If it were a slightly weaker insect, encountering such a ferocious opponent would have already resulted in defeat. "Little General Zhang Guo" is indeed an excellent insect of upper-class quality, with a very stable center of gravity. After withstanding the opponents first round of frantic swings, he waited for the opponent to pause and then suddenly charged forward, causing both crickets to almost stand upright. The opponents jaws loosened, and "Little General Zhang Guo" turned the tables by biting down on the left single tooth and shaking his head to the right like a lion. The opponent was heavily slammed against the wall of the bowl, tumbling over several times before only spinning in place, refusing to open its mouth again despite the prodding of the chopsticks, having become a turtle retreating into its shell. In contrast, "Little General Zhang Guo" flapped his wings and let out a long, proud cry, exuding an aura of triumph.
"Oh, won!" Xiaodi clapped her hands and cheered.
Tang Xiaosan, Xiao Huixiang, Jia Ding and Lai Fu were all excited with red faces.
Lai Fus eyes lit up and he asked: "Brother-in-law, since Zhang is so formidable, shouldnt Wu be defeated for sure?"
Zhou Xuan smiled and said: "If we let Zhang Fei and Xu Huang fight now, its probably a 50-50 chance of winning or losing -"
"Ah, its just a false alarm!" The family members and servants were all startled.
Zhou Xuan had an unfathomable and profound look on his face: "But the duel is tomorrow, by tomorrow, Little Zhang will have an 80% chance of winning."
Tang Xiaosan and the others looked at Zhou Xuan with reverence, although they didnt understand why "Little General Zhang Fei" would become powerful by tomorrow, but they all believed in Zhou Xuan, thinking that Zhou Xuan should wield a feather fan, a feathered hat, and fight against Red Cliffs Zhou Yu, whom the people of Jiangzhou worshipped.
It was around four oclock in the afternoon when the sound of horse hooves and carriage wheels echoed outside the mansion gate, signaling the return of Dr. Qin and Miss Qin Que.
Zhou Xuan took Xiao Di out to welcome her, wanting to personally welcome his wife. Its not easy to find a wife who is both capable and beautiful, so he must cherish her.
Dr. Qin walked in front, followed by Qin Que and a woman with a high bun beside him. The woman was slightly shorter than Qin Que, about 1.62 meters tall, wearing a pink veil, light blue collar jacket, and a long skirt with small clusters of flowers, very much like the attire of women in Tang Dynasty palace dramas on TV. Her face was also covered with a veil, just like Qin Ques.
"Father-in-law has worked hard, daughter-in-law has also worked hard." Zhou Xuan smiled and greeted.
Dr. Qin actually didnt like his wifes nephew as a son-in-law, Dr. Qin liked Zhou Xuan this good son-in-law, smiled and said: "Good son-in-law, this is the new adopted daughter of old man, surname Su, name Xiezhen, from now on everyone will be one family, come, meet each other."
Zhou Xuan thought to himself, "This old father-in-law is really interesting. He likes to recognize relatives everywhere. The other day, he picked up this son-in-law of his, and now hes brought back a adopted daughter." He immediately stepped forward two steps and bowed to the girl with the high bun, saying: "So youre Sister Zhēnzhī, Zhou Xuan greets you."
The girl named Xiu Zhen was slightly surprised and asked in a low voice: "Is this the husband of Que Ers sister?"
Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "Exactly."
Zhen Needle was about to make a curtsy and spread her skirt to pay respects to her brother-in-law, but was pulled back by Qin Que, who said: "Sister Zhen, come into the room and Ill talk to you in detail."
Two women with fluttering dresses passed by Zhou Xuans side, and the spinning needle curiously turned her head to measure Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan was a bit angry and shouted at Qin Ques back: "Qin Que, dont forget your promise to lose the chess game, and you didnt even call out to your husband."
Qin Que said without turning his head, "I promised to do so in front of outsiders, and Zhēn Zhī Jiě Jie is not an outsider." He pulled Zhēn Zhīs hand and quickly turned around the screen, entering the inner courtyard.
Dr. Qin saw Zhou Xuan stunned and came over to pat Zhou Xuans shoulder, shaking his head, indicating that he couldnt help.
Zhou Xuan asked: "Father-in-law, where did this needlework sister come from?"
Dr. Qin said: "She was a palace maid in the Tang Palace, and after serving for three years, she would be released and returned home according to the rules. Zhēnzhī (纫针) is from Jiangzhou, this time she followed the selected talent envoys fleet back to her hometown. The other dozens of Jiangzhou-born palace maids all had their fathers or brothers come to pick them up, but after waiting for two days, no one came to pick up Zhēnzhī. Someone was asked to inquire at Mùfú village, and it turned out that her parents and brother had all passed away, and a sister-in-law had also remarried. Zhēnzhī had nowhere to go back to, so she sat in the post house crying. The sparrow saw this, asked about the reason, and then became sworn sisters with her, recognized the old man as a godfather, and brought her home."
Zhou Xuan sighed and said, "Shes also a poor, ill-fated beauty. Fortunately, her father-in-law is kind and her younger brother-in-law is good-natured; otherwise, who knows where Zhīzhēn would have ended up?"
Dr. Qin nodded and said, "Yes, Sparrow has a good heart and a universal medical mind to save people - son-in-law doesnt have to be anxious, I think you and Sparrow still have fate, that Lu kid delayed the wedding date, thinking that Sparrow was chosen for the palace, afraid he wont dare come, wait after a month or so, if Little Lu doesnt come, Ill take charge and let you and Sparrow truly get married."
Zhou Xuan was moved, his father-in-law was quite a brother, willing to back him up, but his way of thinking was a bit too simple. Qin Ques cousin with the surname Lu wouldnt just not come like that, and coming to gather information would be a big bombshell, which could explode at any time.
Zhou Xuan thought: "It would be great if I knew the soldiers guarding the city gate, all those with the surname Lu are not allowed to enter the city, beat them out with a stick, haha."
And so, Qin Que led Xue Zhen to the inner courtyard to pay respects to her mother, Madame Qin. However, Madame Qin was not as kind-hearted as Professor Qin. She was unhappy that the old man had brought back a young girl without consulting her, but when she saw Xue Zhens elegant appearance and clever demeanor, her eyes lit up with an idea. Her attitude towards Xue Zhen suddenly changed, and she affectionately called out to her, ordering the servants to prepare a room for Xue Zhen to live in. She also instructed them to address Xue Zhen as "Big Miss" and Qin Que as "Second Miss".
A homeless needleworker, receiving such treatment, was so moved that she burst into tears and knelt on the ground to say to Madame Qin: "Thanks to Mothers kindness, taking in a child like me, I am willing to serve Mother for life and never marry."
"Come on, silly child, dont cry," said Lady Qin kindly. "From now on, this is your home, so you can settle down and rest assured."
At dinner time, Zhou Xuan was surprised to find that Qin Que brought Su Xian with him and appeared in the dining hall for the first time, eating at the same table as him. Of course, he still couldnt hear the term "husband", but Zhou Xuan was already very happy, secretly thinking: "Theres progress, theres progress! First, theyre eating together, next...next, haha, you know what I mean, bro."
Everyone is eating together now, and naturally they wont wear a veil anymore. Zhou Xuan eats delicious food to nourish his stomach while looking at the beautiful woman to nourish his eyes.
Qin Que was 17 years old, and she started to learn needlework at the age of 19. In Zhou Xuans time, these were considered unconventional for a girl born in the 90s. She had eye shadow, tattoos, ear piercings, and a tongue ring - that was crazy! Zhou Xuan didnt like girls who were too wild. The ancient girls were better, look at how elegant they sat, nibbling on their food, and they developed well physically too, with decent-sized breasts.
Her oval face was like an apricot, with a pair of phoenix eyes that were slightly upturned at the corners, and her gaze was spirited. Although she couldnt compare to Qins beauty, she looked very dignified. At first, she seemed a bit shy and reserved, but after all, she had been in the palace for some time and had seen many grand scenes, so she was also quite poised and composed.
Zhou Xuan only took a glance at the needle and didnt look again, because when theres no beauty in ones own wife, how can one have time to look at others!
It was strange that Qin Que knew Zhou Xuan was looking at her, but instead of being annoyed, the corners of her mouth were still smiling.
Zhou Xuan couldnt help but let his mind wander, and he suddenly remembered a story from the book "Pai An Jing Qi" written by Ling Mengchu. The story was about a Go chess master who disguised himself as a Taoist priest and traveled the world. In the Liao State, he defeated a beautiful female Go player, and she insisted on marrying him, which became a famous romantic tale at the time.
Zhou Xuan thought to himself, "Could it be that my bold and fierce chess moves yesterday have won Qins heart? In that case, I must play a few more games with her, using chess as a matchmaker, until we get married."
