"I'm not cold," Baozi said. "Mother, her name is Su Mu. She came up with a great idea to find the tiger tally!"
With an innocent look on his face, he showed no sign of scheming.
Zisu silently gave this little sly one a mental thumbs - up. It seemed that Baozi didn't want to reveal his true colors.
"Oh?" Yi Qing looked at Su Mu with a half - smile. "What's this great idea? Tell me."
Su Mu lowered her head and said meekly, "This humble servant doesn't dare. I just thought if we could borrow the two divine hounds of Lord Xu to help look for the lost item. I heard about Lord Xu's case - solving outside before, so I spoke out of turn. Please forgive me, Madam."
"Since you're sincerely thinking for me," Yi Qing tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled enigmatically. "What crime is there? Right?"
Su Mu lowered her head and dared not make a sound. Her body trembled slightly.
Yi Qing asked, "Su Mu?"
"This humble servant is here."
"When did you enter the mansion?"
"Replying to Madam, I entered the mansion three months ago."
"Why did your family sell you?"
"Replying to Madam, my mother fell ill and spent all the family's silver. To buy medicine for my mother, I had to sell myself..."
"Oh, so you're a filial daughter," Yi Qing said with a sneer in her eyes, staring at her intently. "How much silver did you sell for?"
"Replying to Madam, twenty taels."
"Only twenty taels?" Yi Qing feigned surprise. "At your age, as a bride, the betrothal gift would be twenty taels. If sold to a brothel, a hundred taels wouldn't be too much. Tsk tsk, why did you come to the mansion to be a servant and be at others' mercy?"
Su Mu's face instantly flushed purple - red. "Madam, you, you can't talk like this."
Yi Qing glanced at Zisu and covered Baozi's eyes.
Zisu stepped forward and unceremoniously slapped Su Mu twice, making her take a few steps back and almost fall.
"Madam is your master. She can say anything to you. This is to teach you the rules!"
A look of hatred flashed across Su Mu's face, but she finally held back and lowered her head. "This humble servant knows her mistake."
"Mistakes can be corrected, and there's no greater virtue," Yi Qing then let go of Baozi's eyes. "I'll forgive you this time. Now you can tell me why you insisted on entering the general's mansion."
Su Mu stared at her embroidered shoes, afraid that more emotions would leak out. "This humble servant was at the end of her rope and went to the matchmaker. She said the general's mansion was recruiting, so I followed her. Later, I was selected somehow. Since then, I've been sweeping the garden carefully, not daring to be lazy. Please see clearly, Madam."
"Have you studied?" Yi Qing asked calmly without showing any emotion.
"… I can recognize a few characters. I'm not completely illiterate," Su Mu replied hesitantly after a moment.
"So, your family was in good condition before, but due to the decline of the family and your mother's illness, you had no way out and entered the mansion as a servant, right?"
Su Mu vaguely felt that Yi Qing was setting a trap for her, but she had to bite the bullet and jump in. "Yes."
"Wasn't there a betrothal for you in your family?" Yi Qing suddenly changed the subject.
Zisu was a bit confused by her questions and almost couldn't help shouting at her to interrogate properly. However, looking at little Baozi, she finally held back.
"I was betrothed, but later the man passed away, and the engagement was called off. My reputation was also ruined. Carrying the reputation of being a jinx to her husband, no one dared to come to propose marriage again," Su Mu said, on the verge of tears.
But the only "man" present was too young to understand this kind of delicate beauty, let alone feel pity.
"How pitiful," Yi Qing shook her head. "So what are your plans for the future? You can't be a servant all your life. After all, you've studied, which is different from others."
Zisu thought, "!"
Does this mean to keep chatting? I never thought you were such a chatterbox before.
Su Mu stammered, "This humble servant wants to save money to redeem herself. When the family's situation gets better later, they will also come to redeem me."
"How pitiful. It really makes those who hear it sad and those who see it cry," Yi Qing said. "I originally wanted to let you go home out of consideration for your filial piety. But then I thought, wouldn't you feel guilty and restless like this?"
Su Mu: "… Yes."
"This is a bit tricky," Yi Qing rolled her eyes. "How about I give you more work and more monthly silver? For example, sweep the garden during the day and clean the stable at night?"
If it weren't for Su Mu's face being swollen from Zisu's slaps, her face would probably turn pale immediately.
Zisu couldn't help laughing and patted Baozi's shoulder. "You should learn from your mother and think more about others."
Su Mu almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
Yi Qing took two steps forward, her nose twitching slightly. "But I think there seems to be a better solution now."
Before Su Mu could react, Yi Qing tore off the sachet around her waist - it was a plain white - flowered sachet on a pink background, looking very ordinary.
Shock finally showed on Su Mu's face.
Yi Qing curled her lips and sneered. She slowly brought the sachet to her nose and sniffed. "The fragrance in the sachet could buy a hundred of you, couldn't it?"
Shock showed on Zisu's face.
A spice worth two thousand taels of silver?
"Black agarwood, a very rare spice. 'One tael of black agarwood is worth ten thousand taels of gold,'" Yi Qing said indifferently. "How about it? Am I quite knowledgeable?"
Su Mu finally stopped pretending. Her eyes suddenly became sharp and fierce.
"You're not the widow of Xiao Jinghan at all. You're an imposter!" Su Mu pointed at her and said word by word. "There has never been a woman around Xiao Jinghan. Never!"
"Yo, so you're here to uphold justice. I wonder which god you are?"
"Do I even need to say with her current look?" Zisu said coolly. "Of course, it's Marshal Tianpeng."
Yi Qing was amused by her. "Don't be naughty. Look at her. Wearing a sachet worth thousands of taels of silver to sweep the garden in the general's mansion. The hobbies of the rich are really simple and unadorned. It's really hard for us to understand, isn't it, Zisu?"
Su Mu took two steps back. "Although I haven't completely found out your origin, I will never forgive you for insulting Xiao Jinghan like this!"
"Never forgive me?" Yi Qing rubbed her ears. "Who do you think you are? Xiao Jinghan's original wife?"
Su Mu's face flushed purple - red. "You don't need to care who I am. A woman like you is simply unworthy!"
"I also think I'm unworthy!" Yi Qing said. "But what can I do? The emperor forced me into this position and insisted on giving me the title of the first - rank madam and making my son a prince. I'm really in a dilemma! The imperial edict is hard to disobey. Since you're so capable, how about you go to the palace and talk to the emperor for me, asking him not to make things difficult for me and let you take this position?"
Zisu silently gave Yi Qing a thumbs - up in her heart.
This move is so bitchy and infuriating!