Grievance of the Young Bride - Chapter 16

Zhou Qing slowly exhaled a sigh of relief, only to feel that the nightmare that had been haunting her since her rebirth had alleviated a lot. The pair of watery eyes were filled with gratitude. Xie Chong saw this and couldn’t help but snicker. He had always been an evil ghost in the eyes of the world. He didn’t expect a soft and feeble woman would be grateful to him. It was really ridiculous.

“My lord, the Xuande furnace is consigned to the Xie Household. Can you let out some wind so those people will learn about this? Otherwise, they won’t stop at once.” Zhou Qing weighed her words and spoke slowly. She peeked at the demeanor of the Commander, afraid that her action of gaining an inch would anger him.

As expected, Xie Chong’s black eyes narrowed slightly. A frightening coldness emanated from his body. He didn’t move, only sitting steadily behind the desk, but Zhou Qing was appalled by the forceful aura that her body went soft. The cold sweat was like pulp, and the innermost layer of clothing was drenched in sweat, clinging to the body.

“Madam is very thoughtful. In exchange, how do you want to repay this official?” The man said with an indifferent look.

Zhou Qing secretly gritted her teeth. Even after rebirth, she was still an ordinary commoner, without power, status, or wealth. She didn’t have one thing that could move Xie Chong, except for the blood with tranquilizing effects.

She lowered her head and spoke with respectful tone, “I sent the Xuande Furnace to your house today solely to protect the lives of my parents and relatives, so that they will not be murdered by those criminals. But I also ask the Lord …… to give a bit of help. No matter what you will ask, the young woman will do her best. ”

Even the court elder didn’t dare to let him give a bit of help, so why was this young woman in front of him asking for it? Xie Chong sneered. When he saw the remaining flimsy smoke from the Xuande furnace, he was suddenly silent.

For a long time, he said, “Every three days come to the Xie residence to prepare the An Shen herb for this official.”

Zhou Qing had no reason not to respond. Her face had a brilliant color of joy, rushing to Xie Chong to bow again and again. The corners of her eyes were slightly weeping with tears, like crystal fragments as if the morning dew hadn’t yet evaporated, falling on the delicate buds, urging people to want to reach out and rub it gently, smelling the captivating aroma.

Before leaving, Zhou Qing reluctantly glanced at the Xuande furnace. She fiercely clenched her palm and then hastily walked out of the study. The concierge who led her inside earlier waited at the end of the stone steps and was surprised to see her walking out as usual, but most of the Jin Yi Guards were silent and did not ask questions.

Using her small hand as shade against the harsh sunlight, she went straight back to the herbal store. As soon as she entered, she saw Wang Lu sitting behind the counter, ignoring the customers, and that old-fashioned attitude made people gnash their teeth in hatred.

“Miss.” Yu Fu saw Zhou Qing walk in and hurriedly called out. His face showed apparent anger, distastefully saying, “You have to tell the master. Our herbal store has been dealing with fragrances for decades, and we never dare to neglect customers. But Wang Lu has a temper, repeatedly saying disrespectful words. Isn’t this smashing the signboard of the herbal store?”

Zhou Qing wasn’t a fool; how could she not see that Wang Lu had bad intentions? He thought the Zhou family’s herbal store would collapse sooner or later, so he dared to go so far.

But now that the Xuande furnace was gone, Liu Zhaoqu couldn’t wrest the herbal ware from Xie Chong even if he spent more effort, so Wang Lu would definitely become an outcast. And no matter how much he regretted it, he wouldn’t be able to turn back.

“I will immediately go to my father. You first greet the guests. Do not neglect them.” Zhou Qing still trusted this brother who lost his life in her previous life. After her explanation, she went directly to the herbal room. Father Zhou loved his herbs as if it was his life and didn’t like to visit friends and relatives. Every day, whenever he was free, he would stay in the herbal room, pondering on the preparations for the new types of herbs.

Compared with the talented eldest son, Father Zhou favored his youngest daughter more, for no other reason than Zhou Qing inheriting his talent in the way of fragrance-making. With a variety of complex herbs, as long as she smelled them, she could almost guess the recipe eight out of nine times, such a keen sense of smell was born to do the business of herbal blending. But unfortunately, as a daughter, she would have to marry and give birth to children which made it difficult for her to inherit the family business.

Hearing the movement, Father Zhou looked up, swept his gaze to see his daughter’s empty hands. His eyes were both happy and gloomy; his emotions were awfully complicated.

“You already gave the Xuande Furnace to that nobleman?”

Zhou Qing nodded, knelt on the light yellow futon, and fiddled with the herbal holder in her hand. Recalling Father Zhou’s indulgence towards Wang Lu, she gritted her teeth and said, “Father, Wang Lu obviously does not have good intentions. He colluded with Liu Zhaoqu to get the Xuande Furnace, our family’s heirloom. If not in the nick of time, will you willingly hand over the Xuande Furnace? He knows it very well in his heart. This is clearly seeking money and killing people!”

The resentment from her past life and her present life overlapped. Zhou Qing’s tone was thick with grief and anger. Father Zhou opened his mouth and said in a dumb voice, “Qing’er, Wang Lu is my first disciple. He has no father and no mother. I raised him to such an age. As my own son, even if he has done something wrong, he must be given a chance to repent.”

She pushed the scattered hair on her cheeks behind her ears. Zhou Qing’s face was cold as she pointed in the direction of the store, sharply stating, “Do you know what he did? He drove all the customers in our store across the street to the herbal pavilion! Where is he still your disciple? He is obviously a dog raised by the Liu family! You are not thinking only for yourself. You also have to consider my mother and brother. It is not right to let them worry ……”

Father Zhou taught Zhou Qing. She had the softest temperament, and showing goodwill to others had almost become her creed. She regarded her husband as her heaven. She served her mother-in-law, took care of her sister-in-law, and even the neighbors received a lot of favors from her. But what happened? She got smallpox and was locked up in the woodshed. Moreover, Aunt Wu and Mother Luo talked about what to do with her body. And when she died, Zheng’er was also starved to death.

How could she not hate such a fate? She detested from her heart to her bones!

Now that she had a chance to start over, she would never repeat the same mistake. When she saw that Father Zhou was a bit shaken, Zhou Qing continued to persuade, “Anyway, you have been kind to Wang Lu, and he has climbed into the Liu family so he will definitely have a good future hereafter. Our temple is too small to accommodate a big Buddha, so why not let him go free?”

After a long time, Father Zhou’s slightly old face showed a trace of exhaustion; he waved his hand, “Forget it, you tell Yu Fu to drive Wang Lu out. If he feels resentful then there is also no need to hide the Liu family’s matters.”

At these words, Zhou Qing was overjoyed and flew away from the herbal room, walked to the front store, and rushed to Yu Fu, “Father has agreed.”

Yu Fu’s eyes became round, and after his surprise faded, he was thrilled. He quickly walked to the counter, fiercely slapped the table, and spoke in a loathsome tone, “From today on, you are to get out of the herbal store and never come back!”