After Transmigration, I Snag a Stunning Bigwig as My Husband
Chapter 65: Dongzhu

Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Dongzhu

The carriage slowly stopped in front of the Duke Zhen Country Mansion.

Su Jin stood on the shaft of the carriage, waiting for Xie Jingchen to help her down.

Xie Jingchen didn’t move.

Su Jin just looked at him like that.

Additionally, a maid was also staring at him.

Xie Jingchen felt a headache coming on.

Couldn’t the maid just help her down?

He walked over, Su Jin took hold of his hand to come down, smiling as she said, "I thought sneezing made you have a psychological shadow."

"You’ll get used to it," replied Xie Jingchen.

"..."

"You said what I was going to say, what am I supposed to say now?" Su Jin sulkily remarked.

"..."

Xie Jingchen’s face was full of black lines.

Xingxing cheerfully said, "Miss, let’s quickly go back to see how many East Pearls Marquis sent you."

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Su Jin smiled.

"Aren’t you even a little bit curious, Miss?" Xingxing asked.

"A little, I admit."

"..."

The master and servant entered the mansion with laughter and talk.

Manager Li came up to greet them, saying, "The Eldest Young Master and Eldest Young Madam have returned."

At the same time, he turned his head and instructed a servant, "Bring over the things that Marquis Dongxiang sent to the Eldest Young Madam."

Xingxing’s eyes lit up.

She thought they would have to return to Agarwood Pavilion to see them, but didn’t expect to find them in the outer courtyard.

"The Marquis must know how eager Miss is, so he placed them here in the outer courtyard," Xingxing said.

Manager Li’s mouth twitched.

It wasn’t Marquis Dongxiang who put them in the outer courtyard.

It was because the Eldest Young Madam only had this one maid.

These are East Pearls, not only precious but in large quantity, fearing the maid and servant might not be clean-handed, they didn’t dare send them to Agarwood Pavilion.

Soon, a servant brought a tray.

On it were three brocade boxes of varying sizes.

Xingxing, impatient by nature, directly opened the brocade boxes for Su Jin to take a look.

The topmost brocade box contained large East Pearls.

There were as many as eight.

Round and smooth.

Xingxing held them in her hands and said, "Miss, look, these are so beautiful."

Manager Li stood to the side, his heart in his throat, thinking this maid was overly bold. These large East Pearls, she dared to handle so casually. If she dropped them, chipped them, even a beating to death wouldn’t be enough to quell the anger.

Xingxing put the East Pearls back, then opened the second brocade box.

Xie Jingchen raised a hand to his forehead.

The court tribute of East Pearls every year was only six large East Pearls last year.

The Emperor unexpectedly awarded Marquis Dongxiang eight in one go.

It didn’t seem normal no matter how it was looked at.

Inadvertently glancing at the second brocade box, it was full of medium-sized East Pearls. Remarkably, it was an entire box of identical size.

Xie Jingchen’s heart trembled slightly.

Indeed——

The few East Pearls in Marquis Dongxiang’s words shouldn’t be taken lightly as less than ten.

These were in the hundreds.

Xie Jingchen glanced at the much larger third brocade box.

Estimated to be in the thousands.

"These East Pearls are even better than the earlier ones," Xingxing grinned from ear to ear.

Su Jin couldn’t help but laugh, "What a silly girl, the larger ones are rarer and more precious."

Xingxing said, "But wearing such large East Pearls as ornament to stroll outside, others would call Miss silly. Grinding them into pearl powder for facial application would be a pity, not as practical as these smaller ones."

Su Jin, "..."

Xingxing actually considered grinding the East Pearls into powder for face masks?

This wasn’t just casual talk.

"Have I used pearl powder for face masks before?" Su Jin asked.

"Frequently, but they were ordinary pearls," Xingxing replied.

"..."

Ordinary pearls, but still pearls.

Manager Li looked utterly astonished.

Even the Princess Nanzhang was not this extravagant.

This maid must be boasting!

With thoughts like these, Manager Li couldn’t help but glance at Su Jin’s face.

The Eldest Young Madam’s skin was fair and rosy, seemingly flawless, evidently well-cared for, even surpassing the ladies in the mansion.

It wasn’t just the Eldest Young Madam; even the maid’s complexion was excellent.

Xingxing carried the tray and said, "Pearl powder can whiten the skin. The sun at Qingyun Mountain is bright, and Miss loves to wander everywhere. Without pearl nourishment every summer, I reckon Miss wouldn’t be much fairer than Manager Li now."

Su Jin, "..."

Xie Jingchen, "..."

Manager Li, "..."

The nearby maid and servant nearly burst into laughter.

Comparing the Eldest Young Madam to Manager Li like this, the maid was surely heading towards doom.

Xie Jingchen looked at Manager Li’s face, then at Su Jin.

Finally, he reached a near-fatal conclusion——

"None of the pearl powder was wasted," he said with a smile.

Su Jin couldn’t help reaching over to pinch his waist.

Xie Jingchen gasped in pain.

Xingxing had a bewildered look.

"Have I said something wrong again?" she asked.

"It’s not wrong, just a bit too honest," Su Jin said, holding her forehead.

"But it was Madam who said it. Madam said if Miss didn’t apply pearl powder, running around outside every day, she’d be tanned like the Marquis sooner or later. Manager Li is even fairer than the Marquis," Xingxing elaborated.

"..."

Su Jin felt like dying.

She wanted to reprimand the maid but ended up involving her mother.

Xie Jingchen looked towards Manager Li and asked, "Did Father-in-law leave after sending the East Pearls?"

Manager Li shook his head, "Marquis Dongxiang went to Qihao Hall for a cup of tea and inquired about the maid poisoning the Eldest Young Master and Madam."

Xie Jingchen’s heart trembled again.

"Did anything happen?" Su Jin asked.

Manager Li cast a deep look at Su Jin.

Eldest Young Madam.

That’s your own father.

Don’t you know him?

Coming all the way here, would nothing happen?

"After Marquis Dongxiang left, Princess Nanzhang called for the Imperial Physician to prescribe two calming doses," Manager Li replied.

"..."

"What exactly happened?" Xie Jingchen’s voice trembled a bit.

Manager Li sighed internally.

Rumors were spreading on the streets, saying that it was Princess Nanzhang who poisoned Su Jin and Xie Jingchen.

Marquis Dongxiang heard about it while delivering the East Pearls.

Then, he personally inquired about it.

Duke Chong had one of his ribs broken, making Princess Nanzhang already furious, and now the street rumors were tarnishing her reputation.

Facing Marquis Dongxiang, Princess Nanzhang’s temper flared even more.

Her words were filled with fervor, sarcastically accusing Su Jin of being cunning and spreading rumors to tarnish her reputation as the mistress.

Marquis Dongxiang calmly retorted with a few sentences.

"As the household matriarch, failing to discover the mastermind behind the maids, implicating your reputation, I don’t think this bad reputation is unwarranted."

"I, coming from a humble background, don’t understand how noble families in the Capital manage their reputation. Jinjin was raised dearly by her mother and me. She didn’t marry into your Duke Mansion to be wronged and poisoned."

"If my daughter were really to have any accident at the Duke Mansion, don’t blame me for being ruthless, rather mistakenly kill a thousand than let one go unpunished."

"If anything were to happen to my daughter in the Duke Mansion, then don’t be surprised if she becomes the head of the family!"

Those few sentences were what infuriated Princess Nanzhang greatly.

Manager Li’s face was filled with a worried expression while standing nearby. Xingxing looked at Su Jin and cheerfully said, "Miss, since the Marquis said that the Duke Mansion will be yours to oversee, does that mean the Duke Mansion already belongs to you?"

Su Jin, "..."

Xie Jingchen, "..."

Su Jin looked towards Manager Li.

"Did the Commandery Princess take the medicine?" she asked.

Manager Li was momentarily taken aback.

The Eldest Young Madam.

That’s your stepmother.

After getting all riled up, Princess Nanzhang knocked over the medicine, so she probably didn’t drink it," Manager Li replied.

"Then get another Imperial Physician," Su Jin smiled.

"Hopefully, she will be moved," Su Jin added with a smile.

"..."

Xie Jingchen, holding his forehead, "..."