Chapter 24
Chapter 24 The Divine Herb Was About to Be Destroyed
The Second Concubine was filled with resentment. She hadn’t expected Butler Wang to personally remind Old Madame to attend the charity event. If he had informed her privately, she would have thought of a way to borrow some silver.
“Butler Wang, what did you just say?” The Old Madame was furious and only calmed down slightly after Hua Qiyue softly muttered words of comfort. She looked coldly at Butler Wang who knelt on the floor.
Butler Wang trembled as he kowtowed, cold sweat dripping all over his forehead as he pleaded, “Old Madame… your servant… your servant has made a mistake. I shouldn’t have kept this from you. It is because… the Second Concubine always sends me to purchase her elixirs!”
The Second Concubine looked up suddenly and glared coldly at Butler Wang.
Butler Wang must have taken the initiative to confess in order to obtain the Old Madame’s forgiveness first. He must be acting under someone’s orders. Why else would he brazenly come to the main hall to remind the Old Madame?
“Well! Very well… All of you have some nerve! Do you think I don’t exist?” The Old Madame was incensed and Hua Qiyue quickly fanned her.
“Grandmother, please don’t be mad. Why should you get so worked up over such people? After all, Butler Wang is merely a servant and does not have free will. Why don’t you spare him since he has more than 20 years of service with the Hua Mansion? Furthermore, Butler Wang also fetched a good price for my Long Red when he helped me put it on the market and we made 15,000 silver taels… how about this, since I’ve got 15,000 silver taels, I’ll pay this 10,000 silver taels first. The family may still use the silver taels in the treasury.”
Hua Qiyue said calmly. The Old Madame panted breathlessly and a wave of dizziness hit her but she felt reassured by her granddaughter’s words. Then, she could not help but sigh.
Hua Qiyue hurriedly passed her a slice of watermelon. After the Old Madame took a bite, she immediately felt refreshed.
“Since Qiyue has begged for mercy on your behalf, I shall spare you this once. In return, 6 months of salary will be docked from you. In the future, the account books and the keys to the treasury shall be managed by Qiyue.”
The Old Madam was extremely disappointed in the Second Concubine. She was not blind and could tell that the Second Concubine must have ordered Nanny Wang to dock Hua Qiyue’s salary. How else would a servant dare to dock the salary of the eldest daughter of Hua Mansion without his master’s orders?
Hua Qiyue quickly shook her head. “Grandmother, this is not proper since there are still two concubines in the Mansion. I’m merely the eldest daughter so how could I control the account books of Hua Mansion? Butler Wang has 25 years and experience and other than not reporting what he knew, he had not committed any other offense. Besides, he is also very clever, so why don’t you give him the chance to manage the treasury while the concubines and I shall review the account books? If he doesn’t do a good job, you may always transfer his duties to someone else.”
The Old Madam nodded and said with a laugh, “Yue’er is right; Butler Wang’s contributions to the Hua Mansion cannot be ignored… When your father was still not a general, Butler Wang would always do his best to resolve our troubles. Butler Wang, I’ll give you one more chance on Yue’er’s behalf!”
Butler Wang’s eyes lit up. He had escaped punishment and even received a “promotion”. He hurriedly kowtowed in apology.
“Concubine Cheng, Mengshi, I’ll have to bear some responsibility for your foolish antics… Sigh, I’ll dock you both of 6 months’ salary in return. If you continue in your wicked ways, don’t blame me for being harsh then! You may return to your rooms!”
The Second Concubine hurriedly thanked the Old Madame for her benevolence while Mengshi left crying pitifully. They had taken a severe hit this time. Not only were they humiliated, but they had also lost the trust of the Old Madam.
Hua Qiyue frowned slightly and watched as Tianci squirmed out of her embrace to play with marbles on the jade pallet.
Tianci was now a completely different person compared to the past.
In the past, Tianci was a chatterbox and would bring laughter wherever he went.
Now, he would only play with marbles quietly and there were still traces of fear on his face. He was still frightened.
“Yue’er, what’s wrong? Why do you look so worried?”
The Old Madame completely doted on Hua Qiyue these days. Now that Qiyue had obtained the seeds of the Long Red, this meant that the Hua Mansion would easily be able to obtain a fortune in the future and the Hua family name would also be known throughout the land.
Once the Emperor knew of this, he would definitely send several highly-skilled Qi Artists to stand guard in order to ensure that the Long Red would not be stolen by thieves.
“Grandmother, Tianci is my adopted son after all, whenever I see him like this…” Hua Qiyue’s eyes brimmed with tears. After she was reborn, she was a lot more determined and cold-hearted than she used to be.
However, when it came to Tianci, she could not bear to harden her heart against him.
She felt that she had made Tianci suffer so much because of her helplessness and ignorance in the past.
What was the meaning behind those words that Zhou Zhicheng had said before she died?
She truly had not seen the man that had entered on their wedding night. Her heart sank at the thought of that.
Zhou Zhicheng could not have lied. Ever since their wedding, his attitude toward her was as cold as ice. This was proof enough.
“Qiyue, as the saying goes, those who are favored will be lucky in life. Now that Tianci has you to look after him, he would definitely receive help from someone in the future. There’s no need for you to worry.” Old Madame Hua said with a faint smile.
“Oh yes, Qiyue, Prince Nan is the most famous doctor in this land. Is it true that you went to seek him for treatment?”
“Indeed, this is true. However, an herb known as the Purple Lotus Phoenix Ice is needed in order to expel the remaining poison from Tianci’s body. Prince Nan has already agreed to help treat Tianci for one month…” Hua Qiyue replied calmly. The fact that Tianci needed one month of treatment showed how cruel Princess Huizhen had been. Of course, this also showed how skilled the Poison Master was!
“Purple Lotus Phoenix Ice? I’ve heard that it is one of the divine herbs and very few exist in this world…” Old Madame Hua could not help but be worried about Tianci. Hua Qiyue was surprised to find out that her grandmother knew of this herb and could not hold back a smile. She had confidence in herself.
“Grandmother, there’s no need to worry. I’ll definitely be able to obtain this Purple Lotus Phoenix Ice.” Hua Qiyue said evenly.
Old Madame Hua looked at Hua Qiyue meaningfully and smiled.
The next morning, the porcelain shattering and a woman’s muttering low curses could be heard from the Butterfly Residence of the Hua Mansion.
“Damn it! That bitch… How dare she go up against me time and time again!”
Hua Mengshi’s low curses were swept away by the humid breeze. At the main hall, Hua Mengshi smashed a teacup and the maids by her side were all as quiet as mice.
The Second Concubine frowned slightly and said, “Mengshi, don’t be rash. I can’t make sense of this. How could that bitch suddenly be so clever?”
Concubine Cheng truly could not figure it out. Hua Qiyue used to be so cowardly and dull-witted. Had she been acting all along?
“Miss, Miss…” A maid rushed in all of a sudden and she could not hold back a shiver when she saw Hua Mengshi’s cold face. She said softly, “Greetings Miss and Madam, the eldest young mistress has brought that kid to seek treatment. I heard the treatment would last a month.”
This maid was Hua Mengshi’s new maid. After Lanzhu was beaten to death, Concubine Cheng had assigned this maid named Qiuyun to her.
Another maid, Qiu Hong, broke into a smile and said, “Miss, why don’t you sneak a look at the legendary Long Red.”
Hua Mengshi was bitterly resented Hua Qiyue. As long as Hua Qiyue was around, she definitely would not approach Cuihua Court. When she heard that Hua Qiyue was not around, her eyes narrowed coldly.
“Mengshi, didn’t you want to have a look at it? Her yard is not locked, so shall we go?”
Concubine Cheng said softly when she saw that Hua Mengshi’s face had twisted with jealousy and hatred.
Hua Mengshi wanted to decline but she ended up at rising to her feet at the thought of the Long Red that could fetch a price of 50,000 silver taels each. “Alright, let us go have a look.”
Therefore, they all made their way to Cuihua Court.
Butler Wang who was nearby paused for a moment when he caught sight of the group. The eldest miss had been right that these people would definitely steal the Long Red after she left.
He couldn’t help but wonder why Hua Qiyue did not appoint a few servants to guard the Long Red.
However, logically speaking, although the Old Madame was not at the Mansion, once Hua Qiyue reported that the Long Red had been destroyed to the Old Madam, the perpetrators would definitely be punished.
This group ran into the Third Concubine and Hua Xiaoyi at the back garden and these two groups of people exchanged a meaningful glance and exchanged words of greetings before they moved toward Cuihua Court unanimously.
Hua Xiaoyi tended to speak rashly but after she had been reprimanded by the Third Concubine, she tactfully held her tongue this time.
The group arrived at the outer yard at Cuihua Court and saw that the empty land had been tended to and a layer of soil now covered the land. Six stalks of Long Red were planted on the soil and each stalk of Long Red grew beautifully.
These tender stalks of Long Red seemed to glow even brighter under the sun and their bright red flowers gave off a fragrant scent.
These bright red flowers made the entire courtyard seem full of vitality in spite of its emptiness.
Everyone looked covetously at those six stalks of Long Red and their eyes gleamed with complex feelings, including envy.
Hua Mengshi reined in her bitter hatred and said with a bright smile, “Tsk, I didn’t expect the famous herb cultivated by our eldest sister to be so full of vitality. It has truly brought fortune to the Hua Mansion.”
Hua Xiaoyi scoffed coldly at Hua Mengshi’s hypocritical words. “Second sister, stop putting on an act. I bet that you must be dying to obtain this herb. After all, the herb that is considered so priceless across the land is right in front of you. Who would be able to say that they don’t covet it?”
Hua Xiaoyi was frank and outspoken but she had offended many people with her pettiness.
She was not as beautiful as Hua Mengshi and neither was she as skilled in Qi Arts as Hua Menshi, which resulted in her being intensely jealous of Hua Mengshi.
Thus, she would not let go of a chance to insult Hua Mengshi and even felt a sense of pride.
The Third Concubine tugged at her clothes and said, “Xiaoyi, stop talking nonsense. Sister, Mengshi, Xiaoyi is still young and is always spouting nonsense, please don’t take offense.”
Hua Mengshi covered her mouth gracefully. “Don’t worry. Third sister has always been so frank and outspoken so I’m afraid the number of people she has offended is too many to count.”
Concubine Cheng’s face slowly broke into a smile. “Of course not. It is better to be frank than to stab someone behind their best, isn’t it?”
“Yes, exactly!” Everyone immediately agreed and looked greedily at those few stalks of Long Red.
One stalk of Long Red was worth 50,000 taels of silver, so who wouldn’t covet it?
Hua Mengshi thought quickly, and then whispered something to Qiuyun beside her. Qiuyun nodded and secretly left the place.
Soon, Qiuyun came back with a black dog that the Third Concubine reared.
This black dog was about to turn back when a sudden loud bang sounded from behind and something was flung inside which hit the black dog.
The black dog barked wildly then rushed madly into the yard. Everyone exclaimed in horror for that black dog rushed toward the patch of Long Red that Hua Qiyue grew!