Liu Lin stood in the center of the servants, his eyes suddenly lighting up.
He scanned her face downwards, then slowly looked her up, his eyes growing brighter with each glance. Such beauty was something he had never encountered in all his years in Tangshan Prefecture. Especially her fair and aloof face, which was slightly flushed with anger, made his lower body tense.
It wasn't until a sharp gaze fixed on him that he snapped back to his senses.
He followed the gaze back and was suddenly met with a pair of deep, cold eyes, as if they contained a sharp blade, which made him shiver even in the May weather.
Su Dalang and Su Dalang rushed to Su Hua's side, pointing at the Liu siblings and starting to complain, "Auntie, just now this woman wanted to take Xiao Hei back to their house to guard the gate, and wanted to turn Da Bai into a little female cat. When we didn't want to, she scolded our parents for not raising us well."
And this man, pretending to be all high and mighty, offered to buy Little Black and Big White for ten taels of silver. When we refused, he threatened to beat us up.
"Who stole them?! You little brat, don't talk nonsense here!" Upon hearing this, Liu Yuxian quickly glanced at the Third Young Master, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that his expression hadn't changed. "I just wanted to buy this little black dog and blue-eyed cat. Firstly, I like them, and secondly, I saw that you're not having an easy time, so I thought I'd give you more money to ease your family's burden. After all, twenty taels of silver is enough for your aunt to run her stall for ten years, isn't it..."
Before she could finish speaking, the big white dog on the ground started cursing at Liu Yuxian.
"Meow! Meow roar!! Meow!!!"
You old hag, I haven't even finished pooping yet, and you keep staring at the lychee on my butt!
They clearly have ulterior motives!
How dare you say you're happy? Happy my ass!
While cursing, Da Bai gently tugged at Su Hua's skirt and snuggled into her arms with a pitiful expression.
Xiao Hei, its tail held high, bared its teeth fiercely at Liu Yuxian.
Woof!!!!
You wicked woman! Not only do you keep saying I'm ugly, but you also say I'm only fit to be a doorman!
I really am a gatekeeper!
This isn't for your family to see! If I hadn't just peed, I would have definitely peed on you so you could look in the mirror!
In the alley, the young masters and ladies who couldn't understand the beast language fell silent. Although they couldn't understand it, they could still sense the emotions. These two were clearly cursing each other more filthy than the other!
At this moment, Su Dalang added insult to injury, "This young lady's maidservant tried to steal Da Bai and Xiao Hei, and now she wants us to kneel down and apologize."
"Ha!" Su Hua half-embraced Da Bai, looking at Liu Yuxian with a smile instead of anger, "After so many days apart, Miss Liu is still as imposing as she was at the Hundred Flowers Banquet, always making people kneel down. Now, she doesn't even spare two little children. The upbringing of my Su family is naturally no match for that of the Prefect's family, which is truly astonishing time and time again!"
The young men and women, who had never seen Su Hua before, all widened their eyes upon hearing this.
This little girl actually dared to scold even the daughter of the prefect.
Moreover, according to what Liu Yuxian just said, Su Hua is just a small vendor. Vendors are the lowest of the low. Yet, a nobody like her dares to insult Liu Yuxian. This girl has a pretty face, but her brain seems to be full of water.
Liu Yuxian's face darkened, and she glared at Su Hua with hatred. "It's just a cat, why do you have to say such nasty things!"
Beside her, a young lady in green, who had been following closely behind Liu Yuxian, chimed in, "That's right, it's just a cat. Miss Liu meant well. It's fine if you don't appreciate it, but why are you so quick to criticize and accuse the Prefect's family of poor upbringing? Do you not respect our Prefect?"
Su Hua glanced at her, gently stroking the white dog's fur with her fingertips. "Miss, do you not understand human speech, or is there something wrong with your ears?"
"What do you mean?" Zheng Baoling was stunned.
"When did I say the Prefect's family had bad manners?" Su Hua raised her eyes, her clear gaze sweeping over the two of them, and smiled indifferently. "Moreover, does this young lady mean to say that Miss Liu forced me to buy my cat and dog because the Prefect taught her to? And when the forced purchase failed, she resorted to robbery because the Prefect taught her to? And if she didn't succeed in robbing us, she says it was all for our own good because the Prefect taught her to do it?"
Zheng Baoling was completely stunned. "I...when did I say that..."
“It was clearly me and Miss Liu who were talking, but you kept mentioning the Prefect, isn’t that what you meant?” Su Hua smiled, no longer looking at her, but leisurely looking at Liu Yuxian. “Besides, Miss Liu is right, it’s just a cat, but some people are not even as good as cats.”
"Su Hua! Stop being sarcastic here." Liu Yuxian's cheeks puffed up with anger.
"What sarcasm? Miss Liu's words are too harsh." Su Hua's almond-shaped eyes darkened slightly. "Twelve days ago, at the Hundred Flowers Banquet, Miss Liu honored her bet and gave Zaozhuang to me. But when we went to collect the estate the next day, almost all the rice seedlings in the two hundred acres of fertile land in the estate had been destroyed."
It was already mid-April, and all the rice seedlings had begun to head. Even by the most conservative estimate of 3 shi of grain per mu, 200 mu of fertile land could produce at least 600 shi of grain. If the grain yielded 120 jin, then 600 shi would be 72,000 jin of grain.
Even in years of good weather, 72,000 catties of grain would be enough to feed several towns. In years of famine caused by natural disasters such as drought or floods, this 72,000 catties of grain could save the lives of tens of thousands of people.
But those who destroyed the seedlings argued that destruction was a form of salvation, completely disregarding the lives of others. Miss Liu wondered if these seedling destroyers were even less than a cat.
As soon as she finished speaking, everyone looked at Su Hua with undisguised surprise.
The Hundred Flowers Banquet! Zaozhuang! It turns out that she is the talented woman from Qingshui County who won three first places at the Hundred Flowers Banquet and was even favored by the Dean of Qingshan Academy. These days, people in the prefectural city have been talking about the Hundred Flowers Banquet, but they only know that the talented woman's surname is Su, but they don't know that she is the woman in front of them.
People depend on food for survival, and destroying grain has always been considered shameful. Back then, Liu Yuxian's willingness to admit defeat was once a widely praised story.
Unexpectedly, they secretly destroyed all the rice seedlings. They were students of Qingshan Academy. Although they did not engage in farming, they knew that sowing should be done in March, the rice should sprout in April, and the seedlings should be destroyed in mid-April. This meant that the entire year's harvest was lost.
For a moment, everyone's gaze towards Liu Yuxian became somewhat strange.
Liu Yuxian pinched her palm, her face full of surprise, "How could such a thing happen! Miss Su, do you know who did this to destroy the seedlings?"
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