Every time Lu Ying went out to patrol the border, she would bring back some rare gadgets for Bai Fuling.
The so-called border patrol, to put it bluntly, is actually a black business. Under the cooperation of Lu Ying and the Bai family, Beiguan City has become the most prosperous place for business exchanges in the northwest border. Many businessmen trek from the Western Regions thousands of miles away.
Although the barbarians have not dared to invade Lu Ying's territory easily in the past two years, they will not be polite to these foreign visitors, and even businessmen from other tribes in the barbarians. There are often small groups of bandits looting business travel, and these bandits have a temperament He is very cruel, and his subordinates never leave anyone alive, and the faces of passing businessmen and travelers change when they hear about it.
Under Bai Fuling's suggestion, Lu Ying would lead troops outside the pass to hunt down these bandits from time to time. Firstly, they would train troops in actual combat, and secondly, they could rely on the stolen goods collected from the bandits to provide supplies for the Zhenbei Army. The Tongcai Dental Shop of the Bai family provides a one-stop service for selling stolen goods. The Zhenbei Army is very happy to go out with Lu Ying to "patrol the border". Although it is inevitable to take risks, every time the harvest is very rich.
Bai Fuling sent Lu Ying away, playing with the glazed flower, temporarily forgetting the depression of being forced to accompany Wang Ba to tour the mountain tomorrow.
Bai Guo brought up snacks and melons, and seeing that she was in a good mood, she couldn't help gossiping: "Miss, what childish words did you say to General Lu when you were young?"
Bai Fuling glanced at her and said, "Guess?"
"Didn't I ask Miss because I couldn't figure it out?" Bai Guo was so curious that it must be unusual for General Lu to be so devoted to the Bai family!
Bai Fuling said in an unastonishing way: "I asked him to marry him when I grow up."
"No... that's not it!" Miss really dared to say, how old was she then? Dare to tease a half-grown man who is ten years older than her? !
"Of course not!" How tender to be frightened so easily!
Bai Guo patted his chest and said, "I'll just say..."
Early the next morning, Lu Ying bid farewell to Yang Heng and the three members of the Bai family, and returned to Beiguan City with his Eighteen Horsemen from Zhenbei. His eighteen soldiers originally wanted to spend more time in the Bailishan guest house. God, I didn't expect to go back to the city after a night, and I felt a little depressed, but seeing the general's dark expression, who would dare to hesitate
Lu Ying returned to the General's Mansion in Zhenbei, and explained the matter of welcoming the imperial envoy. As usual, he dealt with the backlog of official documents in the front yard with the officials and staff in the city, and then called the housekeeper Shi Wei to ask about Cui Zhenyi's situation. matter.
Shi Wei didn't add fuel to the picture, and actually told the events that happened since Cui Zhenyi's arrival one by one, and finally asked: "The madam said that she plans to stay in Beiguan City to reunite with the general, the general's mansion is too narrow, I want to buy nearby houses and expand the backyard of the General’s Mansion.”
Lu Ying said without raising her head: "No need, I will arrange for her to return to Beijing as soon as possible." Shi Wei immediately felt relieved when he heard that, to be honest, he couldn't stand Cui Zhenyi's behavior, if Cui Zhenyi really wanted to stay here for a long time, he The day is sad.
In the past few years when he and Lu Ying came to Beiguan City, life has been very leisurely. Lu Ying just wanted a trustworthy person to watch the house and take care of chores for him. The master who is not served by anyone is rich and young, and he usually does many things by himself, and rarely works for this old housekeeper.
But Cui Zhenyi is different. Although he is polite to him, Shi Wei can feel that this madam is dissatisfied with him, thinking that he is not as considerate, sensible, and decent as her Cui family servants. It's just an attack on him.
Cui Zhenyi came from a wealthy family, and there were more than a dozen servants and maids who served her around her since she was a child, all of them bowed their heads in front of her, lest she would be punished and deduct the monthly money if she made a mistake. I have never seen such a loose housekeeper as Shi Wei. If it wasn't for fear of offending Lu Ying, she would have sent Shi Wei away and replaced her cronies in charge.
Yesterday, the servant brought by Cui Zhenyi heard from the front yard that Lu Ying had led the troops back to the city. She was full of joy and apprehension and asked Shi Wei to set up a banquet. She dressed herself up carefully and waited to surprise her husband. Unexpectedly, Shi Wei hesitated and said that the general might have other important matters to do, and he might not return home.
She thought that Shi Wei was trying to be lazy again, so she smiled, turned around and called the maid to the restaurant to order the preparation of the banquet, but Lu Ying was still not seen until the middle of the moon, so she called Shi Wei to ask, but Shi Wei was just half-hearted Dao vaguely said that the general used to not go back to his residence for the night when he returned to the city, but he refused to tell the reason when asked again.
Cui Zhenyi was already angry after waiting for a day, seeing Shi Wei's attitude was even more annoyed, she said to herself: When my husband comes back, let's see how I can deal with you, a slave!
In the past few days, except for going out with her cousin once, she never left the General Zhenbei's Mansion. She just sent people around to inquire about Lu Ying's various hobbies and so on. This inquiry made her heart feel colder. ——Everyone in Beiguan City knows that Lu Ying is closest to his righteous sister Bai Fuling. According to legend, Lu Ying is almost obedient to this righteous sister. What's worse is that she is almost certain that she was in Tongyun that day. It was this "righteous sister" who humiliated her severely upstairs. The West Wing, where the door is locked and no one else can enter, is also reserved for this "righteous sister", and no one else has been entertained so far.
What Cui Zhenyi and Liu Zhenzhen should care about now is not the trivial matter of how to get back to this "righteous sister". In this ghost place, there is a "righteous sister" who is all over the country and all over the city!
Is Bai Fuling really just Lu Ying's adopted sister
Cui Zhenyi's two cousins were used to men's lustful and greedy faces since they were young, and they couldn't believe that there would be a man with a beautiful beauty by his side, but still treat her politely.
Cui Zhenyi has repeatedly calculated her relationship with Lu Ying. Facing that beautiful step-sister, if she puts on the airs of a regular wife and goes head-to-head, she must suffer in the end. She is not so optimistic that Lu Ying will marry her. Will forget what their mother and daughter did back then. So the plan for now is to be as generous and virtuous as possible, to be tolerant everywhere, to let Lu Ying feel her kindness, and then to lean towards her little by little.
Fortunately, Bai Fuling is just a young girl who is not as good as she is, no matter how beautiful she is, she is still a little green, so she must not be as knowledgeable and interesting as her.
Cui Zhenyi thought for a whole night and finally figured it out. When she got up early the next morning and heard that Lu Ying had returned home and was dealing with government affairs in the front yard, she immediately lifted her spirits, and she came back so quickly, which proved that she hadn't been dazzled by that little vixen!
She hastily called the servants and maids to freshen up, and asked them to prepare tea for breakfast, and then waited to meet Lu Ying, and waited until noon.
After Lu Ying finished explaining the matter, she turned into the backyard. She almost thought that she had gone to the wrong place. She saw that the pristine and simple courtyard porch was filled with bonsai and embroidered curtains, and a few exquisite and simple gauze lamps hanging under the eaves. Under the protection of Shi Wei, the doors and windows of the west wing room were locked, so it should not be affected by the "rectification".
The biggest change was in the East Wing. From a distance, it was full of flowers and a rich atmosphere. As soon as the two maids saw him, they bowed and saluted, saying: "I have seen the master!" This is Cui Zhenyi's special reminder. He is from the Lu family, and the servants under him are also from the Lu family, so he can no longer call Lu Ying "uncle" like he was in the Cui family.
Lu Ying was noncommittal, waved her hand and said, "Madam, please come to the main room." He also didn't want to admit Cui Zhenyi's identity, but it was a fact, and he didn't intend to embarrass her in front of his servants. This is a marriage arranged by his father, a daughter-in-law approved by his mother, and even bestowed by the emperor himself. No matter how dissatisfied he is, she is still his original wife. As long as he doesn't do anything too outrageous, he is willing to give her enough respect, but only That's all, nothing more.
Cui Zhenyi brought her maid to step into Lu Ying's personal territory for the first time, and the husband and wife met for the first time and greeted each other formally, as polite as strangers.
After taking her seat, Lu Ying didn't ask Cui Zhenyi about the hard work and whether she was used to the water, soil and climate of Beiguan City, and said directly: "Beiguan City is an important place on the front line, Madam has seen me, pack up and return to the capital tomorrow."
Cui Zhenyi had expected that he would chase her away, but she didn't expect that he would be so merciless and wanted her to go back as soon as they met. Fortunately, she was also prepared, and said gently: "I have been married to my husband for several years, but I have never served my husband as a wife. Before, it was inconvenient to leave Beijing because I had to keep filial piety for my mother-in-law. Now that the filial piety period has passed, how can I let my husband suffer alone in the border town? The concubine just wants to be with her husband through joys and sorrows Together, please don't drive my concubine away."
As he spoke, he looked like he was about to cry, even if you were hard-hearted, you couldn't cruelly refuse the plea of such a weak woman.
Lu Ying looked at her indifferently, and after a while, she said indifferently: "Life in the border town is hard, unlike the capital city, which is full of rich clothes and fine food, and there are many servants. Since you insist on staying, then stay, I hope you don't regret it." .”
Cui Zhenyi shuddered in her heart, and said with a happy expression on her face, "Thank you, husband!"
Lu Ying waved her hand and said, "I still have business to do, you should go back to your room first."
Cui Zhenyi retreated meekly, her hands hidden in her sleeves clenched into fists.
Back in the room, Liu Zhenzhen jumped up and asked repeatedly: "Why did my cousin come back? What did my cousin's husband say? When will my cousin move to the main room..."
Her sentence hit Cui Zhenyi's sore spot. Cui Zhenyi was in a bad mood, and she didn't want to lose face in front of her, so she said lightly: "Your cousin-in-law just finished his work and is a little tired. I also have something to do, you go back to your room first Bar."
Liu Zhenzhen wanted to say something, but the two servants had already stepped forward and half pushed and persuaded her to take her outside the room. Liu Zhen was really annoyed, and went back to the room to lose her temper with Ju Hong, the maid, and said, "What are you proud of? I was kicked out by my cousin-in-law before I could say a few words, and he will only show off in front of me!"