Chapter 321: Siding With An Outsider
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Little Madam Zhou walked forward and wanted to pull Fu Zheng’s hand, but Fu Zheng took a step back and avoided her.
Little Madam Zhou’s smile instantly froze on her face. She stood rooted to the ground in disappointment and looked back at Fu Jun helplessly as if she was silently complaining about her grievances.
Fu Jun frowned with displeasure. “Zheng’er, your mother is talking to you. What do you mean by this?”
Fu Zheng lowered his eyes. “I am afraid of dirtying her hands. She has always despised me for being dirty.”
Fu Jun frowned and glanced at Little Madam Zhou.
Little Madam Zhou was stunned at first and then burst into tears. “Zheng’er, Mother doesn’t know what you went through in Prince Qi’s Manor. Why are you so distant from Mother after coming back? I love you so much so why would I despise you…”
“If Mother really likes me, why didn’t you come to Prince Qi’s Manor to pick me up?”
This question made Little Madam Zhou choke, but she quickly recovered herself and said, “Mother is also worried that Princess Consort Qi likes you and wants to keep you for a few more days.”
“What is this? Am 1 not worthy to drink the tea of Duke Zhenguo’s Residence?” Su Ying asked.
Only then did Fu Jun come back to his senses and invited Su Ying in.
After the maidservant served the tea, she heard another maidservant’s voice announcing something. The Old Mistress of Duke Zhenguo’s Residence had arrived.
Dressed in a dignified and elegant dress, the Old Mistress of Duke Zhenguo’s Residence walked in with the help of a maidservant.
She was a noble lady who had been bestowed a first-grade title by an Imperial mandate, so there was no need for her to bow to Su Ying.
The Old Mistress of Duke Zhenguo’s Residence entered the room, and her turbid eyes fell upon Su Ying. She then scrutinized Su Ying.
Initially, Su Ying intended to stand up, but when she met the old woman’s gaze, she sat down even more firmly.
“Your Highness is finally willing to return my grandson.”
The Old Mistress didn’t like Su Ying very much, especially when she recalled the scene of her fighting with those warriors in the banquet hall. She felt that Su Ying had brought shame to all the noble ladies.
It was bad enough that this woman didn’t stay in the back of the house to take care of her husband and raise her children but ran out of the house to show her face in public. Worse still, she even got into brawls. She was simply a disgrace to women!
Su Ying placed the teacup on the table. “If no one mentioned that he’s the grandson of Duke Zhenguo, I would have thought that he was a beggar from somewhere based on his demeanor. Your Duke Zhenguo’s Residence doesn’t look like it lacks food and water. Why can’t you even raise a child? Look at that maidservant. Even her arms are thicker than this child’s legs. Don’t you guys feel ashamed? I pitied the child and let him eat his fill in Prince Qi’s Manor. Is there anything wrong with that?”
The Old Mistress choked on Su Ying’s rebuttal. “You… you’re talking nonsense! Zheng’er is so thin because his body has been weak since he was young and his frail physique can’t take nutritional supplements.”
“Then how come this child could finish three bowls of rice in one meal when he was with me? Why? Could it be that the food in my Prince Qi’s Manor is more delicious?”
The Old Mistress glared at Fu Zheng and realized that he did seem to have gained some weight. His entire bearing seemed to have changed too. She paid very little attention to this grandson of hers. He was timid and didn’t even dare to speak. Such a child had no future. How could Duke Zhenguo’s Residence rely on him to support the Duke Zhenguo’s Residence in the future?
“This is the family matter of our Duke Zhenguo’s Residence. It is not up to others to interfere! Your Highness is too meddlesome! As a married woman, it’s bad enough that you don’t take care of your husband and raise your children properly in the back of the house. You still showed yourself in public and made a fool of yourself. Prince Qi must have accumulated eight lifetimes of bad luck to have you as his Consort.”
The Old Mistress had rushed over urgently today just to scold Su Ying. She liked to flaunt her noble status, and since her social rank was also high, she was perfectly qualified to lecture a Princess Consort younger than her.
Fu Zheng’s expression changed when he heard the Old Mistress’s words. “Grandmother, Her Highness isn’t like what Grandmother said. Don’t talk about Her Highness like that.”
When she saw Fu Zheng speaking up for Su Ying, the Old Mistress gave a sneer. “Why? Are you going to side with outsiders after eating at Prince Qi’s Manor for a few days? Don’t forget that without Duke Zhenguo’s Residence, you are nothing! You’re incompetent, useless, and stupid. Now, you allow yourself to be instigated to go against your grandmother. You’re really such a good grandson!”
Fu Jun also berated the child. “Shut up. Quickly kneel down and apologize to your grandmother!”
“Zheng’er, don’t make Old Mistress angry. She has been having trouble eating and sleeping these past few days because of you. You think she’s maligning the Princess Consort, but did the Princess Consort not malign our Duke Zhenguo’s Residence?”
Fu Zheng clenched his fists and looked back at them with a determined expression. “No. Even a woman can bring glory to the state. Princess Consort Qi defeated the warriors of the Nan State in the main hall and fought for the honor of the Great Chu State. How can you say that she did not abide by etiquette? Is winning glory for the state a contravention of etiquette?”
Su Ying looked at Fu Zheng, who had straightened his back, and a look of satisfaction appeared in her eyes.
“You… you shut up!” Fu Jun got up and gave Fu Zheng a slap on his face.
Fu Zheng’s face instantly swelled up.
Su Ying narrowed her eyes and slowly stood up. “Are you accusing me of being an immodest woman without virtues?”
Fu Jun looked at Su Ying’s icy sinister eyes and his whole body subconsciously tensed up.
“He contradicted his elders, so he is in the wrong!”
“So standing up to say a word of fairness in Duke Zhenguo’s Residence will lead one to get beaten up.”
Su Ying slowly turned her neck and the corners of her lips curled up slightly.
The Old Mistress thought that Su Ying wanted to hit Fu Jun, so she suddenly raised the walking stick in her hand and swung it at Su Ying’s back.
“Your Highness, watch out!”
Fu Zheng cried out in shock.
However, the sound of someone getting hit did not ring out, against all expectations. Su Ying gripped the walking stick without any emotion, and after exerting a little force, the walking stick fell to the ground together with the Old Mistress, making her land on her butt.
“Mother!”
Fu Jun cried out in shock and his face was filled with rage. “Your Highness, you are really going too far.”
Su Ying gently twirled the walking stick in her hand. “1 thought since she wasn’t far from death, I didn’t want to argue with her, but she just had to come up and ask for death!”
Before she finished her sentence, Su Ying knocked the walking stick in her hand against the coffee table beside her. Pow! The walking stick made of pear wood and Chinese cedar instantly shattered into fragments.
The wooden shards flew to her face and pierced the Old Mistress’s face, causing her to cry out in pain.
“Help! She’s going to kill me. This demon is going to kill me! She’s so lawless! Totally lawless!”
The guards of Duke Zhenguo’s Residence rushed in at once.
At the point when Su Ying arrived, Fu Jun was afraid that something unexpected would happen, so he had already summoned these guards here. Sure enough, Su Ying was indeed here to stir up trouble!
Fu Zheng’s body tensed up as he stood bravely in front of Su Ying. Even though he knew that Su Ying was so strong that she didn’t need his protection, Su Ying had come today for his sake. He couldn’t let her get hurt!
“All of you are not allowed to harm Princess Consort Qi!”
Fu Jun’s eyes widened in anger. “Unfilial son! You unfilial son! If this unfilial son dares to stop anyone, beat him up as well! Beat him up!”
“Capture them! Capture them!”
The Old Mistress was so agitated by the stinging pain on her face that she completely lost her rationality.
Upon seeing this, the guards glared at Su Ying and Fu Zheng. They grabbed the long poles in their hands and pounced on Fu Zheng and Su Ying!
Fu Zheng quickly calmed himself down and went through everything that Su Ying had taught him rapidly in his mind. When the guards pounced on him, he retaliated without any panic at all..