Chapter 3202: Miss, Have You Lost All Hope in Life?
Chapter 3202: Miss, Have You Lost All Hope in Life?
Ning Shu ignored the stares around her and simply went about her own business. The rumor that she had contracted a terrible illness was nothing but an excuse.
Ning Shu herself didn’t get angry, but Lianqiao spent the whole day fuming like a toad, cheeks puffed up with rage. Every time she heard someone talking, she looked ready to explode right then and there.
“Miss, you can still embroider? Do you even know what people are saying?” Lianqiao nearly snatched the needle and thread out of Ning Shu’s hand.
Calmly, Ning Shu replied, “If you get angry, will people stop talking? Enough. It’s not worth getting upset over.”
“Miss, are you planning to become a nun?” Lianqiao asked, watching Ning Shu’s unruffled expression. “Miss, have you lost all hope in life?”
Ning Shu: …
“Your young lady here is full of fire inside. I still love the mundane life and world.”
Lianqiao: …
Just as Lianqiao was about to say more, sounds came from the yard outside. She hurried out.
“Miss, the gatekeeper says some beggar children have come to the back door,” Lianqiao reported.Ning Shu nodded. “Give them some steamed buns, and go find out what’s going on.”
It wasn’t unusual for beggar children to show up at Marquis Xuanping’s residence. Everyone knew the household was wealthy, and sometimes they could receive food there.
“Yes, Miss.”
Ning Shu picked up her needle and thread again and continued embroidering the character for ‘longevity.’
Before long, Lianqiao returned and said to her, “Miss, the prince’s heir has swaggered right over to the Yin family’s house. Now everyone knows he has taken a fancy to their young miss.
“They say he broke off his betrothal with you for her.”
Seeing Ning Shu’s calm face, Lianqiao stamped her foot. “Miss!”
She was utterly exasperated, like a eunuch more anxious than the emperor himself.
With some helplessness, Ning Shu said, “Then what do you expect me to do? He and I are no longer connected. Anything I do now will only make me a laughingstock. People are just waiting for a spectacle.”
“It’s really suffocating,” Lianqiao groaned, pounding her chest. “Miss, you ought to teach that Yin girl a lesson!”
“And what if I did?”
If she was going to kill someone, it would be Zhuo Cheran.
Killing one woman meant nothing. Zhuo Cheran would always find another, and women were as plentiful as leeks in a field.
Even if he promised Yin Qing a lifetime of devotion, that didn’t mean he would stop looking at other women.
Lianqiao could hardly contain her fury. She wanted to bite Yin Qing to pieces.
But after all, she was only a girl in her teens. Faced with something like this, her anger boiled over.
Ning Shu shook her head. What was there to be angry about?
She set down her embroidery and went to pay her respects to Madame Rongguo. The madame, who was still feeling guilty toward Ning Shu, stuffed her with whatever good things she had.
“How is your health today?” Madame Rongguo asked.
While smiling, Ning Shu said, “Your daughter’s face is blooming like a peach blossom. Isn’t it obvious my health is fine?”
“You and that tongue of yours,” Madame Rongguo said while casting her a sideways glance.
“Has Father mentioned anything about court matters? Is Prince Xin’s household still targeting him?” Ning Shu asked.
Madame Rongguo thought for a moment, then said, “I haven’t heard your father say so, but he just donated another million taels of silver. He said there’s unrest in Hanyang.”
Ning Shu understood immediately. Zhuo Cheran still hadn’t given up his attacks on Marquis Xuanping’s household.
Perhaps the wealth of the family was simply too eye-catching.
Money could make even ghosts turn the mill.
“There were rioters who stormed the county yamen and injured many people. The defence expenses have made your father unable to sleep well for several nights,” Madame Rongguo said with a sigh.
Ning Shu thought for a while and then said, “Mother, our household’s business is too big.”
The proper way was to share the meat so everyone could eat. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but it was the truth.
Surely His Majesty wasn’t satisfied with just a little money. He must want a share of the Su family’s business as well.
MTL Editor: Ran