"It's me. I wonder who you are?"
Qin Zhao had already guessed something about his appearance and behavior.
"Luzhou City Soldiers and Horses Division, Zhang Meng"
Zhang Meng tilted his chin slightly and looked Qin Zhao up and down. This was the person his grandfather wrote specifically to ask him to take care of. He really should take care of him. How dare the white-faced scholar come to this barbaric place.
"General Zhang, you have heard of this." Qin Zhao saluted Zhang Meng.
Zhang Meng looked past Qin Zhao and towards the carriage behind him.
Qin Zhao explained, "The family members are in the car."
Zhang Meng was surprised that he got married at a young age and had nothing serious to do. At this time, he completely forgot about his mother at home, and almost broke his legs in order to force him to get married.
Zhang Meng turned around and waved, saying to Qin Zhao: "Then don't stand outside the city. Let's go. I will take you to the state capital."
Zhang Meng had sent people to clean up the state capital, but if you look closely, you can still see signs of damage.
The state capital is a two-entry courtyard. The front hall is where the government office is located, and the back is where the inner courtyard is for rest. It is very convenient to have the office and rest in one place.
The carriage stopped in front of the state capital. Cao Xi was helped down by Qin Zhao. When he saw it, he saw a man wearing armor and a face as white as jade. This figure dazzled Cao Xi.
Qin Zhao: "Here we are, this is Luzhou City, the state capital."
Cao Xi looked around curiously. It looked clean and tidy on the outside, but it couldn't hide the fact that it was dilapidated. If the state capital looked like this, how could the people's lives be any better? Cao Xi secretly sighed in his heart.
"Luzhou Sima, General Zhang Meng", Qin Zhao led Cao Xi to Zhang Meng, which was regarded as a greeting between the two parties.
Cao Xi turned sideways and saluted, "Hello, General Zhang."
Zhang Meng rarely interacted with women. When he saw this delicate and frail woman saluting him, his ears turned red without saying a word.
"No need to be polite. You have worked hard all day. Go and rest first. Although the state capital is very big, there are no servants. You need to do everything yourself."
"I'll come over tomorrow to talk to you in detail about the current situation of Luzhou City."
Zhang Meng bowed farewell to Qin Zhao, held the saddle with one hand, got on the horse, and rode away.
Cao Xi couldn't help but sigh when he saw Zhang Meng's smooth and flowing posture on the horse, and his handsome and unrestrained riding posture.
"The men who serve in the army are the most handsome." As soon as she finished speaking, her hand was pinched and hurt, and she looked at Qin Zhao in confusion.
Qin Zhao was dissatisfied and jealous, because he thought he was not in good shape.
Qin Zhao grabbed Cao Xi, who wanted to enter the hospital, and asked: "The most handsome man in the army? Huh!"
Oops, slip of the tongue, Cao Xi really wanted to slap herself in the mouth, she leaned closer to Qin Zhao and whispered.
"Although I say that, you know that in my heart you are the most perfect, bar none."
Before he could finish his words, his hands climbed up to Qin Zhao's waist and brought him into his arms. Due to his lack of height, Cao Xi had to raise his head and smile at Qin Zhao flatteringly.
Sweet words came out of her mouth. Although Qin Zhao knew her temperament, he still felt sweet in his heart. He thought about not letting go of fitness and learning how to ride a horse. At the same time, he thought that Zhang Meng should never appear in front of Cao Xi.
Cao Xi walked around the courtyard wall. There were several tall poplar trees in the courtyard and some open space around them. Things should have been planted before, but they were all cleared away.
The doors and windows of the main house are new and should have been repaired. The furniture is patched here and there, and it doesn't look like a complete set at first glance.
Cao Xi sighed, "This is where Huang Xing'er lives."
Qin Zhao took Cao Xi's hand and said, "If you are afraid, we can move out."
Cao Xi: "Don't be afraid. With you here, I won't be afraid wherever I live."
Looking at Cao Xi's smiling face, Qin Zhao slowly took her into his arms.
"I don't know if this road is easy to walk."
Cao Xi raised his face proudly, "It's easy to go, my Qin Zhao is the best, there is no rough road."
Qin Zhao was so funny that he lifted Cao Xi's chin and kissed the corner of his mouth.
"I will work hard not to let my wife disappoint me."
Cao Xi hurriedly pushed him away. Seeing no one around, he patted his chest and said, "I'm not afraid of affecting my official authority."
Qin Zhao was aggrieved and only allowed the state officials to set fires, but not the people to light lamps.
He refused, so Qin Zhao held Cao Xi's cheeks with both hands. His chubby face was pushed into one place, and his mouth was squeezed into an O shape.
Qin Zhao lowered his head and pecked her gently, "My wife has no official authority." As soon as he finished speaking, he pecked her again, "My official authority comes and goes in a hurry."
Qin Zhao pecked him several times before giving up. Of course, his waist was probably pinched red by Cao Xi.
After resting at night, Cao Xi made the bed.
"I'll just make do with it for one night today. Tomorrow I'll go out on the streets to see if there's anything missing."
Qin Zhao took Cao Xi into his arms and said, "If you go out tomorrow, take the chestnut with you. I won't worry about you being alone."
"knew"
Cao Xi nestled in Qin Zhao's arms and fell asleep unconsciously.
............
When Qin Zhao woke up, Cao Xi was still sleeping. Seeing her flushed face, Qin Zhao couldn't help but lowered his head and kissed her cheek. Qin Zhao was in a good mood and got dressed much faster than usual.
Zhang Meng had been waiting at the government office early. He had been in charge of Luzhou City since the tragic death of the previous magistrate. He thought that the court would send an experienced person, but he turned out to be the number one scholar in the new science. It is surprising that he can manage it well.
"General Zhang has been waiting for a long time."
Qin Zhao was wearing a maroon official robe, and he looked more dignified than the frail scholar yesterday.
"Qin Zhizhou, I'm here to take over the work."
Zhang Meng got straight to the point and explained the current situation of Luzhou City in detail.
Qin Zhao's brows tightened as he listened. Luzhou City was actually more serious than he thought.
Cao Xi couldn't find Qin Zhao when he woke up, and happened to see Banli coming back from buying breakfast.
"lady"
"Have you seen my lord?"
"Your Excellency is at the government office to receive General Zhang."
After Banli reminded her, Cao Xi suddenly realized that Qin Zhao now had a job. She glanced at the front yard, thinking that she would not be able to finish talking for a while.
"Save one for breakfast and leave the rest to me."
Cao Xi took the breakfast, put it on a plate, and waited for Qin Zhao to come back to eat together.
Just as Cao Xi continued to be in a daze, his head was gently pressed, "What are you thinking about?".
The person who pressed her was none other than Qin Zhao who had finished talking in the government office.
"We're done talking. Let's sit down and eat. The food is a little cold."
Cao Xi served Qin Zhao a bowl of porridge and a steamed bun for him.
Qin Zhao bit the bun and said thoughtfully, "I'll go shopping with you later."
Cao Xi was surprised, "Are you not busy anymore?".
"Not at this time." Qin Zhao put the peeled eggs into Cao Xi's bowl.
Cao Xi happily picked up the buns, but as soon as he took them in, he felt nauseated and retched several times.
"But you feel sick to your stomach?"
Qin Zhao stood up, knelt down next to Cao Xi, and held his back for her worriedly. Qin Zhao was confused, the buns didn't have any peculiar smell.
"No, it's just that the smell of steamed buns makes me nauseous." Cao Xi retched for a while before calming down.
Qin Zhao said worriedly: "In a moment, let's go to the medical clinic first."
"What a fuss, just retching twice, it's okay, I just won't eat the buns."
As Cao Xi said this, he picked up the eggs in the bowl and ate them one by one.
Qin Zhao felt relieved when he saw that there was nothing strange about her. The two of them finished breakfast and went out with chestnuts.
Luzhou City was managed very well by Zhang Meng, and everything was in order. There were soldiers to help the people repair their houses, and there were also soup kitchens to distribute rice porridge.
No matter which dynasty, soldiers are always at the forefront.
"Luzhou City is more dilapidated than imagined." Seeing the people with sallow faces and thin bodies and being displaced, Qin Zhao felt worried.
Cao Xi: "It will be fine. They can even survive the war. What else can defeat them?"
The common people in Luzhou City were all soldiers. When the barbarians invaded, it was these common people who fought before the officers and soldiers arrived.
Zhang Meng saw Qin Zhao and his wife from a distance. He gave a few instructions to his subordinates and then came over.
"Qin Zhizhou"
Qin Zhao: "Thank you, General Zhang." Luzhou City was able to recover so quickly, thanks to Zhang Meng's timely help.
"It won't be hard for me if you come here."
Zhang Meng thought to himself, although he is a weak scholar, having something is better than nothing, so he should use it to deal with it.
He gave a brief introduction to Luzhou City. Since he had other things to do, Zhang Meng had to leave Qin Zhao behind and let him familiarize himself with the environment first, and he would come back later.
Cao Xi: "This is what you said about accompanying me."
Qin Zhao held Cao Xi's hand and suppressed a smile, "I am pretending to be a public servant for personal gain."
