At night, Guo Song's motorcade arrived at Jinyang Palace. Several soldiers helped the drunk Guo Song out of the carriage. This afternoon, the three armies were rewarded in the military camp. The generals toasted to Guo Song. Guo Song could no longer remember himself.
No matter how much I drank, I forgot how I got back.
The soldiers sent Guo Song outside Yuqiong Pavilion. When Xue Tao heard that her husband was drunk, she quickly came out. She supported her husband and complained: "How could this happen?"
Zhao Xiu, the general of the army, smiled bitterly and said: "The princess doesn't know that there are hundreds of generals queuing up to toast Her Highness, each with a one-pound bowl filled with milk wine. In the end, it was General Yao and the others who blocked the way, and His Highness was stopped.
Let's rescue him."
Xue Tao was very helpless. Almost every time he rewarded his husband, he would drink too much. He thought he would be better today, but he still got drunk.
"Thank you for your hard work tonight. Let's go back and have a rest early! Prince Jin will be left to me."
The soldiers bowed and left. Xue Tao asked Min Qiu to make a hangover soup. She and Dugu Youlan helped her husband into the study, found a clean bucket for him to vomit up, and then helped him drink it.
Wine soup.
After everyone was busy for a long time, Guo Song fell asleep on the second floor of the study. Xue Tao sighed and said to Min Qiu: "No way, I still have to work hard for you to take care of him tonight. I guess he will have to get up and go to the latrine at night. It's cold outside, so just use it."
Clean the bucket, don’t go out.”
Min Qiu nodded, "Madam, go and rest! I will take good care of the prince."
Every time Guo Song got drunk, she was responsible for keeping vigil. Xue Tao felt reassured by her and told her a few words before leaving with Dugu Youlan.
When Dugu Youlan went out, she turned around and winked at Minqiu with an ambiguous smile. Minqiu's pretty face turned red. There were some things that didn't need to be said. They had all experienced what would happen when their husbands were drunk at night.
Her husband usually has good self-control, but he may not be able to do so when he is drunk, so Xue Tao is very careful in this matter. She will never let other maids take care of her husband at night.
She was inconvenient tonight, and Youlan had to take care of the children at night, so she asked Minqiu to take care of her husband. Xue Tao didn't bother to point it out and pretended to be confused and left.
Min Qiu felt a little nervous, but also a little expectant. She knew very well what would happen tonight. These two days happened to be her fertile period. She was eager to have a child starting from tonight.
That night, Guo Song woke up several times, and probably only the two of them knew what happened.
At dawn the next day, Min Qiu once again welcomed her husband with all her heart. With rosy cheeks, she helped him lie down to rest. Then she put on clothes under the quilt and went to find the maid to heat hot water and light the brazier.
After daylight, Guo Song put on his clothes and walked downstairs slowly. Min Qiu brought a cup of hot tea, pursed her lips and said with a smile: "I thought your husband would not get up until noon!"
Guo Song really liked this concubine who could serve her husband. He put his arm around her waist and asked with a low smile: "How many times did you do it last night?"
Min Qiu shyly stretched out five fingers and said, "Madam knows, and she wants to say that I don't cherish my husband's body."
Guo Song chuckled, "I slept soundly last night and nothing happened."
Min Qiu sat in her husband's arms and said coquettishly: "I know how to calculate the time. I might have gotten pregnant last night!"
"Of course it's a good thing if you get pregnant. When you give birth to a child, your nickname will be Chu Yi."
At this time, Guo Song found a scroll on the table. He picked it up, looked at it, and asked curiously: "Whose painting is this?"
Familiar footsteps came from outside, and Min Qiu was so frightened that she quickly stood up from her husband's arms. After a moment, Xue Tao walked in. When she saw her husband holding a scroll, she smiled and said, "This is Xiaowei's New Year's gift to her father. She
I thought about it all day long, but daddy came back very drunk."
Guo Song apologized: "I really drank too much yesterday."
Min Qiu bowed to Xue Tao and said, "I'll get breakfast."
Xue Tao saw that Min Qiu's face was still flushed and her eyes were red and swollen. She must have been tortured all night. Xue Tao suppressed a smile and said to Min Qiu: "Go! The chicken soup is very hot, be careful."
Min Qiu agreed and left quickly.
Xue Tao stepped forward and said with a smile: "Open it and take a look! I also want to see what Xiaowei's gift to dad looks like. This little girl drew it behind my back, and asked Senior Sister Li to find someone to help her frame it.
I don’t know anything about it.”
Guo Song untied the silk ribbon that bound the painting scroll and slowly unfolded the painting. The whole painting turned out to be one foot long. It was a picture of mountains and rivers, with undulating mountains, blue waves like ribbons, fishing boats dotted on the river, and the sky was high and the clouds were light. Although the brushwork was still a bit sketchy.
It seems immature, but the use of ink shades is very systematic and has a strong sense of layering, which makes the overall picture look very grand. In the upper left corner, there are five characters "Thousands of Miles of Rivers and Mountains" written in regular script. The best thing is that there is a seal engraved with "Jinshan"
The four characters "householder".
"Not bad!"
Guo Song thought it was a children's painting, but he didn't expect it to be so powerful. He was full of praise. He pointed at the seal and asked, "Who is this Jinshan layman?"
"Your precious daughter! Some time ago she asked me, where is Jinshan? It turns out that Yongdian is here!"
Xue Tao was also quite amazed that his daughter had such a high talent for painting, but he didn't even notice it.
Guo Song said with great interest: "This painting hangs in my study! This is my best gift this year."
Xue Tao curled his lips, "I think your husband's heart has already moved towards heaven. Today is the second day of the first lunar month. Is this the best conclusion of the year?"
Guo Song laughed, "I forgot to mention a premise, so far it is the best this year."
At this time, Min Qiu came in with a food box and a soup pot, and Xue Tao quickly cleared the table, "Hurry up and have breakfast while it's hot."
"Okay! Let's have breakfast first, and then go to visit the military families. I guess I will have another busy day today."
.........
The winter in Zhangye does not start to feel warm until the end of February or early March, but in the winter in Taiyuan, after the Lantern Festival, there is a hint of warmth in the air. By the end of January, the ice and snow in Taiyuan melt, and the willow trees vomit.
The buds are blooming, and flocks of birds are chasing each other in the sky. It is already an early spring scene.
In the morning, two young men on horseback came from the south of the official road, followed by two book boys, each carrying a book box. They were said to be book boys, but they were both around 20 years old and very strong.
Two young men, one named Zhang Benchu and the other Wang Xian, were both from Luzhou. They were classmates and friends, and were also township party members. They were about the same age. They came to participate in the Taiyuan imperial examination in early March.
Although this year's Taiyuan imperial examination announced that free food and accommodation would be provided to poor people, these two people are from wealthy families and do not care about the food and accommodation money. They also know that things provided for free will never be too good. How many people can live in a room?
The two of them could not accept this condition, so they came to Taiyuan more than a month in advance while they could still book an inn.
Although the two of them come from wealthy families, they are not playboys. On the contrary, they study hard, are full of knowledge, and have experienced many people.
Zhang Benchu looked at Taiyuan City in the distance and asked with a smile: "Do you think our Jin army will win Guanzhong this year?"
"I can only say that there is a possibility, but after winning Guanzhong, I think it will be troublesome whether the Southern Tang Dynasty court in Chengdu will come back. Maybe, I will make a wedding dress for the Southern Tang Dynasty in vain. If this problem cannot be solved,
, I guess I won’t win Guanzhong for the time being.”
"You are right in your analysis. It would be best for the King of Jin to break with the Southern Tang Dynasty and ascend the throne himself as emperor. All problems would be solved."
"Isn't that the same as Zhu Si? His Highness the King of Jin should not be so stupid. Instead of proclaiming himself emperor, it would be more meaningful to use the emperor to control the world. It makes more sense to be Cao Cao."
"It would be a pity if my brother doesn't become King Jin's staff."
Wang Xian laughed loudly, "That's right. If His Highness the King of Jin recruits staff, I will be the first to sign up!"
The two of them took the book boy into Taiyuan City. They had been to Taiyuan many times and went directly to Gaosheng Inn. Wang Xian had stayed here once and had a good impression of it.
The innkeeper came out and said with a smile: "You two gentlemen are here to take part in the imperial examination, right?"
"Exactly! Have you gone to bed yet?"
"You guys arrived just in time. There are only two rooms left. If you had come half a day later, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to get a room, and only ordinary rooms would be left."
The two looked at each other, and Wang Xian asked in surprise: "Are you so nervous?"
"No, they are all scholars who came to take the exam. The first few scholars came half a month ago, from Jiangnan and Hebei."
Zhang Benchu said hurriedly: "We have booked two upper rooms, and a double lower room."
"Okay!"
The waiter shouted: "Shopkeeper, we have guests, two upper rooms and one double lower room."
The two of them were lucky enough to grab two upper rooms. As soon as they settled in, a scholar from next door came to visit.
The scholars next door also came to Taiyuan together, but they were from Weizhou, Hebei. One was named Li He and the other was Zhou Kun. It was obvious from their clothes that they were also descendants of wealthy families.
Young people are easy to get along with, and they quickly became familiar with each other, sitting together and chatting.
"I heard that the examiner this time was former Prime Minister Li Mi. I didn't expect that Li Mi was loyal to Guo Song."
"What's unexpected about this? Didn't Yan Zhenqing also serve as Guo Song's staff? Birds choose good trees to perch, otherwise why don't we go to Chengdu to take the exam?"
"You're right. The eunuchs in Chengdu are monopolizing power, the emperor is fatuous, and the court's factions are fighting. It feels like there is no future."
"Brother Li, how is Tian Yue?"
Li He shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Eight states have to support an army of 120,000 people. How can it be better?"
When Zhang Benchu saw that it was almost dinner time, he smiled and said: "There's no point in chatting here, why not find a restaurant to have a drink together."