A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 935 Daiyu Sends Warmth

This winter seems to be particularly cold. After two or three consecutive snowfalls, the city of Kyoto has become increasingly deserted.

After several days of discussion in the court, it was finally decided that Wang Ziteng would be in charge of training the new army. After the chief commander was selected, a group of middle and lower-level officers needed to be selected to be responsible for the specific training tasks.

Moreover, the soldiers of this new army also need to be re-selected. Wang Ziteng proposed to select a group of capable soldiers from the Wucheng Bingma Division and the Jingdu City Defense Camp, and then select a group of young and strong people from the refugees near Jingdu City to form a new army.

The Minister of War believed that this move would greatly weaken the power of the City Defense Battalion and the Five Cities Army, and would be detrimental to the defense of the capital.

After some debate, the two sides finally decided to draw a small number of personnel from the Five Cities Bingmasi and the City Defense Camp, and then draw a group of capable middle and lower-level officers from the border troops to be responsible for forming and training the new army.

After all this trouble, plus the need to allocate funds from the Ministry of Revenue to prepare the necessary weapons, armor and other supplies, it would take one or two months.

As a result, it would be difficult to form a new army before the New Year.

After winter, Lu Cheng, the deputy minister of the Ministry of War, also had some free time. He didn't have much work to do, he just had to go to the Ministry of War to sit in the office and sort out the documents.

At the same time, the south has also entered a stage of steady development and is taking advantage of the winter to intensify military training, so Lu Cheng does not need to worry too much.

When he had nothing to do, Lu Cheng would either stay at home with Qingwen and Xiangling, or go to the Rongguo Mansion to build snowmen and practice martial arts with Daiyu, or chat about poetry and songs with some little girls.

It is worth mentioning that since Tanchun took charge of the Rongguo Mansion, she laid off many servants who had embezzled money and reduced some expenses in the mansion, thus restoring some vitality to the Jia Mansion, which was originally in decline.

However, the Lai family, Wu family, Lin family and other major housekeepers of the Jia family were all beyond Tanchun's control. The hidden dangers of the Jia family were not fundamentally resolved.

Only when the old lady in the backyard completely gives up her power and stops protecting those old servants can the thieves in the house be truly eliminated.

As Wang Xifeng's health improved, Tanchun handed the power of housekeeper back to Wang Xifeng.

Today, the Jia family is in decline, while the Wang family is thriving, and the status of Mrs. Wang, Aunt Xue, and Wang Xifeng are also rising.

Jia Zheng was only concerned with idle conversation with a group of idle guests. Jia Baoyu and Jia Huan were still young, and there was no capable man in the mansion. Outsiders looked down upon the Jia family more and more.

Recently, Jia Yucun, who had risen to power by relying on his connections in the Jia family, returned to Beijing to report on his work. He did not visit Jia Zheng, his recommender, but went directly to the Wang family to visit Wang Ziteng.

In this regard, Jia Zheng could only sigh that people's hearts have changed and the world is fickle.

After another snowfall, in the backyard of the Duke Rong's Mansion.

As soon as Lu Cheng arrived at Daiyu's yard, he saw Daiyu walking out with Zijuan and Xueyan, carrying some things.

"Junior sister, where are you going?"

"Brother, you came just in time. I just asked Xueyan to go to Sister Xichun's place and invite her to come over for tea. Unexpectedly, Sister Xichun caught a cold. Why don't you come over too? It's just right for you to help Sister Xichun."

"No problem, let's go and take a look together."

Not long after, Lu Cheng and Daiyu arrived at the courtyard where Xichun lived. They smelled a scent of herbs coming from the house and heard a few faint coughs.

Daiyu winked at Zijuan, who went in first to report. Xichun's personal maid Ruhua quickly came out to greet them: "Miss Lin, Master Cheng, my daughter is ill and cannot go out to greet you. Please forgive me and come in."

After Daiyu and Lu Cheng entered the house, they went straight to the inner room. Lu Cheng waited outside and did not go in.

Not everyone can enter an unmarried girl's boudoir.

Although Lu Cheng often visited the Rongguo Mansion, he only occasionally entered Daiyu's boudoir and rarely went to other girls' places. Even if he went, he only met in the outer room or the study.

When Daiyu entered the inner room, she saw Xichun leaning on the bed, her face flushed, her lips pale, and she looked listless.

"Sister Lin is here. I'm not feeling well right now, so I can't receive you. Ruhua, go and serve tea to Sister Lin."

Daiyu looked at Xichun and felt a little distressed. She quickly stepped forward and touched Xichun's forehead: "How did you suddenly become so ill? You are so careless. Let me take a look. Hey, it's so hot."

"Thank you for your concern, sister. I'm fine. I'll get over it after a while."

"How can that be possible? If you keep on suffering from this fever, your body will be damaged. Have you asked a doctor to see it?"

"No, I asked Ruhua to ask and got some medicine. It's being boiled now."

"Why is your room so cold? Ruhua, why didn't you light the charcoal fire?"

"Miss Lin, I went to get charcoal a few days ago, and the woman in charge said that the charcoal had just run out, so we should wait a little longer. In fact, they just want to get some benefits before giving us the charcoal. Miss Lin usually uses her monthly allowance to buy paintbrushes, and now the remaining money has to be used to buy medicine, charcoal money..."

Daiyu was immediately angry when she heard this: "How dare they bully Sister Xichun like this? Didn't they drive out some servants a while ago?"

"Miss Lin, you don't know. The people in charge of the kitchen and the charcoal fire are all relatives of Zhou Rui's family. When the third lady was tidying up the mansion, she didn't dare to touch them..."

Zhou Ruijia's maid was brought by Lady Wang as a personal maid, and she was also one of the most important housekeepers in the mansion, so her status was naturally not low.

Although Tanchun had the power of temporary housekeeper before, she did not dare to touch the people around her stepmother.

Daiyu felt even more sorry for Xichun after hearing this. She was the only daughter in the family, and her only brother died young, so she had no brothers or sisters to support her since she was young. After arriving at the Jia Mansion, she played with the other girls in the Jia family all day long, just like real sisters.

Seeing Xichun like this, Daiyu naturally wanted to protect her: "If you don't mind, I'll ask my senior brother to come and help you. He's outside now."

Xichun was a little hesitant when she heard this: "This..."

"You are just a little girl, and you are already so sick. Don't worry about anything else. I will go and call my brother over."

At this time, Xichun was less than ten years old and had not yet grown her hair, so it was fine to treat her as a child.

Daiyu got up and called out from the outside, and Lu Cheng walked in.

When Xichun saw Lu Cheng, she turned away embarrassedly.

"Sister Xichun, let me check your pulse."

"Thank you, Brother Lao Cheng."

In fact, Lu Cheng could tell at a glance that Xichun's condition was nothing more than a typical cold. Diagnosing her pulse was just a formality.

After a simple diagnosis, Lu Cheng wrote a prescription. Daiyu immediately ordered, "Zijuan, take the prescription to the pharmacy to get the medicine. Ruhua, follow Xueyan and go back to my room to get some animal charcoal."

"Yes."

Looking at Daiyu arranging the maids and comforting Xichun, she really has the aura of a mistress of the house.

After arranging everything, Daiyu did not leave, but stayed there and talked with Xichun.

Soon, Ruhua and Xueyan brought the charcoal fire back and lit it, and the room gradually became warmer.