Colorful

Chapter 162 Heading to the Northwest (1)
During the dinner, Shen Cui finally stopped crying, her face was covered with thick powder, which looked abnormally white under the lamp, covering up all her haggardness and sorrow.

Ji Cheng looked away from Shen Cui, just in time to meet Shen Jing's gaze.That gaze was full of fiery passion, but also a little guilty, Ji Cheng's heart tightened when he saw it, and he quickly turned his eyes away.

Shen Jing was almost obsessed with watching her. From the first time he saw the grown-up Ji Cheng, he couldn't help but look at her.Today, this sight has been missed for many years, and he fully thought that if he had been in high school, he would have been able to ask his mother to marry Ji Cheng as his wife.

But in the end, the sky did not come true, Ji Cheng's mother passed away suddenly, Shen Jing was hit hard, thinking that if he was in high school, he would marry a wife, but Ji Cheng had to keep his filial piety, so his motivation was obviously insufficient, and he lost his name in the end.

After that, Shen Jing also failed to withstand the pressure from his mother, and hurriedly engaged and got married.He was full of guilt towards Ji Cheng, and felt that he had broken his promise, but he didn't expect that she would become his second sister-in-law in a blink of an eye, making him think about living under the same roof with her every day, and it was his brother who accompanied her, Shen Jing's sore heart couldn't find peace day and night, so he had to escape to Dongshan Academy.

Shen Jing's eyes shifted from Ji Cheng to Shen Che, he remembered the night when he learned that his second brother and Ji Cheng were engaged, he was drunk, but he didn't dare to question his second brother, why did he Want to marry his favorite person?

Sensing Shen Jing's gaze, Shen Che smiled at him.However, what Shen Jing didn't know was that he actually went to see Shen Che that night after he got drunk, and grabbed his skirt and asked, why did he marry cousin Cheng?He was so pleased with her.

Shen Che moved his body to separate Shen Jing's gaze from Ji Cheng. His new young mistress is extremely capable. Although he knew that Shen Jing's eyes were wrong when he looked at Ji Cheng earlier, he didn't expect to use The love is still quite deep.

Although it is a very face-saving thing for his daughter-in-law to be liked by others, which shows that he has a good vision, but Shen Che does not need to find a sense of accomplishment in this kind of thing.

Especially with Shen Che's understanding of Ji Cheng, she would never be willing to be her aunt's daughter-in-law unless it was absolutely necessary, so Shen Jing's guilty look towards Ji Cheng made Shen Che very uncomfortable.

That can only show that Ji Cheng never categorically rejected Shen Jing.

So much so that Shen Che had to speculate from a dark angle that Ji Cheng's sloppy hanging of Shen Jing should be out of revenge against Ji Lan to a certain extent.Her aunt didn't want her to feel better, so she asked for some interest from Shen Jing.

Shen Che did not sympathize with his younger brother, Xiao thought that a beating for his sister-in-law would be light.It's just that he thought in his heart that Ji Cheng might have worked hard on Shen Jing when he couldn't see it, which made people feel a little bit palatable.

But seeing Ji Cheng avoid Shen Jing's gaze with a headache on his face, for fear of being misunderstood by Li Rui, it's really funny.

Shen Che's gaze fell on Li Rui by the way, and then he looked at Li Rui intently.

Probably because they were so focused on watching, that both Li Rui and Ji Cheng noticed Shen Che's abnormality.

Li Rui's first reaction was, is it embarrassing?But he immediately denied this idea, so the only pleasant explanation is that Shen Che has some unspeakable feelings for her.It really can't be blamed on Li Rui's whimsy, it's mainly due to Shen Che's fame.

And in the eyes of women, they are always much more beautiful than in the eyes of others, so it makes sense for Li Rui to think that she attracts Shen Che.

Li Rui blushed sideways to avoid Shen Che's gaze, raised her hands awkwardly to straighten her temple hair, subconsciously straightened her unproud chest, and tightened her recently fattened belly.

And Ji Cheng's suspicious eyes kept switching between Shen Che and Li Rui, not understanding what was wrong with Li Rui, so Shen Che kept looking at it like this.

Fortunately, Shen Che quickly turned his eyes away, otherwise even Ji Cheng would have wondered if the second uncle had taken a fancy to his younger siblings.

"Why is that hairpin on her head?" Shen Che turned his head and asked Ji Cheng.

Ji Cheng didn't expect that what Shen Che was looking at was just a hairpin: "She saw me wearing it that day, she liked it very much, she kept looking at it without blinking, so I gave it to her."

Li Rui really liked it very much. After she got the hairpin, she didn't see any traces of craftsmen, so she asked the girl to take it out to find someone to inquire about. All the famous craftsmen were amazed, saying that they couldn't make such a jade hairpin with petals as thin as cicada's wings.

Although Li Rui was a little disappointed, at least he had one in his hand. Even if it wasn't unique, it was rare in the world. On a night like this when all the aunts and sisters-in-law gathered and her husband came back, Li Rui naturally wanted to wear it. Add some beauty.

"If she likes your husband, would you just give it to her?" Shen Che lowered his head and whispered into Ji Cheng's ear.

Ji Cheng was a little dumbfounded, isn't it just a hairpin?It actually made Shen Che angry.In fact, she already guessed in her heart that it took some effort to get the hairpin so deep, but now that she has given it away, she has no face to take it back.

Ji Cheng replied, "Then do you want me to hand it over or not?"

Shen Che said with a low smile: "You haven't eaten it yet, so you want to give it away?"

Ji Cheng said quickly: "Oh, why haven't you eaten it? I'm tired of eating it." She knew that Shen Che's so-called waiting for her willingly was bullshit, and this man was holding back his energy to play tricks.

"Then let's try a new pose next time?"

When arguing with Shen Che, Ji Cheng seldom wins, not because he is not smart enough, but because he is not thick-skinned or shameless.

Ji Cheng was blushed by Shen Che's words, and he didn't dare to yell at him, for fear of being overheard, a gentleman would not move, she is a woman, so she stretched out her hand and pinched Shen Che's waist.

Shen Che begged for mercy and smiled: "Don't screw it here, it's better to go a little lower, and it won't hurt there."

Ji Cheng felt that he couldn't live anymore, and when he was struggling between beating Shen Che violently or beating Shen Che violently, he heard a crisp sound followed by an exclamation.

The camellia hairpin on Li Rui's head fell to the ground and broke, and her face was full of distress.

The hosta is relatively slippery, so there is a trick when making it. There will be indentations like bamboo shoots on the handle of the hairpin, which will not affect the smoothness when inserted and worn, but if it wants to slip off the head, it will be caught by the hair.

So under normal circumstances, the camellia hairpin would not fall off, unless the jade hairpin was already loose and Li Rui moved too much.

Ji Cheng wondered if Shen Che had done something bad, but he couldn't see any clues on his face, and she couldn't just convict him.

Li Rui's mood today can be regarded as bad.First, the carefully planned birthday banquet was interrupted by Shen Cui, and the husband finally went home, but ignored her, and even the hairpin was broken at night.

Li Rui looked at Ji Cheng apologetically. After all, the things that others gave her were broken, so she might blame her for not cherishing them properly.

Ji Cheng smiled at her, meaning don't take it to heart.

Ji Cheng's blushing did not fade away, Li Rui remembered the scene of Ji Cheng and Shen Che biting their ears that he had just seen, if he didn't know it, he might really think that they are a newlywed couple.

Li Rui felt that Ji Cheng was also kept in the dark. Did she think that she was proud of disposing of the big girl Yu Yi who was next to Shen Che not long after entering the door?Did she know that not long ago, her husband-in-law Shen Che was still staring at her.

Thinking of this, Li Rui couldn't help feeling a little sour in his heart, as if he felt that Shen Che shouldn't be so close to Ji Cheng.The little thoughts of the daughter's family are sometimes unbelievable, but as long as they don't hinder others, it's not a big problem to be outrageously obscene.

It's just that Li Rui couldn't help but think of his own thoughts when he saw other people's husbands and wives making sweet treats, and that "sister Chen" who didn't know who it was.

Sister Cheng is currently drinking the mint tea that Shen Che handed over.She doesn't drink tea at night, because she doesn't sleep very well, so she doesn't dare to drink tea.

However, the mint tea cooked by Shen Che did not contain tea leaves, because the mint leaves were so broken that they were like tea leaves, so it was called tea, and the mint tea cooked by Shen Che really won Ji Cheng's heart. The dried peaches are rich and fragrant, giving the tea a slightly sweet taste.

"The fourth brother came to look for me just now." Shen Che only said the first half of the sentence.

Ji Cheng didn't have any guilt in his heart, but the bad thing was that Shen Che only spoke half of what he said, and he looked at her with a kind of "I got it" eyes full of meaning, which made Ji Cheng's heart start to beat.Could it be that Shen Jing has become a bookworm after studying, and said something he shouldn't have said?
To be honest, Ji Cheng doesn't have much affection for people who devote themselves to studying, just look at her elder brother, who is pedantic and stubborn.

"What did he say?" Ji Cheng answered unwisely.

"He said..." Shen Che paused, and Ji Cheng's heart skipped a beat again, and then he heard Shen Che continue, "Why are you staring at me so nervously? What do you think the fourth brother will say?"

Ji Cheng stared at Shen Che without saying a word, this man loves to tease her.

Shen Che smiled and said, "Looking at your eyes, I think you want to splash me with water again." Shen Che pulled his robe, and brushed the non-existent dust on his legs suggestively.

Ji Cheng started to blush again.

"The fourth brother came to thank me. I introduced him to a gentleman named Li. This man is a genius. He is in his forties this year. He has tried repeatedly, but he can guess at least one of the imperial examination questions every time. And when it comes to identifying routines, he is very insightful. It’s just that he is poor, not well-known, and not many people know about it.”

Ji Cheng wondered: "Then he is so powerful, why did he fail to succeed in his own trials?"

Shen Che said: "There is a kind of person in this world who knows that there is a shortcut. When he explains others, he is savvy, but when it falls on him, he refuses to bend down. This Mr. Li has great ambitions and regards the imperial examination as a It's a child's play, analyzing and discriminating the meaning. He analyzes the methods one by one. Although he is not the first, he wants to prove that his students can leap to the dragon's gate with his set of theories. And when he himself ends, the article is full of twists and turns, pinpointing the current problems, which is also quite relevant to today. There are praises and criticisms, which examiner dares to take him?"

Ji Cheng nodded, adding a bit of respect to this Mr. Li.But it was inevitable that she took the seat right, and felt that there was something in Shen Che's words, implying that she obviously had a shortcut, but she was angry and refused to admit defeat.

"So, Cousin Jing thinks it's very effective?" Ji Cheng immediately thought of his elder brother, who can be admired even by Shen Che. It shouldn't be bad after all, her elder brother should also listen to it, and hug him.

"Fourth brother thinks the benefits are quite good." Shen Che said.

Shen Che seemed to have deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of the word "fourth brother", and Ji Cheng immediately realized what was wrong: "Then I will ask someone to go to Lanhua Lane to tell the elder brother, and let him listen to it too. Listen."

Shen Che let out a "no".

The atmosphere was quite harmonious, and the parent's short words didn't seem too trivial, so Ji Cheng asked again: "Is my second brother's affairs going well?"

Ever since Ji Cheng started keeping his filial piety, Ji Cheng's second elder brother Jize has been taking care of the iron mines in northern Shanxi. He didn't touch the biggest piece of fat in the Ji family.

Shen Che lowered his eyes and said, "That business? I've already made it through with the emperor."

Ji Cheng was only a little surprised when she heard this, she knew that Shen Che must have a way out in this matter.There is no impenetrable wall in the world. If someone exposes him in the future, even if he is a relative of the emperor, he may not be able to escape the law of the country.

"Then what does the emperor think?" Ji Cheng asked.

"The emperor is short of money." Shen Che summed it up in one sentence.There are many unimaginable and outrageous things that are said at special times, but there are unexpected gains.

For example, during the two years of the Northwest War, the Ministry of Households had no more money, and even the palace that was destroyed by fire in the palace years ago could not allocate money to the Ministry of Industry to repair it.

Emperor Jianping had no choice but to pay out of his own pocket and allocate money from the internal treasury.The internal treasury is the emperor's private treasury, and it hurts to take out even a penny, so Shen Che took the opportunity to go to the Tiao Chen of the Western Regions.

Selling private weapons to the countries in the Western Regions and encouraging them to fight each other, as long as they are controlled properly, there will be hundreds of benefits and no harm.As for the proceeds, five cents now belong to the internal treasury, and the rest will be shared by the Ji family and the Ling family.As for Yuan Qianjing, he didn't move his position. When he stops in the future, there will always be a scapegoat, right?And Yuan Qianjing is really not wronged.

Looking at Shen Che, Ji Cheng wondered how this man's brain grew, whether he had already planned this day, no wonder there was no pressure at all to marry him.

Shen Che seemed to enjoy Ji Cheng's suspicious eyes looking at monsters: "It seems that autumn is about to begin, and this year the Central Plains will have a bumper harvest. I want to rely on a tough battle so that the Turks will not be able to stir up trouble again within a few years."

Ji Cheng had heard Shen Che mention it, but he didn't know why he suddenly mentioned it again.

"Is it Zheli?" Ji Cheng said the name carefully.This name can be regarded as a taboo between her and Shen Che. It was Ji Cheng who lured Zheli to the Western Regions in the first place, and Shen Che almost died in the Western Regions.

Ji Cheng felt concerned, but Shen Che seemed to have no grievances: "It's Zheli's master."

Ji Cheng said "Oh", in fact, she had no idea about Zheli's master, but immediately heard Shen Che add: "My uncle."

Ji Cheng suddenly opened his eyes wide.

Shen Che said: "He used to be a member of the Jing Shi Army, but he was dissatisfied that my master took the position of Master Jing, so he left. He is very familiar with the interior of the Jing Shi Army, so this time in the Northwest, I used all He recruited new recruits after he left. In a few days, I will leave for the Northwest, and I will not return until the war is over."

Ji Cheng nodded clearly. No wonder Shen Che took the initiative to talk about things in the Northwest: "Well, you go, I will honor my ancestors, father, and mother at home, and you don't have to worry about home."

Shen Che said with a smile: "I have never doubted your ability."

Ji Cheng blinked and looked at Shen Che, she wondered if she was wrong.

Shen Che leaned forward and leaned towards Ji Cheng: "Don't you want to go to the northwest with me?"

Ji Cheng didn't expect that Shen Che really meant this, her heart clattered for no reason: "Me? How do I get there?"

"You just need to think about whether you want to go or not, I will arrange other things." Shen Che said.

Ji Cheng dreamed of going to the Northwest and the Western Regions in person. As a woman, it was useless to read all the beautiful rivers and mountains in his poems, but his whole life was confined to boudoir training, and he could only walk within a radius of a hundred miles until his death.

"I'll go." Ji Cheng's eyes shone like a morning star in the cold night.

Shen Che has always been a type of action, and I don't know how he moved the old ancestor, so that the old lady took the initiative to say: "It's good for young people to walk around, and I can rest assured that Archer will take care of you."

Ji Cheng said with a look of panic, "But, I'm only getting started with family affairs."

"What's the matter? Could it be that my old lady can't manage this family?" the old lady said.

Ji Cheng's heart is not made of stone. To be honest, the old lady treated her very well from the beginning to the end, so good that she deserves it. With red eyes, she put her face on the old lady's lap and said: "Grandfather, why are you so kind to me?"

The old lady smiled and said, "You silly boy, I'm not treating you well. It's that little bastard Archer who threatened me and said that if I disagree, I will take you away from home and wander around the world."

Ji Cheng laughed and said, "He won't, that's why he can't bear to part with you."

The old lady said: "The bastard even threatened me that if I don't let you go, then don't even try to hug my great-grandson."

Ji Cheng couldn't laugh anymore, his face flushed red, he must have felt a little guilty.

The old lady finally said: "Go, don't worry about it. When I was young, I also wanted to walk around, but, you know..." The old lady's mother-in-law is not so enlightened, "So I only hope that you are young People can be free. Now that you don't have children, you can still go out, but it will not be so convenient in the future, and you are reluctant to bear it." The old lady said.

Some people, who have been tortured themselves, wish that others would also be tortured once; while some people, who have been wronged by themselves, are reluctant to suffer it again in the next generation.The old lady is clearly the latter.

(End of this chapter)