Chapter 53: The Roaring Young Lady

  Returning from Xu Ruoyi's study, Xu Mingjin still felt very pleased. Although the news that Xu Ruoyi said at the end made her a little unhappy and vigilant.

  Mrs. Xue was demoted to a noble concubine so quickly, which was not expected by Xu Mingjin. At most, she thought Mrs. Xue would be under house arrest for half a year. And the road of revenge that Xu Mingjin wanted to take was still far from being seen, but she didn't expect it to end so soon. Now she is the legitimate daughter, and Xu Mingxia has become an illegitimate daughter, while Mrs. Xue has become a noble concubine. The status of wife and concubine is vastly different. It's not difficult for Xu Mingjin to deal with Mrs. Xue now, but she won't take action so quickly. She wants to slowly watch Mrs. Xue lose everything she cares about, watching her die in agony.

  As for the Ye family daughter who was about to marry into the Xu family, Xu Mingjin thought it was better to wait and see. Before understanding the enemy's detailed situation, she wouldn't take action easily. It was also the Ye family girl, Xu Ruoyi really couldn't bear to give up the support of the Ye family for him! Xu Mingjin sneered, truly not giving up.

  As soon as she entered the Emerald Garden, Xu Mingjin received a big hug. She looked down and found it was Xu Mingxuan. He let go of Xu Mingjin and exclaimed with extreme surprise: "Sister, you're finally back!"

  Xu Mingjin was also overjoyed, in the other courtyard, what she worried about most was actually Xu Mingxuan. As soon as she came back, she saw his smiling face, it was really a delightful thing. The siblings followed each other into Xu Mingjin's Emerald Garden. It wasn't until then that Xu Mingjin asked about the thing she had been worried about: "Mingxuan, why are you here at this hour? Don't you need to go to school?"

  "Sister, don't worry, I've asked for leave to come back with Fuzi. I wanted to come back and see if you're back too. And the things Fuzi taught today, I actually studied them in advance yesterday, so it won't affect my studies."

  Xu Mingjin heard him say that, couldn't bear to blame him, and could only remind him to study hard in the future and not take time off again because of her. Xu Mingxuan readily agreed, but in his heart he didn't think it was a big deal - if he wouldn't even come back to see his sister, then who else would be worth coming back for? This kind of life was also too meaningless.

  Auntie Xu also chimed in: "Miss, don't blame Young Master, he's worried about you too."

  Xu Mingjin smiled but didn't speak.

  Xu Mingxuan curiously asked: "Sister, where did you and the princess go these past two days? Was it the imperial palace? What did you guys do?"

  Xu Ming Jin briefly mentioned the matter of Xuan Yuan Ze being on Zhuang Zi's, but Xuan Yuan Jing Lin took herself to play at the suburban Huang Zhuang for two days. Xu Ming Xuan showed disappointment and said: "I thought you went to the imperial palace for a stroll! It turns out it wasn't."

  Xu Mingjin heard this and knew that Xu Mingxuan must have been full of fantasies about the unknown palace. She told Xu Mingxuan with a serious tone: "The imperial palace is the dirtiest place in this world!"

  Xu Mingxuan was puzzled. Xu Mingjin gazed at him lovingly: "I hope you never understand the meaning of this sentence."

  Xu Mingxuan was even more bewildered, at this time, a quarrel suddenly came from the courtyard, and the new little maid Xiaolan rushed in and said: "Miss, it's not good! The eldest miss has arrived, the gatekeeper asked her to wait for a moment, after reporting, let her come in, but the eldest miss didn't care and wanted to rush in! Has been stopped by the gatekeeper."

  Xu Mingxia, isn't she under house arrest? How can she appear here? Xu Mingjin thought for a moment and knew why. After all, Xu Mingxia is the daughter whom Xu Ruoyi has doted on for many years, and now that she has been demoted to a concubine-born daughter, Xu Ruoyi must feel guilty towards Xu Mingxia in her heart, so she lifted her house arrest. That's why Xu Mingxia can appear here. But what is she doing here? No need to think, Xu Mingjin also knew that she must have come to pick a fight because of Mrs. Xu's matter.

  Xu Mingjin let the servant bring Xu Mingxia in, she didn't believe that there was a Jade Bamboo, and she couldn't hurt herself at all. Xu Mingxuan hastily blocked himself in front of Xu Mingjin. With his hands open, he made a protective gesture. Xu Mingjin smiled and told him that nothing would happen to her. Xu Mingxuan was half-believing and half-doubting, when Xu Mingjin whispered mysteriously into his ear: "Jade Bamboo knows martial arts, if Xu Mingxia dares to come recklessly, she will only humiliate herself." Xu Mingxuan's eyes widened instantly, looking at Jade Bamboo with admiration. Xu Mingjin saw him like this and felt deeply moved in her heart.

  Xu Mingxia stormed in, her anger boiling over. She strode straight towards Xu Mingjin and swung her hand at her. The hand was still a good distance away from Xu Mingjin's face when it was firmly grasped by Yuzhu.

  "Xu Mingjin, you've made my mother suffer so much! What did she do wrong to deserve this treatment from you? My mother has been treating you with the best food and drink since you entered the mansion. She even gave up the emerald garden that was prepared for me to give it to you! Why are you harming her like this?"

  Xu Mingjin narrowed her eyes, staring tightly at Xu Mingxia. She was intimidated by Xu Mingjin's gaze, and her heart shrank for a moment. But as soon as she thought of Mrs. Xu becoming a concubine, a fierce anger burst out from her chest. Her words were unbridled as she cursed: "Xu Mingjin, I'll tell everyone that you're actually a ruthless person! Everyone has been deceived by your superficial kindness and innocence!"

  Xu Mingjin did not speak.

  Xu Mingxia's vicious abuse continued unabated: "You despicable and shameless little person! I'll tell Father about your behavior!" Yu Zhu was furious at Xu Mingjin's verbal abuse, her grip on his wrist suddenly tightening. Xu Mingxia couldn't help but let out a sharp cry.

  Xu Mingjin said slowly: "You still don't learn from your mistakes. Last time you beat me, it ended like this, you can't have forgotten, wanting to relive it again?"

  Xu Mingxia immediately thought of the time at Ping Xi Wang Fu's gate, where she slapped Xu Mingjin in the ear with her fan, but was pinched by Yu Zhu so hard that she couldn't lift her hand again. She had to find a doctor and apply medicine, and it took her this many days to recover.

  Xu Mingjin took a step forward, and Xu Mingxia, for some reason, her feet out of control, took a step back.

  "Was it me who forced Mrs. Xü to pretend to be pregnant?" Xu Mingjin asked.

  Xu Mingxia was taken aback, but still insisted: "If you hadn't told the princess about my mother's pregnancy that day, wouldn't nothing have happened?"

  Xu Mingjin said: "Even if I don't say it, someone will. No one doesn't know that Mrs. Xu is pregnant."

  Xu Mingxia said fiercely: "Then why did you say it?"

  Xu Mingjin didn't want to get entangled in this issue with her, so she cut off Xu Mingxia's incessant chatter: "If you hadn't slandered me in front of everyone that day, none of the things that followed would have happened." Xu Mingjin looked at Xu Mingxia's face, which had suddenly turned pale due to her words, and said with a hint of schadenfreude: "So, everything Mrs. Xu is suffering from now is all because of you!"

  Xu Mingxia let out a scream and backed away continuously: "No, it's not like you said!" As she spoke, she turned around and ran out.

  Except for Xu Mingjin, everyone was at a loss, not knowing why Xu Mingxia rushed over in such a flurry, scolded them severely, and then rushed back again.

  Xu Mingjin no longer paid attention to this matter, she took Xu Mingxuan and turned back to the house.

  The next day, when Xu Mingjin went to pay his respects to Old Lady Xu, she kept her behind alone.

  Xu Mingjin guessed that Mrs. Xu's move was for Xu Ruoyi, and she had smelled an unusual smell since she returned from the other villa. She guessed, did Xu Ruoyi make a mistake on her mission? Indeed, as soon as Mrs. Xu opened her mouth, it was: "Jin'er, when will the princess come to find you again?"

  Xu Mingjin nodded and waited for Mrs. Xu's next words.

  Mrs. Xue's expression revealed a hint of disappointment, but she quickly regained her composure. She said warmly, "Even if no one is sent to deliver the message today, perhaps someone will be sent tomorrow." After pausing for a moment, she glanced at Xu Mingjin and saw that she was listening attentively with a respectful expression. Mrs. Xue became even more convinced that Xu Mingjin was easy to manipulate. Therefore, she didn't think it necessary to beat around the bush anymore and directly told Xu Mingjin, "You also know that your father is currently being treated coldly by the Emperor and his official position is precarious. You should speak up for your father in front of the Princess. I heard that Princess Jinglin is highly favored, and the Emperor will certainly listen to her words. Are you willing to help your father this one time?" After finishing speaking, Mrs. Xue fixed Xu Mingjin with a stern gaze.

  Xu Mingjin respectfully said: "Replacing father's worries is a daughter's duty, only..." Xu Lao Furen was very satisfied when Xu Mingjin said the first half of the sentence, but as soon as she heard Xu Mingjin say "only", her face immediately fell. Xu Mingjin pretended not to see it and worriedly said: "Only I'm afraid that even if I pass on the message to Princess Jinglin, whether or not things will work out is still uncertain. I also can't make any guarantees."

  Mrs. Hsu immediately hid her displeasure and smiled: "As long as you speak to the point, there's no need for you to worry about anything else."

  As she walked out of Spring Hui Tang, Xu Mingjin sneered in her heart. How could she possibly speak well of Xu Ruoyi in front of Xuan Yuan Jinglin and let him continue to be a high-ranking official without any guilt? It's better to say the opposite. She only said that in front of Old Lady Xu to fool her.

  Returning to Feicui Garden, Autumn Cloud suddenly came to find Xu Mingjin with a heavy heart.

  Xu Mingjin was very puzzled. If it wasn't a big deal, Qiu Yun would not have such a serious expression. "What's going on?" Xu Mingjin asked.

  "Miss, haven't you noticed? These two days, the expenses for food and clothing in Emerald Garden have suddenly decreased a lot. I saw Xiaoxuan outside, she was showing off to me that Second Miss has added many new clothes these two days. The food is also much more exquisite than before. I took a look and found that it's not just a little better than ours in Emerald Garden."

  "What's the big deal?" Xu Mingjin didn't understand, Ruan Jiahao was someone else's, as long as she wasn't starving or poorly dressed, she wouldn't care about these things.

  "Miss, Second Miss is intentionally suppressing you! Now that you are the legitimate daughter, she, a concubine's daughter, has better clothes and living conditions than you. Isn't it just to suppress you?"

  Xu Mingjin smiled carelessly: "You don't need to mind Second Miss, she's just a grasshopper after autumn."

  Autumn clouds don't disperse. What's the relationship between Second Miss and the grasshoppers after autumn?

  Xu Mingjin saw autumn clouds and didn't understand, patiently explaining: "The grasshoppers after autumn can only jump for a few more days."

  Qiu Yun finally understood.

  Xu Mingjin smiled meaningfully, guessing when Xu Mingying would capsize in the ditch and when Old Lady Xu would lose her temper and discipline Xu Mingying. Taking this opportunity, she could also understand the usual tactics used by Old Lady Xu.