Having been in Linchuan for several months, she had come to understand many of the slang terms used by these young men.
The term "front" refers to the front line of the defense zone, which faces the Northern Di people across the mountains.
After watching Xiong Xiaoyi ride away, Yun Lie turned around and saw Luo Cuiwei standing blankly on the stone steps. He went over and put his arm around her shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Luo Cuiwei turned to look at him and asked softly, "Is another fight about to break out up ahead?"
"No," Yun Lie quickly reassured her, noticing the faint worry in her eyes. "It's just that there are some things he needs to do in person, so just in case, I'll go and oversee things for him for a few days."
Although Yun Lie has focused his efforts on establishing new cities and vassal states in recent months, he has not yet formally handed over the position of commander-in-chief of the Linchuan Army. He has a duty to personally oversee matters at the front and cannot shirk it.
"How many days?" Luo Cuiwei stared directly into his eyes, as if trying to confirm the truth of his words.
Yun Lie quickly made a solemn vow, pointing to the sky: "Really, I'll be back in ten days at most."
Even though Luo Cuiwei didn't understand these things, she knew that ten days was not a long time like the start of a war, so she immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Although she was reluctant to leave, she didn't say anything more, just nodded and went back up the steps, intending to go back to her room to change her clothes.
Yun Lie strode after her, asking, "Did you throw up again while you were outside today?"
He was really worried about her looking pale from retching in the morning.
No.
Hearing that she was alright and seeing that her complexion was indeed not as bad as it had been that morning, Yun Lie felt relieved and casually asked, "So what did you want to say to me just now?"
"Actually, it's nothing. I was just stirring things up," Luo Cuiwei lowered her eyelashes and smiled slightly, as if embarrassed. "I saw something interesting at the other end of the house this afternoon."
That wasn't what I originally wanted to say.
Today, after paying the craftsmen for ten days' work, she was in the courtyard thinking about how to arrange the flowers and trees when someone from Jishetang came over and said they wanted to ask Gao Zhan to give guidance on the building plans for Jishetang.
At that time, Gao Zhan was in the Fu family's house next door. After she told him, she was caught off guard and felt nauseous again.
The person who came happened to be a doctor, who immediately noticed something was wrong. After taking her pulse, he told her that she was pregnant.
She had rushed back to share the good news with Yun Lie, but when she learned that Yun Lie needed to stay in the defense zone for ten days, she was afraid that telling him would distract him and cause him worry. So she immediately changed her mind and decided to tell him when he returned in ten days.
Hmm, I'll have to remind Tao Yin not to let anything slip later.
"What's interesting?" Yun Lie followed behind her, one foot stepping into the bedroom, but she turned around and raised her hand to stop him on the shoulder.
He looked down at the hand resting on his shoulder with a puzzled expression, then looked up at Luo Cuiwei, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Hmm?"
"I'm just changing my clothes, why are you following me?" Luo Cuiwei glared at him, seemingly a little nervous.
Yun Lie turned his head and clicked his tongue. Without allowing her to refuse, he leaned over and picked her up by the waist. Amid her soft gasp, he carried her into the bedroom and kicked the door shut with his heel.
Not only that, he also turned the tables on her with a self-righteous look: "I can tell from your eyes that you're thinking about erotic and romantic things. You're not a decent person at all."
****
Luo Cuiwei almost laughed out of anger after being inexplicably labeled as "not a decent person".
"Which outfit do you want to change into?" Yun Lie opened the closet and pointed, then turned to look at Luo Cuiwei sitting on the edge of the bed, his face full of righteousness. "What kind of look is that? I really just wanted to help you change your clothes, nothing serious."
Luo Cuiwei casually pointed to a lotus-colored half-sleeved garment, and said with a helpless smile, "Yun Gouzi, that's enough."
Yun Lie stopped teasing her, took out the shirt she pointed to, and walked towards her with a smile.
Luo Cuiwei stood up, took off her outer robe, and reached out to take it from him, but he stopped her and insisted on changing it for her himself.
She didn't argue with him, but opened her arms like a child and let him serve her.
As Yun Lie helped her get dressed, he continued to ask the question from before: "You said you saw something interesting at the other end of the house this afternoon?"
Perhaps because of the impending short separation, he felt an extra urge to be with her and was very happy to hear her share what she had seen and heard.
Even the smallest, most trivial things, once spoken by her and heard by him, seem to become shared memories between them.
“Oh, it’s just…” Luo Cuiwei lowered her eyes, her eyebrows curving as she looked at her husband who was fastening the floral buttons on her lapel. “Today, a handsome young man came to the Fu family next door. When he smiles, he has a shallow dimple on his left cheek and a little tiger tooth! He’s been following Miss Fu Qi around all day, and the two of them have been discussing things together.”
The long finger on the knotted button paused.
"And then?" Yun Lie's gaze slowly shifted from the decorative knot to his wife's smiling face.
Luo Cuiwei couldn't help but let out a small yawn, her smiling eyes instantly filling with tears, giving her a hazy and tender look.
"Later, Miss Fu invited Gao Zhan over to modify some of the blueprints for their house. It was said that he wanted to modify the pond in the central courtyard according to the young man's suggestion."
Fu Ying and Gao Zhan are quite something. At the end of last month, they almost got into a fight because Gao Zhan wanted to steal the Fu family's blueprints to modify them. After Yun Lie forced them to drink a reconciliation drink, not only did they truly forget their grudges, but Fu Ying also politely sent someone to deliver money and asked Gao Zhan to help build her house as well.
"When I came back, I accidentally saw Gao Zhan hiding behind our front door, scratching the wall."
Recalling Gao Zhan's appearance back then, Luo Cuiwei felt as if she had uncovered some secret, and the smile at the corners of her eyes grew even sweeter and more affectionate.
Seeing that Yun Lie remained silent for a long time, only frowning and staring at her, Luo Cuiwei suppressed her smile, awkwardly pouted, and muttered, "You asked it yourself, and you don't like to hear it. I just won't talk to you about these things anymore."
“That is indeed a very interesting thing,” Yun Lie gritted his teeth, his long fingers mischievously unbuttoning the knot he had just fastened. “But I’m very curious, how carefully did Your Highness stare at people?”
A dimple on the left cheek? A cute little canine tooth?
"I didn't look closely, just glanced at it a couple of times," Luo Cuiwei quickly raised her hand and pressed it tightly against her clothes, glaring at him weakly, "No, you can't do anything reckless, I have..."
She paused abruptly, then added, "I'm a little hungry."
Hearing her say she was hungry, Yun Lie felt sorry for her. After straightening her clothes again, he took her hand and went out, muttering as they walked, "That's not some young man, he's clearly Fu Qian, the old monster of the Fu family. He's the third in his family and several years older than Fu Ying!"