Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 83

“I am Xia Jun. Greetings, General Cang.”

A man’s voice sounded behind them.

Everyone turned to look.

A man in dark crimson riding clothes stepped forward and bowed.

His surname was Xia? Surely not…

Xia Heng looked more closely.

Sure enough… Xia Lang stood behind Xia Jun, staring at her with the smug look of a small-minded man who thought he had finally gained the upper hand.

So Second Brother had failed to get the better of her last time and had brought Big Brother along to back him up?

“Heng’er, it’s been a long time.”

Xia Jun turned his head to greet Xia Heng. She gave him an awkward smile.

Cang Chuli asked coolly, “What does Young Master Xia want?”

“This student has been away from home for many years and knew nothing of the family’s affairs. Only after returning from my studies did I learn that my younger sister is now at the General’s Mansion.

“I wonder if the General might grant us the convenience of speaking in private as brother and sister?”

Xia Jun’s words sounded impeccably proper.

Cang Chuli turned his gaze back to the contest.

“No.”

*Beautifully done, boss!*

Xia Heng nearly leaped up and applauded him.

That was exactly how it should be! Why did these people keep coming to bother her? When she lived at Xia Mansion, an entire year might pass without them seeing her once.

He had never intervened when his younger brother bullied her as a child, either. They were birds of a feather, so what was he pretending to be a decent man for now?

Xia Heng did not even look at Xia Jun. She merely edged closer to Cang Chuli in tiny, furtive steps. Only proximity to her boss gave her a sense of security.

Unexpectedly, Xia Jun did not grow angry. He even reached out and held down Xia Lang, who had nearly jumped up.

Then he turned directly to Xia Heng.

“Heng’er, I was not at the mansion before, and you suffered many grievances. If there is anything you need, you may come to me at any time.”

After saying this, he did not pester her further. He took Xia Lang with him and departed.

“Xia Jinguang and Xia Yun have run out of patience,” Cang Chuli said as he watched the brothers’ retreating figures.

“Your dowry was delivered some time ago, but not a single message has been passed back to them. Xia Jun most likely came to test you just now.”

Understanding dawned on Xia Heng.

“Oh… So that’s what it was! I knew there had to be a reason. We’ve hardly ever spoken, so why would he come looking for me?”

“What do you intend to do in the future?”

Xia Heng stared at him with wide eyes, seemingly confused. Then something occurred to her, and she hurried two steps forward.

“General! Are you going to throw me out?

“I know I caused trouble for you yesterday, but I truly didn’t mean to! I can explain! I promise I’ll never do it again!”

Cang Chuli extended one finger and pushed her back a little.

“I was asking— Forget it…”

Seeing the regret all over her face, as though he might sweep her out the door at any moment, Cang Chuli closed his mouth.

The question would be wasted on her. One look told him she had no plans whatsoever and intended to lie low in his mansion until the day she died.

All he could say was, “Once we return, stay put in the mansion.”

Xia Heng nodded with shining eyes.

Only after repeatedly confirming with Chuqing that he had not meant to drive her away did she finally relax.

That had scared her to death. She had thought Cang Chuli was finally so sick of the Xia family’s trouble that he meant to throw her out.

It was not that she had no plans right now.

There were two officials in that family, along with two difficult sons…

Even if she pulled a gun from the system store right now and riddled all of them with bullets before they could react…

Wait. Actually? Now that she thought about it…

An entire new avenue of possibility opened before her!

Xia Heng seriously considered whether the idea might work.

Then she secretly checked the price of a handgun in the system store.

Hmm.

She had better keep lying low in the General’s Mansion.

She had practically sold her life at the training ground and earned only a little over three thousand points.

Even if she actually possessed the fifteen thousand points needed to exchange for a handgun, those pieces of human garbage were not worth that many of her points!

Cang Chuli sank into thought.

The Xia family…

* * *

“Jun’er, how did it go?”

“Second Uncle.”

Xia Jun bowed to Xia Yun before sitting down beside his father.

Xia Lang took a seat on the other side, his face still filled with anger.

Xia Jinguang handed his eldest son a cup of hot tea.

Xia Jun thanked him, accepted the cup, and took two sips before answering.

“The General of the Northern Pacification would not allow me to speak with Heng’er alone.”

“Outrageous!”

Xia Yun slammed his palm against the table in fury and glared at the distant backs of Cang Chuli’s party.

“That whelp of the Cang Family is acting with intolerable arrogance! I sent him ten thousand taels of silver, yet he won’t even allow us to speak to one of our own family?”

“Second Uncle, there are two possible explanations for Cang Chuli’s behavior,” Xia Jun said slowly.

“Oh?”

“First, he does not care about those ten thousand taels, and he is confident we cannot use this as leverage over him.”

Xia Yun’s brow furrowed deeply enough to crush a fly.

“Ten thousand taels of silver isn’t enough for him? How much more does he want?” he muttered.

Then he asked Xia Jun, “What is the second possibility?”

Xia Jun set his teacup on the table.

“The second is the possibility none of us wishes to see—Heng’er has changed sides.

“If Heng’er no longer takes us seriously, then naturally Cang Chuli will not take us seriously either.”

A dangerous light flickered in Xia Jun’s eyes as he recalled the expression with which Xia Heng had looked at him and Xia Lang.

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”

The moment Xia Jun finished, Xia Yun refuted him loudly.

“I watched that girl grow up! If she had the courage to defy her father, she never would have agreed to assassinate Cang Chuli in the first place!”

Xia Jinguang, however, pondered for a moment.

“Not necessarily.”

Xia Yun looked at him.

“Big Brother, you don’t honestly think that little girl Xia Heng has the nerve to betray us, do you?

“Her, all by herself? Making such an outrageous demand for ten thousand taels of silver?”

Disbelief was written plainly across Xia Yun’s face.

Xia Lang sat beside them with a dark expression and did not join in. Xia Jun continued, “Second Uncle, Heng’er did not say a single word throughout my conversation with Cang Chuli just now.”

“That girl has been timid since childhood.”

“But did we not see at the training ground last time that Heng’er is anything but timid?” Xia Jun asked pointedly.

“And from what we saw that day, Cang Chuli does appear to care about her.”

Xia Yun also recalled Xia Heng running all over the training ground with an archery target on her back, and how Cang Chuli had ultimately rescued her from Huyan Lie’s horse.

“He does seem to care somewhat… But what does that prove?”

“It proves that if Heng’er wished to communicate with us, she would find a way to persuade Cang Chuli to let her see us. Yet she has not.”

When Xia Yun fell silent, Xia Jun asked again, “Second Uncle, think carefully. Has Heng’er ever sought you out of her own accord?”

Xia Yun could not help thinking it over.

It was true that ever since the girl entered the General’s Mansion, they had always been the ones seeking ways to contact her.

First, their shadow guards inside the General’s Mansion had been discovered.

Later, he had personally visited the General’s Mansion. Yet whether before his visit or after it, the girl had never sent him a message.

Even after the dowry was delivered, not a word had come back. Could the girl truly have betrayed them?

Xia Jun and Xia Jinguang exchanged a subtle glance.

“Second Brother, Heng’er is still young and has seen little of the world. It is entirely possible that Cang Chuli deceived her,” Xia Jinguang said.

Then he abruptly changed direction.

“But if that girl cannot keep her mouth shut and has told him about our affairs…”

Xia Yun blurted out, “Don’t worry, Big Brother. If that wretched girl truly has betrayed us, there is no need to spare her on my account. A merchant woman’s bastard is nothing worth grieving over. We can simply raise another.”

“Second Brother, that is too absolute. Perhaps Heng’er truly has no way to send us a message. Do not anger yourself just yet…”

Although Xia Jinguang said this aloud, he lifted his teacup and shot his second son a meaningful look.

Seeing it, Xia Lang rose and left the gathering. Xia Yun remained lost in thought.

Surely not? That insignificant girl dared deceive them? Did she have a death wish?