Chapter 209 Chapter 209 Update.
The news that Guanglu Xun was wounded by an arrow spread throughout the court and the country. Many officials came to visit his house. For several days, there was an endless stream of carriages and horses in front of the door. Chen Juan received them all on the grounds that the patient needed rest, and later went to his bedroom to report the matter.
I saw the imperial physician changing the dressing. Zhuang Gaiyi's wound was on his right shoulder. Due to the desolate border area, the available medicines were very limited, and no good doctor could be found. The medical officers accompanying the army were no match for the imperial physicians. In addition, he had to use his right hand to draw the bow and wield the sword to fight the enemy with the wound, so the wound never healed and later became necrotic, forming rotten flesh.
On the day of returning to the capital, the imperial physician dug out the rotten flesh, leaving a fist-sized hole on his right shoulder. He needed to change the dressing every two days, rest quietly, and avoid using his right hand so that the wound could heal. These were the imperial physician's instructions.
Now he was stripped naked while the imperial physician changed his dressings. One could see many scars on his chest and back from old injuries.
If an ordinary person had gone through the dressing change and cleaning process for the arrow wound on his right shoulder, he would have howled in pain. However, he didn't even frown, as if he didn't feel any pain at all.
Even on the day when they were digging out the rotten flesh, he didn't even utter a single groan. After the imperial physician finished digging, the sweat on his forehead was even thicker than his.
At this moment, after changing the medicine and putting on his undershirt, he listened to Chen Juan say who wanted to see him that day.
"The lord has returned victorious, and the situation in China and Korea has changed. Many have come to congratulate him. Even the Sili Commander, who once made such outrageous remarks and made a bet with General You, has wanted to meet the lord this morning."
Chen Juan waved his fan and said cheerfully, but seeing that he didn't smile, he took a step closer and said,
"However, Tang Guancheng hasn't come to visit us these past few days. Perhaps we can send someone to invite him."
"Stand back."
"yes."
Chen Juan withdrew and met the people from the catering department who came to deliver food. It was the director who brought a pair of kitchen maids to deliver the food, and the servant who served at the door took it. The manager invited the director to have tea in the side hall.
A servant picked out the dishes, put them on a carved lacquer table, and brought them to the bedroom door, saying:
"General, the lunch from the catering department has arrived."
"Who's coming?"
"General, it's Guan Daocheng and his two kitchen maids. They brought pine nut chicken rolls, amber lotus seeds, and eight-treasure river turtle soup..."
"I'll give it to you to eat at your door."
A disinterested voice inside said, "These are all delicious dishes made by the imperial family's catering department. Although they have chefs who are famous in Xijing, they can't compare to this kind of exquisiteness and elegance."
The servant thanked him but was puzzled. The general was strong enough to pull a seven-stone bow and eat and drink. Could it be that the arrow wound made him so weak that he couldn't even eat?
At Tang Guan's office, Ji Xu was handing over the prepared cakes and bait to Dao Guan's office as usual, and they were delivering them to various places. She just said in an orderly manner:
"This one is from the Forbidden City, these ten are from the Palace of the Imperial Court, these two are from the Changle Palace, and this one..."
She was referring to a pork skin pancake topped with beef broth.
"It's from Guanglu Xun's Mansion."
His portion was a little different, as it did not contain any pork. She still remembered that in the past, when she was in her hometown in Wu, in the dead of winter, he helped the villagers hunt a wild boar, boiled water and slaughtered the pig at her house, and divided the pork. She picked out a pig's hind leg to make ham, and he gave her his share of the hind leg, saying that he did not like pork.
At that time, there was no one in his hometown who didn't like pork. Any meat could make people crave it. Ji Xu thought that maybe it was because his family made a living by slaughtering pigs, and he was tired of eating it and didn't like it anymore. Later, he made a toothbrush with pig bristles and gave it to him, so that he didn't get the pig's hind leg in vain.
Recently, he was recuperating from an arrow wound, and Tang Guanchu also had to prepare his three meals a day. Ji Xu took note of this, but Tang Guanchu never cooked any pork for him.
Just as he finished speaking, Little Gourd came running over in a panic and said:
"Oh no, oh no! They say Guanglu Xun ate the fish and mushroom soup made in our soup room and got a stomachache!"
"What? Who told you that?"
Xu, the chef in the soup room, pulled Xiao Hulu aside and asked him about it. Xiao Hulu said:
"It was someone from the Guanglu Xun Mansion who came to ask for the imperial physician. I ran into someone from the Imperial Medical Bureau outside, rushing in, and was just following his servant to go see him!"
"Don't worry. Let's go to Guanglu Xun's house with the people from the Guidance Office to deliver today's lunch, and then visit the Marquis to see what's going on."
Ji Xu said that since this incident happened during her trial period, she must deal with it properly, so she persuaded the somewhat anxious Xu Shanren and went to his house.
His residence was in Changling Town outside Chang'an City. She had wanted to ask him for help with the closure of Ping'an Restaurant before, and had even come here to ask for directions. However, it was the hottest time of the year at that time, and the streets were filled with the chirping of cicadas. Now, the roadside was covered with piles of clear snow, and the breath she exhaled had turned into mist.
After showing the seal to prove their origin, the servant at the gate opened the side door to let the carriage pass. They got off the carriage outside the yard. The servant guarding the gate did not stop them and led them to the outside of the bedroom.
Some servants holding washbasins, towels and hot water came out one after another, and then the imperial physician also came out. Ji Xu asked about the situation inside.
The medical officer and the food officer were both officials of the Shaofu. The imperial physician was one rank lower. He bowed politely and said,
"I ate fish and wild rice soup and then drank tea. The two things counteracted each other and caused the abdominal pain. It's not serious. Just drink more water and you'll be fine."
While they were talking here, someone inside asked:
"Who's outside?"
Ji Xu replied through the door:
"Official Tang heard that you were ill, so I came to see you."
"Come in."
After she finished speaking, Ji Xu thought for a while before going inside. Unexpectedly, he was standing at the door, wearing a dark brown middle-length robe. He put one hand on her head and closed the half-leaf door behind her.
The bedroom was spacious, and candles were lit during the day, probably to facilitate his rest. At this time, the branch lamps under the corners of the walls were not lit, so the room was naturally dark. Ji Xu recognized him and said,
"You're injured, why don't you go lie down in bed?"
He didn't respond for a moment. Ji Xu always felt that the way he looked at him was like a leopard quietly looking at its prey. Not pouncing on it was just a temporary suppression of its nature.
After thinking about it carefully, she couldn't help but feel the hairs on her back standing on end at her own metaphor. So, she took the opportunity to put down the lunch she had brought in, moved a little further away from him, called him Guanglu Xun, and also called herself a humble official. She said:
"I heard that Guanglu Xun felt unwell after eating our fish and mushroom soup. I was very worried, but fortunately it was a misunderstanding."
"If I hadn't said I'd spoiled your food, you wouldn't have come to see me."
"It's the end of another year, and it's really eventful. I've been thinking about your injury the whole time. Besides, the Imperial Medical Bureau is also in the Ministry of the Interior, and you were a great contributor to the campaign against the Xiongnu. Your injury has spread among us a long time ago, and even the sparrows on the branches would probably be singing. Naturally, I heard about it too. Fortunately, it's not serious."
She put her lunch on the table, and remembering what the imperial physician said, she took down a purple-skinned silver kettle from the charcoal stove beside the table, poured a cup of hot water into it and placed it beside it, and was about to leave the room when she said,
"There's a pork skin cake with beef broth over it. Eat it and then calm down and cultivate yourself."
As she raised her foot to leave, she was unexpectedly hugged from behind. The arm around her waist seemed to brand her in his embrace like iron. She could feel a warmth beside her ear, it was his breath.
She tried to pry it open, but found that it could not be moved at all, so she let him hold it for a while and said:
"I have to go now."
"As soon as your trial is over, I will propose marriage."
His rough lips touched her earlobe.
Ji Xu nodded, and he finally let her go, turned his back and let her go.
By the sixth day of the first lunar month next year, she will have been one year old. Now it is the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the New Year is coming soon.
When Ji Xu was going back, she counted the days in the car. It was only half a month, which was almost time. What she had to do was to spend this half month, get the formal promotion, and truly become the official prime minister of Tang. When she thought of this, her heart couldn't help but feel warm.
At this time of year, envoys came to pay tribute and stayed in the residence of the barbarians, and needed their catering department to provide them with three meals a day.
However, this time Ji Xu did not draw lots, but the entire Tangguan Five Offices were responsible for the meals of the envoys.
She sent people to inquire about the envoys' preferences and dietary restrictions in advance, and then discussed a meal list with the food officials. As usual, it was drawn up on bamboo boards. Each department was responsible for the part they were good at, and then the cooks from each department took turns to lead the kitchen maids to the barbarian residence, so that they could work together to complete this reception.
"Daughter, daughter, when you come back from your next leave, your trial period will have been a full year. Will you be qualified?"
Early in the morning of the New Year, Mr. Zou from the government office drove a carriage and waited at the door to pick her up to go on duty. Because three meals a day were required all year round, the catering department had to have someone on duty every day, and they took turns to have their days off.
Yesterday was New Year's Eve, a major holiday, so some people had to stay behind to be on duty. According to the rules of previous years, those who were single, had no family outside, and lived and ate in the government office were usually left behind. These people were usually promoted from official slaves.
They would also get together for a night game in the yard of their residence, celebrate the New Year, and gamble until midnight.
Ji Xu also wanted them to have a good New Year, so he asked Ping'an Restaurant to send them some good wine and food, but he didn't keep too much for them, for fear that they would feel uncomfortable and start to flatter him.
He gave the food to Xiao Hulu and asked everyone to share it in the evening, then went home to celebrate the New Year with his mother and sisters.
She resumed her duty early this morning and was replaced by the same team from yesterday. Before leaving, she was adjusting her official uniform in front of the mirror when Tian stopped her and asked her something.
"Yes, when I come back on the sixth day, it will have been a full year since I started the trial period." Ji Xu said.
"Oh, my daughter is really capable. She finally made it through this year safely. After the New Year, you will be 10 years old. If there is another good family looking for marriage, you can't force yourself to refuse to meet them."
Tian was thinking about it, and her daughter agreed to it as she had promised at the beginning, and went out and took a car away.
Tian watched the official carriage leave from the door, and then asked Wufu to harness the family carriage and go out.
"Jindou, accompany me to the Tavern in the East Market."
After changing into a decent mink fur coat, he went all the way into the city and into the bustling East Market. The innkeeper greeted him with:
"Mrs. Tian, your glass couch is ready! I'll take you to the warehouse to take a look."
This glass couch took more than half a year to polish. The glass was bought from a Parthian merchant. The wood is top-quality yellow pear wood. The combination of the glass and the couch makes it incredibly cool to sit or lie on, especially in the summer. It cost a lot of money. Tian touched it and found it was indeed delicate and smooth. She nodded and said,
"Okay, you can assign it to my daughter."
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