Shuse Jinjia

Upon hearing this, Xie Zhaotang understood the reason for Madam Duan's change in expression. She stood up abruptly and looked coldly at Madam Duan.

"Madam Duan, I thought you were different from the two young ladies of the Pei family, but it turns out you're not so different after all!"

"I am indeed a concubine's daughter, but does that mean I am inferior? Am I not allowed to marry someone as their principal wife, except to be a concubine?"

"I have hands and feet, I can work and support myself, why should I be looked down upon just because I was born a concubine's daughter..."

Xie Zhaotang looked like he couldn't continue speaking, and quickly gave a bow.

"I'm sorry..."

She lowered her head and ran quickly outside.

"Oh, Fourth Miss, that's not what I meant..."

By the time Madam Duan realized what was happening, Xie Zhaotang had already run out.

Madam Duan glanced at the silver notes on the table and smiled bitterly. "This child, why is he so temperamental..."

Xie Zhaotang stopped at the corner of the winding corridor, wiped his face, and found that there wasn't a single tear on it.

She was acting half and her emotions were genuine.

She'd heard the terms "illegitimate daughter" and "concubine" so many times since she transmigrated that she couldn't help but speak out for the illegitimate daughters.

"Fourth Miss, are you lost, or... are you crying?"

A familiar voice came from behind me.

Zhu Feng!

Xie Zhaotang instinctively wiped her eyes again, turned around, and saw Zhu Feng and Huo Beiyu standing side by side.

Zhu Feng looked concerned.

Huo Beiyu, however, wore a half-smile...

Xie Zhaotang inexplicably understood his expression... as if to say, "He's pretending again!"

Uh!

Xie Zhaotang felt as if she had been stripped naked in front of him, and felt utterly ashamed.

She lowered her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking.

"I need to go to the outhouse, but I can't find the way!"

Zhu Feng and Huo Beiyu had been eating pastries and drinking tea in the flower hall when they accidentally drank too much water and came to find a restroom. He assumed Xie Zhaotang was in the same situation as them, so he kindly offered to help.

"Fourth Miss, walk a few dozen meters forward from here, and you'll see a rockery. The outhouse is behind it..."

"Don't be afraid. The Prince's mansion is very large. It's normal to get lost since it's your first time here. Go to the outhouse first, and we'll wait for you here before taking you to find Miss Li and the others..."

"Thank you!" Xie Zhaotang curtsied and followed the path he was shown.

I vaguely heard Huo Beiyu say, "You promised to wait for her, so you wait for her. I didn't promise... I'm leaving now..."

When Xie Zhaotang returned from the outhouse, Zhu Feng, who had promised to wait for her, was nowhere to be found, while Huo Beiyu, who had said he wouldn't wait for her, was still there.

Seeing Huo Beiyu's gloomy face and unapproachable demeanor, Xie Zhaotang pursed her lips and asked.

"Young Master, may I ask which direction Miss Li and the others are in? I'll go there myself."

Huo Beiyu glanced at her coldly, looked around to make sure no one was there, then approached Xie Zhaotang and said in a cold voice.

"I don't care what your schemes are, don't use them on the people around me, or you'll end up like that dead rabbit..."

After Huo Beiyu finished speaking, he turned and left.

Huo Beiyu's mention of the dead rabbit triggered Xie Zhaotang's anger. She remembered how Aunt Shen was frightened by the dead rabbit, and the humiliating words Zhang Lin and his gang at Hexi Garden said to their illegitimate daughter.

Huo Beiyu, like them, harbored prejudice against illegitimate daughters.

If she really did seduce Zhu Feng, I'd accept it.

But why should she take the blame for something she didn't do?

Xie Zhaotang grew angrier the more he thought about it, and then, without a second thought, he continued on his way.

"Young Marquis, your martial arts skills are superb, so killing people and rabbits is naturally no difficult task for you. But before sentencing me to death, shouldn't you at least let me know what I did wrong?"

Huo Beiyu stopped and turned to look at Xie Zhaotang, only to see that Xie Zhaotang's eyes were red and she was glaring at him angrily.

Still pretending?

Huo Beiyu frowned and impatiently exposed her.

"Xie Zhaotang, do you dare say that the lotus seed paste pastry, the antidiarrheal medicine, and the hemostatic medicine weren't just part of your scheme to curry favor with us? Do you think we're all fools who can't see through your ulterior motives?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Zhaotang angrily retorted, "I admit that I mentioned the lotus seed paste pastry to attract the attention of Prince Duan, but I only wanted to cooperate with Madam Duan to do business and make some money... I only have two taels of silver a month, and my aunt also needs to cover expenses living in Baohua Village. We are not as wealthy as you, young marquis. Making some money is just to make our lives a little better. Is that wrong?"

"When I mentioned hemostatic and antidiarrheal medicine to the young marquis, I was just trying to make some money. He didn't seem interested, and I didn't pester him to buy it, did I? I earn money through my own abilities, so why does the young marquis see it as ulterior motives? Why, just because I'm a concubine's daughter, am I inferior, only fit to be a concubine for you noblemen? To be bullied by you?"

Xie Zhaotang became more and more excited as he spoke.

She thought of the original owner's death. It was clearly Xu Muyuan who took a liking to her, but Pei Yun and the others didn't blame Xu Muyuan for being lustful, but blamed her for seducing him...

This series of unfair treatments made Xie Zhaotang feel heartbroken and aggrieved, and tears uncontrollably welled up in her eyes...

Xie Zhaotang's body is only fourteen years old. During the days Xie Zhaotang has been here, she has kept the original body's identity in mind at all times, and has unknowingly merged with the original body completely.

Feeling like she was about to cry, she tried to open her eyes wide, stubbornly refusing to let the tears fall.

But to Huo Beiyu, that tearful expression was just a facade of strength.

Although he knew that this illegitimate daughter was cunning, he had little contact with women and didn't know how a woman's tears could come so easily.

Seeing that his words had made the young concubine's daughter cry, Huo Beiyu's brows furrowed in annoyance, and he was at a loss for what to do.

Did I go too far?

The young concubine's daughter is right. She just wanted to make some money. She didn't pester Duan Chengyu and Zhu Feng. How could she stand being scolded like that by him?

"Don't cry... I admit I misspoke, I apologize, and I won't threaten you with that dead rabbit again!"

He said gruffly, "Come on, I'll take you to find Miss Li and the others..."

He turned his back but didn't leave immediately, seemingly waiting for Xie Zhaotang to calm down.

Xie Zhaotang wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, glared angrily at Huo Beiyu, calmed herself down, and then spoke.

"If you just give me directions, I'll go myself. I wouldn't dare trouble you."

Huo Beiyu heard that her voice still had a hint of crying in it, his face twitched, and he silently walked forward.

They encountered Zhu Feng, who had turned back, halfway there. Zhu Feng rushed over and said to him, "Young Marquis, there's been a problem in the south city. The patrol battalion has sent someone to ask for help. We have to go there."

Just now, the gatekeeper came to inform us that there were military personnel looking for us at the gate, so Zhu Feng left first.

Upon hearing this, Huo Beiyu, without turning his head, said to Xie Zhaotang, "Just follow this road and don't turn any corners; you'll reach where Miss Li and the others are. Go there yourself!"

"Zhu Feng, let's go!"

Zhu Feng glanced at Xie Zhaotang behind him and said with a forced smile, "Fourth Miss, we have urgent business to attend to, so we won't accompany you. Take care..."

Xie Zhaotang nodded.

Zhu Feng and Huo Beiyu then strode away.

After walking a short distance, Zhu Feng glanced back at her, then turned to Huo Beiyu and said something in a low voice that Xie Zhaotang couldn't hear...