Chapter 138 Gossip
“Xinlan, go out to inquire what they are talking about outside now.”
“Yes, I’ll go right away.”
Not long after Xinlan went out, a maid came to inform Su Muge that Su Lun wanted to see her. After washing and dressing up, Su Muge went to the front yard.
Su Lun sat in the main hall with a sullen face. Seeing Su Muge walking in, he put on an even worse look.
“Su Muge, how dare you?! How dare you go to the palace to annul the engagement of marriage? Do you want to put our Su Mansion to death?!” Su Lun stared at her and scolded.
Su Muge kept her countenance without answering.
Without getting a response, Su Lun was even angrier. “Tell me, do you still want to marry Second Prince? I tell you, Second Prince is going to marry your sister, and you will be the wife of the King of Jin. Why are you so stupid?!”
“Have you finished?”
“You, you!”
“If you have finished, I’ll go back.”
Su Muge turned around and walked out of the main hall. Su Lun was so angry that he swept all the teacups on the table to the ground.
“From today to your wedding day, you can’t leave Su Mansion!” Su Lun’s roar resounded in Su Mansion.
When she returned to Peachblossom Courtyard, Xinlan had also returned with a bad look. She wanted to speak but hesitated.
“Tell me.”
“Miss …”
“If I let you tell me, just tell me.”
Xinlan gritted her teeth and said, “Now the people in the streets are all discussing that you went to the palace yesterday to annul the engagement of marriage with the King of Jin, and that you don’t want to marry the King of Jin because you … you are still in love with Second Prince, and that you would rather be an unt.i.tled concubine of Second Prince and follow him …”
“How could these people talk nonsense?! Our Miss has fallen in love with Second Prince?! … They, they are slandering the reputation of our Miss!” Hearing Xinlan’s words, Xinche couldn’t help getting angry.
Yueru frowned. Miss did enter the palace yesterday, but she didn’t ask what Miss did in the palace.
“Miss, Cheng Ran, Cheng Ran is here.”
Su Muge stood up. “Let’s go.”
Cheng Ran was waiting in the wing-room at the back door. Seeing Su Muge coming in, he bowed slightly to salute.
“No need to be over-courteous.”
“Yes, Miss, the Zhao family appeared.”
“When?”
“About the curfew last night. I wanted to tell you last night, but it was too late. The people guarding outside the house came to tell me that they are still in the house.”
“Grandma, is she okay?”
“The person said that the old lady wasn’t very well, but there was no serious problem.”
Hearing his words, Su Muge finally felt relieved. “Find a way to take my grandmother to a safe place. Don’t be discovered.”
“Yes, I’ll go right away.”
After making sure that her grandmother was safe, Su Muge exhaled a sigh of relief.
On the other side, after the Zhao family was released by the Emperor’s mother, they were like a group of headless flies wandering around in the house.
“Eldest brother, what should we do? Do we really have to go back like this?” Zhao Ming had already had his plan when he came to the capital: after the things were done, he would beg the person to marry his two daughters to n.o.ble families, even if they could only be concubines.
But this time, the person who had arrested them requested them to get out of the capital immediately; otherwise, they would be killed.
They were afraid of death indeed, but they were also unwilling to leave the capital empty-handed after seeing the prosperity of the capital!
“We don’t even know who asked us to come. How can we find him? How do I know what to do?”
“What are you afraid of? Let’s go to Su Mansion. Can Su Lun really ignore us?” w.a.n.g wouldn’t care so much thinking that her son was still missing. Moreover, she didn’t want to go back to the poor countryside again.
“Yes, let’s go to Su Mansion. Lord Su won’t ignore us.” Sun also stood up and said.
They chimed in easily and went out aggressively, regardless of Zhang in the room.
As for the matter that Su Muge and Zhao Shun had a marriage contract, the Emperor’s mother requested the Zhao family to stop talking about it. The Emperor had known it and wanted to suppress it, so the Emperor’s mother would certainly follow her son.
As soon as Zhao De and others left, the two young men guarding outside the house entered the courtyard.
Zhang was lying in a room. She felt quite gloomy and depressed these days and had been blaming herself deeply. As a result, she looked quite lifeless.
After the two entered the house and explained their purpose of coming to Zhang, Zhang hesitated for a moment but left with them in the end.
The Zhao family arrived at Su Mansion during lunch.
At the time, Su Lun was having lunch with Old Lady Su. Hearing of their arrival from the maid, Su Lun turned sullen immediately.
“Come on! Tie them up and send them back! Watch on them carefully until the New Year is over!” Su Lun would like to kill the Zhao family secretly, but there were so many people in the Zhao family that he would arouse suspicion easily! So, he could only send them back to the countryside and wait until Su Muge’s wedding was over.
The news of the Zhao family coming to make trouble soon came to Peachblossom Courtyard. Zhao was sitting in Su Muge’s room.
“What did my father say?”
“My Lord asked to send them back.”
Su Muge nodded. “It’s near New Year, and it is indeed time for them to go back.”
Zhao didn’t know that Su Muge had sent people to take Zhang away, so she was still somewhat worried. “I’d better go out and see.”
“Mother, grandma is fine now. Don’t worry.”
“But…”
“If you go out, I’m afraid my father will be unhappy. Considering what they have done last time …”
Su Muge’s marriage contract with Zhao Shun had always been a thorn in Zhao’s heart. While she was angry and lost, she was also worried and afraid that Su Muge would be hurt in the future.
“The matter…”
“Father has burned that fake marriage contract, so they won’t make trouble again.” Since the Emperor’s mother had suppressed the matter, n.o.body would mention it in the future.
Seeing Su Muge’s determination, Zhao was relieved.
…
“Miss, I find the snowdrop bloom in the yard.”
After the Zhao family was sent away, Su Muge stayed in Su Mansion to dispense medicine and make pills without going anywhere.
“Bloom?” With a flicker of joy on Su Muge’s face, she lifted her dress to go out.
Seeing this, Yueru was anxious. She put down her needle and ran out.
“Miss, it’s so cold outside. Put on your cloak.”
Before she could finish her words, Su Muge had already disappeared in the room.
Duke Qing had sent her a box of medicine seedlings before to thank her. There was a snowdrop among them.
The snowdrop had very strict requirements on the environment and techniques of planting. Most people couldn’t grow it. Su Muge also didn’t expect it to survive successfully. So, it was quite a joyful surprise for Su Muge.
She built a wooden shed in the yard where the herbs were planted. Otherwise, the snow would crush the herbs. The snowdrop was also inside the wooden shed.
It would be best if snowdrop could bloom. If the flower was taken into medicine when it had just bloomed, the medicinal effect would be the best.
Su Muge carefully picked the snowdrop off and protected it with snow. The snowdrop would easily wither when exposed to heat, so great care must be taken.
She kept the flower in the snow in a wooden pot. Then she walked into the room, took out the medicine she had made before, and dripped it on the flower. Soon, the snowdrop became more crystal clear instantly.
“Miss, there, there is someone from the imperial palace.”
After dripping the medicine, Su Muge took the snowdrop into her room.
“Miss, hurry to come and warm up. Don’t catch a cold.”
Yueru hurriedly handed her a hand warmer.
Only when Su Muge took over the hand warmer did she realize how cold her hands were.
“Yueru, put this flower on the shelf. Be careful. Don’t b.u.mp it.”
“Miss, don’t worry. I’ll be careful!”
“Xinlan, what did you just say?”
Xinlan felt it funny and annoying; the eldest Miss didn’t listen to her at all just now!
“Miss, I said that there was someone from the palace, saying that the Emperor’s mother was sick, and the imperial doctors were all helpless. You are asked to go to the palace to see her.”
“Well, the Emperor’s mother is sick. Oh, I accidentally got a headache after going out and being blown by the cold wind. Xinlan, go to invite a doctor to see me. Am I also sick?”
Seeing Su Muge holding her forehead delicately, Xinlan was a little helpless. Miss, you were alive and kicking just now!
However, as Su Muge’s trusted maid, Xinlan exerted her acting skills appropriately.
“Oh, Miss, are you okay? Don’t scare me! I’ll go to find a doctor.”
Xinche also threw away the needle in her hand and helped Su Muge go to bed and lie down.
“Miss, you are weak and afraid of cold, so you need to be more careful in the future.”
Su Muge lay down on the bed and closed her eyes, seeming to be really weak.
In the front yard, the eunuch waiting in the main hall was a little impatient, but he didn’t reveal his impatience.
Su Lun was not stupid. He said to the maid beside him with a frown, “Go and see if there is something wrong with Miss.”
“Yes.”
The maid met Xinlan who was going to find a doctor midway. After Xinlan told her Su Muge’s condition, the maid returned to report to Su Lun.
“What? Sick?” Su Lun was a little surprised. How could it be so accidental? How could she suddenly get sick when someone from the palace came for her? Was she pretending to be sick?
The eunuch’s complexion was also a little worse.
“Yes, My Lord. The eldest Miss’s maid, Xinlan, has gone to invite a doctor, saying that the eldest Miss has caught a cold and is still lying on the bed now.
The eunuch stood up and snorted. “What a coincidence for Miss Su to get sick. Lord Su, I’ll go back to report to His Majesty and ask him to send an imperial doctor to come and see Miss Su.”
After finishing his words, the eunuch left with his men. Su Lun glared at the maid with a sullen face.
“She’d better be sick!”