“Yaoyao, please sit down. I’ll go pour you some tea.”
Third Madam Shao welcomed her inside.
Liuzheng stepped inside and saw Jia Ge’er hunched over his desk, staring intently at something.
The third uncle never took a concubine, and he and his third wife had a son and a daughter together.
My daughter, Ruan Xuezheng, is fourteen years old this year, and Ruan Jiazheng is ten years old.
As Liuzheng got closer, she could see clearly that Jia Ge’er was painting.
Liuzheng stared at it for a moment, then picked up a brush and made two dots on the painting.
Ruan Jiazheng’s eyes suddenly lit up.
He looked up at Liuzheng and asked, “I knew something was missing from this painting. Turns out it’s a canoe!”
He painted landscapes, with mountains on both sides of the river, but the river itself was empty.
Liuzheng added a canoe for him.
“Jia Ge’er’s painting is really good,” Liuzheng exclaimed.
Ruan Jiazheng’s cheeks flushed slightly: “My father said that I lack talent, and only hard work can make up for it.”
“Your father is mistaken. Jia’er is very talented.”
Ruan Jiazheng’s eyes brightened even more.
He fumbled in his sleeve and suddenly pulled out a piece of candy.
The candy had melted a little; it seemed he had treasured it for a long time.
“for you!”
Without saying a word, he stuffed it into Liuzheng’s hand, and then ran shyly into the inner room.
Mr. Shaw said with a smile, “His teeth aren’t good, so I don’t let him eat candy. I don’t know when he hid it, but he was willing to share it with you, which means he likes you a lot.”
The most direct way for children to express their love is to give the other person something they cherish.
Liuzheng carefully put the candy away and said, “I also really like Jia Ge’er…”
He then asked, “Does Third Uncle intend for Jia-ge to pursue a literary career?”
Mr. Shao sighed and said, “That’s the plan. But this child, apart from being somewhat good at painting, has no talent for poetry or prose.”
“We might consider letting him take up a military career.”
“Your third uncle is reluctant to let you go. You’ve been at the border for nine years, and your third uncle has often thought about you. If Jia’er were to learn martial arts, he would be worried to death. So even if he has no talent, we’ll let him study literature.”
Liuzheng nodded and didn’t ask any further questions.
Mr. Shao handed over some tea and said, “There are two snacks inside, I’ll take them out for you. You’ve been busy all day, and I noticed you didn’t eat much for dinner, you’ll definitely be hungry later.”
“Third Aunt, don’t be busy, I have something to tell you.”
She pulled Mr. Shaw down to sit.
“Third Aunt, Yaoyao has something to ask you for help privately.”
“What is it? Just tell me. Don’t just say one thing, ten things, a hundred things, I’ll agree to them all.”
The mudslide swallowed the entire village, and Mr. Shao is still shaken by the experience.
Jia-ge’er is still so young, and Xue-jie’er is not yet married.
If it weren’t for Yaoyao, she wouldn’t dare to even think about what would happen to them…
Yaoyao saved their entire family’s lives.
Liuzheng said, “I don’t need a hundred things. If I do this one thing well, Third Aunt will have done me a great favor.”
“What is it?”
Liuzheng lowered her voice and told her about a person’s physical characteristics.
“I don’t know where he lives, that’s all I can tell you. Please do your best to find him for me. Once you find him, please settle him in first, and then let me know.”
“I’ll leave it to my third aunt.”
No matter how hard it is to find this person, she will find him for Liuzheng!
“Third Aunt, don’t tell anyone about this for now, including Third Uncle.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her third uncle; rather, the fewer people who knew about this, the better.
“Okay.” Auntie San nodded in agreement.
She is a woman of her word; if she says she won’t tell Third Master, she absolutely won’t.
Liuzheng was relieved.
She bid farewell to the Third Madam and then to Jia Ge’er inside.
Jia Ge’er didn’t say anything. The Third Madam said embarrassedly, “This child is too unruly. I’ll discipline him in a bit.”
Liuzheng said there was no need.
“Jia Ge’er is a good child, there’s no need to restrain his nature.”
As soon as she left, Jia Ge’er immediately started peeking around.
“Has the older sister left?”
Auntie said with a laugh, “If you couldn’t bear to part with your eldest sister, why did you hide just now?”
Jia Ge’er lowered his head: “They don’t like me… I’m afraid my older sister won’t like me either…”
The children he referred to were those of the first and second wives.
Putting aside Ruan Changzheng, who was learning martial arts, Jia Ge’er’s studies were the worst among the children, so he was always ridiculed in the mansion.
“Your eldest sister wouldn’t dislike you.” The Third Madam stroked Jia’er’s head and said, “When you were born, your eldest sister hadn’t gone to the border yet, and she often came to see you.”
“Really?” Jia Ge’er raised his head, his eyes seemingly holding two stars.
“Of course, as long as you study hard, your older sister will like you even more.”
The stars in Jia Ge’er’s eyes went out again.
He has been working very hard…
But he preferred the sword his father kept in his room to ward off evil spirits to the books.
But his parents wouldn’t let him touch it… saying that if the blade were exposed, it would hurt his hand.
But he wasn’t afraid and often went to see it secretly.
…
The next day, it was still raining, but much less so than the day before.
Liuzheng took the gift that the old lady wanted to give to Prince Su, but when she arrived at the door, the door was wide open and there was no one inside.
I asked the shopkeeper and found out that Prince Su left before dawn.
The Duke of Wei and his entire family also left.
Liuzheng had no choice but to put the gift away and report back to her grandmother.
“Then I’ll send it after we return to the capital.”
“Yes, Grandmother.”
Liuzheng curtsied and went outside. She found Granny Qian locked in her room.
The two talked in detail.
One was kneeling, and the other was sitting.
It took more than an hour before Liuzheng finally came out of the room.
After being released from confinement, Granny Qian returned to serve the old lady, but her eyes held a hint of trepidation.
She now belongs to Liuzheng.
…
The rain was still falling, and Liuzheng and the others planned to wait until the rain stopped completely tomorrow before going back.
During lunch, Liuzheng met Xuejie, Jiage’er’s older sister.
She was a very shy girl, not very talkative, but steady in her work. She never made a mistake when serving food to her grandmother or helping her rinse her mouth.
The only downside was that Xuejie had a large mole on her chin, which made her otherwise beautiful appearance look somewhat abrupt and awkward.
The rain continued all day, but it did not affect Liuzheng’s mood.
She stayed with her grandmother, and even if she didn’t say anything, just sitting quietly, she felt very at ease.
She also told her grandmother about Ruan Changzheng.
Grandmother sighed.
“When I sent you to the battlefield in his place, I knew that it might be exposed one day. You suffered a lot for him at the border, and he deserves to suffer this little bit.”
They were all their grandmother’s grandchildren. Although their grandmother felt sorry for Ruan Changzheng, she did not blame Liuzheng.
The day passed quickly, and the rain finally stopped the next day.
Liuzheng had already asked the shopkeeper to prepare carriages and horses for them.
Although the carriage was simple, it was covered with thick bedding, so the journey wouldn’t be too arduous.
Because Pan Zhan was still very weak, and the old lady was also not feeling well, they traveled with many stops along the way, taking four days to reach the capital, a journey that should have taken three days.
Liuzheng borrowed a horse and rode back to the General’s Mansion first, so as to see in advance what else the old lady needed in her room.
However, as soon as she stepped across the threshold of the general’s mansion, a group of servants surrounded her.
“Young Miss, the master requests your presence. Please come with us!”
Their tone was polite, but their expressions were unfriendly.
Just then, Pan Hong came out from inside and saw Liuzheng surrounded. He rushed over to protect Liuzheng and drew his sword, pointing it at them.
“Who dares to touch the general?”
Liuzheng shook her head at him.
“Don’t worry about it.”
She lowered her voice and said something to Pan Hong.
Pan Hong was very worried about her and remained silent for a moment.
Liuzheng frowned: “This is an order.”
Pan Hong had no choice but to agree.
The servants lost their patience.
“Young Miss, if you don’t leave now, don’t blame us for being impolite.”
These people are no match for Liuzheng at all.
Liuzheng had no intention of fighting them.
She guessed what they were going to do, and decided to use their strength against them to give the First Madam a good thrashing, and also to let the Old Madam see clearly the First Madam’s attitude towards her.
“I’ll go with you.”
She calmly followed the servants.
However, they didn’t head towards Tingzhuyuan, but towards the main kitchen.
Perhaps fearing she wouldn’t cooperate, a servant said, “Master and Madam are both in the main kitchen.”
Liuzheng didn’t ask any further questions, only saying, “Lead the way.”
Relieved, the group quickly led Liuzheng to the main kitchen.
As they passed the woodshed of the main kitchen, the two servants suddenly quickened their pace to catch up with Liuzheng and gave her a hard shove on the back
Liuzheng had a very stable lower body, but she deliberately cooperated with them, staggering and falling inside, landing face down on the floor of the woodshed.
When she turned around, the door to the woodshed was already locked.
“What are you doing? Open the door!”
She got up and pounded on the door.
The door to the woodshed seemed to have been reinforced beforehand. She used a lot of force, but the door didn’t budge at all; all she could hear was the clanging sound of the lock hitting the door.
The servant’s voice came from outside.
“Don’t worry, Miss. This is the order from the Master and Madam. They will be here soon. As long as you don’t make any rash moves, we won’t hurt you.”
Liuzheng found it ridiculous.
Even though these men had long sticks, they couldn’t do anything to her.
However, this also shows that neither Master Ruan nor Madam Ruan ever believed that she earned her military merits through her own true abilities.
They never truly acknowledged Liuzheng’s abilities; they mostly thought she was just lucky.
The same applies to Ruan Changzheng.
So after he was injured, he spent his days in bed regretting that if he had gone to the battlefield himself, he would not have had his leg broken.
Those military achievements all belonged to him.
This made him hate Liuzheng even more, feeling that everything Liuzheng had now was taken from him.
Liuzheng remained expressionless, found a wooden stool, and quietly waited for the First Madam and Master Ruan to arrive.
Liuzheng didn’t have to wait long.
A moment later, footsteps could be heard outside.
Liuzheng could recognize people by their voices, and she could tell that not only the First Madam and Master Ruan had come, but Ruan Yunzheng had also arrived.
They’re probably just here to watch the fun.
Liuzheng sneered.
She wanted to see the excitement, so I let her watch.
The happier you are now, the angrier you will be later.
She enjoys seeing people angry.
In her past life, when she was murdered, everyone had a relaxed expression on their face.
She didn’t want to see them so relaxed.
“Father, Mother, is that you?” Liuzheng asked.
She sounded anxious, but actually sat calmly on the wooden stool, her posture relaxed.
“How dare you call me ‘Mother’?” the First Madam spoke first. “You’re trying to kill our whole family again!”
Liuzheng asked, “What do you mean by ‘again’? Does Mother mean the last time I led the army back to the capital? It was Mother who sent a letter home that exposed my true identity as a woman.”
The First Madam choked, her teeth clenched, and a flame flickered in her eyes.
“Even now, you still dare to talk back?!”
“I don’t know what I did wrong, please tell me, Father and Mother.”