Ever since Gao Xun warned her to be careful of the people in the residence, she wanted to find out if there were any spies sent by the First Prince in the residence.
Amongst the people on duty in Zhanyue Court, Shang Yu and Hong Mei, as well as the two nannies were brought here by her from her mother's family. After Qing Xia left, what remained were Sun Ya, Cui Shan, Lv Ao and the other four biddies.
She asked Shang Yu to pay careful attention to these few people, and Shang Yu observed them for a few days, but she didn't find anything strange.
Xie Zhen told her and Shuang Yan not to relax and continued to observe.
As the weather gradually turned to winter, the capital's weather became colder and colder day by day. Xie Zhen was afraid of the cold, hence she quickly lit a fire in the house. Even so, she still dressed very heavily, wearing a crane coat over her white fur jacket and a rabbit fur cloak. Her nose was usually red from winter, like a radish.
Yan Yu would write to her every other month, explaining his situation in the Wu Jiang.
The two of them had unknowingly separated for close to a year, and the latest letter that was delivered to Xie Zhen just happened to be from half a month ago.
Yan Yu could not take it anymore, he could only write one line on the letter.
"Little Lamb, I missed you so much."
Xie Zhen held onto the letter, and she could not help but smile foolishly.
The border trial was a very tempering place. She could feel that he had changed over the past year, and his speech was no longer as impetuous as before. The letters he wrote to her became calmer and calmer, gradually becoming more manly. There were many things that he needed to take care of in Wu Jiang, so he had to quickly mature himself in order to solve the consecutive problems. Like a seed that had sprouted at night, her big brother Xiao Yu had grown up in a place that she didn't know, and he had agreed to miss her.
Xie Zhen wrote a letter asking when he would be back, and even told him about Ouyang Yi's matter. "It's all thanks to Big Brother Gao Xun helping you clean up this mess. "
She knew he would be angry, but she wanted to make him angry.
Who asked him to leave her in capital for so long? There was no point in leaving her here.
Occasionally, Xie Zhen would call Xie Xun over. The two of them would either sit in the in the porch to boil tea and eat dim sum, or go to the Spring Blossom Castle to sit on the swing and watch the turtle. Xie Zhen had even invited Princess He Yi and Gu Ruyi to his residence, and Xie Xun had brought Zhong Rou over as well. The few of them built a few stoves in the pavilion and chatted as they roasted the flames.
Xie Xun and Zhong Rou were very close, most likely because Zhong Rou had saved her life. She was not afraid of Zhong Rou, so every time they met, she would sweetly call him "Sister Zhong". Zhong Rou was just like Madam Leng, a person with a cold expression and a warm heart, especially towards this kind of sweet lady, she was unable to resist them. At the start, she was a little uncomfortable, but later on she slowly accepted it.
At this time, Xie Xun brought over two sweet potatoes from the kitchen, and threw them into the brazier to roast them. She knew how to eat without a teacher, so she had a lot of thoughts on how to eat.
Very quickly, the pavilion started to smell the sweet potato. She leaned over to smell it, and saliva was about to come out: "It smells so good."
Zhong Rou asked from the side: "Are you familiar with it?"
As he spoke, he was about to pull it out and take a look.
Xie Xun immediately shook her head, "Not yet, Sis Zhong, be careful of scalding!"
Zhong Rou had followed General Zhong on the battlefield, and had never seen danger before. She took it out and pinched it, seeing that it was not familiar, she put it back, telling Xie Xun to be careful.
Yan Yao'an watched by the side and suddenly asked Xie Zhen, "Did Sixth Brother say when he would be back?"
Xie Zhen shook his head, at a loss, "He didn't. Do you know?"
"I heard Dad said that the city wall over there is almost completed. The rest are all the houses and streets construction in the city. There's not much of a problem, so he should be back soon." Yan Yao'an said casually.
Xie Zhen was happy at first, but soon raised his cheeks in anger, "He never told me!"
Yan Yao'an chuckled, to smooth things over. "Sixth brother should want to give you a pleasant surprise."
However, Xie Zhen was still not happy. In this past year, Yan Yu had almost never told her about the circumstances of the border trials, and did not even tell her anything that he had done. She had heard it from someone else when she was almost back!
In the remaining time, Xie Zhen clearly spoke very little. Seeing that she was in a bad mood, Yan Yao'an took the initiative to not provoke her and turned his head to talk to Gu Ruyi.
Gu Ruyi smiled gently as she listened to her talk while brewing the tea.
In the end, Xie Xun finished roasting the sweet potato. Xie Zhen wasn't in the mood to eat it, she merely ate a little with Zhong Rou eating most of it.
After they left, Gao Xun came over in the evening.
Gao Xun was almost her informant.
He said, "I heard that last month, the Western Yi generals reorganized their troops and attacked the Wu Jiang once more. However, there were only ten thousand people. Before they could even enter the city gates, they were captured by the sixth prince. The sixth prince had said that if they wanted to release him, the Western Yi's Emperor would have to surrender to him, otherwise, he would have to cut off the head of the Western Yi Great General and hang it on the city wall. " After all, killing the enemies to serve the nation is the long-cherished wish of every hot-blooded man, "Before long, Western Yi will submit to the Da Jing, and the days at the border will also be peaceful."
Xie Zhen asked him: "Then, do you know when he and my father brother will return?"
Gao Xun was unsure now, and honestly shook his head.
She said with disappointment, "I don't know either."
Gao Xun couldn't help but want to console her, but the moment the words were about to reach his mouth, he didn't know what to say. In the end, he could not help but stroke her head and comfort her, "She should be back very soon."
She was in a low mood and did not notice that his gesture was somewhat inappropriate.
Gao Xun did not stay for long, he got up and returned to the army camp.
He had come out rather frequently recently, and even Zhong Shang's gaze towards him was a little off. Today, she purposely spoke to him with a serious tone, "Don't forget your identity."
He smiled bitterly.
He hadn't forgotten a single moment. It was precisely because he remembered them so clearly that he felt pain.
It was impossible for him to take another step forward. He wanted to maintain a distance, but in his heart, he was unwilling to do so.
He was a weak person, and could not harden his heart to cut off contact with Xie Zhen, so he became indecisive and took the chance to enter.
After sending Gao Xun away, a few days later, Xie Zhen received a letter from the Fringe City.
He didn't even need to look at the name to know who it belonged to.
She opened it and saw a few lines of words written on it, "Do not get too close to Gao Xun, I will return as soon as possible."
He then added, "Return at the latest in the spring."
Just by this scrawl one could imagine how anxious the person who wrote the letter was at the time.
Yan Yu's words were never very neat. He was not one of his own people in well-behaved, his words were a little insolent and unyielding. It was as if he was someone who saw his words.
Xie Zhen stuck his tongue out at the letter, "Who told you not to come back even after going for so long?"
Her birthday was coming up, and he didn't say anything!
On the Wu Jiang's side, Yan Yu was currently burning with anger.
Gao Xun this brat … How long had it been since he'd been gone, and he'd made it to his door in no time at all? And more than once? Did he really think that just by not being in capital, he would be able to poach others?
Yan Yu called over a servant, who was surnamed Zhou Ming Huaizhi, and was one of Yan Yu's capable subordinates. He asked, "How is the investigation going?"
Zhou Huaizhi said, "Your Highness, this lowly one has sent someone to investigate. The Chiliarch Gao has indeed been wandering around the Prince's Mansion recently. However, most of the time I just stand outside the door for an hour and I don't go in. "
Yan Yu asked again, "Does he have nothing to do in the army?"
Zhou Huaizhi replied, "There is a quota for training in the army camp every day. The Chiliarch Gao has completed it faster than the others and has more time to spare. Furthermore, he has a good relationship with Master Zhong, who is the only son of General Zhong, so no one would dare to stop him."
Yan Yu thought for a moment, then coldly said: "Then increase the training quota for him, and let him train his body properly so that he can be of use to me in the future.
Since he couldn't even finish his daily training, let's see how long he will have to waste?
Zhou Huaizhi agreed, and sent someone to pass on a message to General Zhong to train the Chiliarch Gao. The latter had high hopes for him, and he definitely could not be careless.
When these words reached Zhong Kai's ears, he found out from his son that Gao Xun and sixth prince were old friends, and that it was natural for sixth prince to appreciate him, so he did not suspect anything. Others would run fifty kilometers a day, but he would run a hundred miles a day, and carry a lot of weight. Other than that, he had also doubled in his practice of archery and kung fu, giving Gao Xun no time to do anything else for the rest of the day.
There were several times that Gao Xun had thought of going to the prince's mansion to see Xie Zhen, but he would always lie down right after he finished his training, and the moment he closed his eyes and opened them again, it was the next day.
Even after a month, he did not come to look for Xie Zhen again.
When Yan Yu heard about it, he was slightly pleased and nodded his head in satisfaction.
Over the past year, his facial features had been sharpened to a point that was clearly defined by the sand and dust. In between his brows, his features had also become a bit more mature. His handsome face had become firm and resolute. He was no longer the impulsive and sharp youth from before. He was finally like a man hiding his strength. His actions became more and more stable. Occasionally, he would be angered to the point of losing his temper by his subordinates, but he wouldn't easily beat someone up. Instead, he knew to think of a way to solve the problem. During this year, he had worked together with Xie Liqing and managed the various Wu Jiang s in an orderly fashion. The people of the city praised them, and they would even give him a thumbs up when they mentioned him.
He quickly grew up in order to return to the capital and Xie Zhen's side as soon as possible.
When he thought of Xie Zhen, he thought of the few months she had been with him before he left.
That was the most intimate period after they had been separated from each other. They were forced to part before they even had the chance to enjoy it. Now that I think about it, it's really a nostalgic experience.
Xie Zhen's soft mutter seemed to still be by his ear. When he closed his eyes, it was her who called him "Big Brother Xiao Yu" while sitting in his arms in a spoiled manner. Every night, her voice would accompany him to sleep. Once during the day, he would think about her twice more, and her figure would appear in his dreams.
When he looked down, he could see her moist and clear eyes, as well as feel her soft body wrapped around his. After waking up, his pants were wet. Only then did he know how much he missed her, and he changed his clothes without changing his expression, allowing Zhou Huaizhi to ask Xie Liqing how the reconstruction of the house was going. If there were no major problems, he would return to the capital early in the spring.