He completely ignored me and continued to walk forward, "I brought home some cooks from King Ruoqiang's palace, they are good at making roast beef. The lamb that runs on the prairie from spring to autumn, the meat is not old, too tender, fat." or thin, it tastes just right when accompanied with cumin Guizi and spicy Yanqi noodles, the kitchen is currently making it, best eaten when it's hot, how, huh, to describe the taste?"
I swallowed my saliva, my face was still expressionless, but my feet were already following him. Grilled meat is not popular among the Han people, in Chang'an lamb is usually boiled or stir-fried, when I really want to eat grilled meat I make it, but with my cooking skills like this, only our wolf race likes it.
I squatted by the fire, holding my chin with both hands, with my mouth full of saliva I watched every move of that Ruoqiang cook, that Ruoqiang cook was no more than six or seventeen years old, whether it was because of the heat of the fire or the look in my eyes, her face getting redder and redder and his head lowered more and more.
Huo Qubing pulled me to my feet, "If you keep glaring at him, we'll have minced meat." With all my might I smelled the smell of meat in the air, then reluctantly I followed him back to sit on the mat.
When the cook put the deliciously fragrant roast meat on our table, I quickly took a piece of meat and stuffed it into my mouth. After eating a few mouthfuls, Huo Qubing asked, "When I wasn't in Chang'an, what did you do?"
While eating I answered carelessly, "Nothing interesting, I'm just running a business. Oh, yes! I entered the palace, and saw Your Majesty"
Before I could finish what I was saying, a palm smacked my head, Huo Qubing angrily said, “You're crazy, aren't you? What are you rushing into the palace for?”
I stroked my head, then said angrily, "What's it to you? I'll do whatever I want to do!"
He looked at me hatefully for a while, then suddenly said, "Does my punch hurt?"
My eyes widened, I stared at him without blinking, "If you want to try the taste, let me hit you!"
Unexpectedly, he actually stuck his head forward, annoyed and amused, I pushed his head, "If I hit you, my hand will hurt too!"
With a gloomy face, he looked at me and asked me, “What did the emperor say?”
I tilted my head, then said while thinking, "He praised me a little, he said, luckily I appeared at the right time and was able to drive away the desert bandits, then he gave me some gifts. After that he smiled and said that after this I can often enter the palace to accompany Mrs. Li to chat."
"What do you think the emperor is?"
After thinking carefully for some time, I shook my head.
"What's the meaning of that shake of your head? Do you have no impression of the emperor at all?"
I said, "How could it be? Someone like that? My impression of him is complicated to the point of being difficult to explain. The emperor is actually thirty-seven years old, but looking at his face he looks like he's thirty years old, looking at his eyes like he's forty years old, and looking at his prowess is like twenty years old. He spoke to us kindly, intelligently and humorously, but I knew that was just one of his many ways of speaking. He seemed to harbor various contradictions, but was strangely able to reconcile them. He despised his position and did not care at all about Mrs. Li's family background, she also behaves very kindly to me, however, on the other hand, she thinks highly of herself, she doesn't want anyone to underestimate her position, when answering her questions I always kneel." After finishing speaking, I frowned.
Huo Qubing snorted disdainfully, "Obviously you could have stood outside, but you rushed in to kneel, suffer the consequences!"
Seeing her face harden, I couldn't help but say, "Don't worry, Madam Li is by my side".
He shook his head, his face still disapproving, "When you get bored looking at peonies, sometimes people want to pick dog's tail grass for fun."
I laughed angrily, "Apparently I am dogtail grass, then you are..." Suddenly, in shock, I felt that my words were inappropriate and quickly suppressed them.
The corners of his lips lifted into a smile, "Me? What am I?"
I snorted, no longer paying attention, then ate the meat while looking down, but my mind was full of Li Yan's smiling face at that time. The emperor and princess already knew that Huo Qubing and I were old friends, but it was the first time he heard that my relationship with Huo Qubing was so close. Because the emperor was around, I didn't dare pay attention to Li Yan, but sometimes I stole glances at her and felt that her perfect beautiful face was full of both helplessness and calculation.
Huo Qubing asked, "What are you thinking about?" "Ah", I said, I lifted my head to meet her piercing gaze, then shook my head and said so she wouldn't ask any more questions, "I was thinking about Madam Li".
Her lips lifted, as if smiling, while washing her hands in the basin and drying them with a napkin, I thought about the gossip among those literati. Ning Cheng suggested to General Wei that he give five hundred gold pieces to Madam Li as a birthday gift, when he heard about this, unexpectedly, the emperor bestowed the military title of Donghai on Ning Cheng, from this event it could be seen how much the emperor loved Madam Li. I put down the napkin, then said softly, “Having Great General Wei gift five hundred gold pieces out of his thousand gold pieces to Lady Li was not Mrs. Li's idea at all, she did it to ingratiate herself with the emperor's nosy subordinates, Lady Li can't do anything".
Huo Qubing laughed sarcastically, "Do I care about those five hundred gold pieces? Ning Cheng said, 'Actually the merits of a great general are not great, he was rewarded with fifty thousand houses and his three sons were made dukes, all because of the empress alone'. We fought on the battlefield, but in the eyes of outsiders we are just piggybacking on the empress. At first it might be true that uncle was given an important position because of aunt, but after so many years, he has been in and out of Xiyu and has never lost once, is it also because of aunt? But the poets' pens never stop criticizing us, Sima Qian said, I am arrogant and rude, and don't want to talk to others, I really don't know what to say about those know-it-all literary men, I can only look up at the sky ".
Seeing his helpless and annoyed face, I laughed softly, "It turns out there is something that makes you helpless, I thought you weren't afraid of anyone! A manly man in his actions is only responsible for his own conscience, why care about what other people say? If Sima Qian said that Great General Wei was riding a beautiful woman, but Great General Wei then had to argue with him in front of the emperor? Moreover, Sima Qian was a literary man after all, the emperor could be angry with him, but would not be wary or afraid of him, whereas Great General Wei mastering military power, the emperor will pay close attention to his every word and deed, if he is even the slightest careless, the consequences will be very dire."
Huo Qubing sighed and said nothing. Seeing his frown, I felt a little sad, I tugged at his sleeve and said seriously, “Sima Qian is a strict virtuous man, your attitude doesn't deserve his praise.”
Huo Qubing said while glancing at my hand, "Why are you pulling me like this? It doesn't seem like this is a behavior worthy of being praised by a virtuous person, but," he said.
my hand, "But I like".
In annoyance I hit his hand, while laughing he pulled it away, but his face looked happy, I felt relieved and laughed too.
His figure was not yet visible, but from a distance his voice could be heard, "Very fragrant grilled meat, and grilled in the Xiyu way too, Qubing really knows how to enjoy life." I was shocked and immediately got up, but Huo Qubing shook his head and smiled, "It's okay, that's my uncle."
If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have come, so I said angrily, "Your uncle? The Emperor is also your uncle! Is that General Gongsun?"
Huo Qubing nodded, then got up and walked to the door to greet his uncle, Gongsun Ao and Gongsun He walked shoulder to shoulder, saw me standing behind Huo Qubing, surprise briefly appeared on their faces, but very quickly disappeared. In my heart I praised them, it turns out they are old foxes, they can't be compared to us.
When I went home that night, although my mood wasn't happy but it wasn't bad either, I wouldn't let people who had nothing to do with me influence my feelings, but secretly I became more alert.
When he saw the way I cut meat with a knife, Gongsun He was surprised and asked me if I had ever lived among the Xiongnu. I felt tense, without thinking much, I answered that I had never lived among them. Gongsun He himself is a Xiongnu person, how could he not see my skill with a knife? Even though he didn't ask any more questions, he clearly knew I had lied, his eyes immediately became cold. When I think about it now, if at that time I could have calmly answered that I had lived with the herdsmen, there would have been no problem. However, because I avoided it, I even aroused Gongsun He's suspicions. Gongsun Ao seemed to dislike me even more, even going so far as to look down on me.
Huo Qubing was aware of their feelings, he didn't say anything, but his attitude towards me became better, he even took the knife from my hand and sliced his own flesh, then put it in front of me. Forever, I have always seen Huo Qubing being served by people, never serving others, Gongsun He and Gongsun Ao were dumbfounded. Seeing Huo Qubing's attitude, Gongsun Ao, who had been arrogant before, had to be a bit friendly to me and suppress his dislike for me.
These few days, every time I eat, I think of the delicious roast meat and that clever cook, the side dishes on the table suddenly turn bland. If Huo Qubing knew that after eating his delicious dishes, I was greedily trying to rob the cook, whether he would call me a greedy wolf or not.
While I was dreaming of delicious food, while crying, the little servant girl I was pushed to the ground, and the new clothes I was wearing were also torn off by him.”
As he spoke he stroked his torn clothes, his tears became even sadder, I laughed and gave him a handkerchief to wipe his face, "Don't cry, isn't it just a piece of clothing? I will give you clothes, tomorrow call the tailor to make new clothes for you ".
Xin Yan stopped crying and smiled, she timidly said, "I want to choose the color myself." I said, “Okay! What actually happened?” His face still looked surprised, “We also don't know why, Third Master Li is a very friendly and educated person, speaks politely, and also gives lots of gifts, we usually like it when he comes. But today as soon as he entered the house, he immediately shouted for Hong Gu, then while talking about destroying things, we wanted to block him, but he pushed us all away, from his face he looked like he wanted to hit people, so we immediately ran away, now he definitely still raging!”
While he was still talking, Hong Gu ran in with messy hair, I couldn't control myself and laughed out loud, Hong Gu angrily scolded me, "You can still just laugh, if he continues throwing tantrums, we will starve this year." When she spoke, her messy hair like a bird's nest waved, as if being ruffled by a bird, even Xin Yan who was by my side also bit her lip to stop laughing. Hong Gu was furious and wanted to pinch Xin Yan, but I beckoned him, and Xin Yan quickly ran out of the room.
“Alright, don't be angry, if Young Master Li wants to destroy things, what can we do? Never mind talking about his martial arts skills which we can't fight, even if we can beat him, do we dare to throw him out of this house? Let him run amok! When he's done, he won't go berserk anymore." I pulled Hong Gu so he sat on the bench, then took a copper mirror so he could reflect. She cried out in surprise, then quickly took a comb and smoothed her hair.
“In my entire life I have never been treated like this, pushed around and cursed at by a young man as a poisonous woman. She asked about the matter of the handkerchief and I said that fangzhu had really looked into the matter and told me that the lady was the owner, she shouted for you to see her, but I saw that her eyes were full of hatred, and that things were a bit complicated, so I avoided it by saying that You're out of the house and won't be back for a while. Did Young Master Li already know that Madam Li was the woman he was looking for? This matter is only known to you and me, how could he know? Didn't you burn that handkerchief to the ground?" With an annoyed face, Hong Gu kept nagging.
"I don't know either." I helped Hong Gu straighten his hair, then helped him make a bun, "Hong Gu, from today on, forget about the handkerchief problem, this problem never existed, after this, whatever happens, don't bring it up again." My eyes met Hong Gu's eyes in the copper mirror, for a moment he didn't say anything, then as if nothing had happened, he said, "I've forgotten about it."
The little servant girl came in carrying hot water, with a worried face she said, “Third Master Li is still throwing a tantrum!” As soon as he heard it, Hong Gu's eyes seemed to flow with blood. I chuckled and said, “Don't be sad, don't worry. Whatever the value of the object he damaged, I want him to replace it." Hong Gu said skeptically, “You still dare to ask him for compensation? I don't dare. If he sees you now, you will be the one he destroys."
I smiled and said, “Why should I ask him for compensation? The saying goes, 'Insolent son, father pays', General Li Guang was a fair and kind person, it was said that when his soldiers were hungry he would not eat first, and always shared the gifts he received with his soldiers, would a person like this break his promise? As long as we send a damage bill to General Li, how come he won't cover our losses?”
Hong Gu thought for a moment, the anxiety on his face disappeared, then he nodded with a smile, “Li Gan's two older brothers all died young, it is said that General Li was very sad about it, therefore, Li Gan was very filial to his father, never disobeying him, if General Li knows about this, I think even if Li Gan is very upset he won't dare to cause trouble. Yu er, you are indeed smart, killing snakes from a distance of seven centimeters.”
I took the lipstick and gave it to him, "Make a list of the damaged items and give it to me." Hong Gu looked at me in confusion, then nodded.
Li Yan, I can't believe you started such a big fire, and the fire broke out at my place first, so you have to compensate me twice as much for the destroyed things. General Li is a generous man, I am reluctant to take advantage of an honest man, so I am forced to ask you to pay.
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“Does the first day of the new year make me happy?” “Excited about what? My stomach is full of anger. Saw a pair
My eyebrows knitted together, grandfather looked at Xiao Feng uncertainly, but Xiao Feng shook his head to signal that he didn't know anything. After sitting for so long I really couldn't stand it any longer, I jumped up, saluted grandfather, then ran to the Bambu Hut.
For the first time I kicked the door of the Bamboo Hut, "Bruk!", the sound was loud, the courtyard door opened wide. I haven't made a sound yet, but Jiu Ye's voice accompanied by laughter can already be heard from inside the house, "Are you Xiao Yu?"
His voice is like the most effective heartburn medicine. The fire of my anger was immediately extinguished without a trace. I took a deep breath, slowed my footsteps, then pushed the door slowly.
Jiu Ye sat in front of the table, his hand was holding something from bamboo that he was carving, I stood at the door looking at him, he put down the bamboo object and small knife that he was holding, then turned to look at me, "Why don't you sit down?"
I walked to the chair by his side and sat down, then lowered my head and looked at the table without saying anything, Jiu Ye asked, “You are angry, aren’t you?”
I was still speechless, Jiu Ye said, "It doesn't seem angry. How was your New Year's celebration? Last night Tianchao forced me to go with them."
Frowning, I stared at the table without blinking, but he kept talking incessantly, about starting the banquet to toasts, about toasting to drunkenness, about...
I've never seen him talk so much, I turned to look at him and asked, "I'm angry, can't you see it? You should ask with full attention, 'Why are you angry? Did I do something wrong?'"
His face looked innocent, while holding back his laughter he said, "Oh! Why are you angry? Did I do something wrong?"
Annoyed and helpless I took a deep breath, I limply lay face down on the table, why is he so stupid? Actually, why do I think so highly of him? He has a strange character, seems gentle and friendly, but actually avoids people at a distance. Even though I have extensive knowledge and understand many things, I don't want to marry a book. His identity is also a bit mysterious, he seems to be a subject of the Great Han, but seems to be against my Han Dynasty
trying to think of all the shortcomings.
His face looked helpless and confused, "I asked, but you didn't answer, so what should I do?" Annoyed, I slammed the table, "You don't have the slightest sincerity! It's better not to ask. You just keep talking about your interesting New Year's experiences!"
The room fell silent, for a few moments no sound could be heard, suddenly I felt worried, was he angry with me? When I was about to raise my head, my eyes fell on something in her hand, namely a pair of gold-plated jasper earrings. "Do you think I'm sincere enough or not?"
I looked up at him and accepted the earring. The gold color is sand, the jasper color is water, it turns out it looks like Yueya Quan lying in the middle of the desert. But what was even more extraordinary, he used my name and gave it a deeper meaning. The first meeting in the boundless desert, an argument that turned into friendship on the shores of the jasper blue waves. Tiny toys like this can be made so beautifully and delicately, the ingenuity of the people who make them is truly extraordinary.
I looked at it for a while, put it in my ear without saying anything, then with an expressionless face said, "Not bad. Since you're so generous, for now I'm not angry anymore."
I said seriously, but the smile on the corners of my lips was hard to suppress, before I finished speaking, a smile appeared on my face, because of excitement, my eyes narrowed into crescent shapes. Seeing my eyes, gloom briefly appeared on his face, he quickly avoided my eyes.
Shi Yu's voice came from outside, then he came in carrying a tray. I looked at the bowl in front of me, then said quietly, "You didn't invite me, so I thought you forgot and didn't keep your promise!"
Jiu Ye didn't answer for a while, then spoke so quietly that it seemed like he didn't say anything, "How could you forget? After all, today you should be happy." While stirring the birthday noodles in the bowl, I whispered, "Happy or not, it all depends on you."
After finishing eating the noodles, Jiu Ye accompanied me to chat while taking bamboo and a small knife that was as thin as a liu tree leaf. Seeing him, I asked, "Do you want to make a bamboo flute?"
Jiu Ye snorted, "This bamboo was deliberately brought by someone I sent from Jiuyi Shan, it has been growing under the shade of coral rocks for ten years, the stem is thick, in all weather, the tone will not change. The name is very beautiful, namely Xiangfei Zhu, the sound is even more melodious compared to ordinary bamboo".
I quickly got closer to take a look, "Is this the famous bamboo? That's right! Aren't these spots like teardrops? Simple yet elegant, truly beautiful!"
Jiu Ye's body became stiff, he imperceptibly distanced himself from me, then smiled and said, "I already have a lot of flutes, but looking at this hard-to-find material, my hands are itching to move. If you like it, after it's finished I'll give it to you." to you!"
I chuckled and said, "I happen to be someone who can never refuse a gift."
Smiling Jiu Ye shook his head, not saying anything.
After leaving Shi's house, I coincidentally ran into Shenxing and Tianchao, I bowed to salute, "Happy new year to second and third brother Shi, I wish you good health and everything goes according to your wishes."
They both returned my salute, for a moment Shenxing's eyes were fixed on my ears, then with no expression, he looked away, but Tianchao continued to look at me, then suddenly smiled and said, "Jiu Ye took such great pains, apparently to give you a gift this year new".
I heard that his words contained hidden meaning, I couldn't help but feel my ears, I asked, "What do you mean? How hard is Jiu Ye?"
Tian Chao said, “When he was little, Jiu Ye specially learned to carve jade stones, but did not practice making it every day, this time because he made a small, delicate object, Jiu Ye specially studied with an old craftsman, but he still spent there are quite a few good kumala stones. Jiu Ye is very talented at making crafts like this, from weapons to ceramics for everyday use, he can make it all, but after seeing him make this thing, I just found out that the most difficult thing to make under the sky is women's jewelry. ”.
I was stunned for a moment, then mumbled and asked, “You said this thing was made by Jiu Ye himself?”
Tianchao smiled but didn't say anything. He bowed to me and left with Shenxing, but I just stood there in a daze.
'I don't know how old I actually am this year. Li Yan is already pregnant, she will soon have a child, but I am still tossing and turning here in confusion. If there is no suitable person, I don't necessarily want to get married, but if there is a suitable person, I will definitely seize the opportunity. If A Die knew that I had not achieved everything necessary for my own happiness, he would definitely be angry and curse me as a fool. Am I a fool? Of course I'm not stupid, I'm Jin Yu who is smart, clever, beautiful and adorable, therefore even if you are a cloud floating in the sky, I will catch you. You like me, right? You once said that you and I are not the same, I have studied seriously all the books you read, I think I can be compared to you. If you want to be a Peng bird, I am willing to be the wind, accompany you to fly high; if you just want to be a stupid butterfly, I'm willing to be a stupid butterfly too; if what you admire is a black donkey that walked out west from Hangu Guan and from now on no trace of it can be seen, then we can buy a few horses and disappear faster than Lao Zi, disappear without a trace; Luckily you don't like Confucianism, even though I respect him, I don't like him, but if you really like him, we will obey him…….'
I bit the handle of my writing brush tightly, with a furrowed forehead I looked at the pieces of cloth on several tables. I'm giving myself encouragement, but why is it that the more I write, the more my heart becomes more and more angry? Secretly in my heart I repeatedly said to myself, he likes me, likes me……, I didn't dare to write more and wrote the date on the corner of the cloth: New Year Yuanshou Year, after finishing writing I quickly put away the cloth .
After shaking the tube for a while, a divining stick fell out of it, Huo Qubing was about to pick it up, but I had already held it tightly, and he asked, “What do you wish for?” I shook my head, "I don't want to tell you."
He snorted, “What do you want to beg for? If it wasn't a business issue, it would definitely be a matchmaking issue. Now that the business is in your hands, with your character like this, the things you will ask other people will definitely only be matchmaking issues." I vehemently argued, "Definitely not!"
The man interpreting divination next to us looked at us carefully, saw us walking past him, he immediately stood up, I suddenly stopped in my tracks, then walked away from him while holding the divination stick. Huo Qubing laughed and asked, "Why don't you ask?"
While holding the bamboo stick, I walked for a while, then suddenly threw the stick into the grass at the edge of the road, "I don't want to ask, he can know other people's luck but not his own. As soon as he sees you wearing extraordinary clothes, he hopes to get a big payout after fortune-telling, but why can't he predict whether he himself will be successful or not?”
Huo Qubing smiled and said, "At least you can hold on, it seems you haven't given up hope yet."
Now I also feel that I am a bit ridiculous, but at that time when I saw the board that said 'Matchup Prediction', I couldn't stop my feet from stepping in, because I was desperate and was willing to do anything. My heart was so excited, but my face still looked full of confidence, "I just want to try something new, just have fun".
Grinning Huo Qubing glanced at me, he was lazy to argue with me and left everything to me.
The wind blew, I smelled the air with all my might, “So fragrant! What flower is this?”
Huo Qubing said, “Huai Flower.”
I turned to look at him, “What are you asking me to go for? Is it for climbing mountains?”