“This shameless Su Jin clung to someone belonging to a noble family. For an unmarried young lady to be roaming outside frequently… Does she not have any sense of embarrassment?”
Li Shi, who is the sister-in-law of Wang Shi1TL Note: The wife of second house of Su family and Su Liang’s mother, a.k.a cannon fodder’s mom from her natal family, was the person who spoke negatively about Su Jin. As the saying goes, birds of a feather tend to flock together. After confirming that Su Jin had left the vicinity, she badmouthed her boldly without any fear.
Upon witnessing the drastic improvements in the Su family’s lifestyle following the return of Su Jin, a sense of envy crept up within her.
Another woman in her middle years beside her, who was preoccupied with leveling the mounds, straightened her posture and rebutted her remarks with a conceited grin.
“Instead of gossiping, confront her directly if you have a complaint! It’s hard to treat your words seriously when you act superior while talking behind her back.”
Li Shi was offended by the sarcastic comments she made. “Ptooey. Do you think I care enough to put in the effort to educate her on proper human values? Just sit and observe her inevitable downfall. No one would be willing to accept a loose and unwanted shrew like her. She can remain single for her entire life!”
“Wasn’t scholar Xu talking to her a moment ago?”
“Hmph. That must be Su Jin brazenly forcing herself onto him. Scholar Xu went over to warn her and to draw a distinct boundary between them. A person of her calibre would never attract the fancy of a scholar, that’s just wishful thinking!”
“You despicable b*tch! Who gave you the permission to spout such nonsense? Focus on your own affairs and refrain from constantly intruding on other families. If you feel envious of other families living a more privileged life than yours, go and rehabilitate your husband who drinks excessively all day instead!”
Qin Shi was carrying a bundle of haystack when she happened to overhear Li Shi speaking ill of her beloved daughter. She couldn’t possibly ignore it. In a fluid movement, she extended her hands and swiped at Li Shi.
During Qin Shi’s childhood, she often observed her mother dominating over all the other women in the village in fights. Although she may not have perfectly mastered the skill of combating against other women, it was reasonable to assume that she had acquired at least 70 percent of it. Her feisty personality was definitely on par though.
(There is no woman I cannot overpower in my generation!)
She quickly leapt forward and forcefully grabbed Li Shi by the hair, following it up with a series of firm slaps to her face. Before Li Shi had a chance to react, Qin Shi had already started flinging a handful of mud onto her face.
“Where did the insults disappear to now? I dare you to open your stinky mouth again. I’ll clean it up for you.”
Sitting next to the ridge, Niu Niu held her chin up and observed her grandmother with sparkling eyes. She imitated her grandmother’s actions by clenching her small hands and vigorously swinging them around.
(My grandma is incredible! I must seize this chance to learn from her!!)
And that marked the beginning of a new legend of a small girl in a rural village who had grand ambitions… but that would be a story to be narrated on another occasion…
……
Unbeknownst of her mother’s impressive display of might, Su Jin had arrived at the county magistrate’s residence with Jiang Ru Yan. She took interest in the surrounding scenery initially, but soon lost interest in it.
After meandering through several artificial rockery gardens in the yard, they finally reached the chambers which belonged to Jiang Ru Yan.
“System#2250, it’s time to showcase your abilities.”
Su Jin leaned casually against the door, taking a look nonchalantly around the magistrate daughter’s chambers. The room contained sophisticated furniture and furnishings befitting of her high social standing.
“Alrighty. Please hold on for a moment… Examining the surrounding environment…”
After a brief period of time…
“Beep… The scan has been concluded… No dangerous element has been detected. ”
System#2250 had the ability to identify all kinds of life forms and substances harmful to the host within one-mile perimeter of Su Jin.
With this, Su Jin could determine that the source did not come from the ornaments and furniture in the room. Through the process of elimination, the odds of the source originating from the meals increased drastically.
Su Jin pretended to scrutinize the objects within the room before shifting her gaze back onto the magistrate’s daughter who was eagerly anticipating her response. “There is nothing suspicious in this room. Let’s proceed to inspect the meals that you normally eat.”
Jiang Ru Yan quickly complied with her suggestion. “Alright, please follow me, Miss Su. I have instructed the servants to arrange for it.”
A brief period later, a group of female servants arrived in succession and served the dishes from their trays in an orderly fashion, until the plates covered two round dining tables.
As Su Jin gazed at the lavish spread of food selection, which featured various main courses, soups, desserts, and even fruits, she couldn’t help but feel envious. It was a sight that could cause one’s mouth to water and tears to well up in the eyes.
“Let’s get started.” Su Jin silently prompted System#2250 to begin scanning.
“Beep … a harmful element has been identified. The level of toxicity is low. It is advisable to refrain from prolonged and constant exposure.”
“Host, that soup over there contains an ingredient called snow cloud grass, which isn’t lethal but has a small amount of toxin which cannot be discerned with the naked eye. With the current medical knowledge and capabilities in this era, it is also impossible to detect. That is the reason why young lady Jiang could not identify it. The harmful effects of this substance will only manifest if it is consumed consistently for a prolonged period.”
“I see now, impressive work. Commend yourself with a round of applause!”
The system proudly placed its hands on both hips. “Eheheh, it’s nothing significant or noteworthy. Stay low profile-”
(Once again, another ordinary day at work, another job successfully done… as expected from myself!)
Now that the root of the problem had been identified by the system, Su Jin began to act out her role. She picked up a pair of chopsticks and started to sample the dishes individually…
A sudden idea abruptly crossed her thoughts. How wonderful would it be if similar job opportunities like this showed up more often… In addition to being able to enjoy free high quality food and drinks, she was properly compensated for it too! This was the ultimate dream job.
Su Jin wiped the corners of her mouth, patted her stomach and gave a satisfied burp. Now that her tummy was filled, she began to feel lethargic.
When she recalled the purpose she was here for, she suppressed the urge to yawn and commenced her work with a solemn expression. “You must have been consuming this broth on a regular basis, right?”
Jiang Ru Yan immediately comprehended the situation as soon as Su Jin pinpointed the bowl containing corn and pine nut soup. Her facial expression twisted into a contorted shape.
Caretaker Xu was surprised to see her young lady staring at the bowl of soup following Su Jin’s words, and realized that something had gone awry. Without delay, she dropped to her knees and implored, “Milady, you wouldn’t be entertaining the idea that the problem lies with this soup, right? I have been falsely accused, milady! This broth was prepared with the same ingredients in the usual manner. You can confirm from the taste! This had been the late madam’s favourite broth. This humble servant wouldn’t dare consider tampering with your meals…”
Jiang Ru Yan took a sip of the soup with a melancholic expression. Indeed, the broth tasted exactly the same as what she normally had.
Every day, without her knowledge, she had been consuming substances that were detrimental to her health!
Without any hesitation, she accepted Su Jin’s claims as if they were a given. Su Jin had demonstrated her ability and credibility when she accurately deduced that young lady Jiang had frequently consumed that broth.
Jiang Ru Yan struggled to suppress her anger while tightly squeezing the handkerchief in her grip.
“Caretaker Xu, you were my mother’s personal attendant when she married into the magistrate’s household. While you were serving me, I made sure to always treat you with respect as an elder and refrained from causing any hardships for you. The soup which you painstakingly prepared for me personally every single day without fail… I had always appreciated that and perceived it as a demonstration of your unwavering loyalty, and I have never questioned it. Today, if you are unable to provide me with a proper explanation, then you should pack up and be mentally prepared to be sold away to elsewhere.”
“Milady, I have been maligned! This old servant has diligently served milady day in day out. Do you honestly place more faith in the words of a peasant girl of dubious origins over your faithful servant? She must be a spy sent here by others to infiltrate and sow discord with the intention of harming milady. You mustn’t fall for her lies!”
While making her pleas, she repeatedly hit her head against the hard floor in a state of sorrow and anguish.
Ever since the day when a group of medical professionals accompanied young lady Jiang back to investigate her surroundings, caretaker Xu became aware that the plan had been discovered.
Despite this, she was unafraid of the possibility of being exposed. She had complete faith in the approach which even royal physicians who served in the palace were unable to detect. A bunch of rural countryside physicians would never pose a threat to her.
She knew that the young lady had invited someone over to investigate today. But to avoid any suspicions from her young mistress if she noticed a change in the taste of the broth, caretaker Xu prepared the soup using the regular ingredients.
It was unlikely for an uneducated girl from a rural background to possess the ability and knowledge to recognize her secret concoctions.
Never in her wildest dreams did caretaker Xu predict herself to be in this situation… She started to panic as she lamented her overconfidence which contributed to her predicament, while covertly observing Su Jin to make an assessment of her.
Su Jin, who was satiated with delicious food and drinks, enjoyed the spectacle from the sidelines when she noticed that the old lady was attempting to embroil her into troublesome matters. The lingering sensation of food coma discouraged her desire to fool around any further. She made a hand gesture to grab the attention of Jiang Ru Yan.
“I have fulfilled my task of tracing the source of the harmful substance for you. The remaining part is none of my concern. Make sure to deliver my rewards. Oh right, that substance contains a slight amount of toxin which could not be detected by physicians. Since this old servant refused to admit it, you can feed her regular doses of the substance, and observe the effects.”
After concluding her statement, she casually scooped up a handful of melon seeds from the table, stowed them away in her pouch and strolled out while humming a tune.
Caretaker Xu glared at the figure leaving the gardens.
“Qiu Shui, escort Miss Su to the exit…”
The maid acknowledged the orders from her young mistress and bowed before picking up her phase to chase after Su Jin.
Su Jin was good at memorizing directions since she had been trained to navigate through the wild jungles in her past life, hence she could easily find her way to the exit without any assistance.
Qiu Shui maliciously followed Su Jin silently from a distance, hoping to witness Su Jin embarrass herself.
At that moment, Su Jin’s path was obstructed by a delicate young lady accompanied by numerous attendants and servants. The young lady possessed defined eyebrows and adorned a red, vibrant pleated silk skirt. As she walked, the jade ornaments around her waist produced a jingling sound.
When the young lady saw Qiu Shui following the unidentified woman, she deduced that the woman must have been a guest invited by her step-sister.
As an obedient daughter who was committed to follow her mother’s orders to go against her step-sister at every opportunity, how would she allow her step-sister’s guest to leave peacefully?
She stuck out her chest and spoke with arrogance and contempt “Oh my… Is the magistrate’s manor a place where a random stranger of unknown status can wander around freely?” After she finished her words, she sneakily glanced at the woman.
She then skilfully tilted her head and maintained a peculiar posture to give off an intimidating aura. This was a pose she had honed through extensive practice in order to create a domineering image of herself2TL note: An air-headed mummy’s girl has appeared!.
System#2250, who had been munching on melon seeds, momentarily stopped moving. “Somehow… this girl… feels like an airhead?”
Su Jin ignored the girl, and looked at the system suspiciously instead. “Forget about her. Where on earth did you get those melon seeds?”
System: “Uhh … it’s nothing worth mentioning…”
(Haa…..)
After witnessing how much Su Jin enjoyed herself while gnawing on melon seeds, the system decided to write a program to mimic her to go along with the mood. A trivial task for an outstanding system like itself!
TL Corner: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you liked my translation and wish to support me, you could leave a comment below or in novelupdates, or send me a Ko-Fi. Thank you!
