Zhang Meng said: "Congratulations! The Chief will surely be happy."
Zhong Huo raised her hand and patted Zhang Meng's head, wanting to be angry but unable to: "Why are you always so stupid?"
"Huh?"
"I tell you to cook, and you cook. I tell you to clean the latrine, and you clean it... Even when I don't let you take time off, you silently accept it... Don't you know how to refuse?"
"Chief..." I have refused before...
"It's been like this from before. You do whatever I tell you to do, without even thinking about it. Taking a knife for me, tasting poison for me, promoting new policies for me, not sleeping for days and nights."
"When the yamen was so poor it could barely make ends meet, you still went out every day to move cargo and earn money, giving all the good things to me..."
"Chief, I was just..."
"If you could just be a little more calculating for yourself, this official wouldn't have to..."
"Chief!" Zhong Huo had been talking non-stop, and Zhang Meng couldn't get a word in edgewise. She had to raise her voice, and only when Zhong Huo finally stopped talking did she speak: "What's wrong with doing things for the Chief? Isn't it natural to work for the Chief? The Chief is a good official, I feel that everything I've done is worthwhile. Not just me, everyone in the yamen is willing to lay down their lives for the Chief."
Zhong Huo looked at Zhang Meng, her lips opening and closing, but in the end, she said nothing, only sighing.
She felt like a fool, constantly performing a one-person show, while that person had no such feelings at all.
"Zhang Meng, I really do dislike you," Zhong Huo said softly.
"Zhang Meng, what did the Chief say to you again?" Seeing Zhang Meng return to the kitchen listlessly, Jin Yue hurried over to ask.
"Just emphasized once again that she dislikes me."
Jin Yue patted her shoulder sympathetically.
Two days later, Zhong Huo's elder sister Zhong Ling arrived at the yamen. She brought along a beautiful, elegant, and gentle man. Zhang Meng, who had been busy in the kitchen, heard Jin Yue gossip that this man was Zhong Huo's fiancé, named Ji Ming.
"The Chief is truly blessed. That Ji Ming is extremely handsome. I think he's even more good-looking than Xu Lu Cha," Jin Yue said, crouching beside Zhang Meng.
Zhang Meng was washing vegetables and replied: "Then the Chief must be overjoyed to see her fiancé."
"Not at all," Jin Yue shook her head. "The Chief's face looked terrible, as if Ji Ming was some kind of plague."
"The Chief is always so strange. Maybe she's just shy," Zhang Meng guessed.
"Who knows," Jin Yue shrugged. "From now on, Ji Ming will be staying here. I heard that Ji Ming is delicate and picky about food. When you cook, you should prepare his meals separately."
"Separately?"
"Of course. Knowing the Chief's temperament, she's bound to mistreat Ji Ming. As subordinates, we naturally need to help resolve issues for those above us. Alright, don't look at me like that. It was Miss Zhong Ling who instructed me to tell you to do this."
Actually, Zhang Meng's culinary skills were quite good. In modern times, when she lived alone, she often cooked for herself. And after coming here, when she lived with Yang Qing, it was also Zhang Meng who did the cooking.
Therefore, even though Ji Ming was somewhat picky, Zhang Meng was still confident in her ability to prepare good meals.
This morning, after finishing her street patrol, she went to the west side of the city. Although she still didn't see Yang Qing, she picked some fresh mushrooms on the mountain. She was quite skilled at cooking mushrooms and thought that mushrooms could be one of the dishes for Ji Ming.
After finishing cooking, Jin Yue helped ring the dinner bell, and people flocked to the kitchen.
Zhang Meng specially prepared Ji Ming's meal and handed it to Jin Yue: "You take this to Ji Ming. I need to go out on patrol later."
Zhang Meng took a few steamed buns and left with her sword.
"Young master, why haven't you gone to see Constable Zhang these past two days?"
Zi Yi sat on a stool, idly arranging the white chess pieces on the board into a wall.
Xu Lu Cha wore a loose green robe, his beautiful collarbones visible, and the red buds on his chest peeking through. He sat on a soft rug at the foot of the bed, leaning against it, one leg stretched out and the other bent. One hand held a teacup, the other rested on his bent knee. His posture was coquettish and unrestrained.
"What's the point of seeing her?" Xu Lu Cha asked disdainfully, the small mole at the corner of his eye playful and alluring.
Zi Yi pushed down the wall of white pieces he had built: "Didn't you say you wanted to use her to get close to Chief Zhong? Besides, there's been no news from Chief Zhong's side. We don't even know if she gave the sachet to Chief Zhong."
Xu Lu Cha threw the teacup onto the soft rug: "Zi Yi, I'm not in a hurry, why are you?"
"Young master... Zi Yi is just thinking of you."
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