Jin Hongye, the King of Zhenbei's number one fan
Chapter 47: Jin Hongye, the King of Zhenbei's Number One Fan
There were only three barbecued pork buns on the table, and he opened his huge mouth and ate them all in a few bites. Jin Hongye really wanted his mother to try these buns. His mother loved sweet dishes, and this bun would definitely suit her taste!
The chef who cooked the honey-grilled lamb he ordered brought the charcoal fire inside the tent and started grilling it. The aroma was already wafting out. On the counter was a dish of white-cut chicken, which he had never tried before. This white-cut chicken looked unappetizing, with pinkish-white meat and a hint of blood in the bones. There was also a small dish of cornelian oil on the side, which must have been the special dipping sauce for this white-cut chicken.
He glanced at General Qin, who had only half of the two plates of white-cut chicken left. He picked up a piece of bone-in chicken thigh. Oops, blood from the bone had flowed onto the meat! His hand holding the chopsticks paused for a moment, but he still firmly dipped the meat into the oil dish and quickly stuffed it into his mouth.
Wow, this chicken is so tender! The skin is so chewy, and the flavor of the dogwood explodes in your mouth. It's so delicious! Spitting out the leg bone, Jin Hongye's face is full of wonder. These generals really know how to eat! Maybe in the future, they will not only be comrades, but also become close friends who can talk about anything!
Soon, the whole plate of white-cut chicken was eaten. Half a chicken was not enough. General Qin had foresight. Facing the empty plate on the table, Jin Hongye came back to his senses, and his ears turned pink. He seemed to have eaten too much in front of the prince...
Before he could even flinch, a new dish appeared on the table: the roast lamb he'd ordered. The skin was even crispier this time, a subtle difference from the first time, and the meat's aroma was even richer. On his table were two plates of roasted meat and two plates of roasted bones. Oh, and he hadn't tried the wine the prince had given him yet; roasted meat and wine go perfectly together!
He picked up the small wine flask, poured himself a glass, and drank it in one gulp. Then he was stunned. His face turned red and he couldn't stop coughing. How could there be such a spicy wine? Jin Hongye knew that everyone present had turned their eyes to him. His back was burning...
"General Jin, are you... okay?" Chu Huaibei saw that his eyes were red from coughing, and the look in his eyes when he looked at her was wet, making him look more like a big golden retriever...
"Ahem, well, thank you for your concern, Your Highness. I'm fine, really fine." Jin Hongye pretended to be calm. He didn't want to know what the people present were thinking.
To show he was truly fine, Kim Hong-ye continued his meal, finishing half of the two plates of vegetarian dishes he had previously left aside. The atmosphere then returned to normal, with everyone chatting about harmless matters as they ate. Eating barbecued meat, gnawing on bones, and sipping fine wine—it was hard not to relax.
Chu Huaibei hugged Hu Zhi in the evening and slowly told him about some recent events. Hu Zhi would make a "hmm" sound from time to time as a response to him that he was listening. They both liked and enjoyed this old-married atmosphere.
"Huzhi, it's been so many days, and I still don't understand why the emperor sent someone like Jin Hongye. Do you think there's any special reason?"
"Well... maybe the emperor can't choose a better person at the moment." Sun Mingsi didn't expect Huaibei was still considering the purpose of Jin Hongye's visit. He couldn't say it directly, so he asked someone to interfere. In the end, the emperor had no choice and sent this person over. He was also very surprised.
"Huaibei, I've had someone check. This guy was a simple and honest martial arts fanatic when he was in Yangzhou. He had no party behind him. You may not need to pay too much attention to his purpose of coming here. Maybe it's just an accident." Sun Mingsi didn't want to say directly that Jin Hongye was his cousin and that coming here was an accident, with no other reason.
"Okay, then let it go for now. Since your people have already checked it, I feel more at ease." Chu Huaibei saw that there was something else in Hu Zhi's words. He was obviously reminding her that this man was harmless and Hu Zhi could not harm her. So just listen to him and stop worrying about it. It would also give her one less thing to worry about.
"Stretch your feet closer. I'll warm them up for you. Go to sleep."
"Okay." There was a slight rustling sound of fabric rubbing against each other in the quilt, and then the room became quiet, with only the steady breathing of the two people remaining.
Jin Hongye's alcohol tolerance was quite average. After drinking from the palm-sized wine pot, he began to feel tipsy. However, he was a good drinker, so no one noticed for a while. After the banquet, he returned to his tent and fell asleep. The attendants brought in hot water, but couldn't wake him up. They just gave him a quick wash, covered him with a blanket, and let him sleep.
The next day, he slept until noon before waking up. He was shocked. He had blatantly disregarded military regulations and failed to report for duty right under the prince's nose. He asked his two attendants sadly, "Why didn't you wake me up? I didn't report for duty today!"
"I called you and pushed you, but I couldn't wake you up. I have already reported your condition to Your Highness this morning. Your Highness knows that you cannot drink much. This is an accident and you will not be punished." The attendants were ashamed. They had never seen a general who could sleep so soundly. It seemed that they would have to control his drinking in the future. If there had been a Mongolian raid last night, they would not have been able to withstand the attack with his big body, and someone might have died.
"Ah, Your Highness is so considerate. No, I must go and thank you in person."
The attendant quickly grabbed the man and advised, "General, it's lunchtime now. The prince is having his meal. It's not appropriate for you to go over now."
"Oh, that's right. I'm hungry too. Let's eat first." He patted the follower's shoulder to indicate that he understood, turned and went into the tent to wash his face with cold water, waiting for the follower to bring his lunch.
Xue Zhan was also dining with Chu Huaibei in his tent today. After the three of them put down their chopsticks, Xue Zhan paused and said, "Qin Feng, do you think this General Jin is normal?"
"I think it's extremely abnormal! Flattering the prince!"
"Huh? What nonsense are you talking about? When has General Jin ever flattered me?" Chu Huaibei heard Qin Feng's outrageous adjectives and felt that he needed to refute them.
"That's what he did in the meeting room before. He responded yes to everything you said and nodded in agreement to every arrangement you made!" Qin Feng really couldn't stand it.
"If you say so, I also noticed it that day, Your Highness, Qin Feng is right!" Xue Zhan added fuel to the fire.
"No, he just has an empty head and doesn't know anything." Chu Huaibei was amused by their serious nonsense.
"Xue Zhan, the prince is now speaking on his side!" Qin Feng was anxious.
"Your Majesty, shall we continue to observe and make our decision?"
"Okay, okay, you two continue to observe, I have no objection." Chu Huaibei didn't want to say directly that people had already investigated, so he let them observe for themselves. They would know the truth after a long time.
After observing him for half a month, the two concluded that, while they didn't know much else about him, he was definitely a follower of the prince. Just like the people in the military settlement, he took everything the prince said as gospel. Excuse me, but whether he was pretending or not, they both admired him.
At the end of the first month, Chu Huaibei received an express letter from the court stating that the newly made cotton-padded clothes had been sent out and were being escorted by Wei Zeng, the Imperial Censor of the Grain Transport Commission.
A few days ago, I received a court report announcing the punishments for all officials involved in this incident. The Ministry of Revenue underwent a major reshuffle, with former Minister of Revenue Wu Yi serving a ten-year prison sentence, while the eldest prince only spent a year in confinement. Being the emperor's son is a privilege; such a major incident was easily brushed aside.
Chu Huaibei slammed the official report onto the table, unsatisfied with the punishment. So many lives had been lost in the Northern Territory, yet few had been paid for. The higher the rank of a civil servant in the Great Xia Dynasty, the harder it was to kill. Tsk, she really still favored the Legalist approach to governance. This sort of thing would never happen.
Forget it, I won’t think about it anymore. The more I think about it, the angrier I’ll get. Chu Huaibei called his deputy general and prepared to go to the military farm to check on the wheat seedlings. There was a sudden snowstorm this year, and I don’t know if the wheat seedlings have a high survival rate and whether it will affect next year’s harvest.
Before leaving the barracks, I saw General Jin dressed in tights, sweating even in the cold winter, seemingly having just finished training on the training ground.
"Where are you going, Your Highness? Can you take me with you?" Jin Hongye looked at Chu Huaibei eagerly with his big, round eyes.
Chu Huaibei had recently heard that this Jin general was a skilled warrior, even surpassing even his own personal guard commander, Lu Shun, and that he was a clear leader in all kinds of competitions. He did have some merits, at least a significant advantage in the war against the Mongols.
Chu Huaibei thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll go to the military settlement to inspect the farmland, and General Jin should come with us."
"Oh, yes, Your Highness, wait for me to get the horse~" The voice had already run far away with the owner.
Chu Huaibei found it hard to understand when he saw the man's cheerful look from behind. He was just inspecting the fields, not going to fight in a war, so why was he so happy?
The deputy general glared at the man behind the prince's back, calling him a shameless fellow. But since the prince had already agreed, he couldn't say anything.
After a while, Jin Hongye rode his horse and ran to Chu Huaibei: "Your Highness, I'm here." He added a bright smile.
"Well, let's go, follow me."
After leaving the military camp, Chu Huaibei deliberately sped up. She wanted to see how good Jin Hongye's horsemanship was.
It normally takes half an hour to get there, but the three of them arrived in just two cups of tea. Chu Huaibei was very satisfied to see that he was neither blushing nor out of breath.
When he arrived at the military settlement, Chu Huaibei dismounted and went to the ridges of the fields to observe the growth of the wheat seedlings. The heavy snow had melted, and the weather had been sunny for several days in a row. The temperature had risen a bit, and the frozen soil had melted a little. At a glance, the tips of the wheat seedlings' leaves in most fields were yellow. He checked some of the fields and found that the main stems were fine. After a while, when the frozen soil melted completely and the temperature warmed up, it should not be a problem to apply fertilizer in time.
Jin Hongye knew nothing about farming. Seeing the prince carefully inspecting the land, he asked the deputy general beside him in a surprised tone: "General Qin, our prince also knows how to farm!"
Qin Feng didn't even turn his head, staring at Chu Huaibei's figure, and replied, "That's right, the prince is very proficient in farming. Don't you know that the curved plows and hoe carts issued by the Ministry of Works last year were all made by the prince?"
"Ah, I know this. I thought the prince could only make utensils." Jin Hongye had always been paying attention to the Prince of Zhenbei. Of course, he knew the utensils made by the Prince of Zhenbei, but he did not expect that the prince could also take care of the crops. Not even people in the Ministry of Works can do that. The prince is the prince, so amazing!
Thinking of this, the gaze on Chu Huaibei became even more intense. He didn't know when the prince would be able to go to the parade grounds. He was already the overlord of the parade grounds. Except for a few generals who had never competed with the prince, no one else was his match.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
