Chapter 624 I've never felt so frustrated

The Shen family.

"Yes, one thousand taels, not a tael less!"

Qin Xin raised her chin and said to Granny Tian in an uncompromising tone, "Hua Yi is no ordinary maid. She comes from the Prince Ning's mansion. Her manners are much better than those maids outside. And her face and figure are top-notch!"

"Not to mention, she is also skilled in martial arts, capable of taking on ten opponents at once, and possesses immense strength. Protecting your young lady is absolutely foolproof!"

"You think you can buy a painting with ten taels of silver? Dream on! If you don't have money, don't come here to buy a maid. Others have already offered eight hundred taels. If you can't afford it, don't bother. You're just wasting our time!"

Granny Tian was furious after being snubbed: "A thousand taels? Are you out of your mind? Why don't you just rob us! A maid, no matter how skilled, is still just a maid. To dare sell her for a thousand taels, you must be seriously ill. I want to see who's so brainless as to be such a sucker and buy your maid!"

Qin Xin rolled her eyes at her: "You poor thing, just because you can't afford it, you think others can't afford it either? There are plenty of people who want to buy Huayi, not just young ladies and ladies, but even young masters and gentlemen want to buy her!"

After Qin Xin finished speaking, she slammed the door shut and left, humming a little tune.

Granny Tian was stomping her feet in anger outside, but there was nothing she could do. The other party wouldn't sell, and she couldn't force the painting to be taken away, could she?

She had no choice but to leave and return to the Liu family to report back.

In the courtyard, Shen Wantang was resting with her eyes closed under the grape trellis.

Hearing that Qin Xin had returned, she opened her eyes: "The people sent by the Grand Secretary's Mansion have left?"

Qin Xin nodded excitedly: "Let's go, Miss! I never imagined that the painting would be so valuable!"

As she spoke, her gaze fell upon Huayi.

Huayi was currently pounding glutinous rice cakes in a heavy stone mortar. This kind of work would be very tiring for other maids, but it was very simple for her.

She didn't even dare to use too much force, lest she crush the stone mortar.

She knew that Shen Wantang was going to sell her, and she also knew that Shen Wantang was asking for an exorbitant price of one thousand taels of silver.

She felt she couldn't possibly sell for such a high price, but she secretly hoped that Xiao Qingyuan would come and buy her after he found out about it.

She had already secretly sent someone to the Prince Ning's residence to deliver a message to Xiao Qingyuan.

Du Juan also felt that the painting wasn't worth a thousand taels of silver. She asked in a low voice, "Miss, isn't your price a bit too high? People who were originally interested in buying it might not buy it after hearing this price, right? Why don't you lower the price?"

Shen Wantang smiled and said, "Things are valued for their rarity, and the same goes for people. Hua Yi is very talented, and it would be hard to find another one like him in the entire capital. If I sell it too cheaply, people might think there's something fishy going on! Don't worry, there are plenty of rich people in the capital. One thousand taels is not expensive at all."

"Then... then will Prince Xiao be unhappy if he finds out that the maid he gave you was sold at a high price?"

"I don't care whether he's happy or not. I'm happy, that's all that matters. He gave himself to me and gave me the indenture. So, it's up to me to decide what to do with him."

As they were talking, the gate to her courtyard was suddenly pushed open.

Shen Mingxuan stormed in angrily.

She walked up to Shen Wantang and said stiffly, "Didn't you want to sell Huayi? I'll buy it!"

Shen Wantang, with a good-natured expression, said, "Sister wants to buy? Sure, one thousand taels."

"Haven't you ever seen silver before?!"

Shen Mingxuan gritted her teeth: "A thousand taels all the time, there's no way it'll sell! One hundred taels, that's the most I can do!"

"Oh dear, sister, you don't know yet, someone has already offered eight hundred taels of silver. Oh, right, even the Grand Secretary's mansion has sent people to snatch her away! You tell me, how sought-after is this painting! Sister, hurry back and ask your mother for the silver, or I'll sell her to the Grand Secretary's mansion."

Shen Mingxuan was so angry that her chest ached: "She was originally my maid, and you forcibly took her away from me! I'm only giving you one hundred taels because we're sisters, don't be ungrateful! After today, I won't give you another one hundred taels!"

Shen Wantang waved her hand: "Then you should go back, sister. Come back when you have money. Anyway, you're so poor, there's no need for a maid as capable as Huayi to serve you. She's more suited to serving wealthy families. It would be a disservice to her."

"you!!"

Shen Mingxuan's chest heaved violently; she wished she could slap Shen Wantang.

However, Shen Wantang is not the same as before. Besides Huayi, she has four maids around her and two mysterious men in black guarding her in the shadows. It is impossible to hit her!

She had never felt so frustrated in her entire life.

In the past, she always kept Shen Wantang under her thumb, hitting and scolding him whenever she wanted, and her father would always side with her unconditionally. She lived a carefree life every day!

But now, it's completely the other way around!

All of this stemmed from the fact that Shen Wantang had caught the eye of the Duke's Mansion and the Prince of Ning's Mansion, and that she would be able to marry into a high-ranking family in the future, to the point that even her father had to curry favor with her.

Shen Mingxuan's eyes turned red with jealousy: "Hmph, don't be so arrogant. Let me tell you, you won't be smug for long!"

After she finished speaking, she glared at Shen Wantang and turned to leave.

Shen Wantang guessed that she had probably gone back by now, and instructed Qin Xin: "Go and see what kind of trick she's up to now."

Qin Xin responded and quickly chased after him.

In the main courtyard, Shen Mingxuan cried and threw herself into Qi Shi's arms.

"Mother, didn't you say you had a way to get rid of Shen Wantang? Why aren't you doing it yet? I can't stand it for another day! I can't live like this anymore! She hasn't even married into the Duke's mansion yet, and she already doesn't respect us. If we really marry into it, she'll probably look down on everyone else!"

"Xuan'er, don't worry. I've almost finished planning. There's no way she'll marry into the Duke's mansion. She'll only be ruined!"

"Really? Then tell me, Mother, how do you plan to ruin her reputation? Sell her to Chichun Lane?"

"That won't do. That would be too obvious. Your father would suspect us. If we break off his marriage with the Duke's mansion, he would definitely kill us. Moreover, the Duke's mansion won't let us off the hook either. So we have to be more discreet."

"How can we keep it secret? What exactly should the mother do? Is it a reliable approach?"

"Of course it's reliable, but you don't need to know the specifics of how to do it. If you know nothing, your reaction will be more genuine."

The mother and daughter spoke in hushed tones. Qin Xin pressed her ear against the back window and barely managed to catch the gist of it. But Qi Shi was being so secretive, even keeping it from her own daughter, which worried Qin Xin greatly.

She eavesdropped for a while longer, but finding no useful information, she could only return to Shen Wantang's courtyard dejectedly.