Chapter 129 Fish Soup Chen Liangyu suddenly realized that the taste of fish wasn't quite right...
As dawn broke and morning exercises ended on the drill ground, the cooks carried the wooden buckets of rice to the mess shed next to the drill ground, lifted the steaming bucket lids, and banged on their copper ladles to announce that it was time to eat.
These past few days, there's been plenty of radish stew with meat, and also fish soup.
While the princess was rewarding the troops, the commander-in-chief returned to camp. The warehouses of the cooks were filled with wine jars and piles of meat. The cooks had finally done something for once and were no longer making do with coarse rice and pickled vegetables for breakfast. The soldiers propped their long spears against the wall of the armory and rushed towards it, the ranks swaying and jostling.
After Chen Liangyu finished discussing matters with several garrison generals, he lifted the thick curtain of the central command tent and walked out. His breath was white, and one could still hear laughter and curses mixed with "add half a spoonful of meat" coming from in front of the canteen.
The camp was filled with spears and halberds, a chaotic scene under the rising sun.
It was a little late in the depths of winter, around 7:45 AM. Chen Liangyu ordered someone to prepare some simple food and send it to Xie Wenjun's tent. Soon after, the cook brought over two bowls of fish soup and a few side dishes, which were handed over to the Changning Guard guarding the tent.
Chen Liangyu looked around and asked someone, "Where is Rong Jun?"
He was there last night, but I haven't seen him since this morning.
The Changning Guard pointed behind Chen Liangyu.
Rong Jun dragged a man out from a sheltered spot between the central command tent and the drill ground, holding him by the arm. The man shrank back, his face pale with fear, clutching a small booklet tightly in his hand. Rong Jun cursed as he approached.
Chen Liangyu recognized the man Rong was carrying and asked, "Lord Rong, why are you arresting him?"
“This kid is sneaking around, he’s up to no good.” Rong Jun let go of him and kicked him so that he knelt down in front of Chen Liangyu. “Xing Rui, you brat, does Yongdu pay you? You’re starting work so early? You’ve forgotten your old master for a new one, you’re a fence-sitter.”
Xing Rui threw herself at Chen Liangyu's feet, crying, "Boss, save me!"
Before Chen Liangyu could speak, Rong Jun slapped him on the back of the head: "Trying to get close won't work, give it to me."
He reached out to take the booklet from Xing Rui's hand, gripping one corner tightly, but Xing Rui stubbornly refused to let go. He pulled her back and forth, and Rong Jun raised his hand to slap her again, but Xing Rui trembled and still wouldn't let go.
"Let go!"
"No! Lord Rong, even if you beat me to death, I will not give you the notebook."
"Then I'll beat you to death!"
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xing Rui snatched back the booklet and clutched it to her chest. "Go ahead and hit me. If you kill me, it's just me who dies. But if you give the booklet to me, my wife, children, and elderly parents in Yongdu will all die too."
Rong Jun's slap was stopped by Chen Liangyu before it could land.
Chen Liangyu said, "Lord Rong, as the former chief of the Inspectorate, you should know that Yongdu is currently most wary of you and His Highness. Please don't make things difficult for him."
Rong Jun asked in surprise, "General, do you know who he is?"
Chen Liangyu said, "Back then, this kid secretly informed you of every move I made in the Sixteen Guards of the Southern Army, and you then reported it to Crown Prince Yizhang. Those days were truly like walking on thin ice for me."
Rong Jun chuckled awkwardly, then tugged at his hair again. He always had trouble with that tuft of hair when he was troubled. "There's no need to bring up such old, trivial matters anymore." He bowed apologetically. "I'll invite the General to a banquet another day to apologize."
"This drink is not to my liking, so please don't trouble yourself, Lord Rong."
Chen Liangyu told Xing Rui to go do what she was supposed to do and not stand there in the way. She usually turned a blind eye, pretending not to know that Xing Rui was the informant of the Prosecutor's Office. But now that the truth had been revealed, there was no point in pretending anymore.
Worry weighs heavily on my mind; I fear that another hidden threat will be discovered in Yongdu.
Xing Rui got up to run away, but Rong Jun grabbed her clothes and pulled her back. "He can't leave. If there are any words in that book that are detrimental to His Highness, they must not be sent back to Yongdu!"
Ying Rui's complexion had just recovered some color when it turned pale again.
Back in Yongdu, he had witnessed firsthand how a detective's identity was exposed, only to die suddenly from a serious illness a few days later. He knew those people were secretly eliminated, leaving no survivors. Therefore, he was willing to offend Gao Guan and be punished by being made a janitor, making himself appear useless, so as to stay away from the struggles of high-ranking officials and nobles and slowly while away his days. He had once been relieved by the sudden death of Crown Prince Yizhang, thinking he had escaped a calamity, but unexpectedly, he was drawn into new troubles.
Rong Jun has already decided to kill him, and it's unknown when he will suddenly die like those people before him.
He is nearing the end.
Xing Rui said, "Since things have come to this, Lord Rong, please let me eat first."
For a moment, Rong Jun thought he had misheard.
This kid knows the rules of the Prosecutor's Office. He's got a big heart; he can still eat even when he's about to die.
Xing Rui said, "Even death row inmates who are to be executed have to eat a last meal before they go to the guillotine."
Rong Jun coldly said, "You're quite open-minded..."
Before he could finish speaking, Xing Rui suddenly bowed down towards Xie Wenjun's tent, saying, "This humble servant greets Your Highness the Princess. Long live Your Highness the Princess."
Xie Wenjun had finished dressing and was standing outside the tent holding a hand warmer. Hearing the sound, she came over, placed the hand warmer in Chen Liangyu's hands, glanced at the young man kneeling on the ground, and said, "Isn't this your little follower from the Southern Court?"
Chen Liangyu asked, "Does Your Highness remember him?"
Xie Wenjun said, "I remember everyone around you."
Xing Rui looked up abruptly and hurriedly introduced herself: "Your Highness, do you still remember me? On the Lantern Festival of the seventeenth year of Xuan Yuan, I accompanied Your Highness and the General to release sky lanterns. That day, we passed a fortune-telling stall, and the old Taoist priest said that I was a toad trying to eat swan meat. If the General hadn't stopped me, I almost got into a fight with that old Taoist priest..."
Fearing he might continue reminiscing about divination or marriage, Chen Liangyu interrupted him, saying, "What are you trying to say, rambling on and on?"
Xing Rui kowtowed and said, "I beg Your Highness to spare my life."
Chen Liangyu said, "No one wants to kill you."
"Lord Rong, he..."
Chen Liangyu said, "Even when beating a dog, one must consider its owner. Xing Rui was brought by me, Lord Rong. Whether he lives or dies is up to me."
Rong Jun still had reservations: "Does the General trust him so much?"
"If he hadn't been trusted, he wouldn't be alive today."
Rong Jun turned to Xie Wenjun: "Your Highness, what do you mean?"
Xie Wenjun said, "I'll listen to her."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Xie Wenjun barely slept a wink last night, while Chen Liangyu fell asleep as soon as she lay down, her breathing deep and even. Xie Wenjun lingered in this unique sense of security, unwilling to fall asleep for a long time, as if staying up a little later would allow her to spend more time with Chen Liangyu.
Only in moments like these does Chen Liangyu truly belong to her alone.
She didn't know when she fell asleep. Her eyes were closed for only a moment. When she woke up, Chen Liangyu had already gone to the central command tent to discuss matters with several generals.
She's not here again.
Xie Wenjun nudged Chen Liangyu in an annoyed manner, walked past her, and turned back to look at her, saying, "Come here and have a meal with me."
Chen Liangyu smiled and said, "Okay, I'm coming."
Rong Jun tugged at his hair again, and after a moment, used the scabbard to lift Xing Rui up from the ground. "Come here too, and have dinner with me."
Xing Rui tucked the booklet into her clothes and looked at it intently, saying, "Lord Rong, I don't really want to dine with you."
"I did not consult with you."
"Oh well."
Rong Jun dragged Xing Rui to the food shed, and she was on the verge of tears.
The fish soup delivered to Xie Wenjun's tent was simmered over a small stove. The broth was milky white, and a few drops of clear sesame oil were added. Fresh fish soup was a good way to whet the appetite in the early morning when one's appetite was poor.
Chen Liangyu drank the fish soup until it was empty. She put down the empty spoon, and the whole fish meat was still left in the remaining soup at the bottom of the bowl.
She didn't touch the fried fish.
She could never completely remove all the small bones from the fish, and over time, she almost stopped eating fish.
A piece of white meat, with the fish bones removed, was quietly placed on a small plate in front of Chen Liangyu.
Xie Wenjun stirred the soup with a spoon, sipped the fish soup in the spoon, and then used wooden chopsticks to put a piece of fish into the spoon, carefully picking out all the fish bones.
Another piece of white meat was placed over, and Chen Liangyu suddenly realized that the taste wasn't so bad after all.
Xie Wenjun said, "Ying Rui is quite clever and not a bad person. He was just a kid when he followed you, but now he's married and has a family. People's hearts can change easily. Can he really be trusted?"
Chen Liangyu said, "I secretly looked at his precious notebook, and there was nothing in it that Yongdu wanted."
You still steal things?
"I returned it after I finished reading it."
"Your Highness, believe it or not, this boy remembers exactly when we fell asleep and when we woke up, but he doesn't write that we slept in the same bed."
This is a case of avoiding the important issues and focusing on the trivial.
Xie Wenjun said, "I guessed it was the same way. He went to great lengths to fool my brother back then."
Chen Liangyu asked, "Was Your Highness also fooled by him?"
The spoon tapped lightly on the rim of the bowl, making a clear sound, and Xie Wenjun paused in her grip on the spoon handle.
She understood the implied meaning.
What Chen Liangyu really wanted to ask was whether she had also sent people to keep an eye on the Xuanping Marquis's every move.
"Ah Li, the fish is getting cold."
Chen Liangyu pursed her lips and stopped asking further questions; the fish and meat on the plate had already piled up into a small mountain.
Chen Liangyu picked up a piece of fish with her chopsticks; the fish meat was tender and smooth in her mouth. Xie Wenjun carefully removed the bones; the fish bones were piled up on the plate, and the fish meat was cleaned up very well. She took a bite with peace of mind.
Chen Liangyu said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
There was a moment of silence in the tent.
Chen Liangyu felt somewhat guilty for asking such a question. Xie Wenjun was ambitious and had always had ways of controlling court officials. She would not allow powerful officials like the Marquis of Xuanping, who held a large army, to be allowed to operate freely.
Chen Liangyu said, "Whether it exists or not, there's no need for us to worry about it so much."
Xie Wenjun put down her chopsticks and bowl, lightly wiped her lips with a handkerchief, and said, "Let's go."
Where to?
Chen Liangyu was full of doubts. "Your Highness is rewarding the troops, why not stay a few more days?"
Xie Wenjun seemed even more puzzled than her. "My brother only allows me to stay in the Northern Territory for three days. I must return after three days."
Chen Liangyu's heart skipped a beat, "Your Highness is leaving today?"
Xie Wenjun's dignified face remained unchanged, but her earlobes were visibly red. She asked, "Where did you say you would take me yesterday?"
Yesterday, he said he would take her somewhere. Chen Liangyu replied, "To take a bath together."
Xie Wenjun straightened up and said, "What are we waiting for?"
Chen Liangyu inwardly complained that Xie Wenjun was rigid in her childhood and had become a hypocrite now. She seemed nonchalant and didn't care about anything, but in fact, she remembered every word Chen Liangyu had said and cared about it immensely.
"What are you laughing at?" Xie Wenjun asked.
It would have been better if she hadn't asked. The question caused a sudden, rising chuckle in Chen Liangyu's throat, which transformed into a series of laughs. She asked, "Your Highness, I have a question. Will Your Highness agree to anything I say?"
Yuan Rong draped the cloak over Xie Wenjun, lifted the tent flap, and Xie Wenjun went out first.
When Chen Liangyu caught up from behind, Xie Wenjun said seriously, "I don't agree to it even occasionally."
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