Chapter 243 - 229: First Encounter (Part 2)
Chapter 243: Chapter 229: First Encounter (Part 2)
"Yes."
Su Yaoguang and Cui Hongxiu stood in the middle of the main hall.
Su Rende turned around and saw her still standing, pointing across the room: "Sit down and talk! Once we’ve cleared everything up, if it’s true, this General will stand up for you."
"Actually, I had no choice but to seek the General’s help. I’m just a commoner, and I’m very afraid of offending the General Mansion. I came to apologize, hoping for the General Mansion’s forgiveness so I can lead a peaceful life."
"You approached this General on the street just to let everyone know that your Taoyao Square was bullied by the General Mansion. If there’s any more trouble, the General Mansion will be the first to be suspected. You previously inquired about this General’s temperament and knew that this General wouldn’t shield anyone unfairly. By using this General to tamp down domestic issues, they naturally became more compliant."
Su Yaoguang: "..."
This General’s mind is sharp, quite unlike an unruly man from a novel.
That was indeed her intention.
She had inquired in advance about the temperament of this National Guardian General, knowing that he could not tolerate even a grain of sand in his eyes.
Since those women wanted to cause trouble for Taoyao Square, she had to start with the one who had the most authority.
A beautiful woman walked in with an older woman. The older woman was none other than the one who initially caused trouble.
Upon seeing Su Yaoguang and Cui Hongxiu, anxiety flashed in the old woman’s eyes.
"General, you’re back," the beautiful woman said softly, "I’ve instructed the servants to prepare food; it will be served shortly. General, are these guests?"
"You don’t recognize them?" Su Rende said indifferently.
"I don’t recognize them," the beautiful woman’s gaze halted on Cui Hongxiu. "This girl does look a bit familiar."
"Yesterday, this girl came to do skincare for you, and you accused her of leaving marks on you, beat her twenty times, and ordered for her face to be beaten like this. Now you say you don’t recognize her?"
"Oh, it’s her. This girl offended the General Mansion outside, I couldn’t hold my anger, and found an excuse to slap her twenty times, hoping she’d learn a lesson and not speak nonsense outside. And she dared to seek out the General," Pang Family’s woman said angrily.
"I did not offend the General Mansion," Cui Hongxiu said, "Please, General, stand up for me."
"Didn’t your Taoyao Square say bad things about the General Mansion outside?" Pang Family’s woman spoke confidently.
"The General is wise. Both I and Taoyao Square admire and respect the General and wouldn’t dare offend the General Mansion. We never mentioned the General Mansion before. Yesterday, this old woman deliberately caused trouble for Taoyao Square, and we never mentioned anything bad about the General Mansion."
"Who told you that we offended the General Mansion?" Su Yaoguang asked.
The Pang Family woman glanced at the Tang Pozi beside her.
Tang Pozi knelt on the ground, confessing to Su Rende: "It’s my fault. I was at a disadvantage in Taoyao Square yesterday and, knowing the lady was always soft-hearted, lied to her to vent my anger. If the General wants to blame someone, blame me; the lady knew nothing about it."
"You dared to deceive me," Pang Family woman said incredulously. "General, I really didn’t know."
"You’re in charge of the General Mansion, yet you were fooled by an old servant like this. This old servant must not stay here any longer," Su Rende said. "Since she’s from your family, it’s not appropriate to sell her off, just send her to the estate."
"General, could you spare her this once? With this lesson, I believe she won’t dare anymore." After speaking, the Pang Family woman said to Su Yaoguang, "Ladies, I never expected this old servant to be so bold as to slander you. To make amends, I am willing to pay you one hundred taels of silver to help your recovery. How does that sound?"
Su Yaoguang looked at Cui Hongxiu: "Do you accept this compensation?"
Cui Hongxiu nodded: "I agree."
Only a fool would refuse silver.
With the support of their property owner, everyone at Taoyao Square knows that silver is a good thing.
Since she had been beaten anyway, not taking silver wouldn’t change anything. Besides, with Doctor Jiang, her face wouldn’t be scarred, so this was practically free silver.
"Thank you, General, thank you, madam," Su Yaoguang said, "Then we won’t disturb you any longer."
Su Rende looked at the sweet smile of this young girl, and his heart softened tremendously.
If only she were his daughter, how wonderful that would be.
Yet, he had injured his head and lost his memory, totally forgetting his past.
He had inquired around, even in the barracks. Those years were filled with battles; everyone who knew him died on the battlefield, and other brothers did not know his background.
There were continuous battles those years, and because there was a spy, many important records were burned, leaving no way to trace anything.