Pei Yuan cursed Wei Meng a hundred and eighty times in his heart.

How dare he tell the truth? If he really told Bao Ning that it was a brothel with fifty or sixty skinny Yangzhou women, Bao Ning would immediately throw him out with his baggage.

Speaking of which, Pei Yuan started to work in this camp because of Wei Meng. Wei Meng was greedy and lustful. He had no wife at home and felt lonely in the Northern Frontier military camp. When he returned to Beijing, he started to mess around everywhere. He thought that other people's top prostitutes were not slim enough, their voices were not sweet enough, and they were expensive, so he urged Pei Yuan to open one himself.

When the emperor found out about this, he almost beat Pei Yuan to death.

Pei Yuan initially thought that this business was shameful, but after being disturbed, he became rebellious and put in a lot of effort to run it, and it really became a booming business. There are so many places of entertainment in the capital, and Qingluofang can squeeze into the top three. The people who come and go are all dignitaries, and the monthly account turnover is hundreds of millions of taels.

He has never touched those women, but if he tells Baoning about it, will she believe it?

"Why don't you talk?" Baoning looked at him in confusion, "Is this question difficult to answer?"

"I just forgot it just now." Pei Yuan said seriously. He took advantage of Baoning for living in a secluded mansion and rarely going out, and lied to her. "Now I remember it, it's a clothing store."

Baoning nodded: "It's a nice name."

She believed it and didn't mention it anymore. She happily put away the stack of paper deeds and turned to hug Pei Yuan's neck. Aunt Liu was sent away, and there were no servants around. Bao Ning was very happy. He looked at Pei Yuan and found him pleasing to the eye. He acted boldly. He put his face on his shoulder and said sweetly, "A Yuan, you are so nice and amazing."

Pei Yuan knew that this was the effect of the money, but he was still a little dizzy.

"Was I not good before?" He held Bao Ning's waist and let her sit on his thighs, blowing into her ears.

"Today is especially good, even my nose is more handsome." Bao Ning's mouth was like honey. Hearing her sweet words, Pei Yuan instantly forgot the sparks that had just been caused by Qingluofang. He looked down at Bao Ning and thought she was so beautiful. Her eyes are pretty, her mouth is pretty, and her face is sweet. Her every frown and smile is in his heart.

Pei Yuan narrowed his eyes with a smile, and wrapped Bao Ning's hand in his palm, kneading it slowly: "Our Ning Ning is also good."

Bao Ning asked: "Do you have anything else this morning?"

Pei Yuan replied: "No." In fact, there was, but seeing that she was in such a good mood, Pei Yuan couldn't bear to spoil her mood, and he really wanted to stay with her for a while.

Bao Ning obediently adjusted his collar for him, and in Pei Yuan's eyes, she was very virtuous.

Her voice was gentle and soft: "A Yuan, do you want to eat something? I see you didn't eat much this morning. Are you hungry now? What do you want to eat? Just tell me and I'll make it for you."

Pei Yuan was getting more and more demanding: "I want to drink some wine."

Bao Ning hesitated for a moment, but still replied with a smile: "Okay, I'll go and warm it up for you."

Pei Yuan thought in his heart, how could she be so gentle and so good? She is beautiful, has good cooking skills, and has a nice voice, like a fairy descending to the earth.

As a result, his voice became much softer. He held Bao Ning's cheek and kissed her, and rubbed her hair: "Go quickly, I'll wait for you here. Well, you want to eat candied haws, right? I'll dip it for you, and when you're done, we'll eat it together."

Bao Ning agreed. She was careful and considerate. Pei Yuan sat in a chair. Bao Ning was afraid that his legs would get cold in the wind, so she went to the room to get him a thin blanket and gently covered his legs. She also called Aunt Liu to come over, warmed up a pot of milk tea for him, and placed a plate of melon seeds.

Pei Yuan was served like a master. Bao Ning tidied his clothes and gave him a few instructions before leaving.

Aunt Liu came a little later. Mian was hungry, so she took some grass for it to eat. Seeing Pei Yuan closing his eyes and taking a nap, she couldn't help but praise: "The fourth prince and the princess are really in harmony."

Pei Yuan liked to hear it. Although he knew in his heart that Bao Ning's attentiveness to him today had a lot to do with money.

After a while, Aunt Liu also left, and he, a sheep and two dogs were the only ones left under the grapevines.

The sun was good today, warm but not too sunny, and there was a slight breeze, which was very pleasant when blowing on the face. Ah Huang was running around, darting around in the yard. Jixiang was tied to a wooden stake, sitting steadily, his eyes scanning around. Pei Yuan glanced at it and felt annoyed.

Accustomed to Baoning, he was a little confused about his position now. He leaned back on the chair and pointed a finger at Jixiang: "Why are you so ugly?"

Jixiang looked over.

Pei Yuan continued, "I have never seen a dog as ugly as you. Do you think you can stay in our house just because of your ugly face?"

He curled his legs and cracked two melon seeds into his mouth, "It's almost the dog days of summer. You look so uncomfortable with your dirty and thick fur. And your cheeks must have three layers hanging down, right? I really can't understand. Aren't you only two months old? How come you look like you are 200 years old? Or are dogs like you born like this, fat and old, with eyes buried in the fur, and you can't even see them..."

Jixiang barked wildly.

The mastiff was very energetic and barked very loudly. It seemed to understand what Pei Yuan said, and its barking was splashing with saliva.

"Calm down a bit." Pei Yuan was still calm and relaxed, taking a sip of tea, and advised him kindly, "I don't look down on you, I just hate you very much, and I don't think you have a good impression of me, right? Why bother, you have to stay here, you annoy me, and I annoy you too."

Pei Yuan paused, and then said, "Actually, I don't blame you. The main responsibility for this matter lies with my brother-in-law, the one who sent you here, his name is Ji Yan, you remember? But no matter who is to blame, the problem still needs to be solved. I'm kind enough to think of a way for you."

"Did you see it?" Pei Yuan sat up straight and pointed to the east, where there were layers of mountains in the distance. He said, "That's Yanhuang Mountain."

"When you grow up a few months and can survive on your own, you can go to the mountain. I heard that you can hunt wolves and are so brave. You can hunt a few pheasants and rabbits if you have nothing to do. You won't starve to death, right?" Pei Yuan stood up and walked over, wanting to pat it on the head, "Life in the mountains is better than here..."

"Ah!" Jixiang showed his sharp white teeth, opened his mouth suddenly, and almost bit off Pei Yuan's finger.

Pei Yuan flicked his sleeves and snorted coldly: "You don't know what's good for you!"

Ah Huang squatted aside and watched him. He was almost stunned. He didn't know what Pei Yuan was chattering about.

Pei Yuan sat down again. Afterwards, he realized that he was sick. He was arguing with a dog. If others saw him, they would laugh at him to death.

In the past, Pei Yuan would never do such a thing. But after spending more time with Baoning, he gradually felt that life had become interesting. Every flower and every blade of grass seemed to have life. He could calm down and feel those trivial things that he had always ignored before.

It shouldn't be a bad thing, he enjoyed it.

But it was still a little embarrassing.

Pei Yuan put away his emotions, thought about what he had promised Bao Ning, bent down to light the stove, and continued to boil syrup. How could he know what kind of syrup was the best? He stuck a string of dates on a wooden stick, stuck it into the pot randomly, and threw the thin syrup out with a wave of his hand, spilling it all over the floor. Jixiang had been screaming since he was scolded, and when he saw Pei Yuan embarrassed himself, he screamed even louder.

Pei Yuan was annoyed and pointed at it: "If you scream again, I'll throw you out!"

Jixiang didn't listen. Pei Yuan still held the string of tanghulu that had not been dried in his hand, and he didn't know if it was intentional or not, but he threw his hand and the tanghulu flew out and stuck to Jixiang's thick hair.

The syrup and the hair were stuck together. Jixiang twisted his body and struggled to get rid of it, but he couldn't get rid of it at all. He screamed miserably.

Not far away, Baoning and Aunt Liu were talking. They were chatting about family matters.

Baoning asked, "Where did you buy the chili peppers just now? They smell so authentic, they hit my nose when I cut them open. The salted duck feet this time must be especially delicious."

Nanny Liu said, "Old Zhang in the kitchen bought them. He said they were dried chili peppers shipped from Sichuan and are quite expensive. But the fried chili oil is especially good. Chop them up and put them in a bowl. Pour a spoonful of hot oil over it and it will be extremely fragrant. But madam, you'd better eat less. I remember that you're about to have your period, so please pay more attention during this time..."

Baoning nodded in agreement, but as she got closer, she noticed Jixiang's abnormal cry and frowned, "Go and have a look."

Pei Yuan stood up as if nothing had happened and left before Baoning, pretending that he had not been there just now. Before leaving, he carried Ah Huang to the chair where he had just sat.

About half an incense stick later, he came back. Baoning was squatting on the ground with a pair of big scissors, anxiously cutting Jixiang's hair. After a few days of being together day and night, Jixiang became very close to Baoning. Now he was at a loss and threw himself into her arms. The Tanghulu couldn't be pulled off at all, so the long hair had to be cut off.

Jixiang was ugly to begin with, and a piece of hair was missing, which made him even uglier.

Pei Yuan laughed out loud.

Just as he thought, Aunt Liu really thought it was Ah Huangcha's fault, and whispered to it: "How can you be so naughty? Don't do it next time. Don't you think that if you hadn't run away just now, the syrup would have stuck you two together, wouldn't you have been bitten to death?"

Pei Yuan looked calm and didn't care about the hustle and bustle over there. He sat down comfortably, picked up a chopstick of duck paw and put it in his mouth, chewed it, and sipped the warm wine. It

was like a god's day.

He squinted at the flowers that Baoning had planted under the wall yesterday, which were exactly the same as when he was in the general's mansion. Jixiang was still screaming. Pei Yuan was thinking, why did Baoning love to plant flowers under the window so much? When the bees come out in the summer, won’t they all fly into the house once the window is opened? When she gets scared, he will have to clean up.

Pei Yuan thought again, I have to remember to find a few people to check the yard at night to see if there are any beehives hidden in any corners.

When Wei Meng came over, patting her belly, Baoning had just finished.

Jixiang almost died from crying. It looked too ugly now. Baoning thought about shaving its hair in a few days. The mastiff has long hair because it was born in Tibet, where it is very cold. Now it has come to the Central Plains and it is midsummer soon. It must be uncomfortable with all the long hair. But not today, we have to let it slow down.

Baoning and Nanny Liu took Jixiang away together and punished Ah Huang with confinement.

Pei Yuan had been sitting there drinking happily, without any sense of guilt. Wei

Meng had just returned from the capital, running on the mountain road for two hours, and was covered in dust. He seemed to have drunk a lot of wine before he came back, and now there was still a smell of alcohol in his burps.

He sat down opposite Pei Yuan, stretched his neck and asked: "Hey, are you eating?"

Pei Yuan held the tip of the chopsticks in his mouth: "Are you blind? Can't you see?"

Wei Meng chuckled and went to get the chopsticks: "I'll eat something too."

Pei Yuan asked: "How is the investigation of Pei Xiao's secret letter going?"

"I was just about to tell you about this." Wei Meng ate a duck paw, which was boneless and had smooth tendons. He swallowed it in two bites and praised, "It smells so good."

Pei Yuan thought he looked so ugly when eating. He frowned and looked away. Suddenly, he saw a red mark on Wei Meng's neck. He moved his eyes back and looked at him puzzledly.

Wei Meng said, "We have already checked. The letter was sent to Jia Ling, the son of Chongyuan Marquis. You should be familiar with him. He is the eldest brother-in-law of the young lady. But they have never met and don't know each other. As for the rest, we will discuss it together when General Qiu comes. I met him in the capital. He was very worried and asked me where I was. It seemed that he had a lot to say to you."

"Don't talk about these bad things while eating." Pei Yuan lowered his head and took a sip of wine, tapping Wei Meng's neck with chopsticks, "How did you get that? It's all red. Did you get bit by a mosquito?"

Wei Meng grinned and lowered his voice and said, "Young general, you haven't experienced this fun yet? You have to work harder!"

"I don't understand." Pei Yuan shook his head and asked him, "Is it serious? If it itches, don't push it. If it doesn't work, I'll ask Bao Ning to get some ointment for you, and you can apply it.

" Wei Meng sighed, "The red marks brought out from Qingluofang are worth a thousand gold. I must treasure the kindness of the beauty!"

...

Bao Ning listened to them for a long time, and she was confused. She tilted her head and asked Aunt Liu in a low voice, "Why are mosquitoes in the clothing store so valuable?"