CHAPTER 127: CHAPTER 125: DELIVERING SOUP

After returning from Chen Family Village, Song Xian did not go to the government office, but instead trained soldiers outside the city.

The soldiers climbed the city walls, using cloud ladders to scale them.

These cloud ladders were personally improved by Song Xian, with a pivot placed in the middle to allow them to extend to a certain degree. The base is reinforced with raw cowhide to withstand stones dropped by stone-throwing machines.

Song Xian entered the military camp with Song Qizheng at the age of ten. In the early years, unable to participate in battles, he studied military books from previous dynasties and devised ways to improve military equipment.

During battles between two armies, military equipment is of utmost importance. In the past life, Liao spies like Wang Jian entered the Military Equipment Supervision, with predictable consequences.

"Sir," Chang An approached and said, "Su Huaiqing went to the Zhenzhou Government Office."

Song Xian’s expression remained calm and unreadable, but he began to deliberate inwardly, roughly guessing what Su Huaiqing intended to do.

Chang An continued, "Su Huaiqing went with the Su Family to confess their crimes."

Song Xian replied indifferently, "He wants to save the Su Family and his mother."

Chang An said, "County Magistrate Qu asked what you advise, Sir."

Song Xian’s gaze turned towards the practicing soldiers: "Let County Magistrate Qu conduct the interrogation."

Chang An acknowledged.

In Song Xian’s mind appeared the scene of Su Huaiqing with rolled-up sleeves working in Old Mrs. Chen’s courtyard. The matters of the Su Family were not yet resolved, yet he visited Chen Family Village to see Old Mrs. Chen, indicating he already had a clear plan for the case.

Song Xian narrowed his eyes slightly. Whether it was Lin Xu or the Su Family, he had already made arrangements, and he wasn’t worried that Su Huaiqing would ruin things. He just wanted to see what Su Huaiqing could say.

...

Night fell.

Old Mrs. Chen and Chen Zigeng were asleep, but Xie Liangchen was flipping pancakes on the kang, perhaps having slept too much in the afternoon, now unusually alert at night.

Thinking of the accounts and medical books on the table, Xie Liangchen wanted to get up and go to the east room.

With such thoughts, the time spent pretending to nap felt increasingly intolerable. After carefully listening for a moment to ensure her grandmother and younger brother were truly asleep, Xie Liangchen got up, dressed, and quietly opened the door.

The cold wind hit her, and she shivered slightly. She reached out to adjust her clothes, cautiously closed the door, and prepared to hurry to the east room.

Unexpectedly, after taking just two steps, a voice called out, "Where are you going?"

The voice was all too familiar; it was Song Xian.

Xie Liangchen stood in place, seeing Song Xian approaching by the moonlight.

"Sir." Xie Liangchen greeted him.

Song Xian asked nonchalantly, "Where are you headed in the middle of the night?"

In the darkness, Xie Liangchen couldn’t see Song Xian’s face. She quickly glanced at the east room: "I couldn’t sleep, planning to go to the east room to do the accounts."

Song Xian said, "Can’t feel at ease for even a day without accounting?"

Xie Liangchen didn’t reply, instead asked, "Why did you come, Sir?"

"I returned from training soldiers and passed by to have a look," Song Xian replied. He had just arrived, intending to hand something to Chang Yue before leaving, but then saw Xie Liangchen sneaking out of the house.

In the dead of night, everyone else was asleep, only her eyes shining brightly like two lanterns.

A gust of wind blew, and Xie Liangchen felt cold. In front of her, Song Xian strode towards the east room.

Xie Liangchen skillfully lit the lamp on the desk and turned to look at Song Xian.

At some unknown time, Song Xian had a carrying handle food basket in his hand. He reached out and handed it to Xie Liangchen, who was momentarily taken aback, finally asking, "Sir...what is this?"

Song Xian saw the wariness and alertness in Xie Liangchen’s eyes.

"This is a medicinal meal prepared by the family for Grandmother," Song Xian explained, "Grandmother says it tastes different from what you make. Try and see where the issue lies?"

Xie Liangchen understood and stepped forward to take the food box, turning to place it on the desk.

Xie Liangchen asked, "Do you want me to taste it now, Sir?"

Song Xian responded affirmatively.

"Then please sit for a while." Xie Liangchen found a small stool and invited Song Xian to sit.

The east room wasn’t set up with chairs, so if Song Xian was to wait here, he would have to endure a bit of inconvenience.

Xie Liangchen observed Song Xian’s expression, noting no sign of disdain or impatience. Instead, he looked at the lamp on the desk: "Only one lamp?"

Xie Liangchen nodded.

Song Xian slightly furrowed his brow, thought for a moment, then took the small stool to sit beside the desk: "I need the lamp to read official documents."

In the east room, there was only one desk. Xie Liangchen needed to place the soup bowl on the desk to taste the soup, which meant being very close to Song Xian.

She watched as Song Xian pulled out a letter from his sleeve and started reading it intently under the light, his full attention on the few thin sheets of paper.

Xie Liangchen stood nearby, watching for a moment, ensuring Song Xian was as indifferent as the furnishings of the east room, before moving to sit by the desk and open the food basket.

A fragrant aroma greeted her.

Xie Liangchen reached out to touch the porcelain jar; it was still warm.

The jar contained well-stewed beef soup. Xie Liangchen ladled some soup, tasted it at her mouth, noting Huang Jing added to it. The Huang Jing should have been sent by her to the Song Family, processed through nine steaming and nine sun-dryings, which removed any bitterness and numbness, and since not much was added, the medicinal taste wasn’t strong. Why didn’t Old Mrs. Song like it?

Xie Liangchen took a couple more sips, then served a piece of beef into her mouth, finding it slightly tough, indicating inadequate simmering.

Xie Liangchen raised her head, about to speak to Song Xian, but Song Xian was absorbed in the document, lost in thought, not noticing her.

"Already figured it out?" Song Xian finally asked after a while.

Xie Liangchen replied, "It might be that the beef isn’t soft enough. Like my grandmother, Old Mrs. Song doesn’t like chewing tough food at her age. If you put beef in cold water to boil, then add herbs and let it simmer gently for longer, it would improve greatly."

Song Xian nodded in agreement.

"Eat it all," Song Xian instructed, "so I don’t have to take it back."

Things she ate, Song Xian naturally wouldn’t want back, but... Xie Liangchen looked at the soup jar before her—it did seem like a lot of beef soup, but she couldn’t save it for fear of explaining it to her grandmother and younger brother.

After pondering for a moment, Xie Liangchen picked up the spoon again.

The time it took to finish a meal wasn’t particularly long, yet not short either, and although Song Xian should have finished reading the document by then, he still held that paper steadfastly, leading Xie Liangchen to suspect the paper contained very critical matters, requiring thoughtful perusal.

Once Xie Liangchen cleaned the soup jar in the kitchen, placing it back in the food basket, Song Xian also stored away the document.

Despite the winter night breeze seeping through the house and even though retrieving firewood from the stove didn’t warm the place much, perhaps due to the beef soup, Xie Liangchen felt a warm sensation enveloping her.

Song Xian looked at the neatly arranged food basket, realizing it was time to leave.

"Su Huaiqing went to the Zhenzhou Government Office," Song Xian said, "He compared accounts and had an old pharmacist verify them, confirming that the medicinal materials posing as those from Chen Family Village came from the Su Family."