Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 61

“Haven’t you been visiting my mansion a little too often lately?”

Cang Chuli addressed Xiao Yaqing, who was following behind him.

She rolled her eyes.

“What’s wrong with that? You refuse to give Ah Heng to me. Now you won’t even let me visit her?”

“Do you… really like her that much?”

Cang Chuli could not understand it. Could two people truly feel like old friends at their very first meeting?

Or was this woman simply too quick to treat strangers like old friends?

“You wouldn’t understand friendship between women!”

Xiao Yaqing tossed her head.

*She’s from my hometown! How could she be the same as an ordinary friend?*

“I’m serious. Three hundred gold taels. How about giving her to me?”

Xiao Yaqing tested him again.

Cang Chuli ignored her, turned around, and went back into Tingtao Pavilion.

“Hey! Three hundred and fifty? Four hundred?”

When he still did not respond, Xiao Yaqing pouted at his retreating back.

Fine, then. Keep her, you miser. Bah!

She made her own way to Xia Heng’s place with practiced ease.

She found her in the small vegetable garden behind the house.

Xia Heng was tending the crops. It had not rained for a long time, so the vegetables had to be watered by hand.

Fortunately, there was a well in the courtyard. Otherwise, carrying all that water would have exhausted her to death.

The Washing Workshop’s workload had suddenly increased over the past few days. She heard they were preparing new padded clothes to distribute throughout the mansion for the New Year.

Even Zhao Die had been called over to help. Xia Heng had escaped because Chef Xiang needed someone to heat water every day.

Chuqing and Qiulin, meanwhile, had been sent back…

Qiulin could use only one hand, which made every task inconvenient.

Aunt Chen had rejected Chuqing because she used too many needles. Before a single garment was finished, they had to take the whole thing apart and search through the cotton for missing needles.

When Xiao Yaqing arrived, Xia Heng quickly invited her inside.

After asking about the crops, Xiao Yaqing enthusiastically launched into everything that had happened at last night’s banquet.

As Xia Heng listened to her description, her thoughts began to wander.

Oh, right. The Tujue envoys. This had happened in the original novel!

Tujue had come with hostile intentions. Huaxia’s officials had assumed they were coming to submit, only to be dealt a humiliating blow the moment the delegation arrived.

But in the original novel, Huaxia had not developed any special crossbow. Every civil and military official at court, Dongfang Wei included, had seen their dignity dragged through the dirt.

The banquet had ended unhappily, and the two sides had agreed to hold a practical contest at a training ground a day later.

Had the wrist crossbow she turned over played a role?

Xia Heng could not be certain.

At the mention of Princess Pasang, however, her gaze returned to Xiao Yaqing’s face.

Tsk, tsk. Poor thing. She was pretending to be perfectly calm now, but she must have been green with jealousy last night.

Princess Pasang was quite a character, as was her brother, Huyan Lie.

The siblings had set their sights with astonishing precision on the novel’s male and female leads: Dongfang Wei and Xiao Yaqing.

Their standards for choosing partners were equally remarkable. They did not want the richest or the most beautiful. They wanted whichever person disliked them the most.

What was wrong with them?

Xiao Yaqing finished recounting the previous night’s events in one long breath, complete with her own commentary. She was about to drink some water to soothe her dry throat when she saw Xia Heng purse her lips and pat her shoulder.

What was that about?

“They’re going to the training ground south of the city tomorrow? Are you going too?” Xia Heng asked after offering her friend some silent encouragement.

Sorry, but she knew this training-ground scene existed without ever having read it…

Barring any surprise, her fellow transmigrator would recall tonight that three women had danced for Dongfang Wei and all received rewards from him.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she would become, until she spent half the night drinking away her sorrows.

Dongfang Wei, meanwhile, would lie awake in frustration because Xiao Yaqing had not looked at him once all evening, making him wonder whether she had forgotten him.

Xia Heng could not bear to read it. She simply could not.

“Of course I’m going. How could I miss such excitement?”

Xiao Yaqing lifted her cup and shifted her gaze away.

Watching her guilty expression, Xia Heng sighed inwardly.

Was she going for the excitement, or for a certain person?

“Tomorrow’s event isn’t being held in the palace, so officials and their families can bring attendants. I’ll speak to Cang Chuli later and have him take you!”

Xia Heng immediately waved both hands.

“Please don’t. This wage slave just wants to take it easy. I have no interest in joining the excitement!”

Unfortunately, her lack of interest made no difference.

When Chuqing informed her that afternoon, Xia Heng was surprised at first, then realized it made perfect sense.

The two Zhao sisters were overwhelmed with work at the Washing Workshop. Qiulin still had not removed her splint, so she was taking Xia Heng’s place heating water in the public kitchen.

That left only Xia Heng and Chuqing as the General’s Mansion’s comparatively “idle” people.

Each family would have its own assigned pavilion at the contest. But this was not the palace. No one would prepare everything for them or provide palace servants.

It was more like camping. Each household had to bring its own supplies and maids.

Tomorrow, the only attendants serving inside would be Xia Heng, Chuqing, Mo Qing, and Mo Bai.

In most families, the mistress of the house prepared these things. Their household had no mistress. Cang Chuli had a few standard items he always brought; everything else was left to the servants’ judgment.

Xia Heng and Chuqing went to the storeroom and carefully selected what they needed.

Unsure whether food would be provided, Xia Heng also made a trip to the public kitchen.

Early the next morning, the group departed by carriage for the training ground south of the city.

They did not arrive particularly early. Several families had already arranged their pavilions and taken their seats.

Seeing that other households had brought brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and even small couches for resting, Xia Heng gritted her teeth.

She had still brought too little!

As an outstanding human-resources manager, organizing events had been an essential part of her job.

Back then, the supplies for events she organized had required a dedicated vehicle to transport them!

Little did she know that Mo Qing and Mo Bai were staring at the woven bamboo chest carried in by the coachmen, their eyes widening in shock.

What in the world had she packed?

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Xia Heng calmly took out one item after another.

She had asked around yesterday. The assigned places at the training ground had only awnings and were open on all four sides. Families with women usually brought curtains to block other people’s view and keep out some of the cold.

She did not care whether the General’s Mansion had female family members.

At this time of year, anyone who wanted to freeze was welcome to do so. She certainly would not—and neither would this particular master!

First, she told Mo Qing and Mo Bai to hang the curtains. Xia Heng added several cords herself and tied them to the posts so the wind could not blow them loose.

While the men worked on the curtains, she took out several soft cushions and placed them on the chairs.

The tables and chairs had come from the mansion and were among the standard items Mo Bai had ordered them to bring.

Xia Heng arranged a tea set on the table, then set down a box beside it. Inside were longans, red dates, pine nuts, and chestnuts.

Under the increasingly reverent gazes of Mo Qing and the others, she produced a small red-clay stove, filled it with charcoal from the mansion, and set a little kettle on top to boil water for tea.

Beside the kettle, she placed a handful of scored chestnuts and several red dates.

The training ground supplied each household with two buckets of water.

But Xia Heng had worried they might not provide any, so she had brought several flasks of her own.

Cang Chuli sat on a soft cushion with the hand warmer his maid had given him.

Before long, Chuqing served him a steaming cup of ginger-and-red-date tea, accompanied by a plate of fragrant roasted chestnuts.

Cang Chuli looked at the tea, then glanced at Xia Heng as she filled a flask with more of it.

She seemed to be very fond of ginger…