Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 54

“The air feels wonderful here!”

Chuqing took a deep breath.

Xia Heng looked over the greenery. It resembled a modern cemetery.

Though late autumn was unusually cold this year and trees elsewhere had yellowed and shed their leaves, the pines and cypresses here remained green, filling the grounds with life.

“Young lady, you have an excellent eye. A scholar is buried beside this plot. His ancestral grave was too far away.

“Next to a scholar, perhaps the deceased will carry some literary fortune into the next life!

“Only people from respectable families may enter Fu’an Cemetery. Criminals are forbidden.

“A master inspected the feng shui, and it is first-rate. Your honored mother will be safe here. We even have caretakers every day.”

Xia Heng found the agent’s speech amusing. Only in ancient times would people care so much about a dead person’s neighbors.

The cemetery was better than expected. They quickly chose a plot.

“We’ll register it and prepare the deed. Twenty taels, please.”

Xia Heng paid readily. She was wealthy now.

“How straightforward. Would you like a gravestone?”

“You can arrange that too?”

“Of course. It’s skilled work. We know craftsmen. Only two taels, with fine stone and beautiful lettering!”

After considering the difficulty of transporting one herself, Xia Heng ordered it.

She wrote her mother’s name on the paper:

Hao Qingjuan.

“Should your honored father’s name be added?”

The agent could read and asked carefully when she wrote only her mother.

“No. Only my mother. And this is my name.”

She added Xia Heng as the person erecting the stone.

With the plot and gravestone purchased, she held the deed and breathed deeply.

One worry was finally settled.

“Come, Chuqing! Big Sister will take you to eat something delicious!”

Back in the capital, Xia Heng marched straight toward Lehua Tower.

She was rich now. How could she not try the most famous restaurant in the capital?

“No, Ah Heng! It’s too expensive! Let’s eat elsewhere. I know a delicious, cheap place!”

Realizing their destination, Chuqing clung to a wall with reddened eyes.

Young Master often visited this place. How could a servant dare enter?

Xia Heng was exasperated by her timidity.

“So what if you’re a servant? This restaurant doesn’t check household registration! Besides, you’re a free citizen!

“I have an indenture and I’m not afraid. Come here! I brought money.

“They have a public hall. We’ll sit there. How expensive could it be?”

She pointed toward the entrance while a waiter watched uncertainly from afar.

“Why are you here?”

Xiao Yaqing had been inspecting shops and came looking for lunch when she saw two women wrestling at a street corner.

Their clothes resembled the General’s Mansion uniform. Up close, it was them.

“Xia Heng!”

Xia Heng released Chuqing and turned.

“Yaqing!”

“What are you doing here? What game is this?”

Chuqing lowered her hands in embarrassment.

“Greetings, Miss Xiao.”

After hearing the story, Xiao Yaqing hooked an arm around each of them.

“I see. Come! Big Sister will take you somewhere good!”

The pressure around Chuqing’s neck felt familiar. She wondered why the Xiao family’s eldest daughter was as informal as Xia Heng.

Then she was dragged away.

“Fengyue Pavilion,” Xia Heng read from the sign. “That sounds elegant.”

“Doesn’t it? A manager treated me here once. Their mutton hotpot is incredible. Come on.”

In a private room, Xia Heng looked around while Chuqing gradually relaxed.

“The decor is good, and you can see the street.”

“I told you! Waiter, one mutton hotpot, two plates of vegetables, one jar of Drunken Spring Breeze, and one jar of Pear Blossom White!”

“Coming!”

“We’re drinking too? How is your tolerance?” Xia Heng asked.

Xiao Yaqing shook her head proudly.

“A thousand cups without falling!”

Xia Heng looked at Chuqing.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been drunk either.”

What formidable women!

“My tolerance is decent. I never tasted your family’s wine. Last time, your Old Wine Master praised it beyond anything on earth or in heaven. I’ve been curious.”

The wine and side dishes arrived.

“I’ll drink first!”

Xiao Yaqing lifted her bowl and drained it.

Xia Heng and Chuqing stared, then exchanged a glance.

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony!”

“Neither will I!”

Both drained their bowls. Chuqing immediately reached for food against the burn.

“Ha ha! Young girls should drink fruit wine!” Xia Heng teased.

“Who says? I’m hungry! Mo Bai says you should line your stomach before drinking.”

“Mo Bai is right!” Xiao Yaqing agreed.

“Try this—Pear Blossom White. It’s sweet and delicious. I added plenty of honey when I brewed it!”

They each drank another bowl.

Soon the waiter brought the hotpot.

“Do the young ladies require attendants?”

Xia Heng and Chuqing stared at the pot. Xiao Yaqing answered,

“Yes! Last time I discussed business here, I didn’t ask anyone to remove the bones. Today I will! One each! This young lady has money!”

When she turned, Xia Heng had already put a lamb-spine piece into her bowl.

“You’re eating alone!”

“I’m only letting it cool!”

“You are! Chuqing, you saw it, didn’t you?”

But Chuqing was already reaching for mutton.

As they fought over the food, the door opened.

Three elegant young gentlemen entered in succession and sat behind the women.

“Please help us remove the meat from the bones,” Xiao Yaqing said politely.

The three froze. One chuckled.

Xia Heng turned and met smiling peach-blossom eyes.

“This servant will debone the meat for the young lady.”

He took fresh chopsticks, removed the bone from her bowl, and worked with practiced ease. The other two followed.

“This restaurant even debones your food?” Chuqing exclaimed, still sipping Pear Blossom White.

“Of course! I’ve only come once, but the mutton is wonderful. Taste it!”

Xia Heng ate a piece and stared.

“How is it so tender? There’s no gamey smell!”

Chuqing nodded fiercely.

Xiao Yaqing raised her bowl triumphantly.

“Could my taste ever be wrong? I’m drinking. Do as you please.”

She tipped back another bowl.

“Don’t rush. I’ll join you!”

Chuqing raised hers too.

“So will I!”

That day, Dongfang Wei left the palace to discuss the arriving Tujue envoys with Cang Chuli. They met at a teahouse.

Afterward, as they prepared to dine at Lehua Tower, they came downstairs and found Qiulin and Mo Qing staring in shock. Mo Bai’s face was dark.

Cang Chuli followed their gaze upward.

“Another round!”

“I’m in!”

“Me too!”

Beside him, Dongfang Wei raised his head in confusion.