The General Seized Her by Force - Chapter 12

Wen Shu had never seen such a shameless person!

Her family members were all cultured and refined, and her teachers and classmates were equally gentle and polite. She had grown up without ever having a serious conflict with anyone; the number of times she had bickered or joked with others could be counted on one hand, let alone getting into an argument or cursing someone out.

At this moment, her eyes widened, and she uttered two words to evaluate Li Chu’s words: “Scoundrel.”

Li Chu seemed not to have heard her clearly. She gently pinched the soft flesh of Wen Shu’s cheek and leaned in close, smiling as she asked, “What?”

Wen Shu: “…”

Wen Shu had gathered all her courage to spit out those two words, but the moment she finished, her spirit instantly deflated and she felt timid. She felt both a sense of dismay at having cursed someone and a sense of indignation at why Li Chu would act this way.

Afraid to push Li Chu away, Wen Shu pressed her back firmly against the wall and slowly slid her body downward, slipping out of Li Chu’s grasp like water until she was squatting on the ground.

It was fortunate that Li Chu hadn’t pinched her face with force; otherwise, with Wen Shu now squatting on the ground, her face might have remained caught in Li Chu’s pincer-like fingers, which would have been too humiliating.

Giving up on any pretense of decorum or etiquette, Wen Shu gripped her official robes with both hands, slowly shuffled to the side, and mumbled with her head lowered, “General Li must be drunk today. I will pretend I didn’t hear anything you just said.”

Li Chu crouched halfway down, tilted her head to look at her, and deliberately refused to step onto the “staircase” Wen Shu had provided. “But I haven’t had any alcohol today.”

As Wen Shu moved a step, Li Chu followed her a step, persistently blocking her path.

Wen Shu was on the verge of tears. “…Then just pretend that I am drunk. I didn’t hear a thing.”

Driven to desperation, she covered her face with both hands and tilted her head up to show Li Chu the lingering flush of wine on her face, continuing to speak, “I won’t hold it against you for causing me trouble today, so please stop joking around with me. You and I… we really aren’t suited for each other. I’ve never thought about taking a wife, let alone marrying anyone.”

Who would take the words of a four-year-old seriously? Wasn’t there an old saying that children’s words were harmless?

What Li Chu saw, however, was the cuteness of her actions and… “What trouble?”

Wen Shu’s eyes darted away, refusing to speak.

The matter had already passed. If she brought it up now, it would make her seem petty and resentful.

Li Chu, however, crouched down on both knees and asked in a firm, gentle voice, “Who bullied you?”

She remained assertive, yet she was different from before.

Wen Shu was slightly taken aback, and an involuntary warmth flooded her heart. Consequently, the defensive attitude on her face softened visibly.

She did not want to mention being maliciously teased at the Qionglin Banquet, so she just peeked at Li Chu from the corners of her eyes, her meaning perfectly clear.

Li Chu was so exasperated she almost laughed: “…”

This bullying-the-soft-and-fearing-the-hard Wen Little Sheep.

Li Chu asked her, “How did I bully you?”

On this point, Wen Shu had sound reasoning: “On the long street this morning, you whistled at me in full view of everyone.”

Li Chu countered, “You and I are old acquaintances. Is there a problem with me greeting you?”

…No.

Wen Shu racked her brains. “And all the nonsense you just spouted.”

Li Chu was completely unfazed. “That was a promise you made to me when you were four years old. Now, more than a dozen years have passed in the blink of an eye. You are the one being heartless and refusing to acknowledge it, yet you turn around and accuse me of bullying you. The Number Three Scholar really has a silver tongue, taking advantage of the fact that I am less educated to shift the blame and bully me.”

Wen Shu: “?”

Who? Her?

Li Chu let out a wronged huff. She used both hands to straighten the official hat that had gone crooked when Wen Shu slid down, and when their foreheads were almost touching, she murmured a complaint against her in a low, breathless voice, “Scoundrel.”

Wen Shu’s ears burned with guilt: “…”

She had clearly heard herself curse her just a moment ago.

Wen Shu’s face was scorching hot. She couldn’t tell if it was from embarrassment or anger. She only felt the heat spreading to her ears, burning until they itched. Even the hat, having been adjusted by Li Chu, felt heavy and possessed a strong sense of presence.

She wanted to argue, but having little experience in bickering, she didn’t know where to start and could only close her mouth in a huff.

Fortunately, at that moment, a maid came over to say that the gifts in the front courtyard had been organized and that they should go over.

Li Chu reached out to help Wen Shu up, changing from her previous woeful posture to a bright, smiling demeanor, revealing her true colors: “Shall we go see the betrothal gifts I prepared for you?”

Wen Shu covered her ears with both hands as if she hadn’t heard anything and strode toward the front courtyard.

Li Chu followed leisurely with her hands behind her back. When she saw Guan Lu stepping off the veranda, she whispered, “Go find out what happened at the Qionglin Banquet tonight.”

Upon hearing there was a spectacle to be found, Guan Lu turned and left without hesitation.

In the front courtyard, the gifts Li Chu had brought had been sorted and were waiting to be loaded back onto the flatbed carts.

Madam Wen said, “Little Chu, I know your intentions, but we absolutely cannot keep these things.”

Wen Shu hid behind her mother, only then daring to look openly at Li Chu. Upon hearing this, she nodded along, wishing the two families could settle everything and never have anything to do with each other again.

Li Chu behaved with refinement, her words and actions devoid of any lewdness or frivolity. She simply said, “I’ve already brought the things here; there’s no reason to take them back.”

Li Chu looked at Wen Shu.

Wen Shu’s eyes instantly darted upward, changing her focus to the sky.

Li Chu said it as a matter of course, “Besides, these are all… congratulatory gifts for the Little Sheep.”

That was too much; it was more than enough for a betrothal gift.

Madam Wen couldn’t make up her mind, looking at her daughter and then at the grandmother.

Seeing that all three were about to refuse in unison, Li Chu quickly raised her hands in a salute, her voice soft and low, “I have no elders in the capital, and I am not very familiar with etiquette and rules. If this action has caused offense, please forgive me.”

Madam Wen’s heart instantly softened in pain, and she quickly took her hand, saying, “We are family—how could there be any offense? Whoever said you have no elders in the capital? If you don’t mind, the Wen household will be your home from now on, and we will be your elders.”

The moment her mother stepped forward, Wen Shu instinctively reached out to pull her back.

Unfortunately, her reaction was a beat too slow, and her mother had just sold them out so effortlessly.

Wen Shu was stunned.

She slowly turned her gaze toward Li Chu.

Li Chu was currently engaged in a scene of mother-daughter affection with her mother; it was almost as if her mother wanted to pull Li Chu into her arms and weep together.

The wolf dog that had just bared its fangs at her was now wearing the skin of a little lamb, acting so gentle and pitiful that it had deceived both her mother and her grandmother.

Wen Shu finally understood what it meant to be “the only sober one among a crowd of drunks.” “She…”

Wen Shu was so anxious her face burned.

Madam Wen gave Wen Shu an appeasing look, signaling that she knew what she was doing, and then turned to Li Chu, “Then we will accept these things for now.”

She whispered to Wen Shu, “When Little Chu settles down, we will add more items to these gifts and send them back to her then.”

Her family was naturally not one to take advantage of others, but she couldn’t dampen the child’s sincerity.

What harm could Little Chu have? She just wanted, in her simple way, to feel like she had a home.

Wen Shu: “…”

Recalling Li Chu’s earlier talk of marrying her, and then looking at her mother, who was so sure of her own “well-thought-out plan,” Wen Shu felt that by the time she was sold off, her mother might even be adding money to the deal.

Wen Shu nudged her mother.

Madam Wen gently brushed her hand away.

Wen Shu: “…”

The mother-daughter interaction took place right under Li Chu’s nose. Li Chu just smiled at Wen Shu without saying a word—a smile that made Wen Shu terrified and chilled to the bone, causing her to silently pull her hand back.

As she was leaving, Li Chu remembered something, “Has the Jingzhao Yin given you an answer yet?”

She was referring to the assassination attempt on the Wen family outside the capital yesterday morning.

The grandmother replied, “Not yet. I suppose results won’t come that quickly.”

Li Chu smiled, “That’s true. But don’t worry, Grandmother, I will keep an eye on things for our family.”

The grandmother looked at her, moved, “I’ll leave it to you.”

The group sent Li Chu to the door. Wen Shu trailed behind, unwilling in her heart, but her feet followed her grandmother and mother honestly.

After Li Chu nimbly and lightly leaped onto her horse, Wen Shu looked up at her, only to meet Li Chu’s gaze.

As their eyes met, Li Chu again frivolously raised her hand and made a gesture of pressing it against her lips.

Wen Shu stood up straight and glared at her immediately!

Li Chu laughed. In front of Wen Shu, she moved her finger upward and gently rubbed her nose.

Wen Shu: “…”

She’d been played.

After saying goodbye to the Wen family, Li Chu left with her servants and the empty carts toward the General’s Mansion.

At the entrance to the alley ahead, Guan Lu’s figure darted out like a ghost. As she leaped onto the cart, she told Li Chu about the spectacle at the Qionglin Banquet:

“General, it was nothing much. After Prime Minister Chu stopped it, apart from Feng Zhang, who lowered his head to drink, everyone else apologized to the young Number Three Scholar. It seems there was truly no malicious intent.”

“However, afterward, I found out that this was actually instigated by Feng Zhang behind the scenes. He is very dissatisfied with the young Number Three Scholar earning that rank and believes she only made it into the top tier because of that ‘pretty face’ of hers.”

“That’s why he took advantage of the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet to stir things up, using the Scholar’s appearance and the fact that you whistled at her as leverage.”

The Number Three Scholar was recognized as someone who was both outstanding in literature and striking in appearance among the top tier.

But to become the Number Three Scholar, one first had to enter the top tier through genuine academic achievement.

“Today was only the announcement ceremony; duties haven’t been assigned yet. Feng Zhang clearly wants to use public opinion to drag the Scholar down so that he, the Number Two ranker, can replace her in the Hanlin Academy.”

Using Wen Shu’s “romantic affairs” to confuse the public, making people ignore her talent so that whenever she was mentioned, they would only remember her “romantic scandals”—what a vicious method.

Guan Lu’s tone was cheerful, her eyes fixed on the General as she spoke.

Li Chu sneered, “Can’t handle losing.”

The bureaucracy was full of twists and turns. The Scholar only knew that someone was “teasing” her and likely hadn’t considered this layer of intent behind the “teasing.”

Perhaps she had considered it, but finding herself helpless, she hadn’t dwelt on it.

“No wonder she felt aggrieved toward me.” Li Chu lightly pulled the reins to turn the horse.

It was her own frivolity that had given Feng Zhang the excuse to stir up trouble.

Guan Lu’s face lit up with excitement, “Young Master Feng went to a restaurant for drinks with friends after the banquet; he should be heading home by now.”

Li Chu lightly squeezed the horse’s flanks with her legs, feeling interested, “Let’s go. Let’s go bump into him.”

She could do no wrong in greeting her Little Sheep; the one who was wrong was definitely the scheming Feng Zhang.