Appointing a General as a Concubine: Where Can General Xiao Escape?

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye it is Xiao Mo's birthday.

The Prime Minister's Mansion was busy early in the morning.

Most of the guests Xiao Wenbo invited to the banquet were civil and military officials of the fourth rank and above. Apart from them, there were not many other dignitaries.

Murong Shu had always had a good relationship with the mistress of the Lu family. She also wanted to bring Xiao Mo and Lu Huai together, so she slipped in an invitation when Xiao Wenbo wasn't paying attention.

Xiao Wenbo was not very surprised to see them coming. Although he did not like Lu Huai very much because of the Lu family's proposal, he still put on a good front since they were guests.

This was the first time that Xiao Mo attended such a grand family dinner as the host.

Looking at the noisy crowd in the front hall and Xiao Wenbo who was busy socializing, she curled her lips and returned to the backyard.

But before he could even sit down, Murong Shu found him and pulled him to the front hall.

"This is the second daughter of the Left Inspector General of the Inspectorate..."

"Yeah, that's right, she is the eldest daughter of our Prime Minister's Mansion..."

"This is the third daughter of the Right Minister's family. You are of similar age, so you should have common topics..."

"Yes, that's right, the Mo in Jasmine. Yes, I'm a grown-up girl now."

"This is the young master of the Imperial Censorate. He's a year younger than you. You two should be able to chat easily."

Murong Shu pulled Xiao Mo aside to chat and introduce them, her face smiling from ear to ear.

Xiao Mo had a faint smile on her face the whole time. Every time Murong Shu introduced someone, she prayed in her heart that this was the last one, but it was never the case.

It was not until a long time later that a familiar yet unfamiliar voice came from behind her: "Miss Xiao."

When Xiao Mo heard the voice, she looked over and saw Lu Huai standing not far behind her with a faint smile on his face.

She let go of Murong Shu's hand and walked over as if she had found a life-saving straw.

"Are you just here? Where's sister Yao?" She looked behind him because she didn't want to be alone with him, and she didn't want to be dragged to social events.

Lu Huai curled his lips slightly and smiled beautifully: "She is here, but she is staying with her mother to greet the elders."

Xiao Mo's eyes wandered around the crowd, searching for her figure.

"Thanks to you, my mother's legs have recovered so well. Happy birthday, Miss Xiao."

He was wearing a light blue robe and standing in the sun, smiling at her. After knowing him for so long, this was the first time Xiao Mo felt the infectiousness of his smile.

He took out a slender gift box from behind him and held it in front of her with both hands: "This is my personal birthday gift for you, I hope you like it."

Xiao Mo's slightly surprised gaze slowly moved from the gift box in his hand to his face.

When giving gifts at a banquet like this, it is usually the head of the household who gives them out on behalf of the entire mansion.

Gifts given privately to one another are usually given to close friends or lovers.

It seems that she and Lu Huai have neither of the two relationships. To be honest, they are not that familiar with each other, and it is even more impossible that they are lovers.

Xiao Mo laughed dryly twice, feeling a little helpless, not knowing whether she should take the thing from his hand.

Lu Huai looked at her and chuckled: "I know you don't like girls' things, so I didn't give you any jewelry.

This is Mr. Yi's original work, "A Hundred Birds Singing Together." I wonder if it will pique your interest.

Hearing his words, Xiao Mo smiled and said, "There are not many paintings of Mr. Yi left among the people. Each one of them can be called a priceless treasure. This is too precious. I just want to take a look at it."

"What are you looking at? Take it home and read it slowly. The details inside are vivid and you will definitely like it."

After saying that, Lu Huai stuffed the gift box into her hands.

Xiao Mo pursed her lips and looked at the thing in her arms with a frown.

Just as I was about to look up and say thank you to him, I saw a few people carrying a brand new screen towards the backyard.

She tilted her head to look in confusion, and found that the group of people were carrying things towards her yard.

She scratched her forehead, looking confused, thinking that she also said she wanted to change.

While he was dazed, Lu Huai came over and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's okay." Xiao Mo looked up at him with a smile: "Well, I'll take this painting back to the house first. I'll cry my heart out if I lose something so valuable."

Before Lu Huai could respond, Qi Yue quietly stood behind her: "Amo, happy birthday."

His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for Xiao Mo and Lu Huai to hear.

Lu Huai turned sideways and saluted him respectfully. He glanced at him unkindly and then fell on Xiao Mo's face.

Xiao Mo turned around and looked at him, pointing to the backyard: "That thing wasn't given by you, was it?"

"What?" he asked, smiling.

“The one where a group of people moved in…”

Qi Yue glanced at the direction she pointed, and smiled proudly: "Yes, I made it myself, it took me a long time."

"You did it?" Xiao Mo raised her voice in amazement, but immediately stopped talking when she realized something was wrong.

"Want to take a look?"

"No, I'll take a look after the party."

Most of the servants in the mansion were in the front yard now, and she didn't want to go into the backyard alone with him.

Qi Yue's eyes moved and he noticed the gift box in Xiao Mo's hand. He raised his eyebrows subtly: "What is this?"

Xiao Mo glanced at Lu Huai casually and smiled: "This is the birthday gift that Mr. Lu gave me, a painting of a hundred birds singing."

"The Picture of a Hundred Birds Singing is a work by Mr. Yi during his lifetime. Mr. Lu is really sincere." Qi Minxiu's voice as gentle as jade came from behind them.

When they heard the sound, they looked and saw him in a white robe as white as snow, steering the wheel of his wheelchair towards them.

He usually likes light colors and rarely wears white clothes. Today's outfit really caught Xiao Mo's attention.

She glanced behind him and asked in confusion, "Where's Ling Su? Why are you alone?"

"He and Shen Yun went to get something."

After he said that, Xiao Mo realized that Shen Yun had disappeared without a trace.

Lu Huai felt that after he came, he had even less common topics with them.

Qi Yue's hostility made him very uncomfortable, so he took the opportunity when someone else greeted Qi Minxiu to slip away.

But just as he turned around, the maid from the Lu Mansion called him and said that Lu Yao was at the pavilion and asked him to come over.

Although he didn't understand, he went anyway.

I thought it was something important, but it turned out to be the fruit wine that the Prime Minister's wife specially prepared for Xiao Mo.

When she saw them being placed, she casually said, "They smell good." The Second Lady then gave her some. She tasted it and thought it tasted very good, so she wanted to ask him to try it too.