The people brought by Chu Changping quickly dug up the grave and carried out the fine willow wood coffin.
The confidant asked him, "Master, do you want to open the coffin and take a look?"
Chu Changping looked up at the sky, took a deep breath, and said, trying hard to suppress the sadness in his eyes, "Open it."
The coffin lid was opened and a rotten smell instantly wafted out.
The woman in the coffin was also hit to death. Her head was broken and bleeding, and her face was covered with blood. No one washed her face before she was buried, so her face could not be seen clearly at all. All that could be recognized was that she was a woman of about 28 years old.
The clothes on his body were tattered, barely enough to cover his body. His arms and half of his thighs were exposed, and some ambiguous purple marks could still be seen under the corpse spots.
It's not hard to imagine what she went through when she was alive.
Chu Changping felt a pain in his heart. He only took a quick glance and dared not look at her again. He took off his cloak and covered his niece with it. With red eyes, he roared in the rainy night: "You dog emperor! My Chu family will never forgive you!"
After closing the coffin, the confidants placed it on a cart and piled cages on top and on both sides of the coffin to serve as a cover.
The gates of Xizhou City were closed, and they would not have enough time to escort the coffin out of the city tonight.
The group planned to go back to the inn they had booked earlier to rest for a night and then set off again at dawn.
In the border area, every household turned off the lights after nightfall, and there was not a single person to be seen in the streets.
The sound of the carriage wheels was particularly clear in the night.
Chu Changping was riding his horse in front. When he turned a corner, he suddenly saw a group of black-armored soldiers blocking his way. He pulled the reins hard, and the warhorse he sat on neighed, and the group of people stopped where they were.
It rained heavily at night, and cold water lines hung from the edge of the hat.
Chu Changping's eyes fell on the carriage behind the black-armored soldier and he clasped his fists and asked, "Is the King of Liaonan in the carriage?"
No sound came from the carriage, but a general in front of the army spoke up: "Lord Chu took office in Yongzhou, why did you come to the border of Xizhou?"
Yongzhou is on the border of Liaodong. From Yongzhou to Xizhou, it crosses most of Xuan Dynasty.
If a military official leaves his jurisdiction without reporting to the court, and the news reaches the emperor's ears, he will be charged with deceiving the emperor.
Chu Changping decided to come in person to take his niece back to Beijing for burial, and he was not afraid of being charged with deceiving the emperor. He said, "My niece has suffered such a disaster. Even plants and trees cherish the principle of returning to their roots. I came here only to take my niece back to Beijing. Your Majesty is so kind. I will remember your kindness in giving me the coffin and will repay you one day."
Xing Yao glanced calmly at the carriage behind him, then made a gesture to the Black Armor Guards blocking the center of the street.
There were only a few neat sounds of iron armor colliding, and the Black Armor Guards quickly made way for them.
Chu Changping clasped his fists towards the carriage again: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
He led his men through the dark army in the rain.
The carriage curtain was lifted, and Chi Qing glanced at the direction Chu Changping left. "Chu Changping risked offending the emperor by coming all the way from Yongzhou to collect the body. It seems that the deceased prostitute is indeed the daughter of the Jiang family."
Feng Shuo said nothing, as if he was resting with his eyes closed.
There was no one around him who recognized the eldest daughter of the Jiang family. Even if he detained Chu Changping and forced the coffin to be opened for an autopsy, he could only let the coroner judge whether the body was intact.
It is said that the dead are the greatest. The person is already gone, but he is still using this method to perform an autopsy. If it is not the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, it would be fine. If it is... I am afraid that Chu Changping will fight him to the death.
In the end, Feng Shuo chose to let Chu Changping go. After all, he came thousands of miles to collect his niece's body, it was impossible for him to not even recognize his own niece.
So…
Is there really a person named "Jiang Hua" in the military camp, or is she a well-hidden spy
Chi Qing didn't know what Feng Shuo was thinking. He looked at Chu Changping's back, shook his head and sighed, "Speaking of this Lord Chu, he has experienced several ups and downs in the officialdom. Back then, he was the newly-appointed top scholar chosen by the late emperor. The princess fell in love with him at first sight and insisted on marrying into the Chu family. Among the newly-appointed scholars that year, which one was as glorious as Chu Sanlang? Unfortunately, he had already been engaged and didn't want to be a treacherous villain. Even though the founding marquis' wife, who had received the late emperor's instructions, came to the door several times and persuaded Madam Chu to withdraw the girl they had originally engaged to, or take her as a concubine, and then marry the princess in a grand manner and become a royal relative from then on... Chu Sanlang refused them all. Although he later married the youngest daughter of the head of the Ministry of Rites, who had an engagement with him, his official career also came to an end."
"He simply gave up civil service and took up military service, rising from a small soldier in the army to the position of Yunzhou General. After the new emperor ascended the throne, he was demoted to the poor land of Yongzhou... The Jiang family and the Chu family rarely interact with each other during festivals, but when Chu Changping was still the general of Yunzhou, Jiang Jing'an was able to climb to the position of Minister of Revenue by relying on his influence."
Chi Qing tapped his palm with his fan: "In my opinion, Chu Changping is not an ordinary person in Yongzhou. Your Majesty has given the Chu family a coffin. If you are willing to recruit him in the future, it can be regarded as a favor buried in advance."
Feng Shuo finally opened his eyes, but did not respond to Chi Qing's words. He only said, "Spies from foreign countries have infiltrated the Xizhou camp. I think Fan Wei deliberately made the Xizhou camp into a sieve before handing over power. If Xizhou loses a city or half a pond, the young emperor will have a reason to send troops to take over Xizhou."
A hint of sarcasm flashed across his eyes: "This nephew of mine is much greedier than I imagined."
Chi Qing also realized that this matter was of great importance and his brows were furrowed.
Feng Shuo was known as the "living king of hell" on the battlefield. He held a large number of troops and occupied the southern Liaoning area. Even though the new emperor wanted to reduce his military power, he was helpless.
The generals in the court trembled when they heard Feng Shuo's name, let alone fighting him.
The new emperor is now using Feng Shuo's mother as a bargaining chip, exchanging Xizhou for Dazhou, and saying that Dazhou is rich, he is offering the Xizhou camp to Feng Shuo as compensation. He has done a great job of saving face, but in fact the 100,000 soldiers and horses in the Xizhou camp are just scattered soldiers, not to mention the foreign spies that Fan Wei deliberately let in.
It's a bad hand no matter how you look at it.
He thought for a moment and said, "It is said that you can kill a thousand by mistake, but you cannot let one go. Instead of wasting time and effort to find out how many spies there are among the prostitutes in the camp, it is better to send all of them away."
Now the camp prostitutes are helping in the kitchens in the Huotou Camp. If they do anything to the food, the entire Xizhou camp will be in danger!
There were many hard labor jobs outside the Great Wall, such as mining, washing clothes, digging coal, and building the Great Wall. They were sent to do the hard labor.
Feng Shuo did not express his opinion immediately. On the way back, he said, "Fan Wei has caused me such a big obstacle. I have to give him a big gift in return."
Chi Qing didn't know what he was up to, so he hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, what do you mean..."
***
As the army's food improved, only a few soldiers came to the private kitchen to eat.
Apart from Jiang Yanyi's hot and sour noodles, which had a few people coming to eat every night, other chefs basically had no business. Fortunately, the monthly military salary had increased by two hundred coins, so no one envied the few copper coins Jiang Yanyi earned from selling hot and sour noodles in the evening.
Jiang Yanyi was hanging bone soup on the stove for cooking noodles the next morning, while Qiu Kui was sitting behind the stove, gnawing on a freshly baked pork pie with preserved vegetables, looking very satisfied.
The dough is crispy, the preserved vegetables inside are salty and delicious, the meat is fat and lean in the right proportion, and it is braised first and then fried to bring out the aroma, and the gravy bursts out in your mouth.
Qiu Kui was already full at night, but he still ate three of the preserved vegetable pork patties in one go.
If Jiang Yanyi hadn't stopped her for fear that she would get a stomachache, this girl would have fought for the fourth one.
After the near-murder incident, the big guys who carried Chef Li to see the military doctor today volunteered to escort Jiang Yanyi back to the barracks.
Jiang Yanyi made a braised pork pie for each of them as a thank you.
The soup was almost cooked, Jiang Yanyi asked Qiu Kui to put out the fire, cleaned up the stove, and prepared to go back to the barracks to rest.
Qiu Kui whispered to her, "The military advisor took your recipe last night and said he would give you a reward today. He hasn't come yet. He must be fooling us!"
Qiu Kui has always been generous, but Feng Shuo ate half a plate of chestnuts that belonged to her and packed up the other half, which made her feel particularly upset.
Speaking of this military advisor, Jiang Yanyi recalled the incident in which he broke into the tent this morning. He knew there was a woman in disheveled clothes inside, but he still deliberately went forward. What else could he be but a frivolous playboy
Oh, man!
She turned around and saw the cloak she had wrapped in cloth, and her headache returned.
If she went to return it in person, the military advisor might think that she was taking the opportunity to blame him, right
Jiang Yanyi was a little annoyed, and said angrily: "He is a beast in human clothing!"
After saying that, she didn't hear Qiu Kui echoing anything. Jiang Yanyi's expression froze slightly. She was worried that Qiu Kui would ask more questions, but she saw Qiu Kui asking her with a confused look on her face: "Huahua, what is a beast in human clothing?"
Jiang Yanyi coughed twice and said, "It means that the person is two-faced and a liar."
Qiu Kui nodded and wrote down this new word to insult liars.
"A-choo—"
Chi Qing sneezed loudly as soon as he reached Huotouying. He rubbed his nose and said, "Could it be that the weather has turned cold and I have caught a cold?"
He glanced at Feng Shuo, who was also wearing only a single layer of clothing, and couldn't help but said sourly, "My Lord, aren't you cold?"
Feng Feng replied calmly: "Not cold."
The two learned that Chu Changping had dug the grave and taken the coffin first, so they left Xizhou Camp without even having dinner. After returning, Chi Qing grumbled that he wanted to try the midnight snack from Huotouying's private kitchen. Feng Shuo remembered that he had regained his sense of taste in Huotouying last night, so he followed him over.
They walked into the Fire Head Battalion. The Fire Head Battalion on duty saw that the two men were dressed in extraordinary clothes and hurried forward to greet them. One of the tall and thin Fire Heads had seen Feng Shuo last night and immediately smiled happily: "Military Advisor, you are here!"
Chi Qing was flattered. He brushed his hair and was about to reply when Feng Shuo answered before him: "Yeah."
Chi Qing:
It was raining today, and the ground outside was wet. The fireman kindly led Feng Shuo to sit inside the barracks: "You came just in time. If you were a step later, Master Jiang would have finished his work."
Feng Shuo walked over and sat down. It was obvious that this was not his first time here.
Chi Qing followed with a confused look on his face.
The fireman who was receiving Feng Shuo noticed him and asked warmly, "Who is this gentleman?"
Chi Qing glanced at Feng Shuo and said quietly: "I am the general..."
Several firemen were frightened to the point of shuddering.
Chi Qing slowly added the following words: "Staff."
Several firemen breathed a sigh of relief.
Feng Shuo glanced at Chi Qing indifferently. Chi Qing thought that this autumn night must be too cold, otherwise why would his neck suddenly feel cold.
A fireman had already run into the kitchen to inform the military advisor that he was coming for supper again.
Even though Jiang Yanyi was dissatisfied with the military advisor, he had to put it aside for the time being.
She wiped her hands on her apron and went out to greet him: "Military Advisor, what would you like to eat tonight?"
Chi Qing's bones were softened by the voice like a yellow warbler. He remembered what he had heard from some soldiers before that there was a beautiful cook in the Huotou Battalion, so he looked up quickly.
The young cook who came out from the kitchen was as pretty as a flower, with a characteristic oval face, willow-shaped eyebrows, two watery eyes, red lips and white teeth. She was really beautiful.
Jiang Yanyi felt uncomfortable being stared at by Chi Qing and lowered his head to avoid his gaze.
He secretly thought that anyone who was close to this perverted military advisor was indeed a pervert as well.
Feng Shuo took out a silver note from his sleeve and handed it to Jiang Yanyi: "I said yesterday that I would give you another reward."
When Chi Qing heard him talk about giving extra reward money, his gaze flickered between the two of them. His eyes rolled around and he suddenly gave a lewd smile.
No wonder Feng Shuo came to Huotouying under his name, it turns out he was here!
He thought he had uncovered some great secret, and in a very good mood he took a sip of the tea on the table. But he suddenly realized that if Feng Shuo refused to admit his fault, and it was his name that was being criticized, wouldn't he be the one being cursed
Chi Qing was no longer calm, and his beautiful fox eyes were full of shock.
Fortunately, he was smart! Otherwise, he would have been trapped in the gutter by Feng Shuo!
He glanced at Feng Shuo, then at Jiang Yanyi, and felt that he must secretly tell the little cook the truth.
Jiang Yanyi naturally didn't know that Chi Qing had imagined so many dramas, otherwise he would definitely tell him: You think too much, this is a serious recipe reward.
In line with the principle of "don't make money if you have it", she stretched out her hands to take the banknote, "Thank you very much, military advisor, for the reward!"
With a quick glance, he found that the silver note was worth one hundred taels!
Jiang Yanyi suddenly lost his composure!
My goodness, this amount of money is enough for an ordinary family to eat and drink for ten years even in the capital city where every inch of land is worth a lot of money!
It turns out that even a little bit of money that slips out from between the teeth of a rich person is enough for an ordinary person to live on for half a lifetime!
Her five fingers were white and tender, and they were particularly eye-catching when they touched the banknote. Feng Shuo twisted the other end of the banknote with his thumb and index finger. His fingers were much thicker than hers, but because of his slender knuckles, they still looked pleasing to the eye.
But Jiang Yanyi didn't have time to admire his hand now, because he was holding the other end of the banknote, and she tried to pull it several times but couldn't move it!
But he didn't dare use too much force for fear of tearing the banknote.
What are you doing
Jiang Yanyi frowned and looked at Feng Shuo in confusion.
Feng Shuo's eyes met those beautiful eyes, and he quickly turned away, letting go of the banknote, and said expressionlessly, "A bowl of wontons."
How can a person's hands be so tender? They look as if they are boneless...
When it comes to food, Jiang Yanyi temporarily puts aside his recent unhappiness.
She put the banknote into her sleeve pocket and said, "I'm sorry, the dishes for the private kitchen are all reserved a day in advance. I didn't know you would come tonight, so the kitchen didn't have any fresh meat ready."
Feng Shuo asked: "Anything else?"
Jiang Yanyi thought for a moment and said, "There's some leftover braised pork from the steamed pork belly we made at noon. How about I heat some for you?"
Feng Shuo nodded coldly.
Jiang Yanyi looked at Chi Qing, who quickly waved his hand: "I don't eat braised pork!"
He took only one bite of the braised pork belly sent by Huotouying at noon and gave it to the soldiers below as a reward. It was so greasy that it tasted like fat with every chew.
Chi Qing felt sick just thinking about the taste. He glanced at a fireman holding a pork pie with preserved vegetables and said directly, "Just give me a piece of this pie."
"Please wait a moment, both generals." Jiang Yanyi left this sentence and turned back to the kitchen.
Chi Qing stared at her graceful back until she walked into the kitchen, then he looked away and said quietly, "I don't think it's appropriate to let a group of weak women do hard labor..."
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a chill on his back. When he turned around, he met Feng Shuo's gaze that was so cold that it could freeze to pieces.