Didn't Know General Was Female Chapter 16

[Slight trigger warning for slight incest talk… IDK what's with ancient people all over the world and marrying their cousins, but here we ago.
As always, aggregators are bad and you shouldn't be using them. Read at chichilations, ty ty.]

The engagement between Rong Jiahui and the Liu family ended up being successfully annulled. Though Jiahui held confidence of her victory at first, she was always anxious and believed that they might have to go back and forth for a long time, only to end up being exceptionally pleased. Her parents truly do adore and love her as much as she thought they did, as after she had wiped her tears while telling them a mound of blatant lies, they firmly decided to cancel the engagement. How could they do the slightest bit of wrong towards this treasure in their possession? What their two families talked about in the end was unknown, but in short, after a period of time, the other party also agreed, and the families were as amiable as before.

It's just that this matter still created a storm in the capital; a decade-or-so old marriage, for no reason, was withdrawn with speed that puts lightning to shame. Though the families hadn't said anything, the ma.s.ses' ideas were awful. Why did the house of Marquis Zhenguo take the initiative to call it off? Why did Minister Liu readily agree? How is Young Mistress Rong? Or Young Master Liu? In a very small amount of days, everyone was already abuzz with the noise of weaving countless versions of the tale.

It's just that there's no sound coming from the parties concerned. Rumors are just rumors in the end, and will be drowned out…

Today, after Rong Jiahui washed and dressed up, she went to partake in Yu Yixiang's fifteenth birthday ceremony. Of the two cousins, one was born at the end of the twelfth mouth and one was born at the beginning of first month. It's said that Yu Yixiang is two years older than Rong Jiahui, when in reality, it's only a little over one year. In the case of Yu Yixiang being the eldest legitimate daughter of state Duke's home, a huge undertaking for her fifteenth birthday is only natural. Even the hairpin she was to wear was bestowed by the Queen Empress, which was a particular honor.

But Duke Jingguo's household didn't know a thing about the Rong-Liu families' annulment, and were filled with some amount of righteous indignation. In their eyes, even though the Rong family took the initiative on that, they were certain that the problem was all on the Liu family, and certain that that prettyboy from the Liu family had offended their Jiahui! They wouldn't go so far as to invite Madam Liu to get out during the ceremony, but they were secretly planning to throw out all the gifts the Liu family had sent. Yu Yixiang had to take them to the side and talk up and down to get them to not do that.

During the family feast, Jiahui's eldest aunt-in-law Mrs. Liang looked at Rong Jiahui's appearance and couldn't help but feel sorry for her. “Come, Jiahui, eat a bit more. Look at you, you've gotten a lot thinner these days.”

Rong Jiahui smiled and nodded, mentally noting that she hadn't seen any thinning out in these mere few days. If she really had gotten thin then it'd be great, because she got too happy these days and her appet.i.te greatly increased. She's really getting afraid that she's going to eat herself into becoming a big fat girl someday.

The Old Madam heard this, and, recalling her cancelled marriage, can't help but sigh. “Jiahui, come tomorrow, grandma will find you a better person.”

Her second aunt-in-law Mrs. Wen's eyes shone, and she hurriedly smiled and advertised her own precious son. “Mum, I have a good idea. My reckless boy is similar in age to Jiahui, and though he's a bit mischievous, he had a big crush on Jiahui when he was small. Our families know each other inside and out, and you could have your darling granddaughter attending at your time from time to time.”

Upon listening to that, Mrs. Liang also rushed to speak. “Little sister-in-law, my Zixun isn't yet engaged either, but he's the older brother and wouldn't come rob from your Ziqing. Jiahui is a little mischievous herself, but my own childhood crush didn't work out; I just hate that she isn't my own daughter. If she was our family's young lady, she would certainly be the sort of maiden I'd cherish fondly.”

Listening to her two daughter-in-laws talk, the Old Madam also got some ideas. She was once the most beloved little lady, and regarding this granddaughter who seems to be cut from the same mold, she naturally cares about her down to the bones, and if she's wronged, her own heart aches. Were it not for her granddaughter having a premature engagement at the time, she would have a.s.suredly been the first to run off and set one up for Jiahui. Which grandson would be best? In any case, her sons and daughter-in-laws are very fond of Jiahui, so even if there's a day in the future where she goes off, they could support her as well, which is best.

Looking on at the Old Madam wanting to say something, Rong Jiahui busily said something childish to Mrs. Liang. “Eldest Auntie, are you saying that if I don't marry over, then you won't see me as a precious daughter? That's no good, no good at all, my heart will be broken like this.”

Mrs. Liang replied, “What a load of nonsense from you, little girl. If you really do hurry up and marry over one of these days, I'll love you more.”

“Auntieeee…” Though she's still being sweetly childish, her tone is packed with a lack of doubt. “My cousins and I have grown up together since childhood, like blood siblings. If you make fun of me like this again, your niece won't let you get away with it.”

Noticing Rong Jiahui's unintentional understanding, Mrs. Wen and Mrs. Liang had no option but to also treat this all as a joke that had been revealed.

Following Yu Yixiang's fifteenth birthday came the New Year, and immediately after that came Rong Jiahui's fourteenth birthday, resulting in quite a lot of busy days. When she finally had the time to write a letter to Zhongli Luo, she actually first received a letter from him that had been sent the month before, along with… an . [1]

She's unable to restrain her smile as she thinks. That dweeb had probably prepared this birthday gift in advance, but unfortunately the journey didn't allow this, and these things still ended up being several days late.

She s.n.a.t.c.hed the letter from her own parents and unfolded it. There were very spa.r.s.e words of concerned, as usual, but there was a true mention of her birthday at the end. That cup was indeed being given to her. She couldn't stop a smile from floating onto her face as she realized that this person had remembered her birthday, as expected.

She put down the letter, then picked up the transparent cup that faintly shone green.

Fine grape wine in a luminous gla.s.s; one wants to drink but the mounted pipa player orders us onwards. [2]

She doesn't drink fine grape wine, so what's the use of this cup? Would it not be a waste to use this expensive object for drinking water? Thinking about it, she guessed that there simply wasn't anything good in the Northwest, and this was the best thing Zhongli Luo could think of. She didn't know how much he spent on it, either.

She help the cup up to her parents. “Mom, dad, you should send him some silver liang. This probably cost a lot.”

Mrs. Yu smiled. “That's only for your use. Luo'er really does care for you, thinking of how to congratulate your birthday from over a thousand li away and eagerly sending you a gift for it. Make sure to thank your older brother properly.”

Jiahui smiled captivatingly. “I know, I know. I'll thank him when I write.”

She then really did write a letter, swapping out that huan-pattern paper again and again for itself. She really had no new pattern types.

She stroked the gold-inlaid jade pin on her head, then looked at the evening-light cup, then thought about the jade pendant that she had locked up tightly for fear of breaking it. Her mind shook, only feeling that her courtyard had traces of Zhongli Luo everywhere.

As a result, she was carried away by her whims and wrote a deluge of several pages, and when it was sent into Zhongli Luo's hands she was frightened by the letter's thickness.

Everyone had long been accustomed to a little lady sending this little Officer Zhongli a letter every month, so noticing that she had a letter in her hands lead to the sound of laughter. “That lover from your hometown wrote to you again, eh, Officer Zhongli?”

“She's not my lover…” Zhongli Luo clarified weakly.

The other party smiled and nodded, looking at her with a gaze that held a somewhat deeper meaning. “Uh-huh, we know, she's your little sister~”

Ah, clarifying is useless. Zhongli Luo world-wearily turns around and no longer pays the onlookers any attention.

She unsealed the letter, and inside was the same delicate letter paper that looked somewhat odd in this place.

Rong Jiahui said that she had good news, and her good news is usually bizarre. Is this time about Xiao Wenyan admitting defeat? Or Yu Yixiang reading a character wrong again? Or Rong Jiaze doing an essay with no mistakes and startling his teacher into falling over?

She slowly wandered her eyes over it…

Jiahui thanked her for sending the evening-light cup, praising it as extraordinarily beautiful. That's good, she'd been thinking it wasn't a good gift.

After that, Jiahui said that her marriage was annulled…

Marriage was annulled…

What?! Her marriage was annulled?!

Zhongli Luo thought she was mistaken. She gripped the apricot-pink patterned paper and looked it over and over again, until she was nearly unable to recognize the words “annulled marriage” anymore.

Jiahui said that the reason for the annulment was because Young Master Liu simply didn't take a liking to her, single-mindedly throwing himself at her cousin. By happenstance, she had no desire for Young Master Liu, so why not help him get his sweetheart?

After reading the letter, Zhongli Luo was struck dumb for a moment. How is Rong Jiahui not as good as that eldest young miss of the Yu's? Are her looks not as good? Or is her personality not as good? She couldn't think of anything. Liu Qianchen's acting like this made her feel a bit indignant on Rong Jiahui's behalf. However, in the middle of that indignance, was, inexplicably, a portion that she didn't know where came from that found it lucky.

Yet she very quickly suppressed those few parts of luckiness. Everyone's happy about the annulment, but that still seems somewhat immoral. Even so, the corners of her mouth curve up slightly in an arc she's unable to push back down. If that Liu Qianchen's eyesight is so bad, then calling it all off was a good thing. Such a good young lady like Rong Jiahui is worthy of better, of course.

Ever since Zhongli Luo had come to the Northwest, he‘d always had a serious expression. Now he's smiling lightly, nearly frightening Tan Jun into falling over onto the floor when he accidentally stumbled into this horror scene. After steadying his body, his line of sight slowly shifted downwards. Upon noticing Zhongli Luo had several sheets of patterned paper in his hand, he immediately came to realize that it was probably whatever corny words of love that little girlfriend of his sent him every month, like she's ‘waiting for her gentleman to come back and if it's not her gentleman she's not getting married' and such. Anyone who saw them would go half-mush. What's more, while it's going too far to say that these Northwestern soldiers have never seen a woman, most of the women over here are yellow sickly-looking and really aren't a pretty sight. It would be strange if Zhongli Luo wasn't excited to get to read an intimate letter from a pretty woman back home.

That being the case, he promptly felt that Zhongli Luo's action of spending all his soldier's wage on an evening-light cup last month wasn't foolish at all, if it's intended to be exchanged for the true heart of a lady. There aren't any elaborate girl's trinkets here; there's a lot of smiths, so having them make sabers or swords is best, but if it's a hairpin… they would only be able to fool a young women who didn't know what quality was. Such crude trinkets would likely be completely unnoticed by a rich young mistress, leading to Zhongli Luo being obliged to send something high-priced like an evening-light gla.s.s.

Zhongli Luo is truly cold to others, but Tan Jun is thick-faced, though her coldness has never pa.s.sed over like this. He then recklessly got up close and asked him, “Officer Zhong, is it that little sister of your writing to you? Is she thanking you for sending that evening-light cup?”

Spring storms awaken hibernating insects as a vast many things are reviving [3]; even if Zhongli Luo ordinarily has a cold face with cold words, at this time, he too is filled with the happiness of spring.

“Mhm,” she said with a pleased look.

He still didn't give any details, but that tender tone practically makes the Zhongli Luo that he knew in the past seem like a completely different person… he's not sure, but he thinks he might be possessed by a ghost…

The author says: I'm grateful for Xiaoxue Paste's landmine. I wasn't able to login to JJ today _(:з」∠)_ and then I convulsed boohoohoooo
The translator says: actual picture of Jiahui sending her letter

[1] A type of specialty tableware made in Jiuquan of Gansu prefecture (Jiuquan literally means “alcohol springs” lmao), made of superheated green jade that gets a natural black, ink-like pattern from the process, and is also said to specially shine in the moonlight, hence the name.
[2] A line from the poem Lingzhou Verse by Wan Han, whose translation I directly took because translating poetry is hard.
[3] 惊蛰时节，春雷乍动，万物复苏 = this really seems like a reference to a poem, but if it is, it's not one that I've been able to find. I didn't translate it as one, anyways.
[-] Liang is just the pinyin spelling of a tael. I've always preferred just leaving it as-is.