The previous chapter has been revised.
Although discussing matters of life and death, Xiao Jinglin's tone remained calm: "...My first warhorse was one I raised from a foal myself, named Snow Eagle. It was also eaten. Even warhorses regarded as comrades met such a fate, let alone camels. One camel could sustain a well-trained team of over twenty men for four or five days. Four or five days were enough to hold out until reinforcements arrived."
Listening to Xiao Jinglin's words, Ren Yaoqi couldn't help but grow curious about the experiences she had endured over the years. Xiao Jinglin was only two or three years older than her current age, yet when she spoke of these things, she appeared steady and weathered, a stark contrast to her youthful, beautiful face.
Noticing Ren Yaoqi studying her intently, Xiao Jinglin paused mid-sentence: "I apologize, you probably don't enjoy hearing about such things."
Ren Yaoqi smiled and replied, "How could that be? No one has ever told me about battlefield experiences before. I find it quite fascinating."
Xiao Jinglin, however, shook her head seriously: "Since ancient times, how many return from war? Matters of the battlefield have always been nothing but cruel."
Seeing the solemn expression on Xiao Jinglin's delicate, smiling face, Ren Yaoqi changed the subject with a smile: "Commandery Princess, have you studied martial arts? Last time at White Dragon Temple, you threw the Fortune Bell quite accurately. When I was young, every time I went to the temple to offer incense, my mother would also have me throw a few coins, but I never hit the target."
Hearing this, Xiao Jinglin nodded: "Yes, I started learning archery, horsemanship, and close-quarters combat from Uncle Yuchi when I was three."
"Three years old?" Ren Yaoqi was slightly taken aback. Wasn't that just the age when one learns to run and jump?
"Was it very difficult?"
"Difficult?" Xiao Jinglin's eyes held a trace of surprise, as if she had never considered this question before. She instinctively extended her right hand and looked down at her palm.
Ren Yaoqi also looked down at her hand, only to find that her right hand, which should have been slender and soft, had more prominent joints than those of an ordinary woman. There were thick calluses on her palm and fingers. Xiao Jinglin's hand was clearly rougher than that of an average woman.
Xiao Jinglin slowly closed her hand into a fist, then raised her head again, her gaze calm as she shook her head: "It wasn't difficult."
Ren Yaoqi suddenly didn't know how to respond to that.
The carriage fell silent again for a moment, until Xiao Jinglin took the initiative to ask: "And you? How did you spend your childhood?"
Ren Yaoqi was silent for a while before answering: "Writing characters, painting, and reading books every day."
Her silence wasn't because the question was difficult to answer, but because she couldn't quite remember her childhood clearly. However, it probably consisted of little more than those activities.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jinglin seemed thoughtful: "How is that the same as Xiao Jingxi? No wonder you two get along."
Ren Yaoqi: "..."
"Well, there was also needlework and quarreling with my sister," Ren Yaoqi added with a smile.
Xiao Jinglin was taken aback, frowned in thought, and said, "Needlework he definitely wouldn't do. Quarreling..." Xiao Jinglin shook her head.
"You don't get along with your sister?" Xiao Jinglin asked.
This question made Ren Yaoqi think for a moment: "Perhaps I was jealous that she was more favored by our mother than I was."
Xiao Jinglin nodded as if it were perfectly natural: "I see. Xiao Jingxi is more favored by the elders than I am, but I wouldn't beat him up for that reason."
Ren Yaoqi: "..."At that moment, Dongsheng, who was driving the carriage outside, gave a shout, and the carriage came to a steady stop. Xiao Jinglin lifted the curtain to glance outside, while Ren Yaoqi’s gaze also turned toward the world beyond the carriage.
They were still outside the city, traveling along a mountain path flanked by gently rolling hills. However, this seemed to be a place far from any village or inn.
Ren Yaoqi realized she hadn’t yet asked where they were going and was about to speak when Xiao Jinglin said calmly, "The carriage behind us isn’t following anymore?"
Dongsheng’s voice came from beyond the curtain, "Reporting to the Commandery Princess, we’ve shaken them off."
Ren Yaoqi couldn’t help but feel startled. "Someone was following us?"
Xiao Jinglin remained silent, and Ren Yaoqi suddenly seemed to think of something. "Was it someone from the Ren Family?"
Earlier, when they had left, they had encountered Old Master Ren. He had likely rushed back upon hearing that the Commandery Princess had arrived. Although Xiao Jinglin had declined his offer to have someone from the Ren Family act as a guide, had Old Master Ren still sent someone to follow them?
Xiao Jinglin nodded. "Yes, they’ve been following us since we left the mansion, though they weren’t exactly discreet about it. Presumably, they were concerned for your safety and had people follow from a distance."
Ren Yaoqi privately disagreed. At this moment, everyone in the Ren Family was surely preoccupied with how to use Xiao Jinglin to climb the social ladder of the Yanbei Prince’s Mansion. They hardly had time to worry about her safety. However, she naturally wouldn’t voice such thoughts to Xiao Jinglin.
Instead, Xiao Jinglin explained with a hint of apology, "I don’t like being followed, so I instructed the servants early on to find a way to shake off anyone who trailed us."
Ren Yaoqi nodded and smiled. "I actually forgot to ask—where are we going?"
Xiao Jinglin looked even more puzzled than Ren Yaoqi. "Didn’t I say? We’re going to stroll around the streets."
Just then, the carriage began moving again, and Ren Yaoqi noticed it was turning around.
Had they come all this way out of the city just to shake off the Ren Family’s blatant tail? Wouldn’t it have been quicker to simply send someone to tell them not to follow? Ren Yaoqi felt she still couldn’t quite keep up with Xiao Jinglin’s way of thinking.
And so, the carriage began heading back toward the city. Ren Yaoqi paid attention to the scenery outside and noticed they weren’t taking the same route as when they had left the city. Clearly, Dongsheng was also very familiar with the layout of White Crane Town.
It was nearly noon, and many merchants passing through White Crane Town on the official road began pouring into the town. Although called a town, White Crane Town was considerably larger than an ordinary small town, and its main streets were lined with bustling shops. Of course, the most numerous establishments were various restaurants and inns.
Xiao Jinglin’s carriage passed by the "Phoenix Immortal Tower" that Old Master Ren had mentioned earlier. Xiao Jinglin glanced at it briefly before looking away, clearly uninterested.
"It’s getting late. Let’s find a place to eat," Xiao Jinglin said to Ren Yaoqi.
Ren Yaoqi nodded. In her previous life, after leaving the Ren Family, she had also mingled with the common folk. However, while still with the Ren Family, aside from eating vegetarian meals at temples during visits, she had never dined outside.
White Crane Town had plenty of restaurants and eateries, but most catered to traveling merchants, and very few were upscale. The "Phoenix Immortal Tower" was considered one of the better establishments in White Crane Town.The carriage slowly turned into an alley, leaving the main street of the town. Ren Yaoqi noticed that the surroundings were becoming familiar, as she had been here a few times before. This was a small lane near the Guan Gong Temple.
Xiao Jinglin said to Ren Yaoqi, "The road ahead is narrower. Bring one or two maids with you, and let the rest wait in that teahouse."
The teahouse Xiao Jinglin mentioned was on the right side of the carriage and looked quite respectable.
Ren Yaoqi did not object. She asked Dongsheng to fetch Pingguo from the back and instructed the others to follow Sangshen to the teahouse to wait.
Soon, Pingguo was brought onto the carriage, and the carriage continued forward.
Not long after, the carriage finally came to a stop. Xiao Jinglin was the first to step down.
Pingguo got off before Ren Yaoqi and turned to help her down. Ren Yaoqi noticed they had entered a rather narrow alley, long in depth but barely wide enough for a single carriage to pass through. It was only thanks to Dongsheng’s skillful driving that they had entered smoothly.
As soon as Ren Yaoqi stepped out of the carriage, she caught a strong aroma of braised meat.
It turned out that right in front of the carriage was a shop selling braised donkey meat. The shop looked small, without even a proper signboard. Instead, a piece of cloth was hung from a bamboo pole, bearing the plain and unremarkable characters "Braised Donkey Meat."
After getting off the carriage, Xiao Jinglin walked straight into the shop. Only after entering did she remember Ren Yaoqi was still behind and turned back, waving to her. "Come in, this is the place."
Since it wasn’t mealtime yet and the shop was rather inconspicuous, there was no one around. Seeing Ren Yaoqi approaching, Xiao Jinglin turned back and continued walking, though at a slower pace.
Once inside, Ren Yaoqi realized that although the shop was small, it was clean and tidy. The front area had only four wooden tables, each adorned with clay pots filled with wildflowers and grasses whose names she couldn’t recognize, adding a touch of liveliness.
The curtain to the inner room was lifted, and a woman in her forties walked out. Seeing Xiao Jinglin and Ren Yaoqi enter, she hurried over with a smile to greet them.
Xiao Jinglin said to her, "Set up the table in the backyard."
The woman quickly agreed and called out toward the inner room.
A young woman around twenty years old, with her hair styled in a married woman’s fashion, came out with a boy of about seven or eight.
The older woman instructed the younger one to set up the table in the backyard.
The boy’s eyes lit up when he saw Xiao Jinglin, and he immediately ran over. "General, you’re here! This morning, when my sister-in-law and I went to pick flowers, we also found fresh mushrooms. My mother will make soup for you later."
Ren Yaoqi glanced at Xiao Jinglin in surprise. Did she know him?
The woman walked over and gently patted the boy’s head, scolding softly, "Hurry and help your sister-in-law set up the table. Don’t scare the guests."
Only then did the boy notice Ren Yaoqi behind Xiao Jinglin. He wasn’t shy and grinned at her.
Xiao Jinglin said to him, "Didn’t I tell you before? I’m not a general."
But the boy insisted stubbornly, "You will be! When you become a great general, I’ll follow you to the battlefield, just like my father!"
The woman’s face darkened. She grabbed the boy’s ear and pulled him aside. "Mo Xiaoliang, have you finished practicing your characters today? Do you want to end up like your father, who couldn’t even recognize a single big character?"Mo Xiaoliang grimaced, wanting to cry out in pain, but upon seeing Xiao Jinglin, he held back, muttering softly, "What's the use of learning characters? Didn't we already hire the fortune-teller at the alley entrance to write our sign? Why do I need to learn characters? Our shop doesn’t need eight or ten signs anyway."
The second update will be later tonight, time uncertain. Feel free to check back tomorrow morning~ ^^
(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to Qidian to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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