Chapter Seventy Finally Rescued

  Mrs. Xü was furious when she heard what had happened, and without even listening to the excuses of her maid, she immediately demoted her to the lowest rank and fined her a month's worth of silver.

  After Mrs. Xue left, Old Lady Xue said to her confidant: "The time for lunch has long passed, I don't know how hungry Xia'er is in that Buddhist hall? Why not, I'll secretly send someone to deliver some food to Xia'er?"

  "The old lady cannot, what if the lady is waiting on the road to the Buddhist hall and you send someone to deliver things, won't it be a coincidence that she runs into her? She has made up her mind today not to let the two girls eat anything, and this is also the old lady's personal order, no one can say anything about it." The heart of the nurse hurriedly advised: "Besides, only sending food to one miss, when the master finds out later, he will blame you for being partial again."

  The old lady snorted and said, "I don't believe it. When Ytier comes back, he still dares to blame me for being unfilial? He dares not be filial!"

  The old lady hastily flattered: "Although the master won't say anything to you, Mrs., in his heart, he might not blame you! If this continues, the master will become estranged from you! It's absolutely impossible!"

  The old lady slammed her dragon-headed cane on the ground and scolded, "You people from the Ye family are really ungrateful! If only she had pretended not to see that woman, everything would have been fine. Xia'er could have eaten something and wouldn't have gone hungry, and I wouldn't be in such a difficult position!"

  This is a difficult conversation to have, and it may end up offending both the old lady and the madam, with no one getting what they want. The nanny stands by silently, saying nothing.

  Mrs. Xü let out a long sigh and said, "Alright, it's only been one day, she won't starve to death, I'll let Xia out early tomorrow morning."

  The old lady hurriedly went out and instructed someone to handle this matter.

  On this side, Xu Mingxia learned about the situation from a servant specially sent by Mrs. Xu, and after waiting anxiously for half a day with an empty stomach, she immediately scolded Mrs. Xu: "Grandma has already agreed, what kind of onion are you, daring to interfere with my affairs! I'm going out, just wait and see!"

  Xu Mingjin listened to the side, couldn't help but sneer, a group of selfish and hypocritical people! Fortunately, Yuzhu treated her well, so she didn't go hungry all day.

  The old woman finished handing over the matter and took her leave.

  Xu Mingxia stood there alone, muttering and scolding non-stop. Xu Mingjin was helpless, found two small paper balls, and plugged his ears with them.

  Xu Mingxia scolded for half a day and finally stopped because she was hungry.

  As night fell, Xu Mingjin took out more than half of the chicken left over from lunch and said to Xu Mingxia: "Do you want to come over and have some?"

  Xu Mingxia had been starving for a whole day and had long abandoned her reserve. As soon as Xu Mingjin finished speaking, she pounced over.

  Xu Mingjin put some chicken on her side, and the two of them finished eating more than half of the chicken together. Xu Mingxia licked her greasy fingers with a lingering aftertaste, sighing: "I never thought that chicken could be so delicious."

  Xu Mingjin didn't say anything.

  Xu Mingxia felt a bit better after eating the chicken, so she didn't wait for Xu Mingjin to get it and instead crawled under the altar herself to retrieve the jug of green plum wine. However, she was disappointed to find that it was empty. Xu Mingxia complained, "How could you drink it all? Why didn't you leave some for me?" As she spoke, she carelessly threw the empty jug to the ground, where it shattered into pieces. The two servant women outside heard the commotion and exchanged worried glances: what were these two ancestors doing inside, making such a ruckus and breaking something? They hastily opened the door and went in to investigate.

  After entering, they found that the wine jar was lying on the ground, shattered into pieces. Next to it were many chicken bones that had been gnawed clean. Seeing this scene, the two of them immediately understood what had happened and were frightened pale-faced. Xu Mingxia was not bothered at all, after all, those things were brought in by Xu Mingjin, and had nothing to do with her.

  Xu Mingjin looked at the two women with a leisurely expression and said, "Eating chicken and drinking wine in the Buddhist hall is a serious taboo. We are the young ladies of the Xu family, and at most, the old lady will scold us a few times. But you two are different. Do you still remember the servant girls who were punished here this morning? If things don't go well, your fate might be even worse than theirs. Do you believe me?"

  The two old women were covered in cold sweat but couldn't say a word.

  Xu Mingjin said with a kind tone: "You quickly sweep away the wine jug and chicken bones, throw them into an uninhabited corner. This way, no one will know, no ghosts will sense it. Old Madame won't discover anything, you can still do your jobs as usual."

  The two old women heard this and thought it was a good idea, but they still looked at Xu Mingjin with suspicion. Xu Mingjin knew their concerns and said: "Do you think I would publicize the things I do in secret?"

  The two old women only fully believed it then, and the two of them came in together to clean up everything on the ground until it was spotless. After that, they went out and locked the door.

  Xu Mingjin heard the crisp sound of the lock, and only then did he quietly walk to the corner of the door to pick up a lunchbox.

  Xu Mingxia had been meditating with her eyes closed, but when she saw Xu Mingjin holding an extra food box in his hand, she suddenly became energetic and rushed over quickly.

  "Where did you get this from?" Xu Mingxia looked at Xu Mingjin, who had already opened the food box, revealing the hot and steaming small meat buns, crystal steamed dumplings, and even a plate of stir-fried lotus root and a plate of garlic shoots stir-fried with shredded meat. She immediately exclaimed in delight: "How did this food box appear? Did Grandmother send someone to deliver it to me?"

  "Keep your voice down, do you want those two women outside to know we're eating?" Xu Mingjin rolled his eyes and said, "If it was meant for you, it should have been delivered to your hands, why was it delivered to mine?" Xu Mingxia's face fell as soon as she heard this, realizing it wasn't meant for her. "Do you think the mistress is the kind of person who suddenly changes her mind? In the morning, she desperately stopped the servant from delivering things to you, and in the evening, she would eagerly send someone to deliver food to you?" Xu Mingjin said.

  "I won't." Xu Mingxia said sullenly. A hint of resentment suddenly appeared in her eyes. Xu Mingjin smiled with satisfaction.

  "This was brought to me by the little girl from my Emerald Garden. Just now, those two women were sweeping the floor and didn't notice what was behind them. She quietly greeted me and put the thing at the door before leaving."

  "Your maid is really clever." Xu Mingxia said enviously: "Why don't you exchange her with me? I'll give you the big maid by my side in return." Xu Mingjin's eyes turned cold. Xu Mingxia saw this and her voice became smaller and smaller, eventually falling silent.

  Half a beat later, Xu Mingjin said: "I'm used to it, I'm afraid there's no way to exchange with you."

  Xu Mingxia smiled awkwardly and didn't dare mention the topic again. She said, "If we don't eat now, these dishes will get cold. Let's have dinner?"

  Xu Mingjin nodded, took out the lunchbox on top, and saw a big bowl of tripe soup at the bottom. He let out a small cheer and quickly said, "This bowl of soup is mine!"

  Xu Mingjin said: "Have you finished drinking? This is the food sent by my maid, what right do you have to say it's yours? You drank it all, what am I supposed to drink?"

  Xu Mingxia said angrily: "It's just a bowl of soup, why are you so stingy!"

  "If you're thirsty and only have one bowl of soup, would you give it to me out of goodwill?"

  Xu Mingxia thought for a moment and found that she indeed wouldn't let it go to others, so her anger towards Xu Mingjin immediately dissipated.

  Two people together finished eating everything in the food box. They chatted for a while, then rested their heads against each other and fell asleep leaning against the wall.

  On the second day, early in the morning, the old lady sent someone to release Xu Mingxia. When Xu Mingjin wanted to go out, she was stopped by those two fierce-looking women: "Sorry, Sixth Miss, the old lady only instructed me to take the eldest and youngest miss out."

  Xu Mingjin stopped in his tracks, staring blankly as Xu Mingxia followed those two women away.

  However, two hours later, another woman came and took Xu Mingjin out again.

  Xu Mingjin followed the two women to Chunhui Yard with a suspicious look, and as soon as she saw Xuan Yuan Jinglin sitting there, she immediately understood why Old Lady Xu had finally agreed to let her out. It turned out that Xuan Yuan Jinglin had saved her.

  "Grandma, I'm fine. Jin'er spent a day and night in the Buddhist hall reflecting on her mistakes, and now she knows what was wrong. Please forgive me, Grandma!" Xu Mingjin didn't wait for Old Lady Xu to say anything, but immediately kowtowed with a thud, kneeling down in front of Old Lady Xu, tearfully acknowledging her mistake.

  Mrs. Xü was shocked and angry, she had already told Xuan Yuan Jinglin that everything was fine with Xu Mingjin. But she never expected that as soon as Xu Mingjin came in, he would do something like this without saying a word. Mrs. Xü nervously turned her head to look at Xuan Yuan Jinglin's expression and saw that her face already had an angry look. She quickly opened her mouth trying to salvage the situation, if the princess got angry, then the Xu family... Mrs. Xü didn't dare imagine it further, hastily thinking of a way to change the current situation, but found it was all in vain. Mrs. Xü couldn't help but glare at Xu Mingjin with hatred, it's all because of this troublemaker! He's just like his sly and seductive mother!

  Xuan Yuan Jing Lin looked at the fierce and sinister gaze of Old Lady Xu towards Xu Ming Jin, and couldn't help but worry for Xu Ming Jin. The Xu Manor was also a den of wolves and tigers, no different from the palace. Poor Ming Jin, she was also living in fear! Today, her brother suddenly came to find her, asking her to come to the Xu Manor to rescue Xu Ming Jin. He said that now only she could rescue Xu Ming Jin. She was puzzled, how did her brother know about Xu Ming Jin's situation in the Xu Manor? She asked her brother repeatedly, and he reluctantly told her that the maid named Yu Zhu who was by Xu Ming Jin's side was someone he had sent to protect her. Today, that maid suddenly ran back to find him, telling him that Xu Ming Jin had been locked up in the Buddhist hall by Old Lady Xu since yesterday, along with the eldest daughter of the Xu Manor. Yu Zhu secretly sent many delicious foods to Xu Ming Jin. This morning, Old Lady Xu released the eldest daughter, but Xu Ming Jin was still locked up in the Buddhist hall. No one knew how long she would be locked up for, and that's why Yu Zhu anxiously ran to tell her brother. Her brother couldn't show his face, so he came to find her for help. Xuan Yuan Jing Lin thought about this, and a faint smile appeared on her face. It seemed that her brother really cared about Xu Ming Jin. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent someone to protect her. She had seen Yu Zhu before, who followed Xu Ming Jin everywhere and was skilled in martial arts. She had originally been very curious, where did Xu Ming Jin find such a maid who knew martial arts? Now she understood.

  "Madam Xü, can you spare her for the sake of Mingjin's sincerity?"

  "Your Highness, you mustn't say such things! It's really distressing for me! I'm most fond of Ming Jin, this child. This time it was also because I loved her deeply and demanded more from her. Now that she has come to her senses, how could I bear to blame her anymore? Jin'er, come here."

  Xu Mingjin obediently walked over, and Old Lady Xu immediately hugged him tightly in her arms, calling out "heart", "liver", and "flesh" with a mouthful of affection. Xu Mingjin felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at Xuan Yuan Jinglin for help.

  Xuan Yuan Jinglin received Xu Mingjin's pleading gaze and said to Old Lady Xu, "I'd like to take Mingjin to the imperial villa in the suburbs for a while, what do you think, Old Lady Xu?"

  "Madam Xu heard this and said with a thoughtful expression: "The princess wants to take Ming Jin to the imperial villa in the suburbs for a while, of course I am extremely delighted. The princess values Jin so much, it's also good fortune for my Xu family. I have no reason to stop her. However, since you're going to stay for a while, Jin, go to the Emerald Garden and instruct your maid to pack all your personal belongings."

  Mrs. Xü was trying to get rid of Xu Mingjin for the time being, intending to secretly warn him through a trusted maid not to see the princess and reveal everything. After all, she was still afraid that Xu Mingjin would speak ill of her in front of the princess.

  Xuan Yuan Jinglin apparently guessed it too, she said: "No need to go through so much trouble, the imperial villa has everything."

  Mrs. Xu's smile was frozen on her lips.