Chapter 42 An Unexpected Encounter at the Incense Shop, and an Old Acquaintance...
Since the Qingming Festival, the two of them had clearly been living in the same courtyard, but they had never seen each other again.
On this day, Zhang Ting was invited to go out for a spring outing, and she got ready to leave early.
There was trouble at the spice shop, and the owner was not home. The situation was urgent, so Zheng Er had no choice but to report it to Zong Suyi.
“A young master brought several maids to cause trouble, insisting that our shop was using inferior agarwood to make incense. He also said that if we didn’t give an explanation today, he would smash our incense shop. The incense master couldn’t argue with him, so I came to beg you.”
Zong Suyi was washing scraps of cloth in a basin of water, his hands red from being soaked. Hearing this, he looked up at Zheng Er, then lowered his head again and said softly, "Steward Zheng, let's wait for Miss to return to make a decision."
“I have already sent Lin Xiuzhen to inform the master, but this matter is urgent. If we wait for the master to return to deal with it, it may be too late.”
"Only the young master in the family is skilled in spices, so please help me out." With that, Zheng Er bowed deeply to Zong Suyi.
The spice shop was originally proposed by Zong Suyi. After a little thought, he agreed, threw away the scraps of cloth, went back to his room to change his clothes, put on a veiled hat, and went out with Zheng Er.
The carriage was occupied by Zhang Ting, so the two of them walked there. Fortunately, it was nearby, and they arrived in no time.
The spice shop was surrounded by onlookers. Zheng Er walked ahead to clear a path for Zong Suyi, saying, "Young master, please."
Several burly maids stood menacingly on the left side of the shop. In the middle of them sat a young man in a blue robe, his face obscured by a veil. Beside him stood a handsome young servant in green.
Upon seeing the newcomer, the young man in blue said leisurely, "You've finally arrived. I've been waiting for you for so long."
The servant in green chimed in with a mocking remark: "I wonder which high-ranking official or nobleman he is, with such an air of importance."
The shops were nearby, and Zheng Er was efficient and quick in handling matters. The round trip didn't take long, indicating that the other party was deliberately looking for trouble.
Zong Suyi blinked lightly and said, "It was my negligence." He turned to Zheng Er and said, "Steward Zheng, please serve our distinguished guest a cup of tea so that he can rest his mouth."
Zheng Er immediately understood, and covered his mouth with a smile: "Yes, young master."
This is a sarcastic remark about his talkativeness!
The young man in blue stood up angrily, lifted his veil, pointed at Zong Suyi, and shouted, "You!" Suddenly remembering something, he lowered his hand, flicked his sleeve, and said with a sneer, "With such a sharp tongue, I'd like to see if you can make inferior agarwood sound like superior!"
Through the gap in the curtain, Zong Suyi could see the man in front of him clearly. He was Song Qiu, the illegitimate son of Prefect Song. In the past, this man had shamelessly flattered him.
Song Qiu snatched a sachet from the servant's hand, shook the bag with disgust, and deliberately threw it on the ground in front of Zong Suyi with a malicious smile. "Here you go~ this is it."
The servant said with ill intent, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and pick it up."
The servants behind them burst into laughter.
Zong Suyi clenched his fists. In the past, Song Qiu was not even worthy of carrying his shoes, but now he was humiliating him in every way.
He endured the humiliation and bent down to pick up the sachet, but the servant suddenly stretched out his foot to step on it.
Zong Suyi could no longer tolerate this lowly slave!
He kicked the servant hard, then casually picked up the sachet, saying in a completely innocent tone, "I'm so sorry, I can't stand strangers getting close."
The servant, his face contorted with rage, scrambled to his feet, his eyes filled with a murderous intent that seemed to want to tear him apart. But since his young master had not given any orders, he could only stand guard by his side.
Zong Suyi turned to stare at Song Qiu and said meaningfully, "However, it is also because you, this lowly servant, are so impolite."
If this statement were not accompanied by the preceding sentence, it would be an insult to Song Qiu, calling him a lowly slave, which made Song Qiu's neck turn red with anger.
"You bitch, how dare you insult me?!"
Seeing this, the servants behind him surrounded Zong Suyi, ready to teach him a lesson.
But he snorted coldly and said slowly, "Let the people outside see that this is the good son of the Prefect's family. If he can't find fault, he will resort to violence to oppress innocent civilians!"
Upon hearing this, the servants stopped, looked at each other, and none of them dared to take the blame.
When Song Qiu realized that his identity had been discovered, he looked around nervously and then put his veil down.
"Don't try to pull any other strings. It's clearly your shop that's selling inferior spices and passing off the real thing as the real thing!"
Zong Suyi held the sachet to his nose and sniffed it lightly. It was indeed the shop's fragrance, named Plum Blossom Fragrance, but it wasn't made with inferior agarwood. Clearly, this illegitimate son hadn't mastered the art of fragrance making and was just showing off.
He asked one of the shop's employees to bring him a piece of agarwood, then turned and sneered at Song Qiu: "Young Master of the Prefect, if you haven't mastered the art of incense, I can give you a free lesson."
Zong Suyi held the sachet and said, "Inferior agarwood has a raw and weak smell, and sometimes it even has a musty smell."
He changed the subject, staring at Song Qiu, and said, "And this top-grade agarwood has a sweet and mellow fragrance with rich layers, leaving a lingering aftertaste."
Just then, the hired worker brought over a piece of agarwood. He took it and sniffed it lightly. "This piece is the raw material for our shop's fragrance research. It is the same as the one in the sachet. It is all top-grade agarwood."
"If there is any doubt, let several people smell it and they will be able to tell whether it is true or false."
Despite Zong Suyi's confident assertions, Song Qiu dared not actually verify the truth of the matter. Agarwood was precious, but he had never been exposed to it before. His teacher, who taught him about spices, was ignorant and only told him that inferior agarwood smelled unpleasant and made him feel uncomfortable.
He disliked the smell of the sachet and assumed it was made of inferior agarwood.
Song Qiu stepped forward and snatched the sachet from Zong Suyi's hand. Through the gap in the veil, he felt that the man in front of him looked somewhat familiar, but he did not want to be laughed at by the commoners outside the arena. He said, "Perhaps I took the wrong sachet," and then hurriedly left with his servants and attendants.
Just as Zheng Ergang brought in the tea, he saw the group of people leaving.
"Eh..."
Watching Zong Suyi debate with the group of scholars from behind, the shopkeeper was full of admiration. "Young master is truly knowledgeable. If it weren't for you today, this shop might have really been smashed up by those people."
The rioting crowd had dispersed, and the purpose of the trip had been achieved. However, Zong Suyi seemed to have suddenly lost his spirit. He lowered his eyes listlessly, not even paying attention to the shopkeeper's flattery. Without saying a word, he turned and went back.
Zheng Er offered to take him back, but he stopped him, saying, "Steward Zheng, you're busy. I can go back by myself."
There were many things to do at the shop later, so Zheng Er didn't insist. Besides, it wouldn't be good for her to be too attentive to the owner's wife.
On the way back, Zong Suyi was stopped in an alley and the other person took advantage of his unpreparedness to rip off his veil.
"I knew it! The more I thought about it, the more familiar you seemed. It really was you." Song Qiu casually tossed aside his veil, crossed his arms, and circled around him. "I never expected to run into the Duke today. Oh no, I should say, this lowly servant."
Zong Suyi's breath hitched, she pursed her thin lips, and clutched the hem of her clothes.
"Were you bought by a spice merchant?"
"I heard that Steward Zheng call you 'Young Master'?"
Song Qiu covered her mouth and laughed, then leaned close to Zong Suyi's ear and said, "Does she know about your background and therefore dare not accept you?"
"The once high and mighty Duke has fallen to such a state! It's truly laughable! Hahaha..."
"If you had said so earlier, you would have come to me. We were good brothers after all. You can choose any of the servants behind me, so you won't be left without a woman."
Upon hearing this, the maid behind Song Qiu was delighted. Her gaze lingered on Zong Suyi, and she chuckled.
Zong Suyi was filled with hatred, his teeth grinding together. When he saw the lewd look in the eyes of the maid opposite him, his pupils contracted, and he took a few steps back in shock, both angry and afraid.
These rats, who used to never even see him, now dare to covet him!
Seeing that the man was frightened, the servants rubbed their hands together, feeling even more excited, and walked towards him in unison.
Zong Suyi was still a member of the imperial clan, so Song Qiu didn't dare to make a scene. When he saw the servants walking towards him, he quickly called out to them, but the women ignored his orders, which frightened him so much that his face changed color.
Zong Suyi felt a chill run down his spine, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. His fear reached its peak. He looked around and then used all his strength to run towards the left passage.
The intense running made his chest ache as if pricked by needles, but a string of women was chasing after him, and a single step slower meant certain death. He dared not slacken his pace in the slightest.
Tears of fear welled up in his eyes, but he forced them back.
Fortunately, Zong Suyi was familiar with the road conditions and managed to shake off the person after circling around a few times. He was still shaken and cautiously looked around. Just as he was about to poke his head out around the corner, he suddenly bumped into someone's arms, which startled him so much that he staggered back a few steps and almost cried out.
Looking up at the person, an overwhelming sense of grievance welled up inside him, and tears streamed down his face. He suddenly threw himself into the person's arms.
She sobbed softly, then said reproachfully, "Why did you take so long to get here..."
Zhang Tingzheng and Qiu Yuan were enjoying a spring outing and composing poems when they received a message from Lin Xiuzhen. They immediately returned and headed straight for the spice shop. On the way, they encountered Zong Suyi, who, seeing his panicked appearance, thought something terrible had happened.
She gently patted Zong Suyi's back and asked, "What exactly happened?"
Zong Suyi leaned against her and quietly told her the whole story.
Zhang Ting breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.
It's good that the spice shop is alright.
However, it was inappropriate for him to stay in her arms in broad daylight, so she pushed Zong Suyi away. Seeing that he was still in shock, she comforted him.
Zong Suyi couldn't hear a word of comfort from someone. He only remembered Zhang Ting coldly pushing him away. He lowered his head sadly, feeling bitter inside.
She really does despise herself.
He didn't know his limits and rashly rushed into her arms.
Zhang Ting frowned when he saw that the other person was looking down and lost in thought despite his words of comfort. Then he suddenly realized that if the other person was so focused on their own thoughts, then everything must be alright, and the desired effect had been achieved.
Fearing another accident at the shop and needing to question them further, she decided to send Zong Suyi back first before coming out.
After hearing Zhang Ting's arrangements, Zong Suyi became even more depressed.
Zhang Ting was completely bewildered. Wasn't everything alright just now?
Shaking his head, he couldn't help but sigh: A man's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea.
......
A woman in a blue brocade robe, panting heavily, carrying a bundle and with her shoes covered in mud, stepped into an inn on the outskirts of the capital.
She wiped her sweat, went to the counter and said to the shopkeeper, "I'd like a shared bed."
The innkeeper was quite surprised to see that she was well-dressed and advised, "The dormitory rooms are not very comfortable. Why don't you book a medium-sized room, madam?"
The woman in the brocade robe had gone to the capital secretly despite the objections of her elders. She couldn't even afford the travel expenses, let alone have the money to stay in a nice room.
Upon hearing this, she waved her hand, and after the shopkeeper handed her the key, she suddenly leaned over and quietly asked someone, "Shopkeeper, do you know where the eldest son of the main family is now?"
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