Didn't Know General Was Female Chapter 34

[Alternate t.i.tle: Settling In
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“So this is the legendary Northwest border. It's incredible.”

Jiahui looked on inquisitively at the endless gra.s.sland and the bright halo of day hanging in the azure sky above, her big, s.h.i.+ning black eyes filled with uninhibited astonishment.

The eternal hustle and bustle and countless buildings and pavilions of the capital are what she's used to, and never has she seen such a vast sky. It makes her feel that the world is so big while she's so small, an itty-bitty speck of dust.

Zhongli Luo had to return straight to her superiors after coming back with her, not even having the time to drop her off in person to the place she was staying at. She had no choice but to reluctantly go along with several of Zhongli Luo's personal soldiers to her allocated residence.

It wasn't even a few steps in when they ran into an old friend. That somewhat simple-looking, dark-faced man also caught sight of them. “Hey, Sun Tongfang, where's General Zhong? Why aren't you with him? And who's this young lady?”

From Jiahui's side, the soldier named Sun Tongfang sighed. “Deputy Tan, my General's surname is Zhongli. General Zhongli.”

Tan Jun waved it off. “Yeah, I know, I know, I'm just not used to calling him that. I'm not wrong, anyways.”

Sun Tongfang mentally snarled at him. How are you not wrong?!

Taking in that the eighth-rank Minor Officer before her seemed to be very familiar with Zhongli Luo, Jiahui smiled and b.u.t.t into the conversation. “Are you asking about me, Deputy Tan? I'm the fiancée of the one you call General Zhongli. My surname is Rong.”

The eighteen-year-old woman was covered in dust due to travel and her face was pale from the wind, but the way she smiled was as br.i.m.m.i.n.g with vitality as always.

Ah, this is the legendarily stunning beauty. What makes Tan Jun slightly disappointed is that though she's genuinely pretty, she's a few steps shy of actually stunning. She isn't even as good as Cen Biling's flower-like looks, but… the way she looks when she smiles is still completely lovable.

“You're… that fiancée he's always thinking about?” Tan Jun said with some surprise.

Jiahui immediately latched onto the very important words of ‘always thinking about'! Her thoughts about her sweeten up. How unexpected that this person wouldn't show things on the outside yet is concerned about her on the inside.

“Is she really fretting so much about me?” She asks with some embarra.s.sment.

“He is!” He pointed to where Zhongli Luo's home was at as he spoke. “Miss Rong, let's talk as we walk. It's really windy out here.”

“Okay!” She agreed without reservation. “Then you keep on talking, Deputy Tan.”

“Ah, every time he gets a letter from you, he giggles like a special kind of idiot. He also thinks that his laughs are very proper and dignified and elegant, but when it falls in the eyes of everyone else they think that he's suddenly started convulsing.”

Imagining Zhongli Luo's spastic giggle inevitably makes Jiahui laugh, too. It must be very cute to look at. What a real shame she didn't get to see.

“What else, what else?” She looked at him expectantly.

“Ah, what else… so long as he gets your letter, he'll be a lot gentler to others. He can be strict, ordinarily.”

“Really?”

“Really, really, I swear on the Heavens, if he just glimpses something of yours, he looks… G.o.ds, like the biggest fool I've ever seen, really, and if you're ever mentioned he sings all kinds of praises about you.” The more he spoke, the more he exaggerated.

“Ah! She mentions me? What does she praise me about?” Jiahui asks.

Tan Jun startled, not expecting her to ask that, and continued gossiping, “He brags about your looks, and how good you are to him, and also about you; how you're kind-hearted, respect the old and cherish the young, and are the ideal wife.”

The typically absent-minded Jiahui doesn't doubt him, nodding along. “Of course she thinks so well of me.”

“Yes, yes– right, Miss Rong, what are you doing over here?” Tan Jun quickly changed the subject.

He's really curious as to why a Young Mistress who lives well would suddenly come to such a place. As he recalls, it was many days ago that Zhongli Luo rushed to Prince Ning and asked for a leave of absence, then rode off on a horse without stopping. He'd been left wondering what had happened to the guy, and now he knows the reason; turns out he had to go meet his lady. He is a young man, after all.

“I, uh.” Jiahui thought and thought, her face decidedly not red and heart not thumping as she explained, “I came to be in charge of her meals every day. I heard the cook here wasn't that great and I want her to eat a bit better. You also know she‘s uncultured and there's a lot of things she doesn't think about. Us women have our own skills to use.”

All this despite the fact that she herself can't cook at all. As for the maids behind her… what could two quasi-Young Mistresses of the grand Marquis Zhenguo's estate do?

Tan Jun suspects nothing and nods, earnestly going along with a complaint. “Right right right, the food out here's real awful. My own wife came from an alright family and she was an only child, which means she was spoiled and cooking wasn't something she did. I usually avoided what she made in the past, but after not even two years of staying here I ended up crying and begging for her to come join me.”

Upon hearing the enthusiastic soldier's cooking wife was also here, a few ideas bloomed in Jiahui's mind. She didn't show this on her face, keeping her smile on. “You and your wife must have a very good relations.h.i.+p, Deputy Tan.”

“We do,” he said proudly. It's natural that he and his wife have an extremely good relations.h.i.+p. There wasn't a person in the village who didn't envy him for marrying a high scholar's daughter.

By the time Jiahui had gone to great lengths to put her own things into order and rearranged the little house according to her own preferences, the day had ended and it was already dark. Zhongli Luo would likely be returning soon.

When Zhongli Luo came in the door, she was greeted by Jiahui holding a lantern and smiling. “You finally came back, Ah-Luo. Did you eat yet?” She asked her. “If you haven't, I'll have the maids heat up some food for you.”

Zhongli Luo stared a bit. “I haven't.”

She really hadn't, but she had taken a huge amount of scoldings. Thankfully, the fighting isn't too dire at this point in time and her superiors have taken quite a fancy to her, so her extended leave was ultimately punished with a verbal reprimand and a deduction of a quarter-year's salary. She doesn't usually need much money, so she isn't a bit broken up about that.

Furthermore, looking at the flowery, grinning girl with the lantern before her has her whole heart warming up, and all she can feel is that it was completely worth it. This sense of something – like returning home – is truly beautiful. She'd been here for so many years yet never felt so, and it's presumably because, in her mind, her only home is where Jiahui is. The other had been in Marquis Zhenguo's estate in the capital, so that was her heart's home. Now that she's here, this is her heart's home.

Seeing the dork looking dumbstruck again, Jiahui smiled, pulling the hand of the one lost in thought so she came inside. “The maids have never been in a kitchen, but they can still help out the cook and give him ideas. Here. Are you going to try it and see if anything's different? I ate it and it made me cry.”

“Alright,” Zhongli Luo replied cheerfully.

Ever since Jiahui's arrival, Zhongli Luo's life could be said to have earth-shattering changes. With her sweetheart living next door, she didn't need to count on herself or her unskilled personal soldiers when her clothes were torn, as she had someone at home with excellent needlework skills, and her food has become mysteriously tastier. She's coming to an understanding of what true happiness is. No wonder the others were always trying to get her to take in a woman! She had been thinking before that, with her also being a woman, what would adding another woman do? All she can say now is that everyone had been making sense. More women at home is a big change to everything, but this kind of change is a joyous one.

Even if she's indulging in happiness, she still hasn't forgotten her proper business. In Jiahui's days in the Northwest, Zhongli Luo is frequently disappearing without even a shadow left behind. Jiahui is contrastingly idle; when she isn't moving things around in the little house, she's going to the wives of other families and chatting up and down about their own things. Everyone once in a while, they would all go on a stroll together and swap pointers on embroidery, conveniently having their servant girls become apprentices to the cook.

By the time Zhongli Luo finally reacted to all this, her home has already become a place with many visitors coming and going, and Jiahui had already gotten on good enough terms with many of the ladies to call them sisters. Her being young, good-looking, and like a naive, guiltless child very suddenly has the married women feel a flood of motherly affection for her. Though they all open and close their mouths around the words ‘little sister' toward her, the look in their eyes isn't dissimilar at all from the one they would have when looking at their own daughter.

As Zhongli Luo is always dressed as a man, she is totally unfamiliar with these women. A certain someone worriedly tugs at Jiahui and asks, “Jiahui, how did you come to be acquainted with them?”

Noticing her worried look, Jiahui says, “What's wrong? Your group fights around outside, and our group of poor women are left all alone. We'd naturally get together to relieve boredom, so what's wrong? Are you not allowing me to make friends? Don't worry, okay? All these big sisters are treating me well. Officer Chen's wife is outspoken, General Li's wife is gentle-mannered, and Deputy Tan's wife is well-learned. They aren't bad people. Have you not thought that our food's gotten a lot better?”

Zhongli Luo paused. After a moment of trying hard to remember, she discovered that that really did seem to be the case; the food had been much more flavorful.

Jiahui patted her shoulder. “If there's no effect, then the maids will just need to keep on learning in secret. This is all in order for us to eat better. Sheesh, when papa explained this stuff to me with such a bitter face, I didn't believe him and just thought he was exaggerating. I didn't expect it to be true. If I had known earlier I would have brought a cook with me.”

Zhongli Luo didn't really know what to do with the other's grumbling and complaining. Whatever, it's fine, the girl's just making a few friends. She has too much to manage herself, and it's great for Jiahui to be happy.

And she really is happy. There's nothing in the Northwest and the wind sc.r.a.pes by like knives; the originally fine-skinned Jiahui had a much rougher face within a month of coming here, yet she was still very pleased, even moreso than when she was staying at home.

There's no established code of conduct here. She's no longer the Rong Jiahui that has to inform her parents before she steps out with a retinue guarding her every side. She doesn't need to stay at home all day like a proper-taught n.o.blewoman. Now that she's staying here, she's completely free to choose where she wants to and can go. If it were possible, she really wants to climb to the top of a mountain and go “AAAAAAAAA” a couple times.