Two errand boys from Fanlou carried in two large food baskets, bringing dish after dish into the courtyard and setting them out in Xizhi Mammy’s room.
There were both hot and cold dishes: six vegetarian, eight meat, and a summer buttermilk ice—an entire table packed full. Even Xizhi Mammy, who’d seen much in the Yong’an Marquis Manor, was stunned.
Just the Fish Sashimi alone was enough to astonish—such a huge celadon platter covered in crushed ice, with slices of fresh, glistening raw fish laid out on top, each piece as if freshly cut.
The maids and older servants in the courtyard couldn’t help but peek through the door, whispering in awe at the exquisite dishes they’d never seen before.
“These…are all sent by Madam for me?”
Even Xizhi was unsure.
That Fish Sashimi alone must cost at least ten taels of silver, right?
She’d seen it often at the Yong’an Marquis Manor, but never tasted it, never even dared to think of it.
The errand boy smiled and replied,
“That’s right, Xie Miss gave special instructions—these are all for you, Xizhi Mammy.”
“How can I possibly finish so much by myself?”
Xizhi Mammy hesitated, just about to ask how much all this cost, when the scolding voice of a Pei Family mammy sounded from outside, driving away the gawking maids and old women.
Xizhi knew that Mrs. Pei, Li Huixian, must have arrived.
Sure enough, Li Huixian appeared at the doorway, supported by a mammy, face full of rage.
When she saw the spread on the table, her eyes nearly bled.
Back when the Bo Yibo was at its height, she’d eaten such things too.
If her husband hadn’t died young and her brother-in-law Pei Heng hadn’t gone missing on the battlefield, the Count’s household wouldn’t have fallen so far—even this Outsider-born Concubine Daughter-in-law was running wild!
“The food’s delivered; we’ll come back later for the dishes.”
The errand boys bowed respectfully to both Li Huixian and Xizhi Mammy.
Li Huixian was even more furious—since when did this lame old servant have the right to stand tall before her?
Madam Lianxiang, standing by her side, understood her meaning and blocked the errand boys, asking,
“Show me the bill. Is our Countess’s account being charged to the Bo Yibo?”
The errand boy handed over the receipt with a smile: “So Xie Miss is the Countess! Here’s her transaction slip—all settled already.”
“All settled?”
Madam Lianxiang took the bill and handed it to Li Huixian.
When Li Huixian saw the sum, her brows nearly shot up—forty taels of silver!
Not just over forty taels, but for a lame old servant to eat a forty-tael feast!
You couldn’t even buy that old servant’s life for a hundred copper coins!
Whose money was Xie Yushu spending?
Wasn’t it the thousand taels she and Shiyuan had been swindled out of!
The errand boys said nothing more and took their leave with a smile.
Li Huixian, burning with nowhere to vent her anger, immediately ordered the entire table of food to be smashed!
She was determined to put Xie Yushu in her place!
Xizhi Mammy couldn’t stop them—she could only watch as several burly old women stormed in and overturned the table.
Her heart ached for the wasted food, and she felt aggrieved for Xie Miss.
If only she had family to support her—how could the Pei mother and son bully her so?
It had only been four days since the wedding; how was she to endure the days ahead…
“This is the Bo Yibo! You old servant, remember who’s in charge here!”
Madam Lianxiang spat out before helping Li Huixian out of the courtyard.
Li Huixian, still fuming, took the bill to show Pei Shilin, wanting him to keep an eye on Xie Yushu’s money and dowry.
No daughter-in-law behaved like this.
Pei Shilin, however, knew well that the money had come from Song Jie—a full two thousand taels of fine silver.
He couldn’t imagine what Xie Yushu had done for Song Jie at the Prime Minister’s Mansion last night to be worth two thousand taels!
Was Xie Yushu alone at Fanlou?
He couldn’t wait a moment longer and ordered a carriage to fetch Xie Yushu from Fanlou himself.
She had to come back immediately.
But who could have guessed—he came up empty.
The manager at Fanlou said Xie Yushu had already left.
Pei Shilin, feeling the weight of everyone’s stares, simply couldn’t bring himself to ask,
“Did she come alone? Was there another man with her?”
How would people look at him if he asked that?
He turned and left Fanlou, holding back his anger as he looked out at the bustling street.
Where could Xie Yushu have gone?
The Yong’an Marquis Manor certainly wouldn’t welcome her back—surely she hadn’t gone to the Prime Minister’s Mansion again?
“Congratulations, Host. You’ve gained 1 Green Hat Value and 1 Heartthrob Value.”
The System’s notification came out of nowhere.
Xie Yushu was in the East Alley’s hiring market picking out people, not expecting her Green Hat Value and Heartthrob Value to increase.
She glanced at the Task Interface—both values had gone up thanks to Pei Shilin.
She couldn’t be bothered to wonder what nonsense he was up to, focusing instead on picking men.
She offered prices far above market rate, so the agency boss brought out the very best men for her to choose from, introducing them as all being well-trained.
Some had worked as bodyguards—perfect for guarding her home.
Money really does make things easier.
The tall, strong men lined up for her to pick.
Xie Yushu selected two skilled men and signed a one-year contract.
The job was simple: serve as her bodyguards and help drive her carriage.
She had just bought a carriage herself—no need to rely on the Pei Family’s from now on.
Much more convenient.
Just as she was about to leave, someone gently tugged at her skirt.
She looked down and saw, curled up in a corner at her feet, a very thin person, filthy and swarming with flies and mosquitoes, hair tangled over their face so she couldn’t see what they looked like.
Only the rope around their feet was visible, rotted into their flesh.
“Careful, Missus.”
Jin Ye hurried to shield her, pulling her skirt free and whispering,
“There are lots of beggars and child sellers here. If they see you spending freely, they’ll crowd around for money.”
The two strong men she’d just hired quickly moved to block the beggars, protecting her as they left.
But Xie Yushu saw the Heartthrob System Interface pop up, framing the filthy person and displaying—
[Potential Target].
This feature had appeared before, when she’d encountered Pei Shilin and Song Jie.
The System had explained that not everyone could provide Heartthrob or Green Hat Value—like the two bodyguards she’d just hired, Wang An and Zhao Feng, who had no presence in the Original Plot and thus couldn’t be targeted.
So, this half-dead person on the ground must have played an important role in the original story?
She couldn’t recall such a character or plot.
“It’s because, as a Substitute Female Supporting Role, you originally wouldn’t have met him,” the System explained.
“But now that you’ve increased your Heartthrob Value, important characters will be drawn to you, increasing the chance of a fateful encounter.”
So that’s what Heartthrob Value was for.
She’d only gained a few points, and already she could run into important characters—what if she hit 100 points?
Xie Yushu crouched down, wanting to see if the person was male or female, and what they looked like.
Immediately, an old man nearby came over and said,
“Missus, want to buy him? This is my son—our family’s starving. Buy him as a servant or a groom, just give him a bite to eat. Only a hundred copper coins.”
“A hundred copper coins? You’re trying to cheat us!”
Jin Ye snapped.
“Your son looks half dead. Our Missus would have to pay for his medicine too!”
“That’s right,”
Yin Ya chimed in.
“I only cost fifty copper coins when I was bought into the manor.”
Xie Yushu found it all distasteful.
The Original Plot was a power fantasy—but only for the male and female leads.
Her own mother, Qiao Bao’er, had once been sold into the Yong’an Marquis Manor for just three hundred copper coins—not even one tael of silver.
A person’s life wasn’t even worth a plate of food at Fanlou.
She looked again at the dying person—their trembling fingers still reaching for her skirt, as if weakly pleading for help.
In the end, Xie Yushu had Jin Ye give the old man a hundred copper coins and told Wang An to take the person to a doctor, then left the market with Zhao Feng in her new carriage.
She had barely left the hiring market when three tall, agile men grabbed the old man who’d sold his son, quietly took him aboard a cargo ship, and threw him into the hold.
Inside the hold sat a wounded man, bare-chested, tending to his own injuries.
“General, the old man said the person’s already been bought,” the three men reported with a bow.
“The buyer was the Bo Yibo’s Countess.”
“Countess?”
The wounded man looked up, his face hidden in the dim light.
“Pei Shilin is married?”
His subordinates replied yes, the wedding was just a few days ago.
He laughed coldly.
“So filial—while I’m missing, my good nephew enjoys his wedding night.”
He lowered his head, digging out the rotten flesh from his chest wound, gritting his teeth to apply fresh medicine, and only after a moment said,
“Keep an eye on the Bo Yibo. Make sure he stays alive.”
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