Distant Mountain Battle Song

Chapter 170 Eji's Methods

Wearing a luxurious silver-white fur cloak and holding a small puppy in her arms, Eji stood at the gate of the manor, surrounded by a group of henchmen, to welcome her husband who had returned from afar.

Seeing the young man sitting steadily on the chestnut horse from afar, seemingly without any missing limbs, I turned my gaze to the procession behind him.

There were many people, at least five hundred. Eji's smile became even brighter. There were too few people in the family who could do the work. Now, a large group of them had come. They all looked strong and burly. The family's life would surely be more prosperous in the future.

"Tell Angie to prepare more food. These poor people probably haven't eaten anything good before. Prepare more so they don't go hungry."

The four young girls, who were already old enough to be servants, were now the four highest-ranking maids in the household, always by Eji's side.

Chun Ji, who was in the lead, curtsied in response and hurriedly returned.

Zhang Min hurriedly rode back on a Thunder Smoke Beast. She looked really rushed, and her hair was all messed up by the wind.

Eji's face immediately darkened, and she pointed at Zhang Min angrily, saying, "Who told you to come out and greet the guests with such a crazy look on your face?"

Zhang Min pursed his lips, took out an iron helmet from the Thunder Smoke Beast's saddlebag, casually put it on his head, and smiled brightly at Eji, saying, "I'm wearing military uniform."

Eji was still angry, but seeing that Yun Ce had arrived at the door, she put on a bright smile and went to greet him, bowing gracefully and saying, "This concubine welcomes my lord back victorious."

Yun Ce ignored E Ji's hint that he could carry her onto his warhorse and go home together. He jumped off his horse, hugged E Ji, and said, "You're too heavy."

Then he said to Zhang Min, "Guard the wellhead well. What was once worthless is now priceless."

After finishing speaking, he asked Eji, "Is the meal ready?"

Although Eji was dissatisfied, she still forced a smile and said, "It's all ready, all are specialties from home."

Yun Ce turned to Qin Shu and He Qingfang's group behind him and said, "This is my wife. If you need any supplies, accommodation, or other miscellaneous things, just ask her."

Upon hearing Yun Ce say that this was the mistress of the Yun family, the group stepped forward to pay their respects. Eji smiled brightly once again and invited everyone into the manor.

Yun Ce then pulled Zhang Min over and said to He Qingfang, "The concubine in the house once served briefly at Tiewei Pass. She came back covered in injuries. You two can get closer to each other in the future."

There are two servants in my household, you will meet them at the dinner later. My family is small, and I hope everyone will treat each other like family in the future.

Now, take off your armor, go home, shower, change, and attend the dinner!

Upon hearing Yun Ce's order, E Ji summoned the servants to help the soldiers remove their armor. They then registered each soldier's armor, taking those that needed repair and those that needed washing, ensuring that the soldiers' armor would be in perfect condition the next time they donned it.

Armor and weapons are considered extremely dangerous items, especially the armor worn after going into battle. This fierce aura is the source of the soldiers' confidence in going into battle. Therefore, armor and weapons cannot be brought into the home and must be placed separately next to the estate. The place where the armor and weapons are placed will also be the place where the soldiers are stationed.

Qin Shu and He Qingfang held high positions in the army. Yun Ce introduced them as a couple, so Eji's head maid, Xia Ji, personally led them to the bathing area near the inn.

Throughout the journey, He Qingfang's gaze remained fixed on Xia Ji's skirt, while she clutched her own coarse cloth clothes tightly in her hand. Having lived in Tiewei Pass for many years, she had completely forgotten when she last wore proper clothes.

"Please take a bath, General."

After Xia Ji bowed, she smiled and left, handing the couple over to two middle-aged maids standing at the door.

As the two maids entered the guesthouse, they were astonished by a pool of hot water in the courtyard. Although the pool was made of stone and the bottom was made of stone slabs, in the cold winter, such a pool of clear, hot water was enough to make people happy.

Seeing the two of them looking silly, the two maids smiled and stepped forward to help them change. Qin Shu and He Qingfang initially thought it was just about taking off their outer garments, but when the maids went too far and not only took off their outer garments but also their undergarments, He Qingfang became nervous and grabbed her trousers to stop the maids from taking off any more.

"This is a noble family..."

Seeing that Qin Shu had been stripped naked by the servants, He Qingfang felt that what he said made a lot of sense. She had just been a woman from a commoner family. Even after she became skilled in martial arts, she went to Tiewei Pass as soon as possible, hoping to make a name for herself there and bring glory to her family. She had no idea what the life of a wealthy family was like.

The maid didn't urge them, but just covered her mouth and chuckled. He Qingfang relaxed and let the maid pull away her last bit of modesty. The maid led the two of them down into the pool and let them lie comfortably on the underwater stones, with only their heads resting on the edge of the pool.

Seeing the maidservants also begin to undress, He Qingfang inexplicably became nervous again. Turning her head to look at Qin Shu, who was calmly enjoying the comfort of the hot soup, her heart secretly calmed down.

"A noble family, is that right?"

The maidservants did not strip naked, leaving only their undergarments and underpants. The two women brought over a wooden basin, filled it with water, and began to scrub Qin Shu and He Qingfang's filthy hair with Yun's special soap.

When He Qingfang saw the maid pouring out basin after basin of black water, her face immediately turned bright red. Qin Shu noticed He Qingfang's shame, so he took her hand and placed it on his chest.

Seeing this, the maid chuckled and said, "My lord and wife have been through a long and arduous battle. Now you only need to close your eyes and enjoy the moment. Everything is under my control."

After finally getting their hair clean, the servants asked the two to lie down on the stone slabs that had been warmed with hot water. Seeing the snow-white towels laid on the slabs, Qin Shu immediately lay down, while He Qingfang hesitated for a moment before lying down.

Then came the scene that made He Qingfang feel ashamed and indignant to the point of wanting to die. The maid poured acid water on them and sprinkled salt. After they were properly pickled, the maid wrapped a small white towel around her hand and then rubbed it hard on their bodies. He Qingfang held up a strip of dirt the thickness of a finger that had been rubbed off her body, buried her head in the white towel, and decided not to continue living.

It wasn't until the maidservant spread her buttocks apart and raised her hand as if to swipe a card that He Qingfang realized that hell had far more than eighteen levels...

Yun Ce was also lying in his own large bathtub, receiving the same services from Qin Shu and He Qingfang, except that he was being served by E Ji and Zhang Min.

The scene was originally quite romantic. Yun Ce touched E Ji's buttocks and then teased Zhang Min's chest. Just as he was enjoying himself with both of them, E Ji finally realized that his body was like a spotted dog.

There was no way to hide the fact that he was burned. There were at least five hundred people who saw him escaping the fire. He couldn't keep quiet, so he had no choice but to tell them the whole story about his situation.

"I was badly burned, even my dermis was damaged. If it weren't for the medicine Peng Zeng gave me, you probably wouldn't see these light-colored spots, but a bloody mess of me."

"Well, thankfully, good people are always protected by heaven. I'm back safe and sound, and these spots will heal in a few days."

Eji lay on Yun Ce's chest, tears welling in her eyes, and said, "Who can I blame? My husband wants to do great things, and I want a large family. Where do these things come from? They all require my husband to risk his life. I don't blame anyone, not even the Japanese devils..."

Eji didn't actually say that Yun Ce was forbidden from taking risks from now on; she knew that was unrealistic.

Zhang Min was quite open-minded about Yun Ce's injury. Back then, she had already faced death nine times over outside the Iron Enclosure Pass. However, when she heard that Yun Ce had captured a Japanese general and caused the deaths of more than two thousand elite Japanese soldiers, she was still speechless with astonishment.

"A thousand-man general, a giant bull knight, a bull cavalryman, my lord, these are truly the elite of the Ghost Fang, definitely not those ragtag soldiers sent to kill us until we have no food."

Yun Ce took a sip of the icy cold rice wine and asked E Ji.

"If you're going to take a bath, why bring so many servants to wait on you? Do you think all these scoundrels I brought are gentlemen who can remain unmoved by women in your presence?"

Eji waved her hand and said, "Didn't my lord want me to find a way to treat them well and keep their hearts? There are too many women in our family. In addition, the preferential treatment given to pregnant women in the past has made other women very envious. Later, they found out that the children were specially educated by my lord, and they even read and wrote, and practiced martial arts with knives. Those women couldn't help but want to have children."

But the only male slaves at home are all ugly and unattractive, and they don't even want them. Today, my husband brought so many well-dressed men all at once. The women told me that it would be a huge loss if they didn't let them leave with offspring.

Yun Ce gave a bitter smile, feeling that what E Ji said was both right and wrong. With his low moral standards, he simply couldn't give a proper judgment.

After He Qingfang came out of the hot spring bath, she felt as if she had left something behind in the bathhouse. After checking carefully, she found that nothing was missing.

Seeing Qin Shu sitting on the stone bench drinking cold rice wine, he couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. He stepped forward, grabbed Qin Shu by the neck, and said, "You groped that servant's buttocks, do you think I didn't see it?"

Qin Shu didn't struggle. He put the rice wine jar in his hand to He Qingfang's lips and said, "Take a sip. It's sweet."

He Qingfang took a sip of sweet rice wine, and the anger in her chest gradually subsided. She raised her hand to stroke her smooth face and said to Qin Shu, "I've wronged you all these years, making you eat mud for so long."

Qin Shu sighed as he held He Qingfang's slender waist, saying, "I used to think that I could just throw away my life, but now I'm a little reluctant to do so."

(End of this chapter)