Abandoning Wife and Selling Daughter? Turning Around to Marry a Powerful Minister and Wiping Out Your Entire Clan! - Chapter 20

Steward Zhang was growing impatient. If he had already offered so many benefits, yet Madam Zhang still backed down due to her timid nature, wouldn’t that be a disgrace to him?

He didn’t even know why he had offered such terms to her in the first place. Perhaps he thought that since Madam Zhang came from a wealthy family, she must have some hidden skills he wasn’t aware of. Greed had momentarily taken over, and he wanted to take a gamble.

Now, he deeply regretted it.

Madam Lin observed the steward’s expression and felt even more pleased. Such cowardice—he hated that the most. It would be best if she hurried home and didn’t block her way to making money.

Zhang Xiaolan took a deep breath, as if making a firm decision, and looked up at the steward.

“I am willing to join Fenghua House.”

These words reassured Steward Zhang, making him beam with joy.

Madam Lin’s face, however, darkened instantly. She clenched her teeth and made up her mind—she must get money out of this little brat.

She couldn’t afford to lose silver for nothing!

Seeing that it was getting late, Steward Zhang dismissed everyone.

However, he handed a meal to Zhang Xiaolan, surprising her.

“I assume food is scarce at your home. Take this with you—just don’t mind that it’s leftovers from a noble’s table.” Steward Zhang spoke with a stiff expression, likely because he had noticed Zhang Xiaolan taking food home that afternoon, leading to such an assumption.

So what? Heat it up in a pot, and it would be just as delicious. Besides, nobles followed strict dining etiquette—most of the food they returned was barely touched. Only a fool would refuse it.

She would much rather save her money to have the imperial merchants help her find her daughter!

Zhang Xiaolan gratefully thanked Steward Zhang and hurried home.

That night, as she lay in bed, she couldn’t help but smile.

So, this is what it feels like to be a little wicked—it’s quite delightful. No wonder she used to always feel miserable.

Always thinking about others only made things hard for herself. What was the point?

For the first time in a long while, she slept soundly until morning.

She got up early, tidied herself, and arrived at Fenghua House at the hour of Chen.

The kitchen had already prepared breakfast—a simple bowl of soup noodles—but Zhang Xiaolan enjoyed it thoroughly.

Perhaps free food always tasted better.

Fenghua House mainly operated during noon and evening hours, so the morning tasks involved re-washing dishes that had been soaked overnight, cleaning and preparing vegetables, and handling dry goods. The meat was taken care of by the butchers, but occasionally, they also had to soak dried ingredients. Most of these tasks were handled by the chefs.

After eating, Zhang Xiaolan stood in the courtyard, waiting.

Steward Zhang arrived to assign tasks.

“Hu Ding, wash the vegetables. Lin, soak the dried goods. Ning Yuan, slaughter the sheep. …Zhang Xiaolan, gut… the fish.”

For some reason, when Steward Zhang reached her name, he hesitated. The people gathered around also looked surprised.

A newcomer gutting fish?

“Any objections to the assignments?” Steward Zhang swept his gaze over the group, finally settling on Zhang Xiaolan.

Ah, he was worried she wouldn’t know how to handle fish.

If someone had arranged this hoping to trip her up, they were going to be disappointed. Although she was the daughter of a Confucian scholar, she had never been pampered. Her parents never cared for her, so she had to do everything herself. Gutting a fish was nothing.

Everyone else voiced no objections. Some looked anxious, glancing at Zhang Xiaolan. Others smirked, casting mocking glances her way.

Zhang Xiaolan suppressed her grin and ran toward Li Er, the previous fish gutter, who had now been assigned to feed the horses—a much easier task.

She must not laugh. If she did, Madam Lin would surely demand compensation for her supposed losses.

After confirming the fish preparation standards with Li Er and watching him demonstrate, Zhang Xiaolan began her work.

Almost everyone in the courtyard turned to watch. Some were nervous, some confident, some just there for the spectacle, and some ready to report any mistakes.

Zhang Xiaolan chuckled internally. This? Such petty tricks were hardly impressive.

She pressed down the fish’s tail with an old towel, knocked it out with a wooden club, removed the gills, slit the belly, cleaned out the innards, carefully scraped off the dark membrane inside, and rinsed the fish two or three times in a basin of clean water. In no time, a neatly prepared fish lay on the cutting board.

Her movements were fluid and precise.

By the time the fish was completely cleaned, the onlookers were still in shock.

Even Steward Zhang looked at her with newfound respect.

She worked methodically—following the old ways first before making improvements. She also seemed quite knowledgeable about kitchen work.

Perhaps she could be promoted to a junior kitchen steward in the future. With her skills, managing the kitchen should be no trouble.

Following the kitchen’s routine, Zhang Xiaolan gutted a few more fish, cleaned her knife, and delivered the fish to the kitchen.

Returning to the courtyard, she sat down to rest.

Gutting fish wasn’t a hard job. The entire stock didn’t need to be prepared all at once—only a set number was cleaned in advance, while the rest were done as needed based on incoming orders.

However, Zhang Xiaolan knew someone was watching her, waiting for a chance to strike. There was no way she’d have a peaceful day.

Sure enough, trouble arrived.

She had barely sat for fifteen minutes when Madam Lin appeared.

“I was the one who found you this job. I spent a lot of money-making connections for it, so you need to pay me back,” Madam Lin said, pulling Zhang Xiaolan toward the back door with an air of entitlement.

Zhang Xiaolan had prepared some silver in advance but wanted to see how greedy Madam Lin was. If she wasn’t too greedy, she’d pay. If she was, then she wouldn’t get a single coin.

“How much do you want?” Zhang Xiaolan asked, looking at Madam Lin with a gentle smile. Her warm expression, combined with her delicate oval face, made her seem harmless.

“You…” Madam Lin hesitated, recalling her husband’s warning the night before. Her frustration and resentment surged. “Ten taels! Give me ten taels of silver, and we’ll be even!”

Ah, what a familiar phrase.

Zhang Xiaolan recalled that day two months ago when a thug had scammed her out of ten taels. Because of that, her daughter was still stranded in the northern frontier, her fate unknown.

“You’ve got the wrong person. This has nothing to do with me. Get lost!”

A cold glint flashed in her eyes as she pressed her forearm against Madam Lin’s throat. Madam Lin instantly choked.

Ah, just like how the guards did it—effective indeed!

A thrill of excitement flickered in Zhang Xiaolan’s gaze.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Steward Zhang’s robes approaching and immediately loosened her grip.

Madam Lin, who had been struggling desperately, suddenly lost resistance and stumbled backward.

“Lin! What are you doing?!”

A furious voice startled Madam Lin. Seeing Zhang Xiaolan lying on the ground, she hesitated—should she help her up or not? Either way, she now looked even more like the villain.
Steward Zhang had a strong woman from the courtyard help Zhang Xiaolan up, his disappointment in Madam Lin deepening.

“Madam Zhang, are you alright?” He maintained a respectful distance due to the difference in gender, but this was the least he could do.

Zhang Xiaolan shook her head. “Just a bit dizzy. I should be fine after some rest.”

She really needed to control her strength. If Madam Lin had been a stronger opponent, she might have ruined her own act.

To the onlookers, however, it was clear—Madam Lin had bullied the newcomer, tried to extort money from her, and even pushed her to the ground.

Poor Madam Zhang.

Even now, she was trying to cover for Madam Lin.

Madam Lin nearly fainted from anger.

“Steward Zhang, she—”

“The head steward is here! The heir of Prince Qin’s manor wants two boxes of crystal dragon-phoenix cakes! What should we do?”