Chapter 84 of Volume 1: Seeing Through

  “…I'll leave on the sixth day of the new year.” Ji Que said, “Yesterday I specially called the servants to move out, and emptied all the rooms except for one that we temporarily occupy.” Smiling at Zhen Shi Niang, “We won't be using it for now... or should we let Zhang He rent it out first?”

  Rent out?

  She is also preparing to open a pharmacy.

  Yu Bo had bought that secluded house with the intention of opening a small pharmaceutical factory there after Xiao Ye's medicine was successful, but she never mentioned it because of her superstition about the eight characters, and instead insisted on buying the house at a high price.

  "Wait a minute." Zhen Shining thought of the pharmaceutical factory's capital that had not yet been settled, so she swallowed her words and said instead, "I've been thinking of going to Beijing for the past two days..." Xiao Ye never believed her, so it was better for her to go in person, even if it meant urging Xiao Ye on.

  Xiao Yu had a lot of time, but she didn't have much time to waste.

  The magpie was startled, "Miss is going..."

  Just then, there was a commotion outside the door.

  Zhen Shining was just about to call Dong Ju to see who had arrived when Qiu Ju excitedly ran in, "Miss, the general has come!"

  Zhen Shi'niang was startled.

  She came to herself, hastily got up, and instructed Qiujie to go to the door later to block it, and when Jianwu and Jianwen returned, she would secretly lead them to the backyard. Meanwhile, she called out to Dongjue and others to follow her out to greet them.

  From then on, Shen Zhongjie became her superior leader who had rectified the eight disciplines, and the etiquette of welcoming and sending off could not be ambiguous at all.

  As soon as he arrived at the door, Shen Zhongjie strode in with a chill in his bones, his face stern and cold, exuding an aura of majesty.

  Winter chrysanthemum was so frightened that her two legs were trembling.

  "Happy New Year, General!" Zhen Shining led the crowd in paying their respects to him and stepped aside to let him enter.

  "Is the house tidy to your satisfaction?" Shen Zhong's voice was unusually warm. His gaze swept around, "If there is..." He caught sight of the upside-down Fu character on the corridor and his voice stopped abruptly. He stepped into the east house, facing a lively and noisy picture of Nezha Chasing the Sea, with two Fu characters stuck beside it, one upright and one inverted, like a mirror image, with a playful and childlike humor. His eyebrows furrowed in displeasure. "What's all this nonsense stuck on a perfectly good house?" His good mood vanished instantly.

  As Shen Zhong's cold gaze swept over, Rong Sheng sighed in his heart, "This is not what he did, the wall was white as snow when he left. He had planned to find an opportunity to ask for a few famous paintings to hang up, but unexpectedly, it became so colorful and messy in just a few days." With a sideways glance, he whispered to Zhen Shi Niang, "Obviously a quiet person, how could he like this style?"

  Originally a luxurious and elegant house, being decorated with such gaudy colors is somewhat... somewhat... out of place.

  As soon as Shen Zhongge entered the door, his face turned black. The magpie looked at Zhen Shiniang with a mournful and resentful gaze.

  Zhen Shining only pretended not to see, he was a great general. Dissatisfied with these trivial matters in the inner house, she wouldn't say anything, she just pretended to be stupid, couldn't understand his expression, and served him after taking off his cloak. Coincidentally, Dong Jie had just brewed tea and brought it in, so she took it over and personally poured a cup. "General, please sit down and have some tea."

  Upon hearing this soothing voice, Shen Zhong's restless heart calmed down instantly. He let out a soft sigh, "She doesn't have much time left, I shouldn't be too harsh." With that thought, his eyebrows relaxed slightly, and he took the teacup, sitting down in the chair.

  "You...are you okay?" Shen Zhong's voice was a bit hoarse.

  I guess this counts as giving her New Year's greetings?

  Zhen Shiniang smiled slightly and said, "Thank you, General, for sending the swallow's nest. Drinking a bowl every day has made me feel much better lately." She sat down across from him, "...General, why have you come? Don't you need to attend court today?" As soon as she asked the question, Zhen Shiniang almost bit her tongue off.

  It's already the first month of the lunar year, who doesn't take a holiday?

  In my past life, there were seven days of statutory holidays.

  Just as she was thinking about how to make up for it, Shen Zhongge said, "Today is the day of return..." In fact, Zhen Shiniang really didn't know that ordinary officials could rest during the New Year, but Shen Zhongge and other high-ranking officials were not allowed to rest. Although they didn't have to get up early for court, from the first to the fifth day of the new year, they had to enter the palace to accompany the emperor to various banquets. Today, the emperor suddenly gave him two days off and didn't require him to attend, thinking that Zhen Shiniang would be summoned to the palace on Yuanxiao Festival, he hurried over to take a look at her.

  Shen Zhongge said that the return to the door meant that Wan Si gave him a fake, and Zhen Shiniang heard it and blinked her eyes, saying: "Isn't the return to the door supposed to go to the Chu Mansion? Why did you run here?"

  She is not his mother-in-law anyway.

  In her heart, she muttered that Zhen Shiniang wouldn't be foolish enough to really ask it out loud. She turned and asked instead, "Has the general had breakfast?"

  "Using......" slipped out, thinking of Zhen Shining's culinary skills, Shen Zhongge felt that his stomach was indeed a little hungry, and he changed his words to say, "I had a bowl of porridge early in the morning, now I'm really hungry."

  Zhen Shiniang looked at the leaky pot and thought, "It's almost time for lunch. I packed some dumplings this morning, why don't we just have one bite first? We can eat lunch right away!" Zhen Shiniang was a northerner in her past life, where it was customary to eat dumplings when going out or returning home. On the third day of the new year, many people would return home and go to work, and most would cook and eat dumplings for good luck. Over time, this became a custom on the third day of the new year to eat dumplings.

  Wutong Town didn't have this custom, but Zhen Shiniang still had the cook make dumplings.

  Shen Zhongge nodded in response, and Zhen Shiniang got up and walked out.

  Three large plates of steaming dumplings were quickly served, accompanied by four light and refreshing small dishes.

  Because it was a temporary solution, and no other table had been arranged for Rong Sheng, he ate with Shen Zhongge. The three large plates of dumplings were quickly finished, and Rong Sheng still had some regrets. He looked up at Zhen Shi Niang.

  Zhen Shiniang glanced sideways.

  It's almost lunchtime, she didn't let Xu Fenglan cook more, and Rong Sheng didn't want to anymore.

  The dumplings were too delicious, Shen Zhongge hadn't had enough to eat. Seeing that Zhen Shiniang wasn't serving anymore, he thought that there might not be any left in the kitchen, and since they didn't know they were coming ahead of time, it was understandable that there wouldn't be enough prepared. He patted his belly, which was almost full, but his mouth still wanted to eat a couple more bites, so he waved his hand for them to take everything away.

  Chrysanthemum tea was served and they rinsed their mouths with it.

  "How did it become one more person?" After re-sitting down, Shen Zhong Xiao only then discovered that he had entered the house for so long, and only Dong Jue was serving him.

  "There's also a kitchen maid, who is busy in the kitchen right now." Zhen Shi Niang explained. "In the first month of the lunar year, it's hard to find suitable ones for the time being." Afraid that he would take advantage of the situation and transfer people from the General's Mansion, "Liu Ma has already promised to send someone over by the Lantern Festival, and we'll make up for it then." Thinking that he was currently allocated funds based on the number of people on duty, she added, "The six guards are all here, does the General want to meet them?"

  The matron not only required a strong physique, but also loyalty and reliability, and integrity. This was a matter of her life and death, Shen Zhongke really didn't trust Zhen Shiniang's vision.

  Seeing him speechless, Zhen Shiniang gave Dong Jue a look.

  Chrysanthemum turned around and walked out.

  "...Uncle Li and Second Uncle Li left early."

  Li Changhe went to Ruixiang Pharmacy, and Li Changhai had taken Jian Wu and Jian Wen out early.

  Zhen Shiyin explained, "The Li brothers are the husbands of the magpies and their younger brother. They have been helping me for many years and know everything about me, so I kept them all." Pointing to Ji Huaifeng and others, "These four were newly hired, originally from the Sun Baiwan family's guard in the town...Ji Huaifeng, Chi Jiwei, Guo Xiu, Sun Qingliang..." She introduced each of them one by one. Then she ordered them, "...to pay respects to General."

  "General, at ease..." The four of them simultaneously gave Shen Zhongjie a salute.

  Shen Zhong's sharp eyes shot over, and Ji Huaifeng's eyes flashed to the side.

  Shen Zhong's heart moved slightly, and he thought again of their silent footsteps when they entered the house and their uniform movements when they paid their respects. This was clearly a family of martial artists who had undergone formal training!

  He lowered his head and took sip after sip of tea.

  Shen Zhong and Qi Huaifeng didn't dare to move, each of them stood up straight with their eyes fixed forward.

  An eerie silence in the house.

  "Bring another pot of hot tea..." After finishing the tea in his hand, Shen Zhongge handed the empty teacup to Zhen Shimiang.

  Isn't that pot of tea just brewed?

  There's still more than half of the bottle left.

  Zhen Shi Niang was taken aback for a moment. Then it dawned on him that he wanted to talk to these four people alone.

  Zhen Shining's heart skipped a beat, but she wasn't afraid that he would assign other tasks to these four people. After all, the salary was paid by him, and he was the big boss of these four people. However, Ji Huifeng and others knew the inside story of Jian Wenjianwu, although they had been warned in advance, would they listen to her?

  Shen Zhongjie was a renowned general, who wouldn't want to curry favor with him?

  In the blink of an eye, Yu Guang caught a glimpse of Shen Zhongge looking over coldly. Zhen Shiniang didn't dare to delay any longer, responded with a sound, picked up the teapot and walked out.

  At the door, she met Dong Ju and handed over the teapot to her. Zhen Shi Niang stopped for a moment at the door, listening to the quiet inside, hesitated slightly, and then stepped out.

  Shen Zhong's martial arts skills were exceptionally high, and this small movement of hers couldn't escape his notice.

  As soon as Zhen Shining's footsteps faded away, Shen Zhongke's eyes suddenly turned cold and he stared at Ji Huifeng and the others with a stern gaze.

  "The general has..."

  Ji Huai Feng's words had not yet landed when Shen Zhong Ke's foot was already kicked to his chest. Ji Huai Feng leaned back and flipped over, dodging the kick. As soon as he steadied himself, he felt a numbness in his body, and his acupoints were sealed by Shen Zhong Ke. "Tell me, who sent you here? What is your purpose?"

  If it were an ordinary nurse, she would never have such a good stretch!

  "Big Brother!" Seeing Ji Huai Feng being subdued, Sun Qing Liang and his two companions rushed up together.

  Shen Zhongge grasped Ji Huaifeng's throat with one hand.

  "Get back..." Ji Huai Feng shouted at them, then turned to Shen Zhong Ge with a smile and said, "General, please calm down. I am the fifth-grade imperial guard who wears a sword in front of the emperor, and I have been ordered to protect Madame and...". He wanted to say Madame and young master, but remembered that Wan Si had forbidden them from revealing that Zhen Shi Niang had a son, so he shut his mouth. Just then, Shen Zhong Ge applied some force, and Ji Huai Feng was frightened into shouting, "I have my token!"

  Although Shen Zhong did not know them, they were very familiar with this famous general. The four of them together were no match for him, and it was better to surrender early, or else who knew if this ruthless killer would finish them off with one knife.

  Long live the Emperor only let him protect Zhen Shiniang, and did not say to avoid Shen Zhongjie.

  Shen Zhongge took out a token from Ji Huaifeng's waist and found it was indeed the Imperial Guard, then he let go of Ji Huaifeng.

  The four men bowed again to Shen Zhongjie.

  "How could Wan Sui let you come over?" Shen Zhong's face turned dark, this Wan Sui, was truly getting too big for his britches.

  Shen Zhong Xiao cursed loudly in his heart, remembering that ridiculous imperial edict from before.

  "Wan Sui heard that General's wife was recuperating in the countryside, and ordered his subordinates to take a look. Just then, they encountered someone trying to assassinate the lady..." Ji Huai Feng said with a clenched fist.