Because I don't look like such a delicate person, I can feel that he has been guessing that I am willing to take the blame for someone. If he really suspects that it is Sister, with his reputation in Yizhou, as long as he suspects and gets out, Sister's reputation will be damaged. Just think about it, who would want to marry a woman who has harmed the people of the whole state. This thing must not be allowed to happen.
"We don't have any shipbuilding here. Also, Marquis Fengyun, your sister has arrived at the Zigui County Government. Shall we go too?" After the messenger's quick and difficult to understand report, Yan Yan explained it to me very concisely.
After making invitation gestures to each other, we left the city wall together, but behind our identical worried expressions were completely different thoughts.
Zigui County Government Office is a relatively quiet place. Although most of the trees and flowers are now withered and leafless, the layout is still quite literary. However, according to the various types of people in this city, they all ran away when the people from Yizhou came. Those who knew shame ran back home, and those who were shameless and went to Xiangyang to cry and complain are now in jail.
However, I could only take a quick look at the scenery, and I had to tell Yan Yan that the scenery here was nice, and asked him to appreciate it for a while. Yan Yan must have been surprised that I could still be so interested in these things at this time, but he still took a polite but absent-minded look, and then left it at that. He didn't know that I wanted to delay a little longer so that I could come up with a better solution.
There is no way. I admit that I am very stupid today and can only use the first stupid method I thought of.
“Sister, thank you for your hard work on the journey.” It was the first time in my life that I bowed to my sister like this, respectfully and politely, as if we had never met before… I interrupted the metaphor in my mind because I found it too disgusting.
"My dear brother Zirui, is everything okay here?" My sister seemed to have been prepared and returned the greeting with perfect etiquette. At the same time, after the greeting, she bent her waist less than me and returned to normal earlier than me.
He stood up straight and looked around. Only Zishi was accompanying them. He didn't know why Zhou Yuù didn't come. He thought that the teacher was too cruel, making the couple look at each other from different places. This place was considered a basin, but they couldn't even see each other.
All irrelevant people were sent away. In the meeting room, both sides compared their cases and sat down. I sat in the middle of the right row without hesitation, with my sister on my right and Zishi on my left. They wanted to invite the Marquis of Jiange to sit in the chief seat for the discussion, but the Marquis of Jiange ordered Yan Yan to handle the matter, saying that he was weak and could not bear the heavy responsibility. So in the end, it was: Yan Yan, Liu Gui, and Zhang Ren. Sitting opposite each other like this is indeed a better plan, to show that there is no difference between Jingzhou and Yizhou, so as to avoid disputes in the future, and to save the face of the people of Yizhou. But when I think about the fact that this matter was arranged by the people of Yizhou, I always feel that the people of Yizhou are too concerned about their face, or to put it nicely, they have a strong self-esteem.
I felt a little disdainful at the time, but then I thought that if our identities were swapped, perhaps I would handle it the same way, and I felt relieved.
First, I introduced the host family, and the guest family showed respect to each other. In fact, Zigui was originally my Jingzhou territory, but now the host-guest relationship is reversed.
Then I introduced Hakka: "This is my elder sister, her maiden name is Yinling, and she was granted the title of Princess Ping'an by the Emperor. This is Li Zhen, who is also a student of Lord Wei. His courtesy name is Zishi. He is resourceful and brave. He once killed three generals of Dong Zhuo in the Battle of Hanzhong, one of whom was Dong Zhuo's son-in-law Niu Fu."
Zishisheng muttered beside me, and I could only hear: "Two, there is still one that has not been killed."
I ignored him. The key point of what I said just now was that I was so partial to one and not that I exaggerated his bravery.
"Sister, did you bring the teacher's letter?"
"Please have a look, Lord Ping An Feng Yun." I looked at my sister indifferently, and she handed it to me with a little affection, and there was a respect between her eyebrows. My sister's words and actions made me feel that she had also thought about this problem. Thinking about it for a while, I felt that it was not right. If my sister knew what I was thinking, she would definitely come out and pull this matter onto herself.
I took a quick look at it, and I was amazed. With a look of joy on my face, I said, "This is very good."
The teacher's stuff is written like this: "In the second year of Zhongping, Dong Ni slaughtered the people of Yizhou in our great Han Dynasty, causing refugees to be homeless and stranded. God may not notice, but we cannot ignore the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Although the flood is raging and everywhere is flooded, Jing Ning lost the life of one state, and we will never ignore the will of heaven. Please ask the Marquis of Jiange to live in Xiangyang temporarily, and all the imperial edicts will be issued from Jing. Officials at all levels will be retained in Yizhou, Hanzhong, Shangyong and other places, and the people will be under the management of Yizhou. If it is really because the area of Yibei is narrow, Jingzhou will also let the people live without worries. Wei Qing resisted foreign humiliation for the people, and Dong Zhuo violated the will of heaven and destroyed his hometown. There is destiny in all of this. I hope that the soldiers and civilians of Yizhou can settle down as soon as possible. We will seek justice for you and Dong Zhuo."
There is no teacher's handwriting on this silk, no seal below, and no emperor's words. Since this is something that my sister brought all the way from Xiangyang, it must be an order that we must execute. I showed it to them, and they thanked us after reading it, so I took it back.
Neither party said anything more about this matter. I secretly thanked the teacher in my heart. In the face of such an inappropriate thing, no one needs and does not want to waste more words to avoid losses.
Yan Yan asked us to live in this county government office, I guess because I praised this courtyard just now. As soon as the outsiders left, I immediately asked how to implement it. But my sister smiled at me first, and then she returned to her calmness: "Finally you have grown up and know to abide by the etiquette of officialdom? I was really afraid that you would suddenly rush over and chirp like sister, sister."
My sister thought so, and I was right. I felt relieved and just let it go. My sister always reminded me to be careful about my identity. How could she know what I was thinking at that time? If it weren't for that worry, I think I would really do that. But I was still happy to be called grown up by my sister again. But I don't like the word "chi chi cha", it makes me feel like a little kid.
"Sister, you haven't answered my question yet." I tried my best to remain serious and continued to press.
"Zi Shi, go outside and see if anyone is eavesdropping. Send someone to guard the county office. Then call Yu'er and Captain Sun."
"Yes." Zishi smiled at me and patted my butt as a greeting when he left.
"Is it ok, sister?"
"I don't know the specific arrangements. But when we escort people to Yiling, the teacher's plan will be announced by Chen Liang in a timely manner, and then we just need to proceed according to our steps. Now I only have the order to ask them to leave, and the situation will change according to where they go." The sister's tone was very calm again. It must be that the teacher has planned it, and it will be implemented step by step in the time, and the people of Yizhou will naturally be distributed to various places.
"It's you," my sister took out a handkerchief and gently touched my forehead. I knew it was the wound. I had almost forgotten about it at first, but the slight pain at this time reminded me that there was still a wound there. My sister's words were also very calm, as if she was trying her best to let me drive away the grievance and boredom in my heart: "If you do this, I'm really afraid that you will be too wronged."
"But if you don't give in this time, you may never live in peace." I took my sister's handkerchief, touched it a little, took it off to have a look, compared with the wound on my leg, this was just a wound. I put away my sister's handkerchief, but found that something was missing from my waist.
"Sister, six..." Sister didn't need to answer anymore. She took out a black hairband from her arms. She knew what I was looking for. "But I can't lose that."
"Yes, I folded the headscarf and sewed it inside, and I've also been with Beihai. Just take it with you."
My sister is really considerate. I'm afraid she remembered it after I only read it once. I just don't know when she took it away.
I fixed my hair a little and tied it up again with this headband.
"So Zhou Yu is here too. I thought the teacher was too cruel. She allowed Li Zhen to come but didn't let Yu'er come as well." I felt that there was nothing else to do, so I changed the subject.
"Well, have you found a family for that yellow girl?"
"Found it, and now the family is reunited."
"Oh, that's good... Have you asked for marriage?"
"Sister, where are you thinking about?"
"Don't worry about that. You've already been to the Yizhou people... they won't embarrass you again."
"This is not a matter of whether it is difficult or not. It is a matter of fact and reason. I should go."
"Let's not talk about this for now. Now you look like an old man and don't look like a teenager at all. Does the Huang family want me to go and propose marriage for you? I'll go as Princess Ping'an, is that okay?" My sister suddenly became anxious.
"Forget it, no need to go." I admit that I was tempted, but I still resolutely rejected the idea in my heart. Facing my sister's smile, my heart felt like a knife, and every word dripped out like a drop of blood: "I don't really like her, but I didn't get along with other girls when I was young, so I might be a little closer to her. But she really wants to meet you, I wonder if you have time to meet her."
My sister looked at me and finally said, "Well, you have to think about it carefully. Later, when they come, we will arrange some things and I will go to see her. Will you accompany me?"
"Let Zhou Yu accompany you?" He must not see her again, otherwise the words and gazes would inevitably make him even more sad. He was weak, he had been strong all day, now he was weak for once in front of his sister.
I walked under the eaves and looked at the winter scene in the yard, but my heart was sad for her.
This feeling comes from gazing and is buried in winter.
By the time they all arrived, it was already dark. There were no officials, maids or runners in the county government office, so we had to rely on our soldiers to help greet and respond.
However, they brought back some news that surprised us.
My sister didn't ask about what happened by the river, and I felt it was strange. But then I realized that she had sent someone to check it out, and that person was Captain Sun.
I know what real ability to get things done is today. After listening to the reports from Zhang Ren and Liu Gui, my sister asked her subordinates who had seen shipbuilding before or built ships themselves to go to the riverside to see if there were any clues to understand Dong Zhuo's actions.
Sun Xiaowei was a general in Yuzhang. He was one of the officers who supervised the construction of the ship, and later supervised the construction of the pulley. So he found something very strange.
At this time, Captain Sun's face seemed to have just been shaved, which made him look even more "handsome and beautiful". I don't know why he changed his personality. Did he think that he would have a better future if he pretended to be a woman? I don't know, I'd better not care about him first. He looked puzzled at that time: "This shouldn't be the case with wooden objects. The things they discarded were all sawdust. This is unlikely. Could it be that their boat can just connect the sawn wood together? I can't imagine what this boat looks like. At least when we built it, broken wood, peeled wood and sawdust were thrown everywhere. Did they also specially sift out the sawdust? This workload is too huge. The sawdust alone has been flowing in the river for an hour."
"Also, if you dry the red sawdust that occasionally mixes in, you'll find it smells like clay." He untied a bag from his waist and took out some dark red sawdust for me to smell. I couldn't smell it, I just knew there was a smell, and I couldn't tell which was the smell of clay. I always only paid attention to the smell of things in pottery jars and never paid attention to the smell of pottery.
"What color is the river surface now?" I felt a little strange when I heard his words. It seemed that the red color suddenly disappeared a lot.
"Yellow, with a little red mixed in. There are quite a few red washed up on the beach." I was a little confused, but I didn't understand.
"Hurry up and ask General Yan to check if there is a clay kiln in this city." But I did realize something, "Don't ask General Yan yet."
After a while, the people who went down to investigate reported to us that no pottery was produced locally, and all local pottery was transported from Yiling, and Yiling's pottery was transported from Jiangling.
And the most suspicious place: Jiangling Shipyard.
I think I have some idea. I guess the sawdust must be related to the firing of pottery. Dong Zhuo wanted to scare us, so he threw out the sawdust related to pottery that had been accumulated for who knows how many years, pretending to be shipbuilding sawdust to scare us. In fact, he had no intention of building a ship to come east, so he must have done this to make us station heavy troops here. In fact, he wanted to take other routes.
Then he ordered people to check whether there were any soldiers who made pottery at home or had worked as pottery workers.
There are only a few rivers in Xiliang, and the people there have never built boats. They thought they had never built anything, but they were thinking about whether there was a way to make us think they built boats. When they sawed wood or looted pottery, they saw sawdust and thought it was a good idea to throw them down.
There are still some loopholes here, but they can't shake my judgment. I just wonder why Dong Zhuo poured the red one at the beginning. If he poured all the yellow ones without staining them, we can feel suspicious, but we may not be able to see their flaws. I think maybe they didn't think it through, and poured the red one on top first. In this way, they are too stupid, but can the strategists who can come up with that method to attack Shushan Pass be so stupid.
I still firmly believe that Dong Zhuo did not build a single ship.
The people below reported again, no, almost all of them are farmers. There are also singers. The last sentence was added by Li Zhen.
"Okay, let's not tell them about this for now. We'll make a decision after we find out the truth." This was my order, "But at least we can rest assured now."
Zhou Yu was a little dissatisfied with not allowing her to attend the meeting, and asked me if I disliked her because she was a woman, then why her sister was allowed to attend. Her opinion led to a lot of words from my sister.
In the original hall, we had a simple dinner and dismissed everyone. Sun Yuhai was left behind by his sister. Sun Yuhai himself could not read a few words. I asked him curiously how he could sing Luozi. He was taught by his father sentence by sentence. In terms of literacy, he could only read military books. He really didn't understand other things. My sister waved her hand and said it was nothing.
"We are all family, don't be restrained, Yu'er, this is mainly for you, stop making trouble." Zhou Yu was joking with her husband. Li Zhen tried her best to restrain her smile and didn't want to interrupt her sister, but Zhou Yu was still acting like a girl.
Seeing that Zhou Yu had been taught a lesson and become obedient, the elder sister began to speak: "Yu'er, listen to your sister. You are kind-hearted by nature, don't know the interests of all parties, and often speak frankly. I am afraid that it will bring trouble to you and Zishi in the future. If you come in recently, it will definitely bring trouble to Zirui. Zirui is the nominal second-in-command of Jingzhou and a marquis of Wanhu; but in front of everyone in the hall, he was addressed as a brother by a woman, with no respect or etiquette. In Jingzhou, it is considered family, and everyone doesn't care about each other. Zirui, I want you too. When you, Guan Hai, and Sun Yuhai went down Mufu Mountain, you came down with your arms around each other's shoulders. Although you have an excuse of injury, it also makes our army seem too undisciplined." The elder sister suddenly seemed a little old-fashioned, and she didn't know what was going on.
"Yu'er, you will definitely deal with people from outside in the future, so you must learn all the etiquette, don't look around, I'm serious." Sister's words did not have any room for euphemism. Zhou Yu finally understood the seriousness of the situation, sat down seriously, and nodded seriously.
"Whether you become an official in the future or not," my sister added.
"Sister, don't you want to be an official in the future?" I was the first one to chew on the meaning of this sentence and then came to a conclusion.
"If it's just like in Changsha, I also want to do things for the people instead of doing nothing all my life. But the battlefield is really not where I want to be." The elder sister shook her head, "Besides, after I get married, I won't be able to do whatever I want anymore."
I began to think that it was a good thing that my sister married in Jingzhou. After traveling to the north, I still felt that the atmosphere in Jingzhou was more lively and free. Although the north was not as terrible as we heard, the atmosphere was still a bit dull.
"What kind does sister like?" I suddenly asked this question.
My sister smiled and said to me, "You don't have to worry about that." Then she turned around and said, "My daughter, when Zishi marries you in the future, you must at least understand all kinds of etiquette and serve your parents-in-law. Then, you should also read some poetry and books. Otherwise, Zishi and you will never find a good topic to talk about, and after a long time of marriage, neither of you will be very happy."
The elder sister's words were a bit too heavy, which made Sun Yuhai feel a little uncomfortable. He proposed to leave again, but his elder sister rejected it again.
"Someone is here to propose marriage to my sister. If nothing unexpected happens, my sister will return to Jingzhou to prepare for marriage. I was originally planning to return to Jingzhou, but this incident happened. Zirui, you have to take charge of how to deal with it. Maybe you and I will not return to Xiangyang at the same time, so I will stay with you first."
This was a piece of news that shocked me, but those people didn't react, it seemed that they all knew about it. No wonder when I saw my sister this time, she gave me a different feeling than before. At first, it was because Huang Yi's matter made me uneasy, so I didn't have any thoughts. Now I finally understand why my sister and I are even a little bit stranger today.
My elder sister will become someone else's wife, and I will be alone from now on. Although I have vowed many times to marry my elder sister off first, this time, when my elder sister is really getting married, I feel uneasy.
"Who is so lucky?" I tried my best to act excited.
"Hu Ben Zhonglang Jiang, Gao Ling Hou Cao Cao. I don't know if he dares to marry me after knowing my story."
"Cao Cao, Cao Mengde?" I was definitely not surprised.
"Zirui knows this person?" My sister was also a little surprised.
"Yes, I know him. He's very good, very good." I don't know why I'm so dumb. "Brother Meng De's character and talent are both first-class in the world. He should have this tolerance and spirit." I finally came to my senses, but how come Brother Meng De was appointed as a general and a marquis? I remember that at the beginning of the year he was just a lieutenant of the North Gate. Because of this, I didn't consider him when choosing a son-in-law for my sister. Maybe my vision is too shallow, but I am afraid that my sister will suffer. Cao Cao is really the best choice now.
"General Sun, please arrange the army's overnight accommodation." My sister sent Sun Yu Hai out before I spoke. This matter must be related to the Yellow Turbans.
"Brother Meng De, how did you get promoted?" I knew my sister had guessed the question.
"Zhang Yan of Heishan in Yuyang was pacified by Cao Cao and Lu and Gongsun of Youzhou." My sister actually knew what I wanted. She called Sun Yuhai out in advance for this matter. "This matter is also related to you. You asked Zisheng and Zi Sheduo to help him. At this time, there were Lu and Luoyang in the northern part of Sili. The court wanted to send troops, but there were no generals to send. The two of them recommended Cao Cao. Cao Cao was indeed quite capable. He traveled day and night and attacked the Heishan army with 5,000 cavalrymen at night. The Heishan army had been fighting with the Youzhou people and was exhausted. Unexpectedly, an army suddenly came from thousands of miles away and collapsed in an instant. In addition, because Cao Cao was a subordinate of He Jin, and Youzhou was a big concern for He Jin, he was the only one who got a good reward."
"That man is indeed a hero. If I marry her, it won't be a disgrace to my sister." My sister will get married eventually. Now that she is married to Brother Meng De, it is a great thing. I should be happy for my sister. I slowly let it go. Then I thought more and more that only Brother Meng De could marry my sister. I slowly became happy. I remembered what he said to make fun of me and that Dongyi woman. Gaoling is not far from Xinye and Tianshui. If I miss my sister, it's not bad to go to my brother-in-law's place to ask for money.
My sister asked Zhou Yu to accompany her, and Zhou Yu was of course fine. The rest of the men could find more disgusting topics to talk about without fear of anything. And I also wanted to find a happy topic to interrupt my thoughts about my sister's trip.
"Zhou Yu is always like this, aren't you afraid that your parents will object?" I was very worried about him.
"You really don't know." Li Zhen suddenly seemed to pour out a lot of bitterness: "She is very powerful. Even though she usually doesn't know the rules, when she is with my parents, she is a complete lady."
"Lady, Zhou yù?" To be honest, these two words are very familiar, but I really can't think of the relationship between them.
"Before we went to Yuzhang, I had been supervising the construction of ships in Jiangling. I am the only son in the family and our family is not well-off, so I brought my parents to my mansion in Jiangling to enjoy a good life. Your battle in Hanzhong has dragged us down a lot, and my salary has been reduced compared to before. You should know that you are a marquis with a generous salary, but most of your brothers are still minor officials. Although I have power, my salary is only enough for food and clothing. However, in this world, people in the north are all separated from their sons, so what else can I complain about? Her brother Zhou Cang is in Hanzhong, and Zhou Yu is alone in Jiangling as the city guard." Li Zhen was blunt, and I accepted the criticism sincerely.
"It's just right for you two dogs and bitches to have what you want, to spend the whole day having sex outside, being affectionate with each other, and having sex with each other." Don't worry, the words between brothers are all like this, but if my sister hears it, I will have to kneel until dawn. But I can only find some vicious words to amuse myself, because I know I can't ask the key part.
"But Yu'er is good to me. She usually eats military rations, and she doesn't have a family to support, so she's naturally well-off. She often sends rice and meat to my house. My grandmother liked her to begin with, and was worried that she would be lonely in Jiangling, so she wanted her to live with me. She didn't like this, so she wanted me to marry her."
"You agree, of course?"
"I don't object anyway. My daughter treats me very well. The key is what my parents want."
"What do they mean?"
"My father is a filial son. He didn't object when my grandmother told him to do so. But my mother always felt that her daughter was wielding swords and guns, and she was very scared. I, didn't I also wield swords and guns? After all, my mother is a girl, so I mentioned Zheng's wife, who is a barbarian."
"Don't let my sister-in-law know." I even looked around worriedly.
"How dare I," Li Zhen also stuck out his tongue, "but in the next few months, things changed. You will never imagine what Zhou Yu did. After I told her what my mother said, within half a month, she came to help us with housework. I didn't expect that she did such a good job of housework. You know, we don't have servants in our family. Usually, everything in the house is done by my mother alone. Since that day, our housework has become the work of a female general in leather armor. When I came back that day and saw her wiping the sweat from her forehead and making a fire there... I thought she was very beautiful at that time..."
"A very virtuous-looking Zhou Yu?" I tried hard to imagine this scene, but to be honest, my imagination was somewhat lacking.
"Originally I was only worried that Yu'er couldn't do these things."
"You're worrying too much. Before Zhou Yu and Zhou Cang came to my house, they were truly poor children. That problem wouldn't be difficult for them." I thought of their previous home. I really have to let Li Zhen see it later.
"I know that, but when you see Zhou Yu patrolling the streets on horseback every day, how can you associate this with anything?" I agreed, nodding my head.
"So what's next?" I asked in my heart. I was afraid that he would whet my appetite and I wouldn't be able to continue.
"In the past half month, my daughter has been visiting a family in the city that is said to have the most virtuous daughter-in-law in the neighborhood to see how their daughter-in-law works. I am very moved by their kindness, and my mother is also gradually moved. Chang, Zhou Yu is a good-looking child with a good heart and capable, but she is always hanging out with a bunch of male soldiers, which is not good."
"Then Zhou Yu resigned? That's okay. I was in Xiangyang at the time. I would never let Yuer suffer."
"It was then that Zhou Yu showed her difference. She did not resign because of this sentence, but continued to patrol the city seriously."
"Indeed, such a girl is worth liking." This is what I said sincerely. There is no concession on principle, and compromise seems too flattering. At this time of employing people, it is my blessing to find such a serious and responsible person to do the work. It seems that I can no longer look at Zhou Yu with the old eyes. She is not only likable, but also respectable; especially in terms of feelings, I am not as good as her.
"If I liked her before, now I am completely... obsessed with her. When I was supervising the construction of the ship, I often got angry about some things. Later, I was very happy every day and always smiled in the shipyard because I knew I would see her at home in the evening." His intoxicated look at that time was really unbearable to me.
"Now that you are engaged, when will your mother finally get over it?"
"One day, my grandmother suddenly wanted to eat fish at night, so my mother hurried to the street, but the market was closed. Zhou Yu came over and found out, and after thinking for a moment, she went out. Unexpectedly, she had been out for more than an hour, and when I came back at night, she was still nowhere to be found. My mother was a little anxious, and so was my grandmother. My father ordered me to go find her. I was even more anxious. It was already dark, and I rode all over Jiangling, to her official residence, and then to the military camp. The soldiers didn't know about it, and after the city gates were closed at twilight and the patrols were disbanded, no one had seen her. At this time, I suddenly thought that Yu'er might have gone to the river to fish, and I cried out in my heart that it was not good, so I immediately rode to the south gate and asked the gate guards, but Yu'er had returned, but she had a bag with her, and I didn't know what she brought back."
"Yù'er is really amazing. She actually went fishing and caught some."
"Hey, don't call me so affectionately." Li Zhen pretended to be serious, then laughed. "When I came back, there was a horse tied at the door with a pair of riding boots on it. When I came in, I saw a girl wearing armor and holding a knuckle. Her legs and feet were covered with mud. She was excitedly smelling the aroma in the pot in front of the stove. Grandma and mother didn't say anything. Finally, when Zhou Yu was holding the fish soup and looking at her legs and the bamboo mat in front of her in embarrassment at the door, her mother went over to take the fish soup. , and went out to scoop water for Yu'er to wipe off the mud, and asked her to change her armor, and asked her not to be so restrained in her own home, and took out her own clothes for Yu'er to change. From then on, my mother became the one who loved Yu'er the most in our family. Later we got engaged. From then on, my mother was even more amazing. When she saw Zhou Yu passing by on the road, she would praise her to everyone she met, saying, "That's my daughter-in-law, isn't she amazing?" She would often stop Zhou Yu's horse, saying, "Daughter-in-law, go home for lunch at noon, which made Yu'er feel embarrassed in front of the soldiers."
"Yù'er is indeed very good, but why is she still so unruly outside?"
"Zi Rui, why are you using such disgusting words when you go out?"
"It's okay, come on."
"Later, everyone in the family spoiled her, especially mother. When we left for Yuzhang, you don't know how reluctant mother was to let us go. She warned me to take good care of her and not to bully her daughter-in-law, otherwise she would break my legs when I got back. Man, women are easily spoiled. Your sister-in-law is such a typical example. She looks fearless and relies on her mother-in-law for help, which is even more incredible."
"Brother-in-law, you are still happy after all. I don't even know who my partner is."
"My boy, you have to work hard. Who is that person your sister met tonight? I'm afraid he is so… "
"If you're brothers, never mention this matter again." I interrupted him sadly.
My brothers all know that I have a violent personality and I will beat people up if I disagree with them, but it seems that I have never really hit my brothers. Although the brothers are not serious, they still respect each other. So, Zi Shitou, he never mentioned this matter again.
However, we quickly put aside our unhappiness and sadness and discussed our future relationship. I thought it was the relationship between brother-in-law and uncle, but he insisted that it was still a brotherly relationship. His reason was that we grew up together and we have always called each other brothers. I thought that Zhou Yu and Zhou Cang had lived in my house for a long time, and when they returned to Xiangyang to get married, they could only be considered my step-sisters and married off by me.
I suddenly remembered something: "Zi Yu's adopted Wei Yan didn't cause you any trouble in Jiangling, did he?"
"That kid, well, is very scary. Brother Yang is so worried about him that he even gave Brother Yan a hard time. But he hangs out with everyone. He seems to get along especially well with Zhou Yu, so he always calls me brother-in-law when he sees me. He never causes me any trouble. Besides, he likes to wield a gun, so it's obvious that someone as powerful as me would make him admire me very much."
"Don't be so self-indulgent, and don't let Yu'er hear what I just said. Also, your arm hasn't caused you much trouble, has it?" I remembered that Master's wife had said that his arm would have some hidden diseases.
"Yes, but luckily nothing serious happened. You can't use too much force, or it will dislocate."
"Is it so serious? I remember Master's wife asked Mr. Hua to check you out. He made a cut on your arm to remove the membrane on the bone." I added some exaggerated movements.
"Haozi, why are you so cruel?" He probably broke out in a cold sweat after hearing that.
"If you do this, we will be short of a general when we go into battle. Moreover, your position at home will be very difficult. Your wife cut off your arm right away. How pitiful!"
"Who's pitiful?" Not long after she finished praising her, Zhou Yu ran in in her original form.
"No one." We said in unison. Usually we are united on many things.
"Men are nothing good, sister, I will sleep with you."
"My dear, don't be so arrogant. I won't let you get married." I pretended to be the boss and made a joke casually, but my eyes were fixed on my sister.
"It's okay, sister will marry you off well." My sister also looked at me.
My sister didn't tell me about her stay at that house, and Zhou Yu didn't either, as if nothing had happened. I admit that I wanted to know, although I had said cruelly that I would not go to her house, but now I regret it. My sister's last words should be considered very warm: We will go home tomorrow.
But for me, this is definitely not good news.
When I leave, I will lose everything; when I return, I will have nothing.