Chapter 304: Jiang Zhi Is Bullied
Chapter 304: Chapter 304: Jiang Zhi Is Bullied
Xie Ming’an hadn’t said anything yet.
But the attendant beside him stared with wide eyes.
"Ten dishes of each?!" the attendant exclaimed in shock.
They were in the middle of a harsh winter. Supplies were scarce everywhere, especially food.
Even with Mrs. Meng, the head of the merchant guild, keeping things in check, prices for all sorts of goods just kept rising.
No matter how rich their Second Young Master was, he couldn’t afford to be so extravagant.
Xie Ming’an frowned slightly. He looked at Shen Ningning and said, "I’m not like my older brother. I’m an honest official with a small salary."
Shen Ningning folded her little arms.
Her round face was adorable and lively, and her dark eyes looked like a pair of grapes.
She pouted. "If you can’t afford the silver, why did you tell me to order whatever I wanted?"
Xie Ming’an took a quiet breath.
"Can you really eat this much?"
"Just order it. Why do you care if I eat it or not?" Shen Ningning was usually well-behaved, but her attitude toward Xie Ming’an was anything but pleasant.
After a moment of silence, Xie Ming’an spoke.
He turned to his attendant and said, "Take my token, go to the Money Shop to withdraw some silver, and buy this entire restaurant."
Both the attendant and Shen Ningning were stunned.
The little girl shot back, "Didn’t you say you had no money? You’re a fake honest official, aren’t you?"
Her words made Xie Ming’an chuckle in exasperation.
He leaned back in his chair, his long fingers holding his teacup with a noble air.
"Originally, I studied to be a forensic doctor."
"A forensic doctor?" Shen Ningning tilted her little head, confused.
Xie Ming’an explained, "Someone who examines corpses."
The color drained from Shen Ningning’s face.
Xie Ming’an continued, "Studying forensics is time-consuming, strenuous, and most of all, expensive."
Common folk believe in keeping a body intact after death. No one would willingly hand over their deceased family members to a forensic doctor for dissection and study.
So, to have a steady supply of bodies to practice on, Xie Ming’an went to the Yizhuang.
"When I said I wanted to be a forensic doctor, my mother was scared, my father was disgusted, and my older brother disapproved."
"No one in my family supported me, so of course, I had no silver. But I was determined to learn. How could I solve cases without knowing how to examine a body?"
"So, I first found a way to earn some silver on my own."
It just so happened that the business grew bigger than expected, so he simply opened a Money Shop.
But he didn’t have time to manage it, so he left it in the hands of others.
Xie Ming’an watched as utter shock filled Shen Ningning’s little face.
He asked calmly, "Is there anything else you want? Anything on this entire street that catches your eye? If so, I’ll have my attendant withdraw more money."
Shen Ningning finally snapped back to her senses.
She hopped off her chair, puffing her cheeks in anger. "I won’t accept your kindness!"
"Don’t think you can make me forgive you just by doing this. I told you, a second brother is the last thing I need!"
Xie Ming’an’s cool, pale face faltered.
He said, "Don’t misunderstand. I’m not trying to make you accept me as your second brother."
"It’s just that I truly did misunderstand you before. This is merely an apology to help you cool down."
Hearing this only made Shen Ningning more furious.
She stomped to the door, her cheeks puffed out. "I’m not eating! You can have it all yourself."
Xie Ming’an frowned. "So many dishes have already been ordered. If you don’t eat, what should be done with them?"
Shen Ningning didn’t look back.
"Set up a stall and give it away as congee. Donate it. That’s what I was planning to do anyway. Now, you decide for yourself. Hmph!"
And with that, she left.
The attendant asked Xie Ming’an hesitantly, "Second Young Master, should we... cancel the dishes then?"
Xie Ming’an brushed his robes. "Why cancel them? Do as she said. Set up a congee stall and help the poor."
「After that.」
Shen Ningning discovered that whenever she went out,
she would always inadvertently catch sight of Xie Ming’an.
It seemed he had nothing better to do than follow her.
He never approached to speak, just trailed behind her, not too close and not too far.
He would disappear for a moment, only to reappear a short while later.
Shen Ningning gritted her teeth, deciding to pretend he didn’t exist.
However, while she could ignore him, the people around her dared not.
When Shen Ningning was busy in her shop, Xie Ming’an would order a pot of tea and sit in the teahouse across the street.
His half-open window faced her directly.
The common folk who used to frequent the shop to take advantage saw the Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice sitting nearby and suddenly became much more behaved.
Everyone in the Capital City knew Xie Ming’an by his nickname: the Cold-faced Yama.
He was ruthless with prisoners. One shouldn’t be fooled by how elegant his long fingers looked holding a teacup.
When holding a scalpel to perform an autopsy, he wouldn’t even furrow his brow at the sight of guts and organs.
Shen Ningning, for her part, wasn’t afraid of him.
She was just annoyed that she couldn’t seem to shake him off.
Lately, both Mo Lingwei and Xie Suzhi were swamped, busy dealing with the Changliu Country raising an army to attack the border.
So the little girl made sure not to disturb either of them.
With no classes today, she thought about it and decided to visit Jiang Zhi at General Chen’s military camp.
Shen Ningning refused to believe that Xie Ming’an could follow her into a military camp.
Inside the military camp, soldiers moved back and forth.
From time to time, the powerful and impressive sounds of martial arts practice could be heard.
Shen Ningning remembered that Jiang Zhi had been assigned to the General Mansion’s household soldiers’ camp.
Normally, she returned to the mansion to rest at night and had to train here during the day.
However, the camp was so large that she soon got lost.
Left with no choice, Shen Ningning stopped a few passing soldiers.
"Excuse me, where can I find Jiang Zhi?"
The men exchanged a look, their expressions intriguing.
The leader chuckled and asked, "Who are you? His sister?"
Wanchun, standing behind Shen Ningning, shouted, "You insolent fools! This is Princess Funing, open your eyes and see clearly!"
The soldiers immediately dropped their nonchalant attitudes.
They clasped their hands and said, "Jiang Zhi is by Snow Creek, behind the camp."
Shen Ningning blinked. "Thank you."
She turned to go find Jiang Zhi.
Unexpectedly, she saw a slender figure squatting by Snow Creek, washing clothes.
Several tubs of dirty laundry were piled up beside her.
Shen Ningning was aghast.
"Brother... Jiang." She had almost blurted out ’sister’.
The little girl ran over. Jiang Zhi, not expecting her, quickly stood up, her face filled with delight.
"Ningning, what are you doing here?"
"I came to see you." Shen Ningning looked her over from head to toe.
Jiang Zhi had actually gotten thinner.
Not only that, but her hands were red and raw from the cold.
The weather was freezing, and Snow Creek had long since frozen over.
So, Jiang Zhi was here, melting snow into water to wash the clothes.
"Brother Jiang, aren’t you here to train? Why are you washing clothes?"
Jiang Zhi seemed to be hiding something. She changed the subject. "It’s very cold out here, Ningning. Let me take you to my tent to rest."
But Shen Ningning didn’t budge.
"Is Brother Bei making things difficult for you? I’ll go find him right now!" The little girl turned around angrily.
Jiang Zhi quickly pulled her back.
"Don’t go. Young General Chen doesn’t know about this."
Only after Shen Ningning pressed her repeatedly did Jiang Zhi finally reveal the truth.
It turned out that Chen Shaobei had been taking good care of her, even giving her a private room.
Unexpectedly, this had attracted the jealousy of the other soldiers.
They thought Jiang Zhi was unsociable for not sleeping in the large, shared bunks. Even at mealtimes, Chen Shaobei would instruct people to give Jiang Zhi extra dishes and soup.
As a result, Jiang Zhi was being ostracized by the entire camp!
During training, not only did they exclude her, but they also assigned her all sorts of miscellaneous chores.
Washing clothes, tending fires, and cleaning the stables were now her regular duties.
And every time she finished, by the time she rushed to the mess hall, she would find that her food had already been eaten by others.
All that was left for her were cold leftovers, or sometimes just a single bowl of soup.
Chen Shaobei was busy, and Jiang Zhi felt too embarrassed to complain to him.
Otherwise, with Jiang Zhi’s fiery temper, she would have already resorted to fighting.
But after joining the military camp, she discovered that Old General Chen’s knowledge of military strategy was profound and worth learning.
And there were many opportunities to practice martial arts here—the kind of life she had yearned for since she was a child.
Not the life of a bandit that everyone despised, but that of a general who could earn her own merits through her skills.
So, Jiang Zhi endured it, again and again.
Shen Ningning grew angry as she listened, her little brow furrowed.
"How outrageous!" The little girl immediately had Wanchun summon the steward of the military camp.
The steward was a burly military general who held the position of Deputy Captain in the camp.
After he was called over, Shen Ningning briefly explained Jiang Zhi’s situation.
Then she asked, "Do you know that these men are ganging up to bully Jiang Zhi?"
"You are all fellow soldiers, and Jiang Zhi earned his place in this camp with his own abilities. Why is he being bullied like this by all of you? Does Young General Chen know about this?"
The Deputy Captain’s gruff voice immediately responded, "Impossible. Absolutely impossible."
"We are just a bunch of rough men. Perhaps our words and actions have upset this little brother, Jiang Zhi?"
"Commandery Princess, this claim about not being given food is pure fabrication. What you may not know is that Jiang Zhi has a huge appetite. He eats three or four bowls of white rice in one meal—that’s the portion of three men."
"No matter how powerful the General Mansion is, it can’t afford to feed a soldier who eats so much! Besides, we never said a word about it, so how could he run to you with complaints?"
Jiang Zhi’s brows furrowed in shame and anger, her fists clenched tightly.
Back when she was at Shen Ningning’s home, she never had to worry about food.
She trained in martial arts every day, which consumed a lot of energy, so she had always eaten more than a normal girl since she was young.
But Shen Ningning had never said a word about it.
She never expected to be scorned for it in the military camp.
Shen Ningning’s soft, sweet voice turned icy.
"Can’t afford to feed a soldier? Fine. Just you wait!" The little girl turned and walked away.
The Deputy Captain narrowed his eyes, staring at her departing back in confusion.
’What is this Princess Funing planning to do?’
’She’s not going to complain to the Crown Prince, is she?’
But on second thought, the Deputy Captain felt he had nothing to fear.
’It’s not like we’re actually mistreating Jiang Zhi. We can explain this away no matter who comes asking. Let’s see what Princess Funing can possibly do!’