Transmigration: A Farm Girl’s Brocade
Chapter 549 - 283 Bringing in Reinforcements_1

Chapter 549: Chapter 283 Bringing in Reinforcements_1

The dinner was a mutton soup pot, warm and cold-dispelling. The broth in the pot was snow-white and bubbling, with sheep bones and meat stewed inside, emitting a thick fragrance. Several dishes were laid out on the table, including white vegetables, radishes, glass noodles, potatoes, and two dishes of spicy sauce for dipping.

This made Qian Yixiu, who had just come inside from outdoors, unable to help herself from sniffing a few times. Sister Gong, who was attending to her, reminded her again, "Miss."

Qian Yixiu quickly straightened up, took off her shoes, and seated herself with proper posture beside the table. She sat on the left side of the kang table, while Qian Sangui sat on the inside. The two had just picked up their bowls and were about to eat, when a servant came to report, "General Liang has arrived."

Qian Sangui and Qian Yixiu exchanged glances, and Qian Sangui said helplessly, "Guests are always welcome, please invite him in."

Since the man was a Third-ranking officer and his father was Manjiang’s superior, Qian Sangui did not want to offend him. But Qian Sangui’s health was not good, and he couldn’t possibly go to the hall to receive him.

Liang Jinzhao came with a roe deer, saying he hunted it in the mountains. He glanced at the snow-white soup pot and laughed, "This is lucky, wanting mutton and finding it here."

Neither the father nor daughter had intended to invite him to eat, but hearing him say that, Qian Sangui had to say, "It’s a humble meal in the countryside, General Liang, please try it if you don’t mind."

Liang Jinzhao hurriedly replied, "I don’t mind, I don’t mind," and then took off his shoes, crossed his legs, and sat down opposite Qian Yixiu. He added, "Mmm, fragrant, it would be even better with some wine."

Qian Sangui had to instruct Su Siwu to bring the wine.

Qian Yixiu looked at Uncle Liang, thinking that he never used to have such thick skin.

With a sense of resignation, she got down from the kang and said, "General Liang, please. My grandfather will accompany you with the wine, and I’ll take my leave."

Uncle Liang was not polite, nodding at her and saying, "Miss Qian, please do as you will."

Qian Yixiu returned to the east wing. Even though they had lit charcoal there, it was still not as warm as the main room and felt a bit chilly. Bai Zhu brought in a bowl of rice for her, along with a dish of stir-fried chives and eggs, and another of stir-fried wood ear mushrooms with pork. She said, "The mutton soup from the kitchen—besides the best pot sent to the main room—was also taken in a large pot for the foreigners and Butler Huang in the outer courtyard, and there was none left. These two dishes were just fried by Auntie Pan. Miss, you’ll have to make do with these."

Qian Yixiu was so annoyed she started jabbing at the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks. It was she who had asked Auntie Pan to make the mutton soup at noon, feeling the dry and cold countryside would be alleviated by eating some mutton to dispel the chill. She even specifically taught Auntie Pan to make Ji’an Province’s spicy dipping sauce, which was fragrant with the mutton.

"Miss," Sister Gong said, watching Qian Yixiu’s jabbing hand and calling out again.

Qian Yixiu then sat up properly like a lady and started eating her rice demurely.

Before she finished eating, she heard a cry of alarm from the courtyard. She quickly put down her bowl, stood up, and saw Monkey Sister run in covered in blood.

"Monkey Sister, what happened? Where’s Monkey Brother? Where are the rest of the Dashan family?" Qian Yixiu was terribly frightened.

Monkey Sister, crying profusely, pulled Qian Yixiu outside and pointed towards the mountains in the west, making gestures. Qian Yixiu guessed at her sign language, asking, "Are you saying that Monkey Brother and the others are trapped in the mountains? You came back to report?"

Monkey Sister nodded through her tears.

Qian Yixiu shouted to Huang Tie, who had followed her outside, "Quick, go to the village and look for more hunters and strong villagers, we’ll pay them with silver. They must help Monkey Brother in the mountains."

Liang Jinzhao, stepping out of the main room, said, "This won’t do. If Monkey Brother, Dashan, and the others have been surrounded, it must be by a pack of hungry wolves. Sometimes a pack can have as many as forty or fifty wolves, and the villagers are no match for them. Now that it’s dark and the mountain paths are steep, the villagers, with no experience in fighting, are likely to be easily attacked by the wolves. If that happens, even if they want to escape, it won’t be easy to get away."

"Then what should we do? Monkey Brother, Dashan, Shan Dian, Yin Feng, White Wolf, they’re all trapped in the mountains, and could be in danger at any moment," cried Qian Yixiu in her anxiety.

Uncle Liang said, "Xiu’er, don’t worry. I’ll send Liang Gao right away to call for reinforcements from the camp. A fast horse can get here in a little over half an hour. With more people armed with fire muskets and broadswords, even a multitude of starving wolves could be scared away." He went to the outer courtyard to order Liang Gao to call for people from the military camp and asked Huang Tie to find a few hunters in the village to lead the way.

Although Monkey Sister could lead the way, the paths she knew were not exactly the same as those used by humans.

Qian Yixiu, along with Auntie Pan and a few others, helped clean Monkey Sister’s wounds, finding over a dozen spots where her fur had been bitten off. Qian Yixiu wept in distress.

If it were just Monkey Brother and Monkey Sister, they might easily escape, since they could climb trees and rocks. It must be the Dashan family that was trapped, with Monkey Brother helping them.

She dared not imagine what it would be like if another member of the House of Animals died like Benben—how heartbroken she would be, and Zhu Sujin as well.

In no time at all, Huang Tie had brought six hunters from the village, all carrying bows and arrows and torches. After another half hour passed, they heard the sound of many hooves approaching, and then over a hundred soldiers on horseback arrived at Plum Court, with Li Ah Cai also among them.

Liang Jinzhao had Monkey Sister and the hunters lead the way as he mounted his horse and led the soldiers to the west. Before leaving, both Qian Yixiu and Qian Sangui tried to dissuade him from going, fearing for his safety. If he got hurt helping their family in the mountains, it would be a difficult situation for them to explain.

He laughed and said, "Don’t worry, with so many people, and the loud noises from the torches and fire muskets, the wolf pack will be scared off. And even if we can’t scare them off, we have more people and strength, and my brothers have all experienced battle; the wolves can’t beat us."

Once they left, Qian Yixiu ran to the entrance of the courtyard and looked westward. About a quarter hour later, many torches lit up at the foot of the western mountain, flickering like stars falling to earth from the river of heaven. Then, a long fire dragon twisted and turned as it moved up the mountain. Several scattered torches remained at the mountain’s base, followed by the lighting of a few more fires—the people tasked with watching the horses. Qian Yixiu did not return to the inner courtyard until the fire dragon had disappeared from view on the mountain, persuaded by Sister Gong.

She couldn’t sleep at all, pacing restlessly around her room. In the latter part of the night, exhausted, she finally leaned against the headboard and fell asleep.

Suddenly, she saw Monkey Brother, covered in blood, run in. Before he could reach her, he collapsed. She saw his belly torn and bloody, as if a piece of intestine had fallen out.

In terror, Qian Yixiu screamed, crying out, "Monkey Brother, Monkey Brother, what’s happened to you? You can’t die, ugh..." She sobbed desperately but couldn’t bend down to reach him no matter how hard she tried.

"Miss, Miss, wake up, please wake up..." someone was shouting in her ear.

Qian Yixiu opened her teary eyes to see Blue Bead, frantic, shaking her, with a blanket still covering her.

It had all been a dream.

But the dream had been so vivid, as if Monkey Brother had really entered the room. What if Monkey Brother had sent her that dream?

The mere thought terrified Qian Yixiu even more. She took out her pocket watch to see that it was already four o’clock in the morning. She threw off her blanket and got out of bed, heading outside once more.

Blue Bead followed behind, draping a cloak over her shoulders.

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