Shen Chu stepped forward and pulled Hong Xiu behind him.
“Father, Hong Xiu is not a servant of our household. If you really shoot her dead here in the marquis’s residence, I’m afraid Father will have to make a trip to Jingzhao Prefecture as well.”
Changning Hou’s face stiffened slightly, and he suddenly remembered that when he brought Shen Chu back, this was the only maidservant accompanying him.
What had Shen Chu said at the time?
Shen Chu said that Hong Xiu was a wandering heroine of the jianghu whom he had saved by chance, and so she was willing to serve as a maid and stay by his side.
At the time, he thought having a servant who knew martial arts around his son was a good thing.
Now he regretted it deeply. He should have driven Hong Xiu away back then, and he wouldn’t be in this dilemma now, unable to deal with Shen Chu.
“As for me, Father, you can order the archers to shoot at will. If I dodge even once, I don’t deserve the name Shen Chu.”
“Oh, and a friendly reminder, Father—killing your own son will be deemed a violation of human decency by Xingbu, and you’ll be sentenced to beheading after autumn or exile.”
Changning Hou was furious, his features contorted, but the hand raised in midair could not come down no matter what.
Shen Chu smiled faintly and sauntered away, pulling Hong Xiu along with him.
Madam Chen was full of resentment. “How could the Marquis let him leave like this? He…”
Changning Hou, seething with rage, slapped Madam Chen across the face.
“Shut up. Do you want me to shoot my own son dead?”
Madam Chen staggered from the blow, covering her face as she looked at Changning Hou in disbelief.
“The Marquis hit me?”
Changning Hou was spitting fire, his mind muddled with fury, unable to understand how things had come to this.
Shouldn’t Shen Chu have been kneeling before him, begging and weeping?
How had it ended with him losing both his money and his dignity?
Thinking it over and over, he decided it was all Madam Chen’s fault.
“It’s all your fault. You couldn’t manage the kitchen properly, but the accounts were recorded oh-so-clearly.”
Madam Chen’s face was streaked with tears, and she gritted her teeth in fury.
“It was the Marquis himself who ordered the accounts to be recorded clearly. Besides—”
“Silence!” Changning Hou roared. “Someone, drag the accountant out and beat him to death. Tear out Nanny Yang’s tongue and sell her off.”
“Marquis, spare my life, spare my life!” Nanny Yang was so terrified she wet herself on the spot. As she was dragged out crying and wailing, she regretted it to her very core.
If she could do it all over again, she would choose the eldest young master.
She would never dare feed the eldest young master spoiled food again.
Hearing Nanny Yang’s miserable screams, Madam Chen turned pale with rage.
The accountant of the inner courtyard and Nanny Yang were both people she had brought from her own family. By doing this, Changning Hou had effectively slapped her across the face yet again.
Before she could even collect herself, she heard Changning Hou continue:
“What are you standing around for? It’s already past noon. Take some silver and send someone out to buy ready-made food from the street.”
Changning Hou shot her a gloomy, menacing glare and turned to leave.
Madam Chen was so bitter her teeth ached.
All the money had been taken by Shen Chu—where was she supposed to get money?
Was she supposed to spend her own meager dowry?
Shen Chu had Hong Xiu take silver to the street and buy a table full of fine dishes, and master and servant happily enjoyed a meal together.
Hong Xiu ate until her little belly was round, and leaning back in her chair, rubbing her stomach, she sighed, “Turns out people in the capital are just like people in the jianghu—the fiercest one does the talking.”
Shen Chu finished the last bite of food on his plate and chuckled softly. “It’s not about who’s fiercest. It’s about who’s more willing to go all in.”
And clearly, she was more willing to go all in than Changning Hou.
Hong Xiu clapped her hands. “This is great! The money Concubine Qiao handed over from her shop last month has been gotten back. For the sake of his face, the Marquis surely won’t have the nerve to ask for Concubine Qiao’s money again.”
Shen Chu shook her head. “You’re wrong. The real hard battle is only just beginning.”
Hong Xiu didn’t understand.
Just then, Concubine Qiao came in with reddened eyes. The moment she entered, she grasped Shen Chu’s hand and begged her with tear-filled eyes.
“Chu, please don’t quarrel with the Marquis, alright?”
Shen Chu gripped her hand back, her gaze falling on Concubine Qiao’s fair face.
There were five distinct finger marks on it, the prints tinged with bruise—one could see how hard the person had struck.
Her face darkened. “What happened to your face? Did he hit you?”
Concubine Qiao’s eyes flickered, and she instinctively turned her face away, avoiding Shen Chu’s gaze.
“The Marquis only struck out because he was angry. It doesn’t hurt. I feel worse for him.”
Concubine Qiao’s eyes reddened. “Be good, Chu. Let’s return the money to the household funds, then go apologize to the Marquis, alright?”
Shen Chu frowned. “Not alright.”
Concubine Qiao’s tears came pattering down.
“The Marquis has gone to Madam’s quarters two nights in a row now. I heard he even asked for her twice last night, sob sob… He promised me he wouldn’t touch Madam. Chu, my heart aches so much.”
Shen Chu pinched the bridge of her nose.
Getting the money back from the marquis’s residence had never been the hard part. The real battle was with Concubine Qiao.
“Didn’t you say he loves you? If he loves you, why does he still sleep with Madam?”
Concubine Qiao murmured, “The Marquis only goes to Madam’s quarters to spite me, to spite me for not keeping you in line. Chu, as long as we hand the money back and sincerely apologize to the Marquis, he’ll surely cherish us, mother and son, from now on.”
Shen Chu could bear it no longer. “Has it never occurred to you, Aunt, that the Marquis has favored you all these years because of your money?”
Concubine Qiao’s face went white. She didn’t believe it at all. “Impossible. The Marquis is a refined man who looks down on something as vulgar as money.”
Shen Chu…
She really, really wanted to crack open her aunt’s skull.
“Aunt, do you care only about the Marquis? Do you not care at all about whether I live or die?”
With two streaks of tears on her face, Concubine Qiao looked utterly bewildered.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Shen Chu said patiently, “Haven’t you seen what’s happened clearly yet? I merely had a couple of clashes with the Marquis, and the servants in the household started fawning on the high and trampling the low—serving me spoiled food and porridge with grit in it. These people eat your food, drink your drink, and yet they abuse your child. Doesn’t that pain you at all?”
Concubine Qiao said, “Of course it pains me, but that was Madam Chen ordering the servants to mistreat you. It has nothing to do with the Marquis.”
Shen Chu…
Reasoning with her was hopeless.
She rubbed her eyes too. “But I don’t want to be at others’ mercy like this. Remember what I told you—on the road back to the capital, Madam Chen sent people to assassinate me again and again. They eat your food and drink your drink, yet they dared to try to kill me. Once I entered officialdom, I became even more of a thorn in Madam Chen’s side. She’ll certainly find every way she can to do me in. Aunt, do you really want to wait until I’ve been tormented to within an inch of my life, without even money to buy medicine?”
Concubine Qiao was shocked. “This… the Marquis is here. How could it ever come to that?”
“How could it not? If Hong Xiu hadn’t protected me, I would have died on the road to the capital already. Where was the Marquis then?”
“Then… then what should we do?”
Shen Chu held Concubine Qiao’s hand. “Auntie, why not hand these shops over to me to manage? I don’t want to be at anyone’s mercy anymore.”
Concubine Qiao frowned. “You’re so young—how would you know how to run a business? Besides, you’re going to become an official.”
“If I don’t know how, I can learn. Being an official won’t stop me from managing the business on the side.”
Concubine Qiao looked hesitant.
Shen Chu said, “If you don’t trust me, Auntie, how about giving me the shops for just one month? During that month, don’t interfere with anything. After a month, if I haven’t managed them well, I’ll return every shop to you. Then, whether you hand them over to the household accounts or manage them yourself, I won’t object.”
Shen Chu switched tactics, coaxing her in a low voice.
“I’ve already made such a scene and angered Father. Even if you returned the money now, he wouldn’t take it, would he?”
Concubine Qiao nodded. “True. The Marquis cares about his dignity, and he’s always looked down on vulgar things like gold and silver. He certainly wouldn’t take it.”
“So you see, why not give me the shops for a month first? Surely Auntie isn’t worried that if you don’t hand the shops over to the household, Father will stop caring for you?”
Concubine Qiao shook her head. “Of course not. The Marquis doesn’t cherish me because of money. Even without the money, he would still care for me.”
Shen Chu smiled. “Then what is there to hesitate about?”
Concubine Qiao thought it over and suddenly felt Shen Chu made sense. It was only putting it off by a month—the marquis’s residence could still manage to get by.
“Then… if you promise to follow the Marquis’s arrangement and go to the Hanlinyuan, I’ll give you the shops for one month.”