The two left the general's mansion as darkness fell.
Lu Qiqi's stomach was empty at the moment. Since she had already been granted permission to leave the military camp, she might as well go back and have a good meal before returning to the camp.
She then spurred her horse to change direction and galloped toward the house where Ren Yuan had lent her the lodging.
The sound of hooves came to an abrupt halt in front of the courtyard gate. Lu Qiqi dismounted, and An Yi followed closely behind, taking the reins she handed him and standing there waiting.
In this border town, the days are short and the nights are long; it is already completely dark today.
Lu Qiqi walked to the courtyard gate and could see the light coming through the window through the crack in the door.
She knocked on the courtyard gate and called out, "Second Brother!"
Soon they heard the sound of the door opening inside. As soon as the gate opened, Li Changlong saw who it was and his eyes lit up.
"Qiqi, you're back!"
Although this isn't her own house, Lu Qiqi is always happy to see her family.
But it was precisely because they were family that she couldn't hide her little emotions. She couldn't help but complain in a low voice, "Second brother, is there anything to eat? I'm so hungry."
Li Changlong was clearly taken aback. He had thought that Lu Qiqi's sudden departure from the military camp meant that she had something important to tell him, but he didn't expect that she was just hungry.
He couldn't help but find it a little funny. "Yes! Second brother will make it for you right now!"
After he finished speaking, he saw a tall man in black standing outside the courtyard.
A moment of curiosity struck me, "Who is this?"
Lu Qiqi explained, "Song Yanqing's guards, Second Brother, it's curfew now, let's go inside and talk."
The curfew in the border town is strict; after all, it is a border area and not to be taken lightly.
Li Changlong was well aware of this, so he quickly invited the two men into the house and led the two horses to the backyard.
Lu Qiqi and An Yi entered the house one after the other.
As soon as I entered the room, I saw Zhou Yi, who was reading a book of the Three Character Classic.
Hearing someone enter the house, footsteps echoed one after another. Zhou Yi looked up curiously and saw Lu Qiqi and a stranger.
He closed the book and placed it on the table, saying, "Miss Lu is back."
Lu Qiqi nodded, sat down at the square table, and gestured for An Yi to sit down as well.
An Yi stood respectfully to the side, not sitting with her.
In his view, the Crown Prince treated this Princess Kang Le very differently, and he was worried that she might become his Crown Princess someday.
It's probably against etiquette for him to sit at the same table as the Crown Princess today.
Monday morning, he got up and poured tea for the two of them.
Lu Qiqi took a sip of tea, picked up the Three Character Classic and flipped through it a few times, discovering that there were notes on it.
Judging from the notes, the writer was young and his writing skills were immature, but he was very diligent and eager to learn.
Lu Qiqi raised an eyebrow and asked, "The ink on this book, you didn't write it, did you? Where did this book come from?"
On Monday, Zhou Yi didn't expect Lu Qiqi to ask such a question. He didn't react for a moment and stood there thinking about how to reply.
His hesitant manner piqued Lu Qiqi's curiosity. She said, "It's a good thing to be eager to learn and ask questions, so why are you stammering?"
Li Changlong led the horse to the backyard, fed it some hay, and as soon as he entered the house, he heard Lu Qiqi's words and teased, "This is the book of the young master of the Feng family. Zhou Yi and the young master of the Feng family are practically classmates now."
"Why half?" Lu Qiqi asked, puzzled.
Li Changlong washed his hands in the copper basin behind the door, wiped them with a clean cloth, and said, "On Monday, when I went to the Feng residence to deliver the letter, I happened to run into Miss Feng and Young Master Feng going out. The three of them went to a bookstore and bought a lot of books."
You asked him to practice calligraphy on Monday, and he casually mentioned it to Miss Feng.
It just so happens that Young Master Feng was lacking a study partner, so he would often daydream in class and was frequently scolded by Miss Feng.
Let Zhou Yi study with Young Master Feng; they can keep each other company.
In ancient times, children began their formal education at the age of four, but Feng Zijun has already been in school for several years.
Lu Qiqi thought that the two of them were not progressing at the same pace, so it would be better to find a new tutor to teach Zhou Yi calligraphy, and let Li Changlong learn it as well. It couldn't hurt.
Before she could speak, Zhou Yi said, "I listened to the teacher's teaching from the side. I don't know many characters, but I know a lot about farming."
Miss Feng then asked Young Master Feng to teach me the Three Character Classic, and asked me to teach Young Master Feng the methods of farming.
The Great Jin Dynasty has always prioritized agriculture, so as not to let Young Master Feng grow up with only a superficial understanding of farming.
Lu Qiqi thought about it and knew that it was mutually beneficial, so she didn't mention anything else. She just gave a word of advice: since you are learning knowledge at the Feng residence.
Regardless of the process, the proper etiquette should not be neglected.
She told Zhou Yi to prepare all the necessary items for the tuition and the students, since she had plenty of money in her pocket and nowhere to spend it.
Li Changlong also said, "Yes, yes, we must not neglect the proper etiquette. The gifts we gave were still too insignificant. After all, we are here to learn something, and we cannot allow ourselves to be looked down upon."
Feng Yu'er's suggestion of mutual teaching showed that she didn't mean any disrespect. The gift was meant for the teacher, and it wouldn't be right for the Feng family to have to pay for the lessons on Monday.
Once the matter was settled, Li Changlong went into the kitchen and busied himself for a while, quickly bringing out a steaming hot meal.
Lu Qiqi invited An Yi to sit down and eat, but An Yi insisted that etiquette should not be neglected, so she could only ask Li Changlong to bring over a table and divide the dishes into two portions.
Li Changlong made chicken stew with mushrooms. The chicken was probably bought from the street, and the mushrooms were dried shiitake mushrooms. It tasted extremely delicious.
Lu Qiqi, whose stomach was empty, drank half a bowl of chicken soup and instantly felt full, and her stomach felt much better.
After finishing their meal, Li Changlong and Zhou Yi cleared away the empty dishes.
A moment later, Zhou Yi handed Lu Qiqi two things.
One of them was a reply from the Feng family.
One is a house rental contract.
The reply did not clearly state the time, which actually made things easier for Lu Qiqi. After all, the military camp was different from other places, and she could not come and go freely according to her own schedule.
Feng Yu'er comes from a military family and must understand this, which is why she wrote a reply to her in this way.
The lease agreement for a house is quite interesting.
The name on the house's sign is Feng Yu'er.
As soon as she looked up, Zhou Yi hurriedly explained, "Changlong and I don't know many words. We were thinking of setting a date with the homeowner for half a month first, and then signing the contract after you come out of the military camp."
Upon learning of this, Miss Feng took it upon herself to make the arrangements.
Lu Qiqi never expected that she would be forbidden from leaving the military camp once she entered it.
If it weren't for Aunt Xiang's difficult childbirth and General Wu's eagerness to return home, which caused his old injury to tear, she would probably still be working hard in the military camp by lamplight right now.
Lu Qiqi carefully put away the contract and smiled gently, "You did a great job. It will be difficult for me to get out of here in the future. Take good care of yourselves out there."
She figured that Li Changlong and Zhou Yi still had plenty of money, so she didn't give any money to An Yi.
After all, it's better to keep wealth hidden rather than flaunt it.
Upon hearing Lu Qiqi's words, Li Changlong thought of something and his voice became somewhat urgent, "If that's the case, your birthday is only three days away, won't you miss it again?"
Lu Qiqi's birthday is on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. At this time last year, her family was on the road fleeing famine.
If you can't even get enough to eat and have to worry about your life every day, how can you expect to get through the days?
So much so that her whole family completely forgot about her coming-of-age ceremony.
Now, Lu Qiqi's birthday is coming up, and he will have to spend it alone in the military camp. Li Changlong felt extremely sad just thinking about it.
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