after being kidnapped by the general

After returning to the dining hall, the Yuanlou brothers were almost finished eating.

Seeing Yuanli bringing a man they didn't know, they subconsciously looked at Chu Hechao a few more times.I just feel that the man in front of me is very tall, mighty, handsome, and quite extraordinary.

Both brothers were somewhat restrained, "This is?"

"This is Chu Hechao Chu Ciye, the general of Northern Xinjiang. He came over to have a meal together before he had dinner." Yuan Li introduced them to each other with a smile.

Chu Hechao casually nodded to the two of them, opened his robe and sat in the empty seat.

He was very calm, but Yuanlou and Yuandan brothers gasped.

Chu Hechao? !

This person is actually Chu Hechao!

The two brothers looked at each other, their chests were thumping, they never imagined that one day they would meet the great general known as the God of War in the Northern Zhou Dynasty.They quickly stood up and saluted Chu Hechao, "Xiaomin has seen the general."

Chu Hechao nodded, and said lightly, "Sit down."

The two sat down cautiously.

Yuan Dan admired Chu Hechao very much since he was a boy, and every time he heard about Chu Hechao's achievements, his blood boiled with enthusiasm, and he often thought of going to the battlefield to kill the enemy like Chu Hechao.However, when Chu Hechao really appeared in front of him, he was a little afraid of the general's aura, wanted to speak but didn't dare to speak too much, and was so nervous that he fidgeted.

Yuan Li noticed his appearance, and joked, "Would you like the general to sign for you?"

"Signature?" Yuan Dan wondered, "What is a signature?"

His expression was so dazed, coupled with the two blobs of plateau red on his face, Yuan Li was inexplicably poked at the point of laughter, bent down so much that he buried his head under the table, leaving only one hand vigorously facing the table. Yuan Dan waved his hand.

The others looked at each other, wondering what he was laughing at.

The corner of Chu Hechao's mouth twitched, and he was lifted up, "Eat well."

Yuan Li stood up with a flushed face. He brought over his bowl and chopsticks in front of Chu Hechao, stretched out his hand and picked out a piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth.

After seeing how he ate it, Chu Hechao imitated his movements and took a sip. He frowned slightly as soon as he took a bite, which was good.

But his appetite at this time is not very good, no matter how good the taste is in his mouth, it is mediocre.Chu Hechao moved his chopsticks lazily, picked up a glass of water and drank it down in one gulp.

Yuan Li watched him finish drinking, and said silently: "This is my water."

"Cough, cough, cough," the general coughed violently, "Your?!"

Yuan Li nodded, and said generously: "It's okay, just drink it if you drink it."

But Chu Hechao pushed the cup far away as if he had bumped into something dirty.

Yuan Li stared at him: "Are you despising me?"

Chu Hechao lowered his eyes, amused, "Sister-in-law, you and my uncle and sister-in-law need to be more cautious."

He hasn't called Yuanli "sister-in-law" for a long time, and now Yuanli can't respond when he calls out.

By the time he realized it, Chu Hechao had continued eating and drinking in silence.

Afterwards, Chu Hechao didn't say another word until after dinner, they went back to their rooms.

The next day, Yuanli cheered up and began to try out the effect of the vertical windmill.

He remembered that Yang Zhongfa was also very interested in vertical windmills, so he did not forget to send someone to inform Yang Zhongfa.

Sure enough, Yang Zhongfa came happily, and he also brought two children.One is Han Jin's daughter Han Yan whom Yuanli once met.One is Yang Zhongfa's youngest son, Yang Yixuan, who is only five years old.

The two children were well-bred, and Yuan Li took a closer look at Han Yan.Han Yan's face was rosy, she was dressed thickly, and she had a shy smile on her face, which showed that she was well taken care of.He ironed it in his heart, and looked at Yang Zhongfa's youngest son again.

Yang Zhongfa often brags to others that his youngest son is talented, quick-witted and eager to learn. Even Yuanli has heard him say it several times, and he has long been extremely curious about Yang Yixuan.

Seeing him now, Yang Zhongfa's youngest son looked really unusual.At the age of only five years old, he is meticulous in etiquette and has a stern face with baby fat. He speaks in a clear and orderly manner, not in a hurry, which is not at all the same as Yang Zhongfa's quick-tempered father.

It's just that the child is a bit fat, but such fat would only make the child so cute that it makes one's heart soften.Xuan'er was also dressed thickly, and he walked like a ball. He probably also had difficulty walking, so he walked slowly, not in a hurry.

It's true that a noble son was raised in the bandit's den, and Yuan Li was amazed to see it.

In the end, this little nobleman ran straight to Yuanli, looked up at Yuanli, "Mr. Yuan."

Yuan Li knelt down and looked at him, and asked with a smile, "Uncle."

"Uncle," Yang Yixuan's chubby face made a fuss as soon as he spoke, and he asked clearly, "Can you give me one of the windmill that Uncle gave to sister?"

"Of course." Yuan Li couldn't help rubbing his face with his hands, "I'll make you a small windmill when uncle finishes his work."

Yang Yixuan's eyes lit up, "Thank you uncle."

Not long after, everyone came together.

Hearing that Yuanli had produced new things, Liu Jixin, Wang Er, Wu Kai and others who had just recovered also rushed to the manor, wanting to see what new things are.

A stone mill has been installed under the vertical windmill and has been carried to the door.

In the winter in Youzhou, there is a cold northwest wind every day. Fearing that the children will catch cold, they asked the servants to take the children back to the room.The adults stood beside the vertical windmill in twos and threes, watching the howling cold wind blowing the sails of the vertical windmill.

In the cold wind, everyone was shivering from the cold.

Liu Jixin was wrapped up heavily, and he stood beside Yang Zhongfa.Yang Zhongfa hugged himself with both hands to keep warm, and whispered to him with a shiver: "Master Yuan said that only wind power can make this thing turn a stone mill, do you believe it?"

"Of course I do."

Liu Jixin blew his nose, and the old god was genuine.

Yang Zhongfa sighed and said: "It's not that I don't believe in Mr. Yuan, it's just that I don't know what to do. Although this stone mill is a small one, it needs a person or a donkey to pull it. It's made of wooden sails. Son, relying on the illusory wind, can you really pull the stone mill?"

In fact, Liu Jixin had no idea.

He had never heard of using the wind to pull the stone mill, just as Yang Zhongfa thought, in their view, this was an unlikely thing.But no matter how much he didn't believe it, Liu Jixin believed in Yuanli.

Since Yuanli will take out the vertical windmill, it shows that he has a bottom line in his heart.

After waiting for a while, the vertical windmill still didn't move, and everyone couldn't help talking in a low voice, feeling a little anxious in their hearts.

Yuan Li's expression was calm, but his heart was also tense, and he looked closely at the windmill.

He did the whole process of this windmill, and only Chu Hechao assisted him. Even though Yuanli knew that the possibility of success in the experiment was too small, he sincerely hoped that it would be a success this time.

Finally, in an increasingly tense atmosphere, the vertical windmill began to rotate.

Everyone held their breath, their eyes burning.

At the beginning, the windmill turned very slowly and finely, and the stone mill at the bottom seemed to hold the windmill hard to prevent it from turning.But soon, the force of the windmill drove the gears to mesh and separate, and the stone mill turned faster and easier.

Between the stone and the stone grinding, the crisp sound of millet grinding "click, click", the grain was ground into powder little by little, and overflowed from the small mouth.

"It really moved..." Wu Kai murmured.

Yuan Li let out a foul breath without any trace, and smiled slightly.

On that day, everyone looked around the vertical windmill for a long time, and when they carried the stone mill back, they all felt unsatisfied.

After confirming that the vertical windmill he made could be used, Yuanli prepared to ask craftsmen to build a larger windmill according to the structure of the vertical windmill.It is planned to try to implement it in Jixian County in the coming year, and it will be ready to use when the people grind the grains in the autumn harvest.

Nowadays, there are few animals that can be used as labor in common people's homes, and they use their own labor to grind grain.If there is a vertical windmill, the people will not have to work so hard after the autumn harvest, and they can liberate manpower to plant more grains.

Among the group of people, the one who likes vertical windmills the most is Wu Kai.

In the past, Wu Kai turned the stone mill to grind the grains at home. He never thought that the stone mill could turn itself with only such a thing.Watching this scene, Wu Kai remembered watching his mother sweating profusely grinding grains when he was a child.He stroked the windmill carefully, thinking that his mother would be very happy if she saw such a thing.

He touched the windmill carefully, for fear of breaking something.Seeing that he liked vertical windmills so much, Yuan Li simply smiled and said, "I will give you a vertical windmill on the day you get married."

Wu Kai was taken aback, he didn't know if it was expensive or not, he was afraid that the Lord would cost him money, so he subconsciously wanted to refuse.But in his heart he really wanted one for his mother to use later, so he lowered his head in shame, his dark face was flushed, and he clasped his fists and said, "Thank you, my lord."

The matter of the vertical windmill came to an end, and Yuanli was about to ask the craftsmen to try to make another waterwheel. Unexpectedly, after a few days, he received a reply from his master Ouyang Ting.

Ouyang Ting said in the letter that his mistress Lu especially liked the soaps sent by Yuanli, especially the soaps carved in the shape of plum blossoms and chrysanthemums, which she was reluctant to use.When Mrs. Lu occasionally went out to get together with other wives, she never forgot to praise Yuanli for the soap he sent.As long as you show this soap to these ladies and let them try it, there is no one who will not love it.

Of the [-] sets of soap that Yuanli gave to Ouyang Ting, [-] sets have already been given away by Mrs. Lu, and only [-] sets are kept for herself.

But the fifteen sets sent out are like a drop in the bucket, unable to meet the needs of the wives.Many local wealthy businessmen have already seen the business opportunities, and they found Ouyang Ting by following the clues, and wanted Ouyang Ting to recommend them to Yuanli, so that they could do soap business with Yuanli.

Ouyang Ting was also full of emotion.

His situation in Xuzhou is not very good. Xuzhou officials are all locals from top to bottom.Even though Ouyang Ting was a great Confucianist and one of the former three princes, as a foreigner, he became the governor of Xuzhou. No matter how prestigious he was, the officials under him would always obey others.

Ouyang Ting also used many methods, but the effect was slow.But because of this soap, the wives of these officials blew a lot of pillow complaints, and even these officials became more enthusiastic about Ouyang Ting.

Ouyang Ting couldn't laugh or cry when he said this.Although this enthusiasm has no real effect, Ouyang Ting can use it to open up the scene.Who would have thought that this is just a piece of soap, and it would have such an effect.

Because Ouyang Ting knew that Yuanli also wanted to do business with southern merchants in Xuzhou and Yangzhou, so he did not refuse the merchants' overtures.For the sake of his disciples, he strictly inspected these merchants, and selected ten merchants with good reputations.Ouyang Ting told Yuanli that he would send people to take these merchants to Youzhou to meet Yuanli after the beginning of spring.

As for the sugarcane Yuanli mentioned, he also found some locally and sent them to Youzhou with the merchants.

Yuan Li couldn't help laughing after reading the envelope.

Merchants from Xuzhou and Yangzhou will not leave until February, and they will arrive in Youzhou in May.Yuan Li put this matter in the back of his mind, and instead focused on Wu Kai's upcoming wedding day.

Soon, that day will come.

Marriage between aristocratic families is extravagant and wasteful.The more luxurious and grand it is, the more it can show its family heritage.This kind of atmosphere swept through the entire Northern Zhou Dynasty, and even the poor families, whenever there was a happy event at home, gritted their teeth and borrowed money from relatives and friends to support the scene.

However, the marriage between Wu Kai and Yun Niang was extremely simple.

Of the two of them, the man has only one mother, and the mother is far away in Ruyang.The woman has no parents or siblings, so on the wedding day, she just hung a few red silks at home, pasted a few "happy" characters on them, and Yunniang cooked a few tables of meals with her own hands, that's all.

Yuan Li was invited to sit down first, followed by Chu Hechao.Chu Hechao did not sit in the seat next to Yuanli, but sat a little further away with two empty seats.

Yuan Li glanced at him, doubts flashed across his heart.

The man sat upright, his back to his thighs were as hard as stone carvings.He looked up keenly, "Sister-in-law, what's the matter?"

Yuan Li shook his head.

Chu Hechao turned his face away again.

Although the wedding banquet was simple, it was extremely warm.After the meal, everyone helped to clean up the tables and chairs, and they wisely didn't stay too long, leaving the newlyweds some time alone.

After Wu Kai's wedding banquet, He Lang, who hurried back from the frontier, couldn't wait to take the beauty of the Yu family back to his mansion. Compared to the simplicity of Wu Kai and Yun Niang, he directly invited comedians to the mansion to perform for everyone .

Haiyuu is an ancient entertainer who was engaged in music, dance and humorous drama, and it is quite similar to cross talk.The language is exquisite and rich, the movements and expressions are exaggerated, and the stories told make people laugh out loud.

Yuan Li couldn't help but smile too, his point of laughter was so low that people slid off the stool while laughing.

Yang Zhongfa sat next to him and looked at Yuanli one after another, and couldn't help but said to Chu Hechao on the other side: "General, look, Mr. Yuan is still a child."

Chu Hechao fixed his gaze on the stage, without looking at Yuanli, took a sip from his teacup, and said calmly, "Yes."

Yang Zhongfa laughed again, "General, hahaha, look at Mr. Yuan, he is about to get under the chair."

Chu Hechao still looked uninterested. He propped his face sideways with his leather gloved hand, tapped his fingers lightly, and he didn't even want to look away from the corner of his eye, "I don't want to look."

As if there was some kind of unparalleled performance on the stage, it would be a loss to miss a glimpse.

Yang Zhongfa clicked his tongue, covered his mouth and whispered: "General, you seem to be quite indifferent to Mr. Yuan these days."

It's not cold, if you want to say it, it's polite.

In the past, the pair of uncles and sisters-in-law were very close friends, but now they seem to disappear from the public, no different from other ordinary uncles and sisters-in-law.

Chu Hechao said lazily, with his eyelids half drooping, "Yeah."

Yang Zhongfa: "Are you two arguing again?"

"No," Chu Hechao looked at the comedians on stage, and the corners of his mouth twitched perfunctorily, "I just don't think it's interesting to mess with a child."

Yang Zhongfa didn't quite believe it, he shrugged, "All right."

Yuan Li didn't notice what they were talking about. He laughed so hard that his face ached and he even drank a few glasses of water, but after a while he wanted to go to the toilet because he drank too much water, so he got up and left for the time being.

The comedian was telling the fascinating part of the story, everyone was laughing, no one noticed Yuanli's departure.

Chu Hechao chased after him from the corner of his eye, and quickly retracted it, so fast that Yang Zhongfa didn't even notice it.

The comedians on the stage were still talking, singing and playing.The silk and bamboo orchestra played, and it was lively and noisy.

Chu Hechao closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, his handsome face showed a bit of deepness and coldness after being shrouded in shadow.

The corners of the mouth were straightened, but there was no trace of a smile.

Suddenly, the voice of the comedian on the stage changed, and he told a story that was spread among the people.

"It is said that the son went to visit his elder brother who was seriously ill. The elder brother who took care of him was already skinny and his face was scorched. His eyebrows are like willow leaves and his lips are like peonies, he was stunned for a moment..."

The audience laughed loudly following the comedian's words from time to time, and then cursed a few words that this young man is not as good as a beast, and urged the comedian to continue talking quickly.

"My son was moved. He knew that he was inferior to animals, but he was no match for the widow's lingering eyes. After all, he gritted his teeth and pulled the widow into his arms, just about to do that mediocre thing..."

There was a loud "bang", the comedian was startled, the voice stopped abruptly, the audience was silent, and everyone turned their heads to look at Chu Hechao in astonishment.

Chu Hechao overturned the table in front of him. Standing in front of the mess, he stared at the comedians on the stage, and said in a suppressed manner: "Shut up."

His eyes were red with anger, and his expression was extremely horrifying: "Uncle and sister-in-law have sex, such dirty things, you want to dirty everyone's ears by telling them in public?"