Harem Daily Life

The madam of Zuichunlou got a thousand taels of silver for nothing, and she was so happy that she got a few more wrinkles on her face.

However, upon thinking of the black-clad man's sharp knife, she obediently put away the nine hundred and ninety taels of silver carefully, waiting to hand it over to the black-clad man respectfully when he came over that night.

Shuang'er looked at the silver and raised an eyebrow, saying, "I told you to lock him up for three days, but you released him in less than two days. You didn't take my words to heart!"

The madam's legs trembled: "Heroine, although I didn't do it perfectly in terms of time, I did a perfect job of humiliating him. He's a noble young master, living in a woodshed, eating swill, without a blanket in the cold, barely clothed, and being laughed at by others. He's already been utterly humiliated. I beg you to let me off the hook and not worry about the length of time."

Seeing that Shuang'er did not respond, the madam flattered her again, saying, "I only took ten taels of silver for the redemption; the rest is all for you, my lady. I hope you will understand."

Shuang'er coughed lightly: "Alright, since you've done a decent job, I'll let you off this time. However, there's one more thing you need to do for me."

The madam felt as if she had swallowed a large bowl of bitter herbs, but she still smiled and said, "It is my honor to be able to serve you, heroine."

Shuang'er was very satisfied: "You've heard of Lady Lingxi, right? Starting tomorrow, spread a message that this Third Young Master is in cahoots with Lady Lingxi, using divination as a pretext to swindle money and trick people into buying jade items from Ruyi Gold Shop that can ward off disasters and bring blessings. In reality, it's all a trap set by the three parties. Can you do it?"

The madam's face turned pale, then red, then pale again: "Is what you're saying true, heroine? You heartless bastard! I bought more than ten jade pendants at that Ruyi Gold Shop! The Goddess Lingxi clearly said they were very effective, how could it be a trap?"

Shuang'er raised an eyebrow: "You've been running a gold shop and seen so many tricks, yet you still fell for it? What did you ask for that made you get tricked by Lady Lingxi more than ten times?" Her gossipy nature got the better of her, and Shuang'er couldn't help but ask.

The madam's face was a kaleidoscope of emotions. She opened her mouth, but under Shuang'er's intense gaze, she slowly said, "The first thing is to tell you about my marriage. I'm forty-six years old, and I have seven or eight people I've thought about. I just want to ask who is my soulmate."

Shuang'er's mouth, covered by a black cloth, couldn't help but open wide as she glanced at the plump madam in front of her. She hadn't expected that the madam had seven or eight lovers.

The madam seemed to have found a confidant to confide in, and said, "Who knew that on the third day after I bought the jade pendant, the lover I had predicted the first time ran off with someone else. I was not willing to give up, so I had to go to Fuyan Temple again and have my fortune told again."

After saying this, she was filled with remorse: "It's like they're deliberately working against me. Every time I calculate my love interest, they run away a few days after buying the jade pendant. In the end, I ended up buying more than a dozen pieces of jade, and all my close friends... also ran away."

Shuang'er: "..."

"Sigh, a man like that who doesn't stay in love for long is gone, so be it. Lady Lingxi has done a good job of getting rid of all the bad suitors for you."

The madam could only smile bitterly. How could a female knight-errant understand the love and affection of ordinary people like them? Without love and affection, life would be meaningless.

Shuang'er overheard some gossip and got nine hundred and ninety taels of silver for free. After giving her instructions, she disappeared into the night.

Inside Chang Le Palace, Tao Yanyan looked at the silver in front of him and said with a smile, "I didn't expect to have such a big haul. It's kind of fun to do bad things."

Shuang'er was suspicious. What did "cool" mean? But she didn't ask directly. Anyway, the Empress would occasionally come up with some new words over the years. She guessed that these two words meant "very happy". After all, the Empress had made money.

“That Fang Ming is clever. He can figure out who made him suffer by connecting the dots. The Jingzhao Prefecture should be preparing to take action as well. I will show him what happens when you dare to deceive the people and harm the princess.”

As Tao Yanyan had predicted, news spread from Zuichunlou that many people had come to the Jingzhao Yin's office to file complaints, and that the Ningyuan Marquis had secretly provided evidence of the crimes. Whoever handled such a big case would be promoted, and the officials and constables of the prefecture were all eager to help. Their efficiency was top-notch, and they quickly searched the Fang residence.

Ruyi Gold Shop was not spared either. The angry crowd surrounded the entrance of Ruyi Gold Shop with rotten eggs and vegetable leaves, cursing the shopkeeper to death. The shop was smashed to pieces, and rotten vegetable leaves were everywhere.

The owner behind the gold shop was originally just a small businessman who made a fortune after partnering with Fang Ziming. Now he had to give it all back and was arrested and imprisoned by the officials. On the day he was taken away, he cried and wailed, beating his chest and stamping his feet. His wails shocked the people on the street.

"I'm innocent! It's all that damned third young master of the Fang family's idea! I'm just an honest businessman, and he and that charlatan, Lady Lingxi, have ruined me and made me bankrupt! I'm innocent!"

On the second floor of the restaurant, Princess Yan, sitting by the window watching everything, smiled and said, "Those who try to use tricks under the nose of that shrewd Empress Tao, who can possibly gain the upper hand? They're all useless."

The old woman beside her looked around to make sure no one was listening before whispering, "Now that the Princess Consort has returned to the Great Zhou, she must keep a low profile at all times. She shouldn't talk about the current Empress outside, lest someone overhears her."

Princess Consort of Yan gave her an unpleasant look: "Stop calling me Princess Consort of Yan. The King of Yan is dead, and the Yan Kingdom has fallen. What kind of Princess Consort of Yan am I?"

The old woman quickly bowed her head and admitted her mistake: "It was my recklessness, please... punish me, Madam."

Princess Consort of Yan said coldly, "Remember to call me Lady Feng from now on." Although the Yan Kingdom was destroyed, she was a princess who married into the kingdom in a grand and glorious way, so it was only natural for her to take the Feng family name.

The nanny quickly poured her a cup of fresh tea: "Madam has been back in the Great Zhou for some time now. People from the Zhennan Prince's Mansion have been coming to invite you to stay at their home. What do you think..."

Madam Feng took a sip of tea: "When I was the Princess Consort of Yan, they could get benefits from me, so naturally they treated me well. Now that I am no longer a princess consort, I don't even have a decent status, and my title of Princess Pingning has been revoked. How can they treat me well? Ha, they want me to go back, just to squeeze out the last bit of value I have before kicking me out the door."

The old woman dared not offer any advice, but it wasn't a long-term solution for the two of them to continue living in the inn. Since the death of the Prince of Yan, the Emperor of the Great Zhou had not punished the Princess Consort, and she was allowed to keep all her property. However, the money was dwindling with each passing day, and with no income, they would eventually run out of money.

"Madam, please forgive my bluntness, but we can't stay in an inn for long; the money won't last. How about we buy a small courtyard house so we can settle down in the capital and enjoy our later years in peace..." She dared not utter the words "later years."

She, the maid, knew better than anyone how much the lady valued her appearance. Now that her beauty had faded and her youthful charm was gone, what she hated most was people talking about how old she was.

Madam Feng gripped her teacup tightly, as if she had finally made up her mind: "Try to find some connections to help me... send something to the Emperor of Great Zhou. He owes me a promise I made when I was young."

The old woman knew that this was the lady's last resort.