On the third day, the kitchen didn’t even send a single grain of rice—it was obvious they meant to let Shen Chu go hungry.
Shen Chu handed the banknotes to Hong Xiu. “Go buy a roast chicken, and the braised duck intestines I love, then have Tonghe Restaurant deliver a full table of food. Buy plenty—make sure the whole household knows we went out to buy good things to eat.”
By noon, Hong Xiu reported: “The Marquis had someone take all the cash and banknotes from Madam’s room, saying no one is allowed to secretly give you money. Then the Marquis went to the First Madame’s courtyard, and Madam cried even harder.”
Shen Chu sneered. “Hong Xiu, go bring out our treasured spoiled food. Let’s go to the main kitchen.”
Hong Xiu’s eyes lit up. She turned and carried in the food boxes left by the door.
At last, it was her turn to shine.
The guard at the door reached out to block Shen Chu. “The Marquis has ordered that the Eldest Young Master reflect on his conduct behind closed doors.”
Hong Xiu kicked two guards flying, one with each foot.
“Get out of the way.”
Shen Chu smiled at the corners of her mouth.
Hong Xiu had trained in martial arts alongside her since childhood, and her skill was no weaker than hers.
Master and servant headed straight for the main kitchen.
Nanny Yang, who managed the kitchen, was standing with hands on her hips, directing the servants in preparing lunch.
Seeing Shen Chu arrive, she lifted her chin slightly and gave a perfunctory curtsy.
“Lunchtime isn’t here yet, and the Eldest Young Master is already so hungry he’s come looking for food himself. Anyone who didn’t know better would think… Ahhh!”
Before she could finish her sentence, Shen Chu gripped her chin and poured a bowl of spoiled noodle soup down her throat.
“Mmph… mmph…”
Seeing this, the servants in the kitchen rushed over to rescue Nanny Yang, but Hong Xiu knocked down a whole crowd of them in an instant.
Once the bowl of spoiled noodle soup was down, Shen Chu let go.
Nanny Yang lay on the ground, dry heaving while cursing: “May you die a thousand deaths—”
Before she could finish, Shen Chu stepped on her face, pressing her mouth into a round shape, and the curses instantly turned into muffled whimpers.
“I don’t like to hear nonsense. Tell me—who ordered you to feed me spoiled food?”
Nanny Yang wailed on the ground, “I’m wronged! The food I prepare for every courtyard is all the same—how could only the Eldest Young Master’s food be spoiled? Instead of checking the servants in your own courtyard first, the Eldest Young Master comes to the main kitchen to make trouble. If lunch for the Marquis, the Old Madame, and the Madame is delayed, can the Eldest Young Master bear the responsibility?”
Shen Chu gave a scornful laugh and turned to look at the ginseng chicken soup simmering in the big pot, and the braised pork trotters cooking on the stove beside it.
“Hong Xiu, pour it in.”
“Yes, Young Master!”
Hong Xiu immediately opened the second tier of the food box, and a foul stench of spoiled food mixed with rot came rushing out.
Quite a few servants lying on the ground clutching their stomachs and moaning were instantly made to vomit by the smell.
Hong Xiu’s expression didn’t change at all. She took out a bowl of the soup and poured it into both the ginseng chicken soup and the braised pork trotters.
The once richly fragrant ginseng chicken soup and braised pork trotters instantly took on an indescribable smell.
Nanny Yang was horrified. “That’s the lunch prepared for the Old Madame and the Marquis—Eldest Young Master, how dare you?”
Shen Chu sneered. “Since you don’t know what’s going on, then let all the masters of this household taste the food you so carefully prepared. Yang Mama, think carefully. Lunchtime is almost here, and with lunch like this—do you think anyone can save your life?”
Nanny Yang’s face changed drastically, and she secretly signaled to her trusted servant, indicating she should go fetch reinforcements.
Helplessly, Shen Chu dragged a chair over and sat down at the doorway—no one could get out.
Looking toward the stove, Hong Xiu stood blocking it with her arms crossed. Remembering how this maid had kicked two or three people flying just moments ago, everyone lay obediently on the ground, not daring to move.
Nanny Yang was frantic. Lunchtime was approaching, and if the meal wasn’t ready on time, it would count as her failure.
She regretted her momentary impatience in sending spoiled food to Shen Chu.
Shen Chu was, after all, the eldest young master. Even if he had done wrong, no punishment would cost him his life.
But for a mere servant like her, things were different.
“I’ll give you one more chance. Eat the spoiled rice. Which master of this household ordered it? Or has the household already fallen so low that there’s no food to eat?” Shen Chu’s voice turned cold.
Nanny Yang’s eyes darted around, and she quickly began to weep. “Eldest Young Master, you only just returned to the capital and don’t know the situation of the household. These past few years, our residence has lived in great hardship. The Marquis gave instructions long ago that the kitchen should economize on meals. The masters usually eat and drink very frugally, and they can’t bear to throw things away even when they’ve been stored too long. Sometimes the dishes inevitably come out with a bit of a spoiled smell. This servant truly did not deliberately give the Eldest Young Master spoiled rice.”
As her words fell, a hint of a smile flickered in Shen Chu’s eyes.
He’d taken the bait!
Across the room, Hong Xiu, seeing her young master’s familiar smile, couldn’t help but crack her knuckles.
Whenever her young master showed this kind of smile, it meant her moment to shine had arrived.
Time to get moving!
“Nanny Yang says the household has no money. Hong Xiu, go check the accounts thoroughly.”
“Yes, ma’am! This servant will certainly check the accounts thoroughly.”
The moment Hong Xiu finished speaking, her figure had already flitted outside.
Nanny Yang’s vision went dark, and a bad premonition suddenly rose in her.
Weren’t they talking about the food? How had it turned to the accounts?
At that moment, Changning Hou strode in with a dark expression, followed by an enraged Madam Chen.
“Unfilial son! Qingshuang is your sister, after all. How dare you feed her porridge full of gravel?”
Changning Hou interrogated Shen Chu the moment he entered the door.
Madam Chen looked at Shen Chu as if she wanted to tear her apart. “Chu, if you have any grievances, take them out on me. Your sister is frail—she can’t withstand this kind of torment from you.”
Shen Chu sneered. “She’s frail, so she can’t eat gravel porridge. I’m healthy, so I should eat gravel porridge and spoiled rice?”
Madam Chen’s expression shifted, and she was choked into silence.
Changning Hou frowned. “What spoiled rice? Where is there spoiled rice?”
Madam Chen’s gaze darted evasively.
Shen Chu said, “Father ordered me confined to my room to reflect. Was that so I could eat spoiled rice every day and learn the taste of hardship?”
Changning Hou frowned. “When did I ever tell you to eat spoiled rice?”
Shen Chu pointed at the remaining bowl of spoiled rice in the food box. “This is what the kitchen has been feeding me these past two days.”
Changning Hou’s face darkened slightly, and his gaze toward Nanny Yang turned cold.
He knew the servants were the sort to fawn on the high and trample the low, and he had wanted to use this opportunity to teach Shen Chu a lesson.
But he never expected the kitchen would be bold enough to feed Shen Chu spoiled rice.
“Nanny Yang, what is the meaning of this?”
Nanny Yang dropped to her knees with a thud, wailing, “Marquis, Madam, this servant is wronged! The meals I prepare for the various masters of this household are practically identical.
The stir-fried greens from two days ago were only slightly blackened, and Concubine Qiao still came to make a scene. How would I dare mistreat the Eldest Young Master?
“This servant truly doesn’t know how the spoiled rice came about. The eldest young master, without asking a single question, charged in with his men and injured the kitchen staff. He even poured the spoiled rice into the ginseng chicken soup and braised pig’s trotters that this servant had prepared for Old Madame and the various masters. I beg the Marquis and Madam to seek justice for this servant.”
Only then did Changning Hou notice that more than half the kitchen staff were lying on the ground. He looked at Shen Chu, who was sitting grandly in a chair with one leg propped up, looking for all the world like a shameless street loafer.
Changning Hou’s face hardened. “It was merely a matter of delivering the wrong food. Sending someone to say a word would have sufficed. Look at you—tormenting your sister, wrecking the kitchen. Where is there even a trace of a scholar’s refinement?”
Madam Chen sighed. “Yang Mama has managed the kitchen for many years without a single mistake. There must be something more behind this matter with the food. Chu, if you have complaints about the meals, you need only come to me. Why resort to this?”
Changning Hou’s eyes flickered, and he looked at Shen Chu with suspicion.
Shen Chu smiled. “The food these past two days has all been spoiled. I thought the family had become so poor we couldn’t keep the pot boiling, so I came to the kitchen to ask. Who knew that Yang Mama would say the household is indeed in hardship right now, and that Madam even said she intended to cut back on the food and clothing allowances of all the masters.”
Changning Hou frowned and looked at Madam Chen.
Madam Chen managed the household affairs; he rarely concerned himself with matters of the inner quarters.
Madam Chen’s expression stiffened slightly. “The accounts are indeed somewhat strained. I did have thoughts of economizing on food and clothing expenses.”
Shen Chu gave an “oh,” and the smile on his face grew even brighter.
“Father, there’s no need to worry. I’ve already sent someone to the accounting office to check the books.”
Madam Chen’s face changed, and her voice sharpened by two degrees: “What?”