Lin Yu’er had a fairly good memory and immediately nodded.
“I remember.”
Xie Xinyue’s eyes instantly reddened, and she promptly performed a deep bow to Lin Yu’er.
“This humble one will never forget Madam’s great kindness! Henceforth in the Marquis Manor, this humble one will follow Madam’s lead and stand by Madam’s side. Anyone Madam dislikes or despises, this humble one will surely eliminate them for Madam!”
Lin Yu’er: ?
Xie Xinyue continued to explain: “This humble one’s maiden family is the third branch of the Xie family. My parents have long been oppressed by the first and second branches. They look down on our family from the bottom of their hearts. My cousins would either beat or scold me, never sparing any face even in public.”
“The money my parents worked so hard to earn was almost entirely handed over to them. Those two families feed on our blood while trampling us underfoot and spitting on us…”
Zhang Momo wanted to tell Xie Xinyue that she didn’t need to explain in such a roundabout way.
Because Madam probably didn’t care at all.
But after glancing at Lin Yu’er sitting on the stone stool, legs crossed and munching on a cucumber she’d produced from who-knows-where, she swallowed her advice.
“Yesterday’s curse, this humble one originally didn’t take seriously.”
“But when I woke up today, I received word from my parents. My eldest uncle offended the Minister of Rites, my second uncle was directly arrested by the Prison Warden Office, and my eldest cousin sister has fallen and injured herself!”
Xie Xinyue suddenly looked up, her gaze burning as she stared at Lin Yu’er.
“Yesterday’s curse has all come true!”
Cuihu and Wanqing nearby also appeared quite excited when this topic was mentioned.
…
On a tree branch not far away, Chang Sui and Qingjue had already been shocked yesterday, so their expressions remained natural today.
But the other Shadow Guards were hearing this for the first time, their eyes filled with disbelief.
Two of those hiding on the roof beams even breathed so heavily they nearly exposed themselves, causing Du Du to glance in that direction several times.
Yesterday at Bibo Pavilion, these Shadow Guards had personally witnessed Lin Yu’er having Xie Xinyue and the courtyard maids offer incense and curse the little clay figure.
They heard Madam say the little clay figure was a Devil God Avatar, and everyone saw Du Du break off ordinary tree branches for the incense.
And like this, the curse came true?
Really?!
Several Shadow Guards could no longer stay put and simply left to investigate the truth of this matter.
If it were true, this must be reported to their masters.
A Shadow Guard wearing a ghost mask flashed past Chang Sui and Qingjue.
“The Marquis and General are quite capable, keeping such important news completely hidden!”
Chang Sui rolled his eyes: “Who’s hiding it from you? Weren’t you hiding in the shadows the entire time? You were there during yesterday’s curse incident too. You didn’t report it to your master yourself, who can you blame?!”
The ghost-masked Shadow Guard then looked at Qingjue.
Qingjue held his long sword, expression cold: “Qu Dong, if your legs were a bit faster, although the Secretariat Director would have learned this news somewhat late, he wouldn’t have punished you! It’s just a pity you’ll probably lose such a good assignment!”
The ghost-masked Shadow Guard gritted his teeth, filled with regret.
Who would have thought that a madwoman playing with mud and cursing could actually make it come true!
If he had known earlier, he would have notified his master immediately no matter what. Now it was too late for regrets!
…
Meanwhile, in Crabapple Courtyard.
Xie Xinyue took out silver notes and handed them to Lin Yu’er: “These are the silver notes my parents sent this morning. This humble one believes they should be offered to Madam!”
Lin Yu’er stared at the pile of banknotes, blinked a few times, then accepted them.
She wanted to ask Zhang Momo why these banknotes weren’t the red color she had seen before, but remembering yesterday’s incident, Lin Yu’er was too angry to ask.
Wiping her fingers on her clothes, she held up a banknote and examined it against the sunlight.
“Does this banknote have anti-counterfeit markings?”
Xie Xinyue didn’t expect Lin Yu’er to understand such things. She stood up and walked to her side, pointing at the seal on it. “Madam, look, it says ‘Ministry of Revenue Official Note’ here. There are several seals here too – from the money house, and this money house is certified by the imperial court!”
Lin Yu’er studied the banknote carefully.
“The Corpse Ministry… something something official note! Anyone who gives official notes to… to… Lin Yu’er is a person with good taste! They’re all Lin Yu’er’s friends, and they will all receive the Demon God’s protection!”
She read the words on the banknote with rare seriousness, only to discover after a few characters that she couldn’t recognize many of them.
But not recognizing them didn’t matter – she could just make things up!
Xie Xinyue felt horrified at the very first word.
Corpse Ministry?!
It was clearly the Ministry of Revenue!!!
What was clearly written was: “Ministry of Revenue Official Note, those willing to exchange official notes for silver shall receive equivalent silver value, according to ministry regulations.”.. counterfeiters shall be punished according to law”
It definitely didn’t say anything about giving banknotes to Lin Yu’er making someone her friend or receiving the Demon God’s protection.
But from the moment Xie Xinyue decided to stand in Lin Yu’er’s camp, she had determined: henceforth, whatever Madam says goes, and she would never contradict Madam!
So now, she had no intention of exposing Lin Yu’er’s illiteracy to avoid embarrassing her.
“So how much is this one banknote worth?” Lin Yu’er asked.
Xie Xinyue: “Fifty taels.”
Lin Yu’er made an “oh” sound and counted the stack of banknotes. There were so, so many fifty taels!
“One fifty, two fifties, three fifties… ten fifties… eighteen fifties…”
While counting, Lin Yu’er asked again: “So what can one fifty buy?”
Xie Xinyue was stumped by the question and didn’t know how to answer.
Cuihu spoke up at this point: “One fifty can buy 10 maids like us! If you’re not picky, you could buy 15 or even 20 maids! Because servants aren’t worth much! If buying clothes, you could buy over ten ready-made outfits, or buy medium-quality fabric!”
“If buying steamed buns and mantou, you could pile them up into a small mountain in the pavilion! You could also buy lots of fruits and vegetables, enough to feed a family for a month without problem!”
Lin Yu’er’s eyes sparkled.
“Wow!”
After a while, she started counting the banknotes again.
After finishing counting, she exclaimed “wow” several more times, hopping up and down on the spot.
“There are sixty fifties! This venerable one is rich! This venerable one is super rich!”
“Before, this venerable one was also… thousand delicate hundred beauties… hiss, that doesn’t seem right… was it thousand dependents hundred pages or something… anyway, thousands of people adored me! This venerable one just can’t stand being poor! Xiao Yue Yue, you’re very good!”
Lin Yu’er’s appearance was originally beautiful – stunningly gorgeous, with fragrant skin glowing like jade, lips like cinnabar, especially her sparkling eyes that resembled gems at the bottom of a pool, clear and luminous.
Now, watching her hopping around with money made Xie Xinyue’s heart melt completely.
Sob sob, Madam is just too adorable!
Xie Xinyue clenched her handkerchief and pressed it against her chest.
The next moment, Lin Yu’er bounced over to her, took her hand, and started hopping together with her.
They hopped while spinning in circles.
“Madam, slow down!”
“This concubine is spinning so much I’m feeling dizzy, Madam I’m so dizzy… hehehe~” Xie Xinyue swayed unsteadily, yet the smile at her lips was completely uncontrollable.
Just then, Du Du suddenly turned her head and called out.
“Oh, why is the steward here?!”
The steward hadn’t expected his timing to be so unfortunate, actually overhearing Yue Yiniang laughing like a hen that just laid an egg. He was just about to turn and leave when Du Du stopped him.
Collecting himself, he bowed to Lin Yu’er.
“This servant pays respects to Madam.”
Lin Yu’er, also somewhat dizzy, stopped and walked in an S-shaped path to stand before him. “You… what do you want with me?”
The steward spoke: “When the Marquis went to the prison to interrogate prisoners, he was attacked by an inmate!”
Xie Xinyue immediately covered her mouth with an “Ah!”
The steward raised his head and noticed Lin Yu’er showed no sign of concern whatsoever. He sighed inwardly and continued: “Madam need not worry, the Marquis is unharmed. It’s just that the protective talisman Madam gave the Marquis has turned to ashes…”