Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 94

Little Wude stood nearby holding the bamboo tray of pork cracklings Xia Heng had given him, his expression deeply conflicted.

Did he still count as someone who had left the secular world?

But the pork cracklings smelled so tempting!

Seeing his struggle, Chef Xiang pinched out one piece, dipped it in white sugar, and stuffed it into his mouth.

Little Wude’s eyes widened, and his tiny mouth kept chewing.

So delicious!

Chef Xiang smiled in satisfaction. That was more like it!

Why would such a small child leave the secular world? Why eat vegetarian food?

Could a child grow tall on nothing but radishes and cabbage?

He needed a balanced diet of meat and vegetables to grow strong!

“This can be used already? It really does look different from soap,” Zhao Die said, studying the snowy-white paste inside the bamboo tubes.

“It can’t be used yet. It hasn’t dried in the shade. It’ll take a full month before it’s truly ready!

“Of course it looks different. Traditional soap is made by crushing pig pancreas and kneading it with alkaline powder and fragrances.

“One pancreas can make one or two bars at most!

“But look at mine! The method is completely different. We filled several whole bamboo tubes, and it’ll last longer. Wait until you try it. It cleans extremely well!” Xia Heng replied proudly.

Please. She had made this in handicraft class when she was in primary school and had received quite a high score.

“How could there not be plenty? Look how much lard you used…” Chef Xiang grumbled from the side.

Xia Heng ignored him.

She began making hand cream with the remaining lard.

She crushed the medicinal herbs and fragrances she bought, then simmered them slowly in the lard for an hour.

Afterward, she filtered out the dregs, strained the mixture several more times, and poured the clean oil into the small jars she had purchased.

Xia Heng carefully carried the jars back to her room.

The hand cream needed time to set, and Chef Xiang still had meals to cook, so she brought it back to cool there.

The weather was cold. Though they had made it that morning, the hand cream had already solidified by the afternoon.

Xia Heng first gave one jar each to Zhao Die and Chuqing.

Zhao Die rubbed a little onto her hands.

“Hmm? This hand cream feels both fine and moisturizing! It smells lovely too. It’s every bit as good as what they sell outside!”

Xia Heng raised her chin.

“Of course! I even added medicinal herbs!”

“Wow! Ah Heng, Mo Bai once bought me a kind of hand cream that had to be washed off after you applied it.

“It was far too troublesome. The one you made is wonderful!” Chuqing said, hugging the jar and refusing to put it down.

“Right? I looked today, and many places sold that kind. Who has the time for it?

“The kinds made from pig pancreas or snake oil were outrageously expensive too, and they still weren’t as good as mine!”

As the three women talked, Qiulin returned.

Xia Heng looked her up and down, sensing something was different. At last, realization dawned.

“Oh! Qiu Third! Your splint is off?”

No wonder Qiulin seemed to be missing something today.

The splint had been removed from her left arm, and it no longer hung in front of her.

“Mm. Doctor Lin said the splint could come off now. I only need to take good care of it while it finishes healing.”

“That’s wonderful! You can finally move around again. I made hand cream today, so try some!”

Qiulin stood with a jar of hand cream in her right hand, looking confused.

Chuqing explained the entire story from the side.

Xia Heng handed Zhao Siyan’s portion to Zhao Die.

Then she packed up more than half of the remaining hand cream and set out to deliver a little winter warmth.

“Oh, this is good stuff. How thoughtful of you, girl!

“Work at our Washing Workshop is hard on the hands, especially in winter. Washing clothes leaves them cracked all the time.

“And once chilblains appear, they’re not easy to heal!”

Aunt Chen beamed after trying a little.

“This winter is so cold. If you had brought anything else, Aunt Chen could never accept it.

“But our Washing Workshop truly needs this hand cream, so I’ll shamelessly accept it for everyone!”

Xia Heng hurriedly waved her hands.

“Aunt Chen, please don’t say that! We dirtied the new padded jackets you made for Chuqing and me the moment we went out.

“Then we came home, and you’re making hats for all of us without accepting payment. How could I not feel embarrassed?

“I made all of this myself. I bought the ingredients in a rush, so it isn’t worth as much as what they sell outside.

“Let the aunties make do with this for now. Once I find other ingredients, I’ll make something even more effective for everyone!”

Xia Heng’s expression was completely serious. She was not exaggerating.

She had simply selected from whatever was available for sale.

There were other good ingredients she could have added, such as honey and castor oil, but she had not found any.

Once she found them, she could certainly make something better.

Aunt Chen smiled warmly.

“Don’t search for anything else. This is already excellent. We’ve bought hand cream ourselves before. Even the worst kind outside costs fifty copper coins, and none was as good as yours.

“Ah, just watch. Even after you give it to them, some will be too reluctant to use it.”

Xia Heng hurriedly said, “Then Aunt Chen must watch them and make sure they use it! What would be the point of making it otherwise?

“The weather is so cold. No one in our mansion can be allowed to develop chilblains!

“Uncle Zhao and Chef Xiang have some too. I’ll have to make it very clear that they can’t hoard it. What if it spoils before they use it?”

Aunt Chen listened to her chatter and nodded with a smile, very nearly raising her hand to swear she would supervise everyone.

As Xia Heng walked back to her room, she pondered the matter.

Soap and skin-care products were so expensive in ancient times because, ultimately, oil was scarce.

How much oil could one pig provide?

Peanuts and sesame could be pressed for oil too, but those were food! In some places, people did not even have enough to eat.

Let her think. What else could be pressed for oil?

* * *

Inside the prison at Dali Temple, Xia Lang rose excitedly when he saw Xia Jinguang enter.

“Father! Have you come to get me out? When can I go home?”

The last two days had felt like years.

During the day, Li Zhi interrogated him for hours at a time.

When he returned to his cell at night, he had to worry that the man in black might appear again.

The wound on his shoulder had been bandaged, but he truly felt he could not hold on much longer.

“Father, where did that black-clad man come from? I don’t even dare sleep properly at night!”

As Xia Lang questioned him, he saw his father slowly lift his head. Tears seemed to fill Xia Jinguang’s eyes, and his expression was filled with grief.

Xia Lang abruptly understood something and retreated two steps.

“It was him, wasn’t it? He wants to kill me and silence me! Doesn’t he?

“I knew it. Cang Chuli already sent me to Dali Temple. He had no reason to kill me now.”

“Lang’er, that lord… He fears you might say the wrong thing!” Xia Jinguang said, his eyes full of anguish.

“He fears I’ll say the wrong thing? Hahahaha! What a joke!

“Li Zhi questions me for hours every day. I haven’t revealed a single word, and he still wants to kill me?”

“Lang’er…”

Xia Jinguang slowly extended his hand, offering a small porcelain bottle.

“This medicine… will preserve your life.”

Xia Lang’s legs went weak, and he collapsed to his knees. He laughed and cried at once.

“Father! I didn’t talk! I truly didn’t say anything! Please plead for me, all right? I’m begging you, Father…”

Xia Jinguang sighed inwardly and turned his head slightly away.

Tears rolled down his cheeks, while his entire face disappeared into shadow.

That night, a guard reported, “My lord, Xia Lang keeps vomiting blood! I fear his condition is grave!”

“Vomiting blood? What happened?” Li Zhi asked urgently.

They had not yet made sense of the case. How had Xia Lang suddenly begun vomiting blood?

“Who visited him these last two days?”

“Aside from Qiulin of the General’s Mansion on the first day, only Xia Jinguang came today.

“But Xia Jinguang is Xia Lang’s father. He said he wanted to deliver a few things, and Xia Lang has not yet been convicted…”

Before long, news reached the General’s Mansion of Northern Pacification as well.

“Our people and Dali Temple‘s men were guarding against assassins and men prepared to die…

“We simply never expected Xia Jinguang to poison his own son personally. Is he determined to follow this path all the way into darkness?” Mo Qing asked in disbelief.

“It may also be that he has no choice but to follow it into darkness.”

Cang Chuli rubbed his brow.

“General, there is one more piece of news,” Qiulin said, having something to report as well.

Cang Chuli looked at her.

“Lin Feng will arrive soon.”