After faking my death, the male lead’s cousin went crazy - Chapter 9

Learning to write?

Gu Wan had begun recognizing characters at three, learned to recite poetry at five, and by eight, she had already read the Four Books and Five Classics thoroughly. Among this generation of the Gu family, she was the one most outstanding in scholarship.

Even after she later entered the army, she did not slack off in reading at all. It was only that many books on military strategy and marching to war had been added to her shelves.

To say that she needed the daughter of a cloth shop to teach her how to write…

This could be called the greatest joke under heaven.

But Ziying understood in her heart that the Young General must have her own plans, so she cupped her fists and replied, “Yes.”

Early the next morning, she went to the Bamboo Courtyard where Shang Rongyue was staying and passed along this message while Shang Rongyue was eating breakfast.

“The chief said that starting today, she will have to trouble Miss Li to go to her study and teach her to write.”

Shang Rongyue nearly choked on the millet porridge in her hand.

Look. She knew the food in a bandit den was not so easy to eat for free. See? Since they could not get more money from her, they were switching to physical labor!

Fortunately, right after Ziying finished speaking, Lanxi came to pass along another message, saying that the chief had something urgent to handle over the next few days, so the writing lessons would be postponed for now.

Good. At least she still had a chance to rest. Shang Rongyue secretly let out a breath of relief.

For some reason, whenever she was together with that bandit leader, she always vaguely felt that the other woman was sizing her up.

No, not sizing her up.

It was more like testing her.

As if she were testing her at every moment, probing into her true background.

What background could she have? At most, she just wanted to find a safe place and be a salted fish for a few days.

But what exactly was that bandit trying to do?

These past few days, Shang Rongyue had seemed lazy, but that was only because she understood that the bandit leader had allowed this Miss Ziying to follow her precisely because she intended to place Shang Rongyue under soft confinement and have someone watch her at all times.

Using this opportunity, Shang Rongyue had also been thinking about a question.

Regarding this world, the original novel seemed to have described only certain parts. Then what about the parts that had not been mentioned?

For example, these bandits.

For example, the hidden weapon in Wang Wu’s mouth.

That day, the hidden weapon in Wang Wu’s mouth had shot toward the bandit. Suppose this whole farce involving the bandits had never happened—then who had that hidden weapon originally been prepared for?

So had the original owner truly jumped off the cliff because she could not bear the humiliation?

Would the daughter of the General Who Guards the State really be that cowardly?

Especially yesterday, while hiding beneath the bandit’s desk, Shang Rongyue had truly realized that this little world within the book also contained infinite possibilities.

A bandit would have her own upbringing and background. She would have siblings. They were not wooden tool-people. They all had their own stories.

Then could Shang Rongyue also keep living in the parts that the original novel had never mentioned?

The original male lead blackened because of her death. Then when the blackened male lead discovered that she was still alive, what would he do?

In other words, if one day her existence contradicted the plot, what would happen?

Thinking about the present, it was currently a time of war for Great Zhou. The fighting with Gaoji continued without end, and even Sangxie, which had been conquered in earlier years, had remained restless. Not to mention anything else, on the official road where the bridal procession had traveled that day, there had barely been a few passersby.

Clearly, for a girl alone outside, compared with the current bandit den, the outside world might not necessarily be a better choice.

Speaking of which, aside from taking away her worthless dowry and half of her golden hairpin, this bandit den was actually not bad.

When she was injured, someone treated her. That girl named Su Zhaoyun visited and checked on her every day. She had food and drink. Aside from Ziying following her around every day, there seemed to be nothing improper.

Shang Rongyue also knew that this bandit den had many men. This Miss Ziying could actually guarantee her safety.

Thinking of this, she felt much more comforted. She even ate a little more.

Aside from millet porridge, breakfast also came with a basket of steaming hot soup dumplings. Because she was recovering from illness, Su Zhaoyun had told her to eat light food, so this was the first meal with meat she had eaten since arriving in this world.

Without realizing it, she ate too much.

Shang Rongyue was too lazy to walk all the way to the back mountain, so she simply stayed in her little Bamboo Courtyard and strolled along the fence wall. As she walked, she thought about how she could firmly cling to the bandit leader’s thigh while also making the other woman give up on investigating her background.

“Ziying, last time I asked Miss Lan what the chief likes, she couldn’t really say anything clearly. Can you tell me what the chief usually likes?” Shang Rongyue thought for a moment and decided to ask more specifically. “For example, what does she like eating, or what does she usually like doing?”

Ziying fell silent, not knowing how to answer. In the end, she mumbled vaguely and did not say anything concrete.

Shang Rongyue sighed and continued looking up at the clouds at the edge of the sky.

Snow-white, piece by piece. They looked very soft.

“I suddenly really want to eat almond pudding.”

Ziying said she knew almond crisps and almond sugar slices, but the almond pudding Shang Rongyue mentioned was something she had truly never heard of before.

Shang Rongyue slapped her thigh.

Wasn’t this the perfect chance to test things?

Directly affecting the plot would be a little too risky, so she would take it step by step and start with the simplest thing: almond pudding.

If she created something that originally did not belong to this world, what would happen?

Shang Rongyue really wanted to know.

Once she decided, she did it. It was just that the kitchen did not have enough ingredients. After waiting a few days, when the people who went out for the next supply purchase returned, they finally brought back the apricots Shang Rongyue had requested.

Apricots were divided into southern and northern varieties. Southern apricots were sweet, and the kernels inside their pits were sweet almonds. In the pits of northern apricots, the almonds tasted slightly bitter, and bitter almonds contained toxins, so they could not be eaten in large quantities.

Shang Rongyue confirmed again and again that the apricots in her hands were southern apricots. Only then did she roll up her sleeves and get to work.

First, she washed the apricots clean and separated the flesh from the pits. The flesh was preserved with sugar and saved to make candied fruit.

Next came the pits. She cracked them open, took out the almonds inside, and dried them for later use.

To be safe, Shang Rongyue specially tasted a tiny bite and confirmed that they were sweet almonds with no bitter taste before continuing.

With Ziying’s help, all the almonds were processed by that afternoon.

After washing them clean, she soaked them in water overnight. The next day, after peeling the almonds, she pounded them and boiled them in water. Once the white juice was filtered out, she removed the dregs, added more water, pounded them again, and filtered them again. After repeating this three times, she discarded the almond powder. To the thick juice, she added a little honey[1], and it became the bowl of milky-white almond pudding in her hands.

At this moment, Su Zhaoyun happened to come by. Shang Rongyue smiled and said to her, “Doctor Su really has good fortune with food.”

After sprinkling on a spoonful of osmanthus honey, Shang Rongyue first handed a bowl to Su Zhaoyun.

Shang Rongyue blinked lightly and smiled as she asked Su Zhaoyun how it tasted.

This was also Su Zhaoyun’s first time seeing this dessert. Its color was milky white, its texture thick, soft, and smooth, and it carried a faint fragrance. The fine pieces of osmanthus were the finishing touch. She raised her thumb and praised it as delicious.

On the other side, Ziying also repeatedly praised it. From the look of it, the taste was truly quite good.

But since it was only a test product, Shang Rongyue had not made much. After leaving some for Su Zhaoyun and Ziying, the pot was already empty.

But that was fine. She would make another portion later and take it to that bandit leader in the afternoon, so she could properly hug that thigh.

Perhaps if the other woman was happy, she would even return the golden hairpin to her. Shang Rongyue thought.

Su Zhaoyun excused herself, saying she had something to do, and left after eating only half a bowl.

After lunch, Shang Rongyue simply followed Ziying to that study.

As soon as she entered, she saw the bandit leader sitting behind the desk, casually holding a brush and scribbling on xuan paper. Beside her, Lanxi silently ground ink for her. Opposite them, Su Zhaoyun watched with great interest and occasionally gave a word of guidance.

Seeing Shang Rongyue enter, Lanxi stopped what she was doing, greeted her, and then went outside with Ziying to guard the door.

Shang Rongyue first greeted Su Zhaoyun, then looked toward the bandit leader behind the desk.

There was no surprise in Gu Wan’s eyes when she looked at her. She lazily leaned against the chair back, supporting her head with both hands, as if she had already been waiting for Shang Rongyue for a long time.

But that made sense. Since Doctor Su was here, she had probably told her about the almond pudding.

Gu Wan curved her lips with interest. “I was just thinking that I hadn’t seen Miss Li for some days. At noon, I even thought of you coming here.”

She knew it. This Li Yueyue would not be so obedient. She would definitely think of every possible way to get close to her.

As for those ugly scribbles on the desk, they were merely props for the act. After all, what she was currently playing was an illiterate bandit.

“Oh.” Shang Rongyue did not dwell on it too much. Instead, she opened the food box and brought out a small bowl.

“Try it. A dessert I newly developed. Doctor Su and Ziying both said it was good.”

Looking at the milky-white liquid in the bowl, Gu Wan did not hurry to move. Instead, she lifted her lashes and looked at the girl in front of her.

Wasn’t she trying to curry favor?

Gu Wan had thought this was something made only for her. Even if everyone had some, hers was not the first serving.

Shang Rongyue handed over the spoon, but the other party still stared at her without moving.

“Try it,” Shang Rongyue urged. “I specifically had Doctor Su and Ziying taste it first. There’s no problem with the flavor. I guessed you would definitely like it, so I brought it over to you before I even had the chance to eat any myself.”

Hearing this, Su Zhaoyun also nodded, confirming Shang Rongyue’s explanation.

Only after hearing this explanation did Gu Wan take the spoon from her hand. She stirred the bowl and pushed the osmanthus flowers on the surface to the side.

Watching the other person’s movements, Shang Rongyue secretly noted that she did not like osmanthus and that she should not add it next time.

On this side, after Gu Wan dealt with the scattered osmanthus flowers, she finally scooped up a spoonful. She did not rush to eat it. Instead, she first brought it to her nose and lightly sniffed it. Since there was no strange smell, and since Ziying had been watching the whole time, it should not have been “seasoned” with anything extra.

“Are you a cat?” Shang Rongyue suddenly said without beginning or end. “Why do you have to sniff your food before eating it?”

Gu Wan narrowed her eyes and looked at her. Shang Rongyue quickly shut her mouth and made a gesture inviting her to eat.

On this side, Gu Wan once again pinched the spoon and was about to bring it to her mouth when she saw Su Zhaoyun, who was standing behind Shang Rongyue, suddenly look as though her eyelids weighed a thousand jin. Then her body went soft, and she fell straight down.

Then, following Lanxi’s startled cry outside the door, Ziying also collapsed.

The two of them had their eyes tightly closed. No matter how everyone called to them, they showed no reaction at all. Slowly, a line of blood seeped from the corners of both their lips.

The bloodstains were dark red, as though they had been poisoned by something.

How could this be?

Everyone in the military camp ate the same meals. Why was it that no one else was affected, yet the two of them had a problem?

“What did they eat separately?”

Gu Wan lowered her head. Her gaze landed directly on the dessert Shang Rongyue had brought her—the bowl called almond pudding.