Chapter 6

“Does Zhang the constable dislike Lu Cha?”

Xu Lu Cha bit his lower lip, looking fragile. He lowered his head, on the verge of tears.

However, after waiting for a long time without receiving a response, he looked up to find that the person had already walked far away.

Xu Lu Cha angrily kicked the table leg, still not satisfied, he swept the food box on the table onto the ground.

Zi Yi was startled and quickly stood up: “Young master, mind your image.”

Xu Lu Cha looked around and saw that people had started to notice him. He reluctantly suppressed his anger and put on an extremely aggrieved expression.

He wiped his tears with a handkerchief, his teary eyes surveying the passersby around him, then he stood up, covered his face, and ran away crying.

Zhang Meng returned to the yamen and immediately rushed to the kitchen to cook.

Jin Yue, as usual, came to her side to help her scoop water and wash vegetables.

“Zhang Meng, the Chief is not in a good mood today.”

“Oh.” Zhang Meng casually responded while cutting meat.

“I heard it’s because the Chief’s elder sister is coming to Yun City. They say she’s coming to pressure the Chief to get married. You know, the Chief has a fiancé in Yan City that she’s already engaged to.”

“Marriage is a good thing, why is the Chief unhappy? Could it be that the Chief doesn’t like her fiancé?” Zhang Meng tossed the meat into the pot and covered it with the lid.

Jin Yue shook her head: “I don’t know about that.”

After finishing cooking, Zhang Meng rang the dinner bell, and people from the yamen rushed to the kitchen.

“Zhang Meng, when the Chief comes later, be careful not to anger her. She’s like a powder keg today, ready to explode at the slightest provocation,” Jin Yue said while serving the food.

Hearing this, Zhang Meng felt uneasy: “Maybe I should take my food back to my room. The Chief has always disliked me. No matter how careful I am, I can’t please her.”

“Don’t do that. If you eat in your room, the Chief will definitely say your behavior is bad and not conducive to creating a harmonious yamen. When the time comes, just eat silently without saying anything.”

Zhang Meng agreed, so during mealtime, she sat with Jin Yue in the corner of the dining table, not saying a word.

Throughout the meal, the Chief’s gaze intentionally or unintentionally swept over Zhang Meng’s direction. Zhang Meng kept her eyes down, allowing her to look without engaging.

After finishing the meal, as Zhang Meng was about to fetch water to wash the dishes, Zhong Huo called out to her.

“Zhang Meng, come with me for a moment.”

What was meant to come would come, no matter how one tried to avoid it.

Jin Yue looked at Zhang Meng with sympathy. Zhang Meng made a heartbroken gesture towards her, then obediently followed Zhong Huo out of the kitchen.

“Chief, did you need something from me?”

Zhang Meng followed Zhong Huo to the backyard. Seeing Zhong Huo keeping her head down without speaking, Zhang Meng couldn’t help but ask.

Zhong Huo clenched her fist, opening her mouth somewhat nervously: “Zhang Meng, what’s your opinion on my marriage?”

“It’s a good thing. Remember to invite us to drink the wedding wine when the time comes.”

Zhong Huo’s face darkened as she gritted her teeth: “This official would invite anyone but you, Zhang Meng!”

Zhang Meng: “Chief…”

Zhong Huo turned around, unwilling to look at her: “Zhang Meng, I really do dislike you. Forget it, you may go.”

Zhang Meng was basically immune to Zhong Huo’s mercurial moods, but the word “dislike” still wounded her fragile heart a little. She nodded dejectedly and replied: “Then I’ll take my leave.”

Zhong Huo didn’t react, and Zhang Meng turned to leave.

After walking quite a distance, she suddenly remembered the sachet in her sleeve and turned back: “Oh, Chief! Young Master Xu…”

Zhong Huo hurriedly averted her gaze that had been fixed on Zhang Meng: “What is it!” Her voice carried a hint of embarrassment and annoyance.

Zhang Meng quickly took out the sachet from her sleeve, walked up to her, and handed it over: “This is what Young Master Xu asked me to give you.”

“This official doesn’t want it!” Zhong Huo slapped the sachet to the ground.

Zhang Meng paused for a moment, then bent down to pick up the sachet: “If the Chief doesn’t want it, then I’ll return it to Young Master Xu.” She put the sachet back in her sleeve: “Then I’ll be going now.”

Zhong Huo stood still for a while, but finally couldn’t suppress her emotions: “If you’re going to leave, just leave! There’s no need to announce it specially. Who do you think you are? Do you think this official cares?”

“Ch-Chief…” Zhang Meng was startled.

Zhong Huo turned her head away: “If you want to leave, then leave. This official doesn’t care!”

“Oh.” Just as Zhang Meng was about to walk away, Zhong Huo grabbed her arm.

“Chief?”

She truly doesn’t care about her at all, does she? Zhong Huo looked at her with a stern face for a while, then finally let go of her hand in resignation.

“I’m getting married. It’s a marriage bestowed by the Empress.”

Zhang Meng said: “Congratulations! The Chief will surely be happy.”

Zhong Huo raised her hand and patted Zhang Meng’s head, wanting to be angry but unable to: “Why are you always so stupid?”

“Huh?”

“I tell you to cook, and you cook. I tell you to clean the latrine, and you clean it… Even when I don’t let you take time off, you silently accept it… Don’t you know how to refuse?”

“Chief…” I have refused before…

“It’s been like this from before. You do whatever I tell you to do, without even thinking about it. Taking a knife for me, tasting poison for me, promoting new policies for me, not sleeping for days and nights.”

“When the yamen was so poor it could barely make ends meet, you still went out every day to move cargo and earn money, giving all the good things to me…”

“Chief, I was just…”

“If you could just be a little more calculating for yourself, this official wouldn’t have to…”

“Chief!” Zhong Huo had been talking non-stop, and Zhang Meng couldn’t get a word in edgewise. She had to raise her voice, and only when Zhong Huo finally stopped talking did she speak: “What’s wrong with doing things for the Chief? Isn’t it natural to work for the Chief? The Chief is a good official, I feel that everything I’ve done is worthwhile. Not just me, everyone in the yamen is willing to lay down their lives for the Chief.”

Zhong Huo looked at Zhang Meng, her lips opening and closing, but in the end, she said nothing, only sighing.

She felt like a fool, constantly performing a one-person show, while that person had no such feelings at all.

“Zhang Meng, I really do dislike you,” Zhong Huo said softly.

“Zhang Meng, what did the Chief say to you again?” Seeing Zhang Meng return to the kitchen listlessly, Jin Yue hurried over to ask.

“Just emphasized once again that she dislikes me.”

Jin Yue patted her shoulder sympathetically.

Two days later, Zhong Huo’s elder sister Zhong Ling arrived at the yamen. She brought along a beautiful, elegant, and gentle man. Zhang Meng, who had been busy in the kitchen, heard Jin Yue gossip that this man was Zhong Huo’s fiancé, named Ji Ming.

“The Chief is truly blessed. That Ji Ming is extremely handsome. I think he’s even more good-looking than Xu Lu Cha,” Jin Yue said, crouching beside Zhang Meng.

Zhang Meng was washing vegetables and replied: “Then the Chief must be overjoyed to see her fiancé.”

“Not at all,” Jin Yue shook her head. “The Chief’s face looked terrible, as if Ji Ming was some kind of plague.”

“The Chief is always so strange. Maybe she’s just shy,” Zhang Meng guessed.

“Who knows,” Jin Yue shrugged. “From now on, Ji Ming will be staying here. I heard that Ji Ming is delicate and picky about food. When you cook, you should prepare his meals separately.”

“Separately?”

“Of course. Knowing the Chief’s temperament, she’s bound to mistreat Ji Ming. As subordinates, we naturally need to help resolve issues for those above us. Alright, don’t look at me like that. It was Miss Zhong Ling who instructed me to tell you to do this.”

Actually, Zhang Meng’s culinary skills were quite good. In modern times, when she lived alone, she often cooked for herself. And after coming here, when she lived with Yang Qing, it was also Zhang Meng who did the cooking.

Therefore, even though Ji Ming was somewhat picky, Zhang Meng was still confident in her ability to prepare good meals.

This morning, after finishing her street patrol, she went to the west side of the city. Although she still didn’t see Yang Qing, she picked some fresh mushrooms on the mountain. She was quite skilled at cooking mushrooms and thought that mushrooms could be one of the dishes for Ji Ming.

After finishing cooking, Jin Yue helped ring the dinner bell, and people flocked to the kitchen.

Zhang Meng specially prepared Ji Ming’s meal and handed it to Jin Yue: “You take this to Ji Ming. I need to go out on patrol later.”

Zhang Meng took a few steamed buns and left with her sword.

“Young master, why haven’t you gone to see Constable Zhang these past two days?”

Zi Yi sat on a stool, idly arranging the white chess pieces on the board into a wall.

Xu Lu Cha wore a loose green robe, his beautiful collarbones visible, and the red buds on his chest peeking through. He sat on a soft rug at the foot of the bed, leaning against it, one leg stretched out and the other bent. One hand held a teacup, the other rested on his bent knee. His posture was coquettish and unrestrained.

“What’s the point of seeing her?” Xu Lu Cha asked disdainfully, the small mole at the corner of his eye playful and alluring.

Zi Yi pushed down the wall of white pieces he had built: “Didn’t you say you wanted to use her to get close to Chief Zhong? Besides, there’s been no news from Chief Zhong’s side. We don’t even know if she gave the sachet to Chief Zhong.”

Xu Lu Cha threw the teacup onto the soft rug: “Zi Yi, I’m not in a hurry, why are you?”

“Young master… Zi Yi is just thinking of you.”

Xu Lu Cha’s slender fingers hooked the hair hanging on his chest: “Let’s wait two more days. How could I, Xu Lu Cha, eagerly curry favor with others?”

But thinking of how that Zhang Meng repeatedly ignored his advances, Xu Lu Cha slightly tightened his fingers.

Once he deals with Zhong Huo, he’ll make her pay.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside. Xu Lu Cha gestured for Zi Yi to go check.

Soon, Zi Yi hurried back.

“Young master, it’s the master and the others coming. Quickly put on your clothes properly, or the master will scold you again.”

Xu Lu Cha impatiently sat up straight and tidied his robe.

Zi Yi quickly helped Xu Lu Cha arrange his hair and clothes. By the time Xu Lu Cha was seated properly at the table, the Xu family master had reached the door.

This Xu family master, named Chen Yue, was Xu Hong’s primary husband. Ever since Xu Hong had that scandalous affair with a male entertainer eight years ago and gave birth to Xu Lu Cha, Xu Lu Cha and his father Gong Mi had been thorns in his heart.

Although he didn’t dare do anything to Xu Lu Cha directly due to Xu Hong’s warnings, he had secretly set many obstacles for Xu Lu Cha.

Moreover, a man’s marriage was usually decided by the father of the family. Xu Lu Cha couldn’t possibly not know what kind of woman Chen Yue would betroth him to.

This was a major reason why Xu Lu Cha was so actively seeking a backer for himself.

Chen Yue walked into the room with an expressionless face: “As expected, entering this place makes me sick. That stench on you is just like your shameless father.”

Xu Lu Cha sneered: “But women love this kind of scent. A dead, old, and ugly man like you, even if thrown on the street, not even a beggar would give you a second glance.”

Chen Yue clenched his fists: “You only know how to use your filthy body to seduce men. Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been up to lately. But Chief Zhong Huo would never look at a bastard like you.”

“That remains to be seen. When the time comes, I’m afraid you’ll be kneeling before this bastard, begging for favors. Ah, just thinking about being kneeled to by someone like you makes me sick.”

Chen Yue sneered: “Don’t daydream. Chief Zhong Huo already has a fiancé. Her fiancé is the adopted son of the current Prime Minister, of noble status and handsome appearance. How could a bastard like you compare?”

Xu Lu Cha suddenly clenched his fists, though his face remained impassive.

Zi Yi widened his eyes in surprise. So Chief Zhong actually had a fiancé.

Chen Yue couldn’t see Xu Lu Cha’s flustered expression, and felt irritated inside: “In ten days, you’ll turn eighteen. As the primary husband of the Xu family, I should find you a good wife-master. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely find you a good one.” He said through gritted teeth.

Having said that, Chen Yue left with a flick of his sleeve.

“Young master…” Zi Yi looked helplessly at Xu Lu Cha’s cold face.

Xu Lu Cha raised his hand and poured himself a cup of tea: “Coming here specifically to tell me about Zhong Huo’s affairs, to watch me make a fool of myself, this is truly that old bastard’s style.”

“Young master, aren’t you anxious? Now Chief Zhong can’t be relied upon, and in ten days, the master will arrange your marriage.”

Xu Lu Cha said coldly: “Zi Yi, what’s there to be anxious about? Don’t we still have ten days?”

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