Chapter 79: Setting Up a Scheme
When Shen Zhishu woke up again, it was already past noon, and the sunlight was streaming in through the window lattice.
She sat on the bed with a pillow in her arms for a while and suddenly felt a little sad.
This emotion came out of nowhere, and if she had to say, it was probably because the last scene in her dream was heartbreaking.
This dream was really too real, she thought. It almost made her unable to distinguish between reality and illusion.
Perhaps it was because the nightmare had exhausted her energy, so much so that she sat there in a daze for a long time, listening to the wind chime under the eaves ring three times, but her melancholy did not fade at all.
Forget it, Shen Zhishu thought. I’ll go out and find something to eat.
She put on her clothes and slippers, pushed open the door, and walked out. Two attendants immediately surrounded her, one shouting, “The General is awake,” and the other smiling and reporting, “Her Highness Huai’an is here and is sitting in the flower hall.”
“Hmm?” Shen Zhishu was a little astonished. “Why is she here?”
“She said she has important matters to discuss.”
…Important matters?
Shen Zhishu pursed her lips, unable to describe the taste in her heart.
It was as if someone had traveled over mountains and rivers just to see her. They had only just separated, but being together all the time seemed to have become a common thing, and a short separation was actually uncomfortable.
That attendant put on a great cloak for Shen Zhishu, “The General can have something to eat first, it’s not too late to see Her Highness Huai’an. The small kitchen is warming up some chicken and meatball soup. Would the General like a bowl?”
Shen Zhishu nodded, and as if she had remembered something, she suddenly said again, “Serve a bowl for the Eldest Princess as well, take it to the flower hall, and take my bowl to the flower hall as well.”
After speaking, she turned around, took the steps two at a time, and strode out.
The attendant hurriedly said, “Yes,” and went into the small kitchen with a suppressed smile. She grabbed a cook who was preparing food and said with a beaming face, “Hey, do you know? The General was in a hurry to see Her Highness Huai’an as soon as she woke up. I advised her to eat first, but she said she would eat with Her Highness Huai’an.”
The cook immediately dropped the work in her hands and also gossiped excitedly, “The General hasn’t been in the manor for much time these past few days, but she’s always with Her Highness Huai’an. Their relationship must be unusual! Maybe the General is about to become the Prince Consort! Do you think the General will move into the Eldest Princess’s Manor, or will Her Highness Huai’an move in?”
“It doesn’t matter who moves in or who moves out, it’s a good thing anyway,” the attendant smiled. “Her Highness Huai’an is very kind to her subordinates. She remembered our names in just a few days, and I heard from her attendant that Her Highness often gives rewards, and she is even more generous than the General! It wouldn’t be a problem to have a hundred more such masters.”
The cook nodded and sighed, “It’s just a pity that our General seems to be unromantic… hey, why don’t we give her a hand, how about it?”
“How do we help?”
The cook said mysteriously, “Just watch.”
The cook served two bowls of chicken and meatball soup from the pot on the stove, and then picked up her chopsticks, pulled out a few strands of chicken from the soup, and bent them into a heart shape in a few moves.
So a heart was floating on the surface of the two bowls of soup. The cook looked left and right and nodded with satisfaction, “That’s it, take it away.”
The attendant praised, “Good idea,” and carefully carried the soup to the flower hall.
So, a cup of tea’s time later, Shen Zhishu and Jiang Yu were in the flower hall, staring at the two bowls of heart-shaped chicken and meatball soup.
Jiang Yu blinked, “Is this the General’s idea?”
Shen Zhishu: …
Hehe, the small kitchen is really good.
May I ask if it’s too late to sell this batch of attendants now?
**
Shen Zhishu and Jiang Yu finished their soup in silence and sat together, chatting.
The sun was setting in the west, and there were pots of winter plum on both sides of the room. Jiang Yu glanced to the side and, without rushing to get to the point, she asked instead, “I didn’t see this a few days ago.”
“It was a gift from the steward’s family. I thought it was beautiful, so I had someone put it here,” Shen Zhishu smiled. “Does Your Highness like it? When you leave, I’ll have someone pack it in your carriage.”
Jiang Yu shook her head, “I have one at home.”
“I haven’t seen it.”
Jiang Yu teased, “The General is always careless about such small matters. You don’t even remember the names of the attendants in your manor. How can you remember the furnishings in my room?”
“You can’t say that,” Shen Zhishu replied casually. “Who says I’m careless about small matters? I remember that Your Highness has three moles on your butt.”
Jiang Yu: …
After meeting Jiang Yu’s emotionless gaze, Shen Zhishu finally realized what she had said. She pretended to take a sip of tea from her cup and then hurriedly changed the subject, “What, what brings Your Highness here today? You’ve only slept for a little while, aren’t you sleepy?”
“I’ve slept for four hours, that’s enough,” Jiang Yu also took a small sip of flower tea. “But what about the General? You’ve only just gotten up, it must have been five hours?”
Shen Zhishu said, “Oh,” “I was really a little tired yesterday, so I slept a little longer. Besides, Your Highness doesn’t know, I was disturbed by Xie Jin this morning.”
“What did General Xie come for?”
“She said she dreamed of a name and asked if I knew it. I said, if you don’t know, how would I know? I also said I would help her ask Your Highness, and I sent her away.”
“What name?”
“Jiyuan.”
Jiang Yu’s brow furrowed slightly, “This name…”
“Does Your Highness know it?”
“It sounds a little familiar,” Jiang Yu thought for half a day and had a sudden realization. “The First Imperial Princess once mentioned it. It’s the courtesy name of Huang Shizhong’s youngest daughter.”
Shen Zhishu raised an eyebrow and asked, “I remember that her daughter is not yet of age. Does she already have a courtesy name?”
“It was just given a few days ago. The First Imperial Princess said that the little girl has been a little restless recently, so Huang Shizhong gave her daughter a courtesy name to suppress it.”
Shen Zhishu nodded thoughtfully, turned around, and ordered her attendant, “Go and invite Xie Jin.”
Two quarters of an hour later, Xie Jin rushed over.
She came in a hurry, riding a horse alone, without even an attendant. As soon as she entered the door, she went straight to the flower hall and smiled, “Your Highness is really capable, you have a result so soon. Tell me, who is ‘Jiyuan’?”
Shen Zhishu said mysteriously, “You guess.”
“I can’t guess,” Xie Jin turned her head, picked up a teacup on her own, and took a gulp, panting and saying. “Hurry up, don’t keep me in suspense.”
So Shen Zhishu said, “Don’t be surprised when I tell you. It’s your daughter’s new friend, Huang… what was her name again?”
Jiang Yu replied, “Huang Zhiwen.”
Shen Zhishu nodded, “Right, Huang Zhiwen.”
Xie Jin raised an eyebrow and asked, “Who is Huang Zhiwen?”
Shen Zhishu smiled, “I see you don’t care about Xie Da at all. Huang Zhiwen, Huang San, General Huang’s youngest daughter.”
“How can it be her?!” Xie Jin was astonished. “Doesn’t she have her own name? Why is she also called ‘Jiyuan’?”
So Shen Zhishu repeated Jiang Yu’s “courtesy name” explanation.
Xie Jin said with a pained expression, “Don’t lie to me. To tell you the truth, I dreamed of my wife’s face, and in the dream, she was called that.”
Shen Zhishu hissed, “Is that so? Logically, Huang San shouldn’t have any connection with your wife. Or maybe it’s just a homonym, and the two are not related at all.”
Xie Jin let out a long sigh of relief, “I think so too. Or maybe I heard this word somewhere, and I miss my wife too much, so I just put it on my wife’s head in my dream.”
Shen Zhishu said, “It must be so,” but as her voice came out, she suddenly felt that something was missing beside her.
She then realized that Jiang Yu had not spoken for a long, long time.
“Your Highness…” Shen Zhishu blinked. “Has Your Highness thought of something?”
Jiang Yu turned to Xie Jin and got straight to the point, “Did your wife pass away twelve years ago?”
“That’s right,” Xie Jin cupped her hands and said. “Your Highness is as meticulous as a hair. It is her honor to be remembered by Your Highness.”
“The General doesn’t have to be so polite,” Jiang Yu said in a faint voice. “It’s just that I suddenly remembered… Huang Zhiwen is exactly twelve this year.”
As her voice fell, the hall suddenly fell silent.
“That’s right…” Shen Zhishu patted Xie Jin’s shoulder. “Your wife passed away, and Huang San was born.”
Xie Jin seemed to have not heard.
How can it be so coincidental? she thought. The person in my dream who looked like my late wife had the same name as Huang San, and as soon as my late wife died, Huang San was born.
It was as if… Huang San was born for her wife.
Xie Jin was in a daze for half a day, and after a cup of tea’s time, she finally spoke, “What does Your Highness mean by that?”
“Has the General heard any news related to the State Preceptor?” Jiang Yu said. “They say that the State Preceptor is cursed and has lived for more than three hundred years.”
“I have heard of it,” Xie Jin pondered for half a day and nodded.
“Does the General think this is just a rumor and is actually groundless?”
“It’s hard to say. Although I don’t believe in these things, there are actual records in the previous dynasty,” Xie Jin said. “Why does Your Highness say this? What does this have to do with the matter of ‘Jiyuan’?”
Jiang Yu took a light breath, and the teacup was placed on the table, making a crisp and strange sound:
“Because the General is Youzhi’s good friend, and I value Youzhi, so I am willing to say more to the General. If the General thinks that I am being an alarmist, or that this is nonsense, I can’t do anything about it.”
Xie Jin pursed her lips and nodded, “This subordinate knows what’s important. Please speak, Your Highness.”
“There are two possibilities. Firstly, the General’s dream was an accident and doesn’t prove anything. Secondly… Huang Zhiwen is the reincarnation of the General’s late wife—”
“What?!”
“Don’t be anxious, General, I’m not finished yet. This reincarnation is also divided into two types, one is a real reincarnation, and the other is a fake reincarnation.”
“What is a real reincarnation, and what is a fake reincarnation?”
“A real reincarnation, literally means a real reincarnation, that is, after the General’s late wife drank Meng Po’s soup, she was immediately reincarnated as a human and happened to be born in the Huang General’s Manor, becoming her youngest daughter. A fake reincarnation is—someone has set up a scheme to make the General believe that Huang Zhiwen is your beloved’s reincarnation.”
Xie Jin was a little dizzy from being led around, “Your Highness means that all of this may have been manipulated? Is it aimed at me? Then what is the person behind the scenes after?”
“I don’t know what they are after, but there are many suspicious points in this matter,” Jiang Yu said unhurriedly. “Firstly, Huang Zhiwen was given a courtesy name a few days ago, and this was passed on to my ears by the First Imperial Princess. Secondly… yesterday, Youzhi and I went to the Prince of Chen’s Manor at night and found that the First Imperial Princess may have some dealings with the State Preceptor. As for the General’s dream… since the State Preceptor has lived for more than three hundred years, it is not surprising that she knows some mysterious arts, and perhaps she has given the General some psychological hints through various things, which has made the General connect ‘Jiyuan’ with your beloved.”
