Chapter 9: Goodbye Uncle

  It wasn't until dinner time that Xu Mingjin had a chance to tidy up the things she had prepared.

  Here is the translation:

  Chun Xiang, who had gone out to buy cloud cake at Gui Fang Zhai, also returned from outside. She carried a food box and swaggered into the study, with a smile on her face. This was because Xu Ming Jin had told her that she could eat the pastries herself, as Miss didn't like sweet things. As long as she brought back the results, it would be fine.

  When Chun Xiang entered, Xu Ming Jin was already waiting for her. As she entered, her eyes met Hong Luo's gaze, which was fixed intently on this side. However, Hong Luo didn't dare to come in. When their gazes met, Hong Luo's eyes flashed with disgust and she coldly snorted before turning away.

  Chun Xiang gave her a cold glance, hating that she couldn't tear off Hong Luo's skin. She remembered what the doctor had said: "There is a medicine hidden inside, if women eat too much of it, they will become infertile." She couldn't help but feel a wave of fear and regret, thinking that if Miss hadn't been vigilant, Hong Luo would have succeeded! Did she have a grudge against Miss? Why was she harming her so much? Miss was such a good person, never getting angry or scolding the servants...

  Chun Xing repeated Mr. Daifu's words word for word without missing a single character to Xu Mingjin.

  Xu Mingjin smiled nonchalantly. Chun Xing was extremely shocked! On the way back, she had thought of many possible reactions from Xu Mingjin after hearing the news: some were furious, some were heartbroken and tearful, some were astonished, and some turned pale. But not this one. Miss is really unpredictable! This was what Chun Xing was thinking now.

  Xu Mingjin let out a sigh of relief, for she had always felt that the previous owner of this body was killed by rumors and had something to do with the wife of the Minister in the capital. She had always felt that the woman would not let go of her and her mother so easily, and there must be some other trick waiting for her. This feeling was like a sword hanging over her head, and she didn't know when it would come down. This feeling made her always on high alert, not knowing what the enemy had planned, and she could only react to their moves. This time, she had no basis, only a woman's sixth sense, which saved her life.

  "Miss, Hong Luo has done something unforgivable," Chun Xiang said with a scowl. "How do you plan to deal with her?" Xu Ming Jin replied, "We can't alarm the snake in the grass. Who instigated her? Does she have any accomplices? Why did she want to harm me? This time may not be successful, but there will be next time. These questions haven't been resolved yet." Moreover, Xu Ming Jin said firmly, "Leaving Hong Luo alone, I've already raised my guard against her. She can't harm me. This is the enemy in plain sight, and I'm in hiding. If we deal with Hong Luo, it'll become me in plain sight, and the enemy in hiding." She glanced around and saw that everyone had a thoughtful expression, and couldn't help but smile slightly.

  "Miss, I won't swallow this insult!" Chun Xiang's expression was still indignant. Xu Mingjin couldn't help but smile, what a childish attitude, she had already made it so clear, yet this girl was still like this. However, in her heart, she was touched, after all, Chun Xiang was angry because of Hong Luo harming her.

  "You can just give her a little trouble, okay?" Xu Mingjin said with a wink. Chun Xiang's expression improved slightly, but she still said: "Miss, this is still too easy for her! Hong Luo almost ruined Miss's whole life!"

  Xu Mingjin said sternly, "Do you think I'll let Hong Luo off? I'm just waiting for the right moment to settle old and new accounts!" Xu Mingjin thought to herself that she wasn't afraid of being deceived, but since the medicine hadn't harmed her, she wasn't as angry. Chun Xing's eyes lit up when she heard these domineering words, and she was about to ask what time it was when Xu Mingjin seemed to guess what she was thinking and said with a smile, "The Buddha says: cannot be said, cannot be said." She then turned around to attend to her shop matters.

  She first called a few maids to help her, and on the six-meter-long white cloth that had been starched, she used blue dye to create a grid pattern. It was just like the cross-stitch she had seen in her past life. After finishing, she put it there to dry. She didn't care about the puzzled gazes of the few people around her and also took the opportunity to explain the stitching method of cross-stitch to them. The few people quickly understood what she meant, and Permitted Auntie asked first: "Miss, this kind of stitching looks novel, but will it be too rough when stitched?" Xu Mingjin shook her head and said: "Cross-stitch and traditional embroidery have their own merits, it depends on how one thinks about it, everyone's thoughts are different." As she spoke, she had the few people bring over a few small pieces of cloth with dots on them for her to guide them in learning the cross-stitch method. The several maids were all quick-witted and learned it in no time.

  At dinner time, Qiuyun really brought her a bowl of lotus seed porridge to the kitchen, which was exactly the same as the one at noon. Xiumingjin drank it slowly, and to be honest, the porridge tasted very good. After finishing it, Qiuyun took the empty bowl to the bookshelf behind the screen, picked up the vase containing the porridge, and poured out the lotus seed porridge inside. Just as Qiuyun was about to take it away, Xiumingjin suddenly had an idea and said, "Wait a minute." She whispered something in Qiuyun's ear, who nodded with a smile and took the bowl of lotus seed porridge back to the kitchen again.

  Qiu Yun said to the group of maids, "Miss was busy just now and didn't have time to eat. This porridge has gone cold, but Miss wants to eat it now, so I'll go heat it up in the kitchen." She pushed through the crowd and quickly headed towards the kitchen.

  When Autumn Cloud returned with the hot lotus seed porridge, Hong Luo was already waiting outside the door. Not long after Autumn Cloud went in, Hong Luo heard Xu Mingjin calling her from inside the room, his voice as gentle and pleasant as it had been when he used to trust her. Hong Luo was overjoyed, thinking that the day when Xu Mingjin would favor her again was coming soon, and she could complete the task entrusted to her by that person earlier. She rushed into the room in a flurry, only to see Xu Mingjin leaning against the couch with a smile on his face, beckoning her over. This further confirmed her conjecture. Her heart racing with excitement, she hastily walked up to Xu Mingjin and bowed respectfully. However, her voice couldn't hide her agitation: "Miss, what instructions do you have for me?"

  Xu Mingjin said faintly, "Oh. That's how it is, I treat all the servants in my household equally. Yesterday, I rewarded Qiu Yun with a bowl of lotus root and pork rib soup, and today I rewarded Chun Xing with half a plate of cloud-shaped pastries. Although they were diligent and deserved to be rewarded, Hong Luo, you have also been serving me wholeheartedly, so I couldn't favor one over the other. Alright, this bowl of lotus seed porridge is for you!"

  Hong Luo happily accepted the bowl of lotus seed porridge, without thinking about the fact that she had poisoned Xu Mingjin's lotus seed porridge at noon. She was now completely excited and confused. Xu Mingjin saw this and smiled even more gently. Hong Luo took the bowl of lotus seed porridge back to her room and hastily ate it. As for suspicion, Hong Luo wasn't entirely without it, but she had seen Autumn Cloud bring out an empty bowl at noon, so what was there to fake? Besides, there were no containers for holding porridge in that room, so it could only be eaten.

  Xu Mingjin and the others withdrew, and the smile on her face faded. She instructed Chun Xing: "Tomorrow, go to the Hong Luo's house to investigate. Maybe there are some clues." On the other hand, she shook her head and said: "I hope it's not what I think."

  Xu Mingjin practiced writing for a while and then went to bed to rest.

  The next morning, Xu Mingjin went to pay his respects to Mrs. Fan and was informed that the matter of the shop had been settled. Mrs. Fan smiled and handed over a deed. Xu Mingjin happily accepted it with a big smile on her face. She carefully read through it from start to finish, and all those days of practicing calligraphy hadn't gone to waste. Not only could she write similar characters now, but also recognized many complex characters through practice. The words on the contract were already familiar to her. After finishing reading, she told Mrs. Fan about her plans for the past few days: asking Uncle Fan Yichen to be the manager of the embroidery shop. Firstly, she and her mother were women and couldn't appear in public. Secondly, Uncle Fan was also a family member, so with him in charge, Xu Mingjin felt more at ease.

  Madam Fan listened to her words, but didn't utter a sound for half a day.

  Xu Mingjin observed Madame Fan's expression, and tentatively asked: "Are you worried that Uncle will secretly gamble again?" Seeing Madame Fan nod, she then said: "Not to deceive you, after I returned from burning incense at the White Cloud Temple last time, I secretly sent someone to investigate his situation. He hasn't been to a gambling den for almost two years now."

  Xu Mingjin indeed sent someone to investigate Fan Yicheng's news. However, it wasn't sending someone to investigate, but she herself went personally. That day, after telling her mother about Fan Yicheng's situation, her mother wanted to send him silver, but was stopped by Xu Mingjin. After returning to the Quiet Garden, she had Chun Xing prepare two sets of men's clothing. The next day, she secretly snuck out to see Fan Yicheng. Who acted as a guide? Of course, it was Zhang Shuozi, Chun Xing's childhood friend! Oh, can't call him that, Chun Xing has strongly protested against the "childhood friend" label before. She said Chun Xing would turn against her. Then it was Zhang Shuozi, who had previously investigated Fan Yicheng's whereabouts in a broken temple on the west side of the city, where he lived with a group of beggars. That day, he was intercepted by someone while returning from begging for food in the neighboring village and rushed up to them.

  She had Chun Xing tell Zhang Shouzi to scout ahead and report back to her, if there was no way then make a way, she must see Fan Daimin. So that day all the beggars went out to beg for food, Fan Daimin's injuries were not fully healed yet, he was left alone there. Xu Mingjin wore men's clothing and went over.

  Fan Yicheng was meditating with his eyes closed, and the wound had healed a bit after taking the medicine sent by Xu Mingjin. When he heard some noise, he looked up to see an eleven or twelve-year-old handsome boy smiling at him, followed by another boy of the same age and a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy. Fan Yicheng took a closer look and found that the leading boy was none other than his sister's daughter, his niece Xu Mingjin. Fan Yicheng was initially delighted, but then shocked - how could they come to such a dirty place? If those beggars who went out to ask for food came back and saw her... Thinking of this, he felt a chill run down his spine and shouted loudly at Xu Mingjin: "What are you doing here! This is not a place you should come to, leave quickly! Leave quickly!" Fan Yicheng shouted while struggling to get up, but he had been hungry for several days and stood up, feeling dizzy and staggering. Xu Mingjin hurriedly supported him, but almost fell down with him. Chun Xing and Zhang Shuozi rushed over and used their combined strength to hold Fan Yicheng steady, who kept shaking his head and saying: "Leave quickly, leave quickly..."

  Xu Mingjin looked at Fan Yicheng like this, how could she bear to leave him alone here? Did he not use the medicine she had sent someone to deliver to him? Xu Mingjin lowered her head and looked at the bandaged wound on his body. There was a faint scent of medicine emanating from it. It seemed that he had used the medicine, so why did he become weak and faint? Xu Mingjin didn't know that Fan Yicheng had been injured for two days and had been hiding in this broken temple, without even drinking a drop of water. He couldn't go out to beg for food. The beggars also didn't care about him. Although he was now down on his luck, Fan Yicheng had after all enjoyed wealth and glory before. In the beggar's den, he always stood out like a crane among chickens, not fitting in at all. The beggars envied the wealth and glory he had enjoyed before, so they often coldly ridiculed him. This kind of life had gone on for two years. Later, one time when the beggars were idle and surrounded him again, ridiculing him, one of them suddenly said: "He's more pitiful than us!" The other beggars didn't understand, Fan Yicheng had after all enjoyed wealth and glory, they had only begged for food their whole lives, clearly they were the ones who were more pitiful! That beggar then said: "We haven't enjoyed wealth and glory, so even when we're begging for food, we're happy. But he's different, he personally destroyed his family's wealth and glory with his own hands, and even drove his parents to death! Now there's only one younger sister left. Fan Yicheng especially wronged his younger sister, originally she was the fiancée of Xu Shangshu, but because of him, their whole family's wealth and glory were lost, not to mention that his sister was also jilted, now she could only be a concubine! You guys say, from being a noble lady to becoming even lower than a concubine. Can't he hate himself to death? He became a beggar for so long, did his sister send someone to give him money? No?" The other beggars nodded in agreement, that beggar then said: "He became a beggar for so long, thinking about how he was originally also enjoying wealth and glory as a young master. But because of his own extravagance and gambling, he lost the family property, harmed his parents and sister, not to mention himself, he had to mix with us. From being a superior person to becoming an inferior person, can't he regret it? Can't he be filled with remorse?" The other beggars this time laughed even louder, all nodding in agreement. From then on, those beggars no longer ridiculed him, instead they pitied him. Fan Yicheng hated himself to death, did he need the pity of these stinky beggars? From then on, his relationship with those beggars became even worse. Those beggars were extremely cruel and evil, if they encountered Xu Mingjin, she would be in grave danger! Then wouldn't Fan Yicheng's crimes become even deeper? He was anxious, adding to his weakness, he fainted again.

  Xu Mingjin saw Fan Yicheng faint, so he made a decisive decision to Chun Xing and Zhang Shuozi: "Don't stay for long, carry him, let's go quickly!" The two heard the words, nodded, and Zhang Shuozi hurriedly bent down to put Fan Yicheng on his back. Unfortunately, he was only a 15 or 16-year-old boy, while Fan Yicheng was a robust man in his thirties. Although injured and starving for two days, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Zhang Shuozi was almost crushed to the ground. Just as Xu Mingjin and Chun Xing were about to help, they heard a burst of laughter. The three froze.

  However, it was a group of beggars who were approaching together. Each of them had several steamed buns in their broken bowls. Seeing this scene, Xu Ming and Jin San still didn't understand what was going on, but they felt extremely anxious and couldn't think of any solution. Those beggars quickly walked into the dilapidated temple and witnessed this scene.

  One of the beggars, with a glance at Xu Mingjin and the other two, relied on his forty years of experience in reading people to see that Xu Mingjin and Chun Xiang were disguised as men. A thread of excitement appeared on his extremely ugly face, and he greedily scanned Xu Mingjin and Chun Xiang back and forth. The other beggars also discovered this secret one after another, revealing the same excitement on their faces. Chun Xiang was terrified by those gazes, but she bravely stood in front of Xu Mingjin, blocking the view of those people. Zhang Shuozi also saw the straight gaze of those beggars, and he gently placed the fainting Fan Duchen aside, standing in front of Chun Xiang to protect them. Zhang Shuozi was extremely anxious in his heart, as he had clearly tripped up these beggars, and according to reason, they should not have returned for another two hours, by which time they would have gone far! What's going on here?

  Xu Mingjin didn't care about these things, she first looked at Chun Xiang protecting her in front of her, and her heart was slightly moved. Then, seeing Zhang Shuozi put down Fan Weichen and protect the two of them, her thoughts changed to being moved by the two of them. She was protected behind them, and she knew that those beggars would have to take out the two people in front of her before they could touch her. They were too good to her! Xu Mingjin held such a thought, and the more she looked at the two of them, the more she felt they were a match made in heaven. So, in this extremely tense moment, she suddenly said to Chun Xiang: "In a few years, I'll marry you off to him!"

  Spring apricot is speechless.

  Chun Xiang thought, "She really wants to rip open Miss's head and see what's inside!" At the moment when the enemy was about to attack, she actually said something so out of place. Is her family's missus okay? Chun Xiang worriedly thought. But she didn't know that Zhang Shuozi, who was in front of her, heard this and immediately smiled. After smiling, Zhang Shuozi looked at the beggar in front of him like he was looking at a madman, and quickly composed himself, seriously saying to Chun Xiang behind him, "You go to Miss's back, to prevent them from attacking from both sides." Chun Xiang listened and quickly moved to Xu Mingjin's back. The two tightly stared at the surrounding beggars who were about to pounce, thinking in their hearts that Xu Mingjin was good, even willing to give his personal maid to such a stinky brat, such a missus was worth him risking his life to protect! Zhang Shuozi thought this way and had already made up his mind to die together with these beggars. Xu Mingjin didn't know that her unintentional slip of the tongue could have such an effect. She just said it based on the principle of hoping that people in love would end up together, saying that she wanted to give Chun Xiang to him. Xu Mingjin actually had another sentence that she didn't say: "If you don't like him, Missus will find someone better for you!" But looking at Zhang Shuozi who was protecting her, who instantly became willing to die with her, the words got stuck in her throat.

  At this time, those beggars looked at each other and simultaneously rushed towards the three men. Before they could react, a white figure flashed into the broken temple door. In just a few swift movements, all the beggars fell silently to the ground.

  Xu Mingjin didn't care about the lives of those beggars. Sympathy should also be divided among people. She looked at the person who had quickly and accurately solved the problem of the beggars, and that person turned around, their eyes meeting for a moment, Xu Mingjin exclaimed: "It's you!"