Chapter 67: Post-Marriage Part 2 She dared to use this thing, she must have known...
A mother will love every one of her children, and the one who needs love must try his best to gain his mother's favor.
The child who is favored is lucky, but the child who wants to possess the mother entirely is shameless.
If he takes it all, what will happen to others?
A mother is born with great love, so he has to "get into trouble", "act coquettishly" and "devote himself" wholeheartedly in order to attract her attention and gain her favor.
If he relaxes even a little, she will turn around and love someone else.
Is this what maternal love is?
—
Chen Jinshi raised his head, a smile on his lips, and asked her fiercely, "Mom, what else do you need Chen Jinshi for?"
His collar was soaked, and there were still water stains on his lips and chin.
Du Lan's fingertips gently stroked his back, feeling his tense muscles, and his heart felt like it was filled with something.
She tilted her head and kissed his earlobe: "No need, that's enough."
Chen Jinshi's body trembled almost imperceptibly, his arms tightened, he climbed up from the ground, and carried her to the desk.
Du Lan raised her hand and ran it through his hair, gently stroking the sensitive skin behind his ear with her fingertips.
She bent down and kissed the top of his head.
His body stiffened, his head dropped on her shoulder, and he untied his belt with one hand.
At this moment in the capital, inside the imperial palace, dusk was sinking along the eaves and corners.
The new emperor sat upright on a couch covered with bright yellow cushions, his eyes fixed on a newly delivered secret report, with a barely discernible smile on the corner of his lips.
"So soon, Mr. Chen has even arranged his marriage." He raised his eyes to look at the eunuch who was standing there with a bow, his voice calm and steady.
The eunuch quickly replied, "Your Majesty, yes."
"I don't know what methods he used back then to convince the late emperor to deny the Yang family's marriage proposal, disrupting my well-planned plan. Fortunately, he was still useful to me and helped me deal with the subsequent troubles."
The eunuch bowed and replied, "Yes, otherwise the emperor wouldn't have valued Master Chen so much."
The emperor chuckled softly, "I felt sorry for him, so I let him go to Loufan for three years. But seeing that they are really so happy, I feel uncomfortable."
The eunuch lowered his head and didn't dare to answer.
The emperor put down his red brush, looked out the window at the moonlight, and said in a colder voice, "Chen Jinshi is too smart. I have always valued talent. It all depends on how he handles the military settlement this time. If he fails, I will let him live out his life in solitude."
The eunuch wiped his sweat and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is joking. If he can handle this matter well, he will die alone."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xuan Che also laughed.
Thousands of miles away in the Bingzhou government office, the official documents on the desk were swept aside and rice paper was scattered all over the floor. Du Lan placed her fingertips on his sweaty back, feeling his every tense and trembling.
His chest heaved violently, and there was an anxiety hidden beneath the madness.
Du Lan raised her hands and hugged his neck. She knew that he was very uneasy, otherwise he would not have lost his composure and could not control his strength, hurting her several times.
She could only comfort him.
She tilted her head and kissed the tip of his red ear, her voice soft and pretentious.
Perhaps this coquettish look was not deliberate, but was the result of her body taking the strain from him and feeling some pain, and she had to show that look.
The ink on the table was spilled by the two people's actions, and fell to the ground, spreading out in a pool of ink.
There was a dripping sound in the house.
The sound of the wind outside the window gradually died down, and his movements became increasingly frantic: "Only I can do this to you, only me."
She tilted her head back and kissed his lips, her tongue gently licking between his teeth. Saliva dripped down the corners of her mouth as she endured his deeper stirring. She probably couldn't understand his anxiety. She just had to treat each time as the last time. Life couldn't go on endlessly. Wasn't it good like this now? As for what difficulties awaited them tomorrow, it didn't matter.
Du Lan's naked back pressed against the window frame, leaving a red mark. She gently stroked his head and panted in his ear.
Later, she tilted her head to the window and could see the moon hanging in the sky through the banyan tree. She pinched his hair hard, "Ah——", okay, okay.
He lowered her legs from his shoulders, his fingertips touching the wetness of her knees.
He lowered his head and placed a kiss on her shoulder as if to comfort her.
She sat at her desk, panting softly, "I told you there's a piece of sandy land to the east that might be good for farming. You can write about it and show it to the emperor."
Chen Jinshi paused in wiping her, lowered his head, kissed her, and took a bite: "You are still thinking about him now."
She patted his back: "I'm telling you something serious."
He didn't say anything else, but buried his face deeper. She grabbed his hair and curled her toes.
"It just takes some effort, it's not impossible." Du Lan's fingertips dug into his thick hair, her breath still trembling, but she still coaxed him patiently, "Just write it like this. I don't want you to be caught in the middle and feel embarrassed."
A muffled groan escaped from Chen Jinshi's throat, but his teeth loosened their grip and he just rubbed it lightly with his lips.
"Emu has spoken, so I will naturally listen to him."
Like a beast that was in a bad mood but couldn't bear to hurt anyone, he raised his hand and gathered the ends of her hair scattered around her waist. Her waist and abdomen were also wet with sweat. When she looked up, her face was a wet red, full of desire.
She raised her hand and ran it along his back, gently smoothing the muscle lines that were bulging due to tension. Her voice was as soft as if soaked in warm water: "Do you know what to do? Hmm? Jinshi."
He was so soft-hearted, look at his mother, who only cared about him.
He raised his upper body, with wet marks under his eyes and at the corners of his mouth. He reached out and pinched her chin, lowered his head and kissed her, but she gently avoided it.
"I know. I'll ask someone to survey it tomorrow." He gently stroked her chin with his thumb, with a bit of grievance, "Am, you hate yourself."
He wiped his lips, put his nose against hers, his Adam's apple rolled, and there was a hint of laughter in his voice: "Do you dislike me or yourself?"
Du Lan turned her head away and pressed her hand down on his head: "Do your thing."
After a long while, her breathing gradually became rapid and steady, but she suddenly spoke, her voice hazy as if she had just woken up: "By the way, Dad asked you to help him dry his blanket. It got wet in the rain a few days ago. Did you dry it?"
Chen Jinshi paused and carried her to the couch: "I didn't forget. I've dried it in the sun. Don't worry."
He placed Dulan steadily on the couch, her fingertips still hooked on the hem of his clothes, and her voice was soft and sticky: "Is it really dried? Don't forget it again, Dad was still talking about it yesterday."
Chen Jinshi leaned over and tucked the corner of the quilt for her, rubbing his fingertips across her flushed cheeks, a smile in his eyes: "It really did dry out. I left it to dry under the banyan tree in the corner of the yard. The wind is strong, so it should be dry by now." He paused, then added, "I turned it over twice, and it didn't wrinkle."
Du Lan then let go and huddled into the quilt, her eyelids gradually growing heavy: "That's good..." As soon as she finished speaking, her breathing became slow, and she was obviously extremely tired and fell asleep.
Chen Jinshi woke up at dawn.
The memorial written last night to be sent back to the capital by express horse was half stained with ink and the other half was wet from her buttocks.
It was a rare occasion that he woke up earlier than her. Her breathing was shallow, and he carefully moved his arm away and stood up.
Outside the courtyard, Zhao Desheng was already waiting with five members of the survey team. Each of them carried a cloth bag on his back, which contained a wooden shovel for measuring soil, a wooden ruler for measuring water depth, and a piece of linen with a grid pattern on it.
"Master Chen, what do you say?"
"Let's go and see the sandy land in the east first. If there's hope of converting it into arable land, we can convince the Emperor."
As the group reached the door, Du Lan followed out wearing her coat. The morning mist wet the ends of her hair, and tiny water droplets hung on her eyelashes.
"Jinshi, why don't you wait for me?"
Chen Jinshi's fingertips touched her slightly cool hand, and he couldn't help but squeeze it: "Why don't you sleep a little longer?"
"You're going to the east. It's all sandy over there. Without a leader, it's very easy to get lost. It's even possible for both people and horses to get stuck." Du Lan said, turning back to put on his clothes. "Wait, I'll go with you."
Du Lan grabbed the outer robe draped over the chair and put it on quickly.
Zhao Desheng stopped her and said, "Dulan, just wait at home. We will be back soon."
"I've been running around those places since I was a kid. I know better than you which land is safe to walk on and which is dangerous. Besides, you're testing the soil to find water sources. I know where the water sources are deep in the sand, so you don't have to search blindly."
Chen Jinshi didn't stop her anymore. Some things could be saved a lot of trouble with her around.
The group set off on horseback. After about two hours, they saw a stretch of yellowish sand in front of them.
Du Lan was the first to dismount, walked a few steps forward on the gravel, bent down and grabbed a handful of sand: "The surface is fine sand, there should be clay underneath, go a little further."
Dulan twisted the sand in her hand, the roughness of the sand still lingering on her fingertips. She pointed deep into the sand and said, "Go this way, about half a mile away, the clay underneath is thicker, and you can even find damp soil."
Chen Jinshi followed her forward, sand seeping into the seams of his shoes and irritating the soles of his feet. After walking for about a quarter of an hour, Du Lan suddenly stopped, bent down, and dug into the sand with her hands. Sure enough, dark brown clay was revealed underneath. She sprinkled some water on the clay, and it immediately clumped together.
"Mark it on the map quickly!" Zhao Desheng's eyes lit up and he immediately asked the team members to take out the tools.
Some people used wooden shovels to dig deep pits, while others spread linen on the ground to record the thickness of the soil.
In order to convince the emperor not to touch the grassland, the possibility of converting the sandy land into arable land had to be described in as much detail as possible in the memorial.
Chen Jinshi squatted beside the clay, pressing the moist soil with his fingertips, feeling its stickiness. "This sandy land has good water retention. As long as it's improved with black soil from the pasture, we can grow corn or oats."
Du Lan turned and walked to the other side of the sand. After a few steps, she suddenly stopped, bent down and stepped on the sand: "The sand here is more solid, there must be hidden water underneath." She asked the team members to bring a wooden shovel and dig down about two feet. Sure enough, clear water slowly seeped out and soaked the surrounding sand.
"As long as there is a water source here, there will be no problem diverting water for irrigation."
Chen Jinshi breathed a sigh of relief and took out a pen and paper to carefully record the data.
If this piece of sandy land can really be turned into arable land, it will be a good thing for the people of Loufan.
However, the conversion of sandy land into arable land can only be said to be "promising" at present. If the emperor insists that he can't wait...
Chen Jinshi was thinking about the fastest improvement plan in his mind, such as continuously adding decomposed fertilizer and mixing in clay and silt.
In any case, it will take two years.
He looked up at Du Lan, wanting to discuss something with her, when suddenly a burst of hurried horse hooves sounded in the distance.
The dust was blown towards this side by the wind.
"It's that supervisor!" Zhao Desheng was the first to react, his face darkening. "He's only been here for two days, why the hell is he in such a hurry? I doubt the emperor ordered him to do this!!"
A dozen guards came galloping over on horseback. The leader, holding the governor's token, reined in his horse and said, "Sir Chen, the governor has received the emperor's order. You have one hour to return to the yamen and take him to the southern grasslands to begin surveying. If you delay any further, don't blame the governor for disobeying his order!"
Chen Jinshi's eyes were filled with coldness. "Who exactly is disobeying the imperial order? The emperor sent me here to appease the tribes and stabilize the border defenses, not to allow you to seize the pasture. If you force the herders to rebel, what crime will he be punished for?"
The guard sneered, "The herdsmen have no weapons or swords, they are just a bunch of flesh and blood. If they rebel, any army from the imperial court can wipe them out!"
Chen Jinshi took a sudden step forward, his hand on the sword at his waist, the murderous intent in his eyes almost overflowing.
He took a few steps forward, jumped up, and chopped off the man's head with his sword.
"They are flesh and blood, but I, Chen Jinshi, am still standing in front of them! How can I allow a bitch like you to provoke me?"
A cold light flashed, and the tip of the sword was pressed against the guard's throat.
The guard was so frightened that his whole body froze, and cold sweat instantly soaked his robes.
Lord Chen's movements were too fast! He could have definitely stabbed me through with one sword!
Isn’t he a civil servant who graduated as a Jinshi?
"If you dare say another word, I'll chop you down right now!" Chen Jinshi's eyes were fierce, and his voice was cold. "Go back and tell your supervisor, if you want to move the grassland, first test your neck! As for the imperial order, I will personally write a memorial to the emperor to plead my case. It's not his turn to dictate!"
Du Lan reached out and quietly tugged at his sleeve, and Chen Jinshi's face suddenly became embarrassed. It had indeed been a long time since he had done anything so roughly.
The guards dared not stay any longer and hurriedly fled on horseback with their men.
Looking at their embarrassed backs, Zhao Desheng cursed, "They should have been punished like this a long time ago!"
Chen Jinshi sheathed his sword, the coolness of the hilt still lingering on his fingertips. He turned to look at Du Lan: "Did I scare you just now?"
Du Lan shook her head and reached out to straighten his collar, which had been ruffled by the wind. "They were the ones who started to speak without restraint. You did nothing wrong." She paused and said coldly, "Hearing him talk like that, I wanted to chop off his head, too."
Dulan recalled the experience of her family being almost beheaded many years ago, and she deeply realized that no one took their lives seriously, no matter which court it was.
Chen Jinshi clenched her hand and said, "That person made a random order. I assure you that the emperor has absolutely no such intention."
Dulan knew this.
Over the years, the emperor has been acting according to the advice she gave him, but this time the "military settlement policy" was a bit radical.
This just shows that the emperor trusts Chen Jinshi. He wants to make trouble for Chen Jinshi, but he is also waiting for this memorial from Chen Jinshi to see how he will solve this trouble.
Hearing him say this, Du Lan laughed: "You said bad things about him last night, but today you are speaking good things about him."
Chen Jinshi corrected him righteously, "I'm not speaking for him. I just don't want you to worry. He would never really treat human life as worthless, otherwise I wouldn't work for him."
Du Lan stepped on his feet to brush the sand off his shoulders: "I'm not worried, go back and write the memorial."
That day, Su He rushed over from his home pasture and entered the Bingzhou government office for the first time.
Suhe was invited in carrying a cloth bag, bringing dried mutton and milk tofu, and holding Qiqige's hand.
As soon as Chen Jinshi came out, he bent down and said, "Father-in-law..."
Qiqige broke free from Suhe's hand and ran towards Chen Jinshi with his short legs: "Uncle, where is uncle?"
The little girl hugged his legs and blinked with her little face tilted up.
Chen Jinshi was amused by the question. He reached out and picked her up, weighing her. "I'm your only uncle, who else are you asking?"
Dulan came out from the inner room and reached out to take the food that Suhe brought her.
"Dad, how did you know I wanted to eat jerky?"
Su He glanced at her, put the cloth bag on the table, and said in a flat tone: "Tuya dried these the other day. She kept saying that you liked to eat them, so she insisted that I bring some over."
He glanced around the room, finally landing on Qiqige on Chen Jinshi's back: "This girl came to see General Xie and was so excited she didn't sleep for half the night."
Du Lan came over and pinched Qi Qi Ge's cheek: "General Xie is not here now, I will go find him for you."
Then she turned to Su He and said, "Dad, has anything happened at the grassland recently? The supervisor from Beijing almost tried to force his way into the grassland a few days ago."
Su He's face darkened. He sat down on a chair and took a sip. "Nothing happened, but a few herders said they saw their men wandering around the pasture's border at night." He looked at Chen Jinshi and said, "Son-in-law, do you have the ability? In your court, who has a higher rank, that man or you?"
Chen Jinshi put Qiqige down and said, "The Supervisor was sent by the Emperor himself. He has the Emperor's token in his hand. With the excuse of 'acting by order' in this matter, he really suppressed me."
Su He snorted, and Du Lan came over with freshly brewed milk tea and poured a bowl for each of them. When she mentioned "acting on orders", she thought of something in her mind.
Someone outside the door announced that Xie Qingyue had arrived.
Qiqige jumped up high and ran out with his arms wide open: "Uncle!"
Xie Qingyue picked her up and weighed her on his arm: "Qi Qige, you are so solid!"
Qiqige raised his chin and said, "Of course not! Grandma said that children need to eat more meat to grow up strong. Qiqige eats meat every day."
Chen Jinshi's memorial took some effort to reach the palace and be presented to the emperor.
A thin booklet was placed on the imperial desk. Xuan Che, who was sitting beside it, just glanced at it casually but did not pick it up to read.
The eunuch asked, "Hasn't the emperor been waiting for news from Master Chen? Why didn't he check first?"
Xuan Che was reading a book, leaning against the dragon throne, and snorted coldly: "I don't need to read it, I know what he wrote. I'm not waiting for news from him, I'm waiting for news that he will make a fool of himself in front of his father-in-law, waiting for news that he can't protect his family."
"Your Majesty, you're joking," the eunuch said as he poured more tea for the emperor. "If Master Chen can't even handle this little thing, then your cultivation and respect for him would be a waste."
Xuan Che closed the book and was silent for a moment. Finally, he reached out and picked up the memorial, flipped it open, and only glanced at a few lines: "That's it?"
He didn't have the patience to read Chen Jinshi's detailed description of the soil layers, water sources, and even the time and manpower required for improvement of the sandy land.
"I don't have that much patience to wait for him."
The eunuch asked, "How will the emperor respond? Will he approve his request, or..."
"I'm going to push him to the limit! Make him annoy his father-in-law! Force him to choose between the two sides!"
Xuan Che threw the memorial back onto the imperial desk, picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Issue an order to the governor. No need to wait. Lead the troops to the ranch to inspect it immediately. Be aggressive, but remember, this is only for intimidation. Do not harm the herders or their property!"
Ten days later, the atmosphere in the Bingzhou government office was somewhat tense.
Xie Qingyue had just returned from border defense and brought bad news: "The Supervisor couldn't wait any longer. He dispatched a group of soldiers from somewhere and camped outside the southern grassland."
Su He got anxious when he heard this and slammed the table and stood up: "Don't think that we herdsmen don't have weapons! I'm going back to inform everyone and fight them!"
Chen Jinshi quickly reached out to stop him: "Father-in-law! Don't be impulsive. If you fight hard, you will definitely not be their match."
Su He was impatient. He opened his hand, pointed at his nose and said, "I don't know which side you are from, but I don't trust you!"
Dulan didn't say anything at first, but seeing the two of them like this, she quickly stepped forward and took Su He's arm, her voice softening: "Dad, I'll go back with you."
"Chen Jinshi, do what you should do and don't disobey my order." She said to him.
Chen Jinshi was left where he was, looking helpless.
At the same time, another decree was issued from the capital.
"When the conflict between the governor and the Loufan herdsmen reaches its peak, don't wait for Chen Jinshi to make a decision. I will order Xie Qingyue to send troops to suppress the governor's side. On the surface, it will be Xie Qingyue who saved their southern pastures. The people there have always trusted Xie Qingyue. Now, it will be much easier for Xie Qingyue to help the court pay tribute to the Loufan horses and persuade them to submit to the court."
Chen Jinshi, now the son-in-law, would be of little use. To Xuan Che's surprise, Xie Qingyue, whom he had always ignored, was incredibly popular in Loufan. So, why not let Xie Qingyue handle the task of pacifying the border?
"Your Majesty is wise. But what if General Xie also sides with you and doesn't follow your Majesty's wishes?"
"Xie Qingyue is not Chen Jinshi. He's not that crazy, nor that stupid. Besides, submitting to me won't harm Lou Fanren. What can't Xie Qingyue do? Besides, his family is all in the capital. He'll have to come back sooner or later."
The eunuch praised the emperor's wisdom and asked, "General Xie will be asked to take over Lord Chen's affairs. What will Lord Chen do then?"
"Call him back to the capital."
—
One day, Xuan Che was sitting in the imperial garden drinking tea and listening to opera. It was such a leisurely and comfortable day.
Since he came to power, the court has been stabilized. All he needs to do next is to resolve the border issues, and his throne will be secure. No old ministers will dare to find fault with him anymore.
The plans have been carefully prepared and the imperial edict has been issued. All that is left is for Xie Qingyue to successfully subdue Loufan and return to the court to report.
A eunuch hurried over, carrying official documents from the frontier. Xuan Che stopped rocking and glanced at him, "How is it? Has Xie Qingyue 'saved' them, and is he now being grateful to the people of Loufan?"
"Your Majesty, something went wrong. Not to mention General Xie sending troops to suppress it, the Supervisor and those herdsmen couldn't even start a quarrel."
Xuan Che instantly sat up straight in his chair: "How dare Su Bingzhi disobey my order? Can't he even be a supervisor?"
The eunuch took out a jade pendant from the letter from the northern border and said, "Your Majesty, please look at this. Seeing your jade pendant is like seeing yourself. How can you give this away so casually? If Lord Su sees this, he will be in trouble."
Xuan Che didn't recognize her at first, but after looking at her for a while, he finally recognized her. His face seemed to freeze, and then he slowly broke into a smile.
"Since I've given it to her, I'll naturally let her do as she pleases. However, after all these years, if she dares to use it, she must have known there would be a price to pay."
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