Now that he has a beautiful wife waiting for him at home, he can't easily stay out too long.
Luo Cuiwei's face was almost distorted from his rubbing, and she finally became much more awake. She yawned languidly and casually asked, "Is Song Jiuyuan going with you?"
"He's going to arrange some things in the village with Xiong Xiaoyi today, and I'll take the others with me."
"Oh, then you should go quickly."
Luo Cuiwei casually urged him, struggling to peek out from under the covers, but then quickly pulled back, frowning with worry, "It's so cold in the morning, I don't want to get up."
Why were they so cold and dismissive of him?
Yun Lie glared at her for a long time, and seeing that she didn't even realize his annoyance, he could only stand up sullenly and laugh irritably, "So afraid of the cold? Can't you wait until the sun comes out and it gets warmer before getting up?"
"I made an appointment with Song Qiuqi, and I asked her to take me to check out the terrain near the hillside today."
After the welcoming banquet that night, Song Qiuqi woke up from her drunken stupor and had no recollection of what she had said to Luo Cuiwei.
Yesterday, Luo Cuiwei prepared some pastries and waited for her for most of the day, but she didn't see her. So she sent someone to tell her that she would bring her pastries today and ask her to show her the way.
With Gao Zhan's arrival expected soon, Luo Cuiwei planned to find several suitable locations for building a house in advance.
"If she spouts nonsense again, don't believe a word she says. I'll just wait until I get back and confront her."
The night before last, that girl got drunk and ran up to Luo Cuiwei, spouting nonsense and giving Yun Lie a false alarm. He still remembers that grudge.
Luo Cui smiled and slumped onto the bed: "Okay."
Yun Lie nodded, walked to the side, opened the cabinet, and pointed to the neatly folded clothes inside, "Which one do you want to wear?"
"I can do it myself..."
"Speak quickly," Yun Lie interrupted her fiercely.
Luo Cuiwei, wrapped in a quilt, lay on the couch and smiled at him, then casually pointed to a set of ginkgo-embroidered cross-collar waist-length ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress).
She used to hear people say that after a man gets married, once the initial excitement wears off, he becomes indifferent or even impatient with his wife.
But her husband is strange. As if to make up for the regret of not being able to be by her side all the time before, ever since he came to Linchuan, he has been so busy that he is almost never at all, but he is more and more clingy every day. He finds every opportunity to be with her and always wants to do things for her, big or small. It's as if he intends to spoil her into a "useless" person who only needs to talk to him to be well taken care of.
She couldn't bear to disappoint him, so she let him have his way.
Yun Lie picked up the dress she pointed to, examined it carefully for a moment, and then said with a serious expression, "It's too thin. Didn't you say you were cold?"
“When the sun comes out later, it won’t… never mind, I won’t argue with you,” Luo Cuiwei saw him frown and smiled helplessly, pointing to another set, “Change to that one.”
The wide-sleeved, straight-hemmed robe needs to be worn with a light gauze overlay robe on top, making it an extra layer.
"Aren't you going up the mountain? It's hard to walk in this. Who's going to take responsibility if you fall?"
Luo Cuiwei bit her lip helplessly, glared at him with a smile, and said, "Just tell me which outfit you want me to wear, don't ask me anymore."
Thus, under the sweet disdain of his beloved concubine, Prince Zhao personally helped her change her clothes before hurriedly leaving and riding off towards Tongshan.
****
To express her gratitude to Song Qiuqi and Old Master Qi for taking care of Yun Lie, Luo Cuiwei specially cooked some desserts yesterday.
She only knew a little about cooking, and the ingredients here were not as plentiful as in the capital. Remembering that everyone had eaten a big, oily meal at the "welcome banquet" the day before, she asked her attendant to buy two fresh pumpkins from the neighbor next door and made pumpkin crystal cake.
Since they were gifts to express her gratitude, she carefully selected the best-shaped and most exquisite pieces, placed them in two separate food boxes, and sprinkled them with some meat floss she had brought from the capital as garnish. Then she carried one food box in each hand out the door.
"Your Highness, please leave it to me." Maid Tao Yin hurriedly came over to take the food box from her hands.
Besides the two young servants, only the maid Tao Yin had come from the Prince Zhao's residence to Linchuan.
However, Luo Cuiwei and Yun Lie were used to doing many things on their own, so Tao Yin could manage on her own.
Luo Cuiwei shook her head and smiled, "After I visit that old man, I'll have the young lady from the Song family take me to the mountainside for a look. I'm afraid I won't be back until the afternoon. You stay home and work hard, make me some soup."
She was a picky eater and didn't have much of an appetite when she wasn't with the Luo family's chef. However, she didn't make things difficult for Tao Yin and would often have her make some soup to help her recover.
****
They hadn't gone far from the courtyard when Song Qiuqi came to greet them.
Seeing Luo Cuiwei carrying a food box in each hand from afar, Song Qiuqi quickly ran over to help her.
“This is yours, the other box is for Old Master Qi, I’ll take it myself,” Luo Cuiwei handed her only one and smiled, “You didn’t come yesterday, it was hanging in the well to chill all night, so it might not taste as good.”
"No way! Brother Xiong said that the food made by the Luo family's chef is almost as delicious as the imperial cuisine."
Song Qiuqi smiled and held the food box in her arms, opening the lid as she walked.
The girl was naturally cheerful and outgoing, and Luo Cuiwei was also someone who "naturally became familiar with people." Once the two started talking, they didn't seem awkward at all.
“He’s just bragging. He’s never eaten imperial cuisine,” Luo Cuiwei chatted idly with the girl. “Besides, my chef didn’t come along. This is something I made myself. Just try it and see.”
The delicate, translucent pastries clearly appealed to the little girl. She smiled broadly after just one glance and couldn't resist reaching out to take one out and try it first.
"Wow, pumpkin and meat mixed together...it's actually delicious!"
“It’s just pork floss, my chef brought it to me sealed in a jar,” Luo Cuiwei said, tilting her head and smiling at her chubby cheeks. “Why do you all look like you’re starving for meat? I saw there was plenty of meat at the banquet the other day.”
Song Qiuqi carefully put the pastry in her mouth back on the food box lid before her eyes widened in surprise.
"That's all thanks to you and His Highness! All the meat in the village was on that table! Who knows when we'll be able to eat like that again?"
The village has a small population, less than thirty households in total, all of whom are families of soldiers from Linchuan.