The Eunuch Has A Wife - Chapter 21

Bai Zhi secretly pinched her own arm. It hurt now, her arm ached, but her heart ached even more. The ten taels of silver she had just gotten her hands on were already taken away by that troublemaker. She must have owed her in a past life. No, actually, it was the troublemaker who owed her in the past life, even causing her to lose her life. So why was it like this in this life?!

Bai Zhi silently questioned the heavens, but the heavens paid her no mind.

When they had come, they had squeezed into an ox cart, but on the way back, they rode in a carriage. With the hefty sum of ten taels of silver, they felt as if they were walking with a spring in their step.

At Lingjue Manor, seeing Bai Zhi and Wei Ziwan leave early in the morning and return only in the evening, the gatekeeper quickly reported to the young master that they had come back.

Bai Li glanced at the servant and instructed, “Go. From now on, if they leave the manor again, make sure to report it to me promptly.”

If they returned, it was fine. But if they didn’t, according to his father’s wishes, they would need to send people to look for them. So, to be safe, he decided to secretly assign people to protect them from now on, to prevent them from getting into trouble outside.

The next day, Bai Zhi, feeling refreshed, rewarded Aunt Chen with five coins and asked her to pick a few pounds of osmanthus flowers for her.

It wasn’t that she was stingy, but that troublemaker Wei Ziwan had only given her ten coins in total. She had to thank Aunt Chen and also save some for herself, so she couldn’t afford to be generous.

Although they had agreed with Lou Shang Lou to temporarily stop making osmanthus-fermented tofu to avoid leaking the recipe, they could start preparing osmanthus honey in advance.

Once Lou Shang Lou launched the osmanthus-fermented tofu, she planned to make some and send it to her uncle, who hadn’t shown his face yet, as well as to some people in the manor. After all, since they were living under someone else’s roof, it was best to be kind to others.

About half an hour later, a young man in his twenties came over carrying half a sack of osmanthus flowers.

“I’m Chen Da. My mother asked me to deliver these osmanthus flowers to you, miss.”

The young man was Aunt Chen’s son, who worked as a carriage driver in the manor. He resembled his mother and spoke with his head slightly lowered, just like her.

Bai Zhi smiled and took the osmanthus flowers. “Thank you both for your trouble.” She quietly squeezed her coin pouch, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided not to take out any more money.

She had already rewarded Aunt Chen, and whether it was the mother or son who was thanked, it didn’t matter. She needed to be frugal, as she was truly poor.

Yesterday, there were two poor people, but today, she was the only one left.

Wei Ziwan, that woman, was probably sleeping soundly with her silver.

After delivering the osmanthus flowers, Chen Da didn’t leave immediately.

He lowered his head again, suppressing the unease in his heart, and pretended to casually ask, “I heard from my mother that you’re worried about selling soybeans. Did you find a solution by gathering these osmanthus flowers? If… if you need my help, miss, just let me know.”

Bai Zhi’s eyes flickered, and then she quickly smiled and said, “No need to trouble yourself. We’ve already found a solution. As for the osmanthus flowers, everyone will know their use in a few days.”

“Then I’ll take my leave.” Chen Da kept his head down, quickly turned around, and hurried away.

Bai Zhi watched Chen Da’s hurried retreating figure. He seemed very nervous, and his earlier probing questions felt off.

She frowned slightly, sensing something unusual.

Back in the room, Wei Ziwan had already washed up and was sitting at the table. Bai Zhi casually mentioned what had just happened.

Wei Ziwan glanced at the half-sack of osmanthus flowers and slowly smiled. “Why don’t we spread the word that we plan to pick all the osmanthus flowers in the manor to make a soybean-related dish?”

It was better to be cautious. That way, they would know if anyone was scheming against them.

Bai Zhi looked at the half-sack of osmanthus flowers and quickly understood the key point. This way, they would be prepared.

She thought for a moment and said, “How about we ask Aunt Chen? If we want to pick all the osmanthus flowers in the manor, do we need to inform the manager?”

“Sure.” Wei Ziwan nodded lightly, but in her heart, she couldn’t help but think of Bai Luo’s expression—her face full of kindness, but her eyes filled with wariness, especially when she looked at Wei Ziwan, with a hint of hostility.

She walked to the bronze mirror and touched her face, recalling Bai Luo’s ordinary appearance with her long eyebrows.

Was it jealousy of her beauty?

Bai Zhi, standing nearby, was stunned. What was this troublemaker doing, suddenly looking at herself in the mirror with such a profound expression?

“Does my husband think I’m so beautiful that he’s jealous?” Wei Ziwan looked at her reflection in the mirror, recalling some unpleasant memories. There were always people in the world who harbored malice, unable to bear seeing others do well.

Bai Zhi couldn’t help but twitch her mouth and said coolly, “If you’re sick, go see a doctor.”

This troublemaker was too shameless. Jealous? She wasn’t jealous at all.

Wei Ziwan’s face stiffened for a moment. “It’s my husband who’s talking nonsense and needs to see a doctor.”

Bai Zhi rolled her eyes and said coldly, “I’ll go talk to Aunt Chen and drop some hints. You handle the osmanthus flowers in the sack—remove all the stems. Work more and daydream less.”

Did she really think of herself as a femme fatale?

In their past life, she hadn’t seen Wei Ziwan’s ability to bring ruin to nations, but she had been constantly pursued by that lustful crown prince, which not only cost Wei Ziwan her life but also dragged Bai Zhi to an early grave.

She really had no self-awareness.

Hearing Bai Zhi’s thinly veiled disdain, Wei Ziwan bit her lip, remembering that this was a clueless eunuch.

The eunuch had been stuck in the cold palace for so long that he probably didn’t even know what “beauty” was, let alone feel jealousy. He had no appreciation for beauty at all.

She angrily stood up, kicked the sack of osmanthus flowers, and then resignedly sat back down on the stool to start removing the stems.

Bai Zhi went to talk to Aunt Chen and dropped some hints, then returned to the room to help Wei Ziwan clean the osmanthus flowers. They mixed the flowers with white sugar and set them aside for later use.

They had agreed with Manager Xi from Lou Shang Lou that someone would come in two days to pick up the soybeans and pay the remaining ten taels of silver, so they only needed to wait one more day.

Once they sold the soybeans tomorrow, they could go to Bai Li, hand over the ten taels of silver, and get the radish seeds they needed.

After finishing with the osmanthus flowers, the two went to the manor’s manager to borrow some books on farming and local customs of Ninglin Prefecture.

Since they wanted to learn more about their surroundings and gain some knowledge about farming, they spent most of the day quietly reading in their room, unaware that outside, the servants were busy picking osmanthus flowers.

Not only were the osmanthus trees in the manor stripped bare, but even those nearby were not spared.

When Bai Zhi and Wei Ziwan went out for dinner in the evening, they couldn’t help but feel that something was different about the manor.

The two exchanged glances and then looked up.

Bai Zhi’s cool voice was tinged with surprise. “All the osmanthus flowers along the way seem to have been picked!”

Wei Ziwan’s face was as cold as ice. She pursed her lips and said, “It seems our worries weren’t unfounded.”

Someone was targeting them. Almost instinctively, Wei Ziwan confirmed her earlier suspicion.

Bai Zhi’s heart raced, and a cold sweat broke out on her back. Someone was secretly targeting them.

“Was it Aunt Chen and her son? Or someone else?” What was their motive? They had just arrived and hadn’t made any enemies.

Or was it their uncle and cousin trying to create obstacles? Was this a test? Was that possible?

Wei Ziwan raised an eyebrow and said, “Maybe your uncle is deliberately making things difficult for us? But it’s also possible that someone in the manor doesn’t want us to succeed.”

As she spoke, Bai Luo’s expression flashed through her mind. She always felt that the second young miss of the Bai family wasn’t as simple as she appeared. Even though her face was smiling, the wariness in her eyes was palpable, with a hint of malice.

Her past experiences reminded Wei Ziwan that she couldn’t help but be suspicious.

But it was irrational to suspect someone without evidence, so she hadn’t mentioned it to Bai Zhi.

Bai Zhi thought for a moment and felt a bit calmer. “Maybe it really is our uncle and cousin. They’re probably just testing us, without any ill intentions.”

That must be it, she told herself, though deep down, she wasn’t entirely confident.

Judging by Bai Li’s behavior, even if he wanted to make things difficult, he would do it openly, not secretly. There was no need for such underhanded tactics.

Bai Zhi’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t voice her suspicions, not wanting to worry the troublemaker.

Unexpectedly, a hint of bitterness appeared in Wei Ziwan’s eyes as she said, “Who says family and elders can’t have ill intentions?”