The Double
Chapter 522 - 158: Giving Gifts_5

Chapter 522: Chapter 158: Giving Gifts_5

She stood quietly beside the flower garden, not knowing how long she had been waiting. After Old General Jih finished performing his sword dance, a young servant approached and said something to him, presumably informing him of Jiang Li’s arrival. Immediately, Old General Jih turned and strode towards Jiang Li.

"Old General," Jiang Li greeted him with a bow.

"You’ve come." The expression on Old General Jih’s face could not be described as happy, nor could it be described as unhappy, but there was still some semblance of joy. He said, "Today is my birthday, and I quite liked the venison you roasted in my residence last time, so I specifically invited you here today. This time, you don’t have to lift a finger."

Jiang Li smiled, a bit strained, "Thank you, Old General, for your consideration." She wasn’t a servant of the Duke Residence, so why should she go there to fulfill someone else’s wish without good reason?

Old General Jih’s gaze sharpened, and he suddenly exclaimed, "Fine horse!" With three steps merging into two, he moved past Jiang Li.

Bai Xue was leading a light golden colt. Jiang Li had instructed Bai Xue not to bring the colt near this flower garden. The flowers in the garden were poisonous, and should the colt be poisoned, there would be trouble.

"This is..." Old General Jih approached the colt, his brow slightly furrowed, and he stroked the colt’s fur. The colt snorted through its nose, shook its head slightly, and kicked its front hooves.

"This is a birthday gift for the Old General. I hope you will not disdain it," Jiang Li said with a light smile.

Disdain? How could he? At least, from Old General Jih’s current demeanor, there was no sign of disdain at all. His mouth was stretched into a grin that reached ear-to-ear, and his face blossomed into a smile. This was the first time Jiang Li had seen him so visibly overjoyed since she had known him. He touched the colt’s mane again, his movements careful and delicate, before abruptly turning to Jiang Li, as if hesitating to ask a question.

Jiang Li guessed what he wanted to ask and said, "It is a Sweat-Blood Precious Horse."

"Ah!" Old General Jih slapped his thigh, "I knew it! This horse is indeed a Sweat-Blood Precious Horse." With Jiang Li’s confirmation, his smile became even more evident, circling around the colt repeatedly, looking as if a lecherous man had encountered an unparalleled beauty, or a greedy person had seen ten thousand taels of gold, unable to let go.

"For many years, I haven’t seen a Sweat-Blood Precious Horse. If you ask me, back in the day, my mount Chasing Wind was also a fine horse, but unfortunately, it was shot dead by the enemy army while I was on campaign. Afterwards, I had Lightning, who accompanied me until the very end, until its death. Alas, I haven’t been on the battlefield for years, and the horses in Yanjing City aren’t fit for fighting. They lack a bit of spirit. This horse is different; you can tell it’s exceptional just by looking at its lineage," he spoke, his voice turning sorrowful, "Such a fine horse, now following an old man like me, half in the grave, unable to go to battle or travel afar, what a shame."

Since ancient times, a great general is like a beauty; neither should be seen with white hair. The late years of a general are as sad as the late years of a beauty.

But Jiang Li’s heart remained calm, for despite Old General Jih’s lamentation, his actions—practicing swordsmanship in the winter garden and specifically going hunting for the sake of roasted venison—hardly seemed those of a man "half in the grave."

As she spoke, exclamations of surprise, mixed with footsteps, came from nearby. Jiang Li turned to look and saw Wen Renyao, Lu Jiu, and Kong Liu approaching from not far away. The last person, naturally, was Jih Heng. It seemed the four of them had been together just before.

Kong Liu was the quickest, his gaze fixated on the colt and unable to look away. Upon getting closer, he examined and touched the colt, irritating it to the point of impatient snorting.

"Old master, where did you get such a fine horse? It looks extraordinary!"

Old General Jih proudly said, "A Sweat-Blood Precious Horse, don’t be envious now. This is a birthday gift from Little Miss Jiang, not for the likes of you!"

Hearing that it was a Sweat-Blood Precious Horse, Lu Jiu and Wen Renyao were both astonished, while Kong Liu stared dumbfounded at Jiang Li, saying, "A Sweat-Blood Precious Horse?"

Yanjing City once had a Sweat-Blood Precious Horse, which was a tribute from a neighboring small country to The Late Emperor, kept in the palace and treated with the best care. Besides that, they only heard about such horses in tales from others. Kong Liu and the others weren’t foolish; hearing what Old General Jih said and taking a closer look, they realized his words were no lie.

"Goodness gracious," Kong Liu couldn’t help but say, "This is truly enviable." He turned to Jiang Li, "Miss Jiang the Second is being too generous. This... could it be Minister Jiang’s idea?"

A prized horse could be worth ten thousand taels of gold and not be overpriced. Was Jiang Yuanbai such a generous person? There were hardly any dealings between the Jiang Family and the Duke Residence, and it was likely the Jiang family members would hesitate at the mere receipt of an invitation. But if it was Jiang Li’s own idea, even if Jiang Li had plenty of silver and the Ye Family was helping her, to casually give away such a grand gift seemed improbable.

"My father does not know what gift I brought; he probably thinks it’s some commonplace nourishing item," Jiang Li said with a faint smile, "But Lord Kong need not praise me; this horse was not expensive, I indeed have the silver to give such a gift to the Old General."

Her demeanor was relaxed, not feigned, as if she was even a bit happy, leaving those around her stunned by her ability to treat the matter with such ease.

Jih Heng narrowed his eyes, "How much?"

"Not much, five hundred taels of silver," Jiang Li replied with a beaming smile.