255 You Think I’m Dead?
Yuan Hui didn’t understand why Zhao Chuchu displayed goodwill toward Madam Huo.
She knew that Zhao Chuchu was a reasonable and rational person.
She wanted to hurry Zhao Chuchu and tell her to go, but Zhao Chuchu seemed like she didn’t hear Yuan Hui at all. She continued to stand there and converse with Mrs. Yuan.
This was the first time that Yuan Hui had seen her mother speak so much. Regardless of what Zhao Chuchu said, Madam Huo could continue the conversation with her.
“If you need anything, just let me know. You can do whatever you want in this house. Just treat it as your own home. There’s no need to restrain yourself.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Yuan.”
Yuan Hui kept tugging Zhao Chuchu from the side and tried to bring her away. She didn’t want Zhao Chuchu to interact with Madam Huo too much.
But Zhao Chuchu behaved as though she couldn’t feel or see Yuan Hui at all. She continued to converse with Madam Huo.
Yuan Hui frowned. She couldn’t understand what Zhao Chuchu was doing at all.
The two spoke to each other about various topics for a long time before finally ending the conversation.
“Please go ahead. I still have some business to attend to, pardon me.”
“Yes, please. I didn’t mean to hold you back.”
Madam Huo nodded slightly and walked away with her servants.
Yuan Hui watched her mother leave, then looked at Zhao Chuchu, feeling rather confused.
Zhao Chuchu explained, “I thought I should at least get a feel for your mother’s attitude, just in case something goes wrong in the middle.”
“What attitude can she have? She’s definitely thinking of some cunning scheme.”
“As long as she doesn’t jeopardize what we’re trying to do. Under the current circumstances, Yuan Hui, you shouldn’t pay too much attention to her in case she realizes something.”
While Zhao Chuchu was consoling Yuan Hui, she sighed inside.
Although Yuan Hui had matured a little, she was still no match for Madam Huo.
Madam Huo made no mistakes and had no loopholes when she spoke. Although Yuan Hui had listened to the entire conversation just now, she didn’t realize that Madam Huo’s words had other meanings.
“Alright, I’ll listen to you for this. Let’s go. We’ll head there first.” Yuan Hui didn’t want to continue the conversation. Instead, she held Zhao Chuchu’s hand and walked forward.
They weren’t heading to Old Mrs. Yuan’s house. They were going to Yuan Hui’s place.
Yuan Hui’s little storeroom was stuffed full of herbs. Zhao Chuchu picked out the ones that she needed and measured the appropriate quantities, then told Yuan Hui to cook the herbs personally.
“Do not let the medicine leave your line of sight, and don’t let anyone go near it either. If anyone asks about it, tell them that you’re making some supplements for yourself,” Zhao Chuchu reminded her.
“Why?”
“We should use this opportunity to bait some rats, right?”
The Yuan family’s mansion was huge. So naturally, Yuan Hui and her siblings weren’t the only ones staying here. There were people from the side branches of the clan and outsiders as well.
Zhao Chuchu roughly memorized the people staying in the Yuan clan’s mansion.
She wanted to see which of these people were from the Imperial City.
They could use this opportunity to take them out.
Yuan Hui understood what Zhao Chuchu meant.
She quickly got someone to prepare the herbal pot and stove for her, then set it up in the courtyard and started cooking the medicine.
Someone smelled the medicine and went over, following the smell. When he saw Yuan Hui squatting in the courtyard and cooking the herbs, he was rather surprised.
“Cousin Hui, how can you do this stuff yourself?” The first person who came was a man dressed like a scholar. When he saw Yuan Hui cooking the herbs, he immediately dashed over and tried to pull Yuan Hui away. He said, “You’ve never done this stuff before. What if you burn yourself? Where are the servants?”
Yuan Hui felt her veins pop a little. She pulled her hand back and shunned the man’s touch. “I had nothing to do just now. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with learning how to cook herbs. Besides, I’m not a three-year-old kid anymore. So how can I get burned from just cooking medicine?”
The man said, “But still, you shouldn’t be doing something like this. As the eldest daughter of the Yuan clan, you can’t do something that defames your status. Somebody, somebody, come…”
“Cousin Xu, this is my courtyard. I’m afraid it’s not appropriate for a son of an external family like yourself to come here uninvited. You always seemed to regard yourself as an upright gentleman. So why are you going against the rules now?”
“I was worried about you, Cousin Hui. I got a little anxious and forgot about this. Please don’t be upset with me. Forgive me.”
The man bowed toward Yuan Hui.
Zhao Chuchu sat by the window and watched the courtyard.
She remembered that this scholar with the surname Xu was the son of Yuan Hui’s birth mother’s sister.
He came to the city five years ago to join the Yuan family. After that, he stayed with the Yuan family and studied at the academy.
Based on what Yuan Hui said, Scholar Xu was supposed to be a gentleman. He had always been respectful and humble toward others and never behaved inappropriately.
But now, that didn’t look like the case.
Factually speaking, this person seemed rather impatient, and he wasn’t very good at acting either.
The first thing that he did when he appeared was to tell Yuan Hui not to defame her status instead of showing his concern for her.
His subconscious reaction to Yuan Hui’s actions revealed his most genuine thoughts.
He treated Yuan Hui well simply because he wanted to marry Yuan Hui and inherit all of the Yuan family’s property.
Besides, based on his looks, this man was obviously cold-blooded and didn’t care about other people. He could probably betray anyone in a heartbeat.
Fortunately, Yuan Hui didn’t have any feelings toward him. Instead, she simply treated him as a cousin who cared about her. Otherwise, she would have been on the losing end of the relationship.
Right now, the man whom Yuan Hui perceived as a gentleman even tried to make physical contact with her upon seeing that there was no one else around.
“Cousin Hui, let me see if you burned yourself. You should leave things like cooking medicine to the servants. Your skin is so fine and smooth. You can’t endure things like this…”
“Please behave yourself.”
Yuan Hui was shocked by Scholar Xu’s action. She frantically took a step back and refused to let him touch her.
...
“This is the inner courtyard. Please leave here first. I don’t want people to spread rumors that will tarnish my reputation as well as yours.”
Yuan Hui warned Scholar Xu sternly.
Scholar Xu behaved like he didn’t hear her at all. He said, “Cousin Hui, I was just concerned for you. If you get burned, I’ll feel very upset. So, please, just let me take a look. That way, I’ll feel at ease.”
He continued to walk toward Yuan Hui as he spoke. A light of confidence and certainty gleamed in his eyes.
The last time Yuan Hui left Guangqing Province, he almost died. He was on his toes the entire time.
If Yuan Hui died, how else would he obtain the Yuan clan’s property?
This was a one-in-a-million chance right now. As long as he could make things happen today, there was no way the Yuan clan wouldn’t let Yuan Hui marry him!
Scholar Xu thought about the fortune that he would be able to get if he succeeded today.
“Please behave yourself!” Yuan Hui’s tone turned cold as she spoke. “Are you forcing me to call people?”
“Cousin Hui, do you know how much I think about you every day? I think about you when I’m studying, and I think about you when I’m looking at flowers. I even think about you in my sleep… You’re always on my mind, anywhere, at any time. Cousin Hui, I like you very much. Would you marry me? I promise I’ll be good to you!”
Scholar Xu pounced over and tried to force Yuan Hui to conform to his will.
...
Yuan Hui was infuriated. She didn’t think that the cousin she had previously respected was a predator!
“What are you trying to do? Don’t come near me. Otherwise, I’ll shout for help!”
“Shout for help? We’re in the room alone right now. Do you think shouting for help is going to do anything? The only thing that’s going to do is taint your reputation. Cousin Hui, if you are with me, I’ll treat you better than anyone else in the world. If you miss me, you’ll never meet a man better than me.”
Scholar Xu stepped forward hurriedly and tried to hug Yuan Hui.
Zhao Chuchu knocked on the window calmly and asked, “Do you think I’m dead?”
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