“You actually dared to poison us?” Xu Yuru finally came to her senses. She glared furiously at Shen Chuyun. “You’re just a child! How can you be so vicious? Who taught you to do such a thing? Using such despicable methods against your own family!”
Shen Chuyun still wore an innocent, obedient expression. “Stepmother, please don’t be angry. I didn’t poison anyone. My maid simply brought the wrong incense. But she didn’t do it on purpose, either. I’ll scold her a little later. You’re a generous person, so please don’t hold it against her.”
Xu Yuru frowned, unable to tell whether Shen Chuyun was genuinely foolish or merely pretending.
Ever since this child returned, she had struck her own biological father and caused everyone in the household to suffer injuries. Everything had been far too coincidental.
Could she really be a bringer of misfortune?
But the Taoist priest who had declared Shen Chuyun a jinx back then had been someone Xu Yuru herself had hired to deceive everyone.
Su Yanhuan grew furious at the sight of Shen Chuyun’s innocent expression.
“This maid poisoned all of us, and you think giving her a light scolding is enough? A useless servant like her deserves severe punishment and should be sold off!”
Shen Chuyun smiled faintly. “Chunxiu didn’t do it on purpose. She already feels guilty about poisoning you all, yet you still want to punish her and sell her off. You’re so young, so how can you be so vicious? It seems your parents didn’t raise you properly. Never mind. Now that I’m here, I’ll teach you myself. As your older sister, it’s my duty to guide you properly.”
Su Yanhuan was enraged. “Bullshit! You’re not my older sister! You’re a jinx nobody wanted. Do you think Father and Mother brought you back to make you the eldest young lady of the marquis’s household? They brought you back because of your—”
“Huan’er, shut up!”
Seeing that Su Yanhuan was so angry she was about to blurt out something she shouldn’t, Xu Yuru hurriedly stopped her.
“Now isn’t the time to talk about this.”
“Where’s the antidote?” Xu Yuru stretched out her hand toward Shen Chuyun with difficulty. “Take out the antidote. As long as you hand it over, I won’t hold today’s misdeeds against you.”
Shen Chuyun spread her hands. “There is no antidote.”
She grinned cheerfully. “Softening Incense isn’t a deadly poison. It only makes your entire body weak and leaves you without strength. Once its effects wear off, you’ll recover naturally, without any aftereffects. So there’s no need to worry.”
Su Yanhuan was so angry that she felt dizzy. “If there’s no antidote, why aren’t you and your maids affected? You spent even more time in the reception hall than we did!”
Shen Chuyun smiled slightly. “Softening Incense doesn’t work on me. Don’t ask why. The answer is simple: I’m strong and healthy. Chunxiu and the other maid are even stronger than I am. You were poisoned because you’ve been pampered for too long. Your bodies are weak, and you don’t exercise enough. From now on, I’ll make sure you all exercise regularly. I guarantee I’ll make you as strong as oxen!”
Xu Yuru suspected that Shen Chuyun was deliberately playing dumb. She asked anxiously, “How long will it take for the effects to wear off?”
Shen Chuyun replied nonchalantly, “Not long. Just three hours.”
She walked up to Xu Yuru and said, “I heard I have an older brother. But I’ve been back for quite some time now, and I still haven’t seen him. Where is he? I finally managed to return home, so shouldn’t my older brother have come to welcome me?”
When she mentioned Su Linzhou, Xu Yuru’s eyes flickered.
“Your brother isn’t at the residence right now. Let’s not talk about him for the moment. First, have your maids help us get up. We can’t keep lying on the ground like this. Our bodies won’t be able to take it.”
Shen Chuyun shook her head. “No. Your maids aren’t strong enough to lift you, and neither am I. You’re all too fat. It’s only three hours, so just hang in there. You’ll get through it.”
She continued pressing her. “If my brother isn’t at the residence, where is he? Tell me quickly. I want to give him a welcome gift.”
Xu Yuru was about to make up a few lies to brush her off when Shen Chuyun suddenly changed her tone.
“Forget it. If my brother isn’t here, I won’t visit him for now. Let’s talk about something else.”
She looked at Xu Yuru with a bright smile.
“Since you’re my stepmother, you’re my elder. As this is our first meeting, shouldn’t you give me a welcome gift?”
Xu Yuru was speechless.
Shen Chuyun reached into Xu Yuru’s arms and pulled out a piece of emerald-green jade.
“This is so beautiful! I love it. Thank you, Stepmother, for my welcome gift!”
She stuffed the jade token into her pocket.
Xu Yuru panicked. “No! You can’t have that! It’s the household authority token. Only the principal wife of the household is entitled to possess it!”
Shen Chuyun glared at her. “I’m the eldest young lady of the Marquis’s household. I’m one of its rightful masters. All of you are injured and unable to manage the household affairs. Isn’t it perfectly reasonable for me to take the token and assume responsibility for managing everything?”
She gently patted Xu Yuru on the shoulder.
“From now on, I’ll manage the entire marquis’s household. You can all concentrate on recovering from your injuries. I promise to make sure you grow plump and healthy!”
Xu Yuru was so furious that she nearly vomited blood.
What did this mean? Did this jinx intend to take charge of the household and control the marquis’s estate?
And she wanted to make them all plump and healthy? They weren’t pigs!
“You’re just a child. How could you possibly manage the household? Be good and give me the token back. I’ll give you something else as a welcome gift,” Xu Yuru coaxed.
Shen Chuyun dodged her hand. “I like this one. You’ve already given it away, yet you want it back? How stingy!”
Xu Yuru gritted her teeth and continued coaxing her. “Give me the token back, and I’ll take you to see your older brother.”
Shen Chuyun replied indifferently, “There’s no need for you to take me. I can find my brother myself. I already know where he is. I was just playing with you earlier.”
She yawned.
“I’m so sleepy. By the way, which courtyard am I supposed to stay in?”
Xu Yuru’s expression froze.
“Looks like you didn’t prepare a courtyard for me. You claimed you were bringing me home to enjoy a life of comfort, yet you didn’t even prepare a place for me to stay. What kind of family are you?”
Shen Chuyun waved her hand dismissively. “Forget it. I’ll find a courtyard myself.”
“Stepmother, my vicious little sister, you can stay here and wait for the effects of the incense to wear off. I’m going to get some rest.”
With that, Shen Chuyun led the two maids and the white wolf out of the reception hall. She even considerately closed the doors behind her.
Xu Yuru and Su Yanhuan shouted anxiously, demanding that she come back, but Shen Chuyun didn’t even look back.
“Mother, what do we do now?” Su Yanhuan lay helplessly on the filthy floor, completely drained of strength.
Xu Yuru was equally powerless as she lay on the ground.
“That girl is strange. Huan’er, stay as far away from her as possible. Once I figure out what’s going on with her, I’ll deal with her.”
Earlier, Shen Chuyun had claimed that she already knew where Su Linzhou was.
How was that possible?
Apart from Xu Yuru, the marquis, and a handful of trusted confidants, nobody knew where Su Linzhou was staying. How could Shen Chuyun possibly know?
On her very first day back at the residence, the nine-year-old girl had caused so much trouble and insisted on seeing Su Linzhou. Could she already know about his situation?
Perhaps she wasn’t as simple as an ordinary village girl. Could the information the marquis had obtained about her be inaccurate?
She and the marquis had underestimated Shen Chuyun.
They had assumed that a nine-year-old village girl would never be able to stir up much trouble after returning to the marquis’s residence. Yet, during their very first encounter, she had already turned the tables on them and left them in such a miserable state.
Suffering such a humiliating defeat at the hands of a little girl was an unbearable disgrace.
No, she needed to send someone to the estate to investigate whether Shen Chuyun had truly discovered Su Linzhou’s whereabouts.
If Shen Chuyun really cared about Su Linzhou, Xu Yuru could use him to keep her under control.
Just as she was thinking this, Xu Yuru’s gaze swept across the room and landed on the incense burner.
Her expression instantly filled with terror.
“Wait! Why is the incense burner still smoking? The fragrance is getting even stronger!”
Gasping for breath, Xu Yuru ordered the hidden guards to extinguish the incense burner.
But the guards were too weak to crawl over to it.
The servants and guards present were equally powerless.
As the smoke continued spreading throughout the reception hall, Xu Yuru and her companions could do nothing but despair.
Meanwhile, as soon as Shen Chuyun stepped out of the reception hall, she took out the jade token and summoned Steward Luo.
“Grandmother and Stepmother have been injured and are unable to manage the inner household affairs. As a junior, it’s my duty to shoulder some of the burden for my elders. My stepmother trusts me, too, so she handed me the household authority token and asked me to temporarily take charge of all the inner household affairs. From now on, you will all answer to me. Understood?”
Steward Luo was utterly stunned.
Hadn’t the Old Madam and Madam said they were going to teach this troublesome jinx a lesson for beating people up? Why had they handed over their authority to manage the household instead?
Where were the Old Madam, Madam, and Young Miss?
They had brought guards and hidden guards with them. Had they really been unable to handle this little jinx?
Steward Luo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. With the Marquis unconscious and the Old Madam and Madam’s conditions unknown, he had no choice but to humor this troublesome girl for now and keep the situation under control.
“This old servant understands. Everything will be done according to the eldest young lady’s wishes.”
Seeing that Steward Luo knew how to adapt to the situation, Shen Chuyun nodded in satisfaction.
“As long as you behave yourselves, I won’t resort to violence for no reason.”
She knew perfectly well that the marquis’s household had brought her back for her heart’s blood. They hadn’t even prepared a place for her to live.
If they refused to prepare a courtyard for her, she would simply find one herself.
Shen Chuyun made her way to Tingxuan Courtyard.