Love Affairs in Chang'an - Chapter 25

Chapter 25 Little Trick
In the following days, Qin Mubai felt like a piece of stubborn iron. First, he was ruthlessly thrown into the furnace and burned red. Then, he was crazily smashed by Qin Shubao and Cheng Zhijie, two barbaric old blacksmiths.

Practice martial arts on the school grounds, spear technique advice … Well said, it’s actually getting beaten up!

He was still beaten up by two of the world’s top martial artists in the Great Tang Dynasty!

Every bone seemed to be on the verge of shattering. There was not a single part of his body that wasn’t injured. Blues and swollen faces were already the norm. This made Qin Mubai often have the illusion that he was getting fat.

However, after tens of thousands of times of tempering, the stubborn iron finally had the feeling of becoming steel. Qin Mubai’s spear skills, riding and shooting skills, and other kinds of horse martial arts improved by leaps and bounds under the frenzied training of Qin and Cheng. Now, he could even use Qin Shubao’s new Taiji Spear Technique to fight Cheng Zhijie on horseback for more than ten or twenty rounds without losing ground, and he wouldn’t be so easily dismounted.

As for riding and shooting, archery was Qin Mubai’s specialty. After becoming proficient in equestrian, his skill had improved even more rapidly. In the end, Qin Shubao and Cheng Zhijie had no choice but to admit that this brat’s archery skills, not to mention being number one in the world, were at least comparable to those of extraordinary peaks of perfection. The two of us old fellows were no better than him.

The Imperial Court held a celebration banquet to calm down Tuyuhun as scheduled, and Qin Shubao was invited to attend. Qin Mubai didn’t have the qualifications to go to such a high-level place for a cup of soup, but hearing that the Emperor had used the “Qin Immortal Wine” he had brewed to entertain his guests at the banquet caused a huge stir.

When Qin Shubao returned from the banquet, he was in a very good mood, as if he had instantly recovered from his illness when he was younger than a teenager. It turned out that the Emperor had not only displayed the Qin Spear he had used in the past at the banquet, but had also praised the Qin Family’s Sanlang in public-“versatile, filial and benevolent; generals and tigers, do not humiliate the court.”

Evidently, the Emperor was deliberately trying to resolve Qin Shubao’s heart knot and some of the unnecessary beams that Wu Meiniang had created before.

“Sanlang, the Emperor’s heart is indeed not something we can imagine! Not only does he not hate you, he praises you in public instead.” Qin Shubao comfortably said to Qin Mubai, “He praised your zither skills and wine making. This is secondary. But he specifically mentioned that you are the ‘General Door Tiger’. Is this a hint that you should not drill in music drinks and concentrate on martial arts to prepare for the Emperor’s military selection in the near future?”

“It’s possible.” Qin Mubai replied, “But the Emperor’s heart is hard to predict. We don’t know whether the Emperor has really let go of it or is trying to cover up the situation. In short, the child will be careful. If the Emperor has such a hint, it just happens to reflect his heart. He is indeed a little displeased with Wu Meiniang.”

“Oh, what do you mean?” Qin Shubao asked in surprise.

“If the Emperor is really suggesting that I should participate in the selection, then isn’t that because he wants me to leave Li Ke?” Qin Mubai said, “In other words, he is somewhat dissatisfied with what happened between Li Ke and me this time. He doesn’t want me to be with him in the future. Father, what do you think?”

“Mm … that makes sense.” Qin Shubao suddenly nodded and stroked his long beard. Since the Emperor has already hinted at this, you have more reason to leave King Wu’s Mansion and go to the Emperor’s side to find a job. Prepare to train hard in martial arts. If nothing unexpected happens, the emperor will settle this matter around the Lantern Festival. There are still more than twenty days left. You must hurry up. ”

“Yes, father.” Qin Mubai agreed, but her heart was a little tense. Yuan Tiangang had calculated that my father’s death day was the 17th day of the first month, so there were only twenty days left! But looking at him now, his spirited body is getting better. What will happen then? I would rather believe that such a mysterious and unfathomable batch of calculations is deceiving …

There are only a few days until the New Year. In Chang’an, the imperial capital of the peaceful era, there was some relaxed joy. From time to time, one could see people from every household returning home from the large quantities of New Year’s goods purchased in the West City. Firecrackers were often heard in the streets. What made Qin Mubai feel even more interesting was that in the entire Chang’an City, apart from the Qin Clan, almost every clan had two door divine paintings stuck on their gates-Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong!

It turned out that this custom had already begun to take shape since the time of Zhenguan.

After the change in the Black Warrior Sect, Li Shimin, who had just ascended to the throne, often fell asleep and had nightmares (probably because of the psychological shadow left behind by killing his brother and killing so many innocent nephews). He thought that the palace was haunted. As a result, Qin Shubao and Yu Chigong, two powerful generals who had killed countless people and had the most flourishing blood energy without fear of ghosts and gods, stayed up all night to guard the Emperor’s dormitory. Only then did Li Shimin sleep peacefully.

Later, because Li Shimin sympathized with his subordinates, he couldn’t bear to let these two loving generals stay outside the dormitory all night. Thus, he first left behind Qin Shubao’s famous iron spear and stabbed it into the dormitory to suppress them. Afterwards, he ordered the painter to draw a portrait of them and stick it on the door of the dormitory to eliminate evil spirits.

Whether or not the emperor would really be able to sleep soundly after that was something that could not be done. However, the tradition of going up and down quickly made the emperor’s actions popular among the people. A few years later, Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong, these two living people, actually became the door gods of the people!

Compared to the lively festivities outside, King Wu’s Mansion was a little quiet. This almost isolated place was now like a pool of stagnant water that could hardly stir up any ripples. Li Ke stayed closed all day, not knowing whether those beauties had caused him to feel tired of aesthetics, and whether he was tired of enjoying the music and dances.

Qin Mubai thought to himself, on the surface, it seemed that Li Ke was planning to hide his strength and become an unchallenged Prince An Le. It was just that he didn’t know what kind of thoughts he had deep down in his heart.

On an accidental occasion, Qin Mubai and Li Ke talked about Princess Wu. It turned out that Princess Yang, who had just given birth to a daughter, was too weak to endure the tiredness of the journey. She still stayed in Anzhou to rest and recuperate and did not follow Li Ke to Chang’an. According to the gossip servants in the manor, King Wu Li Ke and the princess were married because of politics. There was no love or indifference between them, so they could only be described as “respectful as guests”. In other words, it was just a little “seemingly divorced”.

On this day, the manor distributed New Year’s Eve benefits. Regardless of whether it was the officials or servants, each of them distributed a batch of mutton, cloth, and other New Year goods, giving off a joyous scene.

Qin Mubai was busy handing out things to his military academy. Brigade Commander Yin Yang, who was in charge of guarding the entrance of the Prince’s Mansion, hurriedly reported that someone had come to see Qin Mubai by name, claiming to be the personal maid of the Second Wife of the Martial Clan of Duke Ying’s Mansion.

“Wu Meiniang is looking for me at this time. What can I do for you?” After some thought, Qin Mubai came to the door and saw the maid.

When the maid saw Qin Mubai, she started crying and shouted pitifully and anxiously, “Grandpa, hurry up and go over! Second Lady is in a terrible situation!”

“What’s going on? Don’t cry, explain everything clearly!” Qin Mubai’s heart jammed as he asked.

“Wuwuwu, I haven’t even looked at the Wu Clan in these past few days. Brother Wu Yuanqing bullied Second Wife and the others all day long. The beating and scolding are still light. This is going to kill us all!” The maid cried so sadly.

“What? There’s such a thing? It’s against him, Wu Yuanqing!” Qin Mubai saw that the little girl was crying so sadly, so she didn’t dare to deceive herself.

Coincidentally, Yuwen Hongtai came over. Hearing Qin Mubai’s low shout, he immediately shouted angrily, “Boss, I’ll go get some brothers to hang Wu Yuanqing up and beat him. Skin him and beat his tendons! This is really going against him!”

“Shut up!” Qin Mubai shouted and stopped him. She stared at the maid with rapt attention, causing her scalp to go numb as she retreated backwards. She muttered, “Aunt, uncle, why are you looking at me like this?”

“If you dare to lie to me, then you’ll be in for it.” Qin Mubai snorted coldly. At this moment, although he was a little angry, he still hadn’t lost his mind. Logically speaking, Wu Yuanqing would never dare to bully Wu Meiniang, her mother, and her daughter again.

“Maidservant, maidservant doesn’t dare!” The maid looked at a group of powerful men wearing armor and hanging knives in horror. She trembled and said, “Grandpa, you must hurry up!” She ran away.

“Hmph, little girl, although your acting is not bad, you still want to lie to me with such a brainless trick? I want to see what Wu Meiniang is trying to lie to me about.” Qin Mubai couldn’t help but sneer.

“Boss, what should we do? Should I call some brothers to deal with that fool surnamed Wu?” Yuwen Hongtai was in a hurry and kept asking questions.

“What are you going to do? I’ll just go to the Martial House by myself.” Qin Mubai chased him away, so he didn’t bother to take off his armor and rode straight to the Duke Ying’s mansion.

All the servants in Duke Ying’s mansion knew Qin Mubai, and when they saw his fully-armed appearance, they were all trembling with fear. As the saying goes, Qin Mubai would rather provoke an official than a bandit than a soldier. Qin Mubai’s outfit clearly gave him an imposing aura that was neither angry nor angry.

Qin Mubai asked someone, and the servant replied that the Patriarch and Second Wife were both playing at the backyard polo court!

“Play?” Qin Mubai snorted coldly in his heart, “As expected, you lied to me!” Fortunately, I didn’t rush over with a bunch of big-headed soldiers. Otherwise, I would be embarrassed.

Originally, Qin Mubai was a little annoyed, but after coming to the backyard to take a look at the polo ball, Qin Mubai couldn’t help but laugh.

There were no conflicts in this family, it was simply a “bunch of amity”!

On the polo court, the net pocket Qin Mubai had pulled when he came to play that day was still there. Wu Meiniang brought a large group of maids and played the game of “shooting” loudly. The difference was that there was another goalkeeper-Wu Yuanshuang!

Wu Yuanshuang was a big man. He was sweating profusely and nervously as he stared at the ball beneath Wu Meiniang’s feet with a bitter face. He was so clumsy that he didn’t know which side to defend. Wu Meiniang kicked the ball over after hearing a coquettish reprimand. Wu Yuanshuang shouted nervously and pushed the ball to the side with both hands. However, the ball hit his face steadily and bounced away.

“Hahaha!” Wu Meiniang and the other girls clapped their hands and laughed loudly. Wu Yuanshuang covered her face for a long time without regaining consciousness.

“Second brother, if you don’t score this goal, you win! Little sister loses to your usual money!” Wu Meiniang clapped her hands and laughed sinisterly, “Come again, little sister hasn’t had enough fun yet!”

Beside the polo field, Mrs. Yang held her third daughter, who was only a few years old, and leisurely basked in the sun. The eldest son, Wu Yuanqing, was like a slave, lowering his eyebrows and pouring tea.

Qin Mubai frowned, “Does this look like Wu Meiniang and her daughter are being bullied?” I think it’s the other way around!

As she walked over, Madam Yang saw Qin Mubai first and hurriedly stood up to greet him with a smile, “Has your son-in-law come? I’m afraid he hasn’t visited for a long time, right?”-Yuan Qing, why don’t you prepare a seat for tea? ”

“Yes, Mother.” Without saying a word, Wu Yuanqing swiftly retrieved the tea from his seat like a slave.

Qin Mubai raised the corner of her mouth and smiled, “Madam Yang, what’s going on?”

“Are you asking Mother Mei?” “She is playing Cuju with her second brother! She said,” You taught her how to play Cuju. Interesting. What a penalty, goalkeeper. I can’t understand it anyway. Just by having fun with them. ”

Qin Mubai didn’t ask her any further. He glanced at Wu Yuanqing and saw him standing obediently with his head lowered. He didn’t dare to look sideways and didn’t dare to show his aura. He looked like a eunuch.

On the other side, Wu Meiniang and the others also saw Qin Mubai and came over to laugh and make a ruckus. Wu Meiniang swaggered over with a ball in her arms and said loudly, “Oh, isn’t this my husband Mubai? He looks like a hero in this armor!”

“So you’re saying that I’m no longer a hero?” Qin Mubai turned around and looked at her with a faint smile.

“Greetings, uncle!” A group of maids and maids neatly bowed down. Qin Mubai’s heart skipped a beat. Since when did the Wu Clan have so many maids?

“Not bad, right? Husband Mubai.” Wu Meiniang tossed the ball with a wicked smile and said, “I bought a dozen beautiful maidens these past few days. They are playing with me day and night. How happy are you! Do you want to give it a try?”

“Mother Mei, how did you speak?” Madam Yang scolded in a low voice. She shook her head and smiled bitterly. She sighed, “Son-in-law, I’ll take my leave and avoid you first. You two can talk!”

“En …”

After Madam Yang left, the Wu brothers did not dare to leave. They stood neatly at the side, like lambs waiting to be slaughtered and eunuchs without blood energy.

“Big brother, second brother, you guys can leave first. I want to talk about business with my husband Mubai. You guys have to make proper arrangements for the dinner party. Don’t neglect my husband!” Wu Meiniang proudly raised her pretty little face and said loudly.

“Foolish Brother knows … Brother Xian, Third Sister, Foolish Brother, don’t accompany me.” The Wu brothers agreed in a low voice and obediently left.