111 General

"Is once in a lifetime enough?"

After a long while, Xiao Pingchuan turned around to look at Yuan Xiang.

Yuanxiang was holding a stack of books. When she was a child, Xiao Pingchuan arranged for her to go to school.

She cherished this opportunity and studied very hard.

Later, seeing that the children in Ningyuan City had no teachers, she found an abandoned house, cleaned it up, and used it as a school, teaching the children to read whenever she had time.

After Xiao Pingchuan brought Shen Suqin back to Ningyuan, she was assigned to serve Shen Suqin, so she had less time to go to the school.

She wasn't without resentment, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Before meeting Shen Suqin, she thought she was a crude country woman who was illiterate and uneducated, and perhaps even ugly and short and fat.

Unexpectedly, the moment she saw her, she knew she was wrong, and terribly wrong.

Later, I watched as she built heated kang beds, warm sheds, and soap; I learned that she was also the owner of hundreds of restaurants, possessing countless amounts of silver and grain; I even learned that she was the famous author of "Ode to Dongliang"; and that she had secured hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain for the Black Flag Army with just a eulogy...

Yuanxiang knew that she could never catch up with them in this lifetime.

Most importantly, the general liked her very much—no, he loved her.

Shen Suqin probably didn't realize that whenever she was around, Xiao Pingchuan's eyes would only be fixed on her, and he wouldn't even glance at anyone else.

Moreover, his eyes were filled with adoration, trust, and admiration.

This was something she had never seen before.

She admired Shen Suqin, and she was also jealous of Shen Suqin.

So when Zhou Yuan appeared, she deliberately obscured the general's feelings for Shen Suqin, saying that the general was forced to marry her, that she was taking advantage of his kindness, and that she was pretentious.

Zhou Yuan believed all of this and even told Shen Suqin to her face. As she wished, Shen Suqin moved out of the General's Mansion.

To her surprise, the general also moved out.

Later, when the truth came out, she was sent to the capital.

Soon after, Shen Suqin also arrived. The general still made her serve him. At this point, she was no longer jealous, but filled with hatred.

Especially when Shen Suqin told her that the two of them had already consummated their marriage.

If the general hadn't arrived quickly enough, she doesn't know what she would have done.

“General.” She placed the book she was holding on the table.

Xiao Pingchuan took two steps back and sat down a little distance away from her.

Yuanxiang noticed a detail: ever since Shen Suqin came into the picture, Xiao Pingchuan would deliberately keep his distance from any girl he was talking to, and she was no exception.

"I heard you like me?" Xiao Pingchuan said.

Yuanxiang nodded in despair.

Xiao Pingchuan gave him a look that said, "What are you doing now?" and asked, "Is there... a problem?"

This was the most tactful way of asking the question that Xiao Pingchuan could find.

At this moment, sunlight streamed in through the cracks in the window, forming a narrow strip on the floor, looking rough and uneven.

Yuanxiang stared at it for a long time, her mind wandering, lost in thought.

"Ha, what problem could I possibly have?" Yuanxiang chuckled. "It's just a long-held wishful thinking."

Xiao Pingchuan got goosebumps from hearing this. He truly regarded Yuanxiang as his own sister, and hearing such words made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

“Don’t talk nonsense,” he said. “That’s wrong, you know? There are so many men in the world, you could just pick one at random, right?”

"Could any random person you pick be as good at fighting as you? Could they be as good as you...?"

“Stop, halt, I don’t want to hear it. You can’t stay in the capital, and Ningyuan isn’t suitable either,” he muttered to himself. “How about I send you to Liangzhou? It’s more prosperous than Ningyuan.”

"All you ever do is try to get rid of me," Yuanxiang cried out in despair.

Xiao Pingchuan was about to lose his temper. "Then what can I do? I can't exactly kill you, can I? What are you doing here if you're not leaving? I can't possibly have anything going on with you, right?"

"Besides, Liangzhou is indeed better than Jinzhou. I'll give you some money, and you can go there and start over."

"No, I'm not leaving."

Xiao Pingchuan's expression was serious: "Listen to me, Yuanxiang, you have to go out and see. There are too many men in the world who are better than me. You'll know once you go and see for yourself."

"There will never be anyone better than you." Yuanxiang's voice was trembling with tears.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Pingchuan paused for a moment, then said softly, "You know what? I think of her the same way."

Yuanxiang's crying suddenly stopped; he knew he was talking about Shen Suqin.

“Looks like I’m luckier than you,” Xiao Pingchuan sighed. “Come on, I’ll arrange for you to leave with your aunt tonight.”

Yuanxiang looked at him quietly without saying a word, and remained silent until they boarded the carriage leaving the city.

Xiao Pingchuan helped Aunt Jiang into the car with her luggage and said to her, "Auntie, find a suitable family for Yuanxiang. Don't let her do whatever she wants anymore. I'll pack the money in your bundle. I've also arranged for someone to take care of you over there. Don't worry after you get there, just live a good life."

Aunt Jiang nodded, wiping away her tears. She knew there was truly no hope this time.

With a creak, the carriage started moving, and Xiao Pingchuan turned and returned to his residence.

Yuanxiang lifted the carriage curtain and took one last look at the General's Mansion. It felt as if something had fallen to the ground in her heart.

The carriage turned a corner and stopped. Shen Suqin's voice came from outside the carriage: "Yuanxiang, there are many other things worth doing in this life besides men. You're smart; you'll do well no matter what you focus your attention on. As for Xiao Pingchuan..."

Yuanxiang suddenly lifted the curtain, "I'm giving him to you, I don't want him anymore."

She saw Shen Suqin leaning against the wall, her posture languid and casual, and she replied with a smile, "He wasn't someone you gave up for me; he chose me himself. Now that you've decided to leave the General's Mansion, go and see the world for yourself." Shen Suqin straightened up and said nonchalantly, "See more, raise your standards. When you have more than one man in your heart, you'll find that life is much more interesting than you think."

"And what about you? What's on your mind?"

"Me? Making money and men."

Yuanxiang: "......"

After a long while, Yuanxiang lowered the curtain and whispered, "Thank you."

Shen Suqin nodded; she knew she had taken it to heart.

The moon is fullest on the sixteenth day of the lunar month, not the fifteenth.

That night, when the moon was at its highest, largest, and brightest, Shen Suqin took a bottle of wine to the roof. She lay on the ridge, lazily drinking and admiring the moon.

Before long, Xiao Pingchuan came up with the wine.

He sat down next to her, turned to the side, and covered her legs with an outer garment.

Neither of them tacitly mentioned Yuanxiang.

“The last time we drank together on the rooftop was several years ago. You wanted to leave right after we started drinking that day, and I didn’t know why at the time. When I found out later, I was really angry and embarrassed,” Xiao Pingchuan said with a smile.

Shen Suqin laughed along, "Who would have thought you'd confess your feelings right away? We'd only known each other for a short time back then!"

"But you gave me a love token sachet the moment we met, so how can you blame me for being presumptuous?"

"What did you say?" Shen Suqin asked in shock. "What is a love token purse?"

Xiao Pingchuan sat up: "It was the first time we met, when you stopped me on the street and insisted on giving me that purse. You don't know that in Liang, when a woman gives a man a purse, it means she likes him, right?"

Shen Suqin opened her mouth: "I took that purse as a gift to apologize, I never thought of it as a token of our love."

Xiao Pingchuan gritted his teeth: "No wonder. Also, what about all that calling me 'husband' all the time?"

She was really daring to shout, shouting in front of dozens of gamblers in Cangshuang Tower, and shouting in front of hundreds of soldiers in the training ground. No wonder he got caught up in it.

Shen Suqin felt a little guilty and whispered, "Some were invited to come for fun, and some were forced by circumstances."

On the training ground, when she went to save people as their fiancée, what else could she call her but her husband?

Xiao Pingchuan took a deep breath: "Forget it, it's all in the past. I need to think more positively. Anyway, I ended up bringing you home, so it wasn't for nothing that I begged and pleaded with you all the way. You're so amazing, I didn't lose out at all."

"What if there's someone even more skilled than me?"

"Madam, don't you think it's hurtful to say such things?"

Whose heart are you trying to destroy?

"my heart."

The moon overhead was as large as a silver plate, dotted with stars, and wispy clouds drifted by. The night breeze carried the mellow aroma of wine, mixed with the cool fragrance of Chen Suqin's perfumed clothes.

Even today, Xiao Pingchuan still feels like he's dreaming.

Because Shen Suqin liked him, he couldn't help but smile whenever he thought about it.

“Shen Zhaozhao”.

He held the three words between his lips and teeth, licking them repeatedly. His scarlet tongue slid across his lips, leaving a wet trail.

"Um?"

“Shen Suqin”.

Shen Suqin chuckled: "What?"

Xiao Pingchuan let himself lie down, his back resting on the cold roof tile. "Shout out to me, I want to call out to you."

Shen Suqin rolled over and lay on his chest, brushing a strand of hair across his eyes as she did so, whispering, "You know what? You were looking at me so intently back then, so intently that I thought it would be the first and the last time."

Xiao Pingchuan didn't realize what she was referring to at first, but when he did, he blushed instantly and stammered, "Why are you saying this?"

This is also one of the things that Shen Suqin likes about him. On the battlefield, Xiao Pingchuan is as fierce as a wolf when facing the enemy; he is indifferent and aloof when facing strangers; but only when facing her, he will be shy, at a loss, and pretend to be pitiful and innocent, and he will even lose face and be shameless.

"You don't like listening to this?" Shen Suqin teased him deliberately.

Xiao Pingchuan turned his face away and said softly, "No, not exactly."

Shen Suqin glanced at him lazily, her voice soft and sweet, enticingly saying, "General, how about a once-in-a-lifetime encounter?"

Xiao Pingchuan suddenly turned to look at her, his eyes questioning.

Shen Suqin smiled but remained silent.

The following day, His Majesty summoned General Xiao and his wife.

The palace looks exactly the same as it did a few years ago, and because it hasn't been renovated, it even looks older than it did a few years ago.

The palace path remained narrow, and Xiao Pingchuan exuded a cold aura. His joints seemed to be unable to bend, standing as straight as a sword.

Beside the two, Eunuch Yan was leading the way.

He looked at the two of them with a sense of satisfaction, as if they were his own two younger relatives.

"How well is your father-in-law doing lately?" Xiao Pingchuan asked.

Eunuch Yan replied with a smile, "Thanks to the general, this old servant is in good health."

Listening to their conversation, Shen Suqin added, "Your Excellency is getting old, so please take care of your health. If one day you wish to leave the palace to retire, I can speak to His Majesty on your behalf."

"Oh, thank you, Madam. This old servant will remember it."

Upon entering the imperial study, Emperor Xingwu was reading memorials. He casually greeted the two men, then ordered someone to provide seats and tea before continuing to read his own memorials.

Shen Suqin and Xiao Pingchuan sat in their seats, occasionally whispering to each other.

After about half a cup of tea's time, Shi Ye closed the last memorial and complained, "That Minister of Revenue is so long-winded. Every time he submits a memorial, he talks a lot of nonsense and never gets to the point."

Shen Suqin raised her teacup to him: "I sympathize with you."

Shi Ye coldly curled the corners of his mouth and said, "I called you two in today for no other reason than to have you have a meal with me and make up for the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet."

There was a banquet in the palace yesterday, and Shi Ye deliberately didn't let Xiao Pingchuan come, just so as not to disturb them.

I'm making up for it today, firstly because last night's banquet was uninteresting and lacked any sense of family reunion; secondly, I'm afraid others might misunderstand and think I'm neglecting Xiao Pingchuan.

"Okay," Xiao Pingchuan replied.

The dishes were served. The food prepared by the imperial kitchen was naturally exquisite, but Shen Suqin looked closely and found that they were all ordinary ingredients and the portions were not large, enough for about three or four people. It seemed that they had made extra because Xiao Pingchuan had a large appetite.

"Try them, these are all things I usually find palatable," Shi Ye said.

Shen Suqin took a couple of bites and found them quite good. "If you ask me, you have plenty of silver in your treasury now, so there's no need to live so frugally."

The imperial palace is not well maintained, and meals consist of only one or two more dishes than those in ordinary households, which is really unlike the imperial family.

"You rich people don't understand that money should be spent wisely."

Shen Suqin: "..."