Chapter 39 Rumors See Who Spreads Them Faster

  The sudden loud noise of the wooden board in the courtyard immediately startled a flock of birds into flight. The servants surrounding the scene, each with a fearful gaze, watched this unfold. Unconsciously, they all wiped away their contempt for Xu Mingjin from the bottom of their hearts and replaced it with fear.

  Xu Mingjin looked around at the changing faces of the onlookers with a satisfied expression, since she couldn't replace them all for now, but killing one to warn a hundred was still possible. Although she couldn't stop them from running to find Mrs. Xu and telling her everything that had happened here, she also wanted to make them fear her from the bottom of their hearts.

  At this moment, she hit the wet nurse. She believed that in no time, the news would reach Mrs. Xu. Xu Mingjin was skeptical, what could Mrs. Xu do to her?

  The old woman initially screamed like a pig being slaughtered, but her voice gradually grew fainter. By the time the 20th board was finished, she was already gasping for air. Xu Mingjin slowly walked over, looking down at the old woman who lay there like a dead dog, and said condescendingly: "Old woman, do you have anything else to say?"

  The old woman gave Xu Mingjin a venomous glance, about to speak, but her head suddenly slumped and she fainted.

  Xu Mingjin didn't even look at her again, and ordered people to drag her away. If she was still alive, get some medicine for her; if she was dead, then drag her out to feed the dogs. When Xu Mingjin said "feed the dogs", those servants bought by Mrs. Xu were all terrified. Who knew that Xu Mingjin would say another sentence: "She's already old like that, I reckon even dogs won't be able to gnaw on her. Just throw her away directly."

  The lower bound...

  Xu Ming took Xu Mingxuan into the house without even turning his head back.

  Xu Mingjin immediately ordered Chun Xing to hurry out of the house as soon as she entered. She also whispered something in Chun Xing's ear, and Chun Xing's expression kept changing. After Xu Mingjin finished speaking, Chun Xing left. Xu Mingxuan looked at Xu Mingjin with confusion: "Sister, what did you tell her? You're being so mysterious."

  Xu Mingjin smiled and shook his head, but refused to mention what he had entrusted to Chun Xing. Xu Mingxuan asked urgently, and she replied faintly: "Guess what, after Mrs. Xu knows about this matter, what will her reaction be?"

  "What else can I do? Boom! Like thunder!" Xu Mingxuan said without thinking.

  "No, you're underestimating Mrs. Xu." Xumingjin said: "She will definitely make a big deal out of this matter, and I'm going to do it before she does."

  "What's going on?" Xu Mingxuan asked strangely.

  "You'll know tomorrow." With that, Xu Mingjin fell silent, no matter how much Xu Mingxuan tried to persuade her.

  Xu Mingjin was indeed a one-trick pony. As soon as Madam Xu heard that Xu Mingjin had almost beaten to death the old servant girl she had placed by Xu Mingjin's side, she immediately knew she could make use of this situation. She promptly ordered her trusted maid, Zhang, to spread rumors outside that Xu Mingjin was cruel and tyrannical, and that just a few days after returning from the countryside, she had beaten to death the old servant girl sent by her mother to serve her. Madam Xu believed that once these rumors were out, Xu Mingjin would become infamous in the capital, but not as the number one talented woman like her daughter Xu Mingxia, but rather as the number one evil woman. This way, let's see how Xu Mingjin would get married in the future! Madam Xu sneered to herself repeatedly. However, before she could finish sneering, Zhang rushed back in a fluster.

  Mrs. Xue immediately knew that something was wrong, and indeed, as soon as Zhang's wife opened her mouth, she said: "Madam, something terrible has happened!"

  Mrs. Xu anxiously asked: "What's going on, tell me quickly!"

  "Madam, the people I sent out hadn't even started spreading rumors when another rumor emerged: The Shangshu Fu people, dissatisfied with Minister Xu acknowledging two illegitimate children as his own, sent two trusted wet nurses to insult and mock those two poor kids. As a result, unable to bear the humiliation, the child had someone send those two wet nurses back to Madame Xu's place, where one of them was beaten to death by the Shangshu Fu lady! And now they're trying to pin the blame on those two children!"

  As soon as she finished speaking, her face was slapped with a loud slap. Mrs. Xu's anger soared and she shouted: "You're talking nonsense!"

  The old woman hastily knelt on the ground, covering her face with her hands and said pitifully: "Madam, this is what people outside are saying, not something I said!"

  After Mrs. Xue finished scolding, she gradually calmed down from her anger and pulled Zhang Aizhen up from the ground: "Aizhen, I was wrong to blame you." Zhang Aizhen hastily expressed her loyalty to Mrs. Xue: "Madam, this servant's life belongs to you, it was just a small slap, I won't take it to heart, so please don't blame yourself, madam."

  Mrs. Xü comforted Zhang's wife for a while before saying with hatred: "Who exactly spread this rumor?"

  "This rumor came out, and the lady couldn't spread any more rumors about Miss Six being bad. In this way, the one who benefited the most was Miss Six. The old slave guessed that this matter must be related to Miss Six, and it's possible that she was the one who spread it!"

  Madam Xü furrowed her brow and said, "That's what you say, but Sixth Maiden has just arrived at the Minister's residence and has no foundation there. She can't possibly get out of the residence, and outside the residence, there is no one who can receive her. How did she manage to do it?"

  Zhang's mother was also stunned upon hearing this.

  Madam Xü said: "Have someone go and check all around the mansion to see if any of the maids from Feicui Garden have left the estate?"

  Zhang Ya hurriedly went out to give orders and then came back to kneel in front of Mrs. Xu.

  "What are you doing? Get up quickly." Mrs. Xue hurriedly stopped her. Zhang Yaoyao said, "Madam, it's the old slave who didn't do things well, please punish me."

  "It's all said and done, this matter isn't your fault. Hurry up and get up, don't make more trouble. Oh dear, my head hurts." Mrs. Xu gently stroked her forehead. Zhang Yaoyao quickly got up from the ground and supported Mrs. Xu, anxiously asking: "Madam, what can we do now?"

  "Tell those people to go out and clarify that all the rumors are false." Mrs. Xu said with hatred: "This time she escaped again, hateful. It's just unknown who helped her."

  Mrs. Xü was indeed suspicious of who had helped Xü Míngjǐn, but deep down, she didn't believe that this thing was done by Xü Míngjǐn himself. She wouldn't believe it even if you killed her.

  As for Xu Mingjin, it wasn't until dusk that Chun Xing returned from outside. However, her appearance was somewhat disheveled, with tangled hair and a disordered dress. There were wisps of straw on her head and mud stains on her clothes. When Xu Mingjin saw Chun Xing in this state, he immediately tensed up: "What's wrong? Were you taken advantage of?"

  Chun Xing rolled her eyes and said, "Miss, can't you think of something better?"

  "Alright, Chun Xing, who did you take liberties with? Zhang Shouzi?" As soon as Xu Mingjin said this, Qiu Yun and Man Zi both covered their mouths and laughed. Chun Xing's face turned bright red as she explained, "Miss, it wasn't like that!"

  "What's going on?" Xu Mingjin looked Spring Apricot up and down, even scrutinizing the dog tail grass swaying on her head. Spring Apricot was looked at by Xu Mingjin until she felt embarrassed, finally unable to bear it and said: "Alright, I'll confess honestly!"

  Xu Mingjin hastily stopped and looked at Chun Xing with a measuring gaze, staring into her eyes, waiting for her to speak.

  "I, I." Chun Xing looked at everyone staring at her and suddenly felt embarrassed. She quickly said in a low voice like a mosquito's hum: "I came out from the dog hole in the back garden of the Shangshu Mansion!" Then she covered her face and ran away.

  Xu Mingjin said "......"

  After a long time, Xu Mingjin sighed: "Qing Xiang is really formidable! Doesn't take the usual path......"

  Xu Mingjin was actually moved in her heart, Chun Xing must have suffered a lot for her orders, right? Alright, I won't mock her anymore and be nicer to her. Xu Mingjin thought.

  On the other side, Mrs. Xü was thinking of a way to frame Xu Mingjin, when Zhang's nanny quietly approached her and said: "I've asked everywhere, today no maids or young servants have left the mansion from Feicui Garden. Not one."

  "That's really strange!" Mrs. Xu said with a hateful tone: "I don't believe that rumor has nothing to do with her!"

  Madam Xu had barely finished speaking when the gatekeeper announced: The master has returned.

  Zhang's wife hastily retreated, and Madame Xu adjusted her clothes and hair, inserting a jade pin into her hair before rising to greet Xu Ruoyi.

  Who would have thought that Xu Ruoyi would storm in, scolding Xu's wife head-on: "Look at you, what are you doing! From the day you fainted in the ancestral hall, I knew you didn't want me to recognize Jin'er and Xuan'er as your children. I thought you were just sulking, but after comforting you, it became like this. I didn't expect you to be such a vicious person! You actually wanted to shift the blame onto Jin'er's head and ruin her reputation!"

  Mrs. Xü burst into tears and tried to explain, but Xü Ruòyì waved his hand: "Don't explain! If you didn't do it, there wouldn't be those rumors outside! Do you know how much trouble you've caused me? You're going to ruin my career! Listen, I'm going to dismiss all the servants in Feicui Garden and Songfeng Temple right now, and have new ones bought immediately!"

  Mrs. Xü gasped, "Are they all dismissed? Then she won't be able to reach Jade Garden and Pine Wind Courtyard in the future! How can that be?! Mrs. Xü was about to retort when Xu Ruoyi had already called over the butler and instructed him to immediately go find a matchmaker. After the butler left, he immediately summoned his personal attendant and then said to Mrs. Xü, "Bring out the sale contracts of the slaves in Jade Garden and Pine Wind Courtyard!"

  Mrs. Xü had to comply and handed it over to Xu Ruoyi's long-serving attendant. Her heart was bleeding. She was no longer sad about the servants she had carefully arranged in those two courtyards, but rather sad that in the ten or more years since she married Xu Ruoyi, he had never scolded her like this before, and had never been so disrespectful to her, especially not in front of the servants. Today, Mrs. Xü felt that her face had been utterly lost.

  Xu Ruoyi also felt that he had gone too far, Xu's maternal family was the Ye family, and it wasn't something he could afford to offend. However, Xu's crying and wailing really made him feel disgusted. As a first-class official of the imperial court, what kind of beauty hadn't he seen? Xu had been married to him for over a decade and had long since become tired of her. Moreover, Xu no longer had the stunning looks she once had, and despite taking good care of herself, her face still showed signs of aging. This crying fit only made her look even more unattractive. Xu Ruoyi suppressed his disgust and went forward to comfort Xu.

  "Madam, it's not your fault, you shouldn't say that." Xu Ruo Yi wiped away Madam Xu's tears. However, his strength was a bit too much and he ended up hurting Madam Xu, who then pushed him away.