Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 20: The Female Lead Appears
Chapter 20: The Female Lead Appears
“General! This commoner begs you-not to absolve my brother of his crimes, only to have the case tried by you! Failing that, it should at least be tried by the Ministry of Justice!
“Please, General! Give my brother a chance to prove his innocence! Before the truth comes to light, please protect my brother’s life!”
Mu Sheng’s face was streaked with tears and snot. The composure he had been forcing himself to maintain was long gone.
“Who tries the case is not as important as you imagine,” Cang Chuli said evenly. “What matters is whether your brother has any means of turning the situation around.”
Xia Heng racked her brain, desperately trying to recall the plot. Did this part even exist in the original novel?
Tsk. The original The Tyrant Falls in Love with Me was exactly like its title.
It was mainly about the tangled, convoluted romance between Dongfang Wei and Xiao Yaqing.
Every day, it was her running, him chasing, and her having no wings with which to escape!
Where on earth did this scene appear in the plot?
Think. Think carefully… Vaguely, there did seem to be something like this.
When Cang Chuli had been away on campaign, a lackey under the villain Cheng Zhesong had schemed to swallow the Zhenbei Army’s provisions and pay. The original plan had been to leave Cang Chuli and the entire Zhenbei Army to die in the northern lands.
Who would have thought Cang Chuli was actually that capable? With no supplies of his own, he had simply robbed the opposing Tujue forces of theirs-and even received help from someone else.
That was how he had returned to the capital after such a great victory.
And now, the moment he returned, he had joined forces with the Emperor to make trouble for the Ministry of Revenue. The Minister of Revenue seemed to have shoved someone out as a scapegoat.
Later, it was Left Prime Minister Cheng Zhesong who personally stepped in. He stole the original evidence and fabricated false testimony, thereby protecting the Minister of Revenue.
This was also the first time Dongfang Wei and Cang Chuli suffered a setback. The case was only overturned near the grand finale, finally bringing down the Minister of Revenue.
Mu Sheng, however, seemed to have been reminded of something. He raised his head in a daze.
“My brother was bad at arithmetic!”
“That’s right, my brother was never good with numbers! When he first entered the provisions office, he even had headaches over it!
“He was terrified he might calculate the accounts wrong, so every time he came home, he would check them again! I have to go back and search! I have to go back and look!”
Having recalled that crucial piece of information, Mu Sheng kowtowed excitedly to Cang Chuli, then turned and left.
Cang Chuli did not stop him. He merely set his empty cup on the table and tapped it lightly. Xia Heng, quick on the uptake, immediately stepped forward to refill it.
Ah, so it was this part of the plot.
Xia Heng mulled it over repeatedly in her heart, thinking of how that scholar had just cried so hard even his own mother might not recognize him, how he had banged his head against the floor, and how at the end, a light had ignited in his eyes.
Tsk! Why did that make her feel so uncomfortable?
Knock, knock, knock.
“My lord, Miss Xiao has arrived.”
Miss Xiao!
Xia Heng instantly perked up.
Could it be Xiao Yaqing? Oh-ho! After being here for so long, was she finally going to have the honor of meeting the female lead?
Xia Heng held her breath and focused, her eyes shining as she looked toward the door.
A short while later, a woman in blue-green robes entered gracefully.
Her lotus steps were light; her dark hair fell smooth as silk.
As the world might say:
What could be compared to such jade-like beauty?
A branch of spring snow freezing plum blossoms,
A mist of fragrance gathering the morning glow.
With the cool scent of plum blossoms lingering at the tip of her nose, only one thought came to Xia Heng’s mind: the ancients truly did not deceive me!
This beauty! Those eyes! That figure! This-!
What on earth did that lunatic little emperor look like?
Was he even worthy of her? How many lifetimes of luck did he have to spend to get the keys to this prize?
“Greetings, General.”
Xiao Yaqing dipped into a curtsy.
“No need for formalities. Sit.”
Cang Chuli gestured toward the seat before him.
Xia Heng stepped forward and pulled out the chair.
Xiao Yaqing slowly sat down, her bearing elegant and dignified.
As expected of the woman who would become the mother of the nation!
“I must thank Miss Xiao for your assistance this time,” Cang Chuli said.
Right! Xiao Yaqing was the secret backer who had funded the Zhenbei Army this time!
When she was young, the Xiao Family had been framed and demoted out of the capital. Because of a misunderstanding, Xiao Yaqing and Dongfang Wei had also parted ways.
Years later, the unhinged Dongfang Wei, now Emperor, had never expected that the great backer who helped his brother win a battle would turn out to be his ex-girlfriend!
Xia Heng curled her lip.
Sure enough! Once a woman left a man, she became rich!
Then she glanced at Xiao Yaqing’s face again.
And beautiful, too!
“You are too courteous, General. Yaqing merely happened to learn of the matter and offered what little help she could. I believe any citizen of Huaxia would have done the same.”
Cang Chuli and Dongfang Wei had grown up together, so of course he knew Xiao Yaqing as well.
Still, he felt a little awkward.
Especially when his brother’s ex-girlfriend had, in the blink of an eye, become the deep-pocketed benefactor who saved the Zhenbei Army from a grain shortage.
“When did you return to the capital?”
“I arrived half a month ago. Thanks to you, General, the northern trade caravan did quite well this time. Well enough for me to buy a residence in the capital.”
Xiao Yaqing smiled as she spoke.
She had helped the Zhenbei Army solve part of its grain and fodder problem, and Cang Chuli had helped her open up the northern trade routes.
Only a couple of days ago, while chatting with Chuqing, Xia Heng had finally gained a concrete understanding of what housing prices were like in ancient times.
To put it simply, they were no cheaper than the capital in her own world…
Look at the female lead! So young! So successful! A home in the capital, paid in full!
Applause!!
From the daughter of a high-ranking official reduced to commoner status, then starting from nothing as a commoner and opening trade routes in every direction…
She might not have become the richest person in Huaxia, but she was Huaxia’s first female tycoon!
This was what a true strong female lead looked like!
At that thought, Xia Heng’s eyes inevitably revealed a hint of eagerness.
Rich, beautiful big sister! Let me cling to you! If the gender restrictions weren’t so strict, I could totally do this~
Xiao Yaqing took a sip of clear tea and swallowed, sensing a gaze fixed on her the entire time.
She looked up and saw the maid beside Cang Chuli staring at her with bright, sparkling eyes.
When the maid noticed Xiao Yaqing looking back, she turned slightly aside in embarrassment,
only to be unable to resist secretly turning back to look at her again.
It reminded Xiao Yaqing of the tabby cat she had kept in the manor when she was little. It had always loved clinging to the doorway, poking out its head to quietly size her up.
Xiao Yaqing could not help smiling.
Then she looked at the maid on the other side. That one stood as straight as a young pine, expressionless, as though she had heard nothing and seen nothing.
The contrast between the two maids could not have been sharper.
“These two maids by your side certainly have their own distinct charms.”
Xiao Yaqing pressed down the corners of her lips and said to Cang Chuli,
“The Emperor gave them to me.”
Cang Chuli explained casually.
At the word Emperor, Xiao Yaqing’s smile finally flattened.
“You two should be careful in how you conduct yourselves.”
“Recently, grain prices in the south have already risen very high. It isn’t a good sign. Tell him, so you can make preparations sooner as well.”
Xiao Yaqing’s expression turned serious.
“Why not tell him directly?”
“Heh. General, you jest. I am but a mere merchant woman. How could I possibly presume to gaze upon the imperial countenance?”
Xiao Yaqing paused for a while.
“My new residence is on Maxing Street, named Xiao Mansion. In a couple of days, I plan to hold a housewarming banquet. I hope the General will do me the honor of attending.”
Cang Chuli did not speak.
Xiao Yaqing looked out at the scenery beyond the window for a little while longer, then rose and took her leave.
“How much longer are you planning to stay there?”
Not long after Xiao Yaqing left, Cang Chuli called toward the wall next door.
Xia Heng was still wondering whether he was talking to her. Or perhaps Qiulin?
Then, before her astonished eyes, the wall of the room folded away layer by layer, stacking up at the side into a hanging screen.
The room next door was also a private room. A man in white sat there with his back to Cang Chuli.
Xia Heng glanced at Qiulin.
Mm. Very good. Still that same deadpan face. Not the slightest sign of shock.
So Xia Heng swiftly schooled her own expression and quietly resumed her role as a tool-person.
“You heard what she said?”
Cang Chuli asked.
“Mm. I’ve also received news about the grain prices in the south. Yet until now, no one has reported the matter. A pack of useless fools.”
The male lead! Dongfang Wei?
“I meant the part where she said, ‘I am but a mere merchant woman. How could I possibly presume to gaze upon the imperial countenance?'”
When it came to stabbing people right in the heart, it still had to be you, Nanny Cang.
With one sentence, he choked Dongfang Wei so thoroughly that the man froze with his chopsticks raised, unable to put the mouthful of shredded meat into his mouth.
“Ah, this general should go take a stroll through Diancui Pavilion. A housewarming banquet, after all.
“Shouldn’t I prepare a generous gift for my benefactor…? I wonder how Mu Sheng is coming along with finding that evidence…”
Cang Chuli shook his head with wicked satisfaction, rose, and waved a hand, beckoning Xia Heng and Qiulin to follow. With his own young servant waiting by the door, he sauntered off at an unhurried pace.
All that remained was the back of a man dressed in white, looking especially desolate in the warm, cozy private room.
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