Chapter 61 [VIP]

"Your Excellency, Madam of the Town Envoy, I truly don't understand why Madam Pan would take a liking to me. When I was serving Eighth Master, I only saw Madam Pan once. When she showed me kindness, I thought she was after Eighth Master. Who knew that Madam Pan's words to me would be so ambiguous..."

For a mere servant like him to gain the favor of the governor's adopted daughter was undoubtedly a windfall. Naturally, he did whatever Pan asked him to do. Gan Qiang had already been tortured before he arrived and knew that his fate would be even worse after he revealed his true colors, but he still couldn't help but cry and shout that he was wronged.

"I shouldn't have been seduced by beauty. I was wrong. I beg you, Madam, to be lenient and spare my life."

"You're talking nonsense!"

Pan kicked Gan Qiang to the ground, not allowing him to continue speaking, "It's clearly you who admires me, always secretly glancing at me!"

In her previous life, after she married Zhao Balang, Gan Qiang would always spy on her intentionally or unintentionally, and in the end, he died protecting her from a knife.

She was only willing to give this lowly servant a little something because she saw his deep affection for her, but who knew that he would interpret it as deliberate seduction.

"I never peeked at you; you were clearly unable to bear the loneliness, lusting after my strength, and secretly watching me!"

Knowing he couldn't escape death, and thinking of his seriously ill mother who needed care, Gan Qiang, after taking a kick from Pan Shi, punched her in the heart in return, shouting, "You bitch, you've ruined me! When I die, I'll become a vengeful ghost and haunt you for all eternity!"

Pan's face turned pale, not only because of Gan Qiang's punches and kicks, but also because of his venomous curse.

The image of him unable to close his eyes after death in his previous life flashed through Pan's mind, causing her to become confused. She felt that the current Gan Qiang was a vengeful ghost from her previous life, otherwise how could he be so completely different from the one in her previous life?

"I won't die, you can't bother me. I won't die, I'm blessed by heaven, even if I die I can start over... You wandering ghosts, you've ruined my plans and stolen my luck!"

Pan pointed at Mi Yao, her eyes filled with hatred, "You stole my luck, you deserve to die, so what if I send someone to kill you!"

Seeing Pan's frenzied state, Mi Yao felt that choosing to stay away from her was the right decision.

As Pan spoke, she lunged forward, her hand, which was about to choke Mi Yao, was intercepted by Qi Niang, who grabbed her wrist and threw her to the ground.

"Enough!"

Zhao Tianhe slammed his fist on the table and stood up. Because he was so emotional, he shouted angrily, then bent over and coughed for a moment before looking at Madam Pan again.

He had adopted quite a few sons, but only two daughters. One of them was the child of his wife's friend, and the other was Pan Shi.

"It's all my fault for not taking good care of you and raising you to be like this."

Back then, he took pity on Madam Pan, who lost her parents at a young age, and adopted her as his daughter. Firstly, it was to appease his subordinates and let them know that he, their master, was kind and generous. Secondly, his third daughter was about the same age as her when she went to live with him.

When Zhao Wu and Zhao Qi made mistakes, he only felt that they were hateful; when Pan Shi made mistakes, he felt embarrassed.

The reason he summoned Mi Yao today instead of personally interrogating Madam Pan was to protect her to some extent. With Xiao Chuan's entrustment, he couldn't show favoritism during the interrogation, but Mi Yao, out of respect for him, would at least have her punishment reduced by half.

Who would have thought that Madam Pan would be such a person?

He was completely different from the person he usually knew; he was like a madman driven to madness by jealousy of Mi Yao.

"Back then, I intended for Chuan'er to marry you. Although he had no feelings for you, he took the initiative to show you affection because he didn't want to go against my wishes. It was you who refused. You felt that Chuan'er's official rank was too low to be worthy of you. Now that you see his rising power, you see him as your prize. Who do you think you are? And what do you take Chuan'er for! Such a profit-driven person, and you even say that the Yu family stole your luck. You are greedy, shameless, and unscrupulous. If someone like you has good fortune, then Heaven is blind!"

Mi Yao had met Zhao Tianhe several times, and he always had a smiling face that made it impossible to see his true intentions. Seeing him so angry, and then coughing after speaking, she knew that he had a father-daughter relationship with Madam Pan, so she quickly comforted him, "Father, don't be angry. The gardener carefully tended the seedlings, but some still wouldn't bloom. It's not the gardener's fault; there's a problem with the seeds. They might have been born bad seeds..."

As Mi Yao spoke, she realized that she wasn't very good at giving advice, and it seemed that the more she talked, the less she could ease the tension. She even started cursing Pan Shi as a bad person.

Mi Yao stopped silently and blinked. "Father, shall I go back now?"

Zhao Tianhe's rage subsided considerably after Mi Yao interrupted him with her wrong words, and seeing her cautious expression, he couldn't help but laugh.

"What do you mean by going back now? Do you think I'm going to scold you and then complain to your husband that I'm protecting Pan and being unfair in handling things?"

"Father must have misunderstood my character. I am not such a petty person."

“These are the words that Chuan’er told me before he left. In his eyes, this is the kind of person you are.”

When Zhao Tianhe met Mi Yao's clear almond eyes, he felt a sense of relief as if his attention had been diverted, especially when he saw that the emotions in her eyes would change because of his words, whether she was deliberately putting on an act or if she really had everything written on her face.

Facing her is much easier than facing Madam Pan. "If you have any objections, wait until Chuan'er comes back, and then you can argue with him."

Although he had never witnessed Mi Yao cursing, many people had indirectly complained about her in front of him. Even Xiao Chuan said before he left that Mi Yao was petty and hoped that he would be fair in his dealings, unlike Mi Yao who would make a scene and find countless ways to make the murderer suffer.

If he truly heeds Xiao Chu's advice, then all these years of his life have been wasted.

"Alright, since I've summoned you here, I'll give you justice. Pan is my adopted daughter. Regardless of whether she was born a bad seed or not, I have failed to properly educate her. Apart from saving her life, I won't stop you from punishing her however you wish."

Gan Qiang had already been dragged away by Zhao Xun, leaving only his upper body, staring blankly at the ground.

They lost completely, but were unwilling to admit defeat.

Hearing that Zhao Tianhe had spared her life and handed her over to Mi Yao for disposal, she felt not happy, but rather aggrieved. Why should Mi Yao be the one to decide her fate?

“Father, you watched me grow up, how could you not know what kind of person I am? I am the way I am now because of Yu Shi. She is not a good person. Before she married Ninth Brother, she had already made a lifelong promise with someone else. On the way to Yizhou, she wanted to elope with that person, but Ninth Brother stopped her and she didn’t get away. She resents Ninth Brother for hurting her lover. Her current behavior is all to get revenge on Ninth Brother. Even her closeness to the Xiao family’s children is just to gain Ninth Brother’s trust so that she can deal with them in the future.”

Mi Yao felt that Pan might have a split personality, with two souls in her body. Otherwise, how could she be so crazy one moment, like a madwoman, and the next moment so sincere, her words filled with blood and tears?

If there really are two souls, according to what she said, one of them might be reborn.

Judging from Pan's ability to choose the correct answer, rebirth is useless unless she can also have the function of rewinding time.

Mi Yao felt Zhao Tianhe's gaze on her, but pretended not to notice his scrutiny after hearing "lover". She said to Madam Pan, "Since Father tells me to seek justice myself, here's what I'll do. I'll give you a chance. You can suggest a punishment that I'll be satisfied with, and I'll punish you according to your suggestion. You can also choose not to suggest one and continue to say these 'heartfelt words', in which case I'll do as I see fit."

Mi Yao placed her fingers on the teacup and scraped away the tea foam. "Think it over before you speak. We've dealt with each other so many times. You know me; I only give one chance at a time."

Pan swallowed back the words she was about to say because of Mi Yao. She stared intently at Mi Yao's slender fingers, her eyes burning with hatred.

"I want to get married, I want to marry Zhao Balang."

Since her different choices in this life did not improve her fate, she was willing to marry Zhao Balang again, not by clinging to Xiao Chua's shortcut, but by relying on the prophet to help Zhao Balang succeed.

"Okay, I'll betroth you to Gan Qiang."

Meeting Pan's incredulous gaze, Mi Yao shrugged. "We've dealt with each other so many times, you know me. I'm the stingiest person. If you want to get married, you can only marry a slave who's been registered as a slave. As for the Eighth Prince of the Zhao family, what did he do wrong to deserve such a ruthless wife like you?"

"Yu Shi, you—"

"Quickly cover your mouth!" Mi Yao reminded Qi Niang.

Qi Niang quickly stuffed a handkerchief into Pan Shi's mouth and took Pan Shi's belt to tie her up.

Zhao Tianhe, not wanting to look at anything improper, went outside. Looking at the scenery outside, he both sighed and found it amusing: "The Yu family that Chu'er married is quite interesting."

He had heard many complaints about Mi Yao from others, and he thought that Mi Yao was the kind of person who would not suffer a loss, but he did not expect that her unwillingness to suffer a loss would be expressed in this way.

"Madam Yu is so lively, no wonder the town magistrate likes her."

Zhao Xun, who was standing nearby, chimed in with a comment.

"Indeed, it's fresh."

Thinking of Mi Yao arrogantly raising her chin and saying she was stingy, Zhao Tianhe chuckled, but then his smile fell again when he thought of Madam Pan. He thought his daughter should be like Mi Yao, brave enough to expose the collusion between Zhao Wu and Zhao Qi, able to openly say she was stingy, and vengeful without ever suffering any injustice.

Unlike the Pan family, who were morally corrupt, unscrupulous in their pursuit of power, and foolish enough to fail to achieve it.

"Let's follow the punishment decided by your daughter-in-law and make Pan marry that servant."

As for what happens to Pan in the future, their father-daughter relationship has been severed, and he will no longer care.

*

When leaving the governor's mansion, Mi Yao didn't forget to ask Zhao Xun for tea. Zhao Xun thought she was just flattering Zhao Tianhe, but who knew she actually wanted tea.

"Even the best quality Baihao Silver Needle tea was only obtained in small quantities by the envoy."

Zhao Xun politely declined, but Mi Yao seemed not to understand: "Then I'll take less, just five coins each."

"The total yield was only a little over one jin."

"Those three coins?"

Zhao Xun met Mi Yao's bright almond-shaped eyes. He had said earlier that Mi Yao had a lively spirit, partly to echo his master, but now he felt that she was a real, living person.

Their lives are so infuriating.

"Madam, is this tea really that good?"

The two boarded the carriage. Qi Niang looked at the purple clay pot with three qian of tea leaves in Mi Yao's hand. Thinking of Zhao Xun's stingy expression earlier, she asked curiously.

Mi Yao leaned into her arms and said, "It really tastes good."

However, the reason she insisted on having it wasn't just because it tasted good, but because she wanted Zhao Tianhe to know that she was annoying and didn't know how to read the room, so that he would have less contact with her and that she wouldn't be called out early in the morning again.

She thought she was being thoughtful, but she didn't know if it was because she was too likable, or because Zhao Tianhe thought that three qian of tea was worth it and that he would have to use her a few more times to make it worthwhile.

A few days later, Zhao Tianhe sent someone to the Xiao residence to instruct her to preside over the Shangsi Festival on the third day of the third lunar month.

Mi Yao's only memory of this festival was that it did not prohibit sexual intercourse in the wild. After young men and women expressed their love for each other, they could go into the woods when their feelings were deep, and the government did not prohibit them from doing so at night.

After tossing and turning on the couch a couple of times, Mi Yao listened lazily to the matters that needed her to preside over. She was told that she was to replace Xiao Chuan and use willow branches dipped in calamus wine to sprinkle on the soldiers he had left behind to ward off illness and pray for blessings. She was also to prepare a large number of peonies to facilitate unmarried men and women seeking partners.

She paused to think for a moment, too lazy to look for someone specifically. She had only told Xiao Chuan that she was just talking, but now that an opportunity had fallen from the sky, shouldn't she seize it?

Only by carefully analyzing everything, from the rough to the fine, as Xiao Chuan said, can one determine whether he is truly gifted.

Thinking of this, she sat up from the couch, becoming somewhat interested in the festival.