CHAPTER 395: CHAPTER 395: FUMING WITH ANGER

The next day, after lunch, Su Jin leaned on the small couch, planning to nap for a while.

She had just closed her eyes when Xique arrived.

Xique came so frequently that the maids at the Agarwood Pavilion were puzzled.

The maids at Qingqiu Garden were quite bold, getting so close and chatting happily with the maids of the Eldest Young Madam.

Watching Xique enter the room, a young maid said while leaning on the broom, "That maid is very timid."

"You know?" asked another young maid nearby.

"Last year, in the garden, she was pushed to the ground by a maid, scraping a layer of skin off her hand and almost in tears, but she didn’t dare fight back," the young maid said.

Back then, the maid who pushed was in the wrong.

She felt a bit sorry for Xique, being with an unfavored mistress and getting bullied.

If it were the maid of the Eldest Young Madam, could she have been bullied like that?

Even if the wrong was on that maid.

Even borrowing a few tiger gallbladders from that maid, she wouldn’t dare be presumptuous in front of the Eldest Young Madam’s maid.

This timid maid was now so close with the little bandit maid of the Eldest Young Madam, truly baffling.

Inside the room, Xique happily reported the whereabouts of the ointment to Su Jin.

The weather was hot, and Lady Chi hadn’t left her room all morning, so Mrs. Li naturally had no chance to act.

After lunch, Lady Chi habitually walked a bit to aid digestion.

As soon as they left the room, Mrs. Li sneaked in and swapped the ointment.

Carrying the ointment, Mrs. Li left Qingqiu Garden, and Xique followed her all the way to Qihao Hall.

There was no doubt that it was Princess Nanzhang who instructed Mrs. Li to steal the ointment!

Su Jin’s lips curled into a cold smile.

Greed knows no bounds.

The ointment she gave to Lady Chi was ample; even if her wound was severe, there would still be more than half left, enough for Princess Nanzhang’s hand to recover just fine.

Yet she was still not satisfied and resorted to the old trick again.

Though the ointment was given to Lady Chi, it was still she who provided it.

Her things were easy to steal, but not so easy to use.

This time, she’d make sure they returned everything they stole!

Xique tugged at Xingxing’s sleeve secretly and asked, "Isn’t Princess Nanzhang going to be out of luck soon?"

"It’s still early," Xingxing said.

"Even if she uses the ointment now, the poison won’t take effect until the Duke returns."

The Old Madam was too partial to Princess Nanzhang.

If something happened to Princess Nanzhang, at most, the Old Madam would punish her by copying the family rules, and in the end, she might even force their young lady to help her detoxify.

Such light punishment felt too unworthy of the few Dongzhu wasted by the young lady.

To punish Princess Nanzhang properly, they would need to wait for the Old Duke and Old Master Xie to return, and it would be best to punish the partial Old Madam along with them.

Xique was eager but knew that what the Eldest Young Madam was doing was the best.

Good things are worth the wait, after all.

But this time, Xique wasn’t just here to tell Su Jin about the ointment; she also brought a message from Lady Chi.

She took out a silver note from her bosom and handed it to Su Jin, saying, "This is from the Madam for the Eldest Young Madam."

Su Jin glanced at it.

Honestly.

She was shocked.

The maid was holding a silver note worth five thousand taels.

Su Jin didn’t lack silver notes; she had handled more than ten notes worth thousands of taels, not to mention a Beauty Pavilion and a pharmacy that were profitable ventures.

But Lady Chi was just a concubine, sent by Nanliang to Old Master Xie, disfigured and speechless.

How did she have a five thousand tael silver note?

Xingxing looked at Xique in surprise, "Is your Madam that wealthy?"

"I only found out this morning," Xique said.

"My Madam wanted to thank the Young Master and Eldest Young Madam for sending her the ointment, so she insisted I deliver the silver note to the Eldest Young Madam."

Xingxing swiftly accepted the silver note.

There was no reason not to accept money delivered to them.

However, Su Jin returned the silver note to Xique and asked her to take it back to Lady Chi.

No matter how rich Lady Chi was, in Su Jin’s eyes, she was just a disfigured, speechless woman.

The ointment was given only as gratitude for helping Xie Jingchen and her with their clothes, nothing more.

Although Xingxing was reluctant, she still returned the silver note upon Su Jin’s refusal.

Xique was a bit confused when she saw the silver note being returned.

Wasn’t the Eldest Young Madam known for being like a bandit, liking to grab things?

Yet she refused the silver note offered willingly.

The Eldest Young Madam was indeed a good person.

Xique accepted the silver note, thanked them, and then took her leave.

After leaving, she hadn’t gone far when a young maid from the Agarwood Pavilion pulled her aside to ask, "Did you tremble speaking with the Eldest Young Madam’s maid?"

"At first, a little, now not at all," Xique replied.

"Aren’t you scared?" the young maid asked again.

Xique shook her head repeatedly, "I haven’t been scared for a while; they are all good people."

After chatting for a bit, Xique left.

The young maid watched her leave, dumbfounded for a long time.

A maid nearby patted her on the shoulder, startling her greatly.

The young maid patted her chest in relief.

The patting maid asked, "Did she say anything?"

The young maid looked confused, "She did say something, but I don’t know if it was genuine or if she was bluffing."

"What did she say?" the maid asked curiously.

"She said the Eldest Young Madam and her maid were very approachable, better than anyone else in the Duke Mansion," the young maid’s eyes drifted a bit.

"... "

The Eldest Young Madam approachable?

If Princess Nanzhang and the Eldest Miss heard this, they might put her on a bench for a thrashing of thirty strokes.

Inside, just as Su Jin was about to fall asleep, she sneezed, half-scattering her drowsiness.

In the Imperial Study.

The Emperor was practicing calligraphy with vigorous strokes, full of grandeur.

Heaven rewards diligence.

Eunuch Fu praised the Emperor’s writing to no end.

The Emperor put down the brush and said, "Have someone make it into a plaque, to be hung after Marquis Dongxiang’s son leaves the palace."

Eunuch Fu was embarrassed.

After the Eldest Young Madam of the Duke Zhen’s Mansion, the Emperor was now wary of Young Master Su entering the palace.

Yesterday, Young Master Su accompanied the Ninth Prince to the study with the Grand Tutor for lessons.

A beautiful plaque was smashed down by him, luckily not injuring anyone.

After the ink dried, Eunuch Fu carefully picked it up.

Just as he was about to hand it to a little eunuch, a little eunuch ran in from outside and said, "Your Majesty, something terrible happened!"

"Grand Tutor Wang was angered into fainting by Young Master Su."

The Emperor, "...."

Eunuch Fu, "...."

"How exactly did he faint from anger?" Eunuch Fu hurriedly asked.

"In class, Young Master Su was lying down sleeping, Grand Tutor Wang wanted to hit his palm, but Young Master Su refused," the little eunuch replied.

"The Grand Tutor, stubborn by nature, didn’t know he was dealing with the young master of Dongxiang Marquis Mansion, insisted on hitting him."

"Young Master Su said that what the Grand Tutor taught, he already knew and had memorized, found it boring, and wanted to nap to be spirited for later fun in the Imperial Garden."

"The Grand Tutor got angry, told Young Master Su to recite it, otherwise get his palm hit..."

At this point, the little eunuch stopped.

"And then?" Eunuch Fu asked.

"Then, Young Master Su recited, but it was a complete mess, the Grand Tutor was going to hit his palm ten times, now it’s twenty," the little eunuch replied.

"Young Master Su told the Grand Tutor to start reading from the last page."

"He really was reciting it backwards."

"...."

"The Grand Tutor said that revisiting would enlighten, even if he knew, he shouldn’t be so arrogant, reprimanded Young Master Su, then asked whose son he was."

"Young Master Su said why bother to ask whose son he was, if a fight was necessary, he could handle it himself without his father’s help."

"...."

"The Grand Tutor trembled with rage, asked the Ninth Prince whose father Young Master Su was."

"The Ninth Prince told him it was Marquis Dongxiang."

"The Grand Tutor, unable to catch his breath, fainted."

The Emperor, "...."

Eunuch Fu, "...."

The Emperor raised his hand to rub his forehead.

Indeed, a son worthy of Marquis Dongxiang.

While Marquis Dongxiang left the capital to quash bandits, the court had finally quieted down with no ministers fainting from anger for a time.

Now look, even when he’s not around, his son fills in for him.