The General's Wife
Shen Jin yawned, "I'm a little sleepy."
"I asked the kitchen to cook porridge. Madam, please have some before you rest." Madam Zhao said, "The general has instructed the kitchen to prepare a good meal. Madam, you don't have to go to the front yard to eat with them."
Shen Jin responded, "Oh, right, I bought a litter of snow rabbits and asked someone to clear out the land where I used to raise rabbits, and put them in when they arrive."
"I understand." Seeing that Shen Jin was tired, Nanny Zhao quickened her pace, washed Shen Jin and changed him into new clothes. Anping had already brought back the mat and laid out the food neatly. "Anping, help Madam wipe her hair. I'll go make the bed for Madam."
"Okay." Anping agreed and carefully helped Shen Jin wipe her hair. After drinking the warm porridge, Shen Jin seemed to feel more energetic.
After Shen Jin finished eating and brushed her hair, she went back to her room to wash up. An Ping also combed her hair. Then Shen Jin could lie down on the bed to rest. When she really lay down on the bed, Shen Jin felt less sleepy and asked, "An Ping, are you okay after returning home today?"
"Not bad." An Ping rubbed Shen Jin's legs through the quilt and said, "The house has been repaired."
"Is Xile's family... okay?" Shen Jin asked hesitantly.
After Xile died, Shen Jin never mentioned Xile again except for sending things and money to Xile's family after he was rescued from the border town. Anping thought Shen Jin had forgotten about her or was still angry with her. After all, Xile cried and begged Shen Jin to return home for the sake of her family not long after the barbarians attacked the city. In the end, she was shot by a stray arrow while delivering food to her eldest brother. Now when Shen Jin mentioned her, he said with a sour nose, "Not bad, with the medicinal herbs given by the madam, Xile's eldest brother was also saved... Xile's younger brother is also much stronger."
"Yeah." Shen Jin closed his eyes, "Anping, I'm asleep."
Anping stopped and said, "Madam, please go to sleep. I will leave when you fall asleep."
"Oh." Shen Jin responded, turned over and fell into a drowsy sleep.
When she was half asleep and half awake, Shen Jin seemed to hear Chu Xiuming's voice, but because she was too sleepy, she did not open her eyes and continued to sleep.
Chu Xiuming came to deliver medicine. Madam Zhao said, "Don't worry, General. Madam will rest after dinner."
"Give her some of this medicine later." Chu Xiuming lowered his voice and said, "This is Madam's first time riding a horse. I'm afraid she will feel uncomfortable tomorrow."
Nanny Zhao also reacted, took the medicine and said, "I understand."
Chu Xiuming nodded and looked at An Ping who was standing beside him. "I know about your family's affairs. You should serve the Madam well."
Anping's eyes turned red and he said, "Yes."
Chu Xiuming didn't say anything else, but Nanny Zhao took out the sketch that Shen Jin had drawn a few days ago. Chu Xiuming took a look and memorized it. Nanny Zhao said, "Madam originally wanted to dig a small pond in the yard, but the old servant persuaded her not to do so. The water in the pond is cold and it would be bad for Madam's health if she stayed too close."
"I understand." Chu Xiuming returned the draft to Nanny Zhao and left without saying anything else.
He was thinking in his heart that he should plant more fruit-bearing trees in the yard. Unlike Aunt Zhao, Chu Xiuming understood what Shen Jin meant when he saw the tree names that Shen Jin specially marked.
If it's a small pond, you might want to raise fish or shrimps so they can eat fresh food, right?
But they really can't be too close, so let's open up the courtyard next to it... Chu Xiuming thought about it carefully and came up with a plan. After returning, he went to the study and roughly drew it.
Shen Jin found that Chu Xiuming had suddenly become busy during this period, and even Chu Xiuyuan had disappeared. Shen Jin was happy about this. The litter of snow rabbits had been sent over and were raised in the corner of the yard. Moreover, these rabbits were treated much better than those Shen Jin had raised before. After all, her position in the mansion was awkward at that time, and she couldn't make too many requests. But now, she doesn't need to ask for anything, and everyone is doing well.
The snow rabbits not only have beautiful wooden nests, which are also covered with hay and small mats, but also have special feeding troughs and water troughs outside for feeding the rabbits, which are cleaned every day.
Every morning after waking up and having breakfast, Shen Jin would stroll to the rabbit hive, where he would see rabbits of all sizes jumping around, while the little ones would lie comfortably in the hive, sticking their heads outside and looking at the rabbits.
At the beginning, every time the little guy appeared, the rabbits would be scared to pee, but now they have become accustomed to this natural enemy who comes to occupy their nests at dawn every day, and have developed good habits.
At a certain time every day, the little rabbits would jump out of their nests under the guidance of the big rabbits, and then start jumping around here and there. The servants in the mansion would first fill the trough with rabbit food made from coarse flour and chopped cabbage, and when they saw the little one running from the general's courtyard, they would open the door of the rabbit pen and let the little one in.
With Little One around, there was no need to lock the door of the rabbit pen. Last time the big rabbit wanted to jump out, the little one, who was sleeping soundly, crawled out of the rabbit hole, rushed to the big rabbit, arched his back and whimpered, and drove the big rabbit back.
In fact, Little Bit is smaller than the two big rabbits now, but he is very strong. After a few times when Little Bit is around, the rabbits will not run out even if the door of the rabbit pen is not closed. Anyway, the rabbit pen is not small and is enough for them to play.
The little one would take a nap in the rabbit nest when Shen Jin was not out, and when Shen Jin came out, he would come to play with Shen Jin and return to Chu Xiuming's yard obediently before the sun set. Shen Jin was afraid that he would get lost at first, so he followed him all the way, but found that the little one had made marks along the way, and he would go back after smelling the way.
The skins had been delivered. Shen Jin picked out the ones selected for his mother and the others, then packed them and sent them to the two messengers. After learning that they could leave, the messengers packed their skins overnight and left before dawn the next day without even waiting for the farewell banquet set up by the people in the general's mansion.
They didn't even dare to rest along the way, for fear that Shen Jin would say something and have them captured again.
At this time, Chu Xiuming's memorial had already been delivered to Emperor Cheng. There was no mention of serious injuries in the memorial, and the handwriting was neat. Emperor Cheng read it for a long time, and asked someone to find Chu Xiuming's previous memorials. After comparing them, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. Even though Chu Xiuming tried his best to hide it, there were still a few weak strokes.
"Some people say that poetry, calligraphy and painting all have the spirit of the center running through them..." Emperor Cheng used his fingernails to mark two places on Chu Xiuming's memorial. Among so many words, he could accurately find these two places, which shows the importance he attached to Chu Xiuming's memorial. It can also be said that he was a taboo to Chu Xiuming. He did not say the second half of the sentence, "The calligraphy of the Earl of Yongning is really good."
The eunuch standing behind Emperor Cheng heard what Emperor Cheng said but did not speak. However, he silently completed the unfinished words of Emperor Cheng in his heart, "Poetry, calligraphy and painting all have the inner energy flowing through them, so those who are knowledgeable can predict a person's fortune, life or death."
In a memorial of more than a thousand words, Emperor Cheng was able to see those two things.
"But... maybe Earl Yongning is doing this on purpose." Emperor Cheng threw the memorial aside. "How can the Chu family be so ignorant?"
Li Fu had served Emperor Cheng for more than ten years. He knew that Emperor Cheng did not want an answer at this time, so he just pretended that he did not hear it.
"Forget it, we'll know when we get back." Emperor Cheng said with a smile, but there was a hint of severity in his eyes.
However, before Emperor Cheng could wait for anyone, he received a letter from the post station. Whether it was a memorial to Emperor Cheng or a letter from Shen Jin to Prince Rui, they were all delivered to Emperor Cheng. Emperor Cheng had them all opened. After reading them, he rubbed his brows and said, "Li Fu, ask Prince Rui to come in."
"Yes." Li Fu was also very curious about what the wife of the Earl of Yongning wrote, and Emperor Cheng couldn't stand it anymore.
Prince Rui was in the palace paying his respects to the Empress Dowager, so he soon arrived at the Imperial Study. Emperor Cheng directly handed the letter written by Shen Jin to Prince Rui. He did not feel guilty about opening his brother's letter. Instead, he said, "The Earl of Yongning guarded the border city for me and deterred foreign tribes. I am extremely concerned about the health of the Earl of Yongning. Of the seven sons of the previous emperor, only you and I are left."
"I am terrified." King Rui quickly knelt down and lowered his head.
"Hurry up, why are you and I being so formal?" Emperor Cheng was satisfied with Prince Rui's look, but he said, "Your daughter is like my daughter. Jiangnan has just sent a batch of brocade as tribute. Li Fu gave half of it to Prince Rui to take back."
"Thank you for the reward, my royal brother." Prince Rui said respectfully, then stood up.
After Prince Rui left the palace, he read Shen Jin's letter while sitting in the carriage. After reading it, he rubbed his brows and put away all the letters Shen Jin wrote to Princess Rui and Concubine Chen. He read the letter Shen Jin wrote to him. The content was very simple and clear. He asked about his health and said that everything was fine in the border town, so Prince Rui could rest assured. He also said that he had found a precious sword to give to Prince Rui. There was nothing else in the letter.
After returning to the Rui Palace, the Rui Prince took the letter to the Rui Princess' courtyard. Concubine Chen happened to be talking to the Rui Princess. After the two of them exchanged greetings, the Rui Prince took out the letter and said, "The third girl has sent a letter. It was sent directly together with the memorial to my brother."
"Really?" Princess Rui took the letter with a smile on her face.
Concubine Chen's eyes were clearly filled with joy, but she did not dare to speak. Princess Rui took Concubine Chen's hand and took the initiative to hand her the letter written by Shen Jin. The two of them began to read it as if no one was around.
Prince Rui helplessly took the tea and started drinking it.
"Girl Jin, really is..." Princess Rui laughed as she looked at the letter. Shen Jin wrote more than ten pages of letters to the two of them. It took her two cups of tea to finish reading it. When Princess Rui saw that Concubine Chen had also finished reading, she pulled her and said, "Look, she is still complaining about the two messengers, and the next sentence starts talking about the braised pork in the border town, but..." Princess Rui did not say anything more. There were all kinds of good things to eat in the capital, so how could she be happy about eating braised pork? Thinking of the letter for help sent by Shen Jin some time ago, Princess Rui felt distressed. After all, she had loved this child for several years. However, Concubine Chen did not know about the letter, and only Prince Rui and Princess Rui knew about it in the whole mansion.
Concubine Chen was a little worried. "Only the princess would not dislike this girl. After she arrived there, her temper became wild and she even complained about the two envoys." As if she was afraid of being blamed by Prince Rui, she explained slowly, "She is also stingy. Why don't you wait until the things come back and take me..."
"That's enough." Princess Rui also finished reading the gift list, but she didn't think there was anything wrong with Shen Jin. She interrupted Concubine Chen and said with a smile, "Jin girl just arrived at the border town, and everyone around her was sent back. I'm afraid she spent a lot of time thinking about these things. Your Majesty, I haven't seen the precious sword that Jin girl mentioned. Let me take a look at it when it comes back."
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