Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 43

On the return journey, everyone joined forces to shove Xia Heng inside the carriage. Even Wude clung tightly to her arm and refused to let go.

You can’t throw up again, Big Sister! You just ate that walnut cake. If you vomit it up, I’ll be heartbroken!

She had somehow made the horse swerve from side to side even on flat ground. No one knew what she had done to offend the poor animal…

Xia Heng had no choice but to give up on learning the “skill” of driving a carriage.

She settled down obediently inside with the Zhao sisters, Little Wude tucked in beside her.

Chuqing took her place outside and helped Qiulin drive.

“Hey, how much money did you give that officer just now?” Zhao Die asked, a little embarrassed.

Xia Heng had not said a word about it. When had she even prepared the money?

“Oh, Chuqing, Qiulin, and I pooled it together. We estimated that everything on your list would probably use up that whole pile of silver.

“So we each contributed five taels. It isn’t much, but together with all the supplies you bought for the officers, it should be enough.”

They had never intended to tell Zhao Die in advance.

Over the past few days, the sisters had run themselves ragged buying things everywhere.

They had even bought the ancient padded coat Uncle Zhao had worn during his years in the army. At this very moment, it was probably wrapped around some clan elder or another.

Nor had they wanted anyone else’s help. They had gone over that list again and again, truly stretching every copper coin as far as it could go. They had even sold several of their dance costumes.

They had their pride.

Even so, the sheer quantity of supplies was too much.

Xia Heng had calculated the total in her head. It had not exceeded fifty taels, but it had come close.

There could not possibly have been any money left to smooth things over with the officers.

So Xia Heng, Chuqing, and Qiulin had discussed it and each put in five taels.

They had already helped with so much. What difference did one final push make?

This concerned the sisters’ own mother. They had to give them some peace of mind.

“We’ll pay the money back,” Zhao Die said, deeply moved.

Zhao Siyan nodded beside her.

Xia Heng smiled.

“Of course. Chuqing said our monthly allowance is two taels, and it’ll be paid in a couple of days. Remember to deduct one tael from it when the time comes.”

The sisters froze, suddenly unsure whether they should continue feeling touched.

Zhao Siyan did not know whether to laugh or cry. Xia Heng truly knew how to ruin a tender moment.

After doing all this, anyone else would at least have comforted them and said there was no hurry.

Yet strangely enough, it was precisely Xia Heng’s unsentimental manner that made them feel far more at ease.

Xia Heng paid no attention to their thoughts. People only had motivation when they were under pressure.

Besides, the money belonged to three people. She had no right to make decisions for the others.

She lifted the carriage-window curtain. By this hour, every household was awake.

Street vendors haggled with customers. The moment a shopkeeper selling flatbread and mutton soup lifted the lid from his pot, steam curled upward, carrying the savory scent of broth through the street.

Shop after shop had opened its doors, and assistants were sweeping and cleaning…

The sight alone felt full of life.

The carriage stopped before Maxing Street.

This was the hour when households sent people out to make purchases and everyone else headed to work. The road was crowded and congested.

“I heard the Xiao Family has come up with another kind of liquor! This one can even treat illness!”

“Huh? Is it like that medicinal wine from before? The kind used for bruises and injuries?”

“No, no. They call it… ‘alcohol,’ I think? Liquor among liquors!

“It’s used to treat external wounds. If you apply it, the injury is less likely to fester! Several clinics have already placed orders with them.”

“Goodness! That really is valuable. My nephew on my mother’s side once had his foot cut by a falling woodcutting blade. The wound rotted, and in the end they had to amputate… Ah.”

“Oh, stop talking about it! It’s frightening just to hear!”

Listening to the two women with vegetable baskets chat, Xia Heng suddenly realized that she seemed to have read this part in the original novel.

Had the female lead, Xiao Yaqing, produced alcohol already? In that case, it would not be long before Father Xiao received a promotion!

Medical conditions in ancient times were poor.

The appearance of alcohol would save countless lives, especially among soldiers on the front line.

Dongfang Wei had long wanted to restore his future father-in-law to office. This incident would give him the perfect opportunity.

And if the Xiao Family’s already excellent meals got even better…

Why had she not transmigrated into the body of a maid in the female lead’s household?

Xia Heng smacked her lips regretfully.

Wude watched from beside her. He had no idea what delicious food Big Sister Xia had thought of now, but somehow, he was starting to feel hungry too.

The flow of people finally passed, and the carriage began to move slowly forward again.

* * *

“Seven times nine is sixty-three, eight times nine is seventy-two, nine times nine is eighty-one!”

“Mo Qing! Mo Qing! Was that right? Just tell me if I recited it correctly!”

“Yes, yes, yes. Young Master memorized it in less than an hour, while you’ve taken two days… Quiet down already!”

Mo Qing could not resist striking at Mo Bai’s confidence.

The rhyme was so catchy. Although Mo Qing had not memorized it as quickly as their young master, even he had learned it in a day. Yet this man had needed two…

They had both studied beside Young Master since childhood. How embarrassing.

“At least I managed it! I was never fond of arithmetic…

“I learned much faster than Zhang Qiang. He’s still stuck on the sixes!”

Deputy General Zhang, whose shameful secret had been exposed without warning, silently turned his head.

“I learned the Tiger-Subduing Fist after seeing it once.”

“You haven’t memorized the multiplication table,” Mo Bai replied expressionlessly.

“I was also the first to master the Zhenbei Spear Art.”

“You haven’t memorized the multiplication table.”

“……”

Mo Qing silently shook his head and stopped watching the two amateurs trying to one-up each other.

He replaced his general’s tea with a fresh, hot pot.

After finishing his morning training, Cang Chuli was drawing up account books for the Zhenbei Army, copying the tables Xia Heng had made before.

He planned to put the method on trial before the year’s end.

With these simple numerals, the storehouse keepers should find it easier to record the movement of supplies and grain over the New Year period.

Comparisons would become much easier as well.

After a full year, the various departments should all be proficient. He wondered what sort of surprise they would give him next year.

However, during that day at court, Xia Jinguang and Xia Yun, who had stood in the back row, had also seemed shocked when they heard about this bookkeeping method.

Their surprise had not looked feigned.

Cang Chuli’s lips curved. It appeared he had stumbled upon a treasure.

At that moment, Xia Heng was in her room, staring dumbfounded at her points panel.

She had been busy these past few days. She had remembered to check in each day but had not looked carefully at her points.

Now that she finally had time to inspect them—

She had gained a full eighty points?!

She checked the details.

Zhao Siyan—10 points

Zhao Die—10 points

Qiulin—10 points

Wude—10 points

Lady Li—10 points

And, most absurdly of all:

Mo Qing—10 points

Mo Bai—10 points

Cang Chuli—10 points

!!!???

What? Was she seeing things?

Those three men had actually increased their favorability toward her? Was it because she had taught them arithmetic? Talk about a delayed reaction!

Together with the points from her daily check-ins, she now had a total of 153 points.

If this was not getting rich overnight, what was?

She grinned and checked the number several more times before finally closing the panel with the “X.”

She still had a spin of the prize wheel saved up!

She tapped “Draw!”

The wheel slowly began to turn. It spun faster and faster, then finally stopped on—

“Binoculars.”

Binoculars? Fine.

Xia Heng picked them up, looked them over, and read the description.

As expected of something produced by the system, they even came with far-infrared night vision.

In modern times, a pair like this would probably have cost quite a lot.

Still, she had little use for them right now. It was not as though she wanted to spy on anyone…