Chapter 74 - Smash the Place Up

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

His hand was warm on her wrist. The warmth spread up to her arm, making her slightly uncomfortable. She wanted to pull away. Ji Yuxian held on even tighter as if he could tell she was uncomfortable. He turned back and smiled lightly.

“My dear,” he said, “you have to get used to your husband being close!”

Su Jiu glanced at him. Her feelings for him were not quite affection but not hatred, either. Still, every time they touched, and she looked at his arrogant face, she wanted to slam a fist straight into it. Did he want to control her? Try again next life!

Chang Huan followed behind Su Jiu. Seeing the two of them holding hands made his gaze became gloomy. They entered the Cloud Pavilion. Jin Mi came out to welcome them but seeing Ji Yuxian and Su Jiu coming in together, her expression darkened. However, she kept her eyes cheerful as she smiled and said, “Hello, Eldest Young Master and Young Madame!”

Ji Yuxian arched an eyebrow. Su Jiu didn’t outwardly express any resentment but instead kept an indifferent expression as if she had already forgotten the way Jin Mi had humiliated her the night before. He could not help but let the corners of his lips curl up in a smile as he led Su Jiu toward the study.

He quietly ordered Jin Mi, “There’s no need for you to follow us. Once the meal is ready, come let us know!”

Jin Mi hung her head, and her hands gripped her silk handkerchief as if she were trying to squeeze water out of it. Her voice was as gentle as ever as she answered, “Yes, sir!”

Once they were just outside the study, Ji Yuxian turned to look at Chang Huan. “You wait outside too!”

Chang Huan looked to Su Jiu and stepped back. Lanterns lighted the study in all four corners, so it was not dark at all. The decor was elegant and exquisite. Su Jiu looked all around with curious eyes. Her gaze fell on the bookshelves covering an entire wall. She asked in surprise, “Have you read all of these books?”

The study was very large, and the bookcase was built into the entire wall. The shelves were full of books, organized neatly into categories. Of course, in Su Jiu’s eyes, each one was incomprehensible.

Ji Yuxian swept his gaze across the wall, contemplating. Then, he nodded and said, “More or less!”

Su Jiu let out a small gasp of surprise and smiled. “You could go sit the imperial examination!”

Ji Yuxian laughed comfortably. “Working as an official would be so boring. Why would I want to do that?”

Su Jiu frowned. Ji Yuxian sat on the low bench, poured a cup of tea, and took a sip as he asked quietly, “My dear, what did you read at home?”

Su Jiu’s eyes shifted, and she answered carelessly, “Just the ones that the teacher was teaching from!”

“Your family hired a tutor for you? Then your level of education must be wonderfully high!”

Su Jiu did not answer. She looked at a longsword laid on another bookshelf. Her eyes became helplessly bright. She turned to him and asked, “You make swords too?”

Ji Yuxian shook his head. “That’s a gift from a friend!”

The scabbard was three feet and two inches long, its contours straight and fluid. The decorative designs carved on it were intricate, a simple yet understated type of art. Even without unsheathing the sword, she could tell that the blade was very sharp. This elated Su Jiu, who kept stroking the scabbard with her hand.

Ji Yuxian looked over, his eyes darkening. Su Jiu could feel his searching eyes. She looked away and found herself looking once again at the bookcase. She pretended to look at the books.

“Mother-in-law used to be known through Shengjing City as a talented woman. She played musical instruments and chess, read books, and painted. She excelled in all the arts. To think back on it, obviously, my dear won’t be lacking in refinement either.” Ji Yuxian’s lips remained in a smile.

Su Jiu’s back was turned to him, her eyes evasive. She pretended to be unperturbed, saying, “Mother’s health was never the best, so she rarely taught me anything herself. Because of that, I am quite lacking in sophistication compared to her.”

“Is that so?” Ji Yuxian looked down.Read more chapter on our novelhall.com

Su Jiu began to feel a bit panicked and could not continue to remain there. She turned and smiled. “I’m hungry. I’m going to go see if the food is ready!”

She said this, turned and began to leave.

“My dear, stay!” Ji Yuxian rose, strolled to Su Jiu’s side, and leaned over. He crooked his head and looked at her. “My dear is so unwilling to stay with me? Why does it seem like you’re trying to escape me every time?”

He was a full head taller than her, and an intense, oppressive feeling projected from his body. Su Jiu did not like it. Her expression remained the same, and she chuckled, “Eldest Young Master, you’re overthinking it. I’m just hungry!”

“My dear, you’ve forgotten again. You should be calling me ‘husband!’”

Su Jiu bit her lip, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it, especially since he was standing so extremely close to her. The faint, cold scent of lotus wafted over, and her mind was just a state of chaos.

“The day you entered the house as my bride, I helped you. You promised to change the way you addressed me, but you never have. Are you not going to keep your word?”

Ji Yuxian opened his mouth, then closed it again. Either intentionally or unintentionally, his lips brushed up against Su Jiu’s pale earlobe. Her heart jumped inexplicably. What did this man want?

Su Jiu gritted her teeth, dodged his closeness, and closed her eyes. She ground out, “Hus! Band!”

“What a nice sound!” He let out a big smile, merriment dancing in waves in his eyes. “One more time!”

“Ji Yuxian!” Su Jiu turned suddenly, raising her head to look straight at him. She took a huge breath and said, “I’m hungry!”

Ji Yuxian’s lips curved up in a broad smile. He tugged on Su Jiu’s hand, and they headed outside. “Then I will take you to go to eat!”

Su Jiu looked at his hand, her confusion mounting. What was this man playing at? He wanted their servants to fight amongst themselves as he enjoyed the commotion, and now he wanted to be close. Su Jiu felt that she understood what he wanted less and less.

At dinner, Su Jiu was surprised to see none of the servant girls from the household. Only the one called Jin Mi stood behind Ji Yuxian.

“Serve the Young Madame soup!” Ji Yuxian ordered.

Jin Mi’s face paled, but she didn’t dare disobey. She ladled out the soup into a bowl and set it in front of Su Jiu. Her expression was malicious, but her voice was extremely gentle as she said, “Yesterday, I misspoke, please do not blame me!”

Su Jiu laughed gently. “Don’t worry. I am not one to hold grudges!” If there were vengeance to take, she would have done it then and there!

Jin Mi’s hands slowly clenched into fists, and she stepped back slowly to her spot behind Ji Yuxian. After dinner, Su Jiu raised her head to Jin Mi and asked, “What about the water?”

Jin Mi was taken aback, and a cold smile was in her heart as she thought: so, this is how she’s suddenly pretending to be an elegant lady? By starting to use rinsing water after meals? Although it was technically ‘rinsing water,’ it was actually top-quality green tea brewed with spring water that had been cooled down—the very best for cleansing the mouth!

Jin Mi looked at Ji Yuxian and saw that he kept his regular indifferent expression as he ate supper. She could not avoid stepping up, pouring the water, and setting it in front of Su Jiu. Her lips wore a mocking smile. Su Jiu took the rinsing water, put it to her lips, and drank it all down in big gulps. She then put the empty cup down on the table.

“Not bad. Even better than soup!” she said, stood up, and began to head out. “I’m full now, so I’ll be on my way!”

Jin Mi, stunned, watched her disappear into the doorway. She did not return. Ji Yuxian let out some muffled laughter, his chest moving up and down. The smile in his eyes made him even more handsome than usual. With Su Jiu gone, the last half of his rice held no more appeal. He set his chopsticks down and glanced at Jin Mi behind him. With a smile on his lips, he said, “Jin Mi, what do you make of my wife?”

Jin Mi stubbornly bit her lip, lowered her head, and said, “Why, of course, she’s wonderful!”

For the two days after that, Su Jiu left the manor to go help out at the restaurant. She wore waiter’s clothes and ran up and down the stairs serving food. They were extraordinarily busy. Thanks to their reputation, more and more patrons came in, and money flowed like water into their pockets. Su Jiu and the rest worked with absolute enthusiasm.

Today, Su Jiu was carrying a tray of food over to serve to a downstairs table. Suddenly, someone from behind bumped into her, and the plates in her hands fell directly onto the table. Soup and dishes splashed up. A large man to the side suddenly stood up, and with great strength, gave Su Jiu a shove, grunting, “What the hell are you doing?”

The large man used all of his might and was astonished to see the frail little waiter before him not even budge. Su Jiu reached up and brushed the big man’s hand aside. She smiled and said, “I’m sorry. We’ll make the dishes again, and I will bring them to you fresh.”

“Brat! What about my dirty clothes?”

The large man smacked the table very hard. Because of the commotion, every patron in the establishment was looking over at them. Then, a man in grey clothes, who was sitting at the same table as the large man, fished an object out of the beef soup. With exaggerated surprise, he yelled, “What is this?”

Hu Dapao and Qiao An heard him and began to make their way over.

“Bugs!” The man in grey clothes showed his chopsticks to everyone, yelling, “Everyone, look! The beef soup here has bugs in it.”

A collective gasp went around the room. Some people stood up in shock, and many expressed disgust and indignancy.

Qiao An stood behind Su Jiu, frowning. He said quietly, “Chief, someone is here to stir up trouble!”

This table was clearly here to cause a ruckus. The large man was there to attract everyone’s attention, and then the man beside him would take advantage of the ruckus to put a bug into the soup and fish it out for all to see. Most likely, seeing their success, another restaurant that was jealous and hateful had sent men to make trouble for them.

Su Jiu went over, used chopsticks to grab the bug, and frowned. “This is disgusting. Didn’t it come from your clothing, though, and fall into the soup?”

The man was startled, his eyes wide. “Nonsense! How can there be bugs on my body?”

“If you don’t bathe, then there’ll be bugs. Why don’t you take your clothes off so everyone can see? Who knows, maybe there are seven or eight, or even nine or ten of them.” Su Jiu laughed coldly.

The large man from before smacked a hand down onto the table, glaring at Su Jiu. “Who do you think you are? Bring your boss out to talk!”

Qiao An stepped forward and put a chair behind Su Jiu. He said to the large man, “This is our manager, Ninth Master Su!”

The patrons were taken aback all at once and stared blankly at Su Jiu. They took stock of him, this young man that they often saw running back and forth to serve food and wine. No one would have thought that he was the manager of this restaurant! A manager dressed as a waiter and serving guests—that was unheard of!

At the table upstairs closest to the railing sat two men. One of the men heard the commotion and turned to watch. When he saw the young man, he too was taken aback. His jaw dropped, and he stood up to stand behind the railing, watching the young man in the main hall.

The man across from him raised an eyebrow in curiosity, smiling. “Does his Royal Highness see something interesting?”

Xiao Lie glanced at him and said, almost talking to himself, “I see someone interesting!”

Downstairs, the large man had just realized that Su Jiu was the manager. Like everyone else, he was utterly shocked. He couldn’t help falling back two steps and look Su Jiu up and down.

He snorted coldly, “So what if you’re the manager? Your food has bugs in it. You need to give us an explanation!”

The others who were with the large man immediately continued their disruption, saying, “The soup has ticks. How can we possibly eat here?”

“Nobody eats. Let them pay for it!”

“That’s right. They should pay up!”

…

These people had death wishes! Hu Dapao grunted and clenched a fist, about to move in, but Su Jiu reached out and held him back.