Volume 1 Chapter 102: Jade Burial Mound Fragrance (Three)

  Chapter 102: Jade Burial Mound Fragrance (Three)

  And so, Mozi and the other two walked to the outside of Qiu Sanniang's cabin.

  "What's all the commotion outside?" asked Qiu San Niang, who had been woken up.

  "Miss, I... don't know." Because Qiu San Niang woke up early and the boat wasn't as spacious as home, Lu Ju was a bit flustered. The sound of clanging pots and pans could be heard.

  "What's that little girl Xiao Yi up to now? This boat is so small, if she shows off her tree-climbing skills and someone sees it, won't we lose a pair of ears when we get to the Jing Wang Fu?" The awakened Qiu San Niang was naturally irritable, "Lu Jing, stop banging on that basin and pot, hurry up and go outside to see what's going on. Has the boat been robbed or has it run aground?"

  "Don't say unlucky words." Bai He hastily pushed open the door and helped Qing Ju clean up the remaining mess.

  Qiu Sanniang had not changed her clothes yet, sitting on the bed, hugging a bundle of quilt, with half-closed eyes. It wasn't until she saw Mozi and Xiaoyi following behind Baihe that her eyes finally lit up.

  "You three drop me and Lü Jù, go out and have fun by yourselves? Otherwise, how could you all come in together so coincidentally?"

  "It's just a big town, far inferior to Luocheng. What's the point of looking at its bustle?" Bai He tried to comfort Qiu San Niang, not wanting her to see the miserable scene of the human hell on shore.

  Mozi couldn't be as considerate as Baihe, or rather, he knew Qiu Sanniang too well. "There are thousands of refugees from Yuling who escaped to the shore, not to mention the children who chased our boat to sell flowers and exchange for a few coins to buy a meal."

  Qiu San Niang remained expressionless, lazily humming a sound, waiting for Bai He to bring two sets of clothes. After carefully examining them, she pointed to a set with a creek water washing flower pattern on the bottom of a plain skirt, paired with a wide Luo sleeve and a waist-binding top, covered in welcoming spring flowers.

  "The Luozhen is only two or three days' journey by water from Yuling's Baohua Island. It's not surprising that they escaped here. They even thought to bring flowers to sell, and indeed Baohua Island is famous for its flowers." Qi San Niang perhaps understood the hardships of doing business, but she was absolutely not a person with great sympathy. In all matters, she put profit first. "With so many refugees, if the government wants to take care of their food and lodging, won't rice and salt prices rise? What a pity that on this boat we can't do anything about it, or else we could make some silver."

  Mozzie couldn't believe her ears. Qiū Sān Niáng had originally planned to turn Wàng Qiū Lóu into a brothel, she was open-minded and could accept it, but felt that in this era, it wasn't good for a respectable girl's family to run such a business. Later, when she found out that Qiū Sān Niáng was smuggling private goods, equivalent to modern-day smuggling, at least it wasn't drugs, she let it go. But then came the idea of making a fortune from war, which really made her unbearable. So many people were about to starve to death, and this person was still lamenting not making a little more silver, truly...

  "Mozi, you're staring at me with those big eyes again. What, do you think I'm cruel?" Jiang Sanniang put on her clothes herself, "I don't make money this way, others will too. And besides, buying and selling, making a profit from the difference in prices among rice merchants, what does that have to do with the refugees starving outside?"

  "Girl, there's a saying that wool comes from sheep. You should keep your mouth shut, but you just can't seem to do it in this matter."

  "It's not like I'm directly pulling the wool over their eyes." Qiu Sanniang heard Mozi talking back to her, and her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. "Besides, no one is pulling the wool, but they still can't make ends meet. I could donate a hundred or thousand yuan, but how many people would that save? In this day and age, what's the use of being kind-hearted? Without power or influence, doing one or two good deeds won't change the fate of those poor people."

  "Indigo purple......" Why are you going to quarrel again? Bai He's heart cried out "Oh no!"

  "It's not necessarily the case. If the young lady is willing to convert her dowry of tens of thousands of taels into silver and save a thousand or so lives, it would be a small matter." There were also gold-plated boxes in the trunks, containing 100,000 taels of silver notes and a pearl worth 200,000 taels, which could support tens of thousands of refugees and make them plump up with joy. However, this was something to keep to oneself. Although she was momentarily angry and couldn't control her mouth, she couldn't afford to drive Qiu San Niang mad, nor could she let herself fall into unknown trouble.

  "Hmph—" Qiu San Niang sneered, "You're quite generous with your master's things, but you've forgotten your own weight. If it weren't for me, by now you'd be like them, pitifully chasing after people to buy flowers."

  "Don't be angry, Miss. Mozi was just momentarily agitated. The Yu Ling country is no more, the family is no more, she herself escaped from Yu Ling and seeing those Yu Ling common people, of course, it's heartbreaking. Baihe saw that the situation wasn't favorable and immediately came out to mediate, "Mozi, don't be muddle-headed. Those refugees are indeed pitiful, I also want to help them, but this matter is fundamentally not something we can handle."

  "Who says I can't manage?" Qiu Sanniang's sharp fingernails were pointing directly at Mozi's nose, and she huffed seven or eight times. "She actually plans to take this young lady's dowry to buy food for others? What an outstanding maid!"

  "Miss, Mozi is just joking with you." Lüjù came to help, tightly grasping Mozi's sleeve, her teeth clenched, "Mozi, right? Don't be foolish!"

  Mozi didn't know what was wrong with herself, from the moment she stopped the boat, and then heard those words from Qiu San Niang, she couldn't calm down. Her clear head knew that being impulsive was wrong, but as soon as she smelled the fragrance of flowers seeping into the cabin, she couldn't control her mouth. Indeed, trouble came from her own mouth. She had a mind to leave, but it wasn't something that could be resolved through confrontation.

  "Violet ink?" Green Chrysanthemum hastily opened her eyes, seeing that she was dazed and didn't seem to come back to herself, so she pinched her arm hard.

  It can be said that this pinch awakened Mu Zi from her pain.

  She lowered her shoulders and half-closed her eyes, "Yes, miss, Mozi was just joking."

  She yielded, but Qiu San Niang was not so easily placated. She coldly laughed and said, "You played such an interesting joke on me, making me quite happy early in the morning. How about this? You're so concerned that the people of Yuling are starving, why don't you suffer along with them and not eat for these three days?"

  Qiao San Niang gets angry but doesn't hit people, it doesn't mean there's no punishment. Now she punishes Mo Zi for three days without food.

  "Miss." Bai He still wanted to plead for Mo Zi.

  Zi nodded in agreement. At this point, since he had already compromised, there was no need to further provoke Qiu San Niang, so he accepted the punishment and dissipated her anger.

  "Then you go out." Qiu Sanniang said to Bai He Lü Ju, "You all go out." The three were good sisters, but she was a bad person.

  Mei Zi pouted and backed out with a curved knee.

  When the three of them left, Qiu San Niang saw Xiao Yi staring at herself and was annoyed. "What are you doing? Are you competing with Mo Zi to see who has bigger eyes? One by one, you're all singing a different tune, aren't you?"

  "Miss, that idea of making money isn't very good. If you saw those people outside, you wouldn't say that." It has nothing to do with being loyal or not, Xiaoyi is just honestly expressing her thoughts.

  "I was just casually saying that, and I didn't really get any money out of it. Why can't you speak like Mozi? She came up to me with a glare, making me feel annoyed, and she didn't even talk straight to me, mentioning something about wool and dowry, speaking in a mysterious and eerie tone." Little did they know that when Mozi's expression turned cold and stern, she exuded an air of nobility that made people look up to her.

  "I see Miss and Mozi arguing, but it seems Miss is more delighted in it." Xiao Yi had always been following closely behind Qiu San Niang, and was well aware of some of her bad habits.

  "I'm not as happy as she is. Punish her by not letting her eat for three days, and she'll be delighted to leave. Didn't you see, her mouth was twisted like that?" Qiu San Niang imitated Mo Zi's expression.

  "That's not fun." What can you do? Few words "No one can go three days without eating and still be happy."

  "I won't let her eat, can't she just have some vegetables? Besides, Bai He and Lü Ju will secretly leave some food for her." She's not going to starve.

  "Why must Miss He always wear purple?" All other questions could be ignored, but this one had been on Xiao Yi's mind for a long time.

  "This time she asked for it herself. What kind of good mistress would let her talk back like that and only punish her by not letting her eat? It's just on the surface, 'She doesn't have the self-awareness of being a maid, but I do have the self-awareness of being a master.'"

  "Miss, what if Mu Zi was born into a wealthy and noble family?" This question had been lingering for a long time.

  "What's the big deal? Haven't you heard, a phoenix that has fallen is not as good as a chicken. Since we've signed the contract, even if she was a princess before, as long as I don't let her go, she'll have to be my servant girl and serve me tea." Ji San Niang actually had a plan in mind.

  Soon, Madame Wei's little maid came knocking on the door, saying that the boat had entered the dock, and asked Qiu San Niang to go forward with them to disembark and have a meal.

  Qiu Sanniang and Xiaoyi saw dozens of soldiers standing in two rows on the deck, holding their spears, but they didn't know what was going on.

  "What's going on?" Jiang Sanniang didn't see any refugees, and the usual bustling scene at the dock.

  "Just as the water soldiers were about to board and search, they found out it was the welcoming ship for the King's wedding, so it became like this." Mozi was standing beside Baihe Lüjiao, being covered by San Niang's cloak.

  Not to mention, after going through that with her, Qiu San Niang's punishment was considered light. Mo Zi secretly congratulated herself that she didn't encounter that unreasonable and violent "savior" when she was about to die. Being incompetent is being incompetent, but life isn't as easy and carefree as imagined, especially in this world where women have a hard time taking a step forward.

  Qiao Sanniang gave Mozi a glance, her expression unchanged and difficult to read. She responded with a soft "oh".

  No matter Mozi or Qiang Sanniang, these two are both utilitarian and don't care about personal relationships. Once a matter is settled, they can still get along peacefully. This is the characteristic of magnanimous people. It's also what people often say: "Birds of a feather flock together, and people gather with their own kind." Although the two have vastly different personalities, in terms of being extremely biased, they are exactly alike, far surpassing ordinary women. Such women are rare, yet they encountered each other, inevitably leading to a rivalry, but also with a hint of admiration.

  "San Niang, because of these two days' journey, we've been delayed quite a bit. Er Lang has not a few complaints about me." Wei Yi Fu Ren came up from behind.

  "Yu Ni, I don't have it." Xiao Wei heard every word clearly.

  "In short, from today on, this boat won't stop, and I'll make sure you get dizzy all the way back to the capital. Third Sister, if there's anything lacking, hurry up and have your maids fill it in completely, lest we pass by this village without a place to stay."

  Yaya's face turned pale as she supported Wei Liu's mother and glanced at Xiao Wei.

  Qiu San Niang took Li Shi's arm with her left hand and Wei Yi Fu Ren's arm with her right, turned around to say to Mo Zi, "I don't know what's lacking, you all go take a look around by yourselves, just come back before the boat sets sail."

  The reader group number is placed at the top of the comment area, welcome to join.

  Chapter 102: Jade Burial Mound Fragrance (Three)

  Chapter 102: Jade Burial Mound Fragrance (Three)