The Lover's Prattle

General Slag//4.2

 He Weiwen's chuckling mixed with the sound of things breaking inside. He wanted to turn around and tell her that the girls shouldn't swear, but after thinking of the fate of the innocent furniture, he decided against it.

Qingruo received a package from the General's Mansion later, and in it was everything that she had destroyed earlier. Moreover, the goods were all better quality than the ones she previously had.

The servant delivering the package passed on a message, saying that General He said that the furniture was to pay her back for the plate of grapes, and that the grapes at the Hu manor were pretty good.

"..."

The servant returned to General's Mansion where Hu Qingcheng was accompanying He Weiwen in the study.

He Weiwen didn't send the others in the room away, so the servant could only directly say "General, Miss Hu flew into a fit and trashed everything. She seemed very angry and cursed a lot." This old servant had served in the General's manor for many years and reported this news without any emotion.

Hu Qingcheng started sweating.

"En." He Weiwen responded while approving the document in his hand. Lowering his head to look closer at the paper, he commented in a casual tone. "Send more tomorrow."

"Yes."

Hu Qingcheng was somewhat unsure of He Weiwen's intentions in the way he treated Qingruo. In his memory, He Weiwen had never been so patient with anyone or let anyone disregard his reputation like that, except for the young emperor.

Hu Qincheng knew that He Weiwen had an elaborate plan that involved the emperor, so it made sense to be nice to the latter, but why was He Weiwen so nice to Qingruo? Hu Qingcheng didn't dare ask He Weiwen this question, and instead went straight to Qingruo's courtyard after returning home.

Qingruo had already gone to bed, but he sent a servant to go directly into her room and drag her out to the yard.

Qingruo's face came outside with a dark face, her loose hair swaying behind her. The adornments that were usually in her hair had already been removed for bedtime. When she saw Hu Qingcheng, she yanked the jade bracelet off her wrist and aimed it at him. Qingruo began to fuss loudly, and even though it was in the middle of the night, loud voices could be heard from the courtyard.

Hu Qingcheng dodged from side to side, trying to avoid her successive attacks of hair ornaments. He took one of his hidden weapons out and threw it at QIngruo's ankle.

She suddenly fell to the ground on her bottom, and although it didn't hurt too much, her face showed a look of hurt.

Hu Qingcheng had been observing her since she appeared, and even though he had many guesses, he was still not sure of He Weiwen's intentions, "Stay in your courtyard, or don't come at me later saying that I don't care about familial ties."

Qingruo showed an aggrieved and tightly clenched her fists, but did not say a word.

Hu Qingcheng whispered to the guard at the door, "Guard her carefully. In the future, if General He comes, immediately come inform me."

"Yes."

The second day He Weiwen sent the furniture over to Qingruo's courtyard, she destroyed everything again. This time, she even called for a servant to pack it back up to send to the general's manor.

When the servants brought the package back to He Weiwen, he was somewhat surprised. She was so dumb; he didn't think that she would become so smart after just a few days. However, the servant said that Qingruo really meant for the smashed furniture to be a 'return gift'.