The General Seized Her by Force - Chapter 5

Speaking of returning home, the General’s Mansion had been uninhabited for years, making it a home in name only.

The sprawling mansion, including the mistress and all the servants, housed fewer than forty people.

While these people might appear somewhat sparse scattered throughout the estate, they looked quite lively when lined up at the gate of the General’s Mansion.

Li Chu returned today, and the entire household of the General’s Mansion had come out to welcome her. She swept a rough glance across them from horseback, noticing quite a few new faces; she presumed these were the servants and maids purchased after her younger sister returned.

Seeing her, the woman leading the group ran toward her from a distance, lifting her skirt, and reached her left arm out high toward her.

Li Chu urged her horse forward without slowing down, leaned over, grabbed the woman’s arm, and pulled with force.

The other party, well-versed in this, borrowed her strength, lifted her body into the air, and flipped onto the horse.

The woman’s pale pink skirt swirled into a circle with the movement, like apricot blossoms blooming in this season, landing lightly and freshly behind Li Chu.

The other party wrapped her arms around her waist and shouted excitedly, “Older sister, take me for a run!”

Li Chu said, “Alright!”

Li Chu whipped the horse and galloped without hesitation, carrying Li Yue around the General’s Mansion twice before stopping, still feeling unsatisfied.

Although Li Yue had never been to the battlefield, she possessed the blood of the Li family and naturally knew how to ride a horse. After the two laps, she was still able to stand steadily after dismounting.

Li Chu looked at Li Yue with pleasant surprise and patted her on the shoulder. “You’ve made progress, Yue-yue. Two years ago, when I saw you, you started shaking after just one lap.”

Being praised by Li Chu, Li Yue’s expression turned slightly strange, but she still wore a smile on her face and said softly, “I can’t hold back the Li family, and I certainly can’t lose face for you, sister.”

Her horsemanship and archery were, after all, taught by her sister when she returned to visit the graves.

Li Chu handed the black horse over to a servant.

Taking advantage of the moment Li Chu turned around, Li Yue’s smile remained, but her autumn-water-like eyes swept silently over the crowd.

Everyone shivered, instantly began to bow, and said in unison, “Respectfully welcoming the General back to the mansion.”

Li Chu waved her hand, signaling for them to disperse, and pulled Li Yue’s fingers to go inside the mansion, continuing the previous topic. “In that case, you will continue to practice martial arts with me every morning starting tomorrow.”

Li Yue’s eyelids began to twitch wildly. She let out a soft “Ah,” and deflected the subject. “How has Father been lately?”

Li Chu replied, “Second Uncle is doing very well. When I came back, he even instructed me to find you a good husband during this trip to the capital.”

Li Yue lowered her eyelashes unnaturally. Before Li Chu could continue this topic, she took Li Chu’s hands in hers and forced a smile. “If we are practicing martial arts in the early morning, what time should I wake up?”

Mentioning this, finding a husband would have to be put aside.

Li Chu stopped walking and pondered. “I have been traveling, and I am truly too tired.”

Li Yue’s eyes brightened.

Li Chu smiled. “Just wake up at the middle of the Mao hour (approximately 6:00 AM).”

Li Yue, “…”

The light in Li Yue’s eyes instantly dimmed again.

Li Chu was teasing her on purpose. Seeing her obvious change in expression, Li Chu laughed and pinched her cheek. “I’m lying to you. The beginning of the Chen hour (approximately 7:00 AM) is fine.”

Li Yue instantly breathed a sigh of relief, happily and lightly clutching her sister’s arm, and began talking to her about the courtyard she had renovated for her.

Compared to the courtyard, Li Chu was more curious about something else. “When Second Uncle found out you were lost, he was nearly driven mad with anxiety.”

She stared at Li Yue’s face and asked softly, “Was it truly just out of a whim that you secretly took your maid and ran out?”

Her younger sister did not seem like someone so willful and reckless.

Li Yue lowered her head and eyes, studying the pink nail polish on her nails, and hummed vaguely. “I had never traveled far. The moment the boat docked, I was curious and acted on impulse.”

Her fingertips curled slowly. After she finished speaking, she let out a long breath, her head hanging low, and her voice was light, filled with guilt and apology. “It was my own willfulness that caused Father and you to worry. It won’t happen again.”

Li Chu could not see Li Yue’s complexion; she could only see the nape of her neck, which was lower than her own, bent and looking slender and fragile.

Whatever could suppress her sister’s shoulders and neck surely could not be explained in one or two sentences.

Li Chu instinctively felt that things were not that simple, but she could not bear to press for answers. Instead, she withdrew her arm, wrapped it around Li Yue’s shoulder, and helped her stand up straight with a forceful yet gentle motion, forcing her to lift her head.

At the same time, she said firmly, “What is there to apologize for? You, Li Yue, have the right to be willful. As long as you are safe, everything else is easy to talk about.”

Li Yue was stunned for a moment and looked up.

Her older sister, with her red hair ribbon and high ponytail, had been a head taller than her since she was a child. She had always blocked the way in front of her—she was the most reliable shield and the spear that fought for her when she felt wronged.

Li Chu’s hot palm gripped Li Yue’s thin, emaciated shoulder and said with a smile, “Now that I am back, I will take you out to play from now on.”

She thought she had gone missing because she wanted to go out and play…

Li Yue’s eyes felt hot; if she hadn’t lowered her head quickly, the teardrops sliding from her eyes would have been seen by Li Chu.

There were many courtyards in the mansion, but Li Chu’s and Li Yue’s were right next to each other. Li Yue walked quickly to compose her emotions, then pointed into the courtyard. “I left a patch of sand for you to practice martial arts.”

There was scenery, and there were sand pits and wooden posts for martial arts; it was clear that she had put a lot of thought into blending the two in a coordinated and distinctive way.

Li Chu was very delighted. She walked over, habitually reached out to clench her fist, and punched the hanging sandbag. When the sandbag swayed, she reached out to hold it, turned her head, and said to Guan Lu, “Send someone to deliver water. I will wash up first, then join you for lunch.”

The latter part was said to Li Yue.

Li Chu wanted to bathe, and Li Yue did not stay in the courtyard either, but went to the kitchen to see how the meal was being prepared.

When that pale pink figure disappeared at the courtyard gate, Li Chu signaled Haiqing, “Go investigate.”

Li Chu was not picky about food or lodging; she thought everything in the room was quite good and did not have anyone change anything.

By the time she finished bathing and came out wearing wide-sleeved light red clothes, Haiqing had already brought news.

The sun outside was bright, and Li Chu sat boldly on the stool under the veranda. Her damp, dark hair hung behind her and over her shoulders, and Guan Lu stood behind her, holding a dry towel to wipe the water from the ends of her hair.

Haiqing walked over quickly, and Li Chu raised her head, squinting against the light. “How is it?”

Haiqing replied, “I asked the elders in the mansion. They said that after the Second Miss was escorted back by the government soldiers, there was nothing unusual about her expression, but her temperament had changed slightly from a few years ago. She seems to be… a bit moody.”

Li Chu glared at her, her eyes aching, and she squinted again, correcting her word by word: “It is normal for a young girl of her age to be sensitive and think too much. She is not moody—she clearly just doesn’t know how to hide her emotions!”

“My sister is the most gentle and well-behaved.”

Guan Lu chimed in, “Exactly! Haiqing, watch your language!”

Haiqing pondered for a moment, unable to find a word to replace “moody,” so she skipped that matter and continued:

“After the Second Miss returned, she first used ‘failure to escort properly’ as a crime, causing six of the more than twenty people who escorted her from the old home to be beaten to death, and the rest were all sold off. The old butler knelt and tried to persuade her, so she had his legs broken and punished him to go and guard the ancestral graves in Pingjiang.”

“Of the more than forty people in this mansion, more than thirty are new ones bought by the Second Miss. They are very afraid of her.”

The old butler was an elder who had watched Li Chu and Li Yue grow up. He was also the one who guarded the mansion when no one was there in the General’s Mansion in the capital, and a loyal, disabled soldier who had retired from Li Chu’s father’s command.

Li Yue’s method of tidying up the mansion and the servants after returning to the capital was decisive, swift, and ruthless—certainly not gentle.

The elders in the mansion using “moody” instead of “ruthless” was already being cautious with their words.

Li Chu, who had just finished praising Li Yue, “…”

In the silence, Guan Lu gripped the damp towel tightly, stepped over the veranda stool, sat facing Li Chu, and frowned tightly. “This actually shows…”

Li Chu looked expectant, pursing her lips to look at her.

Guan Lu continued, “The inside and outside of this courtyard were all meticulously arranged by the Second Miss herself, and she arranged it so well~”

She had just gone to her room to check; the quilts and pillows had been newly sun-dried! The Second Miss was truly kind and meticulous!

Li Chu, “…”

Li Chu pushed Guan Lu, who was sitting there, behind her with a slap and looked at Haiqing. “Anything else?”

Haiqing shook her head. “Nothing else could be found out. As for the details of the Second Miss getting lost, besides the Second Miss herself, only her maid, Chun Chen, knows.”

Haiqing probed, “Should I…”

Secretly ask Chun Chen.

Li Chu raised her hand. “Let’s just investigate up to this point in the capital for now.”

There must be other reasons behind the incident of Li Yue getting lost. Since Li Yue refused to talk and Chun Chen could not be asked, she would have to go to the trouble of sending someone to Pingjiang to ask the old butler.

Li Chu intended to investigate this matter behind the scenes. In front of Li Yue, she did not mention the changes in the mansion’s personnel at all, as if she had not noticed anything.

Li Chu returned to the capital, and although the Emperor granted her a five-day vacation, she did not get any peace.

From the moment it was known she had returned to the mansion, invitations were delivered intermittently—some inviting her to visit, others asking to pay a visit.

In just one afternoon, the gatekeepers of the General’s Mansion received so many invitations that their hands went soft.

After dinner in the evening, these invitations were sent to Li Chu.

Li Chu looked through them, picking and choosing, but she did not see any from the Wen family.

Strange, they said they would come to thank her.

Could it be that they wanted her to visit them?

That was not impossible.

The invitations Li Chu tossed onto the table were gathered by Li Yue, who was sitting there, and then neatly stacked and categorized according to the rank and purpose of the sender.

She loved helping her older sister handle these trivial matters, as it made her feel exceptionally useful. “They have invited me like this before; all they think about is using me to curry favor with our family.”

Those who sent invitations were considered subtle; the more straightforward ones, taking advantage of the fact that there were no elders in the mansion, even invited matchmakers to come and help her arrange a marriage.

Li Chu shook her head and clicked her tongue, feeling very impressed. “To dare to come to the door like that—they aren’t even afraid of being beaten out by you with a big stick.”

Her younger sister also had a fiery temper.

Li Yue pursed her lips and smiled obediently. “Sister understands me.”

Li Chu, gnawing on a sweet and crisp fruit of unknown origin, sat astride the stool with her arms resting on the tabletop and spoke directly to Li Yue, who was sitting opposite her. “None of those caught your eye?”

Li Yue nodded.

Li Chu said, “If you don’t like the old ones, try the new ones.”

Li Yue, “?”

Li Chu remembered something. “The palace examination results are being released today. Tomorrow there will be a procession of the new scholars through the streets. Whoever you fancy tomorrow, sister will help you put a sack over them and kidnap them, and you can get married that very night.”

Speaking of getting married, Li Yue couldn’t help but think of that sickly woman who loved to wear white and was gentle and laughed easily…

Actually, she had already married her. Although Li Yue insisted that she was only putting on an act at the time and had agreed out of necessity, she had done with her everything that should and should not be done.

Li Yue lowered her eyes, her fingers pinching the invitation without saying a word.

Li Yue’s strange expression was somewhat obvious. Just then, Guan Lu came in from outside, distracting Li Chu.

Li Chu broke off a piece of the fruit in her hand and gave it to her, as if throwing a bone to a puppy, and took the opportunity to order, “Go to Xiankelai and book a well-positioned private room on the second floor, so we can see clearly during the procession of the scholars tomorrow.”

“You got it~” Guan Lu had just come in, and after nibbling on the fruit, she went out again.

Li Yue, “…”