The General Seized Her by Force - Chapter 9

If it were not for Li Chu, Madam Wen would truly have felt that one wave of trouble had passed only for another to rise!

With even more gifts this time, she imagined the other party must hold even greater power; for the Wen family to offend two high-ranking and powerful families in a single day was enough to make one lose sleep just thinking about it.

Upon learning that the gifts were brought by Li Chu, Madam Wen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Chu was quite different from the Yang family. Counting today’s rescue, Li Chu had “saved” their family three times in total.

Madam Wen hardly knew how to repay such a debt of gratitude.

Especially—

“Since you came, why did you have to bring so many gifts?”

While she turned her head to speak, the courtyard was already piled high, leaving only a small path to walk through.

Compared to the large red gift boxes tied with silk ribbons that Li Chu had brought, the meager offerings from the Yang family earlier were indeed truly insignificant.

The old matriarch frowned even more, filled with both apology and gratitude, “We should be the ones presenting heavy gifts to thank you.”

It was just that the Wen family had been stretched too thin these past two days to pull themselves away; otherwise, they would have already taken Wen Shu to pay a formal visit of thanks.

The old matriarch said, “When Wen Shu learned it was you who saved us, she insisted on coming to thank you in person, but one thing after another happened, which delayed us.”

Li Chu never cared about such things in her heart, but she said aloud, “I haven’t been back to the capital for many years and don’t know many people here. I knew you were busy, so I couldn’t wait and came first.”

“These are just worldly possessions piling up in my warehouse. You both know that I have lost my parents and only have a ‘young’ younger sister at home, so I have no use for these things. I just tossed them all onto a cart and brought them over.”

Li Chu glanced around the courtyard and frowned, hesitating, “This is my first time giving gifts for a celebration, and I don’t know the proper measure. I don’t even know if I brought too little.”

Too little?

If there were any more, it would not be a matter of the Wen family courtyard having no room for the gifts, but rather the Wen family courtyard being swallowed by the General’s congratulatory gifts.

With these three sentences of advancing by retreating, even the old matriarch couldn’t bear to speak words of refusal to Li Chu.

Setting aside the worldly goods, she took Li Chu’s hand. She no longer addressed her as “General” or used formal honorifics, but asked after her as if she were a younger member of the family, her tone kind and warm, “You came in such a hurry, have you eaten dinner? If not, stay and have a meal with us today.”

Li Chu did not hesitate, “I’m nearly starving.”

She rubbed her belly, acting as if she had returned to her own grandmother’s home, “Grandma, what are we eating tonight?”

As she spoke, she helped the old matriarch into the main hall.

Madam Wen’s eyes and brows were filled with smiles. As she signaled for a maid to prepare to cook personally, she also had Doubai drive the carriage to check when the banquet Wen Shu was attending would end, to see if she could make it back for a hot meal.

The food at a banquet is never hot; it consists entirely of cold dishes prepared in advance. Wen Shu was not foolish; she would only eat a little symbolically to pad her stomach and wait until after the Qionglin Banquet ended to go home and eat a hot meal to satiety.

The Qionglin Banquet did not officially begin until the Shen hour (mid-afternoon), and the Emperor and Chancellor Chu did not arrive until the end of the Shen hour.

By the time the banquet concluded, it was already the middle of the You hour (early evening).

Apart from her studies, Wen Shu had never been one to stand out or love the limelight. So, whenever others stood up to toast, she simply followed suit and raised her glass; likewise, when others left, she left.

Under normal circumstances, on an occasion like this, very few people would pay special attention to a Third Place Scholar like her.

No matter how good the ranking was, if the family background was insufficient, it was useless. Although the Hanlin Academy was a good place, there were many who were destined to remain in obscurity, stuck in the sixth rank for their entire lives, doing nothing but editing books.

From her appearance to her personality, Wen Shu looked like the type of person who would only honestly and dutifully edit books.

Therefore, before and during the banquet, not many people spoke to Wen Shu; most just nodded with a smile, considering it a greeting and getting familiar with her face.

It wasn’t until the banquet was drawing to a close and everyone had drunk too much that they began to chat more and more casually.

The topic somehow shifted to Wen Shu, discussing the excitement of the procession through the streets earlier that day, “If the Third Place Scholar were a bit more dashing, he could have settled his marriage on the streets today and started a family soon. When that time comes, we must all go for a drink!”

Wen Shu accompanied them with a smile, lowering her head to take small sips of wine.

But the other party clearly did not intend to let it go so easily. “Third Place Scholar Wen, if you were to take a wife, what kind of woman would you want to marry?”

Wen Shu did not feel that such matters should be discussed in such a setting with a group of colleagues she was not familiar with.

Someone chimed in from across the table, “It must be the kind that whistled at him on the street today. You didn’t see how red our Third Place Scholar’s fair face turned at that time.”

“Oh, that kind, huh?”

Wen Shu lowered her eyes and pressed her lips together. Gripping her cup, she bore the gazes of everyone. She very much wanted to stand up and ask them if this was a matchmaking banquet, but the words died on her lips, and she dared not say them.

Because the person who had interjected was the son of the Earl of Sinan, Feng Zhang, who had placed fourth in the examinations.

It was Chancellor Chu, who had been patrolling the tables for drinks, who noticed the teasing and laughter at their table. He placed his wine cup on an empty space, the bottom of the cup clinking against the tabletop with a sound that was neither too loud nor too soft, instantly silencing all the sneers.

Chancellor Chu’s tone was casual, as if making small talk, “What are you chatting about?”

The smile on the face of the person who had started the topic stiffened. Facing Chancellor Chu’s half-smiling eyes, he realized belatedly that he might have made an inappropriate joke.

He bowed to Wen Shu in apology, “My apologies.”

Only then did Chancellor Chu slowly sweep his gaze over them. After his empty glass was refilled, he carried it away leisurely.

“I heard that Chancellor Chu was also originally from the Hanlin Academy.”

The topic instantly shifted away from Wen Shu, and she slowly exhaled the stifled breath in her chest.

After the banquet ended, Wen Shu quickly exited the garden to avoid being teased further.

Outside, the sky was already dark. Fortunately, Doubai was quick-witted, standing on the shafts of the carriage and holding a lantern high with the character “Wen” written on it, so Wen Shu didn’t have to wander around blindly.

When she reached the carriage, she quickly gestured for Doubai to come down and whispered, “Alright, alright, if you keep shining it like that, it will be too conspicuous.”

She had run quickly, so she was ahead of the others.

Seeing that Wen Shu’s expression was wrong, Doubai looked at him with concern and asked tentatively, “Young Master, are you drunk?”

Wen Shu stepped onto the footstool and climbed into the carriage. Once she was seated, she took off her official hat and huddled it in her arms, looking down as she said, “No.”

She only got red in the face from drinking; in reality, she was perfectly sober. On an occasion like today, she would never dare to get drunk.

But because Doubai was concerned, she couldn’t help but pour out the grievances of the day to her own person, concluding, “It’s just because I look like someone who is easy to bully!”

Her childhood nickname shouldn’t have been “Little Sheep”; it sounded far too timid. She should have been called “Big Dog”! Perhaps if she had been called that often enough, her personality would have become fiercer.

Doubai was amused by the young master’s grumpy tone, but he didn’t dare show it, fearing that the young master, who had thin skin, would be teased to the point of tears.

With the young master’s personality, it wouldn’t matter what her name was, because everyone in the Wen family had this same soft temperament.

The carriage swayed forward gently, and the flash of anger in Wen Shu’s chest slowly dissipated with the rocking of the carriage.

By the time the carriage stopped, she was no longer angry and even started to feel curious about what she might be able to eat when she got home.

Doubai said, “Young Master, the road ahead is blocked; you will have to get out and walk a few steps.”

Blocked?

Wen Shu lifted the carriage curtain to look outside and was immediately given a huge fright!

The front door of their small, two-courtyard house was blocked by a row of carts. Standing right in the center of the road, blocking the steps, was a robust and sturdy black horse. Under the light of the lantern hanging by the gate, the horse’s coat was shiny, and its hooves were as large as bowls; it looked very powerful at first glance!

Wen Shu cautiously and carefully held her official hat, dodging the black horse as she entered the courtyard through the back door.

“Why has someone come to the house, and why did they send so many gifts?” Wen Shu looked around with worry, not feeling at all that receiving gifts was a good thing.

When Madam Wen learned that Wen Shu had returned, she hurried out of the main hall to welcome her, telling her with full joy, “Shu’er, General Li is here.”

Wen Shu’s eyes lit up instantly. She immediately put her official hat back on, took a moment to straighten her collar and sleeves, smoothed the folds of her waist belt, and put on a serious face, “Then I shall go and thank her in person for the matter from yesterday morning.”

Wen Shu had never met Li Chu, but she knew the Li family.

With nearly a hundred members in the Li family, regardless of gender or age, due to the changes in the imperial court and instability on the border, for the sake of defending the country and stopping the Xiongnu from moving south, almost all of them had fallen on the battlefield over the past few decades, turning into one grave after another in the land of Pingjiang.

Even if there hadn’t been this debt of gratitude between the two families, for the sake of the Li family’s absolute loyalty, Wen Shu would have paid her respects to General Li Chu with deep reverence.

Madam Wen looked Wen Shu up and down. Although she was dressed formally, because she had been drinking, there was a faint pink tint of alcohol on her cheeks, and her eyes were a bit misty; overall, she looked passably presentable for a guest.

Seeing her mother staring at her face, Wen Shu realized it belatedly and covered her face with both hands, her mouth puckering, “Should I go wash my face and come back?”

Madam Wen took her by the wrist, “It doesn’t matter. Chu is not an outsider. You will know once you see her; perhaps you might even remember something.”

Wen Shu followed Madam Wen into the main hall. As soon as her foot crossed the threshold, she saw a bright and heroic face.

That was the face that had whistled at her frivolously from the second floor that morning.

And then, it was because of that that she had been teased by others at the banquet.

Only her excellent family upbringing and her deep knowledge of etiquette and morality kept Wen Shu from pointing a finger at her.

Wen Shu opened her eyes wide and walked forward slowly, “You?”

Madam Wen was very happy and clasped her hands together, “Look, she recognized her. Shu’er was so happy she even started walking in square steps.”

Wen Shu, who had approached cautiously for fear of misidentifying the person: “…”