concubines

In the evening, Qi Yunruo wore a cloak to read under the lamp. Today's practice, Li Chen was not in the tent, Qi Yunruo felt a little cold, so he wrapped the cloak tighter. Li Chen's tent is not too big, he is only a centurion after all, It's just that the treatment in the general's personal barracks is better. Qi Yunruo read Li Chen's military book, and he could understand it, but he couldn't see what it meant.

He wanted to go to the lake to take a bath, and he was stationed by the water today, but it was too cold. Qi Yunruo thought about it, went to the water to scoop up water in a big basin, carried it back unsteadily, and went to the place where the water was boiled to pick up some water. I poured a basin of hot water into it, and when I took off my clothes, I got goosebumps.

He quickly wiped it with a cloth towel, put on his inner clothes, and rewrapped his cloak. When Li Chen came back from the practice, he was stunned for a moment. Qi Yunruo said, "I'll fetch water for you."

Li Chen said: "Forget it, I'll go by myself, don't go out and blow the air." However, the guards living in the tents around him would never let him fetch water himself, Li Chen held the water that Qi Yunruo had used just now After coming out, two people quickly came over to take the water basin and took it away.

Li Chen also rinsed briefly, and the two lay down together, Qi Yunruo asked: "Are you hungry? I don't think you ate much at night."

Li Chen shook his head.

The closer he was to the border, the heavier Li Chen's heart was, and that feeling seemed timid and resentful.He closed his eyes wearily.

Qi Yunruo sighed lightly, and put his hands on Li Chen's chest, "My lord, I can see that you have something on your mind. Although I can't help you, if you want, you can talk to me."

Li Chen said: "Have you heard of Princess Changping?"

Qi Yunruo hesitated for a while, then shook his head.

"...She is my eldest sister, and she grew up with me."

"Princess, like you, was brought up by the empress dowager?" Qi Yunruo knew that Li Chen had been in Ci'an Palace since he was a child, and was taught by the empress dowager.

"Eldest sister is 16 years old and married to Aguermu...as a concubine," Li Chen said in a flat voice, "Eldest sister is a golden branch and jade leaf, she is worthy of the best man in the world, but for the sake of the father and the imperial court, she married far away from outside the Great Wall. That barren land went for seven years. In that year, the New Yuan Kingdom came, the Qiang people looked at it, the father was weak, and his subordinates had unscrupulous generals. Aguermu wanted cloth, medicinal materials and women. Originally, the father wanted to choose the most important ministers. The daughter was accepted as a righteous daughter, but the elder sister said that she is the eldest princess of the Li family. She has been supported by all the people in the world. It's a matter of course..."

Qi Yunruo said: "Princess's state of mind is not comparable to that of a man."

"When the eldest sister got married, she wore a red dress, and she had no sadness on her face. She asked me to take care of my grandmother and father, queen mother, but I told her that one day I would bring her back."

Qi Yunruo held Li Chen's hand, "I believe in you, this day will come."

Li Chen closed his eyes and said: "Eldest sister was raised by her grandmother. Her courage and courage are beyond the reach of ordinary girls. Not only for me, but for other siblings, if there were disputes when they were young, just ask elder sister to go over and she will Both parties can be subdued, and the queen mother also has a lot of trust in the elder sister."

Qi Yunruo exerted some force in his hand and listened silently.

"The eldest sister is 15 years old. She was once married by the emperor to Wei Guogong's son Qiu Yuming. Qiu Yuming is now a beautiful wife and concubine, and enjoys the family relationship. Every time I see him, I can't help but feel heartbroken. He doesn't know what he missed. What a wonderful woman..."

"...Since the eldest sister got married, my grandmother has been heartbroken day and night. I swear to my grandmother that I will definitely bring her back." After Li Chen finished speaking, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Qi Yunruo sat up and asked: "Empress Dowager, is it because of this that you no longer see people?"

Qi Yunruo didn't expect Li Chen's face to turn pale. After a long time, he said: "No... Grandma closed Ci'an Palace for me...for me."

It rained heavily, and the army had to stop camping on the second day.

Qi Yunruo sat on the twig in the tent, watching the rain wash away the ground in a daze, Li Chen was not far behind him, talking with Zhao Wei about something he didn't know.

Li Chen took a moment to glance at him and said, "Don't get so close to the door, it will splash the rain."

"Oh." Qi Yunruo took a step back while carrying the stick.

Zhao Weidu is rough and bold, but there are details in the roughness. He pointed to a map and explained it to Li Chen in detail. Zhongshi has already handed in the booklet on behalf of the Ministry of Households, and the surrounding counties and counties will mobilize grain and grass. For sheep husbandry, it would take three days to reach Heluo County to station troops outside to replenish food and grass. Now that the army has stopped due to heavy rain, the food is going to be a little tighter.

Li Chen said: "I understand what the general means."

Zhao Wei was a little worried about the fact that Li Chen appeared in the army. As the chief general, he was a subject of the Li family. He was always worried that King Chun would judge him as a prince. He is well-known, but he has never led a soldier before, but to his surprise, King Chun has no intention of competing with him for power. He hardly ever showed up for meetings.

King Chun gave him face in this way, but he, Zhao Weidu, had to know how to flatter him, so Zhao Weidu would still come to Li Chen to explain to him about important matters in the army.

Li Chen is also a sensible person, and he reciprocated Zhao Wei. He only thanked him, and didn't probe too much. He knew what he needed to know and that was enough.

Li Chen sent Zhao Wei to leave, Qi Yunruo stood up and followed Li Chen, Zhao Wei glanced at him before leaving, Qi Yunruo looked back frankly, Zhao Wei smiled and left.

Lunch was dry food and broth. Qi Yunruo still had half a pack of fresh hawthorn and dried dates bought from a nearby town for a few days. After eating a hawthorn, Li Chen suddenly said, "Concubine Wei should have given birth."

Qi Yunruo was taken aback.

Li Chen murmured, "I don't know if it's a man or a woman."

Qi Yunruo swallowed the jujube meat, and asked in a flat voice: "Do you like boys or girls?"

"...For now, the more boys the better."

Qi Yunruo nodded, feeling constantly lost.

After the meal, Li Chen held Qi Yunruo in his arms. Hearing the sound of the rain outside, his hands became a little irregular. Qi Yunruo leaned on his shoulders, knelt on the ground with his legs together, and closed his eyes.

……

In the evening, Qi Yunruo tied up his hair and went to the river to wash his handkerchief. The river was clear, reflecting his red and swollen eyes.

Qi Yunruo half-squatted and half-kneeled, then knelt down by the river after a while, found a comfortable position, washed the handkerchief, and bent down to wash his face—he couldn't explain why he felt so sad all of a sudden, when he came out After growing up, he almost forgot what happened in the palace. Li Chen's words just now seemed to remind him that Qi Niqun is the man's legitimate wife. He has so many concubines, and he is an insignificant one. Being brought out by him may just be because it is more convenient to be a man.

Qi Yunruo stood up, stopped on the spot for a while, turned around for a moment, a tall man was looking at him, his eyes made him uncomfortable, Qi Yunruo frowned, and passed by him, but the man grabbed his arm Hand, said with a smile: "Don't go back in such a hurry, your master is not a good person, I heard that voice just now, it's so distressing."

"Let go!" Qi Yunruo's face burned, and he tugged on his arm.

"...still a hothead."

In the evening, the sky gradually darkened. Qi Yunruo looked at the smoke rising from the kitchen not far away, and there were many people walking around there, but no one looked here.Qi Yunruo felt anxious and said angrily, "You bastard! Let me go!"

Instead, the man tightened his grip, "Hey, don't be angry, tell me what's your name? Which one is it from? Why don't you just follow me, I bought you with your master."

Qi Yunruo was so angry that he was short of breath, he pulled his hand back forcefully, and saw that man came over again, kicked the man under his knee, and quickly ran back to the camp.

His strength was not strong, the man was startled and in pain, he reacted quickly, frowning and chased after Qi Yunruo, if his footsteps were unsteady, he was about to be caught, but he saw a familiar figure not far away.

Qi Yunying also came to wash up by the river, her footsteps stopped, Qi Yunruo staggered and rushed over, her face was pale, but he was very familiar with the person behind him - Marquis Wuding's son Su Yuan.

Su Yuan sneered and said, "So it's Qi's second son, why, that person belongs to you?"

Qi Yunying pushed Qi Yunruo behind her, and said coldly, "What do you want?"

"Isn't it very clear what I want? Bitch, you dare to do something to me. You gave me someone, and I don't have the same knowledge as him."

Qi Yunying said: "What if I don't?"

Su Yuan said disdainfully: "Even your brother is incapable of baring his teeth in front of me, you are promising, second son Qi." The brothers of the Qi family have not yet achieved fame, but Su Yuan has already received Zhenwei's deputy for his own ability. Hundreds of people listened to his orders, and if he got military merit this time, it would be no problem to be named a general.

Qi Yunying pushed Qi Yunruo backhand, Qi Yunruo glanced at his back, turned and ran towards his tent, Su Yuan's face turned dark, "Second Qi, you really want to fight against me?"

Qi Yunying sneered and drew out her long sword, "What's the point of talking?"

"you wanna die!"

Qi Yunruo threw himself into the tent, his breathing trembling, he took two steps forward in a daze, and fell to the ground, Li Chen was startled, walked over a few steps, squatted down, helped him up, and asked anxiously: "What's the matter?" Is it? What's the matter?"

Qi Yunruo couldn't speak, just pointed out, Li Chen shouted: "Qu Qing!"

"Yes!" Hearing the voice, Qu Qing came out from the tent next door and stood outside. At the same time, there were many guards from Prince Chun's residence.

Li Chen carried Qi Yunruo to the bunk, touched his face comfortingly, walked out by himself, and said coldly, "Go to the river to have a look."

"My subordinates know."

When Li Chen returned to the tent, Qi Yunruo said in a trembling voice, "Qi Yunying...Qi Yunying, and a person surnamed Su...named Su Yuan."

"Yeah." Li Chen stretched out his hands to cover his eyes, "It's okay, don't worry about it."

"……Um."

However, Li Chen couldn't calm down. He accompanied Qi Yunruo and waited until Qi Yunruo was not so nervous before getting up and going out. , Qi Er and Su Yuan are finished fighting, Su Yuan has a lot of people under him, and his subordinates dare not cause trouble, so they just watched them leave."

Li Chen said in a deep voice, "You did nothing wrong."

Li Chen walked towards Qi Yunruo, "Just now, what happened?"

Qi Yunying was silent, and he found it really difficult for him to say some words.

Qu Qing said: "Su Yuan didn't recognize his subordinates, and kept uttering wild words, saying some very bad things about Young Master Qi."

"Su Yuan..." A cold light flashed in Li Chen's eyes.

Li Chen asked Qu Qing to help apply medicine to Qi Yunying, and asked someone to fetch water. Qi Yunruo was almost drenched in cold sweat. It was very windy here, and Qi Yunruo might get sick.

But when he went in with the water, Qi Yunruo had already sat up, lowered his head, and said softly, "Did I cause you trouble?"

Li Chen sat beside him, "Why do you say that? You didn't, I'm sorry, I was wrong, I shouldn't have let you go so far alone." In the past, in the barracks, Xiao Qi was either by his side or in Activities nearby, this time the camp is not close to the river, he was careless, thinking that Xiao Qi will be fine, but there are everyone in the army, Xiao Qi's identity is already ambiguous, he will encounter many difficulties when going out.

"...I feel like I'm useless."

Li Chen hugged him lovingly, "Xiao Qi, don't think about these things anymore, trust me, as long as I'm useful."