Chapter 7

Su Jinyuan shoved Madam Yu and turned around, clutching the box as she ran out. Her sudden move threw the Su household into chaos. While some rushed off to help the sobbing Madam Yu, Su Wanquan chased toward the door, determined to stop Su Jinyuan.

But Su Jinyuan had long hidden the carriage in a shadowed corner; after dashing over, she hopped onto the horse and drove away.

Su Wanquan watched as Su Jinyuan sped off. He wanted to hurl curses at her—furious and enraged—but as onlookers began to stare and Madam Yu’s piercing cries echoed throughout the mansion, he stomped his foot hard and turned back toward the residence.

“That bitch, that bastard… She’s completely insane… insane…”

Madam Yu clutched her neck with blood covering her hands and cried out, “We should never have taken her in back then—it would have been better if she had died out there!”

“Shut up!” With his face dark with anger, Su Wanquan barked at Madam Yu, “She’s my elder brother’s daughter—my niece! Do you really want everyone in the capital to know what ‘good deeds’ you’ve done?!”

Frightened into choking on her own cries, Madam Yu fell silent.

In a booming voice, Su Wanquan ordered, “Take the madam and the young lady back to your own courtyard and keep a strict watch on them. Do not let them out without my orders.”

“Master!”

“Father!”

Both Madam Yu and Su Xinyue were thrown into a panic. Su Wanquan glared at them and warned, “If either of you dare to say another word, I’ll send you off to another courtyard—and you won’t be coming back!”

Terrified, the two kept silent.

Su Wanquan then had them dragged away and, gritting his teeth, said, “Now go and call Heng’er back.”

Su Heng—his son, who was currently studying at the Imperial Academy—was urgently needed. With the Xiao family now at the center of a storm, he was convinced that Su Jinyuan carrying all that silver might incite great calamity. Though young, Su Heng was precocious, and Su Wanquan intended to have him return so they could discuss a plan.

Coldly addressing the others, Su Wanquan declared, “Not a single word about today’s events is to be uttered by any of you—otherwise, I’ll skin you alive!”

……

Bursting out of the Su household, Su Jinyuan raced away in the carriage. It wasn’t until she had covered some distance and realized the Su family was no longer in hot pursuit that she allowed herself a moment of relief.

All the evidence and claims she’d boasted of earlier were nothing but fabricated nonsense.

Ever since her father’s death, she had been living under Su Wanquan’s roof with Madam Yu constantly watching her every move. With neither silver nor any real influence at her disposal, how could she possibly have any fallback plan?

She was merely banking on Su Wanquan being clearly in the wrong—and on his not knowing Lu Zhuo’s whereabouts—to spout all that nonsense earlier. Moreover, by taking advantage of the fierce boldness she displayed when she acted, which frightened the Su family, she was able to obtain the silver so smoothly.

But when Su Wanquan eventually comes to his senses, he will no doubt discover that he’s been duped.

When Su Jinyuan let her guard down, she nearly fell from the carriage. After desperately clinging to the reins to steady herself, she drove the carriage to the West City Market. Once she ditched the carriage, she first went to purchase a new set of clothes. She was covered all over in blood—which needed to be cleaned off—and she also had to hide the silver.

After entering a clothing shop, Su Jinyuan used the excuse of needing to alter her clothes to borrow some needle and thread. She took several silver notes, wrapped and folded them in oiled paper, and sewed them into the lining of her undergarments and the extra layer of her shoe soles. Only then did she leave the shop.

One by one, she visited several secret spots, stashing away the silver, gold leaves, and other items taken from the Su family in separate places.

There were hiding places behind restaurant walls, in a rundown temple in West City, beneath a willow tree by the lake, and she even slipped into a brothel—mixing in unnoticed—where she buried the silver in an inconspicuous spot.

Su Jinyuan had no idea what would happen when she eventually went to the Xiao family, but she knew full well that you must not put all your eggs in one basket; otherwise, if the basket breaks, everything would be lost and her efforts wasted.

After stashing the silver where it needed to be hidden and keeping a backup plan, Su Jinyuan took the remaining 5,000 taels of silver and went on a buying spree at a pharmacy. She not only purchased medicines for treating external injuries but also some for wind-cold, flu, and other emergency, life-saving conditions—and she even bought some arsenic poison.

The old doctor stared at her in astonishment. “Miss, what are you planning to do with all these things?”

“Arsenic trioxide, crane’s‐head red, aconite…” he muttered. Many of these substances are extremely toxic and might even kill someone.

Su Jinyuan replied, “I’m from Niu Family Village outside the city. Lately, there have been lots of snakes, insects, rats, and ants in our village. I’m buying these medicines to repel rats and kill insects.”

The old doctor frowned at her words. It was true that, when mixed appropriately, these medicines could be used as insecticides—many countryside folk use them that way. And since the quantities the young lady requested were small, he finally relaxed a little.

“Doctor, our village is a bit far from the city, and the traffic isn’t convenient. Several of our elders are ill—could you prescribe some medicine for me to take back?”

The doctor frowned again. “I haven’t seen these kinds of cases before; I don’t really know the symptoms…”

Su Jinyuan quickly interjected, “They are just very common ailments. One case is for two unruly youngsters in a family who are constantly angry; another is for a woman who has just lost her husband and is inconsolably heartbroken—and oh, I also need medicine for sudden fainting brought on by overwhelming anger.”

She wracked her brain and recited every possible symptom the women of the Xiao family might exhibit, then looked up at the old doctor and said, “These are all common ailments. Just prescribe me several of the standard formulas. I’m not expecting miraculous effects—as long as they can save a life in a critical moment, that’s enough.”

“Th-this…”

Su Jinyuan reached out and produced the loose silver coins she had exchanged earlier for the old doctor. “Thank you for your trouble,” she said.

The old doctor frowned and replied, “It’s not a matter of the silver; this medicine really must not be taken indiscriminately…”

“Uncle Hu,” came a sudden interjection from behind the pharmacy. A young man emerged and said, “The conditions she mentioned aren’t rare at all—I’ll prepare a few packets of medicine for her.”

“Young master…” someone began.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine.”

The young man smiled with a clear, refreshing grace, his slightly curved brows and eyes very handsome. “Miss, please wait a moment while I fetch your medicine.”

Su Jinyuan looked at him. “And you are?”

“I’m Xi Jun­ning, the young master of Xinglin Hall. I have been studying medicine with my father for many years,” he replied in a gentle tone.

Relieved, Su Jinyuan said, “Thank you, Young Master Xi.”

Xi Jun­ning turned aside to retrieve the medicine and, before long, returned with several small packets held delicately by his fair fingers, placing them before Su Jinyuan.

He explained, “These packets of medicine have mild properties and don’t contain much of the potent substances, so people of all ages can take them. However, for children, the elderly, or pregnant women, the dosage should be halved.”

He continued, “If confronted with the conditions you described, just decoct and take this medicine—unless the illness is too severe, it should help alleviate the symptoms.”

After finishing his explanation, he handed Su Jinyuan two small bottles. “These two bottles contain our exclusive secret formulas: the Shunqi Pill and the Jiuxin Pill. If the situation is too severe, take one; they can preserve life for external or internal injuries.”

At the mention of “usable for both external and internal injuries,” Su Jinyuan’s hand, which had been about to reach out, momentarily hesitated.

“Miss?” Xi Jun­ning asked with a smile in his twinkling eyes.

Narrowing her eyes slightly as she looked at him and noticing that his expression seemed completely natural—as if he had only been speaking offhand—she relaxed and reached out to take them. “How much silver in total?”

“It comes to 3,000 taels.”