Chapter 98: Lunch
After more than ten days of talent selection, the Martial Hall had recruited a total of two hundred and twenty students.
On the tenth of the second month, when the spring cold was still biting, the Martial Hall officially began its classes. Huamei had also returned to the capital by this time, and the team of teachers was complete.
Shen Zhishu got up early and went to the east of the city to buy a box of mung bean cakes.
When Jiang Yu got up, she couldn’t find her and grabbed Hongli to ask where her master had gone. But Hongli had been silenced by Shen Zhishu, and she was so red in the face that she couldn’t say a word.
It wasn’t until she was about to leave that Shen Zhishu finally rushed home.
“Where have you been?” Jiang Yu raised an eyebrow and asked.
“Didn’t you say yesterday that spring was coming and you wanted something sweet?” Shen Zhishu held out the mung bean cakes and smiled. “Xie Jin told me yesterday that a new pastry shop has opened in the east of the city, and the taste is the best, but there are a lot of people, and you have to wait in line for a long time.”
“Thank you, but you didn’t say so earlier,” Jiang Yu said. “It’s a pity, I’ve already had breakfast, and I can’t eat now.”
Shen Zhishu pouted, “I didn’t mean for you to have it for breakfast. It’s too greasy to eat on its own, so it’s best as a snack. I’ll take it to the Martial Hall, and you can have a couple of pieces when you think of it.”
Lantiao and Hongli stood side by side and said with emotion, “I wonder what time the General got up. I’ve also heard of that shop. People line up every day before dawn, and you have to wait for half an hour even if you go at the fifth watch. The General is really very good to Your Highness.”
Hongli: “Wuwu.”
Lantiao continued, “Hey, I also want to try what that mung bean cake tastes like. I’ll go out and buy some today.”
Hongli: “Wuwuwuwu.”
Lantiao turned her head and asked, “What are you ‘wuwu-ing’ about?”
Hongli pointed to her mouth, which she could not open, and let out a long, sad cry, “Wuwuwuwuwuwu…”
Lantiao immediately laughed like a fool, “I forgot you were under a silencing spell. I’ll go and ask the General to help you break it—hey, where are the General and the others?!”
A young attendant by the side said, “They’ve already gone out.”
Hongli’s eyes widened, “Wu—”
Fortunately, the silencing spell had a time limit and was broken after half an hour. Lantiao had laughed so hard that her stomach hurt, and she was now sitting on a chair, rubbing her intestines, and asked Hongli, “How did you offend your master that she would treat you like this?”
Hongli said aggrievedly, “I said the General was stupid. Since she knows immortal techniques, she could have just gotten some pastries from afar and then transferred the silver over. Why did she have to go and line up in person?”
Lantiao shook her head with an old-fashioned air, “That’s what you deserve. Haven’t you heard the word ‘romance’? To spend time and energy to please the one you love is the happiest thing in the world.”
Hongli shook her head, “I can’t understand. I think the happiest thing is to be able to get silver for sleeping all day without working.”
Lantiao: …
That makes sense.
I can’t refute it.
**
General Han Peiying was already middle-aged, and logically, she should be at a steady age, but she was so excited that she couldn’t sleep all night, and she came to work today with huge dark circles under her eyes.
The daughter of the manager of the Banquet Again Pavilion had passed the selection and had become one of the two hundred and twenty students of the Martial Hall. She respectfully greeted Teacher Han Peiying and then said considerately, “This student has brought an egg. If you roll it on your eyes, it can reduce the dark circles under your eyes. Would you like to try it, Teacher?”
Han Peiying waved her hand, “No need, I’ll just rest well at noon. Hey, you look a little familiar.”
The little girl said, “Perhaps we have met before. My mother is the manager of the Banquet Again Pavilion.”
Han Peiying suddenly realized and said with a smile, “So it’s you! Speaking of which, I was also familiar with your mother before, and I even held you when you were a child! But later, we had some conflicts, and we gradually drifted apart. Now that I think about it, it’s not a big deal, and it’s not worth losing a friend over those misunderstandings. How is your esteemed father recently?”
The little girl said frankly, “He’s alright.”
“What’s your name?”
“My name is Zhong Wan.”
Han Peiying nodded and said, “The two hundred and twenty of you are divided into five classes. Which class are you in?”
Zhong Wan said, “Class One.”
“The supervisor of Class One is General Shen,” Han Peiying smiled. “But General Shen looks easy to talk to, but she is not soft-hearted when she trains people. If you can’t take it, you can tell me secretly, and I’ll switch you to our class.”
Zhong Wan had originally thought that Han Peiying was exaggerating. Besides, her mother worked under Her Highness Huai’an, and it was a happy fate for her to be assigned to General Shen’s class.
But after a day of training, she was sweating profusely, her back was sore, and she felt that she had lost three catties.
Shen Zhishu was impartial during class, and after class, she returned to her usual amiable and approachable demeanor.
She had clearly been training with everyone, but her heart was not beating fast and she was not out of breath, as if nothing had happened. At this moment, she said with her hands on her hips and a smile, “The training here will only get stricter day by day. If you can’t take it, you can switch to another teacher’s class as soon as possible.”
After hearing this, apart from one girl who really couldn’t take it and asked to go to Class Two, the rest all said with conviction that they would definitely try their best to keep up with the training rhythm and not disappoint Shen Zhishu’s expectations.
But the next day, two left, and the third day, three left.
By the time a week had passed, only ten people were left in the class.
Shen Zhishu was not surprised at all by this outcome. In fact, this was her purpose: talent is not about quantity, but about quality.
She would teach them everything she knew and cultivate them into generals to bring peace to the country.
**
The Martial Hall had two days off a week, and they would train for four hours a day.
When spring came, Jiang Yu became busy with official business and would often help Jiang Chu with some less important state affairs, so she did not come every day.
The Martial Hall had its own small kitchen, but Jiang Yu would always come at noon and bring some food for Shen Zhishu.
General Han was envious and took the opportunity to tease, “Her Highness Huai’an is giving the General a special treat. It can be seen that the zither and se are in harmony, and the couple is in love.”
Shen Zhishu raised an eyebrow, “Do you want some?”
General Han poked her head into the food box and saw raw tomatoes, lettuce, and bland boiled chicken.
General Han: ?
She blurted out, “Are you on a diet, General Shen!”
“No,” Shen Zhishu shrugged. “I’ve just been craving this recently, to preserve the original flavor of the ingredients. But the small kitchen cooks in a big pot and won’t make it so bland. Her Highness knows my preferences, so she sends me some food every now and then.”
Xie Jin also came over and said with a smile to General Han, “Old Han, think about it. If it were delicious, I would have definitely snatched it from Youzhi’s mouth. I wouldn’t have been so indifferent until now.”
Shen Zhishu: …What do you mean by snatching food from a tiger’s mouth.
Jiang Yu had gone to talk to the children and was not listening to their conversation at this moment. But when she came back, Shen Zhishu had already finished eating and was leaning against the door frame in front of the room, watching her step onto the stone path and walk gracefully towards her.
The teachers each had a guest room, and the other teachers had all gone in to take a nap. At this moment, the courtyard was silent.
Jiang Yu paused, lifted her skirt, and gracefully went up the steps, and in a few steps, she was in front of Shen Zhishu.
Shen Zhishu looked down at her, and after a moment, she put her arm on her shoulder and asked in a low voice, “Has Wuya had lunch?”
Jiang Yu blinked and suddenly took out a lunch box from her sleeve and said softly, “Not yet.”
Shen Zhishu raised an eyebrow and asked, “Aren’t you hungry?”
But she saw Jiang Yu nod, and then shake her head again, and say in a faint voice, “You feed me.”
Shen Zhishu suddenly narrowed her eyes, neatly lifted the curtain, bent down, and smiled, “Then this subordinate will serve Your Highness today. Please, Your Highness.”
Jiang Yu brushed past her arm and entered the room. Her outer robe and sleeve were entangled for a moment, and a rustling sound of friction was emitted.
The Xiang curtain was lowered, and Jiang Yu had already gotten onto the recliner with familiarity.
Shen Zhishu picked up the lunch box, knelt on a cattail hassock by the side, scooped a spoonful with a wooden spoon, and brought it to Jiang Yu’s mouth.
“Is it delicious?” She watched as Jiang Yu’s cheeks puffed up, smiled, and asked in a low voice.
After Jiang Yu had swallowed all the food in her mouth, she said slowly and methodically, “The General is feeding me personally, so of course it’s more delicious.”
Shen Zhishu said, “Hmm,” and sighed, “It’s a pity that Your Highness doesn’t come often, otherwise I would serve Your Highness lunch every day.”
“I’ve been busy recently,” Jiang Yu said. “The imperial examinations are imminent, and Jiang Chu has other things to do, so I’m a little more busy. It will be better in a few days. Is the General missing me?”
Shen Zhishu lowered her head, kissed the back of Jiang Yu’s hand, which was on the armrest, and squeezed out a muffled “Mm” from her throat.
Jiang Yu replied, “Then… I will come and bring you lunch every day in the future, alright?”
“Forget it, you’re busy with your own things. I was just saying,” Shen Zhishu shook her head. “You’ll be tired from running around.”
“I’m not tired,” Jiang Yu said. “To be able to see Youshu, I am happy to. I was originally just afraid of disturbing the General’s lunch break, so I didn’t come.”
Shen Zhishu had finished feeding the last bite of food, propped her knees and stood up, and said with a light laugh, “How could you? With Wuya by my side, it puts my mind at ease.”
Jiang Yu nodded half-lightly and half-heavily, “Then I will come every day.”
Shen Zhishu was noncommittal, grabbed the robe that Jiang Yu had casually placed on the side, and hung it on the clothes rack with a swish. As she was tidying up the wrinkles on the outer robe, she asked casually, “Then will Your Highness be taking a nap here today?”
There was no answer for a moment, but there was a rustling sound from behind her.
Shen Zhishu suddenly turned her head and saw that Jiang Yu had already taken off her outer clothes in a few moves, taken off her shoes and socks, and was sitting cross-legged on the bed.
Their eyes met, and Jiang Yu blinked and said in a faint voice, “The General is a little too slow.”
Jiang Yu’s upper body was straight, like a cedar tree.
She was sitting so obediently that Shen Zhishu couldn’t help but laugh out loud, “How do you know it’s not that Your Highness is too anxious?”
Jiang Yu did not answer and patted the bed, “Is the General coming or not?”
Shen Zhishu walked over, neatly changed her clothes, and lay down with Jiang Yu in her arms.
