Li Ruoxue bought fresh ingredients in the small village next to the bachelor's mansion, and then worked in the kitchen, making soup with her hands. In a short time, the courtyard was already full of aroma and drifted to the study, which made Zhao Xingde's index finger move, and he didn't know how many mouthfuls of saliva he swallowed. At lunchtime, roasted sheep's tail, stuffed crab and orange, ginger and cinnamon cabbage, vinegar mixed with fern rose, and yunying noodles were served to the table one by one.

Li Ruoxue herself eats very little, and after eating a small bowl of rice, she watched Zhao Xingde gobble it with a smile. Zhao Xingde was already hungry, and his index finger moved at this moment, and it didn't take long for him to sweep away several dishes on the table. Finally, he stroked his stomach, met Ruoxue's inquiring gaze, and sighed exaggeratedly: "I haven't eaten so much in three years." After saying that, he rolled up his sleeves and asked for the dishwashing activity. was kicked out by Li Ruoxue on the grounds of "gentleman cooking", and asked him to take advantage of the warm bath of the afternoon sunshine and boil a bucket of hot water to wash away the dust.

"I just washed at the post station the day before yesterday." Zhao Xingde smiled and held Li Ruoxue to his chest, "I don't believe you heard it." ”

Smelling the manly breath on his body, Li Ruoxue's face was slightly red, and she pushed his chest and said coquettishly: "Go, go." Zhao Xingde just took the order and left. When the water is hot, he puts the hot water in a wooden bucket, takes off his clothes, and jumps in. During the march, the sergeants were troublesome, and even if the water was dripping into ice, they bathed in cold water, or even hurriedly scrubbed with ice and snow. Such a hot bath is also a special treatment that can only be found at home.

Zhao Xingde soaked in the steaming hot water, and the sunlight shone through the skylight of the bathroom, just shining on him. Although it is winter, it is not so cold, but it is very pleasant. He couldn't help but think of an allusion he saw when he was in Lu Mei, 1,400 years ago, the great King Alexander went to see a man sitting in the bathtub basking in the sun, and proudly declared to him, but the king could do what he wanted, but this man replied: "Your Majesty, I only want you to move your steps and not block the sun." "Our country also has the wisdom of wild exaltation, which shows that basking in the sun is a great enjoyment of life." Zhao Xingde's pores all over his body were comfortable, humming a small tune, rubbing his body with soap and soap, while enjoying the scenery of the courtyard.

This mansion was built in accordance with the construction method promulgated by the Xia Kingdom Scholars' Mansion. In order to prevent water from escaping, the kitchen should be separated from other buildings, and combustible materials such as plants and trees should not be piled up around it. The baths were also built in separate wooden huts, with tubs mounted high on wooden shelves, and clay jars for boiling water were taller than tubs. A bamboo pipe is connected to the bottom of the tub, and after bathing, the plug is unplugged and the grey water can be used to flush the toilet. The bottom of the ceramic toilet leads to a pool of gold juice, which is regularly taken out by the builder and sold to farmers to irrigate their fields.

Through the window of the bathroom, Zhao Xingde saw Li Ruoxue walking out of the kitchen, carrying a wooden box, and walking towards the bathroom, he couldn't help but feel hot in his heart, and deliberately removed the hot towel on his shoulder, revealing his strong muscles, and before long, he heard the sound of stairs. Li Ruoxue saw him sitting naked in the bathtub, fearless, looking at himself with a smile, and couldn't help blushing slightly, and said, "No one is right." ”

Zhao Xingde pretended to be surprised and said, "Didn't the lady come to see me specially?" "While gesturing to stand up.

Li Ruoxue was embarrassed, hurriedly put down the wooden box, waved her hands, and said continuously: "Sit down." She was afraid that Zhao Xingde would make trouble again, so she squatted down, opened the wooden box, and actually took out a razor, and said softly: "Don't move." He applied a cool grease to Zhao Xingde's face, and then carefully shaved off the stubble on his face. Because the long beard hinders neatness, in order to behave neatly, the General's Mansion restricts the beard of a sergeant to no more than half an inch. Up and down, the entire Xia Kingdom rarely has a long beard and fluttering "beautiful beard". At this time, there are few household mirrors that clearly reflect the figure. When they were out on the road, the sergeants shaved their own hair, which inevitably left a mess of stubble on their faces. At home, it is the wife's responsibility to shave her husband's beard and groom.

Zhao Xingde felt the gentle touch on her face, the sunlight shone in through the bathroom window, and her fingers were like transparent mutton fat white jade, and she couldn't help but feel hot in her heart. smiled and said, "Madame is here too." He lifted his hand from the barrel and put his arm around her shoulder.

Li Ruoxue's face was flushed, her willow eyebrows were slightly erected, she put the razor up in front of him and shook it, and said softly: "Don't move." She carefully shaved off Zhao Xingde's thick and hard stubble, then looked at it carefully, and said with a smile: "With the beard on your lips, you look heroic." Zhao Xingde touched the short beard on his lips and said with a smile: "Really? ”

"Yes." Li Ruoxue nodded seriously. At this time, the atmosphere between husband and wife was no longer as awkward as Shicai, her eyes fell on Zhao Xingde, and she saw no less than a dozen large and small scars, and the scars on her arms were the most hideous and terrifying, and she couldn't help but show love and pity. Zhao Xingde sat in the bathtub and felt comfortable, and when he saw Li Ruoxue looking there, he couldn't help laughing and said: "This is when Kang Guo exterminated the mountain bandits, he was injured by a poisonous arrow, in fact, the wound was very small at that time, but it was very poisonous, and he had to cut off the festering flesh and skin, but he finally picked up his life." He told Li Ruoxue in turn about the origin of those big scars. These are all interesting stories in Zhao's eyes, but he never mentions them in his family letters.

Li Ruoxue stroked the scar on his arm that was like a centipede, and she wanted to cry, and said in a low voice: "Will you still go to war?" When Zhao Xingde was on the expedition, he had been writing letters with Li Ruoxue, and he tried his best to describe his personal experience in the most interesting language. Li Ruoxue keenly found that the war seemed to have an attraction under Zhao Xingde's description.

Zhao Xingde grabbed her soft in his hand and said in a deep voice: "From now on, I will stay by your side." He paused, and then said with a smile: "There are three unfilial pieties, and no queen is great." The most important thing is to have a baby. Before leaving Lumei, he raised the matter with Captain Duan Huaixian, who said that he would help, saying that Zhao De had no heirs and had been on the expedition for three years, and according to the imperial decree, the military government would not let him be separated from his family for a long time. At the end of the service period, you can retire with a knighthood.

Li Ruoxue's face flushed, and she pulled the soft pancreas out of his big hand, and was about to be disgusted, when she suddenly heard a woman's voice outside the courtyard gate: "Is Mrs. Zhao at home?" ”

Zhao Xingde's face showed a strange look, and Li Ruoxue explained in a low voice: "It's Lingwu." Hurriedly turned around and went down the stairs as if fleeing, Zhao Xingde saw that her neck was red with shame, and he didn't feel it. When a guest visited, he naturally couldn't bathe in a big way, so he climbed out of the bathtub at the moment, dried his hair and body, tied his hair in a bun, and changed into the clean robe prepared for him by Li Ruoxue.

When I came to the main hall, I saw the three women sitting together affectionately, Zhu Lingwu and Sun Xiaolian both stood up and bowed, Zhu Lingwu looked reserved, and Sun Xiaolian looked at him curiously. Although Zhao Xingde and these two daughters have had several faces, he has not returned home for three years, and Li Ruoxue still made an introduction. The three daughters were talking about the boudoir here, and Zhao Xingde sat with the prime minister, feeling extremely bored in his heart, still with a smile on his face, and frequently bowed his head. In the end, Li Ruoxue couldn't stand it, so he asked him to visit his friend Li Rui, and then go home for dinner at dusk, Zhao Xingde got up apologetically to say goodbye, walked out of the door, patted his chest, and let out a long sigh.

Seeing the back of Zhao Xingde leaving, Zhu Lingwu laughed softly: "Mr. Zhao is really good-tempered, Shicai has been laughing, I don't know if my jaw is stiff?" In the past three years, she has gradually walked out of the grief of her death, although she is still cold in front of people, she has a smile when Li Ruxue and others are alone.

Sun Xiaolian also smiled and said: "Madame, it's a blessing, Zhao Junenvoy has been on the expedition for three years, and there is no need to go out to fight recently." "Sun Xiaolian's mother is the proprietress of Sun Jixiang's pharmacy, Gu. And Sun Xiaolian, under the arrangement of her mother, has been learning some words from Li Ruoxue. So she and Zhu Lingwu didn't call Li Ruoxue a "sister", but only called Mrs. Zhao. Most of the women of the Xia Kingdom wanted to marry young sergeants. It is also well known that the royal decree that the sergeants of the Xia family were sent out to fight for three years should be reunited with their families. In the eyes of the Sun family, Li Ruoxue's marriage to centurion Zhao De is a real talented woman, and she is a good match.

These two praised the husband, and the hostess was more pleasant than they praised herself, and her face was full of happy smiles. Li Ruoxue stewed camphor seeds in the kitchen. When she got up to look at the fire, Zhu Lingwu quipped to Sun Xiaolian: "Your master usually seems to not eat the fireworks of the world, but now he has lost his Taoist heart and fallen into the mortal dust." Sun Xiaolian nodded and laughed in a low voice: "Yes, with such a look, don't say that it is Zhao Jun's envoy, if I am a man, I will also be tempted." Zhu Lingwu took her handle and said with a smile: "Okay, you don't respect the teacher." Sun Xiaolian was disgusted.

While the two were laughing, Li Ruoxue came back, and said strangely: "What's so funny?" Sun Xiaolian was her disciple, so she didn't dare to speak casually, but Zhu Lingwu said with a smile: "We are saying, the new flowers in this courtyard are very beautiful." Li Ruoxue said with a smile: "These plum blossoms bloomed more vigorously when you came the day before yesterday." Zhu Lingwu shook his head slightly, and said with a narrow smile: "It's not the plum blossom I said." Li Ruoxue just came to her senses, ashamed and annoyed, and said: "I think it is born from the heart, the flowers bloom in the heart, and the flowers bloom in the eyes." Without waiting for Zhu Lingwu to come back to his senses, he asked Sun Xiaolian again: "That Chen Gongzi, has you visited the house recently?" Sun Xiaolian looked at Li Ruoxue, then at Zhu Lingwu, opened her eyes wide, shook her head and sighed: "I haven't been here for a long time." ”

"Oh?" Li Ruoxue's eyes flashed slightly, and she wondered, "Won't it?" ”

Sun Xiaolian smiled, regardless of Zhu Lingwu's gesture to stop her, and continued: "But he asked me to pass a ticket for the pear garden to Sister Lingwu." She paused, sighed thoughtfully, and frowned, "But I see that Sister Lingwu seems to have never been free." Zhu Lingwu was ashamed and said angrily: "I chewed my tongue at a young age, and I saw that my uncle didn't marry you off early." Stretching out her hand to tear her mouth, Sun Xiaolian hid and said with a smile: "As a sister, if you want to marry, you will marry first." For a while, in the courtyard of the Zhao family's house, the sound of warblers and swallows was so lively.