After what happened yesterday about asking for money, Tang Boxin continued to treat Tang Zhuojun as if she didn’t exist.
Tang Zhuojun didn’t rush to explain herself. Time reveals people’s hearts. The original owner of this body had caused trouble for over ten years; changing others’ impressions of her was never something that could be done overnight. She would take it slowly.
She went to the kitchen and pan-fried some potato pancakes, made small wontons with a vegetarian filling, then had Xiu’er go out to buy some fresh milk and chopped some pickled vegetables. A simple breakfast was ready.
Linlin came out rubbing his eyes. He had already dressed himself, his long, straight black hair hanging loose down his back, glossy and smooth.
This little boy was just too adorable!
Tang Zhuojun stood at the kitchen door, unable to take her eyes off him.
Sensing her gaze, the childishness on Linlin’s face vanished in an instant. He coldly walked over to the large water jar, stood on tiptoe, and scooped water to wash up.
“Let me, let me,” Tang Zhuojun hurriedly said.
A child so small could fall into the water jar and be in real danger.
But Linlin didn’t appreciate it and kept calling for Xiu’er instead.
Tang Zhuojun was helpless but didn’t force the issue. She let Xiu’er help him wash up, while she carried the food into the room.
The three of them finished breakfast in silence, then Tang Boxin took Linlin out.
Linlin went to the Prince Rong’s residence to attend the family school, while Tang Boxin had to go on duty at the Ministry of Personnel. The men of the household all returned home only in the evening.
Tang Zhuojun had Xiu’er and Granny He stay at home, while she herself took the silver to repay the loan shark.
Fortunately, there were no complications. She bargained, and because she repaid the full amount early, she actually got five taels of silver back.
“If you’re short of silver next time, miss, you’re welcome to come again,” the clerk said as he escorted her out.
Tang Zhuojun: …Do you know that saying something like that could get you beaten? Hmph!
Still, because of those five taels of silver, she wasn’t angry at all. She even felt quite satisfied, and a little sense of being able to “splurge” crept in.
She went back to the butcher to pre-order pig intestines and pig stomach, and bought a strip of pork belly. This time, she spent a full one hundred copper coins.
Thinking of the pickled vegetables she’d eaten that morning— overly salty, bitter, and very unhealthy— she decided to buy some seasonings and make cold dishes herself.
This cold-dish recipe was a family heirloom from her mother’s side in her previous life. It carried her mother’s flavor, and the ingredients were complicated: lemongrass, cardamom, sanai, monk fruit, amomum, angelica root, cloves… more than twenty kinds in total.
At the southern-goods shop, Tang Zhuojun only managed to buy a few of them. After thinking it over, she decided to try her luck at a pharmacy.
At the entrance of the pharmacy, she unexpectedly ran into a “familiar face”— the Prince Jin’s lackey guard.
The lackey was limping along, carrying several packets of medicine. He recognized her too, and his eyes immediately filled with resentment and anger.
Tang Zhuojun: “…Is it because of me that you got beaten with the board?”
She could tell at a glance from his awkward gait that he had likely been caned; his movements were stiff and unnatural.
The lackey snapped angrily, “What a useless piece of trash!”
Tang Zhuojun: ???
“Useless?!” From that tone, it sounded like he was blaming her for not succeeding?
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck her mind— Tang Zhuojun felt as if she had figured something out!
That day, she had clearly used powdered sugar, yet Prince Jin had lain there completely unmoving. Even then, she’d felt something was off, but she hadn’t had time to think it through.
Now, seeing the lackey’s resentful expression, she understood: that day Prince Jin had done it on purpose. He wanted to go along with the situation and make it a done deal.
The lackey hadn’t appeared that day because he’d been waiting for the original owner of this body to take the bait.
But then she transmigrated over and didn’t let him succeed, so he took his anger out on the lackey instead.
“Despicable, shameless, vile!” Tang Zhuojun viciously stomped on the lackey’s foot, then quickly walked inside.
Master and servant alike— both full of rotten schemes.