Chapter Ten: Meeting

It seems the General is getting impatient. It is hardly a surprise, given the bold vows I made; he is likely just waiting to see me make a fool of myself.

It is time to head out.

Song Xirui reached out, gathered the scrap of paper in her hand, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it aside.

"Mistress!" Hongdou’s small face was flushed with excitement. "The messages have been sent out. Besides the one for your brother, I delivered letters to those two as well."

Song Xirui offered her a faint smile. "Drink some water; I will need your help later."

Hongdou nodded vigorously. "Okay!" She took a large gulp of water.

Song Xirui began to prepare the things she would need for her departure from the estate. She had instructed Hongdou to send letters to two people. One was Xiao Yunci, and the other was Li Cunyi, the current Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who held the nation’s purse strings. He was a man of the Crown Prince, who in her previous life had served as a scapegoat for the Prince and met a tragic end. He was also the "gift" she had prepared for her first meeting with Xiao Yunci.

Once everything was ready, just as she was about to call for Hongdou, Luo Yun'er arrived again. Song Xirui frowned, her eyes conveying only two words: bad luck.

"Cousin-in-law, you seem much better; you are even able to sit up now," Luo Yun'er remarked with feigned concern.

Song Xirui coughed twice, her expression weary. "Lying in bed all day, I feel as though my bones are growing old."

After she spoke, she turned to look at Hongdou. "Go to the cabinet and get a few taels of silver to buy some soothing pills. Use the same prescription as last time."

Hongdou froze for a moment but immediately complied.

Only then did Song Xirui address Luo Yun'er. "By the way, Yun'er, have you bought the medicine you needed?"

Luo Yun'er felt a surge of irritation at the mention of this. The measly three hundred taels of silver she had scraped together were barely enough to fill the gaps between her teeth, and most of it had already been spent coaxing Su Yun. Yet, she maintained a smiling face. "Thank you, Cousin-in-law. I have entrusted someone to buy the medicine, but..." She deliberately trailed off.

Song Xirui frowned. "Is there some difficulty?"

"Cousin-in-law, please help Cousin!" Luo Yun'er twisted her handkerchief into a ball, as if having made up her mind, and said with a pleading tone, "Cousin is truly at his wit's end. The storehouse was robbed, and the only silver the Old Mistress had was spent on that King Ginseng for you. Cousin still has to go out to settle the refugees; he can't do that without funds. Where is he to find the money?"

As she spoke, her eyes even turned red.

Song Xirui listened in silence, not saying a word. Inwardly, she found it amusing; anyone who didn't know better would think Luo Yun'er was the mistress of the Scholar's Estate!

Seeing her remain silent, Luo Yun'er assumed her words had struck a chord and pressed on. "Cousin treats you so well. Whenever I hear him speak of you, it is always with praise. As the saying goes, one would only envy the mandarin ducks, not the immortals!"

Though she said this, her heart was filled with bitter jealousy. The position of mistress of this estate should have been hers. One day, she would force Song Xirui to kneel and hand it over with both hands!

Song Xirui sighed. "Indeed, husband and wife are birds of the same forest; how could I bear to let my husband shoulder this burden alone?"

"So, does that mean you are willing to provide the silver to help Cousin?" Luo Yun'er asked, delighted. She knew Song Xirui was hoarding wealth!

***

Elsewhere.

"Are you certain, Yun'er really told the Mistress she was willing to help our Su family overcome this crisis?" Lady Li asked, suspicious. If Luo Yun'er had money, why hadn't she brought it out?

Hongdou was quick-witted. "Old Mistress, why don't you come with me and see for yourself?"

"Very well." Lady Li thought for a moment and followed her.

***

Song Xirui had not given a definitive answer to Luo Yun'er. She calculated the time; Hongdou should be back soon. She asked, "Yun'er, if you had the means, would you help your cousin?"

The question caught Luo Yun'er off guard for a moment. She quickly donned an expression of extreme sincerity and raised her voice. "If I had even a single tael of silver, I would certainly give it all to Cousin to help the Su family through this crisis. I would never hide it away!"

This oath-taking demeanor made her look like a truly valiant woman. Song Xirui’s gaze swept over her lightly, and she suddenly laughed. "Sister, I truly did not misjudge you. In that case, the Su family’s current crisis is entrusted entirely to you!"

"What?" Luo Yun'er was stunned. "Cousin-in-law, is there a misunderstanding? I meant—!"

Before she could finish, Lady Li rushed in, threw her arms around Luo Yun'er, and exclaimed in surprise, "Yun'er, you are truly a good child! Your cousin’s affection for you is well-deserved!"

Luo Yun'er swallowed hard. Just as she was about to explain, she heard Song Xirui say, "Mother, sister Yun'er is truly remarkable. She is willing to give everything she has to support the Su family; we must never treat her poorly in the future."

"Do I need you to tell me that? I shall treat Yun'er as my own daughter—no, better than my own daughter!" Lady Li glanced at Song Xirui with a sharp, cynical look, then affectionately took Luo Yun'er's hand.

Sweat began to bead on Luo Yun'er's forehead. She forced the words "I have no money" back down her throat and managed a strained smile at Lady Li. Then, her eyes shifted to meet Song Xirui’s mocking gaze.

This woman had done it on purpose! She had orchestrated this so Lady Li would believe she had money!

"Yun'er, how much do you have?" Lady Li asked immediately after her display of affection.

Luo Yun'er hesitated. She did have money, but she certainly couldn't give it all to the Su family; at most, she could part with a small portion. She sighed languidly, looking troubled. "Old Mistress, you know my background; I am destitute. Currently, I only have fifteen hundred taels."

"So little?" Lady Li blurted out. The ginseng she had bought for Song Xirui alone had cost three thousand taels!

Song Xirui watched from the side, unmoved, her beautiful eyes lifting as she sipped her tea. "Isn't sister the daughter of a hunter? How is it that you have fifteen hundred taels in silver notes? That would be enough to buy a small shop in the capital."

Luo Yun'er was startled. How could she have forgotten that? She quickly improvised. "Cousin-in-law, you don't understand. This money was gifted to my father by a nobleman he saved while hunting. There is only fifteen hundred taels."

"Sister clearly has money, yet you still took three hundred taels from me for medicine. You truly are deeply devoted to the Su family," Song Xirui said, dripping with sarcasm.

Luo Yun'er turned pale. Song Xirui was deliberately reminding Lady Li of her hypocrisy. Sure enough, after Song Xirui’s comment, Lady Li’s expression toward Luo Yun'er became complex.

However, since she was counting on Luo Yun'er's money to solve the crisis, she intervened. "Yun'er has the heart to help, and that is already excellent. Xirui, stop pestering her."

She could distinguish between what was going out and what was coming in!

Song Xirui nodded with a gentle, shallow smile. "Mother is right. I would not dare question my cousin; I only mentioned it because I noticed she had added new jewelry and headpieces these past two days."

Upon hearing this, Lady Li looked at Luo Yun'er with profound astonishment.