With a wave of Chu Lian’s hand, Manager Qin ordered their men to move the sleigh back to the courtyard. On their way back, the joy on everyone’s faces shone through undisguised.
Manager Qin was smart enough to realise how important the sleigh was. He moved into a room close to the sleigh’s storehouse and even ordered some guards to keep a close watch on the carpenter and his family.
Wenqing and Wenlan helped Chu Lian back to her room. Wenlan’s face was flushed red from the icy winds outside, but her joyful mood wasn’t affected. “Third Young Madam, are we going to send the snowboat to the border camp now?”
Chu Lian shook her head, “It’s too late now. Night is about to fall and it’s still snowing outside. It’s not safe to travel at this time. Furthermore, I still have a few more designs to draw.”
While Wenlan was a little disappointed with her answer, she didn’t question further.
Just as Chu Lian had settled down at her desk and flipped over a fresh sheet of paper, preparing to draw out the design for the warm pen, Li Yue came in with quick strides to report something.
Chu Lian turned to her with a strange look and charcoal pencil in hand. “What’s wrong?”
Li Yue frowned, but replied honestly, “Honoured Lady, Leader Mo is outside the courtyard. He and his subordinates are carrying a large piece of fir wood and they’re requesting entrance.”
Chu Lian stayed silent for a moment. Mo Chenggui was seriously out to make her mad today.
Wenlan huffed, “So it’s only now that he realises our Third Young Madam wasn’t doing all that for nothing!? Why didn’t he mind his own business earlier? If not for him, we might have been able to send the snowboat to the camp today! Our Third Young Madam’s snowboat is already completed so we don’t even need that fir wood of his! What’s he doing here now?”
Chu Lian waved her hand, indicating for Li Yue to send them away.
Li Yue pressed her lips together and decided to report everything she had heard. “Third Young Madam, this subordinate knows that Leader Mo and his men have committed wrongs. However, this subordinate heard from the old soldiers that Leader Mo traded all of his winter clothing and cloaks in order to buy that one piece of fir wood. Right now, he’s just wearing his inner clothing as he stands outside the courtyard. Although he’s an old soldier, he’ll likely fall sick from the cold outside sooner or later.”
Chu Lian’s brows finally drew together into a frown. Li Yue wasn’t trying to speak for Mo Chenggui at all. She was simply worried that He Changdi would blame Chu Lian if anything really happened to Mo Chenggui due to exposure to the cold. Chu Lian could sense Li Yue’s good intentions.
“Tell him to put the fir wood down and return to his courtyard with his men.” Chu Lian paused before turning to Wenlan. “Go over personally and give them something to eat.”
After hearing her orders, Li Yue was clearly relieved. She quickly went off to carry out the task she had been given.
Once Li Yue had left the room, Wenlan mumbled in complaint, “Third Young Madam, are you really going to have this servant send them something to eat even after what he did?”
Chu Lian looked up and shot her a look, “It’s just some porridge and buns. When did you become so stingy, you little rascal? Furthermore, those are just some simple items. If we’re able to ‘bribe’ Leader Mo with those, won’t it save us more time and energy?”
She wouldn’t even have to speak then!
Upon hearing Chu Lian’s words, Wenlan gaped.
Fine, she was worrying for nothing then. Their Third Young Madam probably already had some plan in mind.
She should be lighting a candle and praying for that Leader Mo instead.
As expected, once Wenlan sent over a pot of porridge and a box of buns over to Leader Mo’s courtyard, that stubborn old soldier really ended up getting bought over by the food…
The man who had refused to eat anything from Chu Lian’s courtyard was now the most fervent fan of her food. He even snatched more than half of the buns in the box just for himself and refused to let anyone have them.
All of the old soldiers were now ashamed to be part of Mo Chenggui’s party.
However, the scar-faced Leader Mo was so thick-skinned that his eyes didn’t even twitch when faced with his old comrades’ mocking remarks.
Early in the morning, Great General Qian gathered his most trusted subordinates in the commander’s tent.
Once everyone left the commander’s tent, most of their faces looked about the same as He Sanlang’s usual icy expression.
Xiao Hongyu patted He Changdi’s shoulder with a bitter smile. “I’m not used to there being so many Brother Hes in the camp so suddenly.”
When Zhang Mai saw that he still had the mood to joke around, he glared fiercely at the brat.
Xiao Hongyu pouted with a wronged expression.
Even the officers had been forced to eat bean paste these few days. Couldn’t he just crack a joke to lift the mood a little?
He Sanlang stood on the observation tower in camp and looked towards the horizon. Urgency was like a raging beast in his heart. Why hadn’t they come yet?!
