There were a few boldly written words on the front of the letter: ‘To my dear wife, Madam Chu’.
A corner of Chu Lian’s lips lifted in amusement. She wondered if he felt any guilt at all while writing that down. Calling her his ‘dear wife’ — yeah, right. He hadn’t even been willing to consummate their marriage! Did he have a conscience somewhere in that head of his or not?
Chu Lian tore open the letter and pulled out a few pieces of paper. Now that she could see the contents, he really had written a whole stack of letters to her. Each page was packed with tiny little words. She had to get as close as possible to decipher them. But the moment she tried, her face instantly turned dark.
What the heck was this! The handwriting on these letters were so bad that they looked like exorcism amulets! She couldn’t understand a single one!
No, wait. She was able to understand two words. The big, bold words at the start of the letter: Chu Lian.
After that warm ‘my dear wife’ on the front of the envelope, He Sanlang still ended up addressing her by her full name ‘Chu Lian’ in the letter itself.
Even though she couldn’t really make out what the letter was about, just based on those two words alone, Chu Lian could understand that He Sanlang hadn’t written anything good about her in that letter.
She pursed her lips. Luckily, He Changdi’s handwriting was so terrible that she couldn’t read the letter. Otherwise, she would have probably gotten angry and expired from the force of her rage.
She carefully folded up the letter and placed it back into the envelope, then tucked it away in a fragrant rosewood box. Then, Chu Lian prepared some ink and picked up her brush to start writing a reply.
He Changdi had written out three whole pages while full of anger, all to warn the wicked woman Chu Lian against trying any of her tricks while he was gone. If he were to find out that she hadn’t even read a single word of it, perhaps he might even spew out a mouthful of blood. If he were to also find out that it was all because of his flowery handwriting, perhaps he might also regret trying his best to show off his calligraphy skills.
After thinking for a long time, Chu Lian still didn’t know what to write as a reply to He Changdi. She wrote a few words, before staring at the remaining blank space on the paper. Her eyebrows furrowed together and she quickly scrunched the paper up into a ball and threw it into the fire.
No way, it was impossible! Although her handwriting had improved, it was still miles apart from someone who should be used to writing with a brush. It wouldn’t be good to expose her lack of skills to He Changdi by writing a letter. What if he started getting suspicious? That husband of hers was already crazy enough; she couldn’t risk provoking him any more.
Since she couldn’t write, how was she supposed to reply He Sanlang’s letter?
Chu Lian scratched her head in frustration. Somehow, her gaze landed on the set of goose feather pens and charcoal that she usually used for practising.
Her eyes instantly lit up. Oh yes! Although she couldn’t write, she could draw!
For an art enthusiast like her, those simple little comics with four boxes were easy as pie!
Now that she had a plan, Chu Lian immediately started putting it into action. She took up her brush and with a few strokes, a lively… interesting drawing started to take shape on the paper.
The little person wearing a dress with a lopsided hairstyle was herself.
With a few simple, quick lines and some nice brush strokes, the paper was filled with quite the animated scene.
In less than an hour, Chu Lian had already drawn twenty comics. She couldn’t even fit the whole stack into the envelope.
Finally, Chu Lian called Xiyan into the study.
“Xiyan, help me find a larger envelope!”
Xiyan was still dazed by the request. She was wondering what Chu Lian needed such a thing for. If she wanted to mail something larger, she could just use a package!
Chu Lian waved the stack of paper at Xiyan, and the maidservant immediately understood.
Xiyan hurried out with a smile on her face to look for another envelope. She bumped into Senior Servant Gui outside the bedroom. Senior Servant Gui found it strange that the normally calm maidservant had a bright smile on.
Xiyan chuckled. “Momo, you should have seen it! The size of the reply that Third Young Madam has written for Third Young Master’s letter! It can’t fit in a normal envelope, so this servant is going to find a much bigger envelope to fit it in.”
As Xiyan was speaking, she even gestured with her fingers to show how thick the stack was… with some exaggeration, of course.
Senior Servant Gui chuckled along with her. She recalled that Third Young Master had sent back a letter for their Third Young Madam. It must have been something he’d written that had made her so happy. Why else would Third Young Madam have so many things to say? Her reply couldn’t even fit in a normal envelope!
“Good, that’s good. This old servant will help search for one as well.”
In the end, they had to make a request to the steward of the outer court for one!
The fact was that such big envelopes were rarely used, so they didn’t have any in the estate. In the end, it was the steward who used leather to fashion one in a stroke of genius. There was a special feeling to it when Chu Lian held it in her hands, almost like the file holders back in the modern era.
Senior Servant Gui and Xiyan happily watched as Chu Lian personally put the thick stack of papers into the envelope and sealed it. She even wrote the words ‘To my dear Sanlang’ on the front. The two servants imagined their Third Young Madam stuffing the entirety of her sweet little heart into that large envelope.
Remembering Senior Servant Liu’s special reminder, Chu Lian had Senior Servant Gui find a cloth for wrapping up a package. She packed up a few of He Changdi’s inner clothes, cloaks, winter clothing, shoes, and so on. These had already been made for He Changdi anyway, so Chu Lian didn’t need to do a single thing.
Senior Servant Zhong was also present in the room. A corner of her lips lifted in appreciation. In her heart, she nodded. Third Young Madam really did have Third Young Master in her heart. She even knew to pack up some clothes for her husband.
The courier had already told them that he could help bring some things over, but not too much, or it wouldn’t be very convenient for him.
Matriarch He also knew how strict the army camps at the northern border were, so she didn’t try to make things difficult for the courier. She even specially told Chu Lian of the package limit.
After preparing a small bundle of things, Senior Servant Zhong had already brought the younger maidservants out to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Senior Servant Gui thought for a while before deciding to stay behind. She helped Chu Lian tidy up the bundle before commenting, “Third Young Madam, this old servant heard that the northern border is extremely barren; there’s not much to have there. Third Young Master must be used to a comfortable life here in the capital. He might not be able to get used to the northern border… It’s possible that his appetite is suffering as well. He must surely miss the fine cuisine back here in the capital.”
Chu Lian couldn’t understand what Senior Servant Gui was trying to say. She tilted her head in confusion as she looked at Senior Servant Gui. Her eyes were bright and moist, and she even made a cute ‘mm?’ sound in questioning.
“Didn’t he decide to go there by himself? He didn’t even tell me beforehand. It’s none of my business, even if he suffers there!”
Senior Servant Gui sighed inwardly. “That’s not what this old servant meant. This old servant was simply saying that Third Young Master is most likely not sleeping or eating well. Didn’t you have Xiyan and the other girls make some snacks a few days ago?”
Only those who were fortunate enough to taste the splendors of Chu Lian’s ‘secret recipes’ would know the temptation of food. As the saying went, ‘the primary necessity of the people is food.’ In the ranking of all of life’s pleasures, food was number one!
Just take Senior Servant Gui for example. After getting used to eating the dishes made from Third Young Madam’s recipes, she would probably look down on even the most famous restaurant in the whole entire capital now. Those ‘fine cuisines’ were complete garbage when compared to the food here at Songtao Court!
Their Third Young Madam wasn’t good at much. In the past, she had some skill in brewing sencha, but since she refused to even touch the tea now, this was the last remaining skill that she could show off.
Who didn’t like to eat in this world? Especially good food. No one could possibly dislike it!
There was nothing good to eat over at the northern border. If Third Young Madam were to send something nice along, wouldn’t Third Young Master be tremendously happy?
After listening to Senior Servant Gui, Chu Lian remembered that she had taught the girls how to make a whole bunch of snacks on a particularly boring day. Since they usually had some spare meat left in the kitchen that would spoil if they couldn’t finish it, Chu Lian had the girls turn them into all sorts of meat-based snacks.
There was pork jerky, translucent shredded beef, spiced beef jerky, and many more!
This was the first time she had made these kinds of snacks since coming to the Great Wu Dynasty. There actually wasn’t all that much meat left in the kitchen too, so they only had a few bags’ worth, even after spending all that effort to make them. Even the handmaids weren’t given any; the jerky was meant only for her. That translucent shredded beef was still soaking in a small jar, waiting to be eaten in two days.
However, Senior Servant Gui was now suggesting that she give all her hard-won snacks to He Changdi. How could the greedy Chu Lian bear to part with her food?
“Momo, it wasn’t easy for me to make those snacks. I haven’t even eaten more than a few pieces! I’ve been craving them for so long. Anyway, that translucent shredded beef was just made. I don’t know if it can be eaten now. What if it doesn’t taste good?”
Senior Servant Gui hadn’t thought that the usually generous Third Young Madam, who could even bear to reward her servants with silver accessories without batting an eyelash, would suddenly turn into such a miser. She couldn’t even bear to part with a few bags of snacks?
Senior Servant Gui felt helpless. She knew that Third Young Madam’s childish temper was going to flare up again, so she patiently tried to persuade her. “Third Young Madam, how could anything you made not taste good? Don’t worry, this old servant has tasted it already. That translucent shredded beef is delicious!”
Chu Lian’s eyes widened in disbelief. She pointed at Senior Servant Gui and said poutily, “Momo, you ate my shredded beef in secret!!”
Senior Servant Gui didn’t expect that she would expose herself in a moment of carelessness. She awkwardly continued, “This old servant simply tasted it a little. Didn’t Third Young Madam say before that it would be done after soaking for four to five days? This old servant was simply helping Third Young Madam conduct a taste check first.”
Chu Lian was extremely put out. She had been wondering why her beef jerky had been running out so quickly. So it was Senior Servant Gui who had been sneakily eating some!
Why were the people around her such gluttons for food! Wasn’t it enough having just one glutton around?
Senior Servant Gui realised that they had strayed from the topic at hand, so she quickly pushed it back to the right track. “Ay, it was this old servant’s fault for stealing Third Young Madam’s snacks. This old servant promises not to steal any more snacks and to watch over Xiyan and the rest. Third Young Madam, there isn’t much left, and it won’t be enough for you anyway. Besides, we can make them any time here. If you send it to Third Young Master and he likes it, he might even begin to long for you! It’ll all be thanks to these snacks, if you send them along…”
Chu Lian was a little motivated by Senior Servant Gui’s words. That was true. She could make them any time she wanted, but it was impossible for He Changdi up in the north.
It was also true that there wasn’t much left anyway, as much as she liked them. She was simply trying to have some other flavours to spice up her usual meals. Fine, she would give the remainder to He Changdi.
“Alright, momo, get Xiyan to bring the snacks over. Put them into a small bag alone and ask the courier to take special care of it.”
“Very well, this old servant will do so now.” Senior Servant Gui quickly rushed off to find Xiyan.
The pork and beef jerky had a long shelf life as long as they were careful about not letting them touch water. Thus, Chu Lian wasn’t afraid of the food spoiling before it reached the northern border.