Chapter 867: Red Clothes, Snow Skin, Fragrance

Count's Prefecture, Jia Cong's Courtyard.

At the break of dawn, the sky outside the window was still pitch black. Through the lattice glass window, in the far east, the horizon showed a faint morning glow.

The sinking horizon was dyed with a golden edge, waiting for the passage of time to slowly stain the entire sky.

In the master bedroom, there was a black, sweet tranquility, with only the charcoal fire in the incense burner flickering with a reddish, glowing light.

On the side couch next to the bed, because it was close to the incense burner, Qingwen had slept hot during the night, and the brocade quilt only covered her chest.

Wrapped in a fiery red undershirt, her plump chest rose and fell with even breathing; she was sleeping soundly.

Beside the jade-gauze pillow, her cloud-like hair was scattered, her cheeks were flushed, her delicate brows were as fine as a painting, and her eyelashes were pitch black and curled. Her features were beautiful and flawless.

One hand also stretched out from under the quilt, her sleeve pushed up halfway, her snow-white, flawless arm, with its crystalline flesh, was exceptionally alluring.

When the glass window lattice showed a faint light, the tightly closed bed curtains were lifted by Jia Cong's hand.

Although Qingwen was always fond of sleeping, hearing the movement of the curtains, she still sat up in a daze and rubbed her eyes.

She asked in a soft, sweet voice, "Cong Sanye, you are still on leave from the office. Didn't you say you were going to the office but not to court? Why are you getting up before dawn?"

Jia Cong said, "I am going on an expedition soon, and there is much to do these few days. I have to go to the military camp early, so naturally, I have to get up early."

Hearing the words "expedition," Qingwen's heart sank slightly, and her sleepiness dissipated by more than half. She threw off the bright red brocade quilt and nimbly jumped off the side couch.

She went forward to help Jia Cong hang the bed curtains and took the cotton slippers to put on his feet.

Jia Cong smiled, "It's too cold early in the morning. Don't walk around in your undershirt. Put on a small jacket before you get busy; catching a cold is no joke."

Qingwen got up and went to the sandalwood ruyi-shaped hanging cloud clothes rack, took her own small jacket and put it on. Without bothering to fasten the buttons, she took Jia Cong's lined jacket.

She suddenly thought of something, opened the dressing table drawer to rummage, and soon took out a tape measure. This was the tool she used for needlework and making clothes.

……

Jia Cong saw Qingwen walking back and forth. The bedroom was dark, her slender waist was graceful, and it was very pleasing to the eye, but he didn't know what she was busy with.

Qingwen walked back to the bedside, first helped Jia Cong put on his lined jacket, let Jia Cong sit on the edge of the bed, took the tape measure, squatted down, and measured the size of his knees.

Jia Cong asked curiously, "Qingwen, what are you messing around with?"

Qingwen smiled, "All the young ladies came yesterday, but Cong Sanye only came back late at night, so they didn't wait for you.

Second Sister even instructed me before she left to measure the size of Cong Sanye's knees. I thought that since Cong Sanye is going on an expedition, Second Sister likely wants to make something personal."

Jia Cong didn't care when he heard this, just let Qingwen do as she pleased, watching her wrap the tape measure around his thighs, tie a circle around the back of his knees, and then carefully note the size.

Qingwen leaned close to his body, and Jia Cong's knees touched her snow-piled, plump chest. Her red clothes slid slightly, fragrant, soft, and springy, and an unusually wonderful feeling welled up in his heart.

Qingwen's lined jacket wasn't buttoned, revealing the bright red undershirt underneath. Her neck skin was snow-white, her body leaned low, and her collar was slightly open.

From the corner of his eye, Jia Cong inadvertently saw the water-red bellyband, wrapping a snow-white crevice, deep and bulging, quite alluring.

Qingwen looked up unintentionally, saw Jia Cong's strange gaze, realized something, her pretty face flushed for no reason, and she reached out to cover her collar.

Her delicate nose wrinkled slightly, and she said in a pretty voice, "Cong Sanye is becoming more and more improper. Don't look blindly; what is there to look at?"

Jia Cong suppressed a smile and said, "How am I improper? I didn't see anything."

Qingwen was quite unconvinced and asked, "You can't fool me. Look, your eyes are shining; you must be improper."

Jia Cong smiled, "What are you so precious about, guarding against me so tightly? I really didn't see clearly. Why don't you let me take a closer look?"

As he said this, he made a move to hug her slender waist. Qingwen let out an "ah," laughed, stood up, and ran away. Jia Cong got up and chased her for two steps.

……

Just as the two were playing, they heard the door knocked twice, and Ping'er walked in with a copper basin of hot water.

She smiled, "I guessed that before Cong Sanye's expedition, he must be busy with official business every day and would definitely get up early in the morning. Sure enough, I was right."

Her words had barely fallen when she saw Qingwen laughing like a bell, running quickly and almost bumping into her.

Ping'er was startled and scolded, "What kind of girl are you, with no proper behavior? Why are you running early in the morning? Did a cat bite your tongue?"

Qingwen stuck out her tongue, took the copper basin from Ping'er's hand, and said, "A house dragon was crawling on the wall just now. It looked scary, so I ran."

Ping'er smiled, "You reckless girl, what is there to be afraid of with a house dragon?

This isn't right either. It's midwinter; how can there be a house dragon? You must have been muddled from sleep and saw wrong."

Qingwen didn't dare to say much more, wrung out a towel in the hot water, and gave it to Jia Cong to wash his face.

She washed herself with the water, fastened the buttons of her small jacket, and then helped Jia Cong dress and comb his hair.

Several people in the room were busy when they heard chaotic footsteps in the courtyard, as if many people had come in.

Wu'er pushed the door open and said, "Cong Sanye is up early too. You should hurry up and tidy up. Second Sister, Lin Meimei, and the others have all come."

Ping'er smiled, "Jiang Liu came back to report yesterday, saying Cong Sanye is going on an expedition. Second Sister and the others have things on their minds.

They came over last night and sat for a long time, even helping Cong Sanye pack his luggage, but Cong Sanye came back too late, so they didn't see him.

They must know Cong Sanye is busy these few days, so the young ladies came over early to visit."

Jia Cong smiled, "I have many things to do these few days, and tonight will definitely not be early either. This time I'm going away for a long time, so getting up early is just right to talk to the sisters."

Qingwen was nimble, and in just a little while, she not only finished tidying up for Jia Cong but also finished her own grooming and tidying.

……

When several people walked into the hall, they saw Yingchun, Daiyu, Seeing Tan Chun, and other sisters all present, and even Baochai had come over from the Western Prefecture.

Added to the personal maids of each, the hall was quite lively. Jia Cong was chatting with Daiyu when he saw Lingguan enter from the courtyard.

Behind her followed two kitchen wives and three rough-work maids, each carrying a food box, entering the room one after another, which was quite spectacular.

Yingchun said, "I ordered the kitchen to send this. You will definitely be leaving early and returning late these few days, and I'm afraid it will be easy to miss you. I don't know when you will return from the expedition.

We sisters are having breakfast here with you, which will be livelier, and we can talk when we have time."

Xiangyun had the most impatient temper and asked, "Third Brother, which day are you going on the expedition? Can you return by the end of spring? I still want you to accompany me to fly a kite."

Daiyu said, "Military expeditions are not something that can be set by a date. We want Third Brother to return early, but saying it doesn't count, so it's better to wait patiently.

If Yun Meimei wants to fly a kite and can't catch it this year, then wait until next year. There will be plenty of time in the future to let Third Brother accompany you to play enough."

Seeing Tan Chun smiled, "Lin Sister is right. Don't talk about the expedition; talking too much is taboo. Let's just talk about idle things; that's what's interesting."

Xiangyun's mood was a bit depressed, but she also felt it made sense, so she didn't bring up the topic again. Being teased by Jia Cong to say a few words, she let go of her worries.

……

The hall was full of vitality, with fragrant rhymes, and the sisters and their maids were crowded into two tables.

After sitting down for a while, as if they had a tacit understanding, they no longer mentioned the expedition or the long journey, only talking about daily idle things.

Since they couldn't catch the spring kites, they talked about summer lake tours, autumn mountain climbing, winter snow viewing, and so on. The atmosphere during the meal was joyful, without half a hint of the gloom of a long journey.

After breakfast, Jia Cong returned to the workshop to prepare, while the sisters gathered to chat. Yingchun called Qingwen again to talk about needlework.

Jia Cong left the inner courtyard and took a carriage out of the East Corner Gate. Although the sky was not yet bright, it was already past the Chen hour, which was when the four gates of the Divine Capital opened.

The street was actually much noisier than usual. From the direction of the Ministry of Works official grain depot, a team of grain carts was coming.

Each cart was pulled by two horses, and the carts were piled high with official grain. The team was connected from end to end, and one couldn't see the end at a glance.

Jia Cong was accustomed to such scenes. Since the military depot in Donggao Town was occupied by the remnants of the Mongols, and the grain and grass in the nine border towns were exhausted, the imperial court had been mobilizing grain and grass with all its might.

The Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Five Military Governor's Offices were all operating at high load, transporting grain and grass to the nine borders day and night.

These Ministry of Revenue grain carts left through the Hongde Gate, and there were already grain-protecting troops waiting outside the city. They would transport the grain and grass to the border towns along the newly opened grain road.

As for whether they would encounter the Mongol troops moving south on the newly opened grain road, it was currently an unknown number……

……

On the road, besides the large team of Ministry of Revenue grain carts, the pedestrians coming and going were bustling, actually much more than yesterday.

Many commoners were driving carts and donkeys, carrying burdens and backpacks, carrying children and daughters, looking hurried. They all seemed to be from out of town, making the street a bit more chaotic.

The further Jia Cong's carriage went, the more crowded the pedestrians became, and the speed of the carriage slowed down, which made Jia Cong feel anxious.

Because he had to go to the Five Armies Camp north of the city today to select the six thousand troops from the Divine Machine Camp to accompany the expedition, he could not afford to delay the time.

Although he had set out early, he had encountered obstacles on the road that slowed his carriage, and he had to be vigilant to avoid delaying major matters.

At this moment, a team of yamen runners from the prefecture town appeared among the crowd ahead, numbering about thirty, who were guiding pedestrians and clearing the road.

The person in the lead was a familiar face; it was none other than Liu Binfang, the Assistant Prefect of Zhen'an Prefecture, who was directing his subordinates in their duties.

Jia Cong lifted the carriage curtain and called out, "Isn't this Assistant Prefect Liu? Why are you out on the street leading the work yourself?"

Liu Binfang laughed, "So it is the Count of Weiyuan. This humble official heard the news yesterday that the Count has been appointed by His Majesty as an Assistant Regional Commander of the Divine Machine Camp and will soon be heading north with the army.

The Count is deeply versed in strategy and is a born famous general; this expedition will surely lead to great achievements. This humble official offers his congratulations in advance."

Jia Cong laughed, "Assistant Prefect Liu is too kind. The road surface is a bit different today, and there are many more pedestrians; I wonder what the reason is."