The barbarians have the cruel and ruthless Agufan who is good at ruling, it is difficult for the border to be peaceful for a time.
Cui Xingzhou also knows this and is ready for a lasting stalemate. Because the Jinjia Checkpoint has been stabilized, the Imperial Court will not have an Imperial decree to urge the war for the time being.
It is said that Empress Dowager Wu’s birthday is approaching, and all the civilian and military officers in court are devoted to celebrating this event. The Emperor does his best to be filial. He believes that they have no time to take care of the border matters. Instead, Cui Xingzhou can free up his hands and do something else.
There was one thing that made him quite concerned, that is, Miantang could speak the barbaric language.
Even Miantang doesn’t know that she can speak the barbarian language. It can be seen that she learned it at Lu Wen’s side during the period when she lost her memory… This makes him think deeply. What did Lu Wen do for a living and need to contact barbarians?
Cui Xingzhou reviewed the intelligence collected during this period and only said that the barbarian tribe had been doing business with the customs in the past few years. There was a merchant of the Great Yan Dynasty who dug taction iron ore in the barbarian land. Because the barbarian could not smelt, it was convenient for the merchant to cooperate with him and resell it privately, making a large fortune…
When Cui Xingzhou heard about this, he thought of the money and weapons that the bandits kept on the mountain when the mountain was in chaos. He always felt that there was some connection between them.
If the Imperial grandson Liu really secretly contacted the barbarians and seized the privilege of mining iron ore, he must have had frequent contact with the barbarians.
Miantang was able to account for Liu at the beginning. She naturally also had contact with barbarians. It was normal for her to speak some barbarian language.
However, it is still a question of where the iron ore is to be transported and who is the mysterious merchant sent by the Mountain of Yang.
Regardless of whether is Liu the mysterious businessman or not, Cui Xingzhou thinks that such transactions should not be allowed to continue.
So once he thought of this, Cui Xingzhou knew what to do next. He arranged for people to take advantage of the fact that he was recovering the towns in the Checkpoint to pull out those mysterious merchants.
After having something in mind, Cui Xingzhou cast a wide net and sent many spies to investigate the iron ore affairs.
If the iron ore is really related to Liu, the descendants of the former Crown Prince should be capable. When thinking of Lu Wen’s competing with him and neither of them can get the upper hand in the beginning, Cui Xingzhou felt that the challenge in the future was very promising.
However, whether the Young Master Ziyu is Bandit Lu Wen or the Imperial grandson Liu, he cannot be kept alive. Cui Xingzhou knew that he was incompatible with Lu Wen. If the former enemy became The Emperor, wouldn’t the whole State of Zhen be slaughtered?
But now isn’t the time to do anything. He can only accumulate his strength in the Jinjia Checkpoint. Because of wartime at present, the number of soldiers in the State of Zhen is not restricted to the number of troops stationed for the Kings of different surnames, and the number of soldiers in the State of Zhen is several times larger than that in Jiangnan.
He is far away from the Court and the Jianghu. He just needs to wait and see the changes and take action at the right time…
Unlike Cui Jiu, her husband, who was full of plans for the great cause, Miantang’s mind was much simpler.
As military dependents in the border areas, it’s enriching to earn a little money while taking care of her husband’s basic necessities of life!
Her life in the border town is much busier than that in Lingquan Town.
Because Miantang not only takes care of the pharmacy but also takes care of the baby.
Mrs. Lin didn’t have a fixed place to live before she gave birth, and she didn’t eat well. At first, she didn’t have enough breast milk to feed. The baby was so hungry that it cried until the forehead was red.
Nanny Sheng, who took care of Mrs. Lin, felt that she had done her utmost, so she bid goodbye to Mrs. Lin and left. Only Lin Siyue, the new mom who act with confusion, was left.
Although Mrs. Lin has a room in the medicine shop, it’s not easy to trouble the people in the pharmacy to take care of her in confinement.
Seeing that the child was starving, she added water to the leftover rice to make rice soup and fed it to the crying baby.
Although Miantang has never given birth to a child, she feels that she should not feed this rice soup to the baby in confinement.
So she told the shop assistant to buy a goat with plenty of milk at a high price in the town so that the baby could drink milk.
Of course, Miantang told Mrs. Lin to drink more too. Only after her body is well adjusted can she have enough milk. The baby still needs to eat her mother’s milk to grow well.
Lady Lin has been worried that Liu Miantang will turn her into the military. Because she found that the husband of Lady Liu was the Commander of Prince Huaiyang!
However, her husband, who looked very cold, never questioned her, and Miantang never asked her about the barbarian tribe.
When Lin Siyue discovered that Miantang was indeed a kind-hearted person, she put down her guard and often talked with Miantang in barbaric language.
Although Miantang doesn’t know how she learned the barbaric language, she adheres to the principle of being proficient in her skills. In addition, she can help her husband in the future thus, she loves talking with Lin Siyue in the barbaric language.
According to Lady Lin, although there are barbarians outside the Checkpoint, they belong to different tribes and have different ideas. The one who is doing all these evil things was the King flag led by Agufan, and many tribes were forced to follow it.
Miantang asked again why she saw two local barbarian merchants in the market a few days ago, but could not understand what they were saying.
Mrs. Lin smiled and said, “In fact, people from different tribes speak with different accents. The accent you use is pure and rare. Generally, only people from the Daqi tribe can speak.”
Miantang was curious and said, “I didn’t know it before, but you said you were from the Guli tribe, but I think your accent is similar to this Qiangshan Haipiao.
Lin Siyue smiled stupefied and said with an embarrassed smile, “I just learned it later. My previous accent is the same as Luewan Meiyo…”
But Miantang noticed another detail.
According to Lin Siyue, the people of the Daqi tribe are the descendants of the authentic royal family on the grassland, who migrated from the north of the snow mountain. Therefore, they who have high noses and deep eyes also disdain those flat nose barbarians.
The Agufan Da Shanyu is said to have a flat nose. Liu Miantang heard this and looked at the baby she was holding.
The baby just drank a small bowl of goat’s milk, and after burping the milk, the little face showed a sweet smile. The bridge of her nose was as tall and straight as her mother’s.
Because the baby’s head is really big, Miantang helped Mrs. Lin to give the baby the nickname, little walnut.
Miantang held the sweet and soft baby in her arms, and she took the time to think about what she and her husband would be like in the future.
However, she thinks her baby will also have a high nose bridge because neither of her parents has a short nose bridge!
Thinking so, Miantang smiled sweetly.
These days, when she chose soft cloth to make clothes for Mrs. Lin’s son, little walnut, she could not help but reserve a set of small clothes for herself. Anyway, her husband said that she would be ready to have a baby when he returned. It is always right to prepare in advance.
At this time, the medicine shop was about to close, and the clerk began to put up the door panel. But at this moment, someone suddenly kicked the door panel and came to the door.
The baby in Miantang’s arms was about to fall asleep. But he was frightened by the noise and began to cry.
Miantang glanced over and saw a tall and thin young woman, supported by the old maid, enter the door with a tight face after two noble servants kicked the door.
The old woman looked around and saw Miantang holding the baby. She then said to the tall and thin woman, “It should be her, Lady…”
It turned out that the woman with the noble servant kicking the door was the newly married Young Lady of the Hu family.
In the beginning, the border war was tight, and the Hu family fled. The Old Lady Hu was deeply afraid that in the years of war and chaos, she had no protection and suffered losses. So she decided to let her second son marry the daughter of a Deputy General surnamed Zhou.
When they became her in-laws, the Old Lady Hu had the gall to ask the Officer to arrange to protect her family.
She just didn’t expect that the border crisis would be resolved so quickly.
People were in a panic in the beginning. Everyone thought that they could not return to their homes in three or five years.
However, who would have thought that Prince Huaiyang, who was dispatched from the south of the Yangtze River, was younger than the previous veteran Generals, was so good in battle? It not only lifted the siege of the Jinjia Checkpoint but also pushed the battlefront forward a lot.
The barbarians could not make a grand return for the time being, and those people who left soon returned.
A large family like the Hu family naturally has a lot of land and a large courtyard. Therefore, after the situation was stable, their families discussed it and then returned to their homes.
The new bride, Zhou, who has just married into the Hu’s heard that her husband had a concubine of a different race before. However, she was coaxed out before she passed the door.
Thinking that the concubine was pregnant and left, Zhou felt uncomfortable for a long time. In addition, when she found out that her husband returned after fleeing, he secretly asked someone to inquire about the whereabouts of Concubine Lin and wanted to buy a house outside to settle the woman, Lin, after her birth. She was furious.
Yesterday, she had already made a scene in her own room. The Second Master Hu was scolded by their mother and was punished to kneel in the Buddhist hall.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She only felt that it was the vixen who had been driven out that lured her husband secretly.
She then interrogated her husband’s servant. After he inquired about the whereabouts of Lady Lin, he brought her nanny, servant girls, and two soldiers sent by her father, and found them here in a threatening manner.
When Zhou entered the medicine shop, she saw that Miantang was wrapped in green cloth, holding a newborn baby in her arms. She was beautiful and bright, and her figure was taller than that of ordinary women in the Central Plains. She immediately identified her as the abandoned woman, Lin Siyue.
After the two soldiers kicked the door, they guarded the door with a posture of not letting people go.
And the woman said to Liu Miantang, “You are Lin Siyue?”
Liu Miantang saw that their manner was not right and vaguely guessed that their intention was not good. She handed the crying baby to Fang Xie’s hand and asked the servant girl to carry it to Lady Lin. She then turned around and said maintaining her composure, “Who are you?”
The nanny raised her eyebrows and said, “Our Lady is the new wife of the Second Master of the Hu family. Why don’t you come and greet her soon?”
Liu Miantang heard that it was the new wife of the Hu family. She smiled and said, “Are you feeling unwell? Do you want to buy medicine?”
After listening to this, the old woman said, “You little bitch, how dare you curse the main hostess of the family for being sick. What’s your motive? Since the Old Lady Hu coaxes you out, you are no longer a member of the Hu family. Who knows which man’s bastard you have delivered that you want to rely on our young master and coax him to buy you a house, What a bitch!”
The intention of Zhou’s coming today is to vent her anger.
Looking at the manner of Lady Lin here, it looks like she opened her own medicine shop. Isn’t all the money and silver spent… on her husband?
Thinking of this, she couldn’t wait to tear Lady Lin up and take the bastard away!
Didn’t her husband take the excuse that the Hu family’s bloodline can’t be left out?
She will then bring the little boy back. See how her husband comes out to find the vixen again!
At the moment, she didn’t want to talk too much. She only said with hatred, “Come, ruin the face of this vixen for me!”
After the women finish shouting and scolding, she wanted to come up to slap Liu Miantang, give her a heads-on, and then twist her arm to scratch her face.
However, she didn’t expect the medical shop clerk who had just been watching the bustle with his arms folded to come forward and attack her in the stomach with a punch nevertheless after she took a few steps, which made her step backward with an “ouch” and fell to the ground.
The two soldiers saw that a medicine shop clerk unexpectedly reached out to hit people, and rushed in wanting to hit the clerk.
The guys in this medicine shop are all former secret guards. All of them are experts in martial arts and had enough accumulated anger on the way to the northwest.
If they can’t settle these rabbles of old women and small soldiers, they can really find a hemp rope to kill themselves.
As a result, the two soldiers fell to the ground with a cry of “ouch” and were tied with ropes by several clerks who came out of the shop.
Liu Miantang took a sip of tea and moistened her throat, she then said to the Zhou who is dumbfounded, “I thought what kind of immortal and virtuous wife did the Hu family marry that they don’t care about the natural bonds and ethical relationships between members of a family, abandon their own bloodline and coaxed a pregnant woman out of the house without paying attention to her. But today, after looking at you, who doesn’t have the beauty and manner, you are indeed a good match for the Hu family who has lost their conscience. Stinky fish and rotten shrimp are in the same pot. But how did you have the face to come here to rob the child and scratch the faces of people? Did the adult and child use your money for things? What do they have to do with the Hu family? ”
The Zhou once heard that the servant of the Hu family said that although Lady Lin could speak Chinese, she was not a good talker. But seeing her today, this Concubine Lin is not only sharp-tongued and sarcastic but also looks like a high-ranking Lady. She is really angry!
The Zhou didn’t expect that Lady Lin would dare to be so arrogant. For a moment, she said angrily, “My father is the Deputy General Zhou at the border. These two are my father’s subordinates. You dare to attack the army soldiers of the Great Yan Dynasty, just wait for jail!”
If she frightens ordinary people, it may have some effect. It’s a pity that all the people in the shop are not ordinary people.
From the official position alone, Fan Hu is much higher than Zhou’s father! How can a small military general on the border of Grain Town use to scare them?
So without waiting for Liu Miantang to speak, Fan Hu immediately said in a deep voice, “It’s the period of guarding the border now. The soldiers in the military camp within a hundred miles can’t leave their posts without authorization and walk out of the camp. What’s more, there are army provisions on the border. The soldiers there should be on guard day and night. They should not be careless. Which Deputy General Zhou your father is? He is so powerful that he even dares to send soldiers out of the camp at will, let his daughter command, and smash other people’s shops! According to the law of the Great Yan Dynasty, you can wait to collect the corpses for your father!”
Zhou didn’t expect that a small medicine shop clerk would say things one after another. It seemed that he really mean it.
She was in a panic for a moment. When Liu Miantang called the shop assistants to take them to the government to report, she immediately shouted in a shrill voice, “I’m just here to buy medicine. By the way, I only have a few words of conversation with you. How can you detain my people? They’re just servants. They’re not soldiers at all… If you don’t let them go quickly, we won’t dare buy medicine from you.
Liu Miantang saw that she had kept her shrewdness in, so he asked Fan Hu to let go of the soldiers and let them leave in dismay.
But when she looked back and stared at her, her eyes were full of discontent, and she did not know what kind of trouble she would find in the future.
Miantang took care of the trouble in the shop and turned to look for Lady Lin, only to find that she was packing her luggage and wrapping her baby tightly with a small quilt.
Miantang frowned and asked, “What are you doing?”
Mrs. Lin said softly, “Today’s trouble is caused by us. It’s not good to continue giving trouble to you again. That woman’s father is a military officer. If I’m accused of collaborating with the enemy, won’t it implicate you?”
Miantang knew that what Lin Siyue said was not too much. If the Zhou family thought so hard after returning home and decided to make an article about Lin Siyue’s foreign identity, it would really be a bad ending.
It’s not that Miantang is afraid, but that she is afraid of implicating her husband in the army.
But she can’t watch Lin Siyue go so helplessly. It’s cold and windy now. She is a weak woman with no relatives and her child is not a month old. Where can she go?
Miantang frowned for a moment and decided to let Fan Hu send Lin Siyue out of the Checkpoint.
It happened that the soldiers of the Jinjia Checkpoint took turns to rest the next day. There were soldiers on the roads outside the Checkpoint, so Lady Lin left the next morning.
Now the townships outside the Jinjia Checkpoint have recovered some. The border people there are both Han and barbarians. When Lin Siyue went there to settle down, at least she wouldn’t look too conspicuous. As for the cost of food and clothing, as well as the silver for settling down, Miantang has also prepared everything. Even the quilt wrapping little walnuts is made by Miantang herself. Although the stitches are somewhat twisted, the cotton batt is thick enough. There are four pieces in total. Even if the baby urinates, it is enough to change.
When Servant Li carried two large bags of things into the carriage, Lin Siyue watched in silence. She suddenly opened her mouth and said to Miantang, “We people in the grassland tribe outside the Checkpoint remember one thing since childhood, that is, to thank people for their kindness. I will remember Lady Liu’s help to both us mother and son. I will certainly repay Lady Liu’s kindness in the future… In addition, all the children in our tribe have the custom of recognizing adoptive parents from childhood. I wonder if Lady Liu is willing to be my son’s adoptive mother?”
Miantang listened to Lin Siyue’s words and smiled carelessly, “I don’t expect you to repay me. If you can raise little walnut safely, it’s better than anything. I’m naturally willing to have such a young chubby son. From now on, he will be my adopted son!”
Since she’s his godmother, she would need to get some gifts. So Liu Miantang took a small jade pendant from her neck and hung it on the neck of little walnut.
Lin Siyue smiled at Liu Miantang and took the child into the carriage. Fan Hu escorted them out of the Checkpoint.
Looking at little walnuts with milk fragrance leaving, Miantang was actually reluctant to give up. So she stood in front of the store and waited for a long time before turning back to the store.
At this moment, Cui Xingzhou also rode to her medicine shop.
Miantang turns around and looks at her husband wearing a hat with a smile. She thinks that he really knows her heart and that she doesn’t like other girls looking at his face. So every time he comes back to the Wuning Checkpoint, he wears a hat.
After Cui Xingzhou got off the horse, Miantang went to take his hand affectionately, “Are you taking me home, Husband?”
Cui Xingzhou looked at her bright white face in the morning sun and straightened her sideburns. “The military officers have just come to report that there are suspicious people near the town. I feel worried, so I come and have a look…”
Miantang turned her head to see that there were indeed teams of officers and soldiers walking around. She said, “Since you are on duty, please go into the shop and drink some water before you leave…”
Cui Xingzhou nodded and took Miantang’s hand and entered the medicine shop.
Miantang only looked at her husband but did not look around, let alone notice that a man wrapped in a thick scarf was staring at Liu Miantang in disbelief.
After Liu Miantang returned to the shop, the man saw Cui Xingzhou sitting on a chair and drinking tea. Liu Miantang dials the abacus on the counter to keep accounts. he looks up and memorized the name of the shop, turns around, and leaves quickly.
In fact, he did not go too far. After leaving the Wuning Checkpoint, he came to a deserted temple in the countryside and hurried in.
There were three people sitting on a mat in the shabby temple, and one of them was lying down. The person said to the middle-aged man who was lying, “Big… Young master, I just saw Lady Liu in the market of the Wuning Checkpoint…”
The man’s name was Lu Xian. It seemed that his leg was injured and he could not stand up for a moment. He only half-laid on the mat. After hearing this, he half-propped himself up and suddenly opened his eyes. “What are you talking about? Who did you see?”
Liu Kun, an old escort of the Shenwei escort agency, gasped desperately, “I said I saw Liu Miantang, the daughter of the eldest Lady.”
Lu Xian’s eyes stared at him, “Nonsense! Didn’t the Mountain of Yang write that Miantang fell into the river… And died?”
Liu Kun said anxiously, “I’m afraid I’m not wrong. I twisted my thigh and looked at it for a long time. Lady Liu looks very similar to the eldest Lady in our family. How many people can grow up like that?”
Lu Xian burst into tears when he heard this, “Did you hear that your daughter Miantang is still alive in heaven, SIster? She is not dead!”
In the excitement, he wanted to stand up, but the pain in his leg was so severe that he could not stand upright at all. He could only ask anxiously, “Why didn’t you recognize Miantang so that she could come to see me?”
Liu Kun said, “There are many officers and soldiers in the Wuning Checkpoint today. I don’t know if they are coming to arrest us. Besides… Lady Liu is still holding hands with a Commander. I… I dare not go forward!”
Lu Xian was also shocked and uncertain, “Are you mistaken? Miantang, that child is in love with that Young Master Ziyu wholeheartedly. How can he hold hands with others?”
Liu Kun couldn’t wait to pull out his eyes and show them to the eldest son of the Lu family, “It’s absolutely true. It’s Lady Liu. She’s in a medicine shop in the city… If there are no other ways, I can pretend to be a patient for a prescription and send a message to Lady Liu to let her know that you are here.”
Knowing that his niece was still alive, Lu Xian was naturally happy, and his discomfort was relieved. However, he still did not forget to tell Liu Kun, “When you go to deliver the letter, be careful. You should know that we are being chased and killed by Agufan’s men and horses, and also by the spies of Prince Sui. Don’t bring any disaster to Miantang.”
Liu Kun nodded repeatedly and took the ink cartridge, paper, and brush from the luggage package beside him. After adjusting the ink, he thought it over and quickly wrote a note.