Chapter 10: Watching the Fire from the Opposite Shore

  "Girl, how many times have you let top-grade fresh meat slip away? Count them for me?" The system, which had been playing dead all day, suddenly jumped out and said with a sense of justice, "What's the reason this time again?"

  Wei didn't hold back that quickly? Su Ying ignored the system's complaints and directly answered its subsequent question, I thought she would endure a bit more, tsk tsk, the spoiled concubine's endurance skills are still not up to par.

  Judging from your tone, someone must have gotten into trouble again.

  "Can you hear that? It's not easy." Su Ying said coolly, shaking her head at Gui Yatou who came in with a difficult expression. "Mom, I'm fine. What's going on with the gatekeeper and the maidservants? How could they let someone from the South Wing barge in so easily? Even if they couldn't stop them, wouldn't they report it? Could it be that someone was covering their mouths, not letting them make a sound?"

  The courtyard is indeed lively, with people from all sides gathering together. Among the many servants in the courtyard, there are not just one or two who have a loyalty value of less than 10. Su Ying temporarily does not have the idea of removing these nails, but taking advantage of the situation to kill the chicken and warn the monkey is also acceptable.

  Gu Yan looked at Su Ying's expression and carefully said: "It is said that the little girl from the South House saw that she couldn't get in, so she just started barking loudly at the door. They only managed to block those behind her, and then Master came out. What do you think, Madam?"

  Su Ying hummed softly, "Penalize them a month's allowance. If there is a next time, no need to say, they will be sold directly. The main courtyard is not a place where any cat or dog can enter at will."

  After Old Lady Gui left, Su Ying held her tea cup but didn't drink, for there was still another act to be performed later.

  ……

  Fu Yiyang arrived at the southern courtyard with an imposing air, and Wei Niang, who had received the news, leaned weakly against the door frame, her eyes streaming down her pale cheeks as she sobbed uncontrollably. Seeing Fu Yiyang, she burst into tears, "Master, you must save our eldest young lady, she is my heart's flesh and blood! If anything happens to her, it would be like cutting off my own flesh and drinking my own blood!"

  Wei Yiniang's face was filled with sorrow, her eyes pleadingly looking at Fu Yeyang. The old master's heart was also moved, and the big girl was now his only child. Although she was a concubine-born daughter and had always been frail, adding to that the guilt he felt towards the child over the past two days after being provoked by Su Ying, thinking this way, Fu Yeyang quickened his pace and entered the house.

  She looked at him with a mixture of fear and anxiety, but now she couldn't care about that anymore, and hurriedly followed Pei Yiyang's footsteps.

  The big girl lay on the bed, her small face pale, and her weak crying sounded like a kitten meowing. The charcoal fire in the house was burning strongly, and the windows were tightly closed, making it stuffy to the point where Fu Yeyang couldn't bear it. He also heard Wei Niang's sobbing and the maid's pleading voice, which made him even more annoyed. He shouted loudly: "What are you doing?! Where is the doctor?!"

  Wei Yiniang looked at the big girl lying on the bed with a sorrowful expression, and her tears flowed even more fiercely. The beautiful side of her face was tilted at just the right angle, and the tears rolled down her cheeks into her hair, like dew drops among flowers. The tragic beauty and sadness blended together perfectly - she had been following Fu Yeyang for the longest time, and understood his preferences well enough to know that this would be the most likely to evoke the old master's sympathy.

  "Big girl, wake up! Look who's here? Your father has come to see you. You were just thinking of going to pay your respects to him, weren't you? Now he's here, open your eyes and take a look. If anything happens to you, your aunt wouldn't want to live either."

  Fu Yiyang listened to Wei's aunt's thin lips tightly pursed into a straight line, her eyebrows also furrowed tightly, but at this moment she couldn't care about so much, took two steps forward towards the bed, letting the eldest girl see him.

  Doctor Guo, a renowned pediatrician in the capital, was hastily brought to the Hou Mansion by the servants. Before he could even catch his breath, he struggled to walk to the bedside, where Wei's mother-in-law begged him: "Doctor, you must save my eldest daughter!"

  Doctor Guo originally thought that this was not going to work, but after taking the pulse, he found that although the child on the bed looked weak, the pulse was still not weak. He then asked: "What does the big girl usually eat every day?"

  "My elder daughter has always been frail and can't eat foods that are hard to digest, so we don't dare let her have too much of those. There are two nursemaids taking turns to care for her, but..."

  Wei Yiniang suddenly remembered something and raised her voice in shock and fear: "Earlier, a maid who was good at making medicinal dishes made a dish of medicine, saying it was most suitable for people with weak bodies to eat. I asked with good intentions and gave it to my elder sister to eat a few mouthfuls, but is there something wrong with this medicinal dish?"

  "Is there still some of this medicine left?"

  "Yes, there is." Wei's aunt hastily said, and quickly ordered someone to bring up the Qinghua porcelain covered bowl.

  Guo Daifu sniffed it and picked out a small white piece from it, tasted it, "Is this ginseng?"

  Wei's aunt forgot to wipe away her tears, and Mu said stupidly: "Is it the ginseng's problem? This is Mrs. she——" As she spoke, she stopped abruptly and burst into suppressed sobs by the bed, "My poor big girl, Auntie owes you an apology."

  It turned out to be an internal struggle in the mansion. Guo Daifu understood and shook his head, saying to Fu Yeyang: "This ginseng is not commonly used ginseng, but rather Western ginseng that has been introduced from overseas. The young lady of your esteemed family was born with a weak constitution, often takes medicine every day, and rarely eats grains, so she cannot nourish her spirit and blood, which is not a good thing."

  "This ginseng has a mild effect, and when combined with diet, it can nourish and supplement the body. Eating more of it every day is actually good for the patient's body. The patient's body was originally weak and had been affected by cold air, which made it appear so weak. Proper care and nursing are what's needed."

  Wei Yiniang was already startled before Guo Dafu had finished speaking, her first reaction was not that the eldest daughter's body was fine, but how this was different from what she had expected, she had expected to be able to bring down both the lady and the old lady with one blow.

  But now she couldn't afford to think about these things anymore. The most important thing was how to get out of this situation without leaving a bad impression on the old master's mind!

  Although Wei Yiniang immediately put on a surprised expression and used her handkerchief to wipe away tears to cover up her previous loss of composure, her self-directed performance earlier and her surprise at hearing the doctor's words had all been caught by Fu Qiyang's keen eyes, his face growing even more austere.

  One side asked Guo to go and write a prescription, while the other narrowed his eyes and scanned the slaves who were kneeling on the ground: "Except for the wet nurse, all those who served the eldest miss will be taken out and beaten with thirty boards. The mansion is not short of servants," he paused, "As for that maid who broke into the main room, she will be beaten and sold."

  Having finished speaking, he didn't even look at Big Sister and Madame Wei, and directly kicked open the door and walked out.

  "Old... old master?" Wei's legs went soft and she fell onto the felt rug, her face filled with incredulity.

  Fu Yiyang harbored a belly full of anger, his face gloomy as he walked out. Suddenly, he caught sight of someone lurking around the south wing's entrance. The old master's expression turned icy as he strode over, kicking open the half-ajar door with a loud crash that echoed through the silent night.

  A few meters away, Su Ying, wearing a large fur cloak with bamboo leaf green and golden silk auspicious patterns, was standing still, seemingly preparing to come over to visit the eldest daughter.

  Fu Yiyang looked at Su Ying with a complicated expression, then turned around and headed towards the Huahua Gate leading to the outer courtyard.

  Just then, I heard the urgent footsteps behind me, and soon Xiaoyu, carrying a horn lantern, cautiously led the way in front of us.

  As Fu Yiyang's back disappeared from view, Su Ying smoothed her sleeves and heard the wailing sounds coming from the south wing. Her expression calm, she instructed: "Luhuai, go take a look. It's late at night, don't disturb the entire Hou Manor. Take care of what needs to be taken care of."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  Su Ying stood still for a while, coughing softly, before being persuaded by Bao He to return to the main house.

  ……

  The next day, Su Ying had just finished washing up when she saw Gui Yatou coming in with a joyful expression on her face. "Madam, good news!"

  Su Ying touched the Linglong butterfly gold pendant behind her ear in front of the mirror, and smiled: "What good thing made Mom so happy?"

  Gui's mother-in-law was already laughing uncontrollably before she even spoke, and Lu Hui came in with a red box in her hands, smiling and saying: "The master just sent someone to deliver this red box, saying it's for the mistress."

  Su Ying opened the box, and on the red velvet was a long string of pearls, each one as big as a thumb, clear and round, shining brightly, rarely were they almost exactly the same size.

  Is this what they call compensation?

  Su Ying raised an eyebrow, then smiled and reluctantly closed the box, revealing a rarely seen little girl's coquettish attitude, which was naturally for the benefit of others in the house.

  Guizhi watched as she muttered a few sentences of Wanfo, and several maidservants also replaced Su Ying with joy.

  Just after breakfast, the old lady and her maid Dujuan arrived. Su Ying sneered in her heart, this is another wave rising, but I don't know what play the old lady will perform this time?

  Su Ying arrived at the upper house, and Mrs. Chen came out to greet her with a warm smile: "Elder sister, I've finally been able to wait for you, I see that your complexion is looking particularly good today, it's almost as if I don't recognize you."

  Is this praise? Su Ying smiled slightly: "Thanks to Old Lady's blessing."

  Fu's mother gave Su Ying a relatively kind smile, and Su Ying's alarm sounded in her heart. No news is good news - either a thief or a liar. "I don't know why the old lady called my daughter-in-law here, what's this all about?"

  Fu's mother smiled stiffly and pointed to the seat in front of her, letting Su Ying sit down. "I heard that your maternal uncle, who is also the eldest brother of the Su family, has recently been promoted to the position of National University Libationer. Whoever can hold this position must have excellent academic achievements. This is indeed a joyful event."

  "At that time, you were ill and the eldest was not at home. Our family couldn't come to congratulate in person, which is already considered impolite. Now that you've recovered, it's not too late to bring a gift back to your mother's house in person, which can also be considered as fulfilling the friendship between our two families."

  Su Ying was getting more and more confused, had this old lady been switched? Why was she talking nonsense? However, after Fu Mu continued to speak, Su Ying finally understood.