Chapter 37 "Come on, brother, be more confident in your appearance."^^...

Dense cumulus clouds hung across the vast sky.

Looking around, the drizzle was like silk, like a layer of diagonally woven gauze, floating in the air and piling up into a soft ball on the roofs of people's houses.

Ye Jindian forgot to bring an umbrella when she went out and only remembered it when she walked out of the inner corridor.

She returned to the inner room and took an umbrella from the large-bellied celadon jar. She accidentally caught a glimpse of a book lying quietly in a hollow bookcase with auspicious patterns.

"Ninety-nine Strategies to Defeat the Weak Scholar".

After hesitating for a few moments, she picked up the book and stuffed it into the cloth bag, then picked up the lunch box and went out.

Working at the Armoury Bureau was not like her husband's classes at the academy, so it was okay to go there later, but there was only half an hour's break at noon, and work could not be finished until after the afternoon.

If you take the small path, your pace will be faster. The Armoury is only two quarters of a minute's walk from home. Go straight west through the back door of the Prime Minister's Mansion and turn two corners to find it.

Not particularly far.

The family members living in the backyard of the prime minister's mansion, looking down from the small building, could clearly see her slow and steady footsteps as she walked around the small puddle.

Zhang Heng and Zhang Min crouched by the window, watching her sister-in-law walk by, carrying her skirt and lunch box, and swaying her umbrella slightly.

"My sister-in-law seems to be in a good mood." She looked at her brother, who looked like a thief, not quite understanding. "How can you tell that she is unhappy?"

Zhang Min, with a pair of dark eyes that hadn't slept all night, leaned on the windowsill, watching her go away reluctantly. He said quietly, "You don't understand her. When she's angry, she's not like you. She doesn't show her feelings on her face."

Zhang Heng: “…”

"Alas..." Zhang Min flipped through the book of the weak scholar in his hand, feeling very melancholy. "What's the use of this broken book? Every bastard relies on my wife's generosity to forgive them. None of them are good at apologizing."

He hated that his arms were not long enough to reach into the book and slap them.

Is it possible that he has no choice but to apologize?

Zhang Heng: "...Is it possible that between husband and wife, there's no need to apologize, and all you need to do is use your beauty a little bit."

Her elder brother had such a stunningly handsome face, why would he ask for apology?

Once the beauty trap is used, my sister-in-law will definitely soften her heart.

Zhang Min raised his eyes to look at her, his voice returning to its low tone: "What kind of messed up books have you been reading with the princess lately?"

Last time, after watching the story of the princess and her lover, she got drunk and raved to Gongsun Shuo, saying something lewd and lewd about wanting to find a man to have sex with. She forgot about it after the fuss, but it caused the wall in the prime minister's mansion to become bald, and was polished to a shine by someone watching her every night.

What to do this time.

"What a mess! What's the difference between your storybook and the one I read?" Zhang Heng lifted the book in his hand and raised it.

only--

Well, the storybook she read was carefully selected by the princess, and she even commissioned someone to write it according to her description, so the combination of meat and vegetables was just right.

Zhang Heng pulled out the dagger from his waist, blew on the shiny blade, wiped it with his sleeve, and handed it to him: "Come on, brother, have some confidence in your appearance."

Zhang Min: “…”

He took off her dagger and put it back, demonstrating his determination to never use his beauty to please others.

"Okay, let's not talk about this." Zhang Heng adjusted the dagger at his waist. "Brother, tell me, what do you want from me?"

She had originally made an appointment with the princess to go boating on the lake with some young masters from aristocratic families.

Talking about business, Zhang Min threw the storybook on her desk and said, "The old King of Beiwan is dying."

Zhang Heng blinked: "Isn't that a good thing?"

The old King of Beiwan was no good, just like his eldest son. He entered the border town to plunder food and kidnapped women and children.

The women were made into slaves who could open their mouths like beasts, and the children were cooked and eaten.

The little prince had been exposed to the Central Plains culture since he was a child. He made many suggestions and was beaten many times. He still asked his opponents to help him heal his wounds and apply medicine.

It's ridiculous.

If the other person is going to die, she will first spend a lot of money to buy firecrackers to set up on the street, and then set them off for three days and three nights to celebrate.

"Why, brother? Are you worried about the eldest prince taking the throne?" Zhang Heng pondered. "Don't all the tribes on the grasslands elect or fight each other? Could it be that the old King of Beiwan has lost his mind and still wants to use all his strength to support the eldest prince?"

The little prince was born to the princess of the neighboring country of Shawan. Due to the marriage, he was not favored by the old king of Beiwan. So, the old king of Beiwan was worried that Beiwan would pass on the little prince, and there was a high possibility that he would fall into the hands of Shawan. Is this reasonable?

Zhang Min said, "I'm afraid that Dayan and Beiwan will have to fight a war sooner or later."

As the head of the military officers, it is impossible for him not to fight.

But the group of friends that his wife had made before were mostly acquaintances. They could play Cuju together, but they might not be close friends, nor might they protect his wife in everything.

His wife wouldn't be unable to live without him, but he still couldn't help wanting to make better arrangements.

"So, what Brother means is—"

"Think of a way to get acquainted with Tiantian. If I have to go on a campaign, you should accompany her more often."

"Okay." Zhang Heng agreed immediately, "Don't worry, brother."

She used to always follow Gongsun Shuo and secretly glance at her sister-in-law, but she was never able to make friends with her.

Now I have finally achieved my wish.

*

Military Equipment Supervisor.

After lunch, Ye Jindian curled up in a corner of the corridor and read a book, not wanting to disturb the owner who was eating pancakes and pickles with a long face on the other side.

The other party probably still suspected that she and Xie Zhaoming had worked together to set up a trap to lure him into the Arsenal, so he mistook the pancake for her, looked at her, bit the pancake and pulled it hard.

The pancakes had been sitting around for a long time, becoming particularly tough. The owner bit into them until his face became ferocious and square, like mud trampled by horses. Ye Jindian: "..."

She silently turned her head to read.

This book had been bought for a long time, but it was the first time she read it.

Most of the vernacular novels on the market were written by men. The stories they wrote about weak scholars were nothing more than scholars clinging to their wives who fell in love with them at first sight and then fell in love with them again. Some shameless men, after achieving success, turned their wives into concubines to free up their wives' positions to marry princesses.

She had seen people moved to tears, saying that the man in the book had a very difficult life, even being beaten with twenty boards, he still wanted to keep his wife as a concubine...

From then on, Ye Jindian only read strange stories.

But she never expected that after only a few years of peace, the content of the novels would change so much.

She stared wide-eyed as she read in the book that the fox demon stepped on the scholar's groin, taking down one with one kick, and taking down several weak scholars in one night.

Tsk tsk.

No wonder there are ninety-nine strategies to defeat the weak scholar. It turns out that different strategies work for different people.

She only looked at one-third of it, but she was already so enlightened that she almost forgot that she had to go to work in the afternoon.

Ye Jindian pressed the books neatly with a guilty conscience, put them back into the cloth bag, and then tied the bag several times and secured it tightly.

Repairing a crossbow is not just a simple hammering. One must first look at the mechanisms and components needed for the crossbow, trace them, mark the dimensions, and then make a clay mold (a mould made of clay) before starting each step of the ironmaking process.

After making three sets of mechanisms and components, they have to be polished before being installed.

The boss arrived two days earlier than her and had already tried to play a set, but he was not satisfied.

When pouring molten iron before noon today, he saw that Ye Jindian's rules were different from his, and he had concluded that the other party was making trouble. When he was hammering the iron in the afternoon, he snorted coldly and turned his back.

Ye Jindian: “…”

What a childish temper.

*

Prime Minister's Mansion.

Xie Zhaoming fanned himself, but couldn't find anyone in the front hall or the courtyard. He could only stop the palace soldiers who were trimming the branches and asked, "Where is your Prime Minister?"

In such a big prime minister's mansion, it's bad enough that they can't find Zhang Zimei, but even Luo Ying and the others are nowhere to be found.

The soldier's face twitched and he pointed in the direction of the kitchen.

Even a fox spirit like Xie Zhaoming couldn't immediately grasp the deep meaning of this subtle expression. He only knew that it seemed like he had come at the wrong time and that he might be in trouble later.

Fortunately, the voices of the other two soon came from behind.

"Thank you, Fox, for coming so early?" Li Wuji put an arm around his shoulder and leaned over nonchalantly. "Why? Is it because you're too clingy that your wife dislikes you and kicks you out of the house?"

“…”

Xie Zhaoming closed his fan and smiled as he pushed away Li Wuji's chest, which was pressing against his shoulder. "My wife's affairs have nothing to do with you, so don't ask." He patted his collar and gave him a gentle blow. "A man without a wife has no right to talk about whether it's entangled or not."

He just likes to be with his wife, is there anything wrong with that?

What does a lonely old man know?

Li Wuji made a "tsk" sound, feeling a little bit of toothache.

He turned to Gongsun Shuo, who was walking slowly with his arms folded. "Alright, little uncle. My sister's not here, so you can put aside your noble airs and walk a little faster."

Gongsun Shuo was almost pulled by him and staggered, half-kneeling on the ground.

His face turned green: "You are almost ten years older than me, can you be more steady!"

Li Wuzhi responded casually and pulled the man to the kitchen.

It was very lively outside the kitchen. Almost all the junior officers in Luoying's entire battalion were present. They were looking at Zhang Min who was busy in the kitchen and swallowing frantically.

"This is truly bizarre." Li Wuji stopped, rubbed his eyes, and stared at the scene in confusion for a long moment. He then turned to look at Gongsun Shuo and asked hesitantly, "Did you see the people in the kitchen?"

Gongsun Shuo's eyes hesitated: "Yes, Zhang Zimei."

Xie Zhaoming: "...Are you talking about Zhang Zimei, who hated making a fire to make tea and didn't even want to skin a roasted rabbit?"

Was his head crushed by a door or kicked by a pig?

Why did you suddenly change your personality today?

Luoying and the others heard a sound behind them, turned around, and after seeing who it was, they quickly saluted.

Li Wuji waved his hand: "No need to be so polite." He raised his chin and pointed at the people busy in the kitchen, "Your Prime Minister?"

Luoying: "...Yes."

Xie Zhaoming: "How long has he been experiencing these symptoms?"

Luo Ying: "... not long ago, just in the last one or two months."

I practice diligently every day.

It’s a pity that the cooking skills that their prime minister has practiced so hard, like the knowledge they have accumulated with great effort, are like ghosts that can only be seen by ghosts.

It's not visible to the public yet.

It was a rare opportunity for Xie Zhaoming and the other two to witness such a wonderful sight. They chased away the falling shadows, occupied the windowsill, squeezed the small pot of wood sorrel into a corner, smelled the fragrance coming from it, and laughed at a "pretty" man who was wearing a pink and blue apron with flower and bird patterns.

Gongsun Shuo opened his mouth.

Without even looking up, Zhang Min said, "The pot of wood sorrel next to you was dug up by my sister from under the marriage tree at Dongshan Temple and planted there. If it falls, you'll be on your own."

Gongsun Shuo raised his left hand and hugged the flower pot that was squeezed in the corner with a wronged look, and pushed Li Wuji: "Move aside."

Li Wuji: “???”

Xie Zhaoming felt that military generals were truly unreliable, and he, a mere civil official, had to speak out: "Zhang Zimei, ah Zhang Zimei, you really look like you have a key hanging from your eyelids—you've opened your eyes."

Zhang Min, who was never very friendly towards his brothers, sneered, "What's wrong with my appearance? When I wear a robe, I look virtuous and homely. When I put on a mask, I look fierce and aggressive. Do you think I am you? I look like a man and a woman, and I can't tell the difference between male and female."

"Look at you, you're just trying to make fun of others and gloat over their misfortunes. Where's your demeanor? Where's your humanity?

"With you like this, I don't know what my sister-in-law likes about you."

Xie Zhaoming said with a hint of boasting, "Then you don't have to worry about it. My wife and I have been married for many years and we love each other deeply. This is something that a young man like you who is so silly and happy just by touching her hand can't understand."

Zhang Min had a toothache: "Xie Zhaoming, your mouth is full of poison. How on earth has my sister-in-law tolerated you all these years?"

"My wife loves me very much." Xie Zhaoming stabbed the knife slowly, "She likes the way I look androgynous and scold people gently. You don't understand."

Three people: "..."

vomit--

Li Wuji watched Zhang Min put the dishes on the plate and climbed in through the window: "Come on, let me help you serve the dishes."

Luo Ying and others silently retreated three steps.

In the kitchen, Li Wuzhi held the dish in one hand, picked up a piece of meat with the other, and put it into his mouth with his head tilted back.

Xie Zhaoming stared at his expression, not missing the slight contraction of his pupils.

But soon, the other party acted as if nothing had happened, chewing heartily and handed the plate to the two of them: "This cooking skill is actually pretty good."

Gongsun Shuo reached out and picked up a piece: "Really?"

Xie Zhaoming smiled and refused: "It's really rude to pick it up casually. I won't eat it."

The next moment.

Gongsun Shuo nearly crushed the flowerpot. His hand trembled and he slapped the window frame, causing the window sash to slam against the wall.

Xie Zhaoming sighed, "Zhang Zimei, it seems your cooking skills are enough to make Yi Yin hammer his heart, the uncle of the emperor and the general cry, and even make Chuang Shan bang his head against the wall."

Zhang Min: “…”