Chapter 1244 Candlelight Dinner (seeking a monthly pass)
The cold wind is even more biting in the dark night, making people shiver.
It wasn't until the second watch that Li Qi returned home, looking slightly tired.
"Husband, you are finally back."
As soon as Li Qi stepped into the courtyard, his three lovely wives came out to greet him, looking very flustered.
Li Qi's already tense nerves began to beat again, and he asked nervously: "What happened?"
The three women were stunned, and Ji Hongnu asked: "Brother, where are you going today?"
Feng Yinu said with a guilty look on his face: "Husband, are you angry with us?"
It turned out to be a false alarm. They were just worried about me. Li Qi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'm not so stingy. I was at the Taiwei's Mansion during the day. I left without saying goodbye because of official business. Come in, outside."
It’s cold standing around.”
Arriving at the back hall, the warm fireplace made Li Qi's nerves relax a little. Ji Hongnu quickly handed over a cup of hot tea and said: "Brother, are you exhausted? Do you want to take a hot bath first?"
, I will order someone to boil water for you now."
"Wait."
Li Qi took Ji Hongnu's hand, asked her to sit down, coughed slightly, and said, "I may have to go to Jiangnan a few days in advance."
"ah?"
The three women had known about Li Qi's expedition for a long time, but originally Li Qi planned to go south after the Lantern Festival. Feng Yinu was worried: "Is something big going to happen?"
Li Qi shook his head and said: "It's not a big deal, but there are some things that I need to deal with."
Feng Yinu looked at Li Qi with a bit of reluctance. After all, he and Li Qi were newlyweds. Of course, he did not want to be separated from Li Qi, but she also knew that Li Qi was not an ordinary person. He had many heavy burdens on his shoulders.
It's a pity that they were unable to help Li Qi share some of the burden, so they only said: "Husband, when you go out, you have to be careful in everything."
Li Qi hummed.
Yelv Gu wanted to say: "Husband, I will go with you."
Li Qi shook his head and said: "You stay here and take good care of this family. You must also stay in Tokyo and help me contact Yelu Dashi. I will also keep Meimei here to help you. I will just take Ma Qiao and Jiugui. You guys
Don’t worry, this time I go on an expedition. I’m running to beat others, not to be beaten, so no matter what, I won’t be in any danger.”
After hearing this, the three girls felt a little relieved. Yelu Guxu didn't force her, she understood Li Qi's purpose of keeping her here. The main reason was to protect Ji Hongnu and the others, so she nodded and said: "Husband, you can go with ease, at home.
We will definitely take good care of it."
Li Qi nodded, held Feng Yinu's hand again, and said, "Yinu, I'm going this time. I also plan to take Miss Shishi with me. You know, it's too dangerous for her to stay here."
Feng Yinu was stunned for a moment and said, "Then sister agreed?"
Li Qi nodded and said, "I just came from her."
Facing the departure of two close relatives, Feng Yinu was even more reluctant to leave, but she also understood that it was too dangerous for Li Shishi to stay here. It was okay for Li Qi to be here, but once Li Qi left Tokyo, everything would be terrible.
Once something happened, she really couldn't help at all. She said with red eyes: "Then---then husband, can I---."
Before she could finish her words, Li Qi nodded and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely arrange for you to meet Miss Shishi before leaving. She also wants to see you."
Feng Yinu nodded happily.
.......
Due to the change in plans, Li Qi had to work harder to deal with the matters at hand. From the 29th to the third day of the Lunar New Year, he was almost always in the company, running between offices, and had to spend time with Feng Yinu and the others at night.
The fourth day of the Lunar New Year.
In the evening, Bai Qiannuo dragged his tired body out. As an economic envoy, the busiest day is the Chinese New Year, because at this time, foreign envoys come to Beijing in large numbers, and the main problem they have here is,
It's still about trade. This matter naturally falls under the control of the Commerce Bureau.
In the past, when Li Qi was the economic envoy, he only met with some major envoys. As for other matters, he left them to Qin Hui. But Bai Qiannuo didn't have Qin Hui to help her, so she had to handle all matters big and small by herself.
, the workload can be imagined.
Where is the car?
Bai Qiannuo came to the door, looked around, and found that the carriage was not parked in front of the door as usual. Just as he was about to call someone, he suddenly felt a chill on his face. He couldn't help but look up and murmured:
"Snowing."
"Yes! It's snowing."
Before the sound fell, Bai Qiannuo saw an umbrella covering the dark sky. He turned around and saw Li Qi looking at him with a smile on his face, and asked in slight surprise: "Why are you here?"
"I'm here to take you back."
Bai Qiannuo was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
The two of them walked east side by side. After walking for a while, Bai Qiannuo suddenly asked, "By the way, where were you going on Run'er's wedding day?"
Li Qidao: "There are some official matters to be dealt with."
"What's up?"
"About Jiangnan."
"Are you going south?"
"the day after tomorrow."
"So fast?"
"You can't let me go? If you can't let me go, I can go a year later."
Bai Qiannuo rolled her eyes for a moment, then automatically filtered the words and said, "This is far from my home. Are you sure we want to walk back?"
Li Qi smiled and said: "It's not very far, it's just ahead."
"Um?"
"Have you had dinner?"
Bai Qiannuo thought for a moment and said, "It seems not."
Li Qi said speechlessly: "Look at you, you are so busy that you don't even remember that you have had dinner. How can you tell me to leave with peace of mind?"
"I said no."
"But you obviously thought about it for a while just now."
"...!"
"Brother Li, Sister Qi'er."
As she was walking, she suddenly heard Chen Anan's voice coming from in front of her. Bai Qiannuo looked up and saw that not far ahead, Chen Anan was waving his hand, and there was a carriage parked next to him.
The carriage was filled with candlelight. She couldn't help but look at Li Qi curiously.
Li Qi smiled and said: "Don't get me wrong, I definitely want to walk back with you, but at least I have to eat enough."
"Anan."
Bai Qiannuo walked over, nodded lightly to Chen Anan, and said, "Where is your horse guard?"
Li Qi sighed: "Ma Wei said he wanted to accompany Meimei, so he left me alone, so I had to find this kid." As he said that, he stretched out a hand and said, "Please."
Bai Qiannuo hesitated for a moment, then put his hand up.
Li Qi felt a delicate coldness coming from his palm. "Your hands are really cold."
"It's cold."
While talking, Bai Qiannuo had already boarded the carriage.
Li Qi smiled and stepped forward.
When Bai Qiannuo opened the door curtain, he was stunned. He saw a coffee table inside the carriage, and there were three plates on the coffee table, two of which contained a heart-shaped steak. And in the middle
Inside one is a smiling face and a glass of colorful wine beside it, which looks even more beautiful under the yellowing candlelight.
This dish and this glass of wine are very familiar to Bai Qiannuo. It is that cheerful smile and Caccino.
Bai Qiannuo couldn't help but be stunned. Then he glanced at Li Qi, who stretched out his hand in a gesture of invitation. Bai Qiannuo lowered his head slightly and walked in with a low body.
Li Qi then got in, sat opposite Bai Qiannuo, picked up the knife and fork and said, "You must be hungry, let's talk while eating."
Bai Qiannuo smelled the aroma of steak. Fang felt very hungry. He hummed, picked up the knife and fork and started eating.
After eating for a while, Li Qi suddenly said: "I'm leaving soon. Don't you have anything to say to me?"
"I---cough cough cough."
"Slow down, slow down, don't talk when you eat, don't talk when you sleep. What the ancients said is still very reasonable."
Li Qi secretly wiped away the cold sweat and secretly handed over a cup of slightly hot water.
Bai Qiannuo quickly took a sip of water and then recovered. He glared at Li Qi, the culprit. This was really a thief shouting to catch a thief. He blushed and said angrily: "I thought it was you who had something to say to me."
"Well, let's put business before private affairs." Li Qi looked helpless. Then he put down his knife and fork and said seriously: "After I leave, the capital will be completely dependent on you."
Bai Qiannuo hesitated for a while and then hummed softly.
Li Qi heard that she seemed to lack confidence and said, "What? You don't have confidence?"
Bai Qiannuo suddenly put down his knife and fork and said: "To be honest, I really lack confidence. Once upon a time, I thought I could do it, but after I became an official in the court, I realized that the water is deeper than I imagined.
, especially Qin Hui, he seems to be born to be the prime minister. With my ability, it is enough to be able to keep the Commerce Bureau from losing. If I have to fight Qin Hui, I'm afraid---"
Li Qi smiled and nodded: "The fact that you can say this proves that you have made great progress, but you don't have to be afraid of Qin Hui at all."
Bai Qiannuo frowned and said, "Why?"
Li Qi smiled and said: "Since I came back from Yanyun, all the actions were done privately by the emperor and I. In the court, I didn't make any moves. Not only that, I also kept retreating, which made many people unable to see.
I understand, including Cai Jing, Gao Qiu, and my mother-in-law. I believe that even if Qin Hui is smart, he cannot guess my intentions.
If I guessed correctly, he must be very confused now. On the contrary, he hopes that I can take action. In that case, he can understand what he should do, and you just have to help him understand clearly.
Just wait and see what you should do as a prime minister. Once you take action, Qin Hui will be very happy, but facing you, he is still very confident. What he is afraid of is me far in the south.
From what I know about him, if he is not very sure of hitting me as well, he will definitely not attack you."
Bai Qiannuo nodded frequently and said, "But he will try his best to prevent me from developing my own power."
Li Qi smiled and said: "Yes, but as an economic envoy, you have Zuixianju in your hands, and more importantly, you are still my wife. It will be difficult for him to completely control you."
, in this way, our plan will be half successful."
Bai Qiannuo thought for a while and then said, "I think I know what to do?"
Li Qidao: "But you must remember one thing. The emperor is watching from above. Anything about you cannot be related to the old prince Zhao Huan. Otherwise, we will be trapped in a cocoon. Apart from that, no matter what
Whatever you do, even if you make a mistake, the emperor will look at my face and spare you once. At most, you will be promoted to an official position without any risk to your life, so as long as it does not violate the emperor's taboos
Come on, you can go ahead and do it."
Bai Qiannuo nodded and said, "Yes. I remember."
Li Qidao: "Oh, there is another point that I have never mentioned, and that is about glass mirrors. Once glass mirrors appear, bronze mirrors will definitely be eliminated. Bronze mirrors are also very important to the price of copper. Once bronze mirrors appear,
If it is eliminated, the copper price will definitely fluctuate, but after I leave, no one except you knows when the glass mirror will start to be sold. Then this is a good opportunity for you to make a contribution."
Bai Qiannuo nodded.
Li Qidao: "Okay, that's all I have to say. I told you the rest that night."
Bai Qiannuo hesitated for a while and said, "Is there any danger in your expedition this time?"
Li Qi did not answer and asked instead: "Do you think Dali is as powerful as the Jin Kingdom?"
"No."
"That's it." Li Qi smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about me, because after I leave, you will have a lot of things to worry about. But you must take good care of your body. Although I say this
I have said it many times, but I still have to say it again, the body is the capital of success."
Bai Qiannuo nodded and said, "Actually, I have another question that I've always wanted to ask you."
"What?"
"In your initial plan, I was not the economic envoy, so who was your choice at that time?"
Li Qi was stunned and sighed: "Me."
"you?"
Li Qi nodded and said: "You know, the next two steps of the plan are related to the future of our family. I really can't completely trust others. I mean others, not you. Since it comes to this matter
, I think I still have something to tell you.
Maybe I told you in advance that we could handle it more perfectly. But after all, I am a human being, not a god, and many things are beyond my control, even my own thoughts. You didn't understand my difficulties at the time. Then
It's because you have never experienced the sense of crisis on the cusp of the storm. If you make a wrong move, you will fall into a place of eternal destruction. This feeling cannot be explained clearly, but now you are in my position.
Come on, understand how deep and muddy the water in the court is, and understand what murderous intent is. I believe you should also be able to understand me at that time. If you don't understand it now, you will feel it firsthand after I leave.
"
Bai Qiannuo pondered for a while, nodded slightly, and said: "I have realized it, but you can't understand how painful I was at that time."
Li Qidao: "Although I can't understand it, and I have never experienced it, I can imagine it, because if I were you, I would do the same thing, so I have never blamed you from the beginning to the end. To be honest with you,
Said, a long time ago, I had prepared a perfect set of deception---oh no, explanation, but what I didn't expect was that my father-in-law would be so angry that he would fall ill, and his illness would be so serious.
, and the emperor would also issue that imperial edict in advance. It was these accidents that made it impossible for me to explain my explanation, causing me to lose so many brain cells in vain."
Bai Qiannuo said: "Didn't you already say everything just now?"
Li Qi was surprised and said: "How do you know?"
Bai Qiannuo rolled his eyes slightly and said, "As you said, your explanation is almost impeccable."
"Nearly? That means it's not perfect. I don't know where the loopholes are?"
"It's just perfect."
Li Qi nodded in deep agreement and said: "Indeed, imperfection is the most perfect. Just like me, I am also almost perfect."
Bai Qiannuo twitched the corner of her mouth slightly and said, "Do you still want to eat this meal?"
"Of course. This is a candlelight dinner that I carefully prepared."
"But if you continue to talk like this, I think it will be difficult for me to eat."
"Well...."
Li Qi was stunned and said: "Oh, it turns out you are playing tricks on me!"
"I'm just discussing the matter." Bai Qiannuo picked up the knife and fork and said, "I'll correct you one more sentence. It's about eating without talking and sleeping without talking. It doesn't mean eating without talking and sleeping without talking. This sentence comes from the Analects of Confucius."
"Is there a difference?"
"No, I just wanted to remind you that it's time for us to eat."
After saying that, Bai Qiannuo picked up the knife and fork and started eating.
Li Qi was stunned for a moment and muttered: "It's really disgusting, bullying me for not studying well."
Bai Qiannuo pretended not to hear and started eating, but there was a hint of smile in his eyes.
The two started eating again.
Soon, the two of them finished the steak in silence. Li Qi pushed the beaming smile in front of Bai Qiannuo and said, "Try it."
"Thanks."
Bai Qiannuo was not polite and started eating directly. When she was eating the steak, her eyes had been passing over this dish, because this dish had extraordinary significance to her.
"Don't eat naked. How about trying this wine?"
Bai Qiannuo picked up the wine glass and saw that Cachino's beauty was displayed vividly and delicately against the background of the glass. He couldn't help but stay still for a moment before taking a sip.
Li Qi asked: "How does it taste?"
"very good."
"What I'm talking about is different from what I cooked for you last time?"
Bai Qiannuo thought about it seriously and said, "It seems not."
Li Qi chuckled: "This tells us a very good truth."
"What's the point?"
"Some things never change from beginning to end, just like this smile and this cup of Caccino."
...
With the help of this candlelight dinner, the feelings inside quickly heated up, but it was very difficult for Chen Anan, who was driving, because he had to control the time and drive the carriage to the door of Bai Qiannuo's house just right.
, not later, not too early.
Fortunately he did it.
Not easy!
Li Qi helped Bai Qiannuo get out of the carriage.
"I'm going back, please be careful on the way."
"Wait."
Li Qi suddenly stopped Bai Qiannuo, turned around and went back to the car. After a while, he got out again, but saw a few more bright red flowers in his hands. These flowers looked even more beautiful in the cold winter.
Extremely beautiful.
"Give it to you."
Li Qi, who had not given flowers to a woman in such a serious manner for a long time, seemed very unskilled and didn't know what to say.
As the first woman who came to the Northern Song Dynasty from Li Qi, Bai Qiannuo received flowers from Li Qi for the first time. It was also the first time in her life that she received flowers. Whether in later generations or now, the flower offensive will always be difficult for women.
resisting.
"Qiniang."
Although his skills were uncanny, Li Qi still grasped the timing imprecisely. He looked at Bai Qiannuo affectionately and slowly lowered his head.
When Bai Qiannuo heard Li Qi calling her, she raised her head and saw Li Qi leaning his face towards her. She couldn't help but open her eyes wide. She looked very surprised. She had never accepted flowers before, so she didn't know this routine. Regarding Li Qi's behavior
It felt very unexpected, what was going on, but her inner struggle became even more intense.
While Bai Qiannuo was still struggling, seeing that Li Qi's sudden attack was about to succeed, his eyes were already flashing with pride. It seems that my sword is still young. Suddenly, he heard a squeak in front of him, and then heard "
"Whoa" sound.
Bai Qiannuo was startled, and immediately woke up. She took a small step back and said, "I'm going back first." She was already running towards the house with her head buried in the words.
"Mom, I'm back."
"Thank you!" Li Qi cursed in a low voice, turned around, looked at the beautiful woman who had just walked out of the door, put his head in his hands, and said with great annoyance: "Mother-in-law, can you come out a little later, even for a moment?
Okay! Be sincere."
Mrs. Bai was startled for a moment, then she reacted and said: "How sincere are you? I saw Qiniang didn't come back so late, so I wanted to come out and have a look. I also want to ask you, what do you want to do? This is on the street.
.”
"So what? We are an old married couple."
"You---you are really amazing. You managed to coax my daughter to change her mind so quickly."
"I don't dare, I don't dare. Success was already in sight, but it turned out that it was better for you to be old. As soon as I opened the door, all my efforts tonight were in vain. Sure enough, this ginger is still spicy after being old." Li Qi said angrily.
.
Mrs. Bai just wanted to laugh when she heard his strange tone and said, "Why don't you come in and sit down for a while? The old man has already taken a rest."
Nani? This mother-in-law takes too good care of me. Li Qi was secretly happy. I would definitely not know how to sit down after sitting for a while, but I could consider sitting in Qiniang’s room for a night. But he was very shy.
Said: "Isn't this not good?"
Mrs. Bai nodded and said: "Well. This is indeed not a good thing. Then I will get in your carriage and sit for a while. I happen to have something to ask you."