Chapter 258 – Palpitations
Yan Xiaosi walked out of the commander’s tent and headed straight for the kitchen.
The man in charge of the kitchen was called Old Jin, a kind-hearted old man in his forties or fifties. In the evening, when Yan Xiaosi brought a bowl to the kitchen for dinner, Old Jin noticed she was small and thin, looking undernourished, so he gave her an extra large spoonful of meat dishes.
At this moment, when Yan Xiaosi arrived at the kitchen, she saw Old Jin using a bellows to blow on the stove.
“Uncle Jin, what are you burning a fire for so late?”
Seeing her coming, Old Jin put down the bellows in his hand and pointed at the large iron pot, “Boiling water. The War King might want to take a bath.”
Yan Xiaosi smiled in relief.
Fortunately, Old Jin had boiled the water. Otherwise she would have had to do it herself.
“Uncle Jin, you’re really good to the War King.”
Old Jin sighed, “The War King has had it tough. In recent years, the Rondi has frequently violated our Great Chu’s borders. To protect the people of Great Chu, the War King has hardly rested in recent years. If not for the War King’s protection, those fierce Rondi people would have crossed our Great Chu’s borders long ago and slaughtered our Great Chu’s people.”
“The War King is truly impressive.” Yan Xiaosi echoed Old Jin’s words, showing an admiring expression for Long Yu.
Old Jin cared so much about Long Yu. If she pretended to admire Long Yu, perhaps Old Jin would be so pleased that he’d give her an extra couple spoonfuls of meat dishes tomorrow.
Hearing this, Old Jin was indeed very satisfied, even revealing a smile on his face.
“Isn’t that so? Our War King is a god of war who can make the Rondi tremble in fear at the mere mention of his name. As long as the War King is here, those Rondi people can forget about crossing the Yunluo River.”
At this point, the smile on Old Jin’s face suddenly disappeared, and he let out a heavy sigh.
“Alas, the War King has been so busy guarding the Great Chu border in recent years that he’s neglected his own marriage. He’s already in his twenties, yet he doesn’t have a single woman by his side. If it were an ordinary man, he’d have children old enough to fetch soy sauce at this age.”
Yan Xiaosi had heard Murong Qinjian mention this before.
But she was a bit curious. Long Yu hadn’t had a single woman by his side all these years. How did he get by? This was the age when a man’s blood ran hot. Could it be that he really had kidney deficiency?
As soon as this thought surfaced in her mind, she quickly shook her head, discarding the notion.
Seriously, why was she constantly dwelling on whether Long Yu had kidney deficiency?
While they were chatting, Old Jin had already lit the fire.
The military camp was by the Yunluo River, and it was a bit cold at night. She and Old Jin squatted in front of the stove for a while, warming themselves up. Then she got up and asked, “I’m here to bring bath water for the War King. The fire has been burning for a while. The water in the pot should be hot, right?”
Old Jin said, “To check if it’s hot, just open the lid and stick your hand in.”
Yan Xiaosi nodded, walked behind the stove, removed the heavy wooden lid, and stuck her hand into the water.
About forty degrees or so. This temperature was just right for bathing.
Such a large pot of water might not even fit in two large wooden barrels.
Yan Xiaosi asked Old Jin for three large wooden barrels, picked up a wooden ladle, and scooped the warm water into the barrels ladle by ladle.
“Uncle Jin, I’ll take one barrel of water over first. Keep an eye on the other two barrels for me so no one else uses them.”
As she spoke, Old Jin had already found a carrying pole and hung two water barrels on either end.
“With your small frame, carrying these three big barrels of water to the commander’s tent will be exhausting. Let me help with two barrels.”
Yan Xiaosi used all her strength to lift one barrel, but saw Old Jin easily lifting two, feeling immense admiration.
“Uncle Jin, you’re still going strong in your old age.”
Old Jin walked out of the kitchen with the water, striding briskly while answering Yan Xiaosi, “I was a cavalryman when I was young. Now that I’m old, I’ve been assigned to the kitchen.”
So he was a veteran soldier. No wonder his strength was so great.
In the Great Chu Dynasty, when soldiers became too old to go to the battlefield, the court would usually give them a few taels of silver as a pension and then send them back to their hometowns. She hadn’t expected Long Yu to arrange for veterans like Old Jin to work in the kitchen.
Such an arrangement was undoubtedly merciful for veterans who had no one to rely on and nowhere to return to.
“Uncle Jin, why don’t you go back to your hometown now that you’re old? Do you still have family there?”
Old Jin, carrying the water ahead, sighed, “No one left. My only son died young. My daughter-in-law couldn’t bear the blow and passed away in depression a few years later.”
Indeed, a veteran with no one to rely on.
Long Yu’s image suddenly grew lofty in Yan Xiaosi’s heart.
She hadn’t thought that man, who was like an iceberg, could be so benevolent.
Long Yu leaned lazily on a soft couch, waiting for Yan Xiaosi to bring him bath water, but saw Old Jin walking in together with Yan Xiaosi.
“Old Jin pays his respects to the War King.”
Long Yu glanced at Old Jin and waved his hand, “Old Jin, you may go. Yan Xiaosi alone is enough to serve here.”
Old Jin gave Yan Xiaosi a look, meaning for her to serve Long Yu well, then turned and left.
“Why did you take so long?”
As soon as Old Jin left, Long Yu’s face became as cold as an iceberg when facing Yan Xiaosi.
The bathtub was behind a silk folding screen with a landscape painting. Yan Xiaosi, grunting and panting, moved the hot water over while gasping for breath, “The water was boiled by Old Jin. This commoner waited a while in the kitchen. I hope Your Highness will forgive me.”
“Mm.” Long Yu didn’t ask further.
Yan Xiaosi’s expression relaxed. She was dog-tired from carrying water. If His Highness the War King had continued interrogating her, she probably wouldn’t have been able to catch her breath and would have dropped dead right there.
After pouring out the water, her breathing finally steadied. Just as she was about to turn around and say to Long Yu, “Your Highness, you may–”
Turning around, she saw a large expanse of honey-colored, well-defined muscles.
Long Yu had already taken off his top, standing in front of her wearing only a pair of dark trousers.
This scene barged into Yan Xiaosi’s eyes without warning. Yan Xiaosi blanked for a moment and said, “…Your Highness, you may take your bath now.”
Yan Xiaosi had seen plenty of male bodies in her previous life, but now, seeing Long Yu standing there with his upper body exposed, her heart uncontrollably went thump thump thump in her chest.
Such a rapid heartbeat made her puzzled.
Could it be that this man’s physique was too good, which was why she was so nervous?
Just as she was feeling nervous, there was a splash of water behind her. She guessed the man had already sat down in the bathtub.
“Your Highness, please enjoy your bath at your leisure. This commoner will wait outside.”
She, who had never known the meaning of the word “shy” and could even catch fish in the river with Tian Dazhuang, inexplicably wanted to flee today, to immediately escape from this place.
Long Yu leaned against the bathtub with his eyes closed, not seeing her panicked escape.
Hearing footsteps, he opened his eyes slightly and said, “Who allowed you to leave?”
