262 Hopelessly Stupid
The maids grew white as they retreated backward in fear.
“How many bad things have you done behind your master’s back? How else could you look so nervous if you haven’t done anything wrong? I mean, I just treated Chunxiang’s face.” Zhao Chuchu continued, “You’re just taking out your insecurities on the weak. And now you are interfering with my business?”
“Miss, please forgive me. That’s not what I meant. Chunxiang is a dishonest wench and is caught by us every time. We do not want to leave the Yuan clan. We’re also worried she’d fool you, so we take her and try to have her confess her sins to you.”
“Exactly, Miss. If you do not believe me, why don’t you ask around? Then you will know the person she really is.”
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“Miss, we’re doing this for your own good. Please don’t let Chunxiang sweet talk you into believing anything. You have to trust us. There’s no way we’d interfere with your business.”
They were so frightened that they hurriedly knelt, kowtowing incessantly.
Chunxiang was trembling all over. “You are all talking nonsense. I have never done such a thing!”
Zhao Chuchu looked down at them from above. “Do I look like a fool to you? Do you think I will believe whatever you say without referring to my own judgment? You talked behind my back about me taking advantage of the Yuan family. You think I don’t know that?”
The maids suddenly turned pale. They were all kneeling with their foreheads against the ground, not daring to look up at Zhao Chuchu.
“This is the Yuan clan’s business. I should not interfere, but you have the folly to interfere with my business. I’m not a good-tempered person and hate being pointed at. Either confess your sins to Yuan Hui, or I will take you there in person.”
“Miss, please forgive us, please. We’ll never do this again. Please show some mercy and let us off the hook.”
This time, it was their turn to beg for mercy.
However, Zhao Chuchu would not show mercy to them.
She knew people like them were ungrateful.
They would take others’ kindness for granted and their blunders seriously.
She couldn’t believe they were so arrogant when they were nothing but servants of the Yuan clan.
At this time, Yuan Hui came back and froze when she saw this scene.
“What’s going on?”
The maids saw Yuan Hui and moved over on their knees as if they had seen their savior.
“Miss Yuan, you have to seek justice for us. We have served you with all our hearts for all these years. Please be thoughtful, and don’t punish us for something an outsider says.”
Zhao Chuchu was speechless.
These people were hopelessly stupid.
She had been in the Yuan clan for many days, yet they still didn’t know what all this was about.
There was no way they would have Yuan Hui take their side just because they had worked here for a long time.
The Yuan clan had been so kind to its servants that they had forgotten their places entirely.
Yuan Hui looked at Zhao Chuchu. “What’s going on here?”
Zhao Chuchu laughed. “It’s nothing, but I couldn’t bear to see Chunxiang’s face being ruined, so I prepared some medicine to treat her face. I just didn’t expect to offend these ladies. They had to ruin Chunxiang’s face before they would stop.”
“How dare you!”
Yuan Hui was furious after hearing this.
“Who are you? Just because I’m nice to you, it makes you think that you are in charge of this courtyard, right? I thought you’d learned your lessons from Hua Ying. Now you’re trying to follow her old path?”
“Someone, take these people away. Beat them with fifteen strokes each, and send them to the back kitchen to do chores, and don’t let them set foot in my courtyard again!”
When those few people heard this, they were terrified.
They were at least second-class maids, and they were leading kind of a leisurely life in the courtyard, but the back kitchen was different. It was a place where they had to do all the dirty work, and their monthly pay was also low.
So they all started to kowtow and beg for mercy, howling and crying.
Yuan Hui, however, ignored them and watched coldly as they were dragged away.
“Do you see that now? In this courtyard, I’m the only one in charge. If anyone does this again in the future, I swear to God I will sell her instead of just beating her as punishment.”
The rest of the people in the courtyard were silent, not even daring to breathe.
Yuan Hui walked up to Chunxiang, hooked her chin, and carefully examined her face for a while.
“It seems like the red bumps on the face are really getting better.” Yuan Hui looked at Zhao Chuchu. “What kind of prescription did you use? Come on, let’s have a discussion.”
After that, Yuan Hui dragged Zhao Chuchu into the house while the others were left outside and not allowed to come in.
“Chuchu, can you really cure the red bumps on Chunxiang’s face? I’ve seen many girls like Chunxiang in the capital, and they can’t even find a husband because of this. If you can cure their faces, I’m sure they’ll be willing to pay you.”
Zhao Chuchu smiled and deliberately joked, “Huihui, since when did you become so money-oriented?”
“What are you talking about? Nobody hates money, after all. And this is also a good deed by curing the women’s faces so they can find worthy husbands. Still, I mustn’t force you into this business. It’s up to you whether to do it or not.”
“I do have this idea, but it’s not decided yet. After all, the Xia clan is still around right now, and I don’t want the Xia clan to know that I’m here. When your grandmother gets well, I’ll have to go back to Yuanjiang County.”
“We have plenty of time. There is no hurry. By the way, Chuchu, I’ve heard a lot about the Xia clan. Do you want to hear about it?”
“Do tell.”
Yuan Hui told Zhao Chuchu everything she knew in detail.
The Xia clan began to go downhill, but they were still as arrogant as ever. In fact, they seemed to have become even more arrogant these years so that they’d appear to the outside world they were still in their prime when they actually weren’t.
It was not the first time the Xia clan men harassed young ladies. Each time this went uncontrollable, they would pay the victim to appease the matter.
Some soft-hearted victims would just take a dozen or so silvers to let this go.
But the Xia clan had a connection in the capital. They had a close relationship with the commander of Weisuo in Guangqing Province so they could always avoid being punished by the law.
The Xia clan had practically been seen as a common enemy of the general public, but unfortunately, no one could outweigh their patronage, so people had to put up with it.
As for the Kang clan, they seemed like a decent family.
But they had been up to no good, just like the Xia clan.
...
Now the two families had already developed a difference of opinion. The Kang clan had always wanted to take over the Xia clan but failed because of the latter’s resilience.
“Recently, the Xia clan also began to inquire about you. The Xia clan has known you saved Mr. Deng and his son.”
“What do they want to know about me?”
“Xia Songquan, that old man has spent most of his life having fun with women. He’s probably impotent now. What else could he want from you?”
Zhao Chuchu sneered, “This old bastard, it’d serve him right if he dies in a woman’s arms!”
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