Thus, Xiao Hongyu and his friends witnessed a very strange scene.
The normally solitary and aloof General Sima suddenly started chasing after their group.
Xiao Hongyu shot a sneaky and teasing look at He Changdi. He looked like he was preparing to settle down and watch a good show. When Zhang Mai spotted what their youngest member had done, he slapped the back of Xiao Hongyu’s head.
Captain Guo was the eldest of the group and the most mature one. He peeked at He Sanlang’s cold expression and realised that he wasn’t going to speak up. In the end, Captain Guo had to take up the role of speaking for the group and made a greeting bow towards Sima Hui. “How may we assist you, General Sima?”
Although Sima Hui’s features gave off a certain heroic spirit that most girls wouldn’t have, she looked especially gentle when she smiled. Her actions were also upright and straightforward, so most of the officers in the army held a good impression of her.
Since Sima Hui was trying to be friendly, they couldn’t just reject her overtures. She was a woman too, so that meant that it would be an even greater faux pas if they didn’t respond to her.
“This general heard that Honoured Lady Jinyi has come to the camp today. The last time Honoured Lady came over with extra supplies, this general wasn’t able to meet her, so this time, this general has to pay her a visit today at the very least.”
General Sima’s reason made it hard for them to reject her. Since the general was here to visit Chu Lian and they were both female, they couldn’t really stop them as a bunch of guys.
Furthermore, it was already pretty late now. Honoured Lady Jinyi definitely wouldn’t be able to return to Liangzhou City tonight. He Sanlang shared a tent with Xiao Hongyu and it wasn’t appropriate for them to let He Sanlang and his wife have the tent by themselves. They would have to request for assistance from General Sima in the end anyway.
If they offended her at this point, it wouldn’t be good for them.
Captain Guo’s thoughts ran quickly. He spoke with a polite tone, “We’re on our way to visit Honoured Lady as well. Since General Sima has the same intention, why don’t we go together?”
Xiao Hongyu saw that He Changdi’s gaze hadn’t even grazed Sima Hui’s body for even a second, so he rubbed the back of his head. When there wasn’t any exciting gossip or drama to look at, he felt a little bored.
Zhang Mai and Xiao Hongyu had no objections to Sima Hui’s addition to their party. Only He Changdi seemed to be emanating an icy aura to keep people thousands of miles away from his person, but his unspoken opinion was automatically disregarded.
Sima Hui’s gaze drifted casually over to He Changdi. When she realised that his eyes hadn’t turned in her direction even once, a pang of pain rose in her heart before abruptly fading into nothing.
She smiled mockingly at herself inwardly. It wouldn’t have been possible between them anyway, it was better if she could let it go.
After finally letting go of the twisted emotions in her heart, self-confidence returned to Sima Hui’s expression and she started exuding a charismatic and magnetic aura.
“Since that’s so, let’s go together!”
Today’s teppanyaki had been rather good, especially when paired with that warming lamb organ soup. After she had gulped down the bowl of soup, it felt like her entire body had warmed up.
Chu Lian had her plate in hand as she ate her late dinner. However, she was only able to eat a few bites of the delicious grilled beef slices before the guards outside announced, “Reporting to Honoured Lady, General Sima, Captain Guo, Captain He, Lieutenant Xiao and Lieutenant Zhang are here.”
The corners of her lips twitched. What was up with this group of people? Their noses were even better than those of dogs! They were somehow able to come by every time she was having a meal.
Wenqing and Wenlan both stiffened and froze at the same time, their faces turning pale. They exchanged troubled looks. What were they to do? Third Young Master’s chest plate was still serving as the frying pan over the fire…
Chu Lian demolished the remaining beef slices on her plate in record speed and with absolute calm before standing up and straightening out her clothes.
As expected, in a short moment, the tent flap was lifted from outside and her visitors poured into the tent.
The tent wasn’t that big, so there was hardly any space left once everyone had entered.
Everyone’s eyes turned to the brazier next to Chu Lian the moment they entered the tent, their eyes filled with curiosity and expectation.
Xiao Hongyu was the first to lose to his curiosity. He strode over to Chu Lian, not forgetting to give her a greeting bow, before asking her with wide, sparkling eyes, “Sister-in-Law, what are you cooking now? It smells delicious!”
Chu Lian couldn’t hold back the twitch in her eyes any longer.
These gluttons! The first thing on their minds wasn’t asking after her wellbeing, but eyeing the table and plates in front of her…
Was this really how they should be acting?
However, Chu Lian couldn’t share her honest thoughts with these gluttons, so she could only summon up her well of patience and reply, “I’m not used to the food here in the army and I had nothing to do, so I made these with my maidservants. They’re just some small snacks. If it seems interesting to you, please feel free to have a taste.”
That invite was exactly what the gluttons had been waiting for. When they heard her words, their faces lit up with delight. They had been stuck in the meeting in the commander’s tent for almost the entire day. In the afternoon, all they had was just bean paste. They were absolutely starving right now. If not for Chu Lian’s status and gender, they would probably have come charging in to snatch her food when they had smelled that delicious aroma, rather than trying to be polite.
Sima Hui formed a cupped fist salute with her hands in Chu Lian’s direction. The manly gesture didn’t seem out of place with her military outfit. Instead, it made her seem even more dashing and bold.
“Honoured Lady Jinyi, my name is Sima Hui. I’ll be troubling you today.”
Sima Hui was half a head taller than Chu Lian. She had long legs, a narrow waist and a heroic aura. Her eyes were slightly tilted upwards at their corners, giving her sharp features a hint of loveliness. Chu Lian met her eyes and saw the resolution in her gaze, so she bobbed in reply and smiled with good intentions.
As she expected, Sima Hui wasn’t the kind of woman who would be narrow-minded or a stickler for social conventions.
