Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 123

Dongfang Wei used a handkerchief to bind the wound on Xiao Yaqing’s neck.

The cut was shallow and had already stopped bleeding, but it would be troublesome if dirt entered the wound.

The Personal Guards were still clearing the site. Once the bandaging was done, Xiao Yaqing walked over with a flushed face. Xia Heng narrowed a pair of dead-fish eyes at her.

Before Xia Heng could say anything, Chuqing fired the opening shot.

“Miss Xiao, that night at the hunting grounds… Mmph!”

Xiao Yaqing lunged forward and clapped a hand over her mouth. Her legs were no longer weak, and her hands had stopped trembling.

“Mutton hotpot!”

Chuqing glanced sideways at her. Who was she looking down on?

“Plus a banquet at Lehua Tower!”

Only then did Chuqing close her mouth. Lehua Tower!

She had never eaten there. The last time Xia Heng offered to take her, she had turned her down…

Xia Heng gave Chuqing a disappointed look. What a lack of ambition! Then she imitated Dongfang Wei’s tone from moments before.

“Yaqing~”

Xiao Yaqing shuddered from head to toe.

“Shut up! Ten times! Ten all-you-can-eat trips to Lehua Tower! I’m begging you!”

Ten times! Xia Heng closed her mouth too, only for her eyes to meet Chuqing’s contemptuous stare.

What? One meal was pathetic. Ten meals were an entirely different matter!

*Grrrgle~*

Xiao Yaqing’s stomach growled again.

Qiulin took the wrapped pastries from inside her clothes and handed them over.

“They’re from your home. Hurry and eat some!”

Xiao Yaqing accepted them in delight.

“Thank you! Good thing you remembered to bring me something!”

She picked up a pastry and ate it. Before long, her mouth felt dry, and she looked at Xia Heng.

Xia Heng shrugged. “I rode here. How could I remember to bring water? If you’re desperate, you can try my tears.”

Xiao Yaqing finally lost patience and kicked at her. Xia Heng dodged sideways.

Then inspiration struck Xiao Yaqing. She hurriedly swallowed the pastry in her mouth and said, “Come on! I saw them making salted milk tea earlier!”

Xia Heng immediately perked up too.

“Salted milk tea? I’ve been freezing all night, and they have something that good?”

Xiao Yaqing swept out an arm grandly. “Brothers! Follow me!”

Thus, Dongfang Wei, who was discussing how to handle the aftermath with Cang Chuli, saw the woman he loved marching fiercely toward the large pot in the center of the Tujue camp with a whole procession of “underlings” behind her.

The women gathered around someone else’s pot and put their heads together.

After eating the pastry, Xiao Yaqing was desperately thirsty. She picked up a clean bowl from nearby, eagerly ladled out some salted milk tea, and drank beneath everyone’s expectant gazes.

“How is it?” Xia Heng asked impatiently after the first sip.

“Hmm… It isn’t very good. It hardly tastes of anything…” Xiao Yaqing frowned. This was not what she had expected. Pasang had certainly seemed to enjoy it that morning.

“Not good? Let me try.”

Xia Heng refused to believe it. She ladled herself a bowl and took a sip.

“It really doesn’t taste of much.”

She handed the bowl to Chuqing, who had been staring longingly at it, then looked at the boxes of dairy products and the things that resembled mahua and little fried buns.

“Are we supposed to add some of these?”

Zhao Die frowned at the ingredients nearby as well. “Do they need to be cooked?”

Dongfang Wei watched the women pass a single bowl from hand to hand while studying the contents of the pot, clearly unsure what to do. He sighed helplessly.

“Sixi, choose someone to prepare food for them.”

Sixi acknowledged the order and went to find someone.

Inside, he marveled that these young women truly were unlike ordinary people. Who else would start thinking about food before the blood on her own neck had even been wiped clean?

Before long, he brought over a thin, frail Tujue maid who looked timid enough. The maid instructed Zhao Die what to do. Since she was from Tujue, they still did not quite trust her to handle the food herself.

The women cheered up now that an expert had arrived. Zhao Die naturally took charge of the ladle while the others stared unblinkingly into the pot.

Chuqing in particular was nearly drooling as she breathed in the rich fragrance of salted milk tea.

She had been hungry for ages! If Xiao Yaqing had not gone without dinner the previous night, Chuqing would never have left that entire packet of pastries untouched in the carriage.

Following the Tujue maid’s directions, Zhao Die finished preparing the salted milk tea and portioned it out.

“Try it.”

Qiulin held her bowl and wondered what salted milk tea might taste like. Beside her, Chuqing had already slurped down half a bowl.

Xia Heng took a sip as well, and her eyes lit up.

“Mmm! So fragrant!”

Zhao Siyan said, “I never imagined tea could be drunk this way. It’s rather like porridge!”

Xiao Yaqing took a sip, bliss filling her face.

“These people refused to feed me, then brewed salted milk tea right outside my door at the crack of dawn. If I’d been able to beat them, I would have overturned their whole setup this morning! Now that I think about it, it’s a good thing I didn’t!”

Xia Heng smacked her lips.

“Salted milk tea is pretty good! The things soaked inside are tasty too! One sip, and your whole body warms up!”

Everyone nodded. As they drank the piping-hot salted milk tea, little bubbles of happiness practically rose around them, making the nearby Personal Guards unbearably envious.

Cang Chuli saw Mo Bai’s yearning expression beside him and finally relented.

“You may go too.”

“Thank you, General!”

Fortunately, Huyan Lie’s party had originally been larger than theirs and had set up more cooking fires. These were among the last things to be dismantled, and many still stood. They only needed to cook.

As for the ingredients, were the carts not parked right beside them? They could simply help themselves!

The captive Tujue people nearly wept off to the side.

These people had attacked the moment they arrived, tied them up after the fighting, and were now eating their food. Why did they act like bandits?

As for Princess Pasang, she had fainted from fright the moment she saw her brother take his own life and was still lying nearby.

Dongfang Wei and Cang Chuli accepted bowls of salted milk tea from their subordinates and took a sip.

Watching the people in the center noisily gulp their salted milk tea, Dongfang Wei found the sight a little painful to behold.

“Why do all the women in your mansion act as though they’ve never eaten? Chuqing and Qiulin are one thing, but weren’t the others all respectable young ladies originally?”

Cang Chuli showed no expression.

“The daughter of a second-rank official is already drinking her third bowl.”

“Is she? Yaqing really was starved. But that Xia Heng beside her is no less capable. She’s on her third bowl too. What is this, Mingxu? Do you not feed her enough at your mansion?”

Of course Cang Chuli had seen Xia Heng refuse to be outdone and go for a third bowl. Even Qiulin was reaching directly for the extra ingredients nearby.

He replied bleakly, “Ever since she came to the mansion, even the dog guarding the rear gate gets two extra bones to gnaw.”

Dongfang Wei burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha! Excellent! Your mansion could use some liveliness.”

Cang Chuli’s gaze remained on the figure drinking her third bowl of salted milk tea.

*She eats so much, yet she never gains weight. Did the Xia Mansion starve her into poor health? Tsk. The Xia family really does need to fall sooner rather than later.*

Meanwhile, Xia Heng had wandered over to the cart where they stored their provisions. She pulled out several strips of dried beef and returned triumphantly to divide them among the women.

Even as Chuqing chewed with great difficulty, she did not forget to offer her assessment.

“The flavor is all right, but it’s too hard to chew. My cheeks are getting sore.”

Xia Heng stared admiringly at the enormous bite she had managed to tear off.

“You’ve got impressive teeth!”