“You have no brains!” Consort Zheng pointed at her eldest daughter-in-law and scolded, then pointed at the other daughters-in-law. “All of you have no brains! Yue’er’s words were clear enough, why aren’t you listening?
Yue’er wants those guards to be our servants, to serve us well. From now on, we won’t be prisoners escorted by those guards, but their masters.” Her voice had been very soft.
“You only focus on those five hundred taels, begrudging that bit of money. What is money for? Money is for spending, for enjoying. Using five hundred taels to make those guards our servants, to serve us, is a great deal!
You don’t need to begrudge that five hundred taels. Yue’er can reward the guards five hundred taels with one move, which shows she has plenty of money. Besides, we also have quite a bit of money hidden on us.” Consort Feng reprimanded the daughters-in-law in a low voice.
“But I think Yue’er is so powerful, she can force those guards to be our servants with her martial arts, to serve us well. There’s no need to give them money, especially so much as five hundred taels,” Xu Yuqing grumbled softly, still reluctant, her heart aching over the money.
“I called you brainless, and you really have no brains at all.” Consort Zheng felt like rolling her eyes at her second daughter-in-law.
“Yue’er can indeed force those guards to be our servants with her martial arts, but if she did, they would surely harbor resentment. Even if they feared Yue’er’s skills and dared not retaliate openly, they would think of escaping. Once they escape, they would definitely report us, and then the Emperor would surely send heavily armed troops to capture and kill us.
If Yue’er treats them well and gives them generous rewards, they will receive great benefits and will surely side with us, never reporting us, only thinking of pleasing us more and gaining more benefits…
Yue’er has already told them that if they serve well, there will be more rewards.”
Consort Zheng explained the reason for her granddaughter’s actions to her daughters-in-law.
After listening, Zhu Jiayi and her sisters-in-law all showed expressions of sudden realization, as if they finally understood.
“Yue’er is so clever! This is handled beautifully!” Zhu Jiayi praised her sister-in-law, genuinely feeling that her sister-in-law was too smart and had handled this matter perfectly.
“You should learn more from Yue’er. Yue’er is what a member of the Prince Dai’s mansion should be, what a woman of the imperial family should be!” Consort Zheng said, her gaze falling again on her granddaughter who was walking towards them, her eyes full of admiration and pride.
Yue’er truly had her blood flowing through her, she was so much like her… no, she was even stronger, having surpassed her teacher.
Huangfu Yue happened to meet Consort Zheng’s gaze, and she curled her lips, flashing a sweet smile at her grandmother, her affection for her grandmother growing stronger.
Her hearing was extremely sharp, so even though her grandmother and sisters-in-law spoke in very low voices, and Feng Maoyuan and the others hadn’t heard, she had heard everything they said.
She was very happy that her grandmother understood her intentions, unlike her sisters-in-law who blamed her, wanted to stop her, and wanted her to get the money back from the guards, and had even lectured them.
“Yue’er, come and sit down quickly.” Consort Zheng’s smile widened as she saw her granddaughter smiling sweetly at her, and she beckoned her over.
Huangfu Yue responded, walked quickly to her grandmother, and sat beside her.
“Yue’er, you did well! Beautifully done! You must be tired. You must be hungry too, quickly eat some sandwich, drink some milk.” Consort Zheng smiled at her granddaughter and offered her the sandwich and milk in her hands.
“Thank you, Grandmother. You eat. I have sandwiches and milk too. I’ll get them out and eat,” Huangfu Yue shook her head and smiled, creating a sandwich and a box of milk from her space.
“Let’s eat together.” Consort Zheng said kindly and dotingly to her granddaughter.
“Mm.” Huangfu Yue nodded and ate the sandwich and milk with Consort Zheng, who kept praising how delicious the sandwich and milk were.
Seeing them engrossed in eating the sandwiches and milk, Zhu Jiayi, Xu Yuqing, and Zhong Liangshu led their respective children back to their original seats, sat down, and ate their sandwiches and milk. After taking a bite, they all praised the deliciousness of the sandwiches and milk.
Yang Wanqian was also helped by her maid back to her seat to eat her sandwich and milk. Although she didn’t praise them, she, like her sisters-in-law, found the sandwiches and milk very tasty and pleasant to drink, liking their flavor very much.
Feng Maoyuan and the others also started eating the sandwiches and milk, and they too found them delicious and pleasant to drink, liking their flavor very much…
“How is this sandwich made? It’s so delicious! The taste is absolutely amazing… And this milk is so fragrant and good to drink!” Lu Danian praised while eating.
“Kid, don’t just think about eating, think about other things too!” Dong Qin glanced at him with an expression of impatience.
“Think about other things? What other things?” Lu Danian looked at Dong Qin, his face full of confusion.
“Are you thinking about the five hundred taels that the County Princess gave earlier?” Feng Maoyuan asked Dong Qin with a smile.
He hadn’t mentioned distributing the money after Huangfu Yue left. Dong Qin might be getting impatient.
“Brother, please don’t misunderstand. I’m absolutely not thinking about asking you to distribute money. I know you’ve always been good to your brothers and think of us when there are benefits. You’ll distribute the money to us sooner or later.” Dong Qin quickly waved his hands to explain.
Feng Maoyuan looked curious. “Then what did you mean by what you said to Lu Danian?”
“I meant that we need to think about what to do from now on. The County Princess and the others are still prisoners… If we are good to them, respect them, and serve them, and if it’s discovered, we’ll definitely be in deep trouble.” Dong Qin’s face showed worry.
Although they had no choice, and they wanted the money and had taken Huangfu Yue’s money, he was still afraid.
“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ve already thought of it. We just need to make sure no one discovers that the County Princess and the others are exiled prisoners!
After we finish eating the sandwiches and milk, we’ll put away the shackles and chains. From now on, we won’t put shackles on the County Princess and the others, but will string them together with chains when we escort them.
The County Princess and the others are not wearing prison uniforms, nor shackles, nor are they strung together with chains. No one will know they are exiled prisoners,” Feng Maoyuan said.
“When we get them to Lingping, we can put the shackles on them and string them together with chains. I believe the County Princess and the others will understand this, won’t blame us, and will cooperate with us.
As for Lingping, once we hand them over to the Lingping officials, we won’t be able to control what happens to them, nor will we have the ability to.
The task given to us from above is to escort them to Lingping. And the County Princess’s request is for us to escort them to Lingping. Whichever task it is, delivering them to Lingping will count as completing the mission…
We will have fulfilled our duties to both the higher authorities and the County Princess, and we can return to the capital to report with peace of mind,” Feng Maoyuan revealed his plan.