Chapter 7 If I could get close to Prime Minister Song, then...
"Congratulations, host. You have gained 2 points of cuckoldry value and 1 point of heartthrob value this time." The system suddenly sounded in my mind: "Both of them come from Pei Shilin."
Xie Yushu paused for a moment while picking up food. Two points of cuckoldry value. It seems Song Jie's carriage is here again? He must be having an unbearable episode of illness.
For someone in great pain, even a spider's silk can be a lifeline.
She picked up a piece of sashimi and placed it on Granny Xizhi's plate: "Try it, it won't be fresh in a while."
Granny Xizhi felt like she was sitting on pins and needles, her eyes reddening. No master had ever treated her so well, ordering the best dishes and allowing her to eat at the same table as her master... There was no girl in the world as good as Miss Yushu, and yet such a good girl was being bullied.
She put the sashimi in her mouth, feeling both happy and wanting to cry.
"You cried because it was so delicious?" Xie Yushu teased her, seeing her eyes redden. "Jinye and Yinya also cried because they were so delicious when they ate them at Fanlou this morning."
Jin Ye blushed as she ate at the table, but Yin Ya said, "I cried because I was moved. Even my mother didn't treat me as well as Madam. She only gave the rice in the house to my younger brother and never gave it to me."
Seeing how thin the two girls were, Xie Yushu pushed the meat dishes in front of them and said, "As long as you are of one mind with me, I will never let you go hungry as long as I have something to eat."
Jin Ye looked at her longingly, her eyes also welling up with tears.
Xie Yushu couldn't bear the scene and waved his hand, telling them to eat more and be less moved.
A figure flickered outside the curtain, and her new bodyguard, Wang An, reported from outside, "Madam, the little beggar we bought has woken up. Shall we bring him over?"
Before Xie Yushu could even get a good look at what this charming little beggar looked like, he told Wang An to bring him in.
The curtain was lifted, and Wang An practically carried the little beggar in. He had an injured foot and couldn't walk properly, so Wang An barely supported him as he limped in, his thin body swaying unsteadily.
"I didn't expect him to be so tall." Xie Yushu turned around to look at the clean little beggar. She had thought he would be a thin child like Jin Ye or Yin Ya, but now she saw that the little beggar was almost as tall as Wang An, a strong man.
“Yes, Madam,” Wang An said. “Don’t let his thin appearance fool you, he’s surprisingly strong. I almost knocked him over while I was washing him.” He then told Xie Yushu, “The doctor said that his tendons in his hands and feet have been broken and he needs proper treatment, otherwise he will be disabled.”
Tendons and tendons severed? This kind of scenario is usually reserved for martial arts masters who suffer revenge, right? This little beggar actually knows martial arts.
Xie Yushu glanced at the little beggar standing a few steps away with his head down and suddenly asked, "Do you know martial arts?"
The little beggar visibly paused for a moment, then cautiously looked up at Xie Yushu from his messy black hair.
Those were very dark eyes, with the alertness of a wild animal ready to attack at any moment.
Wow, he really is! Who is he anyway?
Xie Yushu didn't press the issue further after his tentative touch, instead asking, "What's your name? How old are you?"
The little beggar's gaze unconsciously shifted from her to the table, though it quickly returned to its original position. Xie Yushu noticed that he swallowed, indicating that he hadn't eaten in a long time.
"Help him over here," Xie Yushu instructed Wang An.
Wang An helped the little beggar to the table, and Xie Yushu pulled a plate of beef in front of him and asked, "Want some?"
The little beggar didn't answer, but his stomach growled loudly, and everyone in the room heard it.
Xie Yushu was amused and, smiling, fanned the little beggar with his fan, saying, "If you want to eat my food, you have to listen to me and answer my questions."
He was so hungry that his dark eyes stared at the plate of beef, and he finally nodded.
"What's your name?" Xie Yushu asked patiently. "How old are you?"
He moved his mouth, and a hoarse, labored sound came from his throat: "Sixteen... I don't have a name, people call me Little Knife."
A knife?
Xie Yushu vaguely remembered that in the original drama, near the end, Song Jie forced the old emperor to commit suicide. His last words to the old emperor on his deathbed were: "Your Majesty, who do you think Xiao Xiaodao, the assassin you just ordered to be shot to death with arrows, was? He was your son..."
Then the old emperor coughed up blood and died.
Because Xie Yushu, as a supporting actress, finished filming early on, she only had a general understanding of the non-romantic storylines involving Song Jie and was unaware of the plot involving "Assassin Xiao Xiaodao," who never appeared on screen throughout the series.
Could the little beggar be Xiao Xiaodao? Is he the old emperor's son?
Xie Yushu was overjoyed. If she really found the old emperor's son, wouldn't she be able to use the emperor to command the princes and become the regent?
"...Host, your task is simply to ensure Xie Yushu's happy life." The system whispered a reminder: "The male lead, Xiao Zhen, who is currently the Crown Prince, is the future emperor. The female lead, Xie Jianing, is destined to be empress with the male lead. You cannot change the original ending, otherwise this world will collapse..."
Tsk.
Xie Yushu expressed his dissatisfaction and wanted to ask the little beggar another question, when a commotion came from outside.
It seemed as if another of her bodyguards stopped Pei Shilin outside the courtyard gate, and he and his mother started shouting at each other.
We were waiting for this mother and child.
Xie Yushu raised his chin and instructed Wang An to go out and bring the mother and child in, then said to Xiao Dao, "Eat."
Xiao Dao was really starving, so he didn't care about anything else and grabbed the beef with his hands and stuffed it into his mouth.
"Sit down and eat." Xie Yushu tapped the chair with his fan. Seeing that he sat down obediently despite stuffing himself with beef, he said with satisfaction, "There are plenty of delicacies to be had. You won't go hungry if you follow me."
The curtain was violently flung open.
Pei Shilin stormed in, initially furious that Xie Yushu had secretly hired a man to obstruct him at the Pei residence. However, upon entering, he found a group of servants sitting at a table enjoying a feast, and a disheveled man sitting next to Xie Yushu!
What kind of behavior is this! It's absolutely outrageous!
"Xie Yushu, shouldn't you tell me who those two men outside the door are?" Pei Shilin said with a dark face, pointing to the man blocking his way outside the door, and then to the man sitting and eating: "And who is he!"
"My newly purchased servant." Xie Yushu, as if deliberately trying to provoke him, gently brushed aside the hair covering the man's face with his fan.
Pei Shilin angrily stepped forward to pull Xie Yushu up, but a greasy hand suddenly grabbed his hand with great force.
He looked down and met the disheveled man's wolfish eyes, which made Pei Shilin feel uneasy. Who was this wild man? Why was he so protective of Xie Yushu!
"Congratulations, host, you have gained 1 point of cuckold value." The system reported to her in real time.
Xie Yushu looked at Xiao Dao with a mixture of surprise and satisfaction, not expecting him to be so grateful.
"Shilin, Shilin!" Li Huixian rushed in and hurriedly stopped him, tears still on her face, and whispered to him, "Save Shibin first. For your brother's sake, bear with it, bear with it..."
Looking at his mother's tear-streaked face, Pei Shilin could only swallow his anger. He shook off the wild man's hand and gritted his teeth as he said to Xie Yushu, word by word, "Prime Minister Song invites you to his residence for a reunion."
"I'm not going." Xie Yushu leaned back in his chair and refused decisively.
Li Huixian panicked and rushed forward, crying, pleading with Xie Yushu, "You can't not go, Yushu! If you don't go, you might get beaten to death in prison..."
"Then let them die." Xie Yushu looked at Li Huixian. "The death of the Pei family has nothing to do with me. I'll just remarry."
Li Huixian was speechless at her vicious words and stared at her in astonishment.
"What do you want in return?" Pei Shilin didn't want to waste any more words with this woman and said directly, "One thousand taels."
Xie Yushu laughed and looked at Pei Shilin, saying, "If it were this morning, I might have considered helping your Pei family with a thousand taels, but not now. Your Pei family can't both use me and bully me at the same time."
Her eyes turned cold, and her tone became sharp and sarcastic: "Your mother smashed my people's things today, wasn't it just to establish my authority? What? Did she forget that she used to beg me when she was smashing things?"
Li Huixian naturally knew what was making her angry, and immediately apologized: "I'm sorry, I was confused and lost my temper, so I smashed the food. How can you make me feel better?"
Granny Lianxiang also came over, knelt down, and apologized, saying it was all her idea.
She was truly capable of bending and stretching to save her son.
"What's the use of apologizing when everything's been smashed?" Xie Yushu wasn't buying it and said directly, "It's simple to appease me: you smashed my yard, so I'll smash it back."
Li Huixian was stunned. What kind of daughter-in-law in the world would dare to do this!
Xie Yushu slammed his fan on the table and said without room for discussion, "You decide what to do."
"Xie Yushu, do you even know the basic principles of morality and ethics?!" Pei Shilin roared.
The thought of her youngest son's blood-stained clothes filled Li Huixian with anguish. She grabbed Pei Shilin, gritting her teeth and swallowing her anger, "Smash it! Let her smash it! As long as she's willing to save Shibin!"
Xie Yushu didn't stand on ceremony with them at all, and led all his attendants and maids straight to Li Huixian's courtyard.
Zhao Feng brought over a chair and helped her sit down.
Xie Yushu pointed to Li Huixian's rooms and said, "Jinye and Yinya, help Granny Xizhi go in and smash them."
"Yes, Madam!" Yinya straightened her back and, with Jinye's help, rushed in with Granny Xizhi. She was the first to smash the teacups and incense burner on the table.
Xizhi's heart pounded with fright. She turned around and saw Xie Yushu sitting calmly in the courtyard. The Pei family mother and son were crying and angry, but Xie Yushu remained sitting there calmly, looking at her and raising his chin to her, signaling her to let go and smash.
Suddenly, Xizhi burst into tears. The once cautious and timid Miss Yushu seemed to have become a different person, someone no one could bully!
A series of clanging and banging sounds came from inside the room, as if they were hitting Li Huixian's heart and face. She only dared to cry and dared not curse out loud. She had to save Shibin first. After saving Shibin, she would definitely torture Xie Yushu to death!
"Have you made enough trouble, Xie Yushu?" Pei Shilin was exhausted. Looking at Xie Yushu in the night, he could hardly recognize her. Was this still the gentle and shy Xie Yushu? The Xie Yushu of the past would never dare to say a word that was too offensive, but the Xie Yushu of today was sharp-tongued, vindictive, and caused chaos in the Pei family.
"Are you satisfied now?" Pei Shilin just wanted to resolve Shibin's matter quickly and divorce her. "Can you save my brother now?"
Xie Yushu looked at Xizhi and the others who came out panting and stood up, saying, "Have you prepared the one thousand taels of silver?"
Li Huixian was crying and then she was completely bewildered. Why was she being charged money for wrecking her courtyard?! One thousand taels yesterday, and another one thousand taels today! The Earl's mansion was about to be emptied out!
Pei Shilin laughed, his pale face bearing a weak smile as he said to Xie Yushu, "Xie Yushu, I really misjudged you. It's not that you married into my Pei family at a high level, it's just that my Pei family is too small to accommodate someone as important as you."
"I've already been very kind by not taking two thousand taels; you should be grateful." Xie Yushu acted like a complete villain. "Don't provoke me again." After saying this, he led her people back to her courtyard.
※
As soon as she entered the house, Yinya's eyes widened: "My God, you've eaten it all?"
In the time it took to smash something, Xiao Dao ate all the food on the table, and he was no longer in the house.
Xie Yushu ignored him and instructed Jin Ye to bring out the new clothes she had bought that afternoon, as she wanted to change.
"Wear a Taoist robe?" Although Jin Ye was suspicious, she obediently went to get it and helped Xie Yushu change into it.
This is a set of blue Taoist robes, which are not only worn by people in Taoist temples, but also by many people as everyday clothes.
Xizhi styled Xie Yushu's hair into a Taoist nun's bun, and after putting on a jade hairpin, she could see that Xie Yushu had already applied her makeup in front of the mirror, but this time she hadn't even applied lip rouge.
Although she looked like she wasn't wearing makeup, her appearance was noticeably different from before, and she looked more like Miss Jia Ning.
Xie Yushu was very satisfied with the makeup and got up to ask Jinye to go to the Prime Minister's residence with her.
As soon as she stepped out the door, she saw a man leaning on a cane waiting for her at the bottom of the stone steps under the moonlight.
"Xiao Dao?" Jin Ye was taken aback. Xiao Dao, who had been disheveled, had tied all his hair up, and the face that was revealed was surprisingly handsome.
He's not just good-looking; even now that he's lost so much weight, his good looks are still undeniable. Once he grows up, he'll definitely have the looks of a leading man.
Xie Yushu felt relieved when he saw this face; someone so good-looking couldn't possibly be just cannon fodder.
"I'll go with you." Xiao Dao's voice was hoarse, and he was still speaking with some difficulty, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time and was not used to it: "If I eat your food, I will help you with your work."
Xie Yushu walked up to him, smiled, and reached out to touch his messy hair ends: "Your hair looks like a bird's nest. Take it apart and let Granny Xizhi comb it out properly for you."
He was uncomfortable being touched and turned slightly to the side.
Xie Yushu withdrew his hand and said to him, "Take good care of your injury first, and come out with me after your leg is healed."
He smelled a fragrance that wafted from her wrists, cuffs, and the darkness she walked through; he could still smell it even after she had gone far away.
Xiao Dao couldn't resist grabbing the end of her hair and smelling it, discovering that even the ends of her hair that she had touched had a fragrance.
For some reason, his ears felt hot, and a sense of inferiority arose in his heart. He felt that someone as lame and dirty as him was not worthy of following behind her.
※
"Host, you've gained 1 point of Popularity Points." The system's tone was somewhat surprised: "From Xiao Dao."
Xie Yushu didn't expect to gain so much popularity from Xiao Dao so quickly. She walked to the back door and saw her husband, Pei Shilin, with a face like a ghost.
The system's voice sounded again: "Host, you have gained 1 more point of green hat value, from Pei Shilin."
Xie Yushu couldn't help but laugh out loud. How could this be swiped?
Pei Shilin was stung by her smile, and as she passed by, he asked in a low voice, "Madam, you've dressed up so meticulously, making yourself look more like a fake of Xie Jianing. Is it to help the Pei family? Or is it to climb the social ladder by marrying Song Jie?"
Xie Yushu didn't even glance at him and said, "If I can get close to Prime Minister Song, I will have to thank my husband for making the connection. I won't forget to give him a thank-you gift as a matchmaker."
Pei Shilin's heart skipped a beat, he felt dizzy and his body swayed.
"Host, you've gained another 1 point of 'green hat' value," the system exclaimed in surprise.
Xie Yushu didn't need to ask to know how much "green hat value" and "heartthrob value" she had accumulated today, all thanks to her good husband.
The system popped up a screen telling her: "You now have 6 points of 'green hat' value and 3 points of 'heartthrob' value."
There are so many.
She's now worried about Pei Shilin's health; she doesn't want such a good catch to get so angry that he dies.
Stepping out the back door, Cang Shu, who was waiting, immediately came to greet him, but his gaze clearly faltered for a moment. Under the moonlight, Xie Yushu, dressed in a Taoist robe, looked too much like Miss Jia Ning, whom he had once used to escape the summer heat at the Taoist temple...
Even Cangshu couldn't help but wonder how much Miss Xie knew about Miss Jianing and the Prime Minister's past.
A note from the author:
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Don't mess with Sister Xie! [cheering emoji]
I'm giving out red envelopes today too!
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