Chapter 85 Chapter 85 Husband, Happy Birthday
Fortunately, the largest granary of the Liang army was burned down by fire.
On the same day, Beixuan's 150,000 reinforcements arrived. The enemy's strength was three times that of their own, and the drums of war sounded again.
As the sun rises and the moon sets, the sounds of clashing weapons never cease.
Jiang Hexue had long since abandoned her comfortable bed in the inn and moved to the military camp. She wasn't skilled in martial arts, but at least she could help out with tasks like bandaging wounded soldiers or counting supplies.
There's also Hemi Shenxiang. According to Chen Zeyuan, the effect is unexpectedly good, so more is needed.
Then, when she had nothing better to do, she continued to study the embroidery, and she actually discovered something else.
After three days of fierce fighting, at dusk, Jiang Hexue once again walked into the meeting tent.
The atmosphere was stagnant, and even Jiang Heye could only reveal an extremely bitter smile: "Sister."
"I brought something," Jiang Hexue said softly as she sat down. "I wonder if it can be of any help."
She took off the purple-ivory-black collar from her neck, unfolded the embroidery, and under the gaze of everyone, bent and coiled the intricate gold threads.
This formed the icon on the embroidery pattern that has never been solved.
"We're outnumbered. We should take this and go find my mother's old friend," she whispered. "Give it a try. Even if it gets damaged, it's fine."
The one who went was Jiang Heye.
Two days later, the roars of lions and tigers shook the earth and mountains.
"Sister!" Jiang Heye practically jumped in front of her. "That's the key to Beixuan's beast-feeding place!"
He brought back a hundred ferocious beasts, including lions, tigers, bears, and wolves. Combining them with the beast taming skills he had learned earlier, he was able to fight against a hundred with one, and wiped out the 20,000 elite soldiers of the Liang family.
After several days of siege, the fighting finally eased.
The next evening, the city gate was knocked again, and it was finally no longer the sound of Liang's army attacking the city.
"Sister, come with me to the city wall to see who is coming?" Jiang Heye jumped in front of her again and said excitedly.
Jiang Hexue initially glanced hesitantly at Shen Qingchen beside him, but saw that his face, which had been calm for many days, was also stained with a faint smile, and said softly: "Go."
She then followed him up the stairs and saw a huge crowd of soldiers, but she still didn't understand what was going on.
When they saw clearly the young man leading the group, they were shocked: "Number one scholar?!"
Xu Qingyan raised his head from his warhorse and looked at the people on the city wall from afar. The long sword in his hand emitted a cold silver-white luster.
He spoke, his words resounding with power: "The Xu family of Xiangzhou has brought a hundred thousand elite soldiers to support us, to wipe out the rebels and comfort the souls of the deceased!"
-
There was still a shortage of more than 100,000 troops, but the gates of Liangzhou were finally opened and there was no more siege.
The battlefield was in the northern suburbs.
Jiang Hexue naturally did not go into battle, but just listened quietly to the sounds of fighting from the rear.
Listen to the sound of Shen Qingchen shooting arrows one after another.
Listen to the hissing sounds of the group of poisonous snakes led by Jiang Heye.
Listen to the sound of Shen Zeyuan's piano, the sound of Xie Junyi's whip waving, and the sound of Xu Qingyan's sword stabbing the enemy.
As the summer heat gradually rose, news of victory came in frequently. The Liang army was defeated, and its advantage of more than 100,000 troops was reduced to only 30,000 or 50,000.
The army's morale collapsed and it suffered defeat after defeat.
When Jiang Hexue stepped into the meeting tent again, the atmosphere inside was no longer as stagnant as before. Jiang Heye called her loudly first, and then the young man on the main seat gave her a gentle look.
"Did I bother you?" she asked with a smile. "Zhizhou Tian and Ah Xian sent some Liangzhou specialty cakes. They couldn't come into the camp, so I brought them here instead."
"We just finished talking." Shen Qingchen stood up and took the heavy food box from her hand.
Shen Zeyuan, who was playing the piano, glanced at him, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
"If the matter is settled, can you lend me the military advisor for a day?" Jiang Hexue didn't notice and asked with a smile.
"Do you want to go out and play?" Jiang Heye asked, supporting his cheek.
"Today is the Qiqiao Festival, and we have another truce." Xu Qingyan stared at the cakes on the plate and said softly. "Heye, it's just you and me who are left."
Jiang Heye's sweetheart is far away in Kyoto, and his sweetheart... is far away in the sky.
The sound of the piano played by Shen Zeyuan suddenly went wrong.
The tent was silent, with only the lingering music.
"What are you looking at me for?" Xu Qingyan raised his head from the cake and raised his lips slightly. "You should go now. If you have any new things, remember to bring us four copies."
Jiang Hexue moved his lips, but for a moment he didn't know how to start.
"Go quickly. Once you leave, these cakes and pastries will belong to Qingyan and me." Jiang Heye laughed and stood up to chase them away.
"I leave it to you." Jiang Hexue looked back every few steps until he got out of the tent and gave Jiang Heye some instructions.
"Leave it to me... Alas." The latter scratched his head and sighed.
"Don't worry too much." Shen Qingchen gently held her hand hanging by her side.
"Yes, yes, sister, go play with your brother-in-law!" Jiang Heye urged with a smile. Shen Qingchen held her hand tightly, nodded slightly, and took her away.
-
The first one to return to was the tent where Shen Qingchen lived.
The two of them did not live together. His tent was much closer to the front, making it easier for him to be ready in case of an emergency.
This was Jiang Hexue's first time coming in.
There was also a meeting room in his tent, but it was not used often. It only contained his compass, on which were hexagrams that she could not understand.
Xiang Nei was sleeping, Shen Qingchen took her to sit on the couch, and then asked: "What do you want to take me to do?"
"Just change your clothes and follow my instructions." Jiang Hexue winked slyly. "I won't sell you to another kid."
Shen Qingchen slightly curved his lips, his gaze falling on her again.
The heat in Liangzhou was rising at the beginning of the Shen month. She wore a moon-white Liuxian skirt embroidered with cloud patterns and a lavender gauze dress on the outside. Perhaps because she felt too hot, she unbuttoned one of the buttons on her collar, revealing half of her delicate and straight collarbone.
She wore a simple, thin silver chain around her neck, with an amethyst pendant hanging down, covering the small red mole on the back of her neck.
Normally, her black hair was casually tied into a single spiral, with a simple hairpin. But today, she had tied her hair into a lively flying fairy bun, with two lavender silk flowers pinned on it. The southern pearls on them swayed slightly with her light steps. He had been staring at it for a long time.
Dressed like this, she seemed to have returned to her youth.
But Jiang Hexue in front of him raised her face towards him, and on her fair earlobes, the pair of purple jade earrings that he had given her as a birthday gift last year dangled gently.
Her bare hands gently tugged at the edge of his sleeve, the jade-flower ring on her ring finger shimmering with light, and her voice was sweet: "Husband, hurry up."
She had already been his wife.
The corners of Shen Qingchen's lips rose slightly, and he said "OK" in a gentle voice, but he did not move the wardrobe. He took off his black armor and sword and went to the clean room.
When he came back, he had a small steel knife and a small porcelain jar in his hands.
"What are you going to do?" Jiang Hexue asked as she watched him sit down holding the mirror, open the porcelain jar, and the light fragrance of tea overflowed.
"Trim your beard." Shen Qingchen looked at himself in the mirror, frowning slightly. Thinking about how he had just walked with his lively and beautiful wife in such an unkempt appearance, he suddenly felt that he had lost face for her.
Jiang Hexue on the couch laughed out loud: "I'll fix it for you?"
"No." Shen Qingchen refused, staring at the stubble that he had not trimmed seriously since arriving in Liangzhou, and he didn't know where to start.
"Then I'll hold the mirror for you." Jiang Hexue walked over, took the handheld mirror and held it up, supporting his chin with his other hand, observing him trimming his beard.
It was her first time watching a man trim his beard, and she found it truly novel and interesting. When he had finished, she asked, still unsatisfied, "Is that all?"
Shen Qingchen looked at himself in the mirror again with an inexplicable expression, confirming that his jaw was clean: "I'll go change clothes."
But his wardrobe was right next to him, and Jiang Hexue had no intention of moving. He couldn't go to the outer room to change clothes, and hiding in the bathroom would seem deliberate, so he hesitated for a moment.
"Change here." Jiang Hexue guessed what he was thinking and teased him maliciously. "Where on your body haven't I seen?"
Their eyes met, and Shen Qingchen's ears instantly turned crimson.
He hummed softly, took off his coat in front of her, opened the wardrobe, and took out a clean moon-white gown.
After a pause, he asked again, "Do you want to see me change into my clothes?"
"...If you want to change, just change. How could I be staring at you?" Jiang Hexue was speechless for a moment and said stubbornly.
"But it's hot in the summer, so it doesn't hurt to change it a few more times." After she finished speaking, she added, unable to hide her thoughts.
Shen Qingchen chuckled and untied the ties of his middle garment, revealing his cold white skin.
But his fingers paused, and under her fixed gaze, he slowly and methodically tied the laces again.
"Eh..." Jiang Hexue sighed in disappointment as she saw him put on his outer shirt. "Why don't you change into your undershirt?"
Shen Qingchen looked at her with a playful smile in his eyes.
"If you don't want to change, then don't." Jiang Hexue pouted and watched him pick out a headband of the same color as her gauze dress and tie it up. Finally, after he was dressed, she took his hand. "Qingqing, come with me."
-
The people of Liangzhou are warm and open-minded. On the night of the Qiqiao Festival, the streets are crowded with people and the hawkers' calls are louder and louder.
But Jiang Hexue usually took an hour to stroll around the market, but this time he walked through it almost hurriedly with Shen Qingchen, without even taking a quick look.
In less than a quarter of an hour, he led him to stop outside Zuixian Pavilion.
Zuixian Pavilion is a restaurant under Ruan Yueyi's name, and it is also the largest and most popular restaurant in Liangzhou. Like Manzhi and Zhiweiguan in Kyoto, private rooms must be booked a whole month in advance.
But the host is Ruan Yueyi, and there is a private room exclusively for Jiang Hexue.
"Close your eyes." Jiang Hexue said as he stopped in front of the private room.
Shen Qingchen didn't understand why, but did as he was told.
"If I don't tell you, you can't open your eyes." Jiang Hexue added worriedly, and only after hearing his "hmm" did she lead him into the house.
When the eyes cannot see, the other senses are magnified.
Shen Qingchen heard the tiny sound of the golden bells on the ankles of the girl beside him as she walked.
Smell the fresh and elegant floral scent, mixed with a slight sweetness.
"Sit down." Jiang Hexue pulled out the rose chair for him.
Shen Qingchen sat down properly and listened to her instructions: "Wait a moment, don't open your eyes."
The tintling sound of the golden bells faded away, and she closed the door and went out, seemingly talking to a maid. Her voice was so soft over the clamor of music that he could not hear clearly.
A hint of curiosity welled up in his heart, but he followed her request, closed his eyes obediently, and listened to the water clock to count the hours.
After a stick of incense had passed, the door of the private room was pushed open again.
"You haven't opened your eyes to peek, right?" Jiang Hexue walked closer to him.
Shen Qingchen shook his head and said, “No.”
There was a soft sound, as if dishes were being placed on the table in front of him.
"You can open your eyes now." Jiang Hexue announced.
Shen Qingchen never revealed the expectation in her heart, and raised her eyelashes pretending to be calm.
But the calm lasted only a moment. When he took in the scene in front of him, his eyes suddenly became disturbed.
The whole room was filled with blooming peonies, and on the table in front of him lay a bowl of longevity noodles.
Jiang Hexue spoke at this time, her voice hoarse and sweet.
"Happy birthday, my husband."
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