Peiping City is a bit like Fengyang City back then. There are busy construction sites everywhere, disgraced civilians, and the whole city is in a mess.
Fortunately, the Beiping city wall construction project and the Yanwang Palace construction project presided over by the general are nearing completion. Once the two projects are completed, Peiping should be restored to its former glory.
A group of cavalry entered Beiping City from Desheng Gate. Although there was no flag, many people still recognized the thin man with a stern face. He was none other than Xu Da, the general who conquered the captives, Duke of Wei.
The common people spontaneously bowed down and paid sincere respect to the conqueror of Youyan, the protector of northern Xinjiang, and the Ming Army God.
Although Xu Da was in a hurry, he still slowed down, clasped his fists and returned the salute to the people before heading to the General's Mansion on Deshengmen Nei Street.
Seeing the general returning to his residence, Fu Shou quickly came out to greet him and grabbed the reins of his horse. Xu Da raised his leg and turned sideways, dismounted steadily, and strode straight to the back house.
Entering the Yuemen Cave, the maid from the back house quickly greeted the master.
"Where is the madam? How is the madam's illness?" Xu Da handed the hat to the maid and asked impatiently.
"This..." The maid didn't know how to answer, and was even a little panicked.
"Master, you are finally back." Fortunately, at this moment, Mrs. Xie came out of the inner hall. Although her face was a little pale, she seemed to be fine.
"Madam..." Xu Da's heart returned to his stomach, but his face turned ugly. He endured his displeasure and went into the room and said, "Didn't someone report that you were sick?"
"Don't worry, I just caught the cold occasionally, and I'm fine now." Ms. Xie knelt down, took off his boots and put on his home shoes. Yanran smiled and said, "I didn't expect that the master would still care about me, so quickly.
Just came back."
"Hey, aren't you kidding?" Xu Da complained depressedly: "I was patrolling the border with Zheng Guogong, Changxing Marquis and others. When I received the report, I was startled and ran back without them. I thought I was sick.
It’s not working anymore.”
"Why, I have to be sick and dying before I can ask you to come back?" Mrs. Xie also said with a serious face: "Tell yourself, in the more than half a year since I came to Peiping, have you been at home for a total of ten days?"
"Oh, am I not busy?" Xu Da said helplessly: "An army of three hundred thousand has to be trained, and a two-thousand-mile defense line has to be inspected. Even if it comes back, it still has to be a supervisor. One person can't wait to break three and a half of the troops."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but frown and said, "I asked you to go back to Nanjing with Zengshou, Miaoqing and the others, but you just refused. You insisted on staying and you thought I was homeless."
"Then you are still not my man. What's the difference between me and being a widow?" Mrs. Xie was about to cry.
"Which border guard officer and soldier's family is not like this? We can always see each other a few times a month, but the soldiers can't see their wives and children for several years!" Xu Da said sternly after hearing this:
"As the general's wife, you should lead by example instead of holding back. This will shake the morale of the army, do you understand?!"
"I don't know..." Mrs. Xie didn't listen to his reasoning, so she cried: "You haven't been home for a month, and you are so cruel to me when you call me back. Then you should leave quickly and never come back. Wuwuwu
…”
"I'm not being mean to you, I have a very good attitude..." Xu Da suddenly lost his temper. He had a lot of the common problems of old couples and young wives. He had to be patient and coax him.
It took a while to coax Ms. Xie to get better, and she wiped her tears and said, "Thankfully, I have been making soup for you since I got up in the morning. If I had known you would be mean to me when you came back, I would have let you drink air."
"Okay, okay, thank you for your hard work, madam." Xu Da quickly apologized and said with a smile, "Please give me some soup, madam."
"That's pretty much it." Ms. Xie greeted her and said, "Xiao Cui, quickly bring the cold melon, soybean and pork ribs soup I made to the master."
"Oh, Madam, you really took the trouble." Xu Da flattered him happily, and quickly cheered up Mr. Xie, so that he could leave tomorrow morning and go to Donglin Jieshi to view the sea.
However, he had spent half his life in the army and had already developed the habit of seeing all directions and listening in all directions. Just as he was talking to Mrs. Xie, he suddenly heard a thin and rapid breathing sound.
Xu Da subconsciously followed the sound and saw Xiaocui, Xie's personal maid, walking out from behind the curtain carrying an earthen pot.
His expression relaxed, but his pupils shrank slightly, and he asked with a smile: "Xiao Cui, sir, am I scary?"
"No, no, the master is being kind." Xiaocui shook her head quickly, but her breathing became more rapid.
"Then why are your hands shaking?" Xu Da smiled.
"No, no..." Xiaocui denied it at first, and then explained: "The jar is too, too heavy."
"Useless stuff!" Ms. Xie glared at her and took the tray from her hand. "Get out of here."
"Yes." Xiao Cui was so busy that she quickly left.
Mrs. Xie turned around with the earthen pot in hand and said with a smile on her face: "Then let me personally serve the master to drink the soup."
"Thank you, madam." Xu Da smiled and nodded.
Mrs. Xie put the tray on the table, picked up the porcelain bowl and scooped out a bowl of soup. The bowl was full of green melon. She handed it to Xu Dadao:
"My mother is from Guangfu and is good at making delicious soups. In the summer, my sister and I have poor appetites, so she would make this soup every two days. Even though it is bitter at first glance, it clears away heat and relieves summer heat. It is delicious when served on the table.
We kids are all rushing to have another bowl."
Xu Da took the soup bowl and said with a smile: "Then I'll drink all the soup."
"Then do you still want to eat?" Mrs. Xie smiled and handed the spoon to him.
Xu Da took the spoon, gently scooped out the soup, then took a spoonful to his mouth, lowering his head and blowing on the hot air.
Mrs. Xie looked at him nervously from the side, holding her breath involuntarily, her fingers turned white by the handkerchief.
Unexpectedly, Xu Da put down the spoon again...
"Drink, why don't you drink?" Mrs. Xie couldn't help but urge, "Don't you think my cooking doesn't taste good?"
"No, drinking the soup cooked by Madam is a beautiful thing." Xu Da smiled and took her hand, kneaded it gently and said: "It's a bit hot, drink it later."
"It's too bitter when it's cold." Ms. Xie urged again, trying to take her hand out, but Xu Da held her hand tightly.
"It's okay, it's okay. I've been fighting all my life. What kind of suffering have I never experienced? It's just bitter melon. It will cool down later and I'll feel bored." Xu Da put his finger on Xie's wrist and said, "I'll take Madam's pulse first.
Let’s see if you’re doing well, don’t leave the root of the disease like me at such a young age..."
"I'm fine, don't worry about it anymore." Ms. Xie still wanted to break free, but with her little strength, Xu Da held her like she was handcuffed, unable to free her hand at all.
"Don't move. Wind and cold are not all minor illnesses. I just didn't take it seriously back then and injured my lung pulse. As a result, my physical strength was not as good as before." Xu Da said patiently, placing his fingers on her pulse again.
"There's really nothing I can do against you..." Ms. Xie had no choice but to let him go.
After a while, Xu Da finally let go of his hand, looked at Mr. Xie steadily and said, "Your cold is not at the root of the disease."
"I'm just saying, drink the soup quickly." Xie breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the soup bowl again.
But I heard Xu Da say quietly: "But you have a serious heart disease..."
