Mrs. Du always felt that something was going to happen.
More than a month passed, and Hidden Tiger did not show up, but someone brought food every day. Later, Mrs. Du said that she could do it, and she only needed to bring some firewood and rice every now and then.
After the other party complied, the frequency of visits gradually became less and less.
Mrs. Du squatted in front of the stove, watching the fire inside the stove gradually weaken, and the aroma gradually wafted from the pot above.
She stood up, opened the lid of the pot, and carefully shoveled out the multigrain rice. The layer of rice at the bottom of the pot was already a slightly dark yellow color, exuding a burnt aroma.
This was Mrs. Du's favorite flavor. She took the shovel and gently moved it along the pot surface, and the layer of rice fell off smoothly.
Mrs. Du scraped back and forth in the pot a few more times to make sure there were no rice grains standing on it. Then she struggled to lift the wooden bucket next to her and poured the well water inside into the pot. There was a loud bang, and the cold water and hot pot stirred up a layer of water.
Water vapor rushed up to the rafters.
Mrs. Du put the lid back on the pot. At this time, the firewood under the stove was almost burning. The last remaining fire was just enough to heat the water in the pot, allowing her to take a bath.
Mrs. Du has always loved cleanliness. No matter whether she was staying in the Lu Mansion or the Yuan Mansion, she was embarrassed to speak out. Now she lives alone, but she has more leisure time.
She was too lazy to go back to her room to eat, so she sat by the stove, picked up the wooden bowl, and ate the pickled amaranth.
In the past few days, she felt that she had become more and more lazy, and she was too tired to even stir-fry vegetables. The warmth coming from the stove under her body made her feel warm all over, and she felt a little drowsy.
She chewed the rice grains and thought to herself that the previous meals were all cooked by Mr. Yinhu's wife, right?
The woman was also quite pitiful. She was disfigured for some reason. Mr. Yinhu kept her with him all the time. The relationship between the two must be very good, right?
But Mrs. Du was a little disappointed. Why did Mr. Yinhu, a master like Xianyun Yehe, suddenly stop coming?
Is there something urgent, or are you afraid that your wife will be jealous of you?
Mrs. Du's face turned slightly hot, what on earth was she thinking!
She was distracted when she suddenly heard a knock on the courtyard door in front of her. When Mrs. Du heard the knock, she felt happy and stood up immediately.
Yinhu's attendant knocked on the door three times in a row, but Mr. Yinhu knocked on the door with two short and two long knocks. This is the arrival of Mr. Yinhu!
She quickly washed her hands, tidied her hair, looked down again, straightened her clothes, then took a step forward and hurried over to open the door.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw Yinhu standing in front of the door with a strange expression.
Mrs. Du subconsciously looked behind him and saw Lu Lingqi with a strange expression. She quickly subconsciously pulled Yinhu into the yard, blocked the door herself, and said anxiously: "Quickly leave through the back door!"
Her first reaction was that Hidden Tiger had been caught by Lu Lingqi!
As a result, the hidden tiger remained motionless. Mrs. Du was stunned when her wrist was grabbed by Lu Lingqi.
Lu Lingqi had a half-smile on her face and said to Yuan Xi: "I protect you like this. It seems that Mrs. Du is very worried about you."
Yuan Xi looked embarrassed, and now he couldn't explain clearly!
A quarter of an hour later, when the three of them sat down and Yuan Xi explained clearly the cause and effect, Mrs. Du looked blank and it took a long time to sort out her thoughts.
I thought wrongly, but what was Mr. Yinhu thinking?
As the head of a state, a descendant of the Yuan family pretended to be a fortune teller and deceived him. Was it Marquis Wen who was deceiving him?
I’m really not afraid of death!
The key is, he actually made it happen, and even Lu Lingqi was deceived by him!
Lu Lingqi saw Mrs. Du's expression of being hopeless and said with a smile: "Madam, I really haven't been in private with my husband."
After hearing this, the two of them waved their hands at the same time: "How is that possible!"
Lu Lingqi looked at the two of them and snorted coldly, "What is this? Where does it put me?"
When Mrs. Du didn't dare to speak, Lu Lingqi rushed up and hugged her, "It's great to see Mrs. Du again in a foreign country."
Mrs. Du saw tears flashing in the corners of Lu Lingqi's eyes, which were also a little wet, and she was speechless.
Lu Lingqi took Mrs. Du's hand and glared at Yuan Xi, "It's all your husband's fault. Don't pay attention to him."
Yuan Xi looked numb. Now he could only pretend to be stupid. Interfering in matters between women at this time was tantamount to seeking death.
Seeing Yuan Xizhu there, Lu Lingqi snorted coldly, "You go back first. I have something to say to Mrs. Du."
Yuan Xi wiped the sweat from his forehead and said hurriedly: "You guys chat slowly, I'll leave first." After saying that, he hurriedly walked out.
Mrs. Du still wanted to see her off, but Lu Lingqi held her back and snorted: "Don't worry about him, he must have Madam's idea."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi sped up and ran away.
Seeing Yuan Xi's guilty look, Lu Lingqi waved her fist proudly and pulled Mrs. Du to talk.
The two talked for a long time, and then Mrs. Du realized that so many thrilling things had happened to the Lu family and even Lu Lingqi after she left, and she couldn't help but be extremely shocked.
She whispered: "Girl. Madam, you are really unlucky in fate, but I ran away first."
"However, if you survive a catastrophe, you will be blessed later. Now that my wife has found the right husband, it can be regarded as the end of all hardships."
Mrs. Du was also secretly surprised that Lu Lingqi was not his wife, how could Marquis Wen let her go!
Seeing Mrs. Du's expression, Lu Lingqi sighed, "My father probably thought he couldn't protect me, so he entrusted me to him."
"Although my husband has many shortcomings, he is actually a trustworthy person when it comes to fulfilling his promises."
After hearing this, Mrs. Du thought of Qin Yilu again and thought, if Yuan Xi was half as responsible, how could she have ended up like this?
She couldn't help but praise: "It's a blessing for Madam to find someone who can protect her."
Lu Lingqi snorted angrily: "Just messing around with women!"
"In a few days, I will be returning to Jicheng with my husband. What are your plans, madam?"
Mrs. Du hesitated and said, "That side of Bingzhou."
Lu Lingqi sighed: "After going through so many wars, if something happens over there, even if Madam goes back, will she be able to protect herself?"
Mrs. Du also hesitated. She naturally understood what would happen if she met someone bad if she went back alone.
She sighed, "What else can we do?"
"As a woman, I don't have the ability to make a living, and I can't protect myself. If I don't take refuge in my family, how can I survive?"
"I can always stay here shamelessly for the rest of my life, right?"
Lu Lingqi's eyes rolled, "Why don't you, madam, come with me first?"
Mrs. Du was startled, "Madam."
Lu Lingqi patted her chest and said, "I still don't know what's going on with my family in my hometown. There are Huns everywhere in Bingzhou now, and it's not safe. Why don't I send someone to look for my family first? If they are still there, how about I leave again?"
"If the situation there is difficult, Madam can definitely bring her family to Youzhou."
Mrs. Du hesitated. This was indeed a safe strategy, but following Lu Lingqi. Wouldn't that be the same as before?
Seeing Mrs. Du's hesitation, Lu Lingqi took Mrs. Du's hand and shook it: "To be honest, Madam, I feel a little unsure when I return to Jicheng this time."
"She's the real wife over there. If she really acts like a big lady and suppresses me, I won't be able to handle it."
"I can't take out Fang Tian's painted halberd, right?"
"If my wife helps me, I will be more confident!"
Seeing Mrs. Du wavering, Lu Lingqi took the opportunity to hold her hand and shake it desperately, "Madam, please help Ling'er~"
Mrs. Du had no choice but to say, "Then I'll just go with you."
Lu Lingqi jumped up happily, "I knew Madam wouldn't let me go!"
"Don't worry, although my husband is lecherous, he will never dare to get involved with you while I'm watching!"
Mrs. Du looked at Lu Lingqi's bright smile and felt like a carefree child.
News that Xianbei outside the Pass was about to make moves at the Youzhou border kept coming, and Yuan Xi stepped up his pace to return to Jicheng.
Everyone was busy packing up the things in the house, and all the large items were left behind. Because the situation was tight, Yuan Xi needed to dress simply and rush back to take charge of the overall situation as soon as possible.
Autumn is the best envoy for the nomads to go south. Although the Xianbei tribes outside the Pass are now loose, their collective strength is extremely large. In addition, late autumn is much colder than in previous years. The poor harvest of pastures outside the Pass and the unharvested fields within the Pass have prompted this movement.
The trend of Xianbei going south.
It swept through western Liaodong, Liaodong, and even the Beiping border in the north, and invaded several countries on the Korean Peninsula in the east. Zhao Yun had already urgently led troops to the border to join Xian Yufu and others to resist Xianbei's entry.
However, Xianbei's entry into the Pass has both advantages and disadvantages. This time Xianbei's move not only caused harm to Yuan Xi's territory, but Wuhuan and Gongsundu in the Pass were the first to bear the brunt, especially Gongsundu, who was located in Lelang, Liaodong, and was originally responsible for the Korean Peninsula.
All countries are now directly facing the Xianbei attack.
Yuan Xi secretly thought it was a fluke. He couldn't think of any good excuse to negotiate with Gongsundu, but Xianbei dozed off and sent him a pillow.
However, Yuan Xi understood that Gongsun Du was not a fool. He could make peace with Xianbei and then bring trouble to others, so he had to make Gongsun Du understand the meaning of death and coldness, and bring Wuhuan in Guan Nei to restrain each other.
From this point of view, Yuan Xi had some geographical advantages. After all, the territories of Wuhuan and Gongsundu within the Pass had a direct conflict of interest with Xianbei outside the Pass.
Jicheng and Beixin City were originally only a few hundred miles apart, but with labor to widen and smooth the road, the march speed was much faster. Yuan Xi arrived at Jicheng seven or eight days later.
From a distance, he saw Liu He and other officials waiting to greet him at the city gate. He jumped off his horse and hurried forward, saying, "Brother Liu, thank you for your hard work."
Liu He said with a smile: "Young Master has caused quite a big stir in the world this time."
Yuan Xi replied: "It's all thanks to Brother Liu who is sitting in the rear."
He lowered his voice and said, "The emperor has a few words that he wants me to bring to Brother Liu, and we can go to the government office to discuss them in detail."
Liu He felt a little complicated after hearing this. What message did Liu Xie bring to him?
Thinking back to the time when he left Chang'an, Liu Xie was still a little ignorant and suffered a lot. Now that he is freed from the control of Li Jue and Guo Si, it can be considered that all the hardships have come to an end.
Yuan said to Lu Lingqi behind her: "I still have important matters to discuss. You go back to the house first."
Lu Lingqi was a little angry. She wanted to see the doctor, but this heartless person didn't accompany her?
Seeing Lu Lingqi's expression, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Don't worry, she's a very nice person and won't embarrass you."