Chapter 4: Insulting

The master and servant came to the study and were stopped by Qinglu at the door.

"Sister Qingzhi went to the palace and was so tired that she fell asleep on the bed when she returned. Madam is so generous and her face is so bright."

Fu Yue was furious. "Which eye of yours can see our girl's rosy face? Are those two black holes on your face for breathing?"

Qinglu's face was fierce, and she raised her wrist to slap Fu Yue, but Song Zijin slapped her away.

She hid Fu Yue behind her and said in a cold voice, "As long as I am the wife of the Xiao family, don't even think about bullying Fu Yue!"

"You just have a good-looking appearance, why are you showing off?" Qinglu said sarcastically.

"Having a good appearance and being able to work for my husband is not a skill. Unlike you two, who have coveted my husband for years and haven't even managed to become his concubine."

After saying this, he looked up and down at Qinglu meaningfully.

My mother once said that when attacking a villain, don’t be led into action by his logic, and don’t get angry. Instead, you should cleverly use things that the other person cares about to make him angry and self-proving.

Qinglu felt like she was stripped naked and thrown on the street to be watched by everyone. Her face was covered in blue and red, her fists were clenched tightly, and she looked at Song Zijin with murderous eyes.

Song Zijin didn't care at all. She was willing to sacrifice even her innocence. Nothing could hurt her.

What's more, she is useful to Xiao Jin now, so what's wrong with being a little arrogant?

The door of the study opened from the inside, but the person who came out was not Xiao Jin.

Zeng Yuanshuang, dressed lightly, stood on the steps, looking down at Song Zijin condescendingly, "This is Madam Xiao, right?"

Song Zijin hated this kind of pinched voice and pretentious tone, but he still put on a pleasant expression, "I am, who are you, young lady?"

Zeng Yuanshuang walked down the stairs, twisting her waist with each step, like a beautiful snake described in a storybook, ready to spit out its tongue at Song Zijin at any time.

"I am Shaoren's next wife." She whispered in Song Zijin's ear.

The wet air attacked Song Zijin's eardrums, trapping her breathing like a poisonous miasma.

Through the deliberately lowered collar, Song Zijin could clearly see the ambiguous red marks.

I don’t feel sad, but I do feel disgusted.

Qinglu seemed to have found a backer, and shouted: "This is the concubine of King Jinyue. Madam, you are the wife of an official, and you must greet the concubine with courtesy!"

What!

Song Zijin was completely stunned. So she was sent to the palace to exchange for Zeng Yuanshuang?

Her mind raced. If that were true, she would lose the confidence to act so arrogantly in the Xiao Mansion...

The hand holding Fu Yue suddenly tightened. She suffered without any fault, so how could Fu Yue be innocent?

But if she just gave in to this adulterous couple, she couldn't swallow it.

"Madam, aren't you the most polite person?" Qinglu said arrogantly.

Like a dog clinging to its master's thigh.

It was at this moment that the doorman came in.

"Miss Qinglu, the palace's steward is here and wants to see you, my Lord."

Zeng Yuanshuang was just the concubine daughter of Zeng Sheng, the director of the Imperial Medical Bureau. She did not have a high status in the family and was not very well-mannered. In addition, she had suffered a lot in the palace recently and was very afraid of the housekeeper Li Chi, so she hid in the west room as soon as possible.

Song Zijin breathed a sigh of relief.

Before Butler Li came in, Song Zijin went into the study first.

"Husband." She forced herself to call out this disgusting name that made her unable to eat lunch.

Xiao Jin sat upright in the Huanghuali armchair behind the desk, his eyes fixed on Song Zijin's bright and beautiful face.

"Madam, are you worried about your father-in-law's condition?"

Look at his refreshing look. I never realized he could act so well before.

Song Zijin took a few steps closer, her brows lowered. "I couldn't sleep at night, so I wanted to ask my husband if the medicine could be delivered."

Xiao Jin chuckled softly, but didn't answer. Instead, he stood up and walked to her side, looking down at her closely. "Madam, have you looked in the mirror since you came back?"

Song Zijin nodded.

His cold fingertips touched her brow bone, "Then Madam, didn't you see the seductive color at the corners of your eyes?"

A chill ran up from the soles of his feet, making Song Zijin shiver.

Both out of shame and humiliation.

The next moment, the venomous snake-like finger bones imprisoned Song Zijin's chin, forcing her to raise her head, and breathed into her ear.

"Madam, do you blame me?"

Song Zijin bit her lip and shook her head, the feeling of humiliation almost overwhelmed her.

"Madam, your acting is really bad. Next time you lie, remember to hide your tears. Madam, please tell me how my brother feels. If I am happy, I will show you the letter I received from Cangzhou today."

Song Zijin looked up suddenly, "A letter from my father!"

"Yes, so Madam, do you want to talk about it?"

Song Zijin couldn't understand why this man had a masochistic tendency, so he could only try to feign agreement: "It just hurts a lot, how can it feel like that?"

Xiao Jin was obviously dissatisfied and his face darkened.

Song Zijin's mind raced, and she came up with a new answer: "I was very sad last night. Every moment I was enduring the pain of being abandoned by my husband. Now my husband is cruelly asking me to relive the humiliation I wanted to forget. I, I am so ashamed and angry that I want to die..."

After saying that, she covered her face with her hands and cried bitterly.

Xiao Jin's whole body stiffened, his breathing stopped for a moment, and then became rapid.

Song Zijin already knew about the situation and naturally felt the man's surging desire, and she felt a little nauseous.

But strangely, Xiao Jin just turned around and said in a hoarse voice, "You go out first."

Is he sad?

In the past, Song Zijin would have coaxed him a few times out of guilt, but now she just wanted to know about her parents' news. "Where's the letter?"

"It's on the table, help yourself."

Song Zijin took the letter and left quickly, fearing that this place would dirty his feet.

After returning to Cangjiao Pavilion and closing the door, he leaned against Fu Yue to read the letter.

The letter was written by Mrs. Song. It was not long, stating that Xiao Jin had sent someone to deliver medicine and had called a doctor, and was already treating the patient.

Fu Yue was very excited, "Miss, the master is saved!"

But Song Zijin's face was solemn, and the corners of his mouth were tightly pursed.

"This is not my mother's handwriting." Song Zijin said in a heavy voice, "Besides, my mother can't possibly need help from outsiders to treat her illness."

If the medicine required for this disease was not so rare and precious, my mother would not even have to write a letter for help.

With her medical skills, ordinary medicinal herbs can still play a significant role.

Fu Yue was filled with indignation, "That man is deceiving the girl!"

There are few girls in this world who are more innocent and kind-hearted than my daughter. Why should she be treated like this?

The hemp rope breaks only at the thinnest part. Is God blind?

Fu Yue started to sob again. She hated herself for being just a powerless little maid who couldn't help in anything.

Song Zijin hugged Fu Yue's shoulders, holding back tears as he comforted her, "It's hard to tell what's going on right now. We have so little information, we need to observe further. Perhaps Mother has already obtained the herbs, and Xiao Jin is afraid that I might disobey him if he finds out, so he's plotting this to manipulate me."

This is the best case scenario.

The worst case scenario is that Xiao Jin only wants to exchange for Zeng Yuanshuang, then she would probably be really finished.

The innocent girl forced herself to be strong. Even though her hands were shaking badly, she still tried to comfort Fu Yue.

In the study, Xiao Jin directly rejected the request of housekeeper Li for Mianmian to live in the palace.

The reason was reasonable, but he was a civil servant after all, so Butler Li was unable to argue with him and had to return home in defeat.

He cursed in his heart as he walked. How shameful it was that a third-rank minister did that kind of thing in his study in broad daylight, and he didn't even bother to get rid of the smell.

Bah, how disgraceful.