Traveling through an ancient military camp: Bao'er's survival song

Manager Liu's reply made Li Bao'er think for a long time. The next day, instead of waiting for Zheng Xi at the teahouse at the Zizhuyuan intersection, she chose a place across the street from that teahouse and sat down at a window seat facing the street.

When Li Bao'er saw Peng Zizheng riding his horse onto the street, she couldn't help but sneer and mutter under her breath, "I knew it! You pervert!"

Li Bao'er originally wanted to leave directly, but she was afraid of running into Peng Zizheng on the way and turning back. To be on the safe side, she decided to treat her visit to the entertainment venue as a folk intangible cultural heritage opera and leave after Peng Zizheng left.

In the entertainment district, a newly arrived Goryeo princess, with her long hair flowing and dressed scantily, danced an exotic dance in the center of the stage. Li Bao'er only remembered that in modern times, "Goryeo" was a small country surrounding China. Although she didn't know where this Goryeo princess came from, judging from her fair skin and delicate features, she probably didn't come from Vietnam or India. Li Bao'er thought the Goryeo princess's dance wasn't very beautiful, and it had a somewhat petty feel to it. But seeing that she was dancing barefoot in thin gauze in the winter weather, Li Bao'er felt pity and threw her a few pieces of silver.

Occasionally, when Goryeo-hee, standing in the center of the stage, accidentally stepped on silver or copper coins on the ground and hurt her soles, she would let out an affected, exaggerated cry, which would drive the men around her who were throwing silver coins into the air even more crazy.

Li Bao'er suddenly felt disgusted. She turned her head away and stopped "appreciating" Gao Liji's light singing and dancing. When she looked out the window, she saw Peng Zizheng's black horse tied outside the teahouse being stroked by a child with his feet up.

Li Bao'er was worried that the boy might get kicked by the horse. She wanted to shout but was afraid of attracting Peng Zizheng's attention. In the short time she hesitated, the boy playing with the horse had lost interest and skipped away.

Li Bao'er breathed a sigh of relief.

But before she could even catch her breath, she heard Peng Zizheng's deafening voice yell "Stop!" Startled, Li Bao'er nearly rolled under the table. Then she saw Peng Zizheng rush out of the teahouse like the wind, cut the reins of the horse, jump onto the horse, and ride away.

Li Bao'er couldn't help but lean out of the window to look out, only to see that Peng Zizheng, who had chased after her for some distance, suddenly startled his horse. The horse neighed and jumped, and after struggling with the person on its back for a while, it finally managed to throw him off.

Li Bao'er was stunned by this turn of events. After a long while, she uttered two words: "Retribution!"

Goryeo-hee had finished her performance on stage and stepped down. Next up was the bowl-balancing acrobatics act. Lee Bo-er saw no need to stay any longer and left the entertainment venue with the other dissatisfied customers.

Back at Liu Shu's private residence, Li Bao'er continued listening to Shaoyao tell gossip stories from the capital. Finally, she couldn't help but ask, "I've heard that the current Emperor's tutor, Wu Peng'en, is so handsome that his carriage is filled with fruit thrown at him. Is that true?"

The four maids covered their mouths and chuckled, but it was Peony who spoke up: "Young Master Li, none of us have ever met that Grand Tutor Wu. Besides being a famously handsome man in the capital, he's also notoriously henpecked!"

Liu Shu's wet nurse's daughter, Shancha, corrected her, "Grand Tutor Wu wasn't afraid of his wife; he was just deeply in love. I met Madam Wu at a banquet, and she was an extremely gentle and kind person. How could she possibly be a tigress like a matriarch?"

Seeing Li Bao'er's curious expression, Shaoyao continued, "This Grand Tutor Wu is nearly forty years old. Not only are his three children all born to his principal wife, Madam Wu, it is said that he has no concubines in his household, not even a maidservant."

Du Juan chimed in, "Yes, yes, it's said that Grand Tutor Wu never hosts banquets or drinks outside. He either goes to court or stays at home with his wife. We don't even have the chance to see this legendary handsome man."

Li Bao'er quickly said, "I never imagined that the Imperial Tutor would be in such a miserable state. Couldn't he secretly keep a mistress or have a casual affair?"