She helped Lin Rong in and replied: "I have asked about it. It is not that the kitchen is deliberately making things difficult for us. It is actually the old rules of the Yongzhou Marquis Mansion. They are different from us. They write down when to start the stove and when to turn on the lights. We have to be clear about it, and we are not allowed to set up a small kitchen. We are actually late today, so we don’t need to embarrass them. But it doesn’t matter, we have a red clay stove for making tea, so it’s not a problem to prepare some side dishes. "
Lin Rong has always been pure and inactive, and he came to Yongdi to find the whereabouts of his senior brother. Although he knew that Jade Bird's words were whitewashing the peace, he just smiled and said nothing, "That's good!"
After dinner, Aunt Qu reported: "County Lord, the carriage has been prepared outside the second gate. Aunt Yu sent a messenger to see Master Zhou back to Jiangzhou. The officials of Yongzhou were supposed to see him off. It was just decided in Xuanzhou. The affairs are so busy that the prince can't get away, so he has to trouble his wife to see him off."
As soon as a discerning person heard this, he would know that it was an excuse. Lu Shen couldn't get away, and no one in the civil and military under his command could get away? It's just that I don't want to, I don't take Jiangzhou seriously, I don't take Jiangzhou seriously.
Lin Rong did not have this sense of belonging, but the maids and servants who accompanied him all looked downcast and miserable.
The carriage traveling was still the same four-wheeled eight-treasure carriage that Lin Rong came in. However, all the emerald canopies and pearl curtains were removed and replaced with dark purple coarse cloth curtains. Only the embossed phoenix piercings on the four corners of the eaves were left. The peony pattern gives a glimpse of the luxury of the past.
If it were the first time, Grandma Qu of Kingfisher would have been aggrieved, but after more than a month of continuous cold treatment, even Feng Xiao, who had the most violent temper, just silently helped Lin Rong get into the carriage: "Master, please slow down."
After boarding the car and going out the second door, I saw that the market was bustling and lively. Although there were occasional patrols by sergeants, it was nothing like the scene after the war.
As we gradually arrived outside the city, we saw the desolation of the troubled times. The pedestrians on the road were all ragged and skinny, and occasionally there were people lying down and dying of hunger.
Lin Rong looked at it and couldn't help but sigh. Aunt Qu hurriedly lowered the car curtain and comforted: "County Lord, Yongdi has been settled. Further south, there have been years of wars, no smoke for thousands of miles, and few human traces. Please rest for a while. Well, it still takes a stick of incense to reach Shiliting."
When Lin Rong arrived, Zhou Ruhui, the official who was sending the bride off, had been waiting at Shiliting Pavilion for a long time. Jiangzhou is still red, and Yongzhou is still black. Zhou Ruhui is now wearing a black official robe from Yongzhou, and greets Lin Rong: "I pay my respects to the county lord!"
Lin Rong was surprised: "Why is Mr. Zhou wearing Yongzhou clothes?"
Zhou Ruhui, who was in his forties, looked ashamed: "The war has begun in Yuzhou, which is between Jiangzhou and Yongzhou. I plan to take a detour back to Jiangzhou, so I disguise myself as a Yong man."
Lin Rong gave a reassured sigh and waved his hand. Kingfisher offered two bottles of sake: "Your Excellency, you have escorted me all the way north and worked tirelessly. Now it's time to leave, so please take care of me along the way. Please drink a bottle of sake to make this trip a success." .”
Zhou Ruhui had never had much contact with the Wuyang County Lord, and thought that she would marry far away at a young age. He felt grateful in his heart and carefully took the wine bottle: "Thank you so much, County Lord."
Lin Rong couldn't drink alcohol, so her glass of water had long been replaced by water.
The two of them had a farewell drink, and Zhou Ruhui took a baggage: "I have asked many questions about the Qianya Guest mentioned by the county lord before, but unfortunately only a few people know about it. That day I was playing chess with Tongxuan Zhenren in Wuzhuang Guan, and it happened by chance. Found a chess record from Qian Ya Ke."
Chess records? Lin Rong suddenly realized, yes, her senior brother and she didn't have any other hobbies. They usually spent their spare time playing chess online, and they were both members of the Go club in college. Modern Go has developed from generation to generation, and the theories of officials and layout have become increasingly perfect. In particular, the emergence of AI has raised the upper limit of Go level.
Lin Rong thought to himself that although his senior brother was at the level of an amateur, he could still stand on the shoulders of generations of masters and crush most people of this era. Maybe he won't be able to survive here and will have to be a chess player.
The chess score was just a piece of paper. It was peeled off from somewhere. It seemed to have been soaked in water. It was not only yellow but also stained with mold, and the handwriting was blurred.
However, no matter how blurry the handwriting was, Lin Rong could still recognize it at a glance. It was "Ten Game of Danghu" written by Qing Dynasty national players Fan Xiping and Shi Xiangxia. They didn't know how many games they had reviewed in their spare time, and they didn't even know the book they analyzed. How many copies have you bought?
Lin Rong couldn't help but tremble slightly with his hands in his sleeves, and asked, "Did you find it at Zhenren Tongxuan?"
Zhou Ruhui said: "Yes, the county master doesn't know something. Master Tongxuan was originally a descendant of the Yuan family. He practiced Taoism in Wuzhuangguan to seek immortality. He had a relationship with my father in the past. Yesterday, when I came to pay my respects, Master Tongxuan was in good spirits. I played a game of chess. Master Tongxuan’s chess moves were treacherous. In the middle game, I was no longer his opponent. During the game, I talked about Qian Ya Ke’s chess record. I just asked again, but Master Tongxuan had nothing to say and remained silent. I don’t want to say anything anymore.”
Duke De had met Lin Rong, but Lin Rong didn't know where this Tongxuan master was from. He just saw Zhou Ruhui's proud look on his face, so he guessed that he had a lot of background.
Zhou Ruhui stroked his beard: "I don't know the reason. I'm afraid it will take a lot of trouble for the county master to find out the whereabouts of this Qianya guest."
Lin Rong shook his head and smiled brightly: "It doesn't matter!"
Lin Rong has rarely smiled since she came here. This face is naturally bright and bright. At this moment, the clouds are covered with green, and when she smiles, she is as bright as a rose, and as bright as a willow in the spring moon.
Zhou Ruhui's eyes were startled, and he felt lost. He immediately lowered his head and bowed his hands in salute: "Yongdi is dangerous and unpredictable, please take care of yourself. The inability of the ministers to protect the county lord is due to their incompetence."
Lin Rong hurriedly raised his arms and helped him up: "Master Zhou, you don't have to be like this..."
Before he finished speaking, he heard the sound of galloping horse hooves.
Lin Rong turned around and saw Lu Shen wearing black and green dragon-patterned arrow sleeves, riding a horse Wu Yebai, followed by hundreds of horsemen and officials, heading towards the city gate. A group of horses galloped past, causing a cloud of loess to fly.
Zhou Ruhui was also shocked: "County Lord, Yongzhou Mu seems... as if he has returned from hunting."
Lin Rong didn't care much about where Lu Shen went, but a boy in Tsing Yi rode over from afar and saluted: "Slave Shen Yan pays homage to Madam."
Lin Rong didn't recognize him, just looked at his clothes, called himself a slave, and called his wife, who must be someone close to Lu Shen: "What's the matter?"
Shen Yan did not dare to look directly at Lin Rong. He only raised his head slightly and looked at Zhou Ruhui: "Madam, just now, the prince and your lord returned from a hunting trip. From a distance, he saw his wife bidding farewell to the official Zhou Chang. He ordered his servant to summon his wife and return to the house quickly."
Lin Rong was confused, fearing that Lu Shen would find trouble again. It was just that when I went out to see off the official Zhou, I had received orders from Aunt Yu, so why did I offend him?
Chapter 11
Let's talk about this day. Lu Shen went to inspect the camp. The soldiers and horses were strong, and the armor was rattling. Everyone on the left and right said: "Jiangzhou has delivered 400,000 stones of food and grass, Xuanzhou has surrendered more than 100,000 soldiers, and the remaining one million men and women have all served as soldiers." There are three battalions of Wei, Zhongjian, and Xiaoqi. With such a mighty division, why would my lord worry about not being able to stabilize Jiangbei?"
Behind the camp was a patch of jagged rocks. A group of people climbed up and looked into the distance. They saw only the water and the towering mountain islands. Lu Shen stood facing the wind, wearing hunting robes. Looking far into the distance, there was a sunrise over the river and misty waves. Sigh: "What a great river and mountain!"
When all the officers and counselors saw Lu Shenfa's amusement, they all followed behind him, either standing with their swords in hand or with their heads bowed, and they did not dare to disturb him.
Lu Shen turned around and chuckled: "You have been following me for many years and are all my trusted ministers. Why do you need to act like this?"
Hearing this, all the soldiers smiled, and one of them said: "My lord is so majestic and generous, and I dare not disturb you."
A counselor said: "Xuanzhou Yuan Gu is known as the Tiger of the North of the Yangtze River. He claims to be a hundred thousand warriors, but he is no match for the lord. The lord has 80,000 tigers and leopards riding on him, and he attacks him with his troops. Yuan Qi abandons his helmet and armor and gives up the favor." Good mountains and good water.”
Lu Shen suppressed a smile and said without the slightest hint of complacency: "Just now, did you have any idea of stabilizing Jiangbei? Is your ambition only in Jiangbei?"
He raised his head and looked south: "There is a poem about the southerners: there are three autumn osmanthus seeds, ten miles of lotus flowers, and four clear and green mountains. Such a magnificent scene, don't you want to go and see it?"
The generals looked at each other, and one of them stepped forward and said: "Qin lost its deer, and the whole world chased it; Zhou lost its cauldron, and the whole world asked about it. In troubled times, what is the emperor? It is nothing more than relying on the strength of the army and the strength of the horse. The lord has the power to look down on the world. I wish, but if I have an order, I will die in obedience.” ①
Everyone agreed: "As long as my lord has an order, I will die in obedience."
Lu Shen only smiled and shook his head, but did not answer the question. He opened another topic and said, "I heard that there are auspicious white deers in the Yewang Valley in Xuanzhou. The wind is calm today. Would you like to go hunting with me?"
All the generals naturally followed him: "I would like to hunt an auspicious white deer and offer it to the lord."
Although Lu Shen grew up in gold and jade, he joined his father and brother in battle at the age of thirteen and was brave in martial arts. It's just that he has always been simple and devoid of desires, and besides having to deal with military affairs, hunting in the mountains and forests can win him some favor.
Lu Shen wanted to go hunting, so he ordered him to go down, and his own sergeants surrounded Wild Hope Valley until dusk, when they hunted hundreds of pheasants, rabbits, wild boars and deer, and then returned home.
Xuanzhou was under martial law at this time, and no one was allowed to gallop at the city gate except for those who were rushing for eight hundred miles.
Lu Shen has always had strict military discipline, and even he had to abide by it. The group of people rode to a pavilion ten miles outside the city, reined up their horses and started walking leisurely. After a while, a captain pointed to the pavilion over there and exclaimed: "You guys Look, there’s a beauty in that pavilion!”
Everyone turned around and saw a woman in the pavilion from a distance. This woman was not wearing a curtain hat. She wore a snake bun and a emerald gold phoenix hairpin. She revealed her fair and plump forehead, with colorful green feathers between her eyebrows, and her body. Wearing a sky-blue woven gold gauze shoulder-length phoenix blouse shaped like a persimmon base, the lower body is a snow-green and gold-edged moonlight skirt with colorful embroidery of flowers and branches. The skirt is tied with a multicolored palace ribbon with long spikes. Although there is no extra gold and jade ring to wear, the whole body is gorgeous and colorful, like a fairy concubine.
The school captain was in his twenties, came from a poor family, and was not very literate. He was defeated by Lu Shenjian because of his extraordinary bravery. In this battle of Xuanzhou, he was the first to break through the east gate.
He was stunned for a moment, and remembered a poem that the military advisor taught him the day before yesterday, and blurted out: "The skirt drags six pieces of Xiangjiang water, and the temples tower up to a section of clouds in Wushan. This is how a real man marries a wife!"
Among the civil servants and generals in Yongzhou, only De Gong and Shen Yan had seen Lin Rong. Unfortunately, De Gong was old and had stopped doing things like hunting long ago. Shen Yan followed, but was ordered to escort Xiangrui from behind. White deer.
Therefore, none of these people, except Lu Shen, recognized Lin Rong, Mrs. Mu of Yongzhou.
In addition, the governor of Jiangzhou was wearing Yong people's clothes. How did these people know that it was the lady who was bidding farewell to the governor of Jiangzhou in this ten-mile pavilion?
One of his colleagues joked with the captain: "Has Meng Huai, who used to be the most lonely and lonely one, also started to admire me? You are young and brave, not yet married, and you are the first to win this battle. The noble daughter of Xuanzhou is not just any person." You pick? As the saying goes, a beauty matches a hero, that's right!"
A familiar literary official next to him came over and said with a smile: "Does Meng Huai know that there are six paintings of a poem on the water of the Xiangjiang River on this skirt, and there is a couplet at the end that is the most exquisite?"
If it had been someone else, he would not have asked. However, the captain, who was not familiar with poetry, turned around and asked, "May I ask Mr. He, what is an exquisite sentence?"
The scribe's tone was joking: "The snowy lamp on my chest shines slantingly, and the peach blossom wine under my eyes is half a bottle. We were having a banquet on the golden platform. Lord Meng Huaide gave him a new beauty from the south of the Yangtze River. I must have already experienced these two scenes of snow on my chest and peach blossoms under my eyes?"
These words are quite frivolous. One of the counselors is a man of etiquette. When meeting his wife on weekdays, he will dress upright. He will sit facing south and she will face the north. The two of them will bow to each other and then toast.
Such a moral gentleman is the most intolerant of such frivolous and lewd words. He frowned when he heard this: "Lean on the red and nestle in the green, dripping powder and rubbing cakes." What Han Chen said is deeply inappropriate. How can he be so frivolous in front of the Lord? words?"
The scribe was just teasing, but after being refuted a few times, he felt a little embarrassed. He was only in front of the monarch and could not say anything anymore. He cupped his hands and faced Lu Shen to plead guilty: "I made a mistake, I made a mistake."
The captain turned his head and saw Lu Shen leaning on his horse. Although his face was expressionless, his eyes were solemn and sullen.
The captain had followed Lu Shen for a long time, and he knew that Lu Shen had been gentle and gentle in the past, and he never showed his emotions or anger. When he saw this, he immediately got off his horse and apologized: "My subordinate made a mistake and made a mistake. Please punish me, my lord."
Lu Shen looked at the pavilion. He frowned and slowly said the word "vulgar" in his heart. I don’t know what the two people were talking about, but the woman suddenly smiled brightly, like a flower blooming from Lubo, blowing into a pool of spring water, which was extremely clear and bright.
Except for the time in Jiangzhou, Lu Shen had only met Cui Shiniang twice.
In Lu Shen's eyes, Cui Shiniang lowered her head and lowered her eyebrows, showing the humility of a weak woman. He had never seen her so bright and beautiful, with a bit of a wanton smile.
Lu Shen was leaning on his horse. Seeing him silent for a long time, the ministers did not dare to plead for mercy. Although Lu Shen did not like sensual things, he was not a rigid moral gentleman. Although he was strict in running the army, he did not begrudge money. Soldiers with meritorious service were often given generous rewards. How could he get angry over such a trivial matter?
Lu Shen ignored the captain and waved his whip: "Call Shen Yan."
Shao Qing, Shen Yan came quickly: "Your Majesty!"
Lu Shen raised his horse whip and pointed at Shiliting: "Go and call Cui..." He paused and blurred the title: "Call her back to the house."
…
When Lin Rong returned, the carriage ruts were broken. Fortunately, the coachman brought a spare. After such a delay, it was already evening when he returned home.
Aunt Yu was already waiting at the second gate of the garden, and she saluted: "Madam, you have invited me."
Lin Rong didn't dare to take the word "please" seriously. She lowered her head and asked, "Mommy, I'm new to Xuanzhou and I don't know the etiquette. If I accidentally do something wrong, I hope you can teach me."
Aunt Yu only smiled and shook her head: "Please, madam."
Lin Rong really didn't want to see that cold-faced man, but it just happened to be the opposite. He didn't know where he offended him.
This time we went not to Zhige Courtyard where Lu Shen lived. Lin Rong asked the maids to lead him into the corridor. There are more than ten crabapple trees planted under the verandah. I don’t know what species they are. They are still in full bloom at this time. From a distance, they seem to be walking in a large pink cloud.
At the end of the corridor is a white stone rockery and an ancient locust tree hugged by several people. Stepping down the steps, there is a bluestone terrace facing the lake, with weeping willows lingering on the ground.
There is no one on the bluestone platform, except for a stone wall on the left, with a Qinggang Sword inserted beside the stone wall. The sword has been around for some time and is covered with a thick layer of moss and green mold.
The maid knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please ask your wife to wait here while your servants retire."
After that, he held the bright-cornered palace lantern and walked away quietly.
Before Lin Rong could ask a question, he saw that the group of maids had already disappeared.
The bluestone terrace was surrounded by water on three sides. It was already midsummer, and the heat was already scorching. Lin Rong stood there quietly, and the sound of cicadas gradually sounded in his ears.
I don’t know how long it took, but it was already completely dark. The wind was blowing, and a piece of lush vegetation was dancing in the dark shadows. Lin Rong was a brave person, and he didn't believe in ghosts, but the surroundings were quiet, and the blurry black shadow gradually became a little scary after looking at it for a long time.
She took a step back, and was thinking about whether to go back first, when she heard the sound of footsteps gradually, and Shen Yan, dressed in short green clothes, came over with a lantern: "Shen Yan, the little man, I have met Madam."
Lin Rongxu helped her: "No need to be polite, the maid just brought me here to wait. I wonder what your orders are?"
Shen Yan did not dare to look directly at the mistress and replied: "In the evening, the prince returned from hunting in Yewang Valley, and he was dancing his sword here. Later, Sima Yunzhong, a great scholar from Luoyang, arrived holding the emperor's edict, and together with the counselors, The general was having a banquet at Jinmingtai, where he received the wind and washed away the dust for Doctor Sima."
Lin Rong breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this and had a banquet with others. She must have nothing to do. She nodded: "In that case, I will go back first. If you are called by the Lord, please call me."
Shen Yan said: "Madam, you don't know something. This doctor Sima is from Jiankang, and he likes to eat famous Jiangnan snacks. The king knew that his wife was a good cook, so he ordered her to prepare several cups of cherry abalone to please the guests from far away."
A wise cook? Lin Rong frowned and hesitated: "Is that so?"
Shen Yan said: "Yes!"
There were two rows of maids standing under the corridor in front, holding a ball of green palace lanterns. One of them stepped forward with a smile: "Madam, please go to Zhujin Pavilion to change!"
