Luo Shou's tone was a bit too deliberate, and Xu Hengyan understood immediately that he was saying it for certain people to hear.
Xu Hengyan picked up the basket and entered the kitchen with Xie Jiang. After confirming that the hidden guards watching them had not gotten too close, he asked in a voice only they could hear.
"You've brought the East Village under your command?"
Luo Shou's words were intended to distance himself from Xie Jiang, which precisely indicated that Xie Jiang and the East Village had reached an agreement.
Xie Jiang would not get involved in Yongfeng Village's affairs without reason, unless Yongfeng Village could be used by her.
A village hidden in the deep mountains. Its use in the hands of the renowned Young Master Xie, who roamed the land, could only be the Huanglan Mountain bandits.
Xie Jiang nodded at him with bright, sparkling eyes.
Xu Hengyan said in a low voice, "Are all arrangements made?"
Xie Jiang nodded again, and at the same time, washed her hands, rolled up her sleeves, and began to wash vegetables for breakfast.
The green vegetables that Qingqing's mother had just picked from the fields were still dewy. Xie Jiang planned to make simple vegetable pancakes.
"Although you have Yongfeng Village as an ally, clearing bandits deep in the mountains and luring them down the mountain to be dealt with are two completely different combat modes. The Huanglan Mountain bandits have suffered several significant losses at your hands, and I fear they will not easily descend the mountain again. Do you have confidence in entering the mountains?"
Although the voices in the capital trying to push her to suppress the bandits were growing louder, she could have ignored them or even quelled those malicious voices in other ways.
But she was never one to compromise.
The Xie clan had likely assigned her a mission when they sent her back to Dayu.
Eliminating the Huanglan Mountain bandits and pacifying the East Village, along with other mountain dwellers, would indeed be enough to demonstrate the capabilities of the Xie clan and Xie Jiang to the Dayu court.
Xie Jiang said nonchalantly, "Whether I have confidence or not, won't we know after we fight?"
Seeing her carefree demeanor, Xu Hengyan knew that Young Master Xie never did anything without confidence.
As Xie Jiang kneaded the dough for the pancakes, she smiled and said, "Xu Hengyan, will you resent me for snatching your credit?"
Originally, it should have been Xu Hengyan who, by playing along with the plan, was captured by Lu Baohong and brought the East Village under his command. In the future, it would also be Xu Hengyan who would gain credit for suppressing the Huanglan Mountain bandits with the help of the East Village.
Now, all of it had been snatched into her own pocket.
Xu Hengyan had already placed the firewood into the stove. Hearing her, he looked at her exasperatedly, "If you thought I would resent you for snatching credit, you wouldn't be grinning like this."
Besides, what credit did he have? The credit for cultivating himself in this small courtyard?
"Of course, I know you don't care about this. You've come to Ninghe to be a down-to-earth official. How could you possibly care about this little bit of credit? You wish for nothing more than to keep a low profile, to keep an even lower profile. You want to suppress the bandits only to rid the people of a scourge."
Xie Jiang finished shaping the pancakes and gestured for Xu Hengyan to start the fire. Then, she said mysteriously to Xu Hengyan, "Actually, I don't care much for this credit either."
She didn't care?
To gain a foothold in Dayu and possess sufficient influence in the court, how could one not need achievements?
The sweet potato was a stepping stone that would take time to prove its worth. As for the Huanglan Mountain bandits, they were enough for her to display her abilities.
Xu Hengyan glanced at her while tending the fire.
All the ingredients that came into her hands seemed to suddenly gain a soul, transforming with her movements.
Watching her cook, Xu Hengyan realized that culinary skills could also be an art, just like playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, martial arts, horse riding, and archery. It could captivate the eye and be pleasing to the heart.
Xu Hengyan thought with her mindset and felt that she might genuinely not care. "You actually just want to slap those people in the face, don't you?"
How could one think of Young Master Xie with normal logic?
For others, it might be to focus on accumulating achievements to prove their abilities and establish themselves in the court.
But why would Young Master Xie care what others thought of her? As long as she punched them into submission, wouldn't that suffice?
Xie Jiang beamed and said, "You understand me so well?"
Xu Hengyan smiled faintly, "Young Master Xie's methods have always been simple and brutal."
Was it something Young Master Xie would do to climb step by step through painstaking effort?
"I just want to slap their faces, one slap after another, until they are dizzy and lost. When I officially step into the court in the future, no one will dare to babble about me anymore."
A hint of mischievousness flickered in Xie Jiang's eyes. "They all extend their faces to me and ask me to hit them. Since I'm so helpful, shouldn't I fulfill their wishes?"
Xu Hengyan's line of reasoning was not wrong. It was just that Xu Hengyan didn't know that the reason people in the capital had spoken out was because she had been fanning the flames from behind.
She wasn't truly the young master of the Xie clan of Lanyong.
She was the second young lady of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, Song Er.
She wanted to happily trample those who had once scorned the Duke of Dingguo's mansion underfoot, one by one, letting them taste that feeling of being trampled.
Xu Hengyan did not yet know that he himself was the first to bear the brunt.
As Xie Jiang grilled the pancakes, she flashed an evil smile at Xu Hengyan. "Poor little Yan Yan..."
"Ah?"
What poor little thing?
As Xu Hengyan looked up, he seemed to catch sight of her small, gleaming fangs.
Xie Jiang said, "I'm saying you're like those two little rabbits outside. Sooner or later, you'll be eaten by me, the big tiger."
Xu Hengyan: "..." What was she talking about?
What big tiger was she? She was at most a small tiger. How dare she call him a rabbit? Who was the rabbit? Who was eating whom?
Xie Jiang suddenly exclaimed, "Xu Hengyan, what are you doing! How much firewood did you stuff in there! The pancakes are going to be burned!"
Just as Xu Hengyan was about to stuff more firewood into his hand, he heard the little tiger's roar and snapped back to attention. He saw that the stove was packed full and the flames were very strong. He then patted the stove with the firewood in his hand a few times.
"Xu Hengyan, what are you doing! Can't you even light a fire! You're getting arrogant after I praised you twice!"
Fortunately, Xie Jiang was quick and managed to scoop all the pancakes into the plate in time. Otherwise, what would they eat? Carbon cakes?
Xu Hengyan didn't dare to look up as he was scolded.
He had just gotten distracted for a moment.
His mind was filled with the tiger and rabbit she had mentioned.
When she was clingy and acting cute, didn't she resemble a rabbit? In his mind, he had transformed into a tiger and pounced on the rabbit.
She must have listened to plays in tea houses often! Talking nonsense all day and affecting him.
Xie Jiang stopped Xu Hengyan from adding more firewood to the stove. Using the remaining heat, she fried two eggs, and their breakfast was complete.
A plate of vegetable pancakes, and one fried egg each.
As the two of them sat down to eat, Lu Baohong sneakily appeared outside the low wall, stretching his neck to look at the stone table.
"Xie Jiang, where did you go last night?" Lu Baohong's fantasies had not yet been extinguished, so his attitude towards Xie Jiang was slightly restrained.
"None of your business." Xie Jiang's attitude towards him remained unchanged.
Hearing this, Xu Hengyan tore off a piece of pancake and stuffed it into her mouth.
He wanted to shut her up, to stop her uncivilized language.
In Lu Baohong's eyes, it looked like a loving feeding between lovers.
Insane!
Is it really necessary so early in the morning?