Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 97

Cang Chuli led Zhuxiao back to the stable.

“She fed you a radish once, and you remembered her? I don’t recall you being such a spineless horse.”

At first, he had thought Zhuxiao was ill, but after examining him from head to hoof, everything was normal.

Then Cang Chuli wondered whether the horse might be in a poor mood.

That was why he had decided to take him out for some air.

Who could have guessed Zhuxiao would immediately perk up at the sight of Xia Heng?

Cang Chuli grabbed a handful of fodder and fed it to him. Zhuxiao chewed slowly.

Mo Bai arrived at just the right moment to report.

“General, Xia Lang received fifty strokes of the cane today and was sent south for penal labor.”

“South? Was that Li Zhi’s arrangement?” Cang Chuli asked.

“The disaster in the south was severe this year, and reconstruction work still needs to be done. Labor is what they lack most.

“For the past few months, nearly everyone sentenced to penal servitude has been sent south.

“Should this subordinate send someone to keep watch on him?” Mo Bai asked.

Cang Chuli pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

“We do not have enough men, and the distance is too great for convenient communication… We will be returning north before long.”

“Yes.”

Only then did Mo Bai notice the jar of hand cream resting in Cang Chuli’s palm.

“General, that jar is…?”

Why did it look so much like the kind Miss Ah Heng gave them?

Cang Chuli raised it.

“This? Oh, Xia Heng gave it to me.”

Then he walked away at an easy pace.

Mo Bai stared after his General, completely baffled.

Was it his imagination?

Why did the General seem a little pleased?

* * *

“Xia girl, hurry and taste Uncle Xiang’s cabbage braised with pork cracklings!”

Rendering the lard had produced a great quantity of cracklings.

Even after several people took some as snacks, plenty remained.

Xia Heng did not know how to cook them, so she handed them to Chef Xiang to see whether he could make something delicious.

Chef Xiang did not disappoint.

The fragrance of his cabbage braised with pork cracklings had drawn everyone to wait nearby with bowls in hand long before the dish was ready.

After ladling some into every bowl, Chef Xiang filled one for himself and sat down beside them.

“Fragrant! So fragrant!”

“Mm-hmm, this is wonderful. Vegetables really do taste better with a little meat!”

“Of course! Pork cracklings taste good in steamed flower rolls too. We’ve made plenty of those before, so today Chef Xiang prepared something new for you.”

Watching them devour the food, Chef Xiang said contentedly, “Uncle Xiang benefited from Xia girl this time. I even got to eat meat!”

Xia Heng’s mouth was stuffed full. She declared grandly, “This is nothing! Chef Xiang, just wait until next year! …”

Seeing that she had begun “bragging” again, everyone else accelerated their eating.

While she talked, they could eat more!

Chef Xiang, however, smiled and listened with complete seriousness, occasionally agreeing with her.

“By the way, Chef Xiang! Have you used the hand cream? You can’t hide it away without using it!”

Xia Heng looked at Chef Xiang’s large, rough hands.

“Oh, I handle fat every day. I’m not likely to get chilblains,” Chef Xiang replied carelessly.

“That won’t do! You wash your hands after handling fat, so all the grease comes off. Wouldn’t that make them even drier? You have to use it!

“Besides, I still need to improve the formula!

“How can you offer suggestions if you don’t try it? I’m planning to make money from this next year!”

Chef Xiang continued smiling gently and agreed, “All right, all right. I understand.”

Looking at the young women before him, Chef Xiang wondered for the first time whether the families who sent them to the General’s Mansion had truly meant well.

Every one of them was such a good girl.

Before they arrived, the General had been away all year, and the mansion was cold and deserted.

Now?

Every few days, he heard Old Zhao shouting himself hoarse at Chuqing, forbidding her from going into the Purple Bamboo Grove again.

That girl had not made Old Zhao worry this much even when she was a child. Hahahaha!

Xia girl was the greatest troublemaker. A few days ago, the lass said she wanted to try making charcoal and nearly set the house on fire!

Nor could they allow her to clear more land for vegetables!

Look what she had done to Old He’s perfectly good courtyard.

Old Zhao had recently begun storming over to Chef Xiang at every opportunity, complaining that all of it came from his bad influence.

What proper mansion let its servants behave like this?

Chuqing alone was bad enough. Now he had to watch Xia Heng too?

Hmph. In Chef Xiang’s opinion, the old fool was watching the wrong person.

Was Xia girl truly the one who needed supervision?

Zhao Die gave people far more reason to worry!

Every day, she carried a book to Chef Xiang and tried to discuss methods for growing vegetables. Apparently, Xia Heng had given it to her.

He doubted she even recognized that many characters. Had she not only just begun learning to read?

Then again!

Many of the methods that girl described were completely new to him.

He had fertilized the vegetables in his courtyard according to her instructions, and they had grown much more vigorous!

Even Sister Chen at the Washing Workshop had recently begun complaining that the mansion maids’ clothes were unattractive.

She said they were a dull, bluish-green. When the women stood beside the General, from a distance they looked like several scallions planted in the earth.

She also told Chef Xiang that she had never had a child in her life. She had long since abandoned the thought and assumed her craft would simply die with her.

Who could have expected that at this age, Zhao Siyan would arrive?

The child was perceptive, hardworking, and naturally talented at needlework.

Sister Chen had offered only a few pointers, yet Zhao Siyan’s embroidery already possessed half the spirit of her own.

Now she told everyone she met that she had found a successor.

Then there was Qiulin. She might normally be quiet and aloof, but she noticed work that needed doing!

Chef Xiang often saw her helping others carry things or lift stools.

Later, when her hand was injured and put in a splint, she still came to his kitchen to boil water and feed the stove.

Now, watching these fresh young faces eat his food without the slightest disdain, Chef Xiang felt happy too.

When he saw their bowls were nearly empty, he rose and gave everyone another spoonful.

The feeling reminded him of feeding pigs at home before he joined the army as a young man!

Seeing the “piglets” eat heartily filled him with joy.

Of all of them, Xia girl pleased him most.

The girl had little perseverance, but she was clever and full of ideas!

That “mathematics” she taught them was genuinely useful!

She also took excellent care of everyone in the mansion.

Had they not noticed that the Young Master, who never brought maids when he left the mansion, now took her every time?

Not to mention that Chef Xiang was now using hand cream the young girl had made.

Good heavens! He had never used such a thing in his entire life!

Smearing it on his hands made every part of him feel awkward. But what else could he do?

Xia girl had said all that to him.

He could not disappoint the child. He might as well use it!

His rough hands deserved some proper moisturizing this year too.

As for suggestions? What suggestions could he possibly offer?

He was already using something this good. What else was there to suggest?

As Chef Xiang thought, he looked toward Wude.

Even the youngest little imp was clever!

Other children were reluctant to approach them, but this boy spent every day following either Uncle Zhao or Chef Xiang.

He also often followed Zhao Fu to practice boxing and patrol the grounds.

If Zhao Fu dared tell him to go back, the boy immediately ran to Old Zhao to complain. He was devilishly clever!

“Wude, eat more. Understand?

“Only when you eat your fill can you grow tall!”

Wude wore his little hat and obediently nodded to Uncle Xiang.

All the uncles and aunties in the mansion had told him that now that he had entered the General’s Mansion, he was no longer considered a monk!

He needed to eat properly, grow strong and tall, and take good care of his health.

Only then could he support himself in the future—and protect all of them too!