After that day, I heard that Boss Wang's carriage went around the village two more times, and finally left without doing anything.

I didn't pay any attention to it, but concentrated on taking care of my embroidery workshop.

It turns out that God rewards hard work.

In addition to Boss Wang, the bosses of several large towns in the vicinity came to me to order, and even the owners of some garment workshops and silk villages in Yangzhou also paid attention to us. But at present, my biggest customer is still Boss Wang, he wants a large number of goods, and the term is fixed, and the commission is the most, is the number one big financier of our embroidery workshop, generally if the work is tight, I will rush to pick up his business first, and push off other businesses.

After a few months, the embroidery workshop has begun to take shape.

In order to facilitate the work of the embroidery girls, I gritted my teeth and expanded my own house, and demolished the previous bamboo fence and built a brick wall, and the courtyard gate was replaced with a square gate, with iron locks inside and outside, which was convenient for workmanship at the same time, but also for the safety of me and Li'er. Of course, my large-scale demolition and construction also caused dissatisfaction among some other people in the village, but in the end, nearly half of the big girls and daughters-in-law in the village worked under me, and those dissatisfied words could not be spread.

Rue Xiang, who came to see the wide courtyard, looked at the still simple hut, and whispered in my ear: "Light, why don't you simply rent a larger house near the village?" The yard is big, you and Li'er can move there, and you can live more comfortably? ”

I listened, just smiled, picked up the rag, and wiped the dust off the table.

Looking at my quiet appearance, Rue Xiang seemed to understand something, and said softly: "Light, are you still thinking about the third brother in your heart?" ”

My hand as I wiped the table stiffened.

Rue Xiang said: "I heard Gou Er say that there is obviously such a powerful person who is good to you, but you still come back; You've been living in this house because you can't forget your third brother, right? Now that you have money, you can live in a better house, but you just spend money to repair this place, and you refuse to leave, do you want to leave this home that the third brother gave you? ”

I just looked at her and didn't speak.

Rue Xiang walked up to me and gently took my hand: "I-you don't tell me, and I don't know what happened to you." Although at that time, everyone said that you were out there - but I know that you are not that kind of woman, otherwise you would not have taken Li'er back to live in the village. But why did you separate? Why did he go to be a big official and you came back here? ”

“……”

"Isn't-he's lost you?"

"Rue, don't talk about it."

“……”

I raised my head and looked at Ruxiang full of concern, but there was a blank look in her eyes, and she smiled faintly: "You think too much, but there is only one thing you didn't think of." ”

"What?"

"Wealth is not exposed."

"Huh?"

I smiled and said: "I do have a little money now, but there are only two people in the family, me and Li'er, renting a big mansion, that is to sue everyone, I have money, come and grab it." ”

Rue Xiang was stunned for a moment, and then I smiled again: "I've been robbed once before, and I don't want to be hurt a second time." Besides—" I looked up at the simple room, and said with a smile, "I'm used to living there, but I don't think there's anything wrong with it." If necessary in the future, let's think about renting a large house. ”

After saying that, I smiled and took the rag and washed it and hung it on the windowsill.

I didn't look back, but I could feel Rue Xiang keep looking at me, but she didn't speak, and when it was done, I couldn't help but look back, and I met her eyes that wanted to say nothing.

I just feel that my heart is blank.

Rue Xiang frowned and stepped forward: "Light, you-"

Before she finished her words, she was interrupted by an embroidery girl who suddenly ran in from outside: "Ruexiang! ”

We in the room were all shocked: "What's the matter?" ”

"Quick, go home!"

"Huh? What do you do back home? ”

The embroidery girl was already out of breath, and at this time she couldn't speak clearly, so she held on to the door and gasped for a long time: "Your brother is back!" ”

When Rue Xiang heard this, she was stunned.

I was also stunned for a moment - Ruxiang's brother, I still remember that when I first arrived in Jixiang Village, the Zhao family's brothers had already gone to the battlefield, and they hadn't come back for all these years.

At this time, Rue Xiang's whole person didn't react, staying there motionless, I was so happy that I hurriedly stepped forward and pushed her: "Don't go back soon!" ”

"Huh?"

She came back to her senses, looked at me, and then at the embroiderer, and couldn't speak, so she turned around and ran out.

I stood at the door, watching her stumble, and almost fell when she went out, and laughed with the embroidery girl, I said softly: "It's not easy, it's been so many years, her brother is finally back." ”

Hearing this, the embroidery girl hesitated for a moment and said, "It's a pity ......."

"Pity? What a pity? ”

"It's a pity that only one came back."

"What?"

I was startled, looking at the embroidery girl, a trace of gloom appeared on her face: "The eldest brother of the Zhao family is gone." It was brought back by Second Brother Zhao. ”

That day until the evening, Rue Xiang did not come back.

Later, I faintly heard crying from Aunt Zhao's house, and I was also very sad, but their family had just been reunited, so it was not easy to disturb them.

The next day, the talents in the village went to visit Zhao's house one after another.

Ruxiang's eldest brother is indeed dead, because there is a custom in the imperial court that if someone in the family has died on the battlefield, then the remaining men can be exempted from military service, so let the second child of the Zhao family come back with the ashes jar to fulfill his filial piety.

Because there are still old people in the family, the Zhao family's eldest brother's funeral can't be done in a big way, just a simple dojo. In fact, the two brothers have been away from home for so many years, and everyone will more or less think about many things, and it is already a great luck to be able to come back, the dead are gone, and the living are like this, everyone comforts Aunt Zhao so much, and fortunately there is a son under her knees, which makes her a little relieved.

I went to the door to deliver the silk gold, and was comforting Aunt Zhao, when I saw a strong, dark-skinned, and fierce man come up and said to Ruxiang: "This is the Liu family's-?" ”

Rue nodded.

I hurriedly stood up and saw the man clasping his fist at me: "Thank you for taking such good care of my sister." ”

It seems that this is Ruexiang's second brother, but he is a sturdy young man. I used to think that Gu Ping had been trained very manly in the barracks, but compared to people who had really been on the battlefield, it really couldn't be compared. This second brother Zhao looked full of anger when he stood in the crowd, and he was particularly eye-catching, and he was polite to me.

I smiled and said, "Don't dare to be, Second Brother Zhao is serious." ”

"I heard from my mother and sister that you are a capable man," he said. You're welcome tonight, stay for a light meal. ”

People who have been in the army are so straightforward, and I can't refuse, so I nodded and agreed. Everyone sat down to eat, and there were some vegetarian meals on the table, but the taste was not bad, Li'er was not picky now, and put the vegetables in her bowl, and she still ate with relish.

But Aunt Zhao is a white-haired person sending a black-haired person, she is still heartbroken, she can't eat at all, and they can only send her back to the back room to rest. During the banquet, the second brother of the Zhao family has been thanking me for taking care of his sister, and when Rue Xiang came back, he said, "Second brother, I also helped my mother write a letter to you at the beginning." ”

"Oh, I remember." Second Brother Zhao nodded: "There was a letter, even the clerk in the camp said that the words were written very well, and Mr. Teaching may not be so good, you wrote it." ”

I smiled modestly: "It's over." ”

"Hey, if we can come back that time......"

As he spoke, his dark brow furrowed, he raised his glass and drank it down. Rue Xiang next to her had red eyes again, and gently climbed his shoulder: "Brother......"

I said, "I still remember when I helped Aunt Zhao write the letter, and said that you should be back soon, why did it take so long?" ”

Second Brother Zhao picked up the flask and poured another glass of wine, frowning: "That's right, I should have been able to come back that time, but later, because there was a war on the Hehuang side, the military department issued an order to transfer more than 80,000 of us and horses." ”

"Hehuang?"

I listened and thought about it in a trance, I remember that at the New Year's banquet before I left the palace, after You Muya danced, Pei Yuanhao once mentioned that her brother Tu Shuhan defeated the cavalry of the Dongchahe Department in the Hehuang area and defended the stability of the frontier, which was also a rare good news in the dark miasma for a while.

It turned out that the army of the Zhao brothers was also transferred over and participated in those battles.

Thinking of this, I said casually: "I remember that Tu Shuhan led the troops to fight, right?" ”

"Yes, that's him." Second Brother Zhao said, slapping the table: "That beard, if you want to say, he really has a hand in fighting, and the generals we talked to before were not as ruthless as him!" ”

"Oh?"

I still remember that Luo Shi once said that there was almost no one in the Celestial Empire who could fight, and the only general, that is, Pei Yuanfeng, the fifth prince at that time, also left. Thinking about it carefully, Pei Yuanhao is indeed very biased in the promotion of Wenchen military generals, he has an almost hungry desire for the Wenchen to govern the world, and he dares to boldly promote and appoint young officials, but the military generals are indeed weaker; Maybe he also realized it later, and it wasn't until a year or two ago that there was a news of Fengxi, otherwise he wouldn't have been pressed and beaten by Luo Shi like in Dongzhou, and there have been many wars in the border and south over the years.

In addition to Wen Fengxi, now there is another Hu general, which seems to have been consciously cultivated by Pei Yuanhao.

I was still thinking to myself, and I heard Second Brother Zhao say: "However, this person is not ambiguous when he fights, he is just doing things, and he is a little sneaky." ”

“……？” I wondered, "Sneaky? What did he do? ”