vrcanaries Chapter 188: The Cannon Fodder Sister Who Was Married Instead in Ancient Chinese Literature 68
Chapter 188: The Cannon Fodder Sister Who Was Married Instead in Ancient Chinese Literature 68
Jiang Xinghui flipped through the pages in confusion. The shop was making a lot of profit, so what did it mean when she was asked to look at this?
Lu Zhao flipped directly to the back and pointed to a sum of silver, which weighed more than one thousand taels.
"Hui'er, this is the portion of the shop donated in the past two months, nearly one thousand taels a month. Although it was the Marquis' Mansion that hired people to patronize the shop, the bulk of the money is still paid by the Marquis' Mansion. If this money went into your pocket, it wouldn't be a big deal. But after all, half of it has to be given away. Aunt Hua told me..." Lu Zhao pursed his lips, "If this continues, the Marquis' Mansion really can't support it."
Jiang Xinghui was a little hesitant. Lu Zhao was right. She really didn't want to give out such a large sum of money every month.
But in the current situation, the money is sent directly to her. If she closes the shop, she will have no other income except the monthly salary.
After all, she doesn't have a housekeeper now, and all affairs in the mansion are handled by Aunt Hua.
She bit her lip and looked up at him. "My husband, you are right. This shop is indeed a great benefit to outsiders if it is open. It is better to close it. It is... it is that I have married into the mansion. I didn't know that my mother was ill, so Aunt Hua has been handling the affairs of the mansion. Now that I am married, the housekeeping of the mansion...?"
Lu Zhao's originally happy expression faded slightly, and he thought for a moment before speaking.
"Hui'er, why don't you learn from Aunt Hua first and let Aunt Hua slowly arrange some leisure time for you so that you won't be tired."
"it is good."
Seeing that Lu Zhao agreed, Jiang Xinghui naturally agreed obediently.
Although he is not in full charge of the household, at least he can be involved in the affairs of the mansion.
In fact, she had always been wondering what virtue and ability this Aunt Hua had to have to bypass the wife of the Marquis and her, the Crown Prince's wife, and take charge of the household affairs. Moreover, Lu Zhao was particularly respectful to her and called her Aunt Hua instead of Aunt, but she did not ask any further questions.
The issue of Linglongxuan was resolved, and Lu Zhao picked up another account book.
It clearly records the money that Du had taken away from the Marquis of Loyalty's Mansion during this period.
At the beginning, it was three hundred taels a month, and in the second month it became five hundred taels, and the expenses increased with each subsequent month.
The purpose of each expense is also listed at the back of the account book. In addition to the fixed monthly medical fees, medicine fees and maintenance fees, the additional daily expenses are increasing day by day.
It seemed that the indulgence from the Marquis' Mansion made them start to test Lu Zhao's bottom line, and their monthly expenditure was more than the previous month.
Jiang Xinghui looked at this shocking number and realized that he had not seen the Du family for a long time.
She recalled the difficulty and embarrassment she had faced in collecting her dowry before her marriage, as well as the box of shoddy jewelry that Mrs. Du had given her, and felt as if she had been slapped in the face.
She did not hesitate to risk being despised by the prince and asked Lu Zhao to find a doctor for them. While they enjoyed the services of famous doctors, they withdrew abundant money from the Marquis' Mansion, but only revealed a little bit when adding makeup to her.
How ironic this is!
The last bit of tenderness in Jiang Xinghui's eyes disappeared completely, and he took the initiative to speak.
"Husband... I didn't know they... they actually..." Jiang Xinghui's eyes were red, and she was extremely disappointed.
"Husband, from now on, apart from the consultation fee and medicine fee, don't worry about anything else! Among my uncle's family, only my uncle is in poor health. The others have hands and feet, so they can naturally support themselves."
If she wasn't afraid that the Du family would talk nonsense in the Marquis' Mansion, and if she was too cruel it would not be in line with her external image, so she could only reduce the money of the Du family branch.
"it is good."
Jiang Xinghui's words were exactly what Lu Zhao wanted. Although he wanted to ignore the Du family, he felt guilty towards her because of Yunxi's affairs, so he agreed to this small request.
Due to Lu Zhao's deliberate concealment and avoidance, Jiang Xinghui did not know about her mother's situation for the time being. She only knew that Lu Zhao was trying to find a solution.
On the other hand, Yunxi's death sentence has been sentenced, and it will take place in three days.
When some people who had watched the entire trial learned that Yunxi's crimes were true, they applauded and looked forward to the day of execution.
......
On the street, several soldiers with broadswords escorted Yunxi in a prison van through the streets, while the chief judge rode in front on horseback.
Yunxi's hair was disheveled, covering her eyes and eyebrows. She was wearing a white prison uniform and standing in the prison van in a messy manner with shackles around her neck. She avoided the contemptuous and cursing gazes of the people around her with a look of horror.
I don't know who started it, but an egg was thrown at Yunxi. She screamed "Ah", but because her body was controlled, she could only endure it silently.
Seeing that the chief judge and the soldiers had no reaction, all kinds of vegetable leaves and eggs were thrown out at once, accurately hitting Yunxi one by one.
There were discussions everywhere in the crowd. One by one, they kept condemning Yunxi's crimes, while picking up things around them and throwing them over as if to vent their anger.
Yun Xi in the prison van suddenly screamed "Ah" again, and blood slowly flowed down his forehead. It was unknown who threw the stone over.
Seeing that the situation was somewhat serious, the officers and soldiers stopped the fight slightly and continued to escort Yunxi to the execution ground.
When they arrived at the execution ground, Yunxi had been thrown all the way, and the people followed him all the way.
Jiang Yueshu, wearing a veil, and Jiang Yixiu slowly walked forward and stood in a conspicuous position.
When Yunxi was pressed on the guillotine, he opened his eyes and saw Jiang Yixiu and a familiar-looking woman next to him.
After recognizing who the person was, Yun Xi struggled for a moment and wanted to speak, but the executioner had already chopped him down mercilessly.
Yunxi's head rolled down immediately, with an expression of regret and unwillingness on his face.
Jiang Yueshu sneered, then quietly left with his brother.
It seems that Master Lu's so-called true love for Jiang Xinghui is just this.
In the garden of the Marquis's Mansion.
Jiang Xinghui was sitting in the courtyard, drinking tea and admiring the flowers with a bored look on his face.
For some reason, looking at the scorching sunlight outside the pavilion, she always felt uneasy. She pressed her chest and prepared to go back to her room.
The maid hurried forward to help her up and walked carefully towards the house.
As he was walking, Jiang Xinghui suddenly heard whispers coming from the corner. The voices were not loud, but they were clearly heard.
When she heard a certain name, she immediately stopped and the maids serving her looked towards the source of the voice with a little sympathy.
Where did this gossipy little maid come from? She was so unlucky that she was discovered by the madam. According to her usual temper, these maids would definitely be beaten up.
"Yun Xi?! Could it be that person?!"
"Of course, she is the mother of the new wife of the Crown Prince in our mansion!"
"Hush, keep your voice down, how dare you say that, aren't you afraid..."
"Tsk, I've asked around. Madam is enjoying the flowers in the garden. Everyone in the mansion is talking about this. If I wasn't on duty today, I would have gone out to watch the fun!"
"Oh, that's right. Today is the day of beheading, but the new lady is still admiring the flowers. It's really..."
Several maids and old women were talking about it without knowing the truth. The maid next to Jiang Xinghui was shaking with fear and secretly observing Jiang Xinghui's expression, feeling extremely scared.
It’s over. After hearing this, will their master kill them?
Jiang Xinghui's face had turned pale. She suddenly rushed out and yelled at the old women who were gathered together chatting.
"What are you talking about? If you are lying, you deserve to die!"
The old women were caught by the protagonist of the story on the spot. They all knelt down in fear and regret.
"Madam, today is... the day your mother will be beheaded. She will be executed at 3:30 noon."
The old woman said this with difficulty and quickly lowered her head.
Jiang Xinghui felt her mind go blank and she almost couldn't stand. The maid ran over and supported her.
It is now four quarters past noon, and a quarter of an hour has passed since the execution.
To everyone's surprise, Jiang Xinghui was silent for a few breaths and then gave the order in a hoarse voice.
"Quick, prepare the carriage, I want to leave the house."
The old women and maids were relieved to see that Jiang Xinghui did not punish them. After Jiang Xinghui left, they immediately left with their tails between their legs.
When he arrived at the gate of the Marquis' Mansion, Jiang Xinghui was stopped.
"Madam, the Crown Prince has said that there are thieves in the imperial city today and it is not advisable to go out." The guard bowed.
"Step aside!"
"Madam, the prince said..."
With a "pa" sound, Jiang Xinghui slapped him hard, his eyes cold as he spoke word by word.
"I told you, I'm going out! If you need anything, ask the prince to come find me!"
"Madam, I'm sorry that I can't obey your order..." the guard said calmly.
"Okay!"
Jiang Xinghui laughed angrily. What did Lu Zhao mean by this?
If she hadn't heard it by accident, she would probably have remained in the dark.
"Come out and capture them for me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, two neatly dressed men in black suddenly appeared beside Jiang Xinghui. Without saying a word, they subdued the two guards.
These two people are the two secret guards that Lu Zhao specially prepared for Jiang Xinghui, responsible for protecting her safety. In the absence of Lu Zhao's orders, Jiang Xinghui's orders are everything.
After dealing with the guards, Jiang Xinghui hurriedly got on the carriage and urged the coachman to go to the execution ground quickly.
The carriage was moving at an extremely high speed. When it was almost at the execution ground, the road ahead was almost entirely filled with pedestrians. The crowd was so dense that the carriage could not pass at all unless it trampled over all the people on the road.
Jiang Xinghui had no choice but to get off the carriage and walk away.
Because she was in a hurry, she did not prepare a veil to cover her face. The maid pushed aside the dense crowd in front of her, and she followed behind.
After a while, the onlookers all discovered that the wife of the Crown Prince of the Marquis of Loyalty had arrived.
Without waiting for the maids and guards to push them away, they tacitly made way for Jiang Xinghui to reach the front of the execution ground smoothly.
Jiang Xinghui only felt that the speed of movement was extremely fast. She was stunned for a moment when she suddenly saw the empty execution ground. The next second, she saw the blood splattering on the guillotine and its surroundings.
The bailiffs were cleaning up the corpses, grabbing a head by its long hair in their hands. When the head turned around, Jiang Xinghui's eyes widened in daze, his eyes were red, and he wished he could kill whoever was there.
She rushed towards the bailiff like a madman, grabbed his arm, and held up her mother's head with tears in her eyes. She looked at the regret and unwillingness that remained on her mother's face and felt heartbroken.
"Ahhhhh!!" She burst into tears, staring at her mother's head.
The bailiff took a quick look at her and understood her identity. Due to the power of the Marquis of Loyalty's Mansion, he advised her in a gentle tone.
"Madam, please do not interfere with the officers' work!"
This sentence stimulated Jiang Xinghui like a dynamite. She put down her mother's head regardless and punched and kicked the yamen runners.
"She was killed by you! Can't I collect her body? Why did you catch her? You hurt her!"
The yamen runner who wanted to let her go got angry instantly when he saw this. He shouted to the other yamen runners, "Catch this person who is obstructing the officials from doing their work!"
Although the Marquis' Mansion would definitely come and ask for her release, it was good to let her suffer some jail time now. After all, he didn't know her identity, so what was wrong with that!
To be on the safe side, he handed the body to another yamen runner and then hurried to find his superior!
When Jiang Xinghui was caught, she realized that they were serious, and she quickly shouted into the air.
"Why don't you come out now!!"
The people around her looked at her strangely for a moment, not knowing what she meant, and there was no one else in front of her.
Jiang Xinghui was dumbfounded. She shouted again in disbelief, but still no one showed up.
She shouted four or five times in a row, but all she got in response was silence.
Everyone looked at her as if she were a fool, and felt that Yun Xi was unfathomable and had a heart of a vicious snake. Otherwise, how could such a woman be so famous?
Jiang Xinghui had no choice but to reveal her identity. She thought that the group of yamen runners would release her immediately after she told them, but they just looked at each other, smiled, and then took her to the cell.
When Lu Zhao received the news from the secret guard, his face changed and he immediately went to the Dali Temple to rescue the person.
When Lu Zhao saw Jiang Xinghui again, he saw her sitting in the cell with disheveled hair and dirty face, her eyes were dull and dazed, and her eye sockets were swollen.
Lu Zhao felt a pain in his heart, and a feeling of guilt and apology surged into his mind like a spring.
He took a few quick steps and unlocked the cell.
When Jiang Xinghui heard the sound, he just looked up at him blankly, then continued to lower his head in silence.
"Hui'er, I'm sorry." Lu Zhao choked, "I... I'm here to pick you up."
Jiang Xinghui still didn't respond, his eyes were dull and lifeless.
Seeing this, Lu Zhao picked up Jiang Xinghui, let her lean on him, and walked out of the cell.
......
Back at the Marquis' Mansion, Lu Zhao placed her on a stool and was about to call the maid to help her wash up, but Jiang Xinghui suddenly spoke.
"Aren't you going to explain?"
The voice was hoarse and no emotion could be heard.
"I... Huier..." Lu Zhao was almost unable to control himself and wanted to blurt out everything.
In the end, he hesitated.
"Hui'er, clean up first. I'll tell you everything when you're better!"
Jiang Xinghui said nothing and let the maid help her wash and comb her hair.
"Say it!"
Lu Zhao was silent for a moment, then spoke.
"In the eyes of the world, the Marquis of Loyalty has tremendous power and is trusted by the emperor. But every master in the Marquis's mansion knows that this is all an illusion."