Sick Man Turns Out to be a General

It was early autumn, and the cold wind blew in through the willows, and the cold was palpable in the evening, but the daughters of the courtiers who had been invited to the Empress Dowager's birthday feast tonight were carefully dressed, and some wore light summer dresses in order to make themselves conspicuous, and were not afraid of the cold.    

    

Actually, the reason why they dressed up so carefully wasn't just to attend tonight's birthday banquet, but also to attract the attention of the young talents attending the banquet. I heard that the few princes of the palace who hadn't been married off, as well as General Song of the Northwest Army and General Qin of the Northeast Army, had all come.    

    

Moreover, according to the spies in the palace, the empress had intended to find a target for the princes who had yet to marry into the imperial concubine's household.    

    

First, they sent people from all over the country to pick out beautiful and talented girls to send to the palace. They had to check the facial features, body taste, four limbs, posture, speech, and even the zither, chess, paintings, and personality … They had to go through all of these, and they had to go through all of these before being able to find out who exactly did it. The best candidate would not only become the imperial concubine, but the imperial concubine as well.    

    

However, formal and large-scale talent shows were often held only once every few years, so they were much more popular. Firstly, they weren't as strict, and secondly, they were easier to display their talents.    

    

There were dozens of heroic young talents present tonight, and all of them were potential elites. According to the meaning of the father and son pair, tonight was the key, so they had to perform well and could not become Crown Princess.    

    

Of course, the most important thing was to let that bumpkin Shen Jingli know the meaning of "self-awareness". It was just a pair, looked ugly, had a low status, yet dared to shamelessly occupy Fourteenth Master? He simply didn't know what to make of it.    

    

Amongst the noble ladies in the capital, there were many who had ill intentions towards Mu Chen. After all, Mu Shisi had a handsome face with unlimited space for growth.    

    

However, to the noble ladies of the capital, the thing they were most unhappy about was that when others compared them to Shen Jingli, they said that the noble girls of their sect could not compare to a pair of twins, and could not get the favor of the Fourteenth Master. They were all noble girls from prestigious families, with dignified and beautiful faces.    

    

Thus, under the strange rumours, Shen Jingli became the target of public criticism. Every family's young miss was putting in all his effort tonight, vowing to beat Shen Jingli down, to let this country bumpkin know that he was just a clown, not worth mentioning.    

    

Today's banquet would be held in the Jade and Flowers Hall by the lake. The cool wind blowing from the lake would cause the young girls in summer clothes to shiver and turn green, especially the ladies who were arranged to sit close to the lake.    

    

Although it was autumn, it was still a bit chilly when the wind blew. Shen Jingli was afraid of the cold, and had prepared for it a long time ago.    

    

The Nanny Jin knew that he was weak and feared the cold. Not only had he been given a small cotton-padded jacket with a thin layer of cotton sewn on it, but she also had a stove to warm his hands and several red beans and medicine bags to warm his body.    

    

The red beans were stuffed inside the warm bag, while the medicine bag was filled with leaves, fennel, cloves and one kilogram of rice. The medicine bag was made from Nanny Jin's beautiful sewing, embroidered with flowers, and hung with string as decoration. As long as you put it by the stove to heat before using it, or grilled it a little with a clean pot, it would be fine.    

    

Jin Yu and Nian Hua came up with these two things. Those two fellows had been following him for a long time and had become very innovative, yet he had only mentioned that it would be good if they had a warm bag.    

    

His abilities were not bad. Shen Jingli generously rewarded each of them with 10 silver coins, making the two guys so happy that they almost flew into the sky.    

    

It was just a mere ten taels of silver, how virtuous was that? He was so happy that he seemed to have earned a few million.    

    

Shen Jingli and Zhao Wenrui sat together. They were married couples, and were not allowed to stay with noble ladies that had yet to leave the pavilion. They also had to keep a distance from married wives.    

    

While drinking the hot tea, Shen Jingli looked at the surrounding noble women whose faces were even more green than the previous one, and couldn't help but laugh in his heart.    

    

Usually, they didn't step out of the door, nor did they exercise. Their bodies were weak, but they were actually able to withstand the cold wind and solemnly sat on the chairs. For the sake of the talent show, they really did go all out.    

    

Zhao Wenrui was a martial artist, his physique was good, so he did not put this kind of cold wind in his eyes at all. However, the purple-clothed Shuang'er who was sitting beside him was trembling from cold.    

    

Shen Jingli raised his head and looked at him. He was originally a handsome young man, but his face was smeared with a lot of rouge, making her look like he was singing.    

    

He was wearing a thin silk gown, and when the cool wind blew, he was rubbing his arms together. Shen Jingli could not help but shake his head, and heard Zhao Wenrui say: "You're so cold, why aren't you wearing a cloak?"    

    

"Mammy said, don't wear too much. Otherwise, General Song wouldn't have been able to see my good looks. "    

    

You draw as though you're doing the same thing. Even if General Song were to see you, he wouldn't be able to notice your good looks, right?    

    

Shen Jingli guffawed in his heart. He really couldn't understand the mama's mentality, why did he feel that this kind of big red makeup could attract people?    

    

"It's Soong Wei?" Zhao Wenrui asked calmly.    

    

That Shua Er shyly lowered his head, carefully biting his lips, and couldn't stop himself from rippling. Suddenly, Shen Jingli felt a chill, and goosebumps dropped to the ground.    

    

Needless to say, he was definitely right. Shen Jingli could clearly feel that Zhao Wenrui had suddenly distanced himself from that Shuang'er. Furthermore, he gave his a weird look, but did not say anything.    

    

Shen Jingli handed over a warm bag, "You can stick it on your body and keep it warm."    

    

"What's wrong? Who is that Soong Wei person? " He turned his head and asked Zhao Wenrui softly.    

    

"The person who poisoned Mu Chen."    

    

A hint of coldness flashed past Shen Jingli's eyes, and revealed a trace of an indescribable smile.    

    

That Shuang'er realised the distance between Shen Jingli and him and looked up at them in confusion.    

    

"Who is this Shuang-er?"    

    

"It's the Kaiser's son."    

    

The King, the Emperor's elder brother, was also the current Minister of the Right Premier. His son had actually set his eyes on a general who relied on poison to ascend to the throne. Could this Prince be blind?    

    

Shen Jingli let out a cold laugh as he drank another cup of hot tea. Zhao Wenrui picked up the pastries from the table and started to eat them.    

    

"Where's Xun Er? Why didn't you bring him along? " Zhao Wenrui's husband really liked Xun Er, and had even adopted him as his foster son.    

    

"I'm afraid he's a troublemaker." That little fellow had been very thick-skinned lately. If he wasn't optimistic, he would cause trouble for him.    

    

Zhao Wenrui couldn't help but laugh. Xun Er was indeed lively, just like a little overlord.    

    

"It's better to be lively. I'm waiting for him to become our son-in-law."    

    

Shen Jingli laughed but did not say anything. If he really had such a son-in-law in the future, Xu Yanlin would probably go crazy.    

    

While he was laughing, a large hand suddenly reached over and took away the teacup in his hand, and gave him a hand stove.    

    

"Is it cold?"    

    

Shen Jingli raised his head and saw Mu Chen's tall figure standing behind him. There was also a person standing behind him with his back straightened and wearing a battle robe, he looked like he was worn out from the journey.    

    

"You brought a friend?" To be able to follow Mu Chen here, he must be a trusted friend. Mu Shisi would not easily bring friends to see him.    

    

"Right, let me introduce someone to you." Mu Chen turned to the side, allowing Shen Jingli to clearly see the person behind him.    

    

When Zhao Wenrui saw the person behind him, he immediately stood up with an expression of surprise and joy.    

    

"Wen Rui, long time no see."    

    

Was it a woman?    

    

Shen Jingli was a little surprised. Seeing her dressed in battle robes, he had thought that she was a man.    

    

"Sister Tie Lan, when did you return?"    

    

"Just came back."    

    

Judging from her battle robes and her travel worn appearance, it was obvious that she was traveling at full speed towards the capital.    

    

After greeting Zhao Wenrui, Zhan Tialan then looked at Shen Jingli and mocked: "Married wife?"    

    

"Yes, I married her in the Southern Wilderness." Mu Chen hugged Shen Jingli, and laughed very happily, "Jinglee, this is General Zhan Tialan, the main general of the Northeast Army."    

    

Of course, Shen Jingli had heard of her great name. He was the only female general in the Great Yan Dynasty, and his family's Battle Army was the only army that resided in the Northeast.    

    

"I've heard a lot about you, it's nice to meet you!" Shen Jingli said in a gentle tone.    

    

Zhan Tialan laughed heartily and patted Shen Jingli's shoulder. She was a martial artist, so she did not have a good grasp of her strength and almost smacked Shen Jingli until he bled internal organs.    

    

"Why are you being so courteous? We are all family, just call for Sister Lan. "    

    

Shen Jingli coughed lightly, he felt that if he were to be smacked down again, he would definitely suffer from internal bleeding.    

    

"Hello, Sister Lan."    

    

"Alright …"    

    

"General Song and General Qin have arrived."    

    

Someone shouted in surprise. Zhan Tialan's face changed, she turned her head to look in that direction, suddenly snorted coldly and said to Mu Chen: "You were poisoned by that brat?"    

    

Mu Chen had been his right-hand man for seven or eight years. He believed in Soong Wei a lot, but he never thought that Soong Wei would actually follow him.    

    

"You really don't have a good eye." Zhan Tialan clicked her tongue, and said: "Do you know who he belongs to?"    

    

Soong Wei still had the ability, but to command the Northwest Armies, was still far from enough.    

    

"Not at the moment." Mu Chen shook his head. After he went to the Southern Wilderness, he had asked all the trusted subordinates in the army to investigate Soong Wei, but they could not find out who Soong Wei came into contact with.    

    

"This means that the other party is quite well-hidden." Zhan Tialan sneered as she accidentally crushed a teacup.    

    

Soong Wei was conversing with a few masters, feeling that a pair of eyes were staring at him. Raising his head to look, he realized that Mu Chen and Zhan Tialan were looking at him with deep eyes, and looked away guiltily.    

    

The general was still alive. He was sweating profusely from the shock of this fact.