The General's Wife
After the two envoys were sent out of the general's mansion, Shen Jin forgot about them because she had nothing else to do. At this time, Shen Jin was sitting in the study, talking to Nanny Zhao while drawing on paper, "I think we can plant two peach trees and pomegranate trees in the yard." Peaches and pomegranates are Shen Jin's favorite fruits, and peach blossoms can be used to make pastries and it is said that there is also peach blossom wine.
Madam Zhao thought about it and felt that both pomegranates and peaches had good meanings, one for many children and grandchildren and the other for good fortune and longevity, and she exclaimed, "Madam has excellent vision."
Shen Jin drew four circles and wrote peach and pomegranate on them respectively. "You can put some grapes here."
Zhao Ma nodded. Grapes also symbolize many children and grandchildren... Hey, her eyes suddenly became subtle. Could it be that Madam wants a child? But it is also possible. Anping also said that Madam likes those small animals. It would be good to have more children. The Chu family is too sparsely populated.
Madam's body is a little thin, so it's better to nourish her body. There's no rush to have a baby, at least wait until Madam is a little older...
I don’t know if it’s because Nanny Zhao and Shen Jin have been together for a long time, but somehow she associates love with having more children.
"How about digging a small pond here?" Shen Jin asked with bright eyes. Back then in Prince Rui's Mansion, she envied the small pond in Concubine Xu's garden. There were not only fish in it, but also small turtles. If Shen Jin wanted to see fish, she could only go to the big garden.
Madam Zhao thought for a moment and advised, "The water in the pond is cold in winter, I'm afraid it will be bad for Madam's health."
Shen Jin responded with some disappointment, but also knew that this was for her own good, so he smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, there is a big garden anyway." Besides, Shen Jin was the only one in the mansion who would go to watch the fish, so there was no difference. It was not like in the Prince Rui's Mansion, where Shen Jin had to go when Shen Zi and the others were not there.
Thinking of this, Shen Jin felt satisfied again, "Then I can fence off this piece of land and raise some rabbits."
Aunt Zhao really couldn't bear to see Shen Jin's disappointed look, so she thought for a moment and said, "Why don't we have lunch? Madam has asked the general, maybe he has a solution."
The general once told his wife to pack up and prepare to move to the courtyard over there. Shen Jin didn't take it seriously when Chu Xiuming didn't mention it again after that. However, Nanny Zhao remembered it clearly. Besides, according to her understanding of Chu Xiuming, he would feel at ease only when all the people or things he cared about were under his nose.
Shen Jin smiled and did not mention the small pond again. He just said, "I don't know when we can spare some manpower to repair it."
When the barbarians besieged the city, they used everything they could to guard the city gates. Even the furniture was destroyed, not to mention the flowers and trees. The things in Shen Jin's room were purchased sporadically during this period. Neither the materials nor the styles were as fine as those that Shen Jin brought as a dowry, but they were not much worse to use.
Shen Jin would not feel aggrieved because of such a small thing. After all, she knew that Chu Xiuming had put a lot of effort into equipping her with a room full of things not long after the war. Moreover, these were all newly polished, not used ones by others. She was a contented person.
"When I went to see the two adults off, I took a look outside." Anping put down the work in her hands and said, "It seems that the repairs have been completed. I estimate that the craftsmen will be able to come to the mansion next month at the latest."
Shen Jin laughed when she heard that. Her dimples looked sweet and beautiful. "That's great. I wonder if Old Man Qiao will continue to sell sesame cakes."
If Chu Xiuming had not ordered all the craftsmen to focus on repairing the areas used by the people living in the border towns first, the General's Mansion would not be in such a miserable state today.
An Ping smiled and said, "When Old Man Qiao opens his shop in a few days, I will go buy some for Madam."
As expected, Shen Jin laughed even more happily. Nanny Zhao was thinking about choosing a personal maid for Shen Jin. After Xile passed away, only Anping was left, which was a little less.
"In fact, when the trade was opened, there were many novel foods there. I even saw people eating roasted insects." Anping remembered it clearly. She was shocked at that time.
Shen Jin's eyes widened, her pink lips slightly parted, and she said in surprise and confusion, "What bug?"
"The black ones are the ones crawling and jumping on the ground outside." An Ping just remembered that Shen Jin probably hadn't seen many insects, and no one had nothing better to do than catch some insects to show her. "I remember there were roasted cicadas."
Shen Jin wrinkled his nose and asked in confusion, "Will it be delicious?"
Aunt Zhao wanted to bring the general and his wife closer together, so she said, "If the lady wants to know, just ask the general."
"Husband, have you ever eaten insects?" Shen Jin's expression became even more conflicted, her brows slightly furrowed. Could it be that her husband really liked to eat these strange things, but he just endured it because they needed to eat together and he had to take her feelings into consideration?
Aunt Zhao didn't know what Shen Jin was thinking, so she smiled and said, "The general has eaten a lot of food, so there's no need to be so particular when he's on the march."
As expected, although Shen Jin felt that Chu Xiuming's love for eating those strange things was a bit...but she was still very considerate. As long as she was not forced to eat, she actually had no objection. If she really wanted her to eat, she didn't know if the chef here would use the method of making fish sashimi to help her cook raw meat.
Nanny Zhao thought that after she said this, Shen Jin would look at her with bright eyes and expect her to talk more about the general. However, she found that the smile on Shen Jin's face was gone. As if he was troubled by something, his eyes were blank and it was obvious that he was not paying attention to what she said.
Zhao Mama was somewhat helpless about this, but An Ping saw it and understood what Zhao Mama was thinking. Moreover, she had served Shen Jin for a longer time, so she knew that even if Shen Jin was in a daze at this moment, he would be able to hear the sound. She smiled and said, "Madam, there are many fun things in the market. That time, I met someone selling puppies."
"Ah?" After hearing Anping's words, he asked in surprise, "Really?"
An Ping said, "Yes, it's very cute, but my father won't let me buy it, saying that the family is too small to run around."
Shen Jin pursed his lips and said, "My yard is bigger."
"So if madam likes it, you can go and talk to the general and ask him to take you there." Anping said with a smile.
Shen Jin hesitated again after hearing this, "Will it be too much trouble?"
Madam Zhao also thought Anping's idea was good, so she said, "Don't worry, Madam. Even if you don't go, the general will go too. There's a big market every six months and a small market every month. It's the big market, so it's very lively and many people from the border town will go there."
When Shen Jin heard that he was just being taken there, he felt relieved and said, "Then I'll go talk to the general."
Madam Zhao said gently, "The general is not in the mansion right now. Why don't we talk to him after dinner?"
Shen Jin also remembered at this time that Chu Xiuming and Chu Xiuyuan were both out on business today. In the border town, as long as Chu Xiuming didn't want to, those people from the capital would never be able to find any trace of them.
Just then, Anping mentioned the border town. Shen Jin stopped drawing and asked, "Good Anping, what else is there besides the trade?"
Anping didn't remember it very clearly. She had also been there once when she was a child. "There are a lot of them, and you can exchange tea, salt and other things with others there. Madam, go and look around by yourself when the time comes. It will be meaningless if I say more."
Shen Jin thought about it and nodded, saying, "Okay."
"Why don't you continue to tell me what happened after the general chopped off seven or eight hundred and sixteen heads that day?" Anping was still thinking about it after listening to half of the story. "And the general is not here today."
Shen Jin was also somewhat moved, but he secretly glanced at Madam Zhao once, twice, and three times... Madam Zhao's eyes twitched and she said, "I'll go see how the lotus cake is doing in the kitchen."
"Madam, you've worked hard." Anping said quickly, "I'll massage your shoulders tonight."
As soon as the door was closed, Nanny Zhao heard Shen Jin's soft voice coming from inside, "After the general chopped off seventy-eight heads with his sword..."
"Madam, isn't it seven hundred and eighty-six?" Anping asked.
Shen Jin puffed up his cheeks and said, "The general said that it would be tiring for one person to chop off so many heads, so he asked him to chop off fewer heads."
"Oh." Anping felt something was wrong, but he couldn't tell exactly what was wrong.
Nanny Zhao outside the door silently stretched out her fingers and rubbed the corners of her eyes. It didn't matter even if there were 7,866 of them, because they were not really going to be chopped off. But the general was really something. Why did he say these things to the lady?
Chu Xiuming and Chu Xiuyuan came back in the afternoon. Shen Jin happened to have just woken up from a nap, so she was dressed up by Nanny Zhao, who asked Anping to bring some lotus cakes to the two of them.
Zhao Ma looked at Shen Jin, who was wearing a light blue dress. She felt guilty for some reason, as if she had washed a rabbit until it was snow-white, and then put it on a beautiful disk and handed it to Leopard. And Leopard...
Rubbing the corners of her eyes again, Aunt Zhao felt that she might not have slept well last night. It was clearly a light blue dress, what did it have to do with the white rabbit.
Chu Xiuyuan had already returned to his room to rest. He was seriously injured some time ago, and even if he had recovered, he would have to slowly recuperate. Chu Xiuming was reading a book. After hearing the report from the servant, he closed the book and put it back on the shelf.
"Husband." This was the first time that Shen Jin took the initiative to find Chu Xiuming. Chu Xiuming's yard was even emptier than hers.
Chu Xiuming responded without any expression on his face, but Shen Jin saw a hint of smile in his eyes, which confirmed that Chu Xiuming did not mind her coming to the courtyard to find him. "Mammy made lotus cake, would you like to try it, my husband?"
"Okay." Without using any servants, Chu Xiuming led Shen Jin inside. After Nanny Zhao signaled An Ning to hand the food box to Shen Jin, the two of them did not follow.
Shen Jin followed Chu Xiuming carrying a lunch box. He didn't walk fast, so Shen Jin not only followed him easily but also had time to secretly look around. He was so focused that he didn't notice that Chu Xiuming stopped. Before he bumped into him, a finger gently touched his forehead.
"Ah?" Shen Jin had already raised her foot, but then she put it back down obediently, "What's wrong with my husband?"
Chu Xiuming then put down his fingers and took the food box from Shen Jin's hand, "If you like, I'll take you around."
"Is it okay?" Shen Jin looked at Chu Xiuming expectantly, like a kitten waiting to be fed, and only at this time would it behave obediently and well-behaved.
Chu Xiuming's usually cold features softened a lot. He held the food box in one hand and stretched out the other hand in front of Shen Jin, palm facing up. Shen Jin happily placed her hand, which was smaller than Chu Xiuming's, in his palm. Although there were differences between men and women, Chu Xiuming was her husband... Even so, Shen Jin's cheeks were still flushed.
If Aunt Zhao saw this, she would no longer feel guilty, because before the rabbit was brought to the leopard, it had already happily jumped in front of the leopard on its own.
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