Chapter 93 Chapter 93 Protecting the Husband
Entering the You month, the summer heat becomes increasingly intense.
Shen Qingchen had a strong body and was treated with the excellent tonics sent by Emperor Hengshun in Kyoto. After a month, he was able to walk as usual.
There is no need to drink soup, porridge or soft rice every day. You can eat some light dishes that are steamed or boiled until soft.
Jiang Hexue believes that his cooking skills have improved by leaps and bounds.
She could cook many dishes originally, and she was determined to restore the fat in Shen Qingchen's cheeks. These days, she has been trying to make simple dishes more delicious for him in different ways.
Of course there were failures. If she felt the taste was not good enough, she would meet with Jiang Heye to solve the problem.
The latter will not refuse either. I don’t know whether they are not picky about food or they dare not be picky about food.
With such careful care day after day, Jiang Hexue actually felt that Shen Qingchen's cheeks had grown some fleshier than before, and she didn't look so thin and haggard anymore. She felt very relieved.
Mid-Autumn Festival (15th day of the rooster month)
The tedious affairs after the Liangzhou War were finally dealt with. After celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival together, the few of them were about to go their separate ways.
Shen Zeyuan and Xie Junyi are going back to Beijing first.
Shen Qingchen's injuries were not yet severe enough for him to travel long distances in a carriage, so Jiang Hexue accompanied him to recuperate in Liangzhou.
And Jiang Heye and Xu Qingyan...
"I want to press on and take Beixuan directly," Jiang Heye said. "Half of Beixuan's troops have already been lost. If we can seize this opportunity to destroy the country, we won't have to worry about wars in the north anymore."
Xu Qingyan just said: "I'll go with you."
Shen Qingchen stared at the burnt patterns on the tortoise shell for a long while, then nodded slightly: "Go."
"I'll go check on Hexue." The dishes for the Mid-Autumn Festival dinner were all laid out, but there was still no sign of Jiang Hexue, so he got up and went to the kitchen.
Jiang Hexue was serving the pastries on a plate.
Shen Qingchen stood by the door and asked her, "What did you do?"
"Yam and red bean cake." Jiang Hexue only made two in the shape of carp, placed them on the left and right on the celadon plate, and handed them to him to see.
"Why use a mooncake mold?" The mooncakes were already on the table, and there were carp-shaped ones. Shen Qingchen recognized them and asked.
"This is a mooncake I made especially for you," Jiang Hexue explained with a narrowed gaze. "Mooncakes are greasy, which damages the spleen and stomach and increases dampness and heat. I couldn't bear to have you miss this Mid-Autumn Festival ritual, so I made this as a substitute."
"One for you, one for me." She nodded at the two carp and walked briskly. "Let's go and have dinner."
Shen Qingchen was left behind by her one step, lowered his eyes to look at the girl with light steps, and suddenly curved his lips.
-
But when the two returned to the table, they saw another person.
"Rongchang?" Jiang Hexue was surprised. "How did you get here?"
"I came here quietly." Shen Chuning sat two miles away from Jiang Heye and looked at her aggrievedly. "Auntie Huang, he scolded me."
"We met because she ran away from the palace and was killed by assassins. Shouldn't I have scolded her?" Jiang Heye also looked over, his eyebrows twitching. "Sister, she's unreasonable!"
Jiang Hexue looked at the two angry people, her eyes narrowing slightly. "□□ Chang has come all this way, shouldn't he give her a hug first, have a good dinner, and then talk about reason?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the two looked at each other, without saying a word, but the tips of their ears turned red.
After a moment of stalemate, Jiang Heye took the initiative to drag a stool and sit next to Shen Chuning. The latter glared at him but did not hide anymore.
Jiang Hexue laughed as he watched, and raised his glass to clink them together.
"The Imperial Uncle can't drink alcohol right now, and I wonder who will be the last one sober today." Shen Chuning, who had reached adulthood, smiled as she twirled her wine cup. "At the end of the previous family banquet, the Imperial Uncle was the only one sober who drank..."
Shen Qingchen slowly bit the yam and red bean "mooncake" and met Jiang Hexue's stunned gaze, feeling a little dazed.
"Can he drink well?" she asked the next moment.
"You were newlyweds then," Chen Zeyuan replied. "My brothers and I, along with so many guests, took turns getting drunk, and yet the Emperor's uncle didn't get drunk."
There was a hint of inquiry in Jiang Hexue's gaze when he looked over again.
"Everyone, drink less," Xu Qingyan noticed something was amiss and smiled, changing the subject. "The night market is incredibly lively during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Let's go shopping after dinner."
“Third cousin, you…” Shen Chuning looked at him worriedly.
Xu Qingyan smiled indifferently and clinked glasses with her.
As the wine and food were gradually exhausted, several people said goodbye one after another and left in pairs.
The full moon was hanging high in the sky. Xu Qingyan looked up and gazed at it for a while, then took up his sword and went into the dungeon.
Shen Zelin was tied up and had passed out from excessive blood loss. He had been like this every day, and Xu Qingyan had never let him die.
He asked the jailer for a basin of boiling salt water and poured it over his head: "Come here."
Shen Zelin howled in embarrassment. When he saw the person coming, his body trembled violently, but he still had to crawl towards him, his fingers gripping the iron railing.
Xu Qingyan smashed his leg bones and ribs with his own hands, and pulled out all his nails. He no longer looked as arrogant and cruel as before.
Xu Qingyan thrust the tip of his sword into the cage and tapped his shoulder bone: "It's Mid-Autumn Festival, Your Highness, won't you get up to admire the moon?"
Shen Zelin opened his mouth, all his teeth had been pulled out, and spoke unclearly: "Mid-Autumn Festival auspicious music..."
"Does it hurt?" Xu Qingyan asked with a smile when he heard the sound of his shoulder bone cracking.
Shen Zelin was in so much pain that he couldn’t speak and nodded repeatedly.
Xu Qingyan was amused by his embarrassed appearance and the corners of his lips curled up even more, with a dangerous smile: "You should have expected this day to come."
“Kill me, please…” Shen Zelin begged for mercy.
His shoulder bones were shattered again, leaving him with no room to move. He collapsed and said, "End this for me..."
Xu Qingyan tortured him with all kinds of inhuman means. He simply couldn't believe that this was the top scholar in the imperial examination.
"I want you to experience Meng Meng's pain firsthand." Xu Qingyan drew back his sword, emphasizing each word. "I want you to live a life worse than death, and pay your blood debt with blood."
Shen Zelin's eyes were empty and desperate as he watched him walk into the iron cage, and the long sword pierced his waist and abdomen, splitting him open.
The strong smell of blood made Xu Qingyan feel a little dizzy.
But his movements were still slow, the tip of the sword scratched the skin of his abdomen inch by inch and slowly pierced into his internal organs.
"Does it hurt?"
Shen Zelin had already died and could no longer answer him.
Having avenged his great hatred, Xu Qingyan left without looking back, but he no longer felt happy or obsessed.
He only knew that his moon was gone forever.
And for the rest of his life, there will be no more daylight in his life, only endless nights, pitch black as hell.
-
The bright moon turns into golden waves, and the lights for ten miles are as bright as day.
Jiang Hexue and Shen Qingchen held hands and walked on the outside of him, carefully blocking the crowd for him, for fear that they would hurt him.
"No need to be like this." She was only looking at him, and walked past several stalls that might be of interest to her without even looking closely. Shen Qingchen pulled her closer. "It's really okay."
"Xuezhu and Xuelan are following." He added.
Jiang Hexue called the two of them one by one before going shopping with peace of mind.
When we walked to the downtown area, we saw a stall that was surrounded by people.
"Let's go and take a look." Jiang Hexue curiously led Shen Qingchen towards that place. When they got closer, they found that it was a small stall selling hoop and archery.
This type of stall is very common, but the prizes on this stall are of extremely high quality. Most of them are small jade or ceramic ornaments, and many of them are exquisite and unique in shape.
Jiang Hexue immediately fell in love with an agate paperweight placed in the center.
The main body is a carp with a wagging tail carved from red agate, and a kitten with round eyes made of black agate is carved from milky white agate, riding proudly on the head of the carp.
Red agate is bright and pure in color, white agate is transparent and clear, and black agate is semi-transparent with a slightly blue color change. They all have a warm and delicate texture and are of superior quality.
"What are the conditions for taking that one?" Jiang Hexue asked.
"Young lady, this requires a combination of hooping and archery," the stall owner explained. "Today is Mid-Autumn Festival. Hit eight out of ten arrows, and fifteen out of twenty with hooping. If you can do both, I'll give you fifteen, along with this paperweight!"
"If only one of the two is successful, you can only take three from the set; if one fails, you will have to go home empty-handed."
This sounds like an exciting deal.
Jiang Hexue had played countless games of ring tossing since he was a child, and he knew that Shen Qingchen was an excellent archer and could hit the target every time on the battlefield.
She was not worried about Shen Qingchen at all. She just thought that even if she couldn't catch fifteen, she could at least win three prizes.
"I'll go first!" He then readily handed the silver to the stall owner, picked up twenty rattan rings, and stood in front of the stall.
She took a quick look around and found that the agate paperweight was the most attractive, so she set her sights on the smaller objects in the front row that were easier to catch.
The stall owner was quite honest in his business. The rattan ring was sturdy and of the right size. She found the feel for it after flying two, and then she cast it lightly and landed it smoothly, catching the hook one after another.
After putting on a few small toys in the front row, I felt interested, so I rolled up my sleeves and squinted my eyes to look at the exquisite ornaments in the middle.
After catching several more in a row, the stall owner's face changed slightly with surprise. He counted the number repeatedly and announced, "The girl has caught fifteen."
Jiang Hexue weighed the two remaining rattan rings in her hand and glanced at Shen Qingchen: "Husband, are you ready?"
She was having a lot of fun, her fair face flushed with excitement, and her smiling eyes looked even brighter in the brilliant light.
He looked like he was determined to get the agate paperweight.
Shen Qingchen loosened her slightly pursed lips and uttered an almost inaudible "hmm". She then watched her wrist move slightly and glanced at the flower vase in the back row that was carved with ivory and swimming fish patterns.
Yesterday, Fu Xian gave her two blooming lotus flowers, probably intending to give them as a gift. She would like them.
Jiang Hexue threw out the last two rattan rings in succession, and finally barely brushed against the edge of the ring. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked over with a smile: "Husband, it's your turn." Shen Qingchen took the bow and arrow handed to her by the stall owner.
It was a war bow, but its pulling force was only about 40 kilograms, less than one-third of his dragon tongue bow.
The target is only thirty meters away.
"I'll try." But he spoke softly to Jiang Hexue. "...Close your eyes."
Jiang Hexue naturally refused to give in. After a moment's stalemate, she watched him draw the bow deftly, take a rough aim at the bull's eye, and the arrow flew out of the bow... and the target as well.
"You should be more serious." Archery only has two margins for error, which is not as good as hooping, Jiang Hexue couldn't help but say.
In her gaze, Shen Qingchen set another arrow, drew the bow, aimed at the bull's eye, and shot the feather arrow.
The tip of the arrow grazed the vermilion dot of the bull's eye.
Jiang Hexue turned his head to look at him again in confusion, but his playful mood suddenly cooled when he saw his trembling arm.
His injury...
"Young Master, your archery skills still need improvement," the stall owner said, jokingly, handing over the third arrow. "It's not as accurate as your wife's."
Shen Qingchen hummed, and was about to draw the bow, but his wrist was tightly grasped by the girl next to him.
"He doesn't need to improve his archery!" Jiang Hexue blocked him behind him and spoke with difficulty.
"He's the best shooter."
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