Chương 101: Letters, Daily Life

Cai Yong was delighted and insisted that Liu Ce stay for dinner.

During the meal, he drank a few more glasses and became more talkative.

"Bo Lue, you don't know, Zhao Ji's mother passed away early, and this girl..."

As Cai Yong spoke, his eyes reddened a little.

"I'm entrusting her to you from now on. You must treat her well."

"Don't worry, father-in-law," Liu Ce said solemnly.

Cai Yan, standing beside him, was both touched and shy.

A little while later...

"Bolue, your idea of 'establishing a heart for heaven and earth' truly resonates with me!"

Cai Yong raised his wine cup, "These days, the students at the Imperial Academy recite your four sentences every day, more diligently than they study the classics!"

Liu Ce humbly replied, "These are just some superficial thoughts; I hope you will forgive my ignorance, Lord Cai."

"Simple? If this is what you call simple, then all the writings of the entire court should be burned!"

Cai Yong got drunk and started talking nonsense.

"Those scions of wealthy families only know how to pile up fancy words and spout vague, rambling phrases that are ultimately empty and meaningless! Unlike you, every word you utter is substantial!"

Liu Ce could only force a smile, thinking to himself: "Old man, please take it easy. If this gets out, it will offend people."

The meal took almost an hour to finish.

Before leaving, Cai Yan escorted Liu Ce to the door.

"General," she whispered, "be careful on the road."

"Hmm." Liu Ce looked at her.

Liu Ce mounted his horse and rode a long way before turning back to see her standing at the door.

In the evening, Zhao Yun and Dian Wei returned from outside. As soon as Dian Wei entered the door, he shouted:

"Big brother! I heard you're marrying Miss Cai? Congratulations!"

Liu Ce laughed and said, "The news travels fast enough."

"Of course!" Dian Wei said, "The whole of Luoyang knows! Everyone's saying that the Marquis of Champion is going to marry a talented woman; they're a perfect match!"

Zhao Yun also smiled and said, "It is indeed a joyous occasion. When will our lord be married?"

"Let's wait until we return from Youzhou," Liu Ce said.

"The situation there is unstable, and it's inconvenient to bring Zhaoji with us."

Just then, someone came to report from outside:

"My lord, a guest has arrived, saying he comes from Youzhou."

"Youzhou?" Liu Ce was taken aback.

"Please come in."

The one who arrived was a military officer, in his early twenties, looking travel-worn.

Upon seeing Liu Ce, he knelt on one knee:

"This humble general, Yan Gang, under the command of Gongsun Zan, pays his respects to the Marquis of Champion!"

"General Yan, please rise." Liu Ce helped him up.

"Is Gongsun Bogui busy?"

"Exactly." Yan Gang took out a letter from his pocket.

"General Gongsun heard that the Marquis is about to take up his post in Youzhou, so he specially ordered me to come and pay my respects and deliver a letter."

Liu Ce opened the letter, read it, and smiled.

Gongsun Zan wrote the letter very politely, essentially saying: Welcome, Marquis of Champion, to Youzhou. I will be your subordinate from now on, please take good care of me. Also, the Xianbei have been quite restless lately, and I'll ask you to guide us on how to deal with them after you arrive.

"General Gongsun is very kind," Liu Ce said to Yan Gang.

"Go back and tell Bo Gui that we will discuss this further once I arrive in Youzhou."

Yan Gang clasped his hands in a fist and said, "This humble general obeys!"

After seeing Yan Gang off, Liu Ce stood in the courtyard, watching the sky gradually darken, and felt a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, mixed feelings).

Cai Wenji is to be married, He Lian needs to be appeased, He Jin needs to be dealt with, and Liu Bian needs to be continued to be taught...

"Sigh, so busy." Liu Ce sighed.

Dian Wei, who was standing nearby, overheard this and chuckled:

"Brother, it's good that you're busy! It means we're capable!"

Liu Ce chuckled, "You're right. Let's go eat! We'll be busy tomorrow!"

Over the next few days, Liu Ce lived an extremely regular life.

In the morning, he was usually woken up by the butler. After breakfast, he would either teach Liu Bian to ride a horse or go to the Cai residence to "cultivate their relationship".

He's now quite adept at teaching Liu Bian to ride a horse.

The child is progressing very quickly and can already ride a horse.

He Jin came to visit twice, and each time he couldn't stop smiling. He patted Liu Ce on the shoulder and said, "Brother Bolue, you've worked hard."

Liu Ce smiled on the surface, but thought to himself: Your sister has worked even harder; she'll have to come and "thank" me this afternoon.

Speaking of He Lian, this woman is visiting the Marquis of Champion's residence more and more frequently these days.

Usually in the afternoon, just after Liu Ce had finished his afternoon nap, a palace maid would come to announce, "Her Majesty the Empress has arrived."

Then He Lian would bring wine and dishes, under the guise of:

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for instructing Bian'er."

Liu Ce was a little flustered at first, after all, this was a capital offense in any dynasty.

But He Lian was very "sensible". Every time she came, she only brought her trusted maids. Moreover, once she arrived, she would dismiss the maids and not allow them to approach the backyard.

After it happened several times, Liu Ce came to terms with it:

"Anyway, He Lian herself isn't afraid, so why should he be? Besides... to be honest, it's not a loss."

Let me talk about He Lian again. She has delicate skin and a great figure... well, in short, she's very good.

Question Mengde, understand Mengde, become Mengde, surpass Mengde. (ಡωಡ) That afternoon, He Lian came again.

Liu Ce was already waiting in the backyard.

He Lian wore a light pink palace dress today, with her hair loosely tied up, looking quite casual.

She had the palace maids put down the wine and dishes and then left. Only after everyone had left did she walk up to Liu Ce.

"Your Highness seems to have lost weight these past few days." She reached out and touched Liu Ce's face.

Liu Ce grasped her hand: "Isn't Your Majesty the same?"

He Lian smiled, her eyes filled with ambiguity:

"Then... shall we have something nourishing today?"

The two entered the room.

After a few rounds of drinks, He Lian's face flushed and her eyes became hazy.

Liu Ce looked at her and suddenly remembered the things he had bought a few days ago in the system space.

"Your Majesty," he said with a smile, "I have a gift for you."

"Oh?" He Lian's interest was piqued.

"What gift?"

Liu Ce took out a small package from his bosom (actually from the system space).

He Lian took it curiously, opened it, and was stunned.

Inside was a set of black... armor? The style was very strange... and it even had patterns.

He Lian picked it up and looked at it, then froze:

"This is... armor? Why does it look so strange?"

Liu Ce suppressed a laugh and explained to her:

"This is called 'Balenciaga,' a style that came from the Western Regions. Your Majesty will look beautiful wearing it."

He Lian was skeptical, but still took the armor and went behind the screen.

Liu Ce waited outside, feeling a little excited.

After a while, she came out, her face even redder.

"This... this is too..."

Liu Ce's eyes widened in disbelief.

It has to be said that this armor perfectly outlines He Lian's figure, with glimpses of her skin... paired with her shy expression, it's simply stunning.

"Is it... pretty?" He Lian asked softly.

"It's beautiful." Liu Ce swallowed hard.

"It's so beautiful."

He Lian bit her lip, walked up to him, and leaned down to whisper in his ear:

"Then... what are you waiting for, Your Highness?"

The next segment is the "Thanks" section.

(Three thousand words omitted.) The clouds dispersed and the rain stopped.

He Lian leaned against Liu Ce... her fingers tracing circles on his chest, panting as she said:

"You... you have so many tricks up your sleeve."

Liu Ce smiled without saying a word, thinking to himself: This is nothing. I have dozens of gigabytes of study materials on my hard drive from my past life. Just pulling out a little bit of them would be enough to open your eyes.