Su Mo naturally didn't dare to say a word and just hung her head.
Su Hele complained to herself for a while and then said,
"Go outside and find a human trafficker. Sell Lan Xiang off."
Su Mo suddenly looked up. Sell Lan Xiang?
...
In Qionghua Garden, Lan Xiang was crying to Chen Wanrong:
"The second young mistress has been going to the forest and the stream to sketch and paint these days. She said she was going to show the paintings to the second young master. Every day, I carried dozens of pounds of things and served the second young mistress through all the hardships of traveling. It was nothing, as it was my duty as a maid.
But today when I was going down the mountain, I was really out of strength and accidentally stumbled, and I dirtied the painting the second young mistress had made. The second young mistress said this painting was more important than her life. Damaging this painting was like hurting her life, and she wanted to sell me off.
Madam, I really didn't do it on purpose. Please stand up for me."
Lan Xiang's silk dress was covered with dirt and ink stains, and she was all dirty. But she didn't care about this. As soon as she got a chance, she came to Qionghua Garden.
She had to clarify things first. If Su Hele got ahead of her and really convinced the madam to agree to sell her off, what could she do?
Chen Wanrong looked at Lan Xiang, whose hands were skinned and face was bruised from the fall, and her face gradually darkened.
Different from the maids given to Su Hele at that time, Lan Xiang was a maid transferred from her yard.
Su Hele, a person who didn't even have the power to manage the household, actually wanted to sell off a maid from her yard. Where did she get the nerve?
"Call Aunt Li here."
...
"I'm the mistress of Bitao Garden. Can't I even discipline my own maid?"
Su Hele glared at Su Mo, her voice impatient and her face gloomy.
Although Su Mo was scared, she still summoned up her courage and said,
"Lan Xiang is from the madam's yard. Her indenture is in the madam's hands. Without the indenture, the human trafficker wouldn't dare to take her."
Actually, even if there was an indenture, Su Hele didn't have the right to sell off a maid casually, but Su Mo would never dare to say this.
Su Hele snorted lightly:
"She sent the maid here but still held on to the indenture. It's obvious that she wasn't sincere in giving her to me. How hypocritical."
Afraid that someone might overhear them, Su Mo quickly said,
"Actually, when the young mistress first got married, the madam did send some maids to you. At that time, those maids all came with their indentures. It was you who didn't want them."
As soon as she finished speaking, she got a slap on the face.
"Mind your own business."
Su Hele's face was ashen, looking like she was going to eat someone.
Su Mo's face burned with pain, but she didn't dare to reach out and touch it. She immediately shut up and stood there stiff as a wooden stake.
Su Hele's temper had been getting more and more strange recently. Even on normal days, Su Mo couldn't avoid being scolded, let alone now when Su Hele was in a fit of rage.
"I don't believe I can't discipline a maid. So what if the indenture isn't in my hands? Go and tell the madam that Lan Xiang didn't serve me attentively, which led to the destruction of my painting worth a thousand gold coins. Ask her to sell Lan Xiang off."
After saying that, Su Hele flicked her sleeves and sat down in front of the pear - wood table.
She had to repair the damaged painting. It was the result of her hard work for several days. It was ruined by Lan Xiang. Selling her off was already too kind to her.
When she looked up, she found that Su Mo was still standing there motionless. Su Hele's anger flared up even more:
"Hurry up. If you don't sell Lan Xiang off today, don't come back."
Hearing this, Su Mo quickly backed out.
Seeing this, Su Hele showed a look of disdain. How stupid.
Su Hele frowned and hung her hands. How could she repair this painting?
After thinking for just a short while, there were hurried footsteps outside, getting closer and closer, each step heavier than the last.
"Already taken care of it so quickly? I said so. It's just a maid, and also... Ah~~"
Su Hele suddenly got a slap on the face, which left her dazed.
In her daze, she saw Aunt Li snatch the painting on the table and tear it into strips with gritted teeth:
"I'll let you paint. I'll let you say it's worth a thousand gold..."
Finally, Aunt Li threw the fragments in Su Hele's face:
"Can't you stop causing trouble for a single day? Nanny Wang, loosen her skin a bit."
Immediately, two big and burly old women stepped forward and dragged Su Hele out from behind the table.
Su Hele then came to her senses:
"What do you think you're doing? How dare you servants bully the mistress!"
"Gag her mouth and beat her!"
Aunt Li's willow - like eyebrows were raised in anger, her blood boiling, and her temples throbbing.
She knew Su Hele wasn't an easy - going person, but she didn't expect that she could still cause trouble even when staying at home.
Wanting to sell off a maid from the madam's yard. She really dared to think!
Nanny Wang slapped Su Hele more than a dozen times before Aunt Li stopped her.
"Don't think that just because A Jin is back with you, you can do whatever you want. I'm telling you, as long as I'm around, you won't have an easy time. Don't you always act like a pitiful and charming vixen? Well, today you can go and complain to He Jin with this pig - faced face."
After saying that, Aunt Li took a look at Su Hele's face and left with a cold laugh.
The two old women holding Su Hele let go of her and left as well, even pulling out the rag that had been gagging her mouth.
Su Hele collapsed to the ground. She only felt a ringing in her ears and couldn't even hear what Aunt Li had said.
It took her a long time for the ringing in her ears to ease, and her face began to feel the pain. It was as if someone was holding a torch against her face. Even moving a bit hurt, and she couldn't even open her mouth to call for help.
But even so, she still propped herself up and came in front of the bronze mirror. She hadn't missed the proud look in Aunt Li's eyes when she left.
In the bronze mirror, a swollen, deformed and hideous face appeared in front of Su Hele.
Su Mo was waiting nervously in the outer room. She didn't dare to go in, but she didn't dare to go far either.
A shrill scream startled Su Mo. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest.
"Mistress?" Su Mo asked tentatively.
"Get out. Don't come in."
Su Hele's hoarse voice was like that of a wild animal, sending shivers down one's spine.
Su Mo held her breath and didn't dare to say another word.
...
At night, Su Nansheng was sitting in front of the table feeding the fish. Snowball bit her skirt and pulled it back, indicating that she should play with it.
Bitao picked up Snowball and handed it to Ruyi, who was serving in the outer room.
"My lady, it's getting late. It's time to go to bed."
"Okay."
Su Nansheng's voice was lazy.
Bitao smiled and said while making the bed for Su Nansheng:
"Is my lady missing the young master?"
On normal days, she was so energetic when arguing with He Xun, but these days she seemed to have no interest in anything.
Su Nansheng paused in the action of feeding the fish and frowned tightly: "Don't talk nonsense."
Why would she miss him? Without him around to distract her, she was so carefree now.
The bed was comfortable to sleep in, but it got a bit cold in the middle of the night.
Bitao tilted her head, looking confused. What nonsense was this? It was normal for husband and wife to miss each other, wasn't it?
In the middle of the night, Su Nansheng tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep.
Was it because she had been too idle and not tired enough these days?
Or...
Su Nansheng turned over. Maybe it was because the bed was too big and empty.