"Miss, the General's Mansion has gone too far!"
The maidservant closed the door, slammed the teapot on the table, and complained to Bai Zhiyi, who was sitting beside her, "When Miss came before, she was given plain water. Now that Miss has come with His Majesty's envoy, she's still given plain water!"
Bai Zhiyi asked, "What about Eunuch Yang?"
"It's just plain boiled water with a few straw stalks added," the maid said, picking up the teapot and pouring water into the teacup. "Those straw stalks, you'd think they were taken off a straw hat. Eunuch Yang took a sip and spat it out. Who drinks plain boiled water after dinner?"
Bai Zhiyi smiled slightly, picked up the teacup and took a sip of water: "Eunuch Yang drinks fine tea all day long in the palace. It's normal that he can't get used to plain water."
Seeing that she was still laughing, the maid muttered, "Miss, you're still laughing. You suffered a great loss last time you came. Your face and nose were scraped, and you were kicked out of the General's Mansion by that Wei Jingzhuo..."
Bai Zhiyi glared at him: "Who gave you permission to call His Highness by his name?"
The maid stuck out her tongue, turned around, picked up the lampshade, and used a stick to adjust the wick to light the candle. She said, "Then, young master, is that alright? Miss, don't forget, it was the young master who said you weren't allowed to step into this place."
Bai Zhiyi put down her teacup and said, "Now that I'm in the General's Mansion, aren't I?"
After saying that, she chuckled softly with a hint of smugness.
She followed Yang Yaozu to the general's mansion hoping to gain access to this place again. Yang Yaozu carried the emperor's decree, allowing him free entry and exit to any location.
The only slight regret was that I learned on the way that Wei Jingzhuo and Su Wan were growing potatoes in the north of Youzhou, not at the General's Mansion.
The situation has developed in a way that is completely different from her memory.
In his previous life, Wei Jingzhuo led 200,000 Northwest troops to wipe out the Western Rong, but now he is negotiating peace with the Western Rong.
Wei Jingzhuo is still the same Wei Jingzhuo; the only variable is Su Wan. Under Su Wan's influence, everything begins to move towards a future she could never have imagined.
To restore everything to normal, we must first eliminate the abnormal elements.
She was lost in thought when her maid asked, "Miss, what are you thinking about? Why did your expression suddenly change?"
Bai Zhiyi raised her hand and rubbed her forehead, saying, "It's nothing. Have the young master and the others come to the General's Mansion?"
The maid said, "I don't know. I'll go ask someone from the General's Mansion. Miss, you must be tired from your journey. Lie down and rest for a while. I'll help you to bed when I get back."
Bai Zhiyi stood up and said, "No need, you go and find out the information, I'll go to bed by myself."
After the maid left, Bai Zhiyi came to the bedside, lifted the curtain and hung it on the hook, then reached out and pressed her hand on the bed, her expression changing.
There wasn't even a mattress under the bed sheet; it was just a hard wooden board.
What does this mean? Is this how the General's Mansion entertains imperial envoys? Even ordinary people's beds have at least a mattress, right? Lying down like this is no different from lying on the floor.
She could endure eating coarse flour cakes and drinking plain water, all for the sake of her beloved.
I can't believe they don't even provide the necessary bedding these days, it's just...
She turned around and shouted, "Someone come here!"
A maid from the general's mansion entered in response, yawning as she said, "Miss Bai, did you call for me?"
"This is the bed the General's Mansion prepared for me!?"
The maid followed her finger and looked at the bed, then said with an "Oh," "Miss Bai, this is the bed prepared for you by the General's Mansion, that's right."
"Where's the mattress?" Bai Zhiyi pointed to the bed. "And the blanket?"
"A mattress? A quilt?" The maid looked surprised. "Miss Bai, you don't know, do you? We don't use mattresses or quilts when we sleep in the General's Mansion."
Bai Zhiyi raised her eyebrows: "You're lying. When I came last time, there were clearly mattresses and blankets."
"Miss Bai, when was the last time you came?" the maid asked. "It was still summer then."
"What does this have to do with the quilts and mattresses?" Bai Zhiyi didn't understand for a moment what the maid was saying and what the quilts and mattresses on the bed had to do with it.
The maid said, "Miss Bai, the imperial court has stopped sending military rations to Youzhou. The general has been struggling to hold on for quite some time now."
"Then?"
"The weather is getting colder now, and it's estimated that it will snow in another half month. The soldiers in the Northwest Camp also need to keep warm, right?"
"so?"
The maid spread her hands: "So, the blankets and mattresses from the General's Mansion have all been sent to the Northwest Camp and distributed to the soldiers."
Bai Zhiyi almost cursed out loud when she heard the maid talking nonsense.
It's true that Youzhou is poor, but is it so poor that even the general's mansion doesn't have bedding?
As an educated noblewoman, she suppressed her impulse and said, "How could that be? Don't the soldiers in the Northwest Camp even have bedding for winter? How did they get through the winters before?"
The maid said, "Miss Bai, you don't know this. The soldiers in the Northwest Camp did have bedding, but later the military rations ran out, and everyone was so hungry that they ate a lot of their bedding as food..."
Hearing this, Bai Zhiyi was basically certain. The General's Mansion had done it on purpose.
No wonder General Zhao Xian looked so impatient when he greeted their caravan. He was clearly trying to make her uncomfortable.
She was indignant. If she simply accepted the maid's fabricated story, she would appear incredibly foolish. So she said to the maid, "So, this is how the General sleeps too?"
The maid smiled and said, "You mean the General? He originally wanted to send all the bedding to the soldiers in the Northwest Camp. But the soldiers wouldn't accept it. They said the General is getting old, and if he doesn't cover himself with a blanket at night, he'll catch a cold and how will he be able to command the army?"
"What about the general's granddaughter, Zhao Xiyue?"
“You mean my young lady?” the maid said. “The general couldn’t bear to see his granddaughter without bedding, so he gave his own bedding to my young lady.”
"Then the general doesn't have any bedding?"
"No, no, no. The soldiers in the Northwest Camp saw that the General didn't have any bedding, so they sent him another set..."
Bai Zhiyi really didn't want to listen to the maid anymore, so she interrupted her and said, "You mean, only my room is like this?"
The maid smiled and said, "Miss Bai, you are overthinking it. There are usually not many outsiders visiting the General's Mansion, so the bedding in the guest rooms has all been sent out. The same goes for Eunuch Yang's side."
Bai Zhiyi had no choice but to send the maid away. She left the guest room and headed towards Yang Yaozu's room.
Yang Yaozu is His Majesty's imperial envoy; she doesn't believe that even Yang Yaozu receives this treatment.
Just as they turned the corner of the corridor, they saw a male servant from the general's mansion rushing to the door of Yang Yaozu's room, carrying a stack of food boxes. He knocked on the door, panting, and said, "Eunuch Yang, I've brought you the food you requested."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
