NOVPUBNo matter what situations Hua Xiong faced there at Mount Tai, they were still busy with their year-end accounting as usual. Actually, the group of civil officials at Mount Tai was confident that Hua Xiong couldn’t possibly run into any trouble. After all, Hua Xiong’s legion was nearly immune to ambushes, plus Hua Xiong was always careful with setting up camp, so it was unlikely for anyone to catch him off guard.
As for the possibility of being crushed in battle, everyone, including Chen Xi, knew that simply wasn’t possible. Besides, Yu Jin, Zhang Fei, and Liu Ye were at most two days’ march away from Hua Xiong. Chen Xi and the others couldn’t believe there was anyone capable of wiping out Hua Xiong to the point where not even scraps were left. 𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑝𝑢𝘣.𝘤𝑜𝘮
"Finish it up quickly," Lub Su tossed a stack of things to Chen Xi and summed up with a couple of sentences of instruction.
"When will these days end?" Chen Xi complained frantically, only to find that nobody at the table paid him any mind; everyone had business to attend to.
"Drink tea." Mi Zhen came over with the teapot in a huff and filled Chen Xi’s cup to the brim.
"Hey, hey, hey, a lady-in-waiting needs to have a smile. At least make us feel happy going to work!" Chen Xi said as he looked at Mi Zhen’s stern face.
"Then don’t drink," Mi Zhen, who was pouring the tea, retorted discontentedly, then turned and walked away with the teapot, even taking the teacup with her.
"Hey..." Chen Xi turned in his chair and reached out, but before he could grab Mi Zhen, he got slapped on the back of his hand.
"Zhen’er, stop messing around," Mi Zhu couldn’t stand to watch anymore and looked up to caution her with a glance.
"Why do I have to do this? Am I just some tea-serving maid?" Mi Zhen asked indignantly.
"Because you’re the only lady-in-waiting," Mi Zhu said with some helplessness. He couldn’t just say that, influenced by Second Miss Cai, Zhen Mi, and Jia Yun, Mi Zhen had become overly naïve and free-spirited. The well-behaved girl he had worked so hard to cultivate was now completely gone, leaving Mi Zhu no choice but to plan to start her training all over again.
When Mi Zhu recalled how dignified Mi Zhen looked serving as a lady-in-waiting during last year’s New Year, he grimaced and went to ask Liu Bei to appoint Mi Zhen as a lady-in-waiting again. Well, times had changed, and that all could be said about it now.
Anyway, ever since Mi Zhen was dragged here by Mi Zhu after shopping with Cai Zhenji (I finally found out the courtesy name for Second Miss Cai; her actual name remains undiscovered), she hadn’t been in a good mood, keeping a stern face all the time. She was a bit nicer to people like Lub Su, but she never showed a hint of friendliness towards Mi Zhu and Chen Xi—the ones she knew best.
"Is this what a lady-in-waiting is supposed to do?" Mi Zhen scoffed. "Sister Zhaoji, that’s what you call a lady-in-waiting. What I am is more like a maid, hmph!" Mi Zhen left her brother with the back of her head.
"As if you could transcribe a hundred thousand volumes by heart," Chen Xi murmured to himself as he turned to look at her, speaking half to himself.
"Hmph!" Mi Zhen glared angrily at Chen Xi, but because Lub Su, Li Youu, and others were present, she forcefully suppressed the urge to rush over and hit him. However, she secretly noted this down against Chen Xi in her heart.
Sunx Qian, with an expressionless face, was studying maps and thinking about water conservancy and dam structures, but inwardly he was already chuckling. Ever since Mi Zhen had come in, she had been looking for trouble. At first, she targeted Mi Zhu, but now Chen Xi had become her main target. After all, who let Chen Xi look so youthful and be more familiar with Mi Zhen?
"Ah..." Chen Xi sprawled listlessly on the table, stretching his arms out long, and dragged his face across the table, heaving a long sigh, "Mi Zhen, you better get married soon. If not, let Second Miss or Zhen Mi serve as the lady-in-waiting..."
"Ouch..." Chen Xi twitched a couple of times and then decided to stop talking. He had been pinched, and was thankful that this was the Political Office. If this had happened at his home, he might by now have been hit on the head with the spine of a book.
Mi Zhen glanced at her own thumb before giving it another twist, but Chen Xi still lay motionless, playing dead. Confused, she lifted her hand again to examine her fingers, then reached out to pinch once more.
"Ah~" Chen Xi let out a scream, Lub Su looked up with a sigh, and Zhuge Liang held his teacup, feeling fortunate he had gotten engaged. Otherwise, if Mi Zhu had tried to pawn Mi Zhen off on him, it would have been tragic indeed.
"Zhen’er!" Mi Zhu called out irritably, then felt it was somewhat unseemly and reconsidered, realizing he had never scolded Mi Zhen before. Deciding it wasn’t worth it over such a trifle, his tone softened and he waved his hand, "Never mind, never mind, go out and play."
A smile spread across Mi Zhen’s face as she tossed the teapot toward Chen Xi and ran out, lifting her skirts. It was only after Mi Zhen had left that Mi Zhu remembered to ask, "Do you have money?"
"No need for money, just write an IOU, and they’ll deliver it to the house," Mi Zhen called back over her shoulder with a giggle as she ran out. And then...
"Bang!" Jia Xu, feeling slightly dazed, pulled himself up from the door where he had been leaning. He then gave a sigh as he looked at Mi Zhen who stuck out her tongue, slightly worried, and waved her off, not in the mood to squabble with the younger generation. His daughter and Mi Zhen got along well, so he just gestured for her to stop causing trouble.
"Uncle Jia, are you all right?" Mi Zhen asked cautiously.
"Go enjoy your shopping, I’m fine," Jia Xu said, somewhat resigned. Having said that, he no longer concerned himself with Mi Zhen and strode forward.
With her head down and a hint of distress, Mi Zhen watched Jia Xu walk in, then followed him once again.
"Brother Wen He, let me apologize on behalf of my little sister," Mi Zhu said, having witnessed the incident. He rose to meet Jia Xu as soon as he walked in, bowed respectfully, then shot a sidelong glare at Mi Zhen, who looked back at her elder brother with slight trepidation.
"Forget it," Jia Xu said expressionlessly. Mi Zhen was no stranger to bumping into others; even Liu Bei had fallen victim to her. Though that one time, it was Mi Zhen who had tripped. "Zichuan, let’s go see the dogs. I’ve rounded up all the dog walkers in Fenggao. Of course, there are plenty of dogs as well, and the horse keepers have been gathered too."
"Oh," Chen Xi brightened up and turned to Lub Su, saying, "Zijing, I’ve got something I need to take care of, so I’ll leave these matters to you."
"Kongming, will you be able to finish up?" Lub Su lifted an eyelid and tilted his head towards Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang, whose pen flew across the paper without even looking up, replied, "No problem."
"..." Chen Xi pulled a face. Lub Su was a workaholic, and Zhuge Liang was a super workaholic, having once completed a day’s work in ten hours—truly a tough one. But it was precisely because of this that he had managed to swindle a jade pendant from Jia Xu.
"I’ll come too," Mi Zhen, who wasn’t afraid of Chen Xi the way she was of Jia Xu, felt her fondness for puppies overflow in an instant, making them incredibly cute to her.
Chen Xi glanced sideways at Jia Xu, whose indifferent expression might as well have said, ’If you want to take her, go ahead.’ For Jia Xu, the point was simply to show Chen Xi the ropes. Afterwards, everyone would pick a dog they liked and take it home to raise; the rest was just smoke and mirrors.
"Then let’s go, but just don’t cause any trouble," Chen Xi nodded in agreement, having recently realized that Mi Zhen was actually rather bored. Every day, if she wasn’t playing with Cai Zhenji and the others, she was hovering around him. In all of Mount Tai, the number of age-appropriate men who could play with her, and who weren’t after her family’s riches, could probably be counted on one hand. And he was the most reassuring of those age-appropriate men to Mi Zhen.
(To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for it or purchase a monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
