Chapter 15: Here Comes Madam Yun

 

Translated by Prosperousfood dot com

Edited by Gumihou

Re-Host at kitchennovel dot com

 

Feng Xian was stunned, she really could not understand why Xu Ran Yun would choose to advance into a trap. She was about to say something when her mistress waved a dismissive hand at her. She held her tongue and heard Xu Ran Yun’s gloomy voice, “As the one managing the household finances, if an unforeseen situation cropped up at Mei Yue Lou, the one under pressure is me, and not Xue Zhi Lan. If I sit this out and play the endurance game with her, it would give Mei Yue Lou a chance to gain power. In the end, the one who suffers the most would be me. If I had to suffer a loss either way, why should I stay my hand now?”

“Xue Zhi Lan may be a sharp schemer, but she have miscalculated one point. Elder madam called us in today to give us a warning. I have heard that warning, and am now setting out to do something about it while she hides away in her rooms. If elder madam caught wind of this, well, just what kind of conclusion would she draw? Heheh! One must calculate all the gains and losses before one acts. She had just placed the lord over the elder madam in terms of importance. Do you think her relationship with elder madam will remain good after this?”

Feng Xian nodded, “This is certainly a good point. Only, elder madam have always favoured Madam Lan, it’s possible that this won’t really change her view on her favourite. Moreover, the master has always been a decisive sort. If Missy happens to offend the master, it’s possible that we might be at a disadvantage.”

Xu Ran Yun paced within the room, and muttered, “Won’t change her view, well, perhaps she won’t change from just one mishap. But what if it continues on? It’s only human to bear grudges, and that woman is a proud one. She thinks I know nothing of this? She had been eyeing that first madam position for a long time. I don’t believe that she can hide that fox tail of hers from elder madam or the lord forever.”

“As for me, heheh, what offence will I commit against the lord? I am merely paying those poor women a visit, and not going there to cause trouble, right? I have overlooked their portion of allowances these past few months, and only remembered it now when elder madam happens to mention them. Filled with remorse, I’ve decided to pay a visit to them, and check out their situation personally. Surely this is the most responsible thing to do? If the lord comes back, I shall tell him so, I trust that he would not be able to fault my words.”

Feng Xian raised her thumb with a smile, “Missy’s long sightedness left this one in awe. Since it is as you’ve said, there’s no need to worry. But, when will Missy pay a visit to Mei Yue Lou?”

“No time like the present. Go and get a bag of silver, a few meters of cloth, and send Zhu Yu over to the kitchen for some rice and flour. We’ll set off immediately.”

Seeing an opportunity to curry favour, Feng Xian stood up straight and puffed out her chest, in an earnest voice said, “Missy, how about letting this one scout out the area first? After all, though first madam was banished to Mei Yue Lou, she was still able to lure the master to her place. It’s possible that she might have some trick up her sleeve…”

Xu Ran Yun’s sneering laughter interrupted her, “Just what kind of tricks could she possibly have? If she truly have such tricks, how could she be banished to Mei Yue Lou in the first place? She must have used some cheap, vulgar tactics to mislead the lord. I don’t believe she had actually turned into a fox spirit. If I had to send scouts over to deal with the likes of her, well I don’t believe I’ll ever be able to hold my head up after that.”

Since her mistress had already spoken, there was no reason for Feng Xian to stand in her way. Instead, she prepared the items Xu Ran Yun ordered her to, and called over a few elderly maids to carry the goods. Counting her and Zhu Yu, about seven to eight people made up the parade of people that followed Xu Ran Yun to Mei Yue Lou.

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Meanwhile, at Mei Yue Lou, Su Nuan Nuan had just finished writing out her list of ingredients, and was now stretching out her back luxuriously. Seeing the pieces of paper filled with compact words, she grinned to herself.

 

“Missy, your smile looks like a fox’s smile.” Xiang Yun looked at her mistress’s face and blurted out her words innocently. Apparently she had never heard the words ‘truth hurts’ and had the bad habit of just letting whatever words in her head just popped out of her mouth.

 

Su Nuan Nuan pouted, but decided not to pick on the simple girl. Thankfully, she had another, far more intelligent maid by her side. Hong Lian leaned over to look at the papers crammed full of words, blinked, and turned to look at Su Nuan Nuan, “Missy, what are these?”

 

“Silly thing, didn’t I mentioned it before? A list, these are the lists of ingredients needed for next month. Your master is like a cockroach, since I can’t beat him to death and can’t shoo him away. I’ll just bleed him a little.” Su Nuan Nuan looked down at the evidence of her effort with great satisfaction.

 

“Missy, you’re sure… this is just a month’s worth of ingredients? And not a year or three year’s worth?” Hong Lian stammered. She was sure that her mistress must have made mistake. With so much food, even if they were in charge of feeding everyone in the mansion, they wouldn’t be able to finish everything in one month.

 

“Oh! It does seemed a bit much,” it was rare to see a greedy foodie like Su Nuan Nuan showed such an embarrassed face, then again, the number of ingredients listed on several pieces of papers had reached the point of madness. However, the embarrassment was short lived, she boldly declared, “Heihei, it is a bit much isn’t it? So what? Fortune favours the prepared.”

 

“This one feels, instead of a bit of blood, Missy intends to bite off a few chunks of flesh, ah.”

 

Hong Lian placed a hand against her head, as Su Nuan Nuan hehe-ed and said, “You think this could be considered taking a chunk off of him? Hong Lian, ah, you’re looking down on that bastard, ba? That person’s constitution is off the charts. Let me tell you, this is just the opening act, humph! Dare to challenge me? Those who dare to challenge me must prepare to receive my counter attack. Duan Tingxuan, you just wait, it’s still too early for you to cry yet.”

 

Thinking of her mistress’ greed, Hong Lian and Xiang Yun felt like they might cry in place of their master. Xiang Yun was also a little puzzled as she pointed at one of the pieces of the paper, which still had quite a bit of blank space, and asked, “Missy, you’ve already written such a lot of things, but, why is there so much blank space there? Isn’t it a waste to leave it blank?”

 

Hong Lian flashed a glare at the other maid, and thought, this silly thing. Missy already listed a few hundred items on her list. She had probably written down every existing ingredient in this world, how could she possibly fill up the rest of page?

 

She was about explain this to Xiang Yun when she was interrupted by Su Nuan Nuan’s roar of laughter, “Hahaha, you stupid maid, haven’t you ever heard that ‘Too far is as bad as not far enough’? This paper remains a little blank because I, your mistress, haven’t really thought of anything else yet, once I’ve thought of them, I’ll write them down.”

 

[Gu dong!]

 

Hong Lian had collapsed onto the table in shock.

 

Oh, god in heaven. Oh, god of the earth. Missy, you still have the cheek to say ‘Too far is as bad as not far enough’? You think this isn’t enough?

 

She wailed silently in her heart, any grievances she might have had against Duan Tingxuan had all but disappeared. Instead, she started to worry for her poor master, would the master angered himself to death from the sight of this abominable list?

 

Su Nuan Nuan cast a casual glance at Hong Lian, and thought, what’s with that anxious look? Humph, you still have a long way to go, little girl. However, before she could say anything to the maid, Hong Lian once more straightened herself up and muttered, “Missy, this one will go and inspect the beans. It’s been in the sun for a while, I’d better make sure they are not scorched.”

 

“If you wish to go just go, there’s no need for you to make up silly excuses to leave.” Su Nuan Nuan could not help but look down on Hong Lian’s intelligence. “Scorched by the sun? You think the sun is like a problematic stove? It’s not even the height of summer yet.”

 

Hong Lian could only ran away, hands covering her blushing face, with Xiang Yun trotting after her. Su Nuan Nuan was left behind to slowly admire her ‘masterpiece’. She was about to put them away in a safe place when she heard footsteps came pounding back, she stuck her head out of the kitchen window and saw Xian Yun running over like a monkey with its ass on fire.

 

The maid leapt into the kitchen, screaming, “Missy, not good! Madam Yun brought her people over!”

 

 

 

 

 

  ^_^

Translated by Gumihou

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