"The stone path is slanting up the cold mountain, and there is a house deep in the white clouds. I stop the car and sit to enjoy the maple forest in the evening, the frosted leaves are redder than the flowers in February."
Su Nuannuan held up the stone and looked at it carefully, her face full of confusion. She murmured, "What does this mean? Could it be that the clue left by Lord Long is in Yuelu Mountain?"
"Yuelu Mountain? How do you say that?" Duan Tingxuan never expected that his wife could catch clues from this poem that he had never thought of. He couldn't help but perk up and asked quickly.
"It seems that this poem describes the scenery of Yuelu Mountain. Don't you know that?" Su Nuannuan tilted her head and looked at her husband. It is impossible that the Tanhua Lang didn't know this allusion, right?
Duan Tingxuan really didn't know, but if that was all... He sighed and shook his head, "That's unlikely." Although he couldn't solve the mystery of the poem for the time being, he was sure that Long Pingzhang would not leave clues in Yuelu Mountain: "He has never been to Yuelu Mountain in his life, so how could he leave clues there?"
"Maybe it's not the clues he left behind, but maybe he found out some key person living in Yuelu Mountain?" Su Nuannuan put the stone down: "We need to think divergently, understand? Don't stick to one place."
"Now that you put it that way, it does make sense." Duan Tingxuan's face turned serious. "Then I'll tell Donglou to send two reliable people to Yuelu Mountain to find out if there is such a key figure?"
After saying that, he looked at the sky outside and murmured, "Where has Donglou gone? It's time for him to come back, right? It's almost dark."
"What does it have to do with us whether it's dark or not? We're meeting in a secret room anyway, why are you in such a hurry?" Su Nuannuan stood up and stretched: "Okay, I should go to the kitchen to cook dinner. Eat some snacks left for you in the cupboard. We'll eat when I come back."
Su Nuannuan walked out after she finished speaking, leaving Duan Tingxuan here to ponder over the white stone for a while, but he still couldn't figure it out after a long time, so he had to hide the stone. Sure enough, after more than half an hour, Su Nuannuan came back, washed her face and went into the kitchen again. She fished out two carps from the water tank and processed them skillfully. When the young marquis saw the tofu, he knew that his wife was going to make his favorite tofu stewed fish, so he volunteered to cut the tofu. After cutting, he didn't forget to show off: "Look, my wife. Although I'm not good at cooking, I'm still qualified to help, right?"
"Well, it's OK." Su Nuannuan pointed at the stove without raising her head and said, "Today I'm going to stew fish in a grass pot. I'd like to trouble my husband to help me light the fire."
"Okay."
The young marquis ran over and started a fire under the stove. After a while, Chang San's wife came back and saw this scene. She couldn't help but sighed: "What kind of status do they have? They are doing such a job. Even I can't help but feel sorry for them."
"Why not? Actually, I think it's pretty good. After a busy day outside, my wife will prepare dinner. I'll help her and we'll finish it together. When the food is served on the table, we can talk about family matters or discuss interpersonal relationships while eating. Although the life of ordinary people is plain, it is warm and sweet."
Duan Tingxuan said with a smile. As soon as he finished speaking, Chang San's wife looked at Su Nuannuan meaningfully and said softly, "My wife is so lucky. If it weren't for you in my heart, my cousin would never say such words."
Su Nuannuan smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, don't you know him? He has so many people in his heart, not just me."
Duan Tingxuan was adding firewood to the stove. When he heard this, he raised his hand and said, "You are wronging me. I didn't dare to say it before, but since... you are the only one left in my heart. It's not an exaggeration to say that I am devoted to you."
Chang San's wife laughed and said, "Sure enough, this is the truth. Otherwise, with my cousin's status and pride, how could he say it so smoothly? It would only make people laugh."
“Being loyal until death, what’s so funny about that?” Duan Tingxuan said seriously with disapproval, and then he sighed: “I only hate that I understood this truth too late, and I hate fate playing tricks on me, making me... But it’s okay, I finally met her, understood this truth, and tasted this kind of feeling, God has treated me well.” The words that he didn’t say were “I met her so late”, because he was afraid of arousing Chang San’s daughter-in-law’s suspicion of Su Nuannuan’s identity as a resurrected corpse, so he swallowed them back.
Sure enough, Chang San's wife said in confusion: "This sounds plausible, why don't I understand?"
"He's talking nonsense, sister-in-law, don't pay attention to him." Su Nuannuan said, and seeing Chang San's wife also washing vegetables and meat, she said, "Sister-in-law, what are you going to do? I stewed tofu fish, it's enough to eat."
"There should always be two dishes on the table. You stew the fish and I roast the meat. It's not a big deal." After saying that, he took out the washed meat and showed it to Su Nuannuan, smiling, "Look, I bought some good pork belly at the market today. It's best roasted."
Before he finished speaking, Chang San came back. As soon as he entered the door, he shouted, "I'm finally back. I'm very hungry. Bring me some food."
Chang San's wife said, "You're yelling for food as soon as you come in. Do you think I'm a god? You have to wait a while. I'm cooking the meat, which takes the most time. Fortunately, my sister-in-law's fish is almost done. Otherwise, why don't you have a bite first?"
Su Nuannuan knew that Chang San didn't like fish, so she quickly said, "Forget it, sister-in-law, don't cook the meat. I'll make a country stir-fry and stir-fry the leftover rice from lunch. Then we can clean up and eat."
"Well, my sister-in-law's country stir-fry must be delicious, so I'll try it." Chang San's wife was worried about her husband, so she agreed. Duan Tingxuan went to ask if Su Donglou had come back. Chang San said, "When I came back, I asked the doorman, and he said he hadn't come back yet. I don't know what delayed him outside. He is about to leave for Jinling. I think the King of Xiangyang must have something to tell him."
As they were talking, Su Nuannuan stir-fried a dish with tender garlic sprouts, pork belly, carrots, and the leftover shredded black fungus from yesterday, and then fried the leftover rice from lunch with eggs. At this time, the grass pot fish was also stewed, and Chang San came to help. He served the food on the table. The four of them sat around, and Chang San ate while praising the food. He clinked glasses with Duan Tingxuan and laughed, "Since your brother and sister-in-law came over, your sister-in-law and I have really enjoyed the food. I usually don't want to drink this aged Huadiao, but now I'm almost done with it."
Chang San's wife laughed and scolded: "You didn't say that you were greedy, what does it have to do with the food cooked by your brother and sister-in-law?"
Chang San said seriously: "Of course it's because the food cooked by my sister-in-law tastes good. If I don't drink a few cups, wouldn't it be a waste of the good food? The food you cook on weekdays is not worthy of me to open this Huadiao..."
Before he could finish, Duan Tingxuan laughed and said, "My cousin got drunk after a few sips of wine. Don't listen to his nonsense, sister-in-law." After that, he tapped the edge of the bowl with chopsticks and said to Chang San with a half-smile, "My cousin, think twice before you speak. After all, we can't live here forever."
This sentence made Chang San wake up and laugh, "Well... Actually, your sister-in-law's cooking skills are not bad, but she is not as good as your sister-in-law. In this aspect, I don't think many people can compare to her. There is no need to worry, hehe... hehe..."
Before he could finish his words, he was punched twice by his wife. After they finished their meal while chatting and laughing, Duan Tingxuan and Su Nuannuan returned to the bedroom. Before they sat down, they heard the bell ringing at the corner of the bed.
Duan Tingxuan smiled and said, "It seems that Donglou is back. Maybe something happened and he is anxious. It's just right. Let's take the stone over to show him." After that, he took out the white stone and went to the secret room with Su Nuannuan.
Su Donglou, who usually sat calmly while eating snacks, paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pot. When he saw the two of them, he hurried over and said, "This is bad. The King of Xiangyang has personally asked me to send my sister-in-law to the small kitchen in the palace to be a cook. What should I do? What should I do?"
"Tell me slowly, what happened? Did the King of Xiangyang speak? Did Lu Fengyu really persuade him? How is that possible? Didn't you say you no longer have any doubts?"
Duan Tingxuan was very surprised, but Su Donglou said anxiously: "I was also surprised. Later, I thought about it and there are only two possibilities: one is that Lu Fengyu is cautious and wants to test it. The King of Xiangyang is a suspicious person. Since his confidant wants to test it for him, he has no reason to refuse; the second is that they have no doubts about your identity, but Lu Fengyu, who loves to eat, wants to get my sister-in-law to satisfy his appetite. It was also my carelessness. I only thought that the prince always had to have face, but I forgot that the guy would give up his life for food. If he keeps lobbying, the prince will not be able to resist. But now... what should I do?"
"In fact, it's better to test it out." Duan Tingxuan sighed and said in annoyance: "Since the King of Xiangyang has spoken personally, then... there is no way back. Only Nuannuan and I can go there in person."
"No, I can't let my sister-in-law take risks. If it doesn't work, I'll send you two away." Su Donglou said decisively: "I complained to the prince and he still hasn't given in. Anyway, at most, I'll just be willful for once. It's not right for Lu Fengyu to always be willful."
"That won't do. How can you be so willful just because of a cook? You're not a foodie like Lu Fengyu. If Nuannuan and I leave, all the preparations for the past two years will be in vain, and your forbearance and grievances for more than a year will be worthless."
Duan Tingxuan said in a deep voice, then turned to look at Su Nuannuan, only to see his wife's face full of excitement. He couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "You, you only think about the excitement of this matter, but you don't know that it is full of dangers. That is the palace."
Su Donglou also said seriously: "Yes, sister-in-law..."
After saying only five words, he was interrupted by Su Nuannuan, who only heard her say, "It's useless for you to worry here. There are only two ways now, retreat or not. If you retreat, all the previous things will be in vain. The price is too terrible. You obviously can't afford it, so you have no choice but not to retreat. Since we are not retreating, what we should think about now is how to maximize our own safety, instead of just emphasizing the danger here. Things are in the hands of people. Donglou, you are the head of the entire southern six provinces. Mingyulou is full of masters and its military strength cannot be underestimated. Duan Tingxuan, you also said that the King of Xiangyang does not have many soldiers from the government to mobilize except for the guards of the palace. In this way, the comparison of the two forces is at least evenly matched, right? Even if we are exposed in the end, we can still protect ourselves, right? If it really comes to that, it is nothing more than Donglou's identity being exposed. It's better than the two of us running away now, right? If the two of us run away, Donglou will actually be exposed. Isn't that right?"
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