These past few days, the city gates have only opened at Chenshi (7-9 AM), and the curfew has been moved up an hour. Everyone entering and leaving the city is subject to strict checks, and even ordinary people can vaguely feel the tense atmosphere in the imperial city, so they dare not go out casually unless necessary.
If I really have to go out, I do it in a rush, finish what I need to do quickly, and then go home early to avoid the hustle and bustle.
Zhu Lin originally thought that General Yang and Prince Ming would lead their troops to attack the imperial city in the next few days, but unexpectedly, the other side did not rush to attack the city. Instead, they retreated ten miles, which really puzzled everyone.
"Regardless of their intentions, we must be on high alert. The army in the city must be on standby at all times. We cannot be careless," Xingxing said in a deep voice.
She and Zhu Lin had only been married for two days, but the situation in the palace was becoming increasingly serious. In the past few days, the emperor and empress's health had not improved, and the approaching army outside the city had added to their worries.
The people in the palace and the ministers have been worried in recent days.
The most carefree of all was Zhou Erfu. He didn't care about the situation in the city. If there was a rebel attack, he would take up his sword and go to help. He would do his best to help Xingxing and the Empress.
But right now he has something more important to do, which is to bring his future wife home. However, Chen Siqing rarely goes out. He thinks about her day and night and dreams about her, but he just can't see her.
After pondering at home for two days, Erfu, unable to bear the pain of missing his cousin Qing any longer, made a bold decision. Since the Chen family did not want him to get close to his cousin Qing, he secretly sneaked into the Chen residence to see them. He really wanted to steal his cousin Qing home.
But thinking that doing so would definitely ruin Qing's reputation, he had to give up the idea. So, he decided that it would be alright to send her a small gift.
So Sifu, who was always inseparable from Erfu, discovered that his second brother had actually gone out without telling him. Sifu followed him and found that his second brother first went to a hair salon to buy silver hairpins, and then bought hair ornaments, sachets, handkerchiefs and other women's items.
"Hiss, what is Second Brother doing? This is so strange. I must follow him and find out." Si Fu nodded to himself and then followed behind Er Fu.
They followed them until nightfall. Erfu hid in an alley not far from the Chen residence, while Sifu hid at a corner not far from Erfu. They stayed there for a whole day. The two brothers, who never dared to go hungry, didn't eat anything except breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Erfu was focused on seeing his sweetheart and had no appetite. He had also forgotten to bring any food with him. Compared to his wife, food was definitely more important, so he decided not to eat.
Sifu was afraid that if he left, he wouldn't be able to find his second brother when he came back. He also didn't bring any food with him, so he didn't dare to leave for a moment. He wanted to see what his second brother was up to and why he was keeping it from him.
As dusk fell, Erfu, who had been waiting and was about to fall asleep, suddenly perked up. He stretched his arms and legs, then rushed to the top of a wall in the Chen residence. Looking at the wall, which was taller than a person, he chuckled.
Then, gathering his strength, he leaped upwards, easily landing on the top of the wall, and almost without pausing, leaped downwards again.
Seeing his second brother already inside the Chen residence and out of sight, Sifu pondered for a moment, then followed suit without thinking too much and entered the Chen residence as well.
The two brothers avoided the guards of the Chen family mansion, turning left and right, passing through two long corridors and several hanging flower gates, and finally arrived at a courtyard.
Erfu stood in front of the courtyard, scratching his head with a silly grin on his face, looking like he wanted to go in but didn't dare to. Sifu was getting anxious for him.
Should we go in or not? Can't you just be quick about it and do whatever you want? When did you become so indecisive, Second Brother?
Normally, Erfu would have noticed someone following him by now, but today he was so focused on seeing his sweetheart that he ignored his surroundings. Moreover, Sifu also knew kung fu and had been deliberately hiding himself, so Erfu hadn't noticed Sifu's presence until now.
Inside the courtyard, Chen Siqing had just finished dinner and returned to her small courtyard from the main courtyard.
Her days were very simple. In the morning, she would learn accounting and needlework from Madam Chen. In the afternoon, she would go back to her own courtyard to play the zither for half an hour, then read for an hour, and then daydream for a while before the day was over.
With no entertainment in the evening, she took out the handkerchief she hadn't finished embroidering during the day and continued embroidering. Her personal maid saw this and advised her, "Miss, the light is dim at night. You shouldn't do needlework. Do it during the day. It's easy to hurt your eyes."
Chen Siqing didn't even raise her head, only muttering in a low voice, "I'll only embroider for a little while. It's too early to sleep, and reading is bad for my eyes. This little flower only has one petal left to embroider, and I can finish it in half an hour."
Since her mistress had said so, the maidservant couldn't say anything more, so she sat down and started embroidering along with the pattern.
"Ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh."
Chen Siqing looked up at the window and asked in confusion, "Why is there a rooster crowing so late at night? And the rooster's crowing is so strange, the sound is really awful."
Zhou Erfu, whose voice is unpleasant: "?" What sound should he imitate, a bird or a cat?
After thinking about it, I decided that imitating a cat's meow would be more appropriate, so I pinched my throat and meowed a few times, "Meow meow meow."
"A rooster and a cat? That doesn't make sense. Nobody in our household keeps these things." The maid stood up to go out and take a look.
Just then, another maid brought in a plate of fruit and mentioned, "When I came over just now, I heard a cat meowing. It seems that no one in the Chen family keeps cats. Where did this cat come from?"
"Remove 'seems like,' nobody in the Chen family likes cats, and nobody would keep one. Who knows whose it is?" another maid replied in a less than friendly tone.
In ancient times, cats were pets kept by wealthy families. Ordinary people would not keep them. They were not commonly seen, and not everyone liked them. Some people were naturally afraid of these furry little animals.
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