Not only Liu and the others, but Liao Hongying also disliked this imperious maid. However, considering that she hadn't caught the fish or cooked the soup, she didn't want to make a decision for her. Hearing Liu speak up, and knowing that the woman genuinely didn't care about the money, she echoed her sentiments.
"Young lady, as you can see, we have quite a few people in our family, including the elderly and children. This little bit of fish soup might not even be enough for them." The implication was that they didn't intend to sell fish soup.
Most people, upon hearing this, would probably turn and leave; after all, this can't be forced. But clearly, this girl is no ordinary person. Hearing her say that, she actually huffed and puffed.
"Hmph, is five hundred coins enough for a pot of fish soup?!"
Xiao Cui pondered for a moment. Her mistress had given her one tael of silver; if she could use half to buy the fish soup, the rest would be in her pocket—wouldn't that be wonderful? Normally, a fish only cost a dozen or so coins; even with inflation, five hundred coins would be more than enough! Besides, these people had only gotten lucky; otherwise, how could they have caught fish in this godforsaken place?!
Just now, the men from the escort agency went for a stroll along the river, but they didn't see a single fish, not even a small shrimp!
"One hundred taels of silver. If you agree, the deal is done; otherwise, forget it!" Qin Sanniang said coldly.
She couldn't be bothered to waste her breath arguing with such people; it wouldn't interfere with her eating and drinking. Who would even consider five hundred coins if they were such a sucker who wouldn't pay a cent?! Even if it were only five taels of silver, Qin San Niang wasn't going to bow down for a pittance—she couldn't tolerate such an insult! However, if a sucker was willing to offer several tens or hundreds of taels, she could tolerate it, after all, she had plenty of fish!
Seemingly taken aback by Qin San Niang's words, Xiao Cui glared angrily, exclaiming, "One tael of silver? That's practically robbery!"
"You woman, you're nothing but a robber! My young lady is doing you a favor by drinking your fish soup, and you still dare to act so arrogantly!" Glancing behind her, perhaps worried about being blamed for not doing a good job, she suppressed her displeasure and reluctantly said, "How about one tael of silver?!"
Scholar He's pleasant mood had been disturbed, and he was already feeling annoyed when he heard this fool say such a thing. He shouted angrily, "Nonsense!"
"you……"
Seeing the other person's sharp gaze, Xiao Cui felt inexplicably afraid and shivered. She swallowed the words that were about to come out.
Qin San Niang ignored her and ladled fish soup from the pot, urging everyone to eat and drink, "Come on, everyone, eat quickly, so you can rest after you finish eating."
Seeing that these lowly refugees actually dared to eat all the fish soup, the green-clad maid stamped her foot in anger. Having no other recourse, she simply said, "You just wait!" and then lifted her skirt and went back inside.
The young lady had a bad temper, and since setting off, she hadn't encountered any food that suited her taste. When she finally found something she wanted to eat, she hadn't bought it herself. Thinking of this, the maidservant felt a surge of anxiety.
Inside the carriage, Xie Yuyan was pretending to flip through "Admonitions for Women," but a closer look would reveal that the book was actually upside down! Although she appeared calm on the surface, she was inwardly furious!
Xie Yuyan was the second daughter of the Xie family in Jiangzhou, born out of wedlock. Her biological mother was a concubine whom her father had taken in the north. She was raised in the north from a young age. Originally, her legal mother in Jiangzhou did not acknowledge them, but for some reason, the old woman agreed to let her be recognized by her ancestors.
Her mother, who had been a mistress in the shadows for so long, was overjoyed to finally be recognized! Despite the ongoing war and the widespread displacement of people, in order to please her stepmother, she was urged to hurry to Jiangzhou to acknowledge her ancestors and return to the family line. As for her mother herself, she was to wait until her younger brother was on holiday from school before she could go to Jiangzhou with him.
Sure enough, in her mother's heart, her younger brother was the most important! He was her true support for the rest of her life! As for her, she was merely there to pave the way. Unfortunately, Xie Yuyan was never a proper young lady from a respectable family; not only was she full of airs, but she also learned some unsavory skills from her mother. However, she didn't think that way at all. She believed that her eldest sister in Jiangzhou had only benefited from being born into a good family, while she herself excelled in everything.
It's no wonder she thought that way. Back in the north, her mother had always considered herself the legitimate wife. Since no one knew that her father actually had a proper wife, she, an illegitimate daughter, spent her days studying and playing with the legitimate daughters of respectable families. Her mother was good at packaging her up and managed to transform her into a well-bred young lady who was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
In short, Xie Yuyan has a very high opinion of herself!
At this moment, she waited patiently. The journey had been incredibly arduous. Even though her mother had prepared many snacks and candied fruits for her, she had long since finished them. As for soup? She hadn't even had a sip of it. There was dried meat, though, but it couldn't be used to make soup! The cook who had come with them had caught a cold halfway through the journey and had been abandoned by the镖局 (bodyguard agency) on the roadside. She was probably already a skeleton by now!
She was escorted on her journey by a dozen or so guards from the Xie family in Jiangzhou, arranged by the second wife of the Xie family. For safety, her mother also asked a fellow escort agency to help her, but those men were all big men who didn't know how to be gentle with women at all. They were incapable of making soup, and even when they made porridge, the rice was often undercooked!
In order to reach the Xie residence in time, they traveled at a rapid pace, and did not enter any cities they encountered, saying that there was no need to buy anything, as they had enough food and could focus on traveling.
The escort agency actually agreed, and I don't know what valuable item they were pledging. The twenty-odd men were on edge all day, never distracted for a moment.
The sky was overcast today. Xie Yuyan, who had just finished eating a pancake and was about to make her bed to rest, suddenly smelled a delicious aroma. She thought her sense of smell was wrong. After all, this was the middle of nowhere. There were no ingredients, and where would she find such a good cook?
As the aroma grew stronger, she realized that the family in the distance was making fish soup. She immediately told Xiao Cui to take some money and go buy some; she was determined to have fish soup today!
"Miss…"
Completely oblivious to the timidity in the maid's voice, Xie Yuyan eagerly lifted the carriage curtain, "Why are you taking so long? Do you want your young lady to starve to death? Hurry up and bring it up!"
Xiao Cui was always bullying her master, and she knew her master's temper very well. Knowing that today's situation was definitely going to be tough, she quickly knelt down and said, "Miss, those peasants won't sell their fish soup, and they even said... nonsense."
"Didn't you say you'd give them money? Give them double! I've got plenty of money!" In her mind, these peasants were all greedy for money; a few dozen or a hundred coins would be enough to get rid of them!
Seeing that Xie Yuyan was about to explode, Xiao Cui trembled. "Miss, those vagrants must have lost their minds. They actually want a hundred taels of silver! That's outrageous! They're taking advantage of our misfortune!"
Upon hearing the number, Xie Yuyan opened her eyes angrily, "What?! One hundred taels! Why don't they just rob us?! These ill-mannered bastards! It's their good fortune that I, this young lady, think they're worthy of their fish soup, and they still dare to act so arrogantly!"
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