Chapter 21. His eyes stung, and his nose felt like it had been pinched...
On the evening of the day the review was completed, the emperor hosted a banquet to entertain the officials present. Zhan Yunmei disliked putting on an act in such occasions, but she couldn't leave either.
She politely declined the emperor's offer of a seat close to her, but the emperor, knowing her character and not one to insist, let her have her way.
Amidst the clinking of glasses and constant laughter at the banquet, Zhan Yunmei waved to someone beside her.
Yao Shuniang bent down and stepped forward, "General, what are your orders?"
With so many people around and it being noisy, and not wanting to speak loudly, Zhan Yunmei tilted her head slightly and covered half her face with her hand. "Send some food to the tents and tell Hua Lang not to wait for me. If he's tired, he can rest first."
"This servant will go right away."
She slowly withdrew from her position, straightening the hem of her dress that had folded over from turning to the side. At that moment, she felt an inscrutable gaze and looked up.
The boy sitting across from her was looking at her. When he saw her raise her head, he immediately smiled slightly.
His expensive clothes made him easy to recognize; Zhan Yunmei had seen him a few times. He was the emperor's maternal cousin, shared the emperor's surname, and was named Liang Rong, holding a nominal official position.
Although he became a member of the royal family later in life, he never suffered. He had his parents when he was young and the current emperor to support him when he was a teenager.
Zhan Yunmei returned his smile with a faint one.
Halfway through the banquet, the emperor had drunk quite a bit and left early after exchanging a few polite words. Zhan Yunmei naturally didn't linger and quietly left the tent while everyone around her was still enjoying themselves.
The autumn hunting grounds were located north of the capital, at a high altitude where the sun set early. Right now, the area outside the tent was ablaze with orange-red sunset clouds, and Zhan Yunmei walked out towards them.
Suddenly a commotion arose. Zhan Yunmei looked in that direction and saw a wild horse galloping out of the stables and running wildly across the riding field. The servants panicked and couldn't catch the horse.
A man squeezed out from behind the crowd, caught up with the wild horse in a few steps, mounted it, and tightened the reins. No matter how wild the horse was, it couldn't withstand his taming skills.
The spirited horse was reined in and tied back to the stable.
With the situation settled, there was nothing to worry about, and Zhan Yunmei continued walking towards the camp.
"General Zhan!"
Liang Rong walked up to her with a smile, "Long time no see, how have you been?"
"Everything is fine. How about Uncle Liang?" Zhan Yunmei smiled slightly, her smile gentle yet distant.
"Me? I'm always idling around, of course I'm doing well," Liang Rong said with a slightly embarrassed smile.
Seeing that he hesitated to speak, Zhan Yunmei knew it was nothing important, so she said, "I'm relieved that Uncle Liang is doing well. I won't bother you any longer, I'll be going now."
As she was about to leave, Liang Rong immediately became serious and caught up with her in small steps, showing Zhan Yunmei his hand, which was red from being pulled by the reins. "That horse pulled so hard on my hand just now. Does the general have any medicine? I was in a hurry to leave the manor and didn't expect to get injured."
Zhan Yunmei pointed to the medical officers' tent not far away, "Please come in."
Liang Rong became very unhappy. Zhan Yunmei showed him no concern whatsoever, which pained him. However, she seemed to be preoccupied, so he didn't want to bother her further.
Liang Rong hasn't accomplished much in recent years. He's not proficient in either literature or martial arts. If you had to say, he's only good at business. The emperor is his cousin, and beneath the surface of her scheming, she still wants what's best for him. She allocated him a batch of businesses near the sea, and he spent the last six months of the emperor's reign doing business by the sea.
In other words, he hadn't seen Zhan Yunmei for six months.
In the past, in the border town, the two families lived close by, and Liang Rong could find Zhan Yunmei by simply climbing over the wall. However, Zhan Yunmei was always with Rong Ning, so he had no chance to get close to her. He never expected that even after the establishment of the new dynasty, he still wouldn't have the chance to get close to her.
Having finally gotten this opportunity at the banquet, she didn't seem too keen to say much to him, so he deliberately spurred his horse to save the day.
"There's a beauty in the general's tent, Uncle Liang, perhaps you shouldn't get too close?"
Liang Rong frowned. Wasn't this a blatant attempt to discredit General Zhan? He looked over and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"
He smiled and said, "Uncle Liang, please don't be angry. I am the general's subordinate, Geng's deputy. I was just offering a friendly reminder."
Liang Rong frowned even more deeply. Of course, he didn't believe it, but suspicion arose again. He looked at the tent, deep in thought.
.
The tents were set up at the back, far from the banquet, hunting grounds, and horse farms, in a quiet environment that Hua Lang liked.
As Zhan Yunmei watched Hua Lang sitting at the small table, eating rice porridge in small bites, she couldn't help but smile. She had drunk alcohol at the banquet, and the strong liquor had made her dizzy only after she had drunk it. She wasn't drunk, and her mind was still very clear.
She shifted her position, took Hua Lang's free hand, and kneaded it in her palm.
Her beautiful finger bones were white with a hint of pink, and the blood was clear and translucent. The newly grown skin was tender and smooth, and she couldn't help but touch them for a while longer.
"General, you're already acting like a hooligan as soon as you get back?" Hua Lang glanced at Zhan Yunmei, her eyes narrowed, a smile never fading from her lips.
Zhan Yunmei placed Hua Lang's hand under her lips and gently kissed the thin back of his hand. "Hmm, I really like Eunuch Hua Lang, and I can't help but be a little flirtatious."
He had heard her sweet words countless times, and each time his ears would soften. This time was no exception. He awkwardly turned his face away and continued eating his porridge.
Although he was often embarrassed and ashamed by Zhan Yunmei's teasing, he always felt happy and expectant. He suppressed the corners of his mouth that wanted to turn up and calmly ate his meal.
She took in his subtle expressions and wanted to kiss him, but he was eating, so she decided not to disturb him and casually said something else: "And about that thing you mentioned, I'll look into it, don't worry."
Hua Lang paused for a moment, then retorted, "Who's afraid of Geng Qi?"
"Hmm, you're not afraid, so that means you care about me?"
Hua Lang was surprised by Zhan Yunmei's ability to respond to conversations. Sometimes he felt that she was actually very suitable to be a eunuch, because unlike those rough military generals, she was good at sweet talk.
“General, Uncle Liang has arrived and wishes to see you,” Yao Shuniang said from outside the curtain.
Zhan Yunmei dozed off on Hua Lang's shoulder for a while before slowly getting up, patting Xi Lan, and walking outside.
Hua Lang immediately became wary. He was no longer the Hua Lang who had connections and influence in the previous dynasty. Now he was just an insignificant figure in the General's Mansion.
By simply manipulating the servants in his mansion, he was completely unable to obtain information from the outside world. It could be said that his only connection to the world was the closed General's Mansion.
He didn't know who Liang Bo was, nor did he know any officials or ministers of the current dynasty. However, judging from past experience, this Liang Bo was very likely a relative of the emperor.
At first, Hua Lang didn't know whether this Uncle Liang was male or female, but soon he heard a man's voice, which sounded to be no more than twenty years old.
Hua Lang suddenly put down the ladle. He had only eaten a small half bowl of rice porridge and was far from full, yet he had no appetite to continue eating.
My heart pounded with anxiety. Could what Zhan Yunmei said last time have been true? Was she really that heartless...?
However, she didn't need to be good to only him. It wasn't uncommon for powerful people like them to keep several servants and pamper them one by one.
He couldn't hold back any longer and stepped forward a little. He then heard the man's voice, which was completely different from his own sharp and sarcastic voice. The man was young, spirited, and exuded a commanding presence.
He has a good physique, and perhaps his appearance is better than his. In short, he feels that the other person is better than him in every way, and there's no way to compare them.
Zhan Yunmei's gentle voice faintly reached Hua Lang's ears.
Hua Lang remained silent, retreating to the edge of the bed to wait for Zhan Yunmei to return. He just hoped she wouldn't bring anyone in, and would treat that old man the way she treated him; he found him disgusting.
The sun had completely set, and it was dark.
She hasn't come back yet.
His eyelids twitched; she must have taken that person somewhere else.
As the candle burned out and wax dripped down, Hua Lang reached out to add more oil, but burned his hand with the hot wax. Without a sound, he wiped away the grease.
The wax was probably too hot, making my eyes sore and my nose feel like it had been pinched.
When that tiny drop of water hit the back of his hand, Hua Lang suddenly snapped out of his daze, a simmering anger rising within him. He reached out and knocked over the wax tray.
Walking to the edge of the tent, I wanted to ask Yao Shuniang outside whether Zhan Yunmei was coming back.
He hesitated.
Is it really okay to spoil her mood at night?
If she likes it, he has no objection, nor is he entitled to object.
A note from the author:
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