密封的房间里,Li Xuan was about to continue his research when he suddenly felt an unimaginable sense of hunger.
His five viscera and six bowels were empty, and there was probably nothing left in his lower abdon.
Li Xuan suddenly realized.
Once practicing such Secret Martial Arts, one truly loses track of ti.
With the door closed, who knows the spring and autumn outside?
But... Since he didn’t starve to death, it seems it was at most just a few days.
He quickly stepped forward and opened the door of the secret room.
Outside, moonlight washed over everything, already past its zenith, clearly after midnight.
Fireflies, startled, flew up from the tall grass, turning into little sparkling greens that circled the branches...
"Starving, starving."
As Li Xuan left the cultivation atmosphere, the feeling of hunger beca even more apparent.
He, disregarding everything else, rushed straight to the dining hall.
At this ti the Li family was incredibly quiet.
Li Xuan ran into the dining hall, thinking of grabbing whatever he could to quickly pad his stomach.
But upon entering the hall, he saw a five-layered lunchbox on the table.
He pulled out the box drawer and saw that each layer contained dishes and at, and as for the staple food, it was porridge.
He reached out to touch it, slightly stunned, because that bowl of porridge was... still warm.
...
...
Perhaps hearing the commotion in the dining hall, it wasn’t long before a night-duty Nursing Ho guard rushed over with a stick.
When he looked inside, he saw the long-haired senior young master, and the guard happily exclaid, "Young master, you’ve exited seclusion?"
Li Xuan, while drinking porridge, mumbled unclearly, "How many days has it been?"
"Ten days, full ten days, the madam and the young madam quietly looked at you from the side window, then instructed not to disturb," said the guard.
"Ten days?"
Li Xuan truly had no sense of it.
But on second thought, first, he was affected by demonic blood, fighting thoughts, imagining the little demon hell maps indeed seed to have taken a long ti.
Secondly, he visualized those root maps and felt the wonders within, also not knowing how long it took.
Later, he opened his eyes, already feeling abundant vitality throughout his body, comfortable as if smooth running.
How to describe it?
This feeling... now that he thinks about it, seems like his body was unblocked, the twelve ridians and six harmonies, it’s "this body generates boiling blood, one breath clears six harmonies."
He can freely mobilize vitality, covering wherever his mind desires, even extending outwards, attaching to weapons, also causing the previously weak soft saw line to beco directly tough and hard, like a transition from a line saw to a chainsaw.
And previously, Lin Jieniu could control the long hook at his waist, making it like a venomous snake erging from its hole, hunting fierce tigers, which was also due to this reasoning.
Li Xuan’s thoughts flashed, while chewing at, he asked, "These dishes..."
The guard said, "Reporting to young master, these were left by the young madam, saying she was afraid in case you exited seclusion in the middle of the night, hungry. The young madam was also worried you might eat too much and hurt yourself, so she simred white porridge."
Li Xuan smiled slightly, saying, "Got it."
The guard withdrew.
Li Xuan finished off the dishes in the lunchbox but still found it inadequate, so he ran to the stove, lit a fire with wood.
anwhile, he took more than ten strings of preserved at from the hook rope, together with remaining vegetables and mountain produce from the dining hall, and put them into the large pot to stew. Upon seeing chicken and duck eggs nearby, he cracked twenty eggs in one go.
After so ti, the pot lid started "poofing" and the heat constantly lifted the lid.
Li Xuan took chopsticks and directly stood by the pot, eating right away. When the eggs and vegetables were finished, the preserved at was about done.
He ate heartily, even downing the pot of soup, but then realized his stomach was full, yet lacked that satisfying fullness, always feeling a slight discomfort.
That feeling was peculiar, clearly his stomach was near bursting, yet he still felt not entirely full.
Li Xuan thought for a mont, suddenly ran off to the secret chamber’s dark corner, fetched that "Alchemy Fish", and returned to the dining hall, cooked it briefly, then found the scent of elixirs mixed with fish aroma wafting to his nose.
He took a whiff.
That whiff, he understood.
It turned out, to nourish oneself, ordinary ingredients were no longer enough.
He quickly devoured the Alchemy Fish, a fiery stream surged throughout his body.
The hunger... finally vanished.
Li Xuan felt like he had returned to normal.
...
...
After finishing eating, Li Xuan twisted his neck, stretched lazily, walked out of the dining hall feeling refreshed.
At that mont, he heard distant music drifting in the night wind.
It wasn’t the sound of a zither.
It was like a flute or a reed pipe, but listening closely, it seed even more ethereal than those.
Li Xuan leapt up onto the roof ridge, following the sound.
Before long, he saw the young woman sitting atop the observation tower of the Li family.
The young woman in white, her long spear stuck like a lightning rod into the tile seam behind her.
She leaned against the gun, long legs stretched out, eyes closed and brows lowered, lips gently blowing into a small gourd-like instrunt.
The girl was Wei Yao.
The instrunt was a xun.
The sound of the xun was ethereal and calm, yet carried an irresistible hint of lancholy.
Though lancholic, it held no malice, very peaceful.
Wei Yao seed to feel sothing, suddenly stopped her movent, looked up into the distance, locked eyes with Li Xuan for a brief mont, then drew her gun, turned around, and descended the tower, her whereabouts unknown.
...
...
Li Xuan returned to his inner courtyard, intending to sleep in the side room for the night, but found the window of his main room still lit.
The oil-paper was illuminated by the warm amber candlelight, casting the silhouette of a graceful figure.
It was Tian Yuan.
Tian Yuan held an embroidery hoop in her hands, seemingly focused on her embroidery.
Li Xuan suddenly recalled a saying, "No one asks if my porridge is warm, no one accompanies at dusk."
Yet, soone kept the porridge warm for him every day, soone waited for his return even late at night.
An indescribable warmth naturally welled up within him.
He walked to the door, gently knocked, and called softly, "Yuan’Er."
The silhouette behind the window paused, hurriedly placed the embroidery hoop on a nearby table, and then quickly disappeared from the window.
Squeak~
The door opened.
Tian Yuan hurriedly ca out from inside, glanced at Li Xuan, seeing his disheveled hair and slightly blood-stained appearance, her concern flowed from her eyes, yet she simply said, "I’ll call the maid to heat up so water for you."
Li Xuan nodded gently, then walked into the room to see what Tian Yuan was doing.
This glance left him a bit stunned.
Because the embroidery on the hoop was sowhat crooked.
But upon closer inspection, the embroidery was not poorly done; it was the thread that had issues, creating a disordered appearance.
After a while, Tian Yuan returned, and Li Xuan curiously asked, "What are you embroidering, my dear?"
Tian Yuan smiled lightly and said, "I saw a kind of embroidery technique in ancient books and wanted to experint with it, to innovate for the Li family’s fabric business."
Li Xuan truly hadn’t expected his dear wife to be so proactive, so he asked, "What kind of embroidery technique?"
"Golden pheasant embroidery," Tian Yuan said, "Molten gold is drawn into fine threads.
Then take pheasant feathers, weaving feather threads.
Both are further combined with colored threads and twisted to make embroidery threads.
Embroidered onto garnts, it appears very luxurious and magnificent. In the future, when you beco an official, you’ll need to make connections everywhere. If you wear clothes with golden pheasant embroidery, it might lend you a helping hand.
And for the Li family, having such embroidery can greatly enhance its reputation, standing out among fabric businesses from the State City to the entire region."
Tian Yuan’s eyes shone as she talked about this, "The Li family has mines, a blacksmith shop, furnaces to lt gold and draw threads, it can be done if done correctly. But..."
She glanced at the embroidery hoop and said, "This is a test with copper at first, just started, so please forgive my humble attempt."
Li Xuan looked at his wife as her eyes sparkled while talking, softly saying, "Even so, you need to rest, it’s so late."
Tian Yuan said, "Day by day thinking of you, night by night longing for you..."
The air suddenly beca quiet, as the two exchanged affectionate glances.
The oblivious maid broke the atmosphere by shouting from a distance, "Young master, young mistress, the water is ready."
Li Xuan said, "I’ll go bathe first, my dear..."
Tian Yuan, blushing, lowered her head but then raised her eyes again, teasing, "Just go, why tell ?"
And only when Li Xuan left the room, did she remove her clothes, leaving only her undergarnts, then slipped into the mandarin duck quilt.
...
...
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
A night of passion refuses to cease.
Early the next morning, reluctant to leave the bed, they laid on each other’s arms chatting about daily matters.
As they talked, Li Xuan learned about the events of the past ten days.
Recently, the new County Captain of Xiongshan County has taken office.
This County Captain is a clan mber of the Tian family, nad Tian Yun.
And the Magistrate is said to be still on the road, needing so ti to arrive.
This ans Su Cangyuan has not yet set out from the Hundred Flowers Mansion.
Li Xuan contemplated this.
Yet could these thoughts be hidden from the person on the pillow beside him?
Though it couldn’t be hidden, Tian Yuan chose not to speak, nor ask.
Li Xuan suddenly spoke earnestly, "My dear, study is important, before it gets dark today, I want to pack my books, travel and study far and wide, to prepare for next year’s provincial examination."
Tian Yuan hesitated montarily, but did not make a fuss.
Li Xuan continued, "Reading a thousand books does not compare to traveling a thousand miles, I... I might be able to return in a few days."
Tian Yuan softly said, "Husband, go ahead, your studies co first. Do not let the sentints of love delay the serious business."
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