Ji Xiang’s and Ru Shi’s legs trembled in fear, they were already frightened senseless by Su Tang’s merciless sentencing. Ruyi was dragged away, carrying only a couple of clothes and beddings with her. Hereafter, she’d live alone, confined within the Ancestral Hall without any hope of release in the future; all because Su Tang had ordered it. Leaving would be impossible unless Su Tang approved it! In other words, this was, de facto, imprisonment! Ruyi was the most favoured by the emperor and was born to a noble household and yet, such a fate was thrust upon her. If so, what kind of punishments awaited them?
Neither of them dared to entertain the possibilities, but they couldn’t help it.
They mustered up the courage to look at Su Tang, albeit while trembling in fear. But her scowl was so dark and fierce and her stillness (in posture), frightened them all the more.
Su Tang was silent. In addition to her stomach ache, which rendered her mute, she also had the trouble of dealing with these two accomplices.
Among the three, Ruyi was the leader and must be dealt with, but it did not mean she would kill her. After all, although Su Tang hated her, she couldn’t deign herself to do such a thing as to club her to death. What Su Tang intended to do was to shear her of all her power and leave her alone and helpless. So, even if she had more conspiracies or plots to brew, she couldn’t resort to them. Su Tang had her thrown away from the old nest of Liu Yuanyuan and confined her to the Ancestral Hall, left to stew in her own juice.
As for Ji Xiang and Ru Shi, if Ruyi could be considered as someone who was clever in trivial matters, then they couldn’t even be considered to have heads at all. They had no abilities, they weren’t even worth mentioning.
Therefore, after dealing with Ruyi, Su Tang thought it enough to just leave them alone, unattended, leaving them anxious all day; however, when she thought of how Xuanzi fell into the water today, and how they’d detached themselves, completely bystanding the incident. She wouldn’t let them off so easily…
How should I punish them?
Su Tang thought for a while and got an idea, “Ji Xiang, Ru Shi.”
The two finally heard Su Tang call them. They knew that punishment was inevitable, so they dazedly knelt before her.
The frightened Ji Xiang cried, “Madam, please forgive us, don’t banish us to the Ancestral Hall. We will work like cows and horses to repay you in the future.”
Ru Shi soon followed, “Yes, it was all schemed by Ruyi, we didn’t have anything to do with it. My lady, please spare us!”
Su Tang looked at the decrepit state of the two in front of her and harrumphed, “Rest assured, I won’t beat you or scold you, let alone banish you to the Ancestral Hall, you aren’t worthy of such treatment!”
They were overjoyed to hear this, “By the grace of Madam, thank you for your kindness!”
Su Tang smiled coldly, “As of late, the old lady is in poor health, you two go to the Furuiyuan to serve the old lady, and while you’re at it transcribe the Buddhist texts and pray for her health along with it.”
The two of them looked at each other incredulously. Serving the old lady? Transcribing Buddhist texts? That’s it?
Realising that they had heard it right, the two quickly kowtowed to thank Su Tang and went back into the house to pack before leaving. As they were a bit self-aware, they didn’t dare carry any more than their original belongings. The lady had said, ‘serve the old lady.’ As it was, they could no longer carry themselves as they had before (as pampered young ladies). However, it was still a much better end than what Ruyi had received. After all, the old lady had always been kind and as long as they were obedient, the old lady would definitely treat them kindly!
As Su Tang watched the two ladies fleeing happily, her lips curled into a meaningful smile. Old lady, since you like to keep watching the drama as a bystander, you should reward some money, isn’t it? I don’t even ask you to reward me with money, instead, I’ll just toss these two for you to deal with, it shouldn’t be too excessive right?
After all, everyone has the responsibility of reforming their family!
Besides, your attitude has always been too vague, and this will act as a test to ascertain your attitude. I want to see how you deal with these two.
The so-called, ‘watching the dishes and doing the dishes,’ she would observe and learn how the old lady dealt with the two so that she knew how to carry on about!
How can you just sit back and watch?
However, Su Tang’s smile had a slight knavish tinge to it, she had a foreboding that Ji Xiang and Ru Shi were too early in their celebration.
In point of fact, they really were happy too early and paid the price by living miserably for a long time after.
The old lady was indeed very kind (true to their hopes). She only made them transcribe the Buddhist texts, but the house was filled with Buddhist texts–thick, thin, ancient, and modern texts that most people did not even know (of), filled in several large volumes. And each text had to be transcribed fifty times, fifty times! On top of that, they were required to make their transcripts neat and in conformity to the standards to reflect their sincerity and honesty.
After the two were done, the mere sight of a written text made them nauseated. There were instances when they’d feel envious of Ruyi for being incarcerated in the Ancestral Hall. It wasn’t until later, when the old lady was afraid that Ruyi would be bored because of living alone and sent her the same texts to transcribe together with them that the two grit their teeth and said, “this was fair!”
Of course, what made them the most miserable weren’t the texts, but the abstinence from anything non-vegetarian. In the morning, they’d have pickled vegetable gruel, lunch with dried cabbage rice, and the day ended with a thick porridge mixed with shallots and tofu for supper. If they ever had eggs, then it was definitely something of a festival to them.
Hoo!
What a hard life!
Of course, Su Tang was the happiest person in the interim, the monthly tally in the account book had shown dozens of taels in surplus!
Of course, this all happened in the end.
At this point, the trouble with the three beauties was also resolved, people were sent where they should be sent and the only one left was Ru Shu.
Ru Shu’s expressions didn’t change after looking at the three being punished individually, she didn’t show any emotions on her face, except for the sadness in her eyes there weren’t any discernible changes in her. Of course, this helplessness couldn’t be hidden from Su Tang. When Ru Shu realised Su Tang’s gaze on her, she knew that it was her turn now.
Su Tang stood up and walked towards the young girl who was half a head shorter than herself. She wasn’t of age and yet she had mature and distinguished tastes–she was only fifteen years old, the youngest of the four, but she was well-reasoned and sensible.
“What’s your name?”, Su Tang asked.
“Ru Shu.”
Her answer was clear and concise.
“No, your true name.”
Ru Shu raised her head and looked at Su Tang, and then lowered it again and said solemnly, “Chen Li.”
“Do you practice medicine?” Su Tang asked.
“I once learned it from my grandfather.”
Su Tang nodded and smiled, “You can stay here for now.”
“Ok.”
Su Tang looked at the maids in the west-yard and said to Chen Li, “At the moment, west-yard isn’t in need of so many people, you may choose a few good ones to retain and I’ll take the rest.”
The looks on the maids’ faces took a drastic change when they heard this and they all began to direct pleading gazes at Chen Li. Previously, they had all ignored and had excluded this inconspicuous young lady (Chen Li), but all of a sudden their roles had reversed. It was as if the young lady (Su Tang) had a high opinion of her (Chen Li), but was prejudiced against them. If the young lady (Su Tang) took them away, they wouldn’t have a good life destined for them, it was better to stay in the west-yard!
Chen Li ignored their fervent gazes and walked indifferently, pointing at the three maidens and three older women, then she walked back to Su Tang and said, “There are numerous flowers and trees here that need careful and personal care; these were the ones who did it the best.”
Her impartiality and pragmatism in seeking truth impressed Su Tang. She then turned and looked at the anxious remaining maids, she smiled, “Pack up and leave with me.”
They had no choice but to withdraw, and when they were almost gone she saw a maid with big eyes and thin lips turn back halfway. She knelt before Su Tang and said, “Madam, slave servant Du Juan has something to report.”
Su Tang looked at her familiar, sneaky look and frowned, “What is it?”
Du Juan took a furtive glance around. She then began to whisper, “You have to be careful of Ruyi, Madam. I’ve served her for a long time. Knowing her, she wouldn’t let this go, and do you know how she knew about the young master’s lot? It was the emperor who told her. She has been in correspondence with the emperor ever since she entered the general’s mansion! She has bought off a eunuch and he delivers her letters to the emperor.”
Su Tang smiled, she finally knew why this servant gave her a sense of familiarity. Every time she had seen Ruyi, this Du Juan was following her.
So, she is her trusted subordinate…
Great! Great!
Su Tang squinted her eyes and smiled, “Well, yes. I was just thinking of appointing someone to serve her in the Ancestral Hall. Since you have been serving her for a long time, naturally you must know of her temperament, so let’s have you take care of her.”
Du Juan’s face turned green when she heard this. She had come to seek refuge. Shouldn’t Madam take her words seriously and make her her trusted subordinate? How could it turn out like this!
No, no, she couldn’t go to the Ancestral Hall, otherwise, Ruyi would surely kill her if she learned that she had betrayed her!
But Su Tang ignored her crying and begging. For backstabbers like her, she had nothing but disgust and contempt.
Let this master and servant duo depend on each other in the Ancestral Hall for love, life and fight each other to death!
Whoops, I’m so cruel!
Seeing that the west-yard was almost tidied up, Su Tang kneaded her waist, thinking that it should be fine like this for now. As for the handling of those servant girls in the west-yard and even those servants from the general’s mansion… Haha, she had just thought of a brilliant way to settle them. However, she couldn’t talk about it as of now, she still had to say hello to that cold-noodle face.
Now, let’s go back to see Xuanzi.
Thinking of Xuanzi’s heartbroken and desperate expression, Su Tang’s heart lurched, and she wondered if she let Ruyi and the others off too easily! On second thought, she couldn’t do any more than this at the moment.
Ji Xiang’s and Ru Shi’s legs trembled in fear, they were already frightened senseless by Su Tang’s merciless sentencing. Ruyi was dragged away, carrying only a couple of clothes and beddings with her. Hereafter, she’d live alone, confined within the Ancestral Hall without any hope of release in the future; all because Su Tang had ordered it. Leaving would be impossible unless Su Tang approved it! In other words, this was, de facto, imprisonment! Ruyi was the most favoured by the emperor and was born to a noble household and yet, such a fate was thrust upon her. If so, what kind of punishments awaited them?
Neither of them dared to entertain the possibilities, but they couldn’t help it.
They mustered up the courage to look at Su Tang, albeit while trembling in fear. But her scowl was so dark and fierce and her stillness (in posture), frightened them all the more.
Su Tang was silent. In addition to her stomach ache, which rendered her mute, she also had the trouble of dealing with these two accomplices.
Among the three, Ruyi was the leader and must be dealt with, but it did not mean she would kill her. After all, although Su Tang hated her, she couldn’t deign herself to do such a thing as to club her to death. What Su Tang intended to do was to shear her of all her power and leave her alone and helpless. So, even if she had more conspiracies or plots to brew, she couldn’t resort to them. Su Tang had her thrown away from the old nest of Liu Yuanyuan and confined her to the Ancestral Hall, left to stew in her own juice.
As for Ji Xiang and Ru Shi, if Ruyi could be considered as someone who was clever in trivial matters, then they couldn’t even be considered to have heads at all. They had no abilities, they weren’t even worth mentioning.
Therefore, after dealing with Ruyi, Su Tang thought it enough to just leave them alone, unattended, leaving them anxious all day; however, when she thought of how Xuanzi fell into the water today, and how they’d detached themselves, completely bystanding the incident. She wouldn’t let them off so easily…
How should I punish them?
Su Tang thought for a while and got an idea, “Ji Xiang, Ru Shi.”
The two finally heard Su Tang call them. They knew that punishment was inevitable, so they dazedly knelt before her.
The frightened Ji Xiang cried, “Madam, please forgive us, don’t banish us to the Ancestral Hall. We will work like cows and horses to repay you in the future.”
Ru Shi soon followed, “Yes, it was all schemed by Ruyi, we didn’t have anything to do with it. My lady, please spare us!”
Su Tang looked at the decrepit state of the two in front of her and harrumphed, “Rest assured, I won’t beat you or scold you, let alone banish you to the Ancestral Hall, you aren’t worthy of such treatment!”
They were overjoyed to hear this, “By the grace of Madam, thank you for your kindness!”
Su Tang smiled coldly, “As of late, the old lady is in poor health, you two go to the Furuiyuan to serve the old lady, and while you’re at it transcribe the Buddhist texts and pray for her health along with it.”
The two of them looked at each other incredulously. Serving the old lady? Transcribing Buddhist texts? That’s it?
Realising that they had heard it right, the two quickly kowtowed to thank Su Tang and went back into the house to pack before leaving. As they were a bit self-aware, they didn’t dare carry any more than their original belongings. The lady had said, ‘serve the old lady.’ As it was, they could no longer carry themselves as they had before (as pampered young ladies). However, it was still a much better end than what Ruyi had received. After all, the old lady had always been kind and as long as they were obedient, the old lady would definitely treat them kindly!
As Su Tang watched the two ladies fleeing happily, her lips curled into a meaningful smile. Old lady, since you like to keep watching the drama as a bystander, you should reward some money, isn’t it? I don’t even ask you to reward me with money, instead, I’ll just toss these two for you to deal with, it shouldn’t be too excessive right?
After all, everyone has the responsibility of reforming their family!
Besides, your attitude has always been too vague, and this will act as a test to ascertain your attitude. I want to see how you deal with these two.
The so-called, ‘watching the dishes and doing the dishes,’ she would observe and learn how the old lady dealt with the two so that she knew how to carry on about!
How can you just sit back and watch?
However, Su Tang’s smile had a slight knavish tinge to it, she had a foreboding that Ji Xiang and Ru Shi were too early in their celebration.
In point of fact, they really were happy too early and paid the price by living miserably for a long time after.
The old lady was indeed very kind (true to their hopes). She only made them transcribe the Buddhist texts, but the house was filled with Buddhist texts–thick, thin, ancient, and modern texts that most people did not even know (of), filled in several large volumes. And each text had to be transcribed fifty times, fifty times! On top of that, they were required to make their transcripts neat and in conformity to the standards to reflect their sincerity and honesty.
After the two were done, the mere sight of a written text made them nauseated. There were instances when they’d feel envious of Ruyi for being incarcerated in the Ancestral Hall. It wasn’t until later, when the old lady was afraid that Ruyi would be bored because of living alone and sent her the same texts to transcribe together with them that the two grit their teeth and said, “this was fair!”
Of course, what made them the most miserable weren’t the texts, but the abstinence from anything non-vegetarian. In the morning, they’d have pickled vegetable gruel, lunch with dried cabbage rice, and the day ended with a thick porridge mixed with shallots and tofu for supper. If they ever had eggs, then it was definitely something of a festival to them.
Hoo!
What a hard life!
Of course, Su Tang was the happiest person in the interim, the monthly tally in the account book had shown dozens of taels in surplus!
Of course, this all happened in the end.
At this point, the trouble with the three beauties was also resolved, people were sent where they should be sent and the only one left was Ru Shu.
Ru Shu’s expressions didn’t change after looking at the three being punished individually, she didn’t show any emotions on her face, except for the sadness in her eyes there weren’t any discernible changes in her. Of course, this helplessness couldn’t be hidden from Su Tang. When Ru Shu realised Su Tang’s gaze on her, she knew that it was her turn now.
Su Tang stood up and walked towards the young girl who was half a head shorter than herself. She wasn’t of age and yet she had mature and distinguished tastes–she was only fifteen years old, the youngest of the four, but she was well-reasoned and sensible.
“What’s your name?”, Su Tang asked.
“Ru Shu.”
Her answer was clear and concise.
“No, your true name.”
Ru Shu raised her head and looked at Su Tang, and then lowered it again and said solemnly, “Chen Li.”
“Do you practice medicine?” Su Tang asked.
“I once learned it from my grandfather.”
Su Tang nodded and smiled, “You can stay here for now.”
“Ok.”
Su Tang looked at the maids in the west-yard and said to Chen Li, “At the moment, west-yard isn’t in need of so many people, you may choose a few good ones to retain and I’ll take the rest.”
The looks on the maids’ faces took a drastic change when they heard this and they all began to direct pleading gazes at Chen Li. Previously, they had all ignored and had excluded this inconspicuous young lady (Chen Li), but all of a sudden their roles had reversed. It was as if the young lady (Su Tang) had a high opinion of her (Chen Li), but was prejudiced against them. If the young lady (Su Tang) took them away, they wouldn’t have a good life destined for them, it was better to stay in the west-yard!
Chen Li ignored their fervent gazes and walked indifferently, pointing at the three maidens and three older women, then she walked back to Su Tang and said, “There are numerous flowers and trees here that need careful and personal care; these were the ones who did it the best.”
Her impartiality and pragmatism in seeking truth impressed Su Tang. She then turned and looked at the anxious remaining maids, she smiled, “Pack up and leave with me.”
They had no choice but to withdraw, and when they were almost gone she saw a maid with big eyes and thin lips turn back halfway. She knelt before Su Tang and said, “Madam, slave servant Du Juan has something to report.”
Su Tang looked at her familiar, sneaky look and frowned, “What is it?”
Du Juan took a furtive glance around. She then began to whisper, “You have to be careful of Ruyi, Madam. I’ve served her for a long time. Knowing her, she wouldn’t let this go, and do you know how she knew about the young master’s lot? It was the emperor who told her. She has been in correspondence with the emperor ever since she entered the general’s mansion! She has bought off a eunuch and he delivers her letters to the emperor.”
Su Tang smiled, she finally knew why this servant gave her a sense of familiarity. Every time she had seen Ruyi, this Du Juan was following her.
So, she is her trusted subordinate…
Great! Great!
Su Tang squinted her eyes and smiled, “Well, yes. I was just thinking of appointing someone to serve her in the Ancestral Hall. Since you have been serving her for a long time, naturally you must know of her temperament, so let’s have you take care of her.”
Du Juan’s face turned green when she heard this. She had come to seek refuge. Shouldn’t Madam take her words seriously and make her her trusted subordinate? How could it turn out like this!
No, no, she couldn’t go to the Ancestral Hall, otherwise, Ruyi would surely kill her if she learned that she had betrayed her!
But Su Tang ignored her crying and begging. For backstabbers like her, she had nothing but disgust and contempt.
Let this master and servant duo depend on each other in the Ancestral Hall for love, life and fight each other to death!
Whoops, I’m so cruel!
Seeing that the west-yard was almost tidied up, Su Tang kneaded her waist, thinking that it should be fine like this for now. As for the handling of those servant girls in the west-yard and even those servants from the general’s mansion… Haha, she had just thought of a brilliant way to settle them. However, she couldn’t talk about it as of now, she still had to say hello to that cold-noodle face.
Now, let’s go back to see Xuanzi.
Thinking of Xuanzi’s heartbroken and desperate expression, Su Tang’s heart lurched, and she wondered if she let Ruyi and the others off too easily! On second thought, she couldn’t do any more than this at the moment.
