After returning to the capital smoothly, everyone in the mission reported to the emperor what they had seen and experienced during their trip to Beihu.
Although they failed to reach an agreement with Beihu on opening a market on the border for normal trade, the news they heard in Beihu was also a fortune and laid a good foundation for future exchanges.
When the emperor heard that they were talking about the magistrate of a small border county who was lavishly spending money and actually opened a coal mine privately, he was furious and immediately ordered Dali Temple to investigate the case. Even if it involved officials from the county government and the six ministries, all the officials involved were taken down.
The current imperial court is short of money, and it has just asked Prince Wu to be more honest, and must not allow those below to line their own pockets.
Coal mines were originally the exclusive property of the imperial court. If individuals mined them privately, the tax money lost by the imperial court would be immeasurable.
Hand over the work at the government office and store their horses in the government stables.
Seeing that the ancient sage Chao was far away, the BMW jumped uneasily for fear that its master would abandon him. In desperation, he gradually calmed down after a long coaxing.
Gu Shengchao led Dong E and Wan Yanxi back to Liu Ximei's residence. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Liu Ximei already dressed up and waiting. She stepped forward to salute her, her beautiful eyes filled with tenderness.
"The official is back. Hot water has been prepared in the room. Please take a bath and change clothes." Liu Ximei looked at the three of them with a smile, and couldn't help but look at Dong E and Wan Yanxi.
Dong E took a few steps forward and bowed down, knelt down and kowtowed: "Greetings, sister-in-law. I am the adopted sister that Brother Gu met on the road. My name is Dong E. Brother Gu took me in when he saw how pitiful I was and kowtowed to my sister-in-law."
"Sister, please wake up quickly. Since we are a family, don't be polite. Just stay here with me from now on. My sister-in-law is bored alone, so she just has company." Liu Ximei hurriedly helped her up.
Yuchi Yao said displeasedly at the side: "Mom is just partial. I run around to serve you every day, so I am no longer a human being."
Liu Ximei laughed dumbly: "Of course Mom loves Yao'er the most. With you taking care of her, this house is lively and like a home."
Hearing the conversation between the two of them, Dong E was surprised and said: "Brother Gu's children are already this old?"
"He is also my brother." Yuchi Yao pouted and said angrily.
Dong E was confused, and Gu Shengchao smiled and said, "Just think of her as her sister, and I will explain it to you slowly."
"The little girl is a shepherd girl from Beihu. Due to the turmoil in the imperial court, my parents were implicated and I was the only one left. I took care of my eldest brother from Mongolia and said that he could help me return to the ancestral home left by my foreign father-in-law in Sireng, so I followed him. Sister-in-law, please forgive me for disturbing you."
Wan Yanxi heard them quiet down and stepped forward to salute them. Because she had been blind since childhood, she tilted her head to one side to carefully distinguish the sounds.
Realizing Wan Yanxi's abnormality, Liu Ximei looked at her carefully, held her hand and said softly: "Call me sister, sister, the room here is enough, sister, feel free to stay here, tell sister if you need anything, just call sister here Treat it as your own home.”
Liu Ximei's voice was gentle and sweet, and Wan Yanxi naturally liked it after hearing it, and said happily: "Thank you, sister. I don't need special care in my life. It's just that I have lived on the grassland for a long time, and some of my habits are different from yours."
"Then please go to Yao'er and boil some hot water for the two sisters to take a bath. We only thought that Sheng Chao would come back alone, but unexpectedly there were three of us. We were careless." Liu Ximei ordered Yuchi Yao with a smile.
Yuchi Yao obediently ran to boil water and prepare things for bathing.
Gu Shengchao was a little surprised and said: "No, I just came back today, how did you know in advance?"
"Today Yao'er went to do something. On the way, he heard that the envoy from Beihu was returning to Beijing. He came back quickly and told me. We only found out now."
Liu Ximei urged: "The hot water prepared is almost cold. Yao'er boiled it herself. Go inside and wash it off quickly."
Yuchi Yao had a prejudice against Gu Shengchao, and Gu Shengchao also wanted to ease the relationship between the two. After hearing what Liu Ximei said, he immediately went into the house to take a bath, fearing to disappoint Yuchi Yao.
When he washed off the dirt on his body and walked out of the room wearing brand new clothes, he felt refreshed.
Liu Ximei and Yuchi Yao were preparing meals, and Gu Shengchao took the initiative to drain the water from the bathtub and wipe away the accumulated water on the floor.
Yuchi Yao saw this in his eyes, and his eyes towards Gu Shengchao became softer.
Not long after, Dong E and Wanyan Xi also came out of the bath.
Dong E is smart and quick-witted. She takes the initiative to do what she can without being asked by others. She quickly integrates into Liu Ximei and Yuchiyao's mother and daughter.
During the meal, they discussed the arrangements for sleeping at night. Liu Ximei said: "Yao'er is afraid of the dark and needs a companion when sleeping at night, so I'll ask my two sisters to help take care of her."
Dong E volunteered: "I'll do it. My sister and I will sleep in the same room."
Liu Ximei looked at Wanyan Xi, feeling that this was inappropriate and afraid of neglecting her.
Wan Yanxi smiled and said: "Brother Gu knows me. I am used to being alone on the grassland. Sometimes I don't adapt to the presence of people."
"That's right, that's right." Dong E interjected: "I was in the same tent as Wanyan girl at first. I woke up when I heard some noise at night. What do you think I saw?"
Dong E deliberately let everyone guess.
Gu Shengchao knew it best and smiled without saying a word.
Liu Ximei looked at Yuchi Yao, she quickly waved her hand and said: "I am most afraid of the dark, don't ask me."
Seeing that no one could answer, Dong E said proudly: "I saw Miss Wanyan holding a scimitar and staring directly at me. I was frightened at that time and thought she was going to kill me."
Holding the chopsticks in her palm, she deliberately rolled her eyes and glared at everyone. She knew without even thinking that she was imitating Wan Yanxi.
"Later I found out that Wanyan looked scary, but she was actually carefully sensing the dangers around her. People with better eyesight than us can see clearly." Dong E explained.
Liu Ximei and Yuchi Yao didn't believe it. Wan Yanxi smiled, stretched out his chopsticks to accurately pick up a piece of meat from the plate and put it into his mouth.
The two of them looked at each other, dumbfounded. They didn't expect that a blind man could tell the subtle differences between different things just by perception.
Dong E explained for Wanyan Xi: "As you can see, there are many magical things about Wanyan girl. As long as you have been in contact with her for a long time, there will be many strange events that will open your eyes."
"Okay, let's eat quickly. Even your sister-in-law's delicious food can't stop your mouth." Gu Shengchao blamed her.
Dong E stuck out her tongue playfully and concentrated on eating.
After only a moment of silence, Dong E raised her head, danced and told interesting stories about her stay in Beihu. Liu Ximei and Yuchi Yao listened with great interest.
Only then did Gu Shengchao realize that Dong E was crazy alone. The more people there were, the more excited she became.
There were usually only two people in the huge courtyard, Liu Ximei and Yuchi Yao. Today there were many people, especially Dong E who kept chattering away, sweeping away the deserted atmosphere of the past.
Everyone ate happily, and then it got dark.
After everything was packed, Gu Shengchao and Liu Ximei lived in the main room, Dong E and Yu Chiyao slept in the east wing, and Wan Yanxi slept alone in the west wing.
Finally, when they arrived at the world of two, Liu Ximei leaned on Gu Shengchao's arms and looked at him charmingly: "You are going to Beihu on this trip. I have always been thinking about you because I was afraid that the climate and climate there would be unsuitable and I would not be able to withstand the wind and cold."
Gently hugging her, Gu Shengchao said softly: "Thank you for your concern, madam. I have been living in the world since I was a child. How can I suffer from following the mission? There are people taking care of me all the way. It is good to have food and drink. It's better if I return alone. Shiwang Valley, I wonder what the situation is like there?"
Speaking of Wan Ruo, Liu Ximei stood up and pulled out an exquisite wooden box, opened the lid, and placed more than ten letters inside.
Taking out one of the letters and giving it to Gu Shengchao, Liu Ximei said happily: "This is the letter sent to me by Sister Wanruo. Take a look at this. There is great news."
"What good news makes my lady so happy."
Gu Shengchao took the letter and sat under the lamp to read it. It turned out that it was written by Wan Ruo to Liu Ximei. The letter started with the arrangement of Liu Ximei and asked her to contact the coffin shop specializing in Siwanggu in Beijing on some matters. Later, it was written by Lu Chuan. and Fang Xingdan found her to discuss Ding Ying's marriage, saying that Lu Chuan and his wife had already accepted them, and they were just waiting to choose a good and auspicious day for Ding Ying to marry Gu Shengchao.
"So, is this a great joy?" Liu Ximei looked at him with a smile.
Gu Shengchao was also pleased. Ding Ying was irreplaceable in his heart. As long as she truly accepted Wan Ruo and Liu Ximei, it was more important than anything else.
"Can I read all these letters?" Gu Shengchao asked.
Liu Ximei nodded: "These are all written by Sister Wanruo to me. You can read them as you like. There is no ulterior conspiracy."
As Gu Shengchao read the letters one by one, Wan Ruo's familiar handwriting seemed to be telling him personally.
Most of the contents in all the letters were related to the affairs of Shiwang Valley in the capital, and there was not much personal talk between the two.
Especially the fact that Wan Ruo was pregnant was not mentioned at all in the letter, and everyone was kept in the dark.
After reading all the letters, Gu Shengchao turned around and saw Liu Ximei already sitting by the bed, waiting patiently.
He suddenly felt something was wrong. He stayed with Liu Ximei and concentrated on reading Wan Ruo's letter, which showed his abruptness.
He blew out the candle, walked over and held Liu Ximei's hand to please her, saying, "It's my fault for neglecting my lady."
Liu Ximei smiled sweetly: "I have no complaints or regrets about following the official."
The ancient sage said passionately: "Ah Mei."
Liu Ximei also responded: "Xiao Chao."
"Amei."
"Superboy."
The two seemed to go back to the night when they met not long ago and were preparing to travel around the world. They couldn't help but hug each other tightly...
After the storm, the two were so passionate that neither one of them wanted to fall asleep, and they hugged each other and whispered.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from the yard, as well as the sharp sound of the sword dancing in the wind.
The two were curious, put on their clothes and gently opened the wooden window to watch.
In the yard, Wan Yanxi held the Feng Wu sword in his left hand and was practicing the Feng Wu sword technique alone.
On the grassland, Wanyanxi always wore a baggy robe. Later, I followed the mission and dressed casually. I was just like an ordinary person after a dusty journey.
Come to Liu Ximei, wash off the dirt all over your body, and put on real women's clothes.
The long sleeves are fluttering, the skirt is flying, and combined with the exquisite swordsmanship, every move shows the unique beauty of a woman.
Under the moonlight, it looked like a fairy falling from the sky, dancing gracefully.
