Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 5: Reporting for Work 1

Chapter 5: Reporting for Work 1

After Xia Heng finished giving herself a healthy dose of self-brainwashing, she relaxed and opened the food box on the table. Inside was a plate of vegetables and two steamed buns.

Bland and tasteless, but better than nothing.

After lunch, Xia Heng began sorting through her luggage. She looked closely at the matching water-wave embroidery on the handkerchief and the bundle, and silently thanked the ancients for loving coordinated sets too.

When she opened the bundle, she found three sets of clothes, two pairs of embroidered shoes, several clean embroidered handkerchiefs, four pieces of underclothing, and a pouch of broken silver. It was probably everything the original owner had saved. Xia Heng pulled the drawstring tight, then weighed it in her hand. It felt satisfyingly heavy.

After folding the clothes and shoes neatly and putting them into the cabinet, Xia Heng tentatively tried placing the broken silver into the storage space that came with the system.

As she silently thought, Put it away, Xia Heng blinked. Sure enough, the broken silver in her hand vanished. When she checked her storage again, the first slot held that pouch of silver, with a note: “1 pouch of broken silver, 25 taels.”

Just as Xia Heng was delighted that she could store outside objects in her space, her eyes narrowed slightly.

A bug, huh~

As long as the word “pouch” was involved, anything could be negotiated. Hehehe.

Once her luggage was put away, Xia Heng carried the dishes she had eaten from over to the well, washed them one by one, and placed them back in the food box. Then she picked out a slightly older embroidered handkerchief, dampened it, and wiped the table clean.

There was hardly any entertainment in ancient times. After finally finishing all that fussing about, Xia Heng returned to her room and continued studying the Points Mall.

She would never have known if she had not looked. After carefully browsing the mall, she discovered that it actually had all kinds of classics and novels!

Once she had points, she absolutely had to exchange for a few and study them thoroughly, right?

For now, though, just reading the summaries was enough to pass the time.

Before she knew it, the sky had darkened. Xia Heng took her bedding down from the clothesline in the courtyard, patted it a few times, and spread it back over the bed.

In a life without electric lights, there was nothing to do but wash up early, get into bed, and try to get sleepy.

Xia Heng used half a bucket of water to wash up and had just lain down when-

The door to the room next door, which had been silent all afternoon, was suddenly yanked open with great force.

Hearing the commotion, Xia Heng got out of bed barefoot and opened the window.

She saw one of the girls who had been sent here with them.

Her expression was deranged, her hair already half fallen apart. She stumbled and crawled all the way toward the courtyard gate, shouting, “Murder! Murder! I want to go home! I want to go home!”

Xia Heng watched as the girl nearly went mad and charged out through the courtyard gate. The words she had been about to say-to tell her where the luggage was-were silently swallowed back down.

“Hmph.”

A cold laugh drifted over on the autumn wind, threaded with a chill.

Through the moonlight, Xia Heng saw the window of the room opposite slowly closing, and Qiulin’s mocking gaze…

Xia Heng withdrew as well. After shutting the window tight, she returned to bed.

A little while later, she heard faint sobbing coming from who knew where, thin and delicate, like a kitten’s…

Xia Heng hugged her shoulders tightly with both hands and rubbed them up and down. The sun-dried quilt gave off a reassuring scent.

She let out a soft sigh.

Cold, hunger, darkness, fear-who knew which one would make a person break first?

Xia Heng said nothing more. Hugging the quilt, she closed her eyes, ending her first day in this unfamiliar world.

==========

“The woman in pink who carried out the assassination today is the older sister of Zhang Ningze, the son of Wealthy Master Zhang from the capital, whom you sent into military service last year.

“Master Zhang says he knew nothing about it, and that it was entirely his daughter’s own decision.”

“Hmph. He washes his hands of it neatly enough.”

The subordinate continued, “The one in blue was sent by Wang Jian, Vice Minister of War, but the coachman is already dead. I imagine he won’t admit it.

“As for the other three, they used other people’s identities. When the bodies were sent back, the families did not recognize them. We are still investigating.

“The six placed in Old He’s courtyard are, respectively: Xia Heng, daughter of Xia Yun, the younger brother born of a concubine to Xia Jinguang, Vice Minister of Rites;

“Qiulin, bestowed by His Majesty;

“Zhao Siyan and Zhao Die, the two concubine-born daughters of Zhao Fan, Minister of Revenue;

“Chen Tingting, youngest daughter of Chen Liang, Minister of War; and Lin Yin, niece of Princess Consort Zhao.”

“All three ministries have come, and Prince Zhao has even stuck his foot in as well.”

After listening to the backgrounds his subordinate had uncovered, Cang Chuli laughed aloud.

“My manor is truly lively.”

“Report!”

A voice rang out from outside the study door.

“Come in.”

“General, one of the girls who was just placed in the manor today ran out.

“She was stopped by the personal guards. She is now crying and shouting that she wants to go home.

“She says she is Princess Consort Zhao’s niece, and wants us to inform Princess Consort Zhao to send someone to fetch her.”

Deputy General Zhang reported to Cang Chuli.

“Send someone to escort her back. And don’t forget to ask for money.”

“Yes, sir.”

“How convenient. Just when I was getting sleepy, someone handed me a pillow.”

The flickering candlelight played across Cang Chuli’s face.

“As for the dead ones, there is no need to investigate them further. If they dared to assume someone else’s identity, then they were already prepared not to return.

“Keep a close watch on the manor. Screen everyone again for me. I want to see what other moves they have left.”
“Yes.”

“Yes.”

The next day, Xia Heng was awakened by the sound of knocking. Wrapped in her quilt and still bleary-eyed, she opened the door.

Standing outside was the round-faced young maid who had delivered her meal yesterday.

“Miss Xia.”

The round-faced girl opened her mouth a little awkwardly.

Seeing that Xia Heng did not seem fully awake yet, she hurriedly said, “Miss Xia, by the Hour of the Dragon, we need to have the general’s washing things ready and serve him as he rises. It’s already the Hour of the Rabbit now, so we have to go to the main courtyard ahead of time. I’ll show you the way.”

As the little round-faced maid spoke, she handed over the clothes in her arms.

Judging by the style, they were the same as what she was wearing. They were probably the General’s Mansion’s work uniform.

The cold wind slapped Xia Heng in the face, and only then did she remember that she was supposed to start work today…

And the person she was serving was that murderous Male Supporting Character No. 1…

Although she had clearly prepared herself mentally yesterday, now that the moment had arrived, Xia Heng once again felt a chill around her neck.

Xia Heng shook her head, trying to fling all the messy thoughts out of her mind.

“Wait for me a second. I’ll be ready right away.”

The round-faced girl nodded.

Xia Heng swiftly folded up her quilt, changed into her clothes, then jogged out of the room.

By the well, she used the half-bucket of water left from yesterday to wash up.

After drying her face with a clean handkerchief, Xia Heng looked up and saw the little round-faced maid staring at her in surprise, her mouth slightly open.

Noticing Xia Heng’s gaze, the round-faced girl embarrassedly closed her mouth again.

“You’re so fast. Wasn’t the water a little icy?”

“It was fine, hehe.”

Xia Heng smiled, went back to her room to put down the face towel, and said, “Let’s go.”

The skill she had honed over years as a corporate drone-getting from bed to out the door in ten minutes-had once again come in handy.

“No! I don’t want to go! I don’t want to go serve him! Tell my mother! Tell my mother to come take me home! I don’t want to go!!! Wuuuu…”

Xia Heng was following the round-faced maid out when she heard crying and shouting coming from another room.

That voice sounded exactly like the cat that had cried all night yesterday…

“I am the daughter of the Minister of War! Please, tell my mother! Tell my mother to come get me! I don’t want to go serve him, wuuuu…”

A few muffled thumps followed, like the sound of a pillow being thrown onto the floor…

The rest of it gradually faded as they left the small courtyard.

“My name is Chuqing. I’m a maid of the General’s Mansion.

“I’m mainly in charge of the general’s daily needs. The general generally doesn’t like anyone serving him too closely.

“Most of the time, you just need to prepare the things the general needs in advance and bring them in.

“If the general asks for something, hand it to him. Once the general is finished using it, take it back out…”

As the little round-faced Chuqing led Xia Heng through the pavilions and corridors of the General’s Mansion, she spoke quickly in a low voice.

Yesterday, Xia Heng had practically been dragged here like a corpse. Only today did she finally pull herself together enough to appreciate the full appearance of the General’s Mansion.

Mom, you might not believe this,

but I, Xia Heng, have started working in an ancient general’s mansion today!

The entire General’s Mansion was grand and spacious.

It took nearly half an hour to walk from the small courtyard where she lived to the main courtyard. Along the way, there were artificial hills, flowing water, greenery, and flowerbeds. It had been built like a garden!

What a perfect place for killing people and hiding bodies… No, for enjoying the scenery…

It had to be because she had witnessed such a brutal scene yesterday. That was why such horrifying phrases were popping into her head now.

Xia Heng was shocked by the words her subconscious had come up with.

“This is the communal kitchen. From now on, you can come here to get three meals a day. Each meal is only served for half an hour, though. If you miss the time, there’s nothing left.”

Chuqing led Xia Heng into the communal kitchen. After explaining Xia Heng’s situation to Chef Xiang, who was serving the food, each of them took a bowl of millet porridge, a steamed bun, and a small dish of pickles, then found a table and sat down.

Perhaps because they were hungry, neither of them spoke again. As they were eating breakfast, Qiulin and two girls who looked somewhat alike entered the dining hall behind two maids.

When Qiulin saw Xia Heng there, the corners of her mouth tugged up slightly. The other two girls, however, had their heads lowered almost to their chests, following closely behind the maids step by step.

They looked as if they still had not recovered from yesterday’s terror.

Xia Heng did not rashly call out to greet them. She simply nodded at Qiulin, then lowered her head and continued eating her breakfast.

After they finished eating, Chuqing led Xia Heng to clear away their dishes, then headed toward the main courtyard where Cang Chuli was.

“There’s one thing that’s especially important. When the general hasn’t given the order, you must never get close to him! Whatever he says, just do it! Never act on your own!”

Chuqing said this solemnly.

Xia Heng nodded to show that she understood. In her heart, she thought, If I could, I’d stay as far away from him as possible.

As they spoke, the two of them had already arrived at the main courtyard.