Chapter Sixteen
Gu Leyao named the puppy Kaixin (Happy) and prepared a special puppy house for it when she got home.
The doghouse is shaped like a small wooden house, with a cushion stuffed with this year's new cotton inside.
You'll feel so happy to sleep inside at night; it'll be soft, warm, and cozy.
Gu Leyao summoned the family doctor to examine the puppy's leg injury and discovered that Kaixin's hind leg was indeed broken.
Gu Leyao had seen in the original owner's memories that this kind of leg injury could be treated by binding a wooden stick to straighten the puppy's leg and prevent it from becoming lame in the future.
Happy, the puppy, settled down in the Prince's Mansion. Perhaps because it had suffered a lot before, it was a very well-behaved dog. It didn't urinate indiscriminately. After Gu Leyao taught it a few times, Happy learned to relieve itself in the designated place. It was usually a clean and steady little dog, and could be considered a little angel in the canine world.
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The housekeeper was very efficient; he had purchased a batch of fruit trees over the past few days.
Gu Leyao asked Chun Tao to discuss planting fruit trees with the housekeeper. Chun Tao's family used to grow crops, and she had been engaged in a lot of farm work since she was a child, so she was very good at it.
In the end, they planted a decades-old jujube tree in Gu Leyao's yard, put red carp and light pink lotus flowers in the pond, and planted a circle of peach trees around the perimeter of the yard.
Gu Leyao also had them transplant grapevines and installed a long stone bench under the grapevines.
In this way, when autumn comes, the grapevines will grow lush and leafy, and they can sit under the grapevines to enjoy the cool shade.
At Gu Leyao's urging, Li Heng also planted pear and apricot trees in his yard.
Gu Leyao spoke very eloquently, describing the pear trees as pure white and beautiful when they bloom each year, resembling snow. She also mentioned the apricot trees, whose branches were laden with sweet, orange-yellow apricots when they bore fruit.
They could easily pick and eat the fresh, clean fruit right there in the yard. The pears were juicy, the apricots sweet—wasn't this the idyllic life that poets longed for?
Cherry trees, apple trees, plum trees, and pomegranate trees were planted one after another in the other courtyards.
Even in the open spaces of the Prince's Mansion, Gu Leyao had some watermelons, honeydew melons and other fruits planted for them to eat. Gu Leyao and Li Heng discussed having Chun Tao manage the flower and plant room of the Prince's Mansion in the future, as Chun Tao was very good at dealing with these crops.
The massive fruit tree planting campaign lasted for about ten days, and the entire palace was completely transformed.
Everywhere there were half-open fruit tree buds, and the view was filled with fresh greenery. Compared to when Gu Leyao first married into the Prince's Mansion, this place was much more vibrant now.
These past few days, Kaixin's leg injury has improved a lot. She's a restless little dog; leaning on her little crutch, she slowly shuffles along the ground. When she sees Gu Leyao and Li Hang arrive, she wags her tail and barks to welcome them.
Li Heng felt a little uncomfortable, as Gu Leyao always made Kaixin call him "father" and her "mother."
Every time Li Heng heard this, he wondered if Gu Leyao wanted to have a child. Was she hinting at something to him?
Gu Leyao had none of Li Heng's troubles. Since arriving at the Prince's Mansion, she felt like a fish in water.
Today, the steward came to her courtyard and gave her a monthly allowance of one thousand taels of silver.
After the housekeeper left, Gu Leyao jumped up and down twice with joy.
One thousand taels of silver is no small sum. As far as Gu Leyao knows, one tael of silver here is equivalent to one thousand yuan today, so one thousand taels of silver is equivalent to one million yuan, one million yuan a month!
Gu Leyao felt like she was being bombarded with money.
In her past life, she always thought about working hard and striving to live a life that everyone envied.
Having been given a second chance at life, Gu Leyao's mindset has changed. She believes that since everyone dies eventually, the most important thing in life is to experience happiness and joy. Many things are illusory, but happiness is real.
Gu Leyao thought for a moment and realized that she didn't seem to have anything that Li Heng would like.
He had gold and silver jewelry, and he had long since acquired fame and fortune.
Gu Leyao thought and thought, but couldn't think of anything she could be proud of.
However, Li Heng seemed to quite enjoy her cooking, always eating very well, chewing slowly and carefully, but also eating a lot.
In return, she decided to do the same and planned to cook something for Li Heng that he had never eaten before.
Gu Leyao remembered that the last time she went to the palace, the Empress brought back a lot of spices for her, which could be used as barbecue seasoning.
She asked the cook to prepare a lot of beef leg, lamb leg, and pork shoulder, cut them into small pieces, wash them with water, drain them, and then marinate them in advance with pepper, rice wine, a little salt, scallions, and ginger.
We also prepared some vegetables, such as eggplant, peppers, mushrooms, and chives.
Gu Leyao asked the cook to buy a basket of scallops so she could make some garlic scallops with vermicelli as a convenient side dish with drinks.
She plans to make some grilled skewers for dinner; it's simple, convenient, and most importantly, delicious.
Back in her modern days, Gu Leyao used to eat barbecue at least once a month.
She once suspected that the barbecue restaurant had put something on it that it shouldn't have. After a while, she felt that her mouth was tasteless if she didn't eat some barbecue.
Barbecue is delicious but can be greasy, so Gu Leyao also made some refreshing tea drinks to cut through the richness.
Lemons existed long before the Zhou Dynasty, but now they are called 'Western Region Oranges'.
Gu Leyao planned to slice some lemons, remove the seeds, add acacia honey, and make lemon honey water. Then she would put the finished drink in the freezer to chill it. The chilled lemon honey water would taste extremely refreshing.
In the evening, Gu Leyao had someone fumigate the courtyard with mugwort to drive away mosquitoes and other biting flying insects.
Then they set up a barbecue grill in the yard, skewered all kinds of meat, and lit the charcoal, which glowed red.
Gu Leyao asked Li Heng to get two skewers of meat to grill as well. Li Heng skillfully flipped the bamboo skewers on the charcoal grill, sprinkling some cumin and white sesame seeds on them from time to time.
The aroma wafted over, and Gu Leyao was pleasantly surprised to find that Li Heng's grilling skills were surprisingly good.
She had assumed that someone like Li Heng, a nobleman, would never lift a finger.
She smiled and praised Li Heng, "I never expected you to have such a talent for grilling meat skewers!"
Gu Leyao poured herself a glass of honey lemon water, which tasted sweet and sour and was very delicious.
She had originally intended to pour Li Heng a cup, but he shook the wine pot in his hand, indicating that he had wine.
Li Heng took a bite of meat and drank half a pot of wine. He looked at the slowly burning charcoal fire with a nostalgic expression. "Back in the army, my brothers and I often grilled meat together. The meat was just local wild game, and we didn't use such good spices. We just sprinkled some salt on it and grilled it until it was cooked, and it tasted delicious."
As the wine flowed into his sorrowful heart, he recalled his past life in the army. Back then in the northern frontier, sandstorms raged everywhere, and the cold winter wind felt like a knife cutting into flesh.
The soldiers were stationed at the border. Although it was tough and tiring, their brothers were all there. They ate the coarsest food, drank the dirtiest wine, and laughed loudly. No one ever complained.
Unfortunately, the general died in a hundred battles, and the brave warrior returned after ten years. His comrades were buried in the biting cold wind of the northern frontier, and Li Heng's legs were crippled for life in front of the royal court in the northern frontier. He never stood up again. [1]
Li Heng, his eyes blurry with drunkenness, looked at the leaping flames, picked up the wine jug beside him, and poured the fine wine onto the ground without hesitation.
"To the warriors who fought for our Great Zhou and died in the northern frontier, may their spirits in heaven return and find their way home."
Looking at Li Heng like this, Gu Leyao suddenly felt that the gentle and composed Prince Dingbei she knew before was just a mask this man was wearing.
The Li Heng she had seen before was like a tiger with its teeth pulled, forced to cower in a cage.
This man's truly good times were during the period when he fought on the battlefield, pacified the north, and recovered lost territory.
Gu Leyao wondered how dashing Li Heng must have been back then.
Before his legs were crippled, Li Heng pacified the north, turning the tide of the war between the Great Zhou and the Northern Barbarians. From then on, the Great Zhou had the upper hand, and the Northern Barbarians suffered repeated defeats. How spirited he must have been back then.
Unfortunately, both his legs were crippled, and he would never be able to return to the northern frontier in this lifetime.
No wonder in the original owner's memory, Li Heng died of depression a few years later. He had such a glorious and brilliant time, and had such good brothers who were loyal to him through thick and thin. How could he endure the boundless loneliness and embarrassment?
Gu Leyao reached out and grasped Li Heng's hand, remaining silent for a long time.
Saying anything at this moment would be superfluous.
Li Heng drank a lot of wine that day, and he sang loudly as if no one else was around, “How can it be said that we have no clothes? We share the same robes with you. The king is raising an army, let us prepare our spears and shields, and fight together with you. How can it be said that we have no clothes? We share the same undergarments with you. The king is raising an army, let us prepare our spears and halberds, and fight together with you. How can it be said that we have no clothes? We share the same outer garments with you. The king is raising an army, let us prepare our armor and weapons, and march together with you.” [2]
Later, Gu Leyao and Li Qi took him back to the courtyard and let him rest.
Gu Leyao hesitated for a moment, then asked Li Qi in a low voice, "Are the prince's guards numbered? I've never seen anyone else besides you, Li Jiu, and Li Shi."
Li Qi was surprised that Gu Leyao would ask this question. He paused for a moment before saying, "Back then, the prince had ten personal guards, but the other brothers all died in battle. They all stayed in the northern frontier and never came back."
Many brothers have been lost, their remains never found. The mountains of corpses and seas of blood are indistinguishable from one another's.
Gu Leyao bit her lip. "I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
Li Qi waved his hand, "This has nothing to do with Your Highness. Everyone here volunteered to follow the Prince into battle. To die for the country is our honor. In fact, since you came to the Prince's residence, we all feel that the residence is much brighter than before. Li Jiu, Li Shi, and I are very grateful for your arrival."
Li Qi's usually expressionless face appeared very gentle. He said, "Your Highness, we are all very grateful to you. Since you came, the Prince's smile has become much more frequent. Thank you for being willing to marry into the Dingbei Prince's Mansion."
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