The preparation for the establishment of the Chengying Camp in Liaodong is still a secret of the military government, and the people involved, including Zhao Xingde, are not known. The work and rest of the artillery battalion were as usual, and the new lieutenant Huang Zhongxiang was very sympathetic to the sergeant, and he was also polite to Zhao Xingde, but he was a little too polite. The battalion and shooting range of the artillery battalion were near Dunhuang, and Zhao Xingde took care of his pregnant wife at home after training his artillery crew. No matter what the ups and downs outside, the small courtyard is quiet and pleasant.

In March, the warm wind blew for a few days, and it rained again, this morning, the begonia flowers bloomed, and the petals looked delicate in the misty rain. Li Ruoxue was so happy that she was like a child, picked up an oil-paper umbrella, and pulled Zhao Xingde to enjoy the flowers in the courtyard. Zhao Xingde was worried that she was drenched in the rain and cold, and after some persuasion, Li Ruoxue reluctantly returned to the house. Recently, her belly has been bulging, and it is inconvenient to get in and out, and it is indeed a little boring to stay at home.

The beauty pursed her lips, Zhao Xingde's heart moved slightly, and said with a smile: "Don't move, but I'll listen to the child's heartbeat." Let Li Ruoxue sit firmly on the embroidery bed, and he himself squatted down, put his ear on Li Ruoxue's stomach, and closed his eyes. Bang.. Bang.. Bang.. It was a wonderful feeling, and at that moment, Zhao Xingde felt that he was filled with great happiness. Li Ruoxue blushed slightly, and asked in a low voice, "Can you really hear it?" Zhao Xingde opened his eyes, raised his head, nodded, and said with a smile: "It's the baby's heartbeat." ”

Li Ruoxue said: "I can also hear how good his heartbeat is." ”

Zhao Xingde smiled: "I have a way." ”

Li Ruoxue said with expectation and longing in her eyes: "Really? ”

"When did the eldest husband ever speak?" Zhao Xingde smiled, "Madame, wait and see." He remembered the stethoscope of later generations, although there was no rubber tube to use, but it was very convenient to carve a fixed elbow pipe with wood, there were many carpenter shops outside Dunhuang City, just draw a good pattern, and register the invention right by the way. Thinking of this, Zhao Xingde couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly.

Seeing him triumphant, Li Ruoxue deliberately said, "I don't believe it." A gust of wind and drizzle blew in through the screen window, Li Ruoxue only felt a slight coolness on the skin of her belly, looked down, couldn't help but blush, and said angrily: "What is the husband still squatting, so that Lingwu and the others see it, and they think I am a wicked woman." While pulling the shirt to cover the slightly bulging belly.

Zhao Xingde's heart was hot, he stood up and hugged her shaved shoulder, but Li Ruoxue pushed him away, her pretty face was slightly red, and she said in a low voice: "No." After being pregnant, Li Ruoxue turned her whole heart to the unborn baby, in order to prevent fetal gas, during this time, not only let Xingde move to the study to sleep, but also the intimacy of the usual couple was extremely careful. Zhao Xingde couldn't help but smile bitterly, and said softly: "It's always okay to let your husband hug you, right?" ”

Li Ruoxue hesitated for a moment, only then did she no longer resist, curled up in his arms softly and bonelessly, feeling the soft hair fluttering, smelling the fragrance slightly, only the sound of even breathing was heard in the room, Zhao Xingde only felt intoxicated, just at this moment, a gentle knock on the door sounded outside the courtyard, Li Ruoxue sat up from Xingde's arms, her cheeks were slightly red, and while arranging her sideburns and undergarments, she said angrily: "It's all you, call Lingwu and Xiaolian their jokes." "During this period of time, Zhao Xingde's guests were scarce, but Zhu Lingwu and Sun Xiaolian, as well as Mrs. Lu, often came to visit Ruoxue.

The two didn't want to be separated for a moment, and came to the courtyard hand in hand, Zhao Xingde went to open the door and saw that it was Chen Kang standing at the door, dressed in a white Confucian shirt, with a sword hanging from his waist, but with a depressed color between his eyebrows. Seeing Zhao Xingde's surprised face, Chen Kang smiled bitterly and arched his hand: "Brother Zhao, I am here to bid you farewell." Zhao Xingde was slightly taken aback, and asked in a low voice, "Is Brother Chen going to travel all over the world?" Chen Kang smiled bitterly and sighed: "No, no, it's the opposite." He didn't want to stand at the door, Zhao Xingde hurriedly invited him in.

Stepping into the courtyard gate, when he saw Li Ruoxue standing under the flower tree, Chen Kang bowed and said, "Under Chen Kang, I have seen Mrs. Zhao." Li Ruoxue was inconvenient, so she only slightly checked and returned the gift, and was waiting to serve tea to the guests, Zhao Xingde said softly: "Lady, don't work hard." Pull her to sit down, pour two cups of tea by herself, Ruoxue can't drink more tea because she is pregnant, Xingde poured a cup of warm water for her, and worked for a while before sitting down.

Li Ruoxue looked at Zhao Xingde with a happy smile. Chen Kang couldn't help but sigh: "Brother Zhao and his wife are really envious of others. He took a sip of the teacup and said in a low voice, "Chen will go to Kangguo in the near future, and he will not be free from now on." Farewell today, I don't know when I will be able to see such a literary and elegant character as your husband and wife again. He had a look of loneliness on his face, and seemed very reluctant to leave Dunhuang.

Zhao Xingde felt slightly strange, and said in a deep voice: "If Brother Chen is unwilling to leave the Western Capital, he will live here for a long time, I don't remember that the imperial court has a law to force the prince to leave the capital." ”

Chen Kang smiled bitterly and explained: "My uncle and mother's brother is the king of Kangguo, and he is old but has no heirs to inherit the throne. My uncle agreed with the ministers of the court and the central government to make me the son of the family, and after a hundred years of him, he would inherit the title of King Kang. The father and queen mother have agreed to this matter, and the five governments have also agreed. I'm going to Kangguo in the near future, and I'm going to live there for a long time if I have nothing to do, and I can't leave at will. There was a sadness in his words, as if the hereditary prince was nothing more than a dispensable thing compared to what he had lost.

Zhao Xingde smiled: "Then I want to congratulate Brother Chen." I have been to Kangguo, and the people are rich, the products are abundant, and they are rich in melons and fruits, and the golden peach is especially delicious. He saw that it was not Chen Kang's intention to be the son of Kang Guo. Considering from the standpoint of the five prefectures, being able to let the Chen royal bloodline enter Kangguo naturally greatly enhances Kangguo's centripetal force to the imperial court, and it is natural to promote it with all its might. In the face of national interests, whether or not to be the son of Kang Guo is probably not up to Chen Kang himself.

"Thank you, Brother Zhao." Chen Kang said in a deep voice, he picked up the teacup and took a sip, as if he was drinking strong wine in the army, but there was a lot of helplessness in his words, "I would rather not want this prince, like Brother Yuan, relying on his own ability, military merits to become a knight, and a general to enter the prime minister, is what the big husband does." ”

Zhao Xingde hurriedly said: "After the award, the award, Brother Chen doesn't have to be too humble." Only Li Ruoxue's eyes flashed slightly, obviously agreeing with Chen Kang's words.

Chen Kang shook his head and sighed: "Even Mrs. Zhao, a fairy like Mrs. Zhao, who is a beautiful fairy in heaven and earth, is willing to follow you from place to place, Brother Yuan, I really envy you for being able to stay with your beloved for life." He is full of frustration these days, but there is no one around him to understand, at this moment opened the door of his heart, Zhao Xingde and Li Ruoxue only knew that Chen Kang has a soft spot for a childhood sweetheart, but unfortunately there is always a little bit of fate between the two, if Chen Kang can see each other from time to time in Dunhuang and the Central Plains all the year round, this trip to Kangguo is thousands of miles away, meeting is rare, and the marriage of becoming a couple is even more slim.

"The world is not satisfactory, and it is always seven or eight out of ten." Bidding farewell to Chen Kang, Zhao Xingde sighed slightly, closed the door, and whispered, "The falling flowers and wind and rain hurt the spring even more, it is better to take pity on the people in front of you." At this time, the drizzle in the sky had stopped, and the air after the rain was exceptionally fresh, and the two of them were close to each other, and their hearts were connected, as if they were blended with heaven and earth.

When I forgot about the real thing, there was a knock on the door suddenly, and Li Ruoxue gently broke free from Zhao Xingde's arms, blushing with a blushing face, and asked him to open the door.

Being disturbed again, Zhao Xingde was full of depression and thought to himself: "Are Zhu Lingwu's two little girls?" Or does Chen Kang still have unfinished intentions to continue to confide? When he opened the courtyard door, he saw that it was a stranger, with the emblem of the messenger of Fuhai Xing embroidered on the chest of the sheepskin jacket, he looked Zhao Xingde up and down, and asked, "Is this Zhao De Zhao military envoy?" "It's despicable." Zhao Xingde took out his waist card and private seal and showed him it.

"Who is it?" Seeing Zhao Xingde holding two letters, Li Ruoxue said curiously.

"Li Yong and Chen Shaoyang of Lumei." Zhao Xingde said with a smile, there has been no news of these two for a long time. The two walked into the study, Li Ruoxue also snuggled up to Xingde's side, and the two read the letter together. After the rain, a ray of clear sunlight entered through the window, illuminating the room in detail, Li Ruoxue's chin leaned against his shoulder, and a few soft locks of black fell into his collar, Zhao Xingde felt itchy in his neck, and his heart was also itchy.

Finally pressed the heart ape, Zhao Xingde first unfolded Li Yong's letter, although it was a small text transcribed by Fuhai Pigeon Station, but it was also a full article. Zhao Xingde smiled slightly, the pigeon book with so many words is only afraid of a lot of money, it seems that Li Yong is not only a person in love, but also wealthy.

Li Yong's mood is indeed very good, and he describes many customs and customs in the southern part of Dasha Sea. In the letter, he also mentioned that although the caravans were very profitable, they had to take great risks on each trip, so they had to develop some other industries. There are many deserted islands and wastelands in the South China Sea, full of insects and snakes, barbarians and ferocious, sparsely populated, he plans to run a place to come out, and then ask the two governments for the title of the founding prince. If you can buy some Kunlun slaves, it would be good to use sea ships to transport them to use them for reclamation. There were often wars between the tribes, and prisoners of war were extremely cheap. The system of slaves and maids has been abolished in the Xia Kingdom, but it is beyond the reach of the outer land.

After deducting the freight along the way and the gift money of the princes of the big food, just waiting for the goods on the Song side, the profit will be as much as five times the capital, Li Yong has already handed over the son to the sergeant of the seventh battalion of Chengying, and the size of the next caravan will be doubled, Li Yong also asked Zhao Xingde if he would like to add shares to the next caravan.

Putting away Li Rui's letter, Zhao Xingde pondered for a moment, and then unfolded Chen Dong's letter. This letter is passed on by the ordinary Fuhai Xing Post Station, full of dragon and snake handwriting. The partnership with Li Rui's caravan has made huge profits, and the problem of the money needed for the operation of the science society is expected to be solved. Moreover, recently, the minds of the officials seem to have begun to turn, and several Qingliu officials who sympathize with the Science Society have been reused, and Chen Dong's tutor Shao Wu has been appointed as the governor of Kaifeng.

It can be seen that Chen Dong is in a very good mood, and he also asked Zhao Xingde in the letter when he will be able to continue the words made by him under the pseudonym Bald Pen Weng, and joked that the Bald Pen Weng has lived and died for three years, and many Qinglou sisters have already looked forward to it. Zhao Xingde glanced at the side, Li Ruoxue's face was as usual, and she didn't seem to have misunderstood, so she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "This Chen Shaoyang, the teacher is looking at you." He opened the second page of the letter, but his face sank, Chen Dong mentioned the case of the murder of the scholar of the Ridong Society in the bachelor's mansion some time ago, and his anger overflowed with his pen.