The General Seized Her by Force - Chapter 14

Madame Wen was bewildered. “How would I know?”

She looked at Wen Shu with confusion.

Sitting by the round table, arms hugging her official hat, Wen Shu had fair, smooth skin, bright eyes and white teeth, and fine, delicate features. She looked equally beautiful whether dressed as a woman or a man.

It was also because her mind was pure; any worries she had were written plainly on her face, causing her typically relaxed, fair face to wrinkle into a ball, like a steamed bun, as if she were troubled by some difficult problem.

Madame Wen closed the wardrobe she had just opened, walked back, and sat down next to Wen Shu, asking softly, “What’s wrong?”

The maidservants were moving in and out, tidying up the bedding; they would soon bring warm water for the mistress to wash up.

Just a moment ago, while her father was in the study organizing documents, Wen Shu had followed behind her mother like a little tail into the main bedroom.

Wen Shu picked at the black gauze on her official hat, bit her lip, and struggled for a moment before whispering, “I think I promised someone something.”

Madame Wen raised her hand to pour water, and upon hearing this, she smiled. “That’s nothing strange. When you were little, you had a soft personality and were incredibly easy-going. Whatever others said, you would say yes. It’s not surprising that you promised something off-the-cuff.”

Wen Shu’s eyes went vacant, and she sat there, dazed. “…”

Then it was over.

Although she didn’t remember it, she had Li Chu demanding she take responsibility on one side, and her mother’s testimony on the other. Even though she didn’t know what she had promised, she definitely had.

By this calculation, she was truly heartless and fickle today.

Wen Shu bit her lip, frowning, clutching the flaps of her official hat as if they were the last two straws of hope. With no expectation of a good outcome, she said, “But how can words from when I was four years old be taken seriously?”

That wasn’t the right way to think about it.

Madame Wen looked at Wen Shu earnestly. “You started your enlightenment at three and were reading poetry and books by four. You should know that a gentleman’s promise is worth its weight in gold. Since you spoke the words yourself, you must be responsible for your own conduct. Our family has no one who goes back on their word.”

Wen Shu was on the verge of tears, her back slumping, her forehead resting against the official hat.

Like a healthy little sapling, she “snapped” and bent over.

Madame Wen smiled and sipped her water. “What on earth did you promise to make you so distressed?”

A four-year-old’s promise was nothing more than “being best friends forever” or “treating you to a sugar figure.” Based on Madame Wen’s understanding of Wen Shu when she was little, she wouldn’t have dared to cause any monumental trouble—otherwise, why would they call her “Little Lamb”?

Gentle, shy, and bashful, she had been as obedient as a soft little lamb.

Wen Shu took a deep breath, reached out with one hand to grab her mother’s knee, looked up with teary eyes, pouted, and choked out, “I promised myself to someone else as a wife.”

Pfft—

Madame Wen spat a mouthful of water onto Wen Shu’s face.

Wen Shu was truly about to cry now.

Madame Wen’s eyes widened, so astonished that she stood straight up.

That was truly a catastrophic mistake.

She lowered her head and asked in a hoarse voice, “You… who did you promise yourself to as a wife?!”

Let alone the fact that Wen Shu was a woman disguised as a man, even if she were a regular girl, she couldn’t just go around promising such things!

Wen Shu sat up straight like an erring student, took out a handkerchief to slowly wipe her face, her damp eyelashes drooping, and said in a muffled voice, “Li Chu.”

She had thought Li Chu was lying to her, but now it seemed it must be true.

After all, even if Li Chu acted frivolously and was capable of lying, the Li family’s upbringing wouldn’t allow her to do that. It could only be her own fault.

Madame Wen froze for a moment, lifted a hand to her chest, and then slowly sat back down, saying repeatedly, “That’s fine, that’s fine. It’s fortunate that it was promised to Little Chu.”

Wen Shu: “?”

Madame Wen was filled with relief. “Little Chu is different from others.”

Wen Shu nodded in agreement.

She was indeed different.

The thickness of her skin was different from others.

Madame Wen continued, “This matter can be explained properly to Little Chu later. She is a sensible and broad-minded child; she surely won’t hold you to a promise made at four years old.”

After hearing this, Wen Shu’s expression was as if she had swallowed a live fly. How could her mother have such a “misconception” about Li Chu?

Li Chu was clearly calculating and petty, with a memory like a demon. Not only was she not sensible or broad-minded, but she was also overbearing and unreasonable, especially skilled at shifting the blame! She was an expert at wearing sheep’s clothing to act kind and gentle!

If she was a little lamb, then Li Chu was a… Big Li Dog!

Wen Shu said sullenly, “She was the one who told me about this.”

Madame Wen used a handkerchief to wipe the water droplets from her daughter’s temples. “She has an enthusiastic and lively personality; she was definitely joking with you, and only you took it seriously.”

A glimmer of light slowly appeared in Wen Shu’s eyes. “Really?”

Madame Wen nodded. “Next time, find an opportunity to explain this clearly to her.”

Wen Shu thought that made sense. She had been terrified by Li Chu’s words tonight, which was why she had foolishly tried to play dumb. Maybe Li Chu was just being playful and, seeing her act cowardly, decided to tease her.

It was all her own fault for not being composed enough, for not being calm when encountering issues, which led to this misunderstanding.

Madame Wen said slowly and gently, “Little Chu has done our family a favor. Even though there is a vast gap in status between our two families, Mother still hopes you can be proactive and be friends with her.”

Wen Shu looked at her mother quietly.

Madame Wen sighed slightly. “After all, in the Li family, of her generation, only she and her cousin remain.”

Li Chu had gone to the border at eight years old. It was normal that she had no peers around her and didn’t know how to joke with companions of her own age.

Wen Shu lowered her long eyelashes, using her sleeve to wipe the water off her hat. “I understand her.”

She, too, had had no friends growing up.

The boys disliked that her appearance was too beautiful and not masculine enough, and the girls could not get too close to her because she wore men’s clothing.

This resulted in her having no good friends since she was little, forcing her to bury her head in books and pretend she had no interest in playing.

Madame Wen withdrew the handkerchief and teased Wen Shu, “When you were little, you even said you wanted to be ‘best friends forever’ with her.”

It was a pity that their time together had been so short.

The very next day, when she took Wen Shu to the Li residence to express her gratitude, the Li mansion gates were tightly shut. The doorman told them that Li Chu had already left Pingjiang early that morning with people from the palace.

The four-year-old Wen Shu didn’t believe it; she went there for five consecutive days before she finally accepted the reality.

Perhaps because she was hurt by being ignored, she later forgot about it. She didn’t remember squatting at the gate of the Li mansion every day, nor did she remember Li Chu carrying her home. She only knew that one day, when she passed by the Li mansion, she was kicked in the chest by a donkey, cried in pain, and ever since then, she walked around donkeys and horses—and the Li mansion.

Madame Wen didn’t tell Wen Shu this, only mentioning the happy things.

Wen Shu’s face turned hot. She used the motion of putting on her official hat to hide her awkwardness and shyness. “Then, I’ll go back and wash up. Mother, you should rest well.”

Having said that, she “fled” from the main room.

After washing up and lying on the bed, Wen Shu folded her hands over her abdomen, trying to downplay Li Chu’s aggressive demeanor from the night before in her mind.

She led soldiers in battle; it was normal for her to be aggressive and overbearing.

It was also because she had forgotten the childhood promise first that provoked Li Chu to corner her in the corridor.

Wen Shu sighed softly, successfully comforting herself before falling asleep, even thinking that when she saw Li Chu tomorrow, she would first explain the childhood misunderstanding properly and then slowly become friends with her.

The next morning, as soon as Wen Shu got up, she saw Doubai come over, overjoyed, and tell her a piece of satisfying news:

“The eldest young master of the Feng family was beaten! It seems he hit a hard target because of his insolence, and his leg was broken!”

Wen Shu’s eyes lit up instantly, her little face flushing with excitement.

While she felt it was satisfying, gratifying, and that he deserved it, she also felt that her schadenfreude was truly not the behavior of a gentleman.

But Feng Zhang was the one who maliciously provoked and tried to bully her last night; she had no grudge against him, yet he had been so unreasonable.

Besides, it was Feng Zhang’s own insolent words that brought this upon him. Had he bumped into anyone else like her, they might have endured him, but anyone who was a “tough nut” would have beaten him.

Look, hadn’t his leg been broken now?

He deserved a lesson to learn to think three times before speaking in the future!

Wen Shu asked, “Have you heard who beat him?”

What a good person.

Doubai shook his head. “I don’t know yet.”

He remembered something and handed a neatly folded square of paper from his pocket to Wen Shu. “It was sent by the Li residence this morning. They said it’s a letter from General Li to you.”

A letter?

Wasn’t it just a piece of paper?

Wen Shu reached out to take it and unfolded the paper. Written in the white paper and black ink, in bold, sweeping strokes, was a single sentence.

Last night, Wen Shu had felt she understood Li Chu and even planned to be friends with her. However, after reading the note, she was so ashamed and angry that she crumpled the paper into a ball, puffed out her cheeks, stomped her feet, and blurted out a second curse:

“I understand her, my foot!”

Li Chu was not a kind soul at all!

And Feng Zhang’s broken leg was definitely her doing.

Because the note said:

Little Lamb, Little Lamb, don’t be angry; your wife will vent your anger for you.

Wen Shu, “Shameless!”

Who ever admitted that she was her wife!