Chapter 8

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Madam Shen Xue’s smile froze, and her attitude turned cold.

“Are you telling me how to do things? That girl has a sharp tongue. What’s wrong with being a little harsh on her? Shen Qu, do you actually think you’re her biological brother?”

Shen Qu did not say anything, but the servant behind him bent down slightly and repeated the rumors circulating outside.

Shen Xue was furious.

Shen Qu calmed himself down a little. “We’ve already suffered a setback. Although it’s a family matter, it’s inevitable that people in the business world will laugh at us.”

Madam Shen Xue frowned. She had accumulated grudges against Shen Hua for a long time.

Was it just the lack of carbon fire? To think that Shen Hua had used this opportunity to take her down. It was her lack of discipline and negligence that allowed Shen Hua to take advantage of this loophole. How would she regain her dignity?

“All the more reason to punish her severely! She’ll know the pain when she bleeds, and then she’ll be honest.”

Shen Qu quietly glanced at Madam Shen Xue’s ugly expression.

Shen Wei was not greedy for women, and he only had Madam Shen Xue and Aunt Liu as his concubines. It was not without reason that Madam Shen Xue had failed to win Shen Wei’s favor after so many years.

It was really stupid.

“No.”

Shen Qu reminded her gently.

“There are many eyes on our Shen family now. We can’t be in her debt.”

Madam Shen Xue did not think much of it and thought that Shen Qu was being overly cautious. “If we lock her up in the inner courtyard and punish her, even if she loses a layer of skin, how will the outside world know?”

“She’s just a walking medicine jar, to begin with. So what if she’s gone?”

Shen Qu’s patience was wearing thin.

“You might not know, but Second Uncle and I have a lot of use for her.”

In business, wine and sex came hand-in-hand.

Shen Wei was pedantic, but he was not.

Upon hearing Shen Qu mention Shen Hewen, Madam Shen Xue stopped talking. She was so angry that her chest rose and fell slightly. Her breathing was not smooth. She suddenly could not bother to show maternal affection to him.

Seeing this, Shen Qu was satisfied.

He did not want Madam Shen Xue to ruin the good thing they had going.

Meanwhile, Shen Hua would be allowed to live a pampered life, but she could not be too impudent in front of him.

A dark light appeared in his eyes, but he calmly took the cloud cake and tasted it carefully.

On the other side…

Yi Cui led the slave broker into the residence.

“Let’s go faster. Don’t make the mistress wait.”

“They’re all servants who don’t know their place. They only know how to offend people. You’re a smart person. You should know how to deal with them.”

Hearing this, the broker immediately smiled like a flower.

She had been in this line of work before. It was a serious business. She often wandered around Fengzhou’s rich families.

With Yi Cui’s reminder, she quickly agreed. She did not forget to flatter her.

“These servants have thick skin and need to be taught a lesson. I have a group of honest and obedient servants who are looking for work. They have a clean background and won’t be unsightly. If you trust me, I can send them over at any time.”

The woman rolled her eyes and began to apply eye drops.

“This is my first time doing business with the Shen family. Your family is famous for being kind. Unfortunately, the one who has always been in close contact with the Shen family is that other broker, Broker Cheng. She’s not a good person.

“She snatched my man when we were young. Now that she’s so old, she still doesn’t know her place and wears flashy colors all day. The makeup on her face is almost a foot thick, as though she’s an unmarried maiden.”

Yi Cui smiled. “You’re not doing the Shen family’s business. It’s my mistress’s business.”

The woman was slightly stunned. She did not care about the rifts in the Shen family and quickly smiled.

No matter how powerful the Shen family was, they were only merchants. She had a private relationship with the old woman who served the magistrate’s wife. She was the one who handled the business of the magistrate, so she was not afraid of offending the Shen family.

How disgusting! Broker Cheng was a dog!

“You’ve found the right person. Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to resolve this.”

The guard shuddered. Seeing that the person had walked far away, he hurriedly pushed out a person to report to Steward Wu.

“What? You’re saying that the mistress is going to sell him?” Steward Wu was shocked and immediately felt that something was wrong.

Was she trying to disrespect Madam Shen Xue openly?

“The mistress’s temper is really bad. She doesn’t care about the consequences. She only wants the pleasure.”

His wrinkled face hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he did not dare to delay and hurried over. Coincidentally, he met Mrs. Xu, who had come to report arrogantly.

Those servants were sent over by Madam Shen Xue. Although they were servants in Shen Hua’s courtyard, they did not belong to Shen Hua.

Shen Hua made the decision without permission. Did she take Madam Shen Xue seriously?

…

The snow did not let up but seemed to be getting heavier and heavier, as if it wanted to cover the entire Fengzhou.

Shen Hua’s throat was extremely itchy and dry.

She coughed softly, and her face turned even paler. Yi Cui brought over a cup of hot tea and gently patted Shen Hua’s back, but it did not ease her.

Shen Hua rested her head on Yi Cui’s body and calmed her breathing.

Yi Cui said carefully, “According to Mistress’s instructions, I’ve found this broker who lives near the burial clothes shop in the east alley. She’s waiting outside and deliberately left a message in front of the guards.”

Those who were sharp would naturally pass the message to Shen Qu.

Shen Hua nodded. “Other than you, I don’t trust anyone else in the entire mansion. However, the courtyard is huge. If we don’t take the opportunity to prepare more servants, I’m afraid the Ningyun Courtyard will send more people over.”

She endured the discomfort and let Yi Cui help her out.

“Greetings to the mistress.” The broker hurriedly went forward and bowed, but she still sized her up calmly.

Everyone in Fengzhou knew that the Shen family’s young mistress was not in good health. The person in front of her was weak and panted every three steps.

The broker looked at the unruly servants at the side. They did not care about Shen Hua at all. The contempt was written on their faces.

It seemed that the rumors outside were true.

The broker cursed in her heart, but she did not dare to look further.

The servants pushed each other and finally pushed out one person.

“Our indenture is in Madam’s hands. Mrs. Xu has already gone to invite her. The young mistress deliberately did this to scare all of us. Although you are the mistress, you still have to follow the family rules.”

Shen Hua smiled lightly. She did not put these people in her eyes.

She was only afraid that Madam Shen Xue would not come.

Madam Shen Xue was stupid, but Shen Qu cared about his reputation the most.

Yi Cui brought over a chair and helped Shen Hua sit down. “I’ll hand over the indenture to you later. Remember to send some servants over later. The price is negotiable. If my mistress is satisfied, you will be rewarded later.”

As she spoke, she took out an ingot of gold and handed it to the broker.

The broker’s eyes lit up.

“Yes, yes. I’ll send some people over later for you to personally choose.”

The broker took the gold into her hands and stuffed it into her clothes. She raised her voice and shouted at those people, “Tsk, tsk, tsk. A lowly slave dares to be so impudent. I always said that Broker Cheng doesn’t know how to discipline people, but she actually dares to send them to the nobles’ families.”

She was pleased with herself. As soon as she left the Shen residence today, she would spread the news. She wanted to see how many families in those large courtyards dared to trade with Broker Cheng after that.

She would not let go of any opportunity to suppress that old broker!

“Mistress, you’re so kind-hearted that you can’t bear to punish your subordinates to the point that they dare to shout like this.”

The broker said, “I’ll bring them back and whip them a few times. They’ll bleed and know how painful it is. They’ll become obedient in a few days.”

She knew her way with words.

Shen Hua met her eyes.

She said faintly, “Then show no mercy.”