Jiuxi

Chapter 575 [Talking about Life]

When Lu Chen returned to his residence, Lin Xi had already prepared the meal.

The dishes are simple, two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, one soup, and a small bowl of rice.

Lu Chen had been busy for a long time and was starving, so he reached out for the chicken leg without thinking.

"Snapped."

Lin Xi slapped his hand away decisively and said angrily, "Go wash your hands first."

"okay."

Lu Chen washed his hands obediently and came back. Lin Xi filled a full bowl of rice and placed it in front of him, and only filled half a bowl for himself.

These days he went out early and came back late, and had a simple meal in the military camp during the day. No matter how late he came back at night, Lin Xi would wait for him and prepare hot meals for him.

After dinner, the two would chat for a while, talking about the situation outside, and then Lin Xi would return to his residence in the city.

To be fair, Lin Xi's cooking skills are not particularly superb. She can prepare a few home-cooked dishes without any problem, but it is impossible for her to prepare a table full of delicacies from land and sea.

Lu Chen ate with great relish. The amount of rice in the bowl was reduced at a visible speed. When he stood up to serve the rice, he couldn't help but praise, "Senior sister's cooking skills are getting better and better."

Lin Xi smiled softly, put down his chopsticks and said, "Thank you for the compliment. I only started learning to cook last year."

last year?

Probably after the rebellion in the capital was quelled, the two separated. Lu Chen led his troops to Shazhou, and Lin Xi returned to Baotai Mountain with the Seven Star Army cavalry. It has been half a year since then.

Why do you suddenly want to learn cooking?

The answer to this question is actually very simple.

She has devoted herself to learning martial arts since she was a child. In the eyes of outsiders, she is already the top master among the younger generation in the martial arts world. This inevitably makes people keep their distance from her, but she does not care about her achievements in martial arts. Instead, she is willing to cook for Lu Chen herself.

She didn't think it was a shameful thing. As she had said to Luo Jiujiu before, it was just to give him a delicious meal to fill his stomach when he came back exhausted.

That's it.

With a bowl of rice in his stomach, Lu Chen's hunger was alleviated a lot, and his movements slowed down. He smiled and said, "This shows that Senior Sister is very talented. She can rank among the top ten in the world in martial arts, so her cooking skills are naturally not a problem."

Lin Xi joked, "Strange, there's no honey in the dishes tonight, why does someone's mouth taste so sweet?"

Lu Chen coughed twice.

Judging from what happened today, Lin Xi should not have strong hostility towards Luo Jiujiu's appearance, otherwise he would not have sent someone to call him back from outside the city.

But Lu Chen did not forget that when they parted in Beijing last year, Lin Xi told him clearly not to get involved in any extramarital affairs when he went to Shazhou.

Luo Jiujiu's thoughts were completely shown on her face, and Lin Xi must have seen it clearly, so Lu Chen felt it necessary to explain the whole story.

"Is everything after the war almost done?"

Lin Xi spoke before him and turned the topic to business.

The night was still long, so Lu Chen didn't need to rush. He nodded and said, "The tasks of confirming the results of the battle, counting casualties, and auditing military merits are almost completed. The next step is to redefine the defense line of Jingzhou and recover the northern part of Dingzhou. By the way, I received a military report from Li Jingda this afternoon. The Jing army has evacuated from the Jishantun battlefield and is currently retreating to the Dingfeng Road line."

"So fast?"

Lin Xi was a little confused.

Only four days had passed. If the Jing army in Dingzhou received the news of Qing Yugong's defeat and retreated, and Li Jingda then asked the general to report it, this time is obviously unlikely.

Lu Chen said: "The time doesn't match. Uncle Xiao and I discussed this matter this afternoon. We believe that Qing Yugong should have been mentally prepared for the defeat in this battle, so he ordered the Jing army in Dingzhou to withdraw in advance."

"Since he doesn't have a very high chance of winning, why does he insist on fighting a decisive battle with our army?"

"In the final analysis, it's nothing more than the four words 'I have no choice'."

Lu Chen swallowed the last mouthful of rice, stood up and served another serving of rice, and continued, "The Emperor of Jing is ambitious. He wants to defeat our army in one battle and occupy the land north of the Yangtze River. He also wants to weaken the power of the Qing Yu clan as much as possible through this battle, so as to ensure that the imperial power is more stable. Because of his idea of ​​having both, Qing Yugong fell into a quagmire and could not get enough support. Otherwise, it would be very difficult for our army to win."

Lin Xi asked curiously, "What do you think will be the fate of Qing Yugong this time?"

Lu Chen thought for a moment and said softly, "He will resign from the post of Marshal of the Southern Court. There will definitely be many people in the Jing Kingdom court who will use this as an excuse to attack and impeach him, but the Emperor Jing will not listen to them. At most, he will ask Qing Yugong to resign from his military post and return home to recuperate."

Lin Xi asked, "But you also said that Emperor Jing wanted to weaken the power of the Qingyu clan?"

Lu Chen smiled and patiently explained, "Senior sister, have you seen the two wrestling? Right now, Emperor Jing is the one who is responsible for judging the winner. Qing Yugong is one of the wrestling parties, and the other forces of the Jing army are the other. Before this battle, Qing Yugong's performance was far better than his opponent. If he wins, he will have the strength to challenge Emperor Jing, so he must lose. However, if Qing Yugong loses too miserably and completely, his opponent will become stronger, which is also a situation that Emperor Jing does not want to see."

Lin Xi pondered and said, "In the end, it all comes down to balance?"

"The so-called imperial mentality, checks and balances are the most basic one." Lu Chen blinked and said, "Senior Sister understood it immediately, she is indeed very talented."

Seeing him bringing up the old topic again, Lin Xi couldn't help laughing.

She vaguely felt that some changes had taken place in Lu Chen. When they were together in private, he was not as serious as before, but he was not overly frivolous either.

Seeing his somewhat clumsy flattery, Lin Xi secretly found it interesting and continued to change the subject and asked, "Have you ever thought about taking advantage of the situation to march north?" Lu Chen said, "Although I also want to do it in one go, the actual situation does not allow it. The army has been fighting hard for half a year and urgently needs to rest and recuperate. Recovering the northern part of Dingzhou is the limit. Besides, the logistics and supplies cannot keep up. The court needs to recuperate."

Lin Xi nodded and said, "In that case, I will bring the Seven Star Army back to Dingzhou in a few days."

The Qi army wants to recapture the northern part of Dingzhou, which is a good thing for the Seven Stars Gang. After all, the gang has been closed off by the Jing army for more than half a year, and life has been difficult for the young and old in the gang.

Lu Chen felt reluctant to leave.

He and Lin Xi were together less often than they were apart, and thinking back on the time they had spent in Baotai Mountain, he realized how precious it was. They had walked hand in hand through the mountains, seeing the picturesque landscapes, without having to worry about the troubles of the world.

But he knew that the best love was not to tie Lin Xi to his side. Her family was in Baotai Mountain, and she had the responsibility to take the Seven Star Army Cavalry back to drive away the Jing Army.

After the two of them cleared the dishes, Lu Chen made a pot of tea and said to Lin Xi, "Senior Sister, are you interested in appreciating the moon?"

Lin Xi naturally wouldn't refuse.

Lu Chen was reluctant to leave, and so was she.
The two sat under the porch, with a crescent moon hanging in the night sky.

Everything was quiet except for the occasional chirping of birds and insects.

"I know what you want to say."

Lin Xi looked up at Yue Hua and said slowly, "Junior Brother, I can roughly guess the story between you and Miss Luo, because she told me about your experience in Shazhou."

"Although she tried her best to hide her interactions with you, she is not very good at hiding her feelings, and her attachment to you would occasionally be revealed in her words."

"Based on my understanding of you, if you don't like her, you will definitely not let her have any misunderstandings. Since you two are interested in each other, would I reject her?"

"It would be a lie to say I have no qualms about this, but I can accept this fact very calmly."

"Do you think I'm more generous?"

Lin Xi turned her head and looked at Lu Chen. Under the moonlight, her eyes were clear and gentle, with a hint of smile in them.

Lu Chen remained silent obediently.

Lin Xi stretched his arms slightly and continued, "In today's world, any man with a little power has three wives and four concubines, and those noble sons are even more revelry every night. I have killed a few such people before, and I know something about their extravagant and licentious lives. But you are different from them. You didn't agree to Gu Wan'er, whom Li Sanlang gave you, or Xue Susu, whom the prince tried every means to send to you, and you never specifically said it in front of me. This is enough to prove that you can always stick to the bottom line."

"Sister..."

"Just listen to me, okay?"

"it is good."

"With your current power and status, it's easy for you to rely on beautiful women. If you just let out a hint, those powerful people who want to please you will not ignore it. I'm not praising you, but I don't want you to pay too much attention to these little things. I'm not a jealous woman who doesn't want my husband to have children, nor am I a fool who pretends to be magnanimous and looks for a woman for you."

She paused for a moment and said softly, "I just don't want these things to hold you back. You should focus more on the big things. You are in a high position now, and you are involved in the lives and property of too many people. If you are not careful, you will fall into an abyss. To me, it doesn't really matter whether you are successful or not, but I definitely don't want to see you fall into the dust."

Quiet night, fresh breeze.

There was a brief silence.

"Sister."

Lu Chen spoke in a gentle tone.

Lin Xi smiled: "Hmm?"

The next moment, her expression changed slightly, she looked a little shy, but also with a bit of helplessness of doting.

Lu Chen held her on his lap, leaned against her shoulder and said, "What did you call me just now?"

The word "husband" popped up in Lin Xi's mind. She felt her face getting hot and turned her head away to ignore him.

Lu Chen moved closer and whispered in her ear: "Senior Sister, I want you to help me give birth to a child."

Lin Xi bit her lips lightly, her eyes were like water.

When they were intimate in the past, the two had already had close contact, but it had never reached that stage.

Lu Chen wanted to hold her in his arms, but suddenly he felt a soft but powerful force coming. Then Lin Xi broke free from his arms and stood up leisurely.

She chuckled and said, "I said that to you before you went to Shazhou, but you just didn't listen. I don't have a good way to teach you a lesson. You must be obedient before we get married and stop bullying me."

In the hazy moonlight, she stood in the corridor in a long dress, as elegant as a fairy.

Lu Chen pretended to be distressed and said, "Senior Sister, this punishment is too severe."

Lin Xi snorted softly, turned around and walked slowly forward, with his hands behind his back, and said something leisurely.

"I won't let you have your wish."

Lu Chen looked at her back, his eyes becoming more gentle.

(End of this chapter)