C127 (1/2)
With this thought in mind, Xu Shiqiu withdrew his expression at the right time and quickly walked into the house.
”What is my wife feeding Yuanxi?” While Xu Shiqiu was speaking, he walked to Dong Shu's side, and when he saw what was in the bowl, he continued: ”Can Yuanxi already eat these?”
”Yes, Yuanxi has already been here for six months. Nanny and Mama Yan both said that it is edible, but you have to eat less, and the main thing is to drink more.” As she spoke, Dong Shu also fed the last mouthful of noodles to Yuanxi, and then continued to speak: ”Mother, please tell me today, Yuanxi's appetite is getting bigger and bigger, I don't know if I can find a female sheep, I can feed Yuanxi some goat's milk every day.”
If someone else had come home after a busy day and heard his wife say these things, they would definitely be impatient.
But Xu Shiqiu was different.
Before he had his position, he had always been helping to take care of Yuanxi, and was well aware of how much effort it took to take care of a child.
Moreover, due to him being overly busy recently, even if he returned home at night, he wouldn't have much time to pay attention to what Yuanxi had eaten.
So when he heard Dong Shu's words, he immediately spoke out, ”Your husband will arrange for someone to prepare this matter.” After saying all that, Xu Shiqiu continued: ”These few days, I have been busy with matters in the military camp, and have also neglected Yuanxi somewhat. Tomorrow, I will definitely properly accompany Yuanxi.”
Hearing Xu Shiqiu's words, Dong Shu put this matter to rest. In her heart, her husband was omnipotent.
As for the words he said to accompany Yuanxi, Dong Shu did not feel it was strange.
”I made wontons with my own hands. I'll eat them together with the bone soup later.” After saying this, Dong Shu didn't wait for Xu Shiqiu to speak and continued, ”At the banquet tomorrow, my husband will get up earlier.”
”Alright, my wife, don't worry. Your husband will definitely be able to get up tomorrow.” There was something on Xu Shiqiu's mind, but after hearing Dong Shu's words, she directly replied and then went downstairs to change and wash her face.
Because Dong Shu had packed wontons herself and because Xu Shiqiu did not come back yesterday, the couple had gone to Main Yard to accompany Old Madame Xu to eat tonight.
Dong Shu did not sense anything wrong with Xu Shiqiu, but the Old Madame Xu did.
After the family had finished eating dinner, before Xu Shiqiu had even opened his mouth to suggest a return to the Shihuan Courtyard, Old Madame Xu opened his mouth first: ”Shiqiu, have you been in the army camp for the past few days?
When Xu Shiqiu heard Old Madame Xu's words, he was just about to reply that everything had gone smoothly, when he suddenly remembered that he had promised his wife before.
Now that his wife was by his side, he naturally couldn't lie.
Just as Xu Shiqiu was hesitating, Old Madame Xu had already understood what he meant.
”Is there really something going on in the autumn?”
When Dong Shu heard Old Madame Xu ask this, she finally sensed that something was amiss.
”Master, did you really encounter something in the military camp?” Dong Shu stared at the crescent moon as she looked at Xu Shiqiu. Seeing that Xu Shiqiu did not refute her, she continued: ”If Hubby has anything to say, just say it. Mother and I will never harm you.”
Perhaps, Dong Shu's words had reached Xu Shiqiu's heart, but after she had finished speaking, Xu Shiqiu let out a sigh and said, ”Because I was directly sent into the army camp. Even though Father's prestige is still there, there are still many people in the army who do not accept me.”
With regards to this point that Xu Shiqiu had mentioned, Old Madame Xu had already thought about it before, and although Dong Shu was not very smart, she understood after thinking about it.
Xu Shiqiu continued after seeing that Dong Shu could understand the situation, ”But because I did not take away the soldiers under their command and instead directly recruited new recruits, other than the first two days, they did not continue to target me. However, during these few days, as I've been recruiting more and more new recruits, I've also discovered that the rations and uniforms of the soldiers under my command are simply not enough. ”
Xu Shiqiu was not in a rush to train yet, but he still needed the food and clothes of the new recruits.
However, every time Xu Shiqiu went to ask around, the people in the warehouse would decline.
At first, Xu Shiqiu thought that they were making things difficult for him, but when he really went to the warehouse, he knew that they could still give him some rations, but they did not have any military uniforms.
However, the rations in the warehouse belonged to the other soldiers. The soldiers under his command were not part of his original plan, so naturally, they were not part of the military pay allocated by the imperial government at the beginning of the year.
The Xu Family did have silver, and he also had a manor in his possession. He could also take out some food, but he could not take them out.
It was because the recruits he wanted to recruit were the imperial government's men and not Xu Shiqiu's men.
The Old Madame Xu immediately understood what Xu Shiqiu meant when he opened his mouth, and Dong Shu also understood why after Xu Shiqiu's explanation.
”Can't my husband tell His Majesty about this? ”His Majesty meant to recruit new soldiers. Even if the original salary didn't include these people, since His Majesty had already spoken, the imperial government should have made arrangements.”
Dong Shu did not understand so much. Her thoughts were simple, because Emperor Ruikang told her husband to do this matter.
When Xu Shiqiu heard Dong Shu's words, he shook his head and said, ”But if I go find His Majesty whenever something happens, how would His Majesty think of me? What do the other generals in the camp think of me? ” After saying this, Xu Shiqiu sighed and continued, ”Actually, I had originally wanted to go find His Majesty as well. But even though His Majesty could help me once, you can't help me every single time.”
When Old Madame Xu originally heard Xu Shiqiu's words, she had wanted to advise him, afraid that he would become someone who only cared about face.
But after hearing what Xu Shiqiu said, Old Madame Xu completely understood his intentions.
”In fact, you can absolutely find His Majesty once, or at least tell him about the problems you're facing right now.” However, in the future, you really need to take care of it yourself. However, you can also find help with it. ”
In the end, Old Madame Xu had seen Xu Zhenbei leading troops before. She saw that Xu Shiqiu was deep in thought after hearing what she had said, and continued, ”'If there's a soldier on hand, then there's no need for silver.'” Your father was the one who told me that.
After saying this, the Old Madame Xu couldn't help but remind Yun Che at the end, ”You train new recruits by yourself, and it's indeed a bit tiring to think about these things as well. I saw that Shi Yuan has been rather bored staying at home recently. All of the boys and girls who needed to be taught previously are now able to read and do things. You can go ask him if he's willing to be your caretaker in the army. ”
Although Shi Yuan had his own reputation, he was, after all, already old enough so he was not in the mood to continue the exam.
Since that was the case, he might as well follow Xu Shiqiu to the army camp to manage their money and food. After all, he was one of them, and would follow Xu Shiqiu in training his new soldiers.
The Old Madame Xu only mentioned Shi Yuan alone, but Xu Shiqiu thought of other people.
”Brother Shuo had wanted to join the army for a long time, and my sister told him to follow me, along with his good friend, Liu Ze. ”After all, he is the grandson of the Minister of Revenue. If he were to come to my place, he would probably have expressed his opinion.” After thinking about these two people, Xu Shiqiu then thought about his own courtyard's Ling Xiang's elder brother, the eldest son of the Wang's Disease, Zhang Ping.
”Wang's Disease's eldest son, Zhang Ping, is also sixteen this year. He can also follow me to the army camp. Ye Shuo was not old after all, and Liu Ze was still slightly separated by a bit. Xu Shiqiu did not plan to let the two of them get into contact so much from the start, so he wanted to bring a loyal person to be his personal soldier first.