Chen Xiaobei's action caught Cui Hongyu by surprise, but she didn't struggle.
Her heart had been completely conquered by Chen Xiaobei, so she was willing to do whatever he wanted.
Chen Xiaobei, of course, was not satisfied with just kissing and naturally wanted to do what married couples do.
He held Cui Hongyu and placed her on the bed. His sinful hands immediately became restless, reaching out to unbutton Cui Hongyu's clothes.
Cui Hongyu closed her eyes shyly, motionless, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
After removing her outer clothes, a red bellyband was revealed.
Seeing this, Chen Xiaobei's blood rushed to his head. How could anyone resist this?
With a move like a famished tiger pouncing, he rushed forward impatiently.
Creak, creak. Creak, creak.
The old, dilapidated bed beneath them could not withstand his move and let out a series of urgent cries of protest.
This series of sounds startled Cui Hongyu, her face turning pale. She quickly opened her eyes.
"Husband, this bed seems to be collapsing."
Not to mention Cui Hongyu's fear, Chen Xiaobei also felt uneasy.
On normal days, when he slept on this bed, a simple turn would make it creak. If the bed collapsed halfway through his playful antics, it would be quite boring.
Most importantly, if the bed collapsed, Chen Qiao'er on the other side would likely be woken up.
Chen Xiaobei had no choice but to reluctantly stand up.
"We won't do anything tomorrow. First, I'll find carpenter Zhang to make two new beds."
Cui Hongyu, with a look of shyness, said, "Husband, don't be in a hurry. I'll be yours sooner or later."
As he said, so he did. The next day, Chen Xiaobei got up early and headed to the west end of the village.
The first house closest to the west end was carpenter Zhang's.
Carpenter Zhang was not originally from Hetou Village; he had come as a refugee.
However, carpenter Zhang was an honest and upright person, and coupled with his excellent carpentry skills, Chen Anbang kept him in the village and even reported to the court to allocate him two mu of hereditary land.
The only regret was that the old carpenter, who was already over fifty, had not yet married and thus had no offspring.
Seeing Chen Xiaobei arrive, carpenter Zhang smiled heartily.
"It's Captain Xiaobei, please sit down."
Chen Xiaobei sat down on a log and asked with a smile, "Uncle Zhang, I want to have two beds made. How much would that cost?"
Carpenter Zhang looked at him and smiled even more broadly. "Well, Captain, you're married now and want to replace your bed with a big one, right?"
"Yes, one big bed and one small bed."
"Alright, for two beds, including labor and materials, you can give me two taels of silver. I'll use the best elm wood for them."
"Okay, it's settled then. I'll bring you the silver later."
Carpenter Zhang said cheerfully, "No rush, no rush. You can give it to me after they're made."
Despite his words, Chen Xiaobei knew that two taels of silver was not a small sum for carpenter Zhang. The cost of the wood alone would take up more than half of that.
...
At the county town, Liu Manor.
Today, Liu Rumei had a hint of excitement in her eyes.
After receiving the hundred-year-old ginseng and feeding a little of its soup, Liu Tie's complexion had improved significantly, and he could even speak.
"Miss, those few people were all top-tier experts. Under their siege, I had no chance to fight back. You must be very careful."
Liu Rumei frowned slightly. "Have you managed to ascertain their origin?"
Liu Tie shook his head slightly. "They are definitely not from the Central Plains."
"Right, the two villagers who saved me might be able to provide you with some assistance."
Liu Rumei looked at him in surprise. "They don't know martial arts, it's better not to involve them and get them hurt."
"No, Miss. Although they don't know martial arts, they are familiar with the terrain. If we can get them involved, we'll have a better chance of guarding the dragon脉."
After hearing his suggestion, Liu Rumei did not immediately agree, but nodded slightly and said, "I'll think about this matter. You should rest well first."
Returning to her room, Liu Rumei sent for Steward Liu Ce.
"Do you have any good ideas regarding Qingniu Mountain?"
Steward Liu shook his head. "We should wait for the experts from Tianzhu Kingdom to arrive. Then we can capture those people in one fell swoop and avenge our brother Liu Tie."
Liu Rumei paced back and forth in the room and slowly said.
"We are too far from Qingniu Mountain now to monitor their movements daily, so we are very passive."
"Miss, didn't you say last time? Finding the dragon脉 is easy, but destroying it is not a task for a single day. So, we don't need to worry too much for now."
"Liu Tie just suggested to me that he wants Chen Xiaobei to help us guard the mountain," Liu Rumei said leisurely.
"This might not be appropriate. Guarding the dragon脉 is a secret mission from the Crown Prince, and we..." Liu Ce seemed a bit flustered.
"I'm not worried about that. Even if the people of Hetou Village found out, they are thousands of miles away from the capital, so the possibility of the news spreading is very small." Liu Rumei's perspective was different from his.
"What worries me the most is that they don't understand martial arts at all. If they disturb those people, we might suffer devastating consequences."
Steward Liu frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "Miss, why don't I go and sound out Chen Xiaobei?"
Liu Rumei shook her head. "Forget it, I'll go."
After speaking, she looked up at the sky outside. "If we leave now, we can return before dark."
Hetou Village.
Li Dong and the others worked efficiently. In just over a day, the courtyard wall was basically high enough.
As the sun began to set, the village head, Chen Anbang, arrived.
Chen Anbang stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the nearly two-zhang-high courtyard wall with thorns planted on top.
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This was all spent from Cui Hongyu's dowry. This money should have belonged to his grandson, but damn it, it went to this brat Chen Xiaobei.
Chen Xiaobei, unaware of his wicked thoughts, smiled and greeted him enthusiastically upon seeing him. "Second Master, you're here, please come in and sit."
Chen Anbang waved his hand. "You're very busy here, so I won't sit. If you need any help, just come to me."
He then looked back at the courtyard with reluctance and turned to leave. Just a few steps out, a village guard rushed over.
"Captain. Captain Xiaobei, a woman is here to see you."
What?
A woman is looking for me.
Before he could recover, the sound of horse hooves echoed in the distance. Liu Rumei, along with Liu Ce and others, galloped over.
Upon seeing Liu Rumei, Chen Anbang's heart skipped a beat.
He couldn't help but stop and stand by the roadside, wanting to see what Liu Rumei was doing here.
Liu Rumei, as usual, jumped off her horse from a distance and walked forward with a smile. "Young Master Chen, you're busy here."
Chen Xiaobei smiled. "It's Miss Liu's honor to visit. May I know what brings you here?"
Chen Xiaobei still harbored some resentment towards the Liu family for not helping him deal with the bandits in Wugongling.
Therefore, his tone was neither warm nor cold.
His attitude surprised Liu Rumei.