Female General (V)
The next morning, they simply packed their bags and rushed back to Gou Su's residence to report.
The scorching sun made me sweat profusely in an instant.
Achou handed each of them a palm-leaf fan and then led them into the house.
When I walked into the mansion, I realized that it was terrifyingly huge.
Different from other high-ranking officials' residences, Gou Su's house does not have rockery or large gardens, but is filled with sword and gun racks and martial arts training grounds.
Fortunately, there is a row of flowers and plants winding along the corridor, which can offset some of the solemn atmosphere here.
However, after the two entered the room, they did not see Gou Su, but were taken directly to the bedroom prepared for them by Achou.
"This place has been abandoned for many years. I gave it a rough cleaning, and the rest needs to be cleaned up by you two." As Ah Chou said this, he took out the key and turned the copper lock hanging on the wooden door.
The door creaked open, and fortunately there wasn't much dust, so I could see the furnishings inside clearly.
"Thank you, Brother Chou." Mu You tugged at the bag on his shoulder and placed it on the table. "So what do we need to do later?"
Ah Scandal rolled his eyes and replied, "There aren't many things to do in the mansion on a normal day. You guys can clean up first, and then come find me in the kitchen after you're done."
"good……"
After saying that, Ah Chou turned around and closed the door for the two of them, leaving only silence.
Xiao Lin didn't know whether it was because there were too few people in the mansion or for some other reason, but he always felt that even with Mu You accompanying him, it was still unusually quiet.
The quieter the surroundings became, the more her heartbeat became unspeakable.
"I... let's clean up quickly... after that, we can discuss our next plan..."
"Oh, okay."
Achou was thoughtful and specially prepared rags, basins and brooms for the two of them. He roughly divided the work, and Xiao Lin and Mu You immediately rolled up their sleeves and marked out the areas.
"By the way, what did Chu Mo say before?" Mu You couldn't help but chat with Xiao Lin while standing on a wooden stool and trying to reach the edge of the window top.
Xiao Lin had just wrung out a rag from the basin and shook off the water droplets on his hands. "The general accidentally fell into a trap set by someone with ulterior motives, became a pawn in the power struggle at court, and ultimately committed suicide."
"The imperial court? It's related to the imperial court?" Mu You was shocked, as if he had heard it for the first time. "How could she be involved in the imperial court?"
"What's so difficult about it? The general himself is also a member of the court."
"Then... who could be trying to harm her? She's been General Zhaowu for so many years?"
Suddenly, Xiao Lin paused for a moment, then went back to wiping the dust off the table. "I don't know. I can't figure it out."
Xiao Lin's voice sounded a little tired. Mu You blinked his eyes and didn't dare to say anything.
After pondering for a moment, he quietly expressed his guess: "No, it can't be Huang Heng, right?"
"I think it's quite empty." Xiao Lin retorted, not cheering up at all. "Huang Heng seems to hold a low position. He was so polite yesterday, so he must be lower than a general. What can a small official do? And force Gou Su to commit suicide? I think the chances are slim."
"That's right." Mu You thought about it and felt that what Xiao Lin said made sense.
Since Huang Heng is not it, who else could it be?
Could it be that there will be new characters later?
The more I thought about it, the bigger my head got. Now that I'm away from Chu Mo, my future has become even more confusing.
“I should have known better than to be so impulsive…” Mu You muttered softly, “I should have asked him again before leaving…”
"It's okay. We can always go back to him when we have time. It's not like we're breaking up with him."
That’s right, the two of them still have some feelings for Chu Mo.
Things are not clear at the moment and there is no need to rush.
After a long while of hard work, my back, which had finally dried up, became soaked again after all this rubbing.
Xiao Lin still had one last set of tables and chairs to clean. Mu You quickly put down the broom, and seeing that she hadn't stopped yet, he slowly walked over and grabbed the rag: "Let me do it, you go take a break."
Before Xiao Lin could react, Mu You took her place.
She didn't hesitate. Since he wanted to do this job, she picked up a palm-leaf fan and fanned him herself.
The hot wind blew sideways into the bedroom, bringing a moment of coolness. With the movement of Xiao Lin's wrist, it became a little cooler.
However, this slight coolness could not take away the sweat on the back of Mu You's neck. His hair was messy and sticky, and new sweat was oozing from the roots of his hair.
Mu You is different from ordinary boys. He doesn't have that unpleasant smell on his body. Even if he is sweating profusely, he can't smell the odor.
Therefore, even if Xiao Lin was very close, so close that his back was almost touching hers, he would not force her back with the stench.
"Okay! It's done!" After wiping off the last corner of filth, Mu You straightened up and threw the rag into the basin, splashing water.
Just as Xiao Lin was about to pick up the basin of dirty water and go out, Mu You got there first again.
Unable to defeat him, she had no choice but to follow his lead and walk out quietly.
However, they had not taken a few steps when Ah Chou came towards them holding a tray.
His voice was so pleasant: "You guys are here? I just made a pot of mung bean soup. I just let it cool down a bit and added sugar and ice. You two can take some and have some!"
The green soup rippled in the coarse earthenware bowl, and half a bowl of bean paste wrapped in crushed ice instantly sank to the bottom of the bowl, with a few pieces of shredded bean skin floating on the surface, which looked very pleasant.
“Thank you so much!”
Xiao Lin was so excited that tears were about to burst out of his eyes. He picked up one of the bowls with both hands without hesitation, regarded it as a great way to relieve the heat, and drank it all in one gulp.
Mu You could still hold on, but when his eyes fell on the smoothie clinging to the wall of the bowl, his throat unconsciously became a little thirsty. Then, seeing Xiao Lin drink it, he thanked him and drank up every drop.
Ah Chou looked at the two of them drinking happily and raised the corners of his lips.
"Brother Chou," Mu You roughly wiped the bean paste from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and asked, "By the way, where is the general?"
After he said this, Ah Chou's expression obviously dimmed a little, and then he said: "The general took the token to go and recognize Mr. Huang."
Xiao Lin was surprised when he heard this: "A token? What token?"
Ah Chou was surprised to find that the two of them were so interested in this matter. He was startled and stammered in response, "It's... it's that when the general was a child, he pulled a jade disk from Young Master Huang's belt..."
"What about you? Don't you have a birthmark on the back of your neck?"
Achou became more and more suspicious of the two, and the continuous questioning really made him confused.
Seeing him dazed, Mu You realized that his behavior was inappropriate and quickly restrained his fierceness: "Sorry... I'm a little excited..."
Ah Chou, on the other hand, still shook his head gently, and stroked the back of his neck with the tip of one finger: "It's okay, although I also have a birthmark, but I'm not the one the general is looking for."
Ah Chou confessed everything on his own, and even though Xiao Lin and Mu You had guessed a lot before, the story did not develop according to the old routine.
Achou should be a family servant who only has a master-servant relationship with Gou Su.
Seeing that the atmosphere was a little off, Xiao Lin stepped forward and changed the subject: "Oh...oh, by the way, Brother Chou, why are you wearing a mask?"
"Ah, you're asking that?" Ah Chou said with a gentle face, not shying away from the topic. He put on the mask as he spoke, "I was ugly when I was a child, with sores all over my face. Later, I accidentally got burned by fire and my face was disfigured. I didn't want to scare others, so I put on a mask..."
He spoke calmly, but Xiao Lin felt inexplicably sad.
At this moment, Mu You happened to say something irrelevant: "Brother Ah Chou, how did you and the general know each other? Why has the general only had you as a servant for all these years?"
As soon as he asked the question, Ah Chou's eyes twitched twice, and his fingertips gripped the edge of the tray in an unmanned area.
After a moment's silence, he began to speak: "I've been a servant in someone else's family since I was a child, the lowest kind, emptying slops and pouring nightshades. These kinds of jobs that no one wants to do are almost always done by me. If they do something wrong, they push me out to take the blame..."
"When I was ten years old, I accidentally cut the young master's finger because I didn't trim the potted plants properly. The master was furious and kicked me out of the house. To vent his anger, he even... poured a bucket of slop on me..."
Just standing there and listening to Ah Chou's words, Xiao Lin and Mu You's facial features could no longer relax.
It turned out that before he met Gou Su, he had already endured so much pain alone.
It must be difficult to remain kind today.
"I was thrown into the street by them, and it was the general who saw me. She was so small, but she didn't mind my stench at all, and insisted that I follow her. She herself had no parents, and she joined the army by secretly learning martial arts. After years of hard work, she finally made military achievements and sat in the position she has now..."
"I don't know how to repay her. I can only work like a slave for her, but she doesn't want to. She said that she is not buying a servant, but saving a heartless person. To repay her, I will stay here. When she is not in the mansion, I will also manage it in an orderly manner. This is all I can do..."
Achou's voice is long, gentle like water, and without any ripples.
But Xiao Lin was moved by what she heard. The calmer he was, the more she couldn't hold back her tears.
Mu You, who used to be noisy, suddenly changed his behavior and stared at the eyes hidden under Achou's mask without saying a word.
He suddenly felt a resonance and realized something—
Ah Chou spoke each word lightly, but a barely perceptible hint of love flowed from his lips as they opened and closed.
Perhaps because they were in similar situations, Mu You suddenly understood his intentions.
He suddenly realized that Ah Chou had been with Gou Su for more than ten years, and he had also been with Xiao Lin for more than ten years, but the gap between them had never been removed.
Ah Chou is cautious and doesn't dare to alert the enemy. So, does that mean he should not confess to Xiao Lin?
The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. While Xiao Lin was still chatting with Achou, Mu You was already scratching his head in annoyance behind him.
Should he confess or not? But he had clearly already done so. Could it be that he hadn't said it clearly, and Xiao Lin hadn't understood what he meant?
Then confess again?
Maybe Xiao Lin just wanted to reject him politely, so he didn't mention it for a long time, for fear that he would be sad if he made it clear.
"I'm so annoyed, so annoyed." Mu You's muttering suddenly became louder, attracting the attention of Achou and Xiao Lin.
Feeling guilty, he forced a smile and waved his hand: "No...it's okay, don't worry about me..."
Xiao Lin was used to his eccentric behavior, so he didn't take it to heart.
She wanted to talk to Ah Chou for a few more words, but Ah Chou lost interest and gave her a special request: "If you have nothing to do, why don't you go to the street and bring me two jars of wine? There is not much left in the mansion."
Xiao Lin thought about declining politely, but responded subconsciously.
There's no way, it seems the time is not right yet.
She had no choice but to grab Mu You's sleeve, take the copper coin handed to her by Achou, and walk straight ahead.
Gou Su really loves wine, and she has a carefully built wine cellar in her mansion. However, she rarely comes back, and there are only a few jars of wine in the huge wine cellar.
According to Achou, Gou Su does not accept all kinds of wine and drinks, he has his own taste.
So, following Ah Chou's instructions, the two of them crossed the streets and went straight to a farmhouse wine shop at the end.
The shadow of the block wall climbed over the steaming heat on Tianling Street. The copper bells on the eaves of the wine shop rang muffledly, and the green cloth sign at the corner also hung droopy in front of the steamed cake stall.
On the other side, the leather bags unloaded by the merchants from the Western Regions were oozing with sweat and alkaline, mixed with the burnt aroma of roasted lamb, and stuck to the sweat beads on the back of the porters' bare necks. The sour plum juice in the ceramic bowl had long been stirred by the old woman selling tea until all the foam was gone.
It wasn't the first time Xiao Lin and Mu You had been out on the street, but every time they went out, they could see something unusual.
Perhaps because he is an introvert, Xiao Lin is fascinated by the warm lights of thousands of homes.
But at least it wasn't a bad thing. The two of them were clearly walking towards the wine shop, but they unknowingly and subconsciously stepped on the blue bricks in front of Liu Xiangju.
"What brings you here?"
"Well, maybe I'm used to walking..."
Xiao Lin sighed softly: "Forget it, forget it, since I'm here, let's go in and see what Boss Chu is doing..."
"That's right. It just so happens that Brother Chou gave me a lot, so I can ask him something."
The two hit it off immediately, grabbed the trouser legs that were stuck to their legs, and stepped in immediately.
Counting on fingers, although they had worked in Liuxiangju for not two or three years, it was almost a year. As a result, the two of them had come into contact with other odd jobs in the shop.
"Xiao Lin! Mu You!" The waiter, who was still clearing away the cups and plates, straightened up and shouted the moment he caught sight of them from the corner of his eye, "Why are you here?"
"Brother Wang!" Mu You took the lead in opening his arms and took him into his arms. "Long time no see, long time no see."
"Nonsense, you clearly just left today."
"Hahaha, that's right."
Brother Wang patted Mu You's sturdy back, then loosened his arms and started chatting with him: "You guys are also very courageous. You can leave as soon as you say so!"
Faced with his remarks, Xiao Lin and Mu You knew exactly why they had such "guts", but it was difficult to point it out, so they could only smile and cover it up.
Fortunately, Big Brother Wang didn't ask any further questions. He pulled the two people standing at the door to the side and asked with concern: "Since you two are not working here anymore, why did you come back? Did you forget to take anything?"
"No, no." Mu You shook his head repeatedly, "We came to ask Boss Chu something."
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Brother Wang immediately took over, bent his waist and muttered something, looking left and right, and pulled the two of them a few inches closer.
"Speaking of Boss Chu, he left right after you left this morning. Less than half an hour later, I happened to see him while I was out emptying the wastewater..."
"What did you see?"
"I saw with my own eyes that he pushed a man in a wheelchair into the backyard!"
"What?"
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