CHAPTER 557: 557 CHAPTER ACCENT

Agarwood Pavilion, back courtyard.

A parrot was hanging on the corridor in front of the bamboo house.

Xingxing was feeding the parrot.

The parrot was covered in yellow-green feathers, with a round head and shiny black eyes.

Xingxing brought the food close to it, the parrot prepared to grab it, but missed.

Xingxing looked at it, "Repeat after me, Feihu Village."

"Repeat after me, Grey Tiger Village," the parrot said.

"It’s Feihu Village!" Xingxing shouted.

"It’s Grey Tiger Village!" the parrot said.

"Feihu Village!!!"

"Grey Tiger Village..."

Xingxing was so angry, steam seemed to come out of her head.

She turned to look at Su Jin.

Su Jin had an expression of helplessness.

This parrot wasn’t the one from the Dongxiang Marquis Mansion.

On the day of the family meal, when preparing to return home, Xingxing liked the parrot and asked Young Master Su to borrow it for a couple of days.

Young Master Su hadn’t played with it enough himself, how could he lend it to Xingxing?

But Xingxing was persistent, thinking there must be more than one parrot in the Capital.

She looked pitifully at Su Jin, and Su Jin agreed to let her buy one to take back to the Prince Mansion.

The two of them went around the flower and bird market and spent three hundred taels to buy this parrot, claimed to be the smartest with the best mimicry skills, and brought it back.

Hmm.

As soon as they got back, they knew they had failed in buying it.

The parrot did have strong mimicry skills, it would say something after being taught dozens of times.

But it had an accent.

It stubbornly pronounced Feihu Village as Grey Tiger Village.

Xingxing corrected it for three whole days, but the parrot didn’t change, and sometimes Xingxing would accidentally say Grey Tiger Village herself.

People from Qingyun Mountain were known for being straightforward and blunt.

The parrot Young Master Su bought liked to say "Master, come in and play" and "Master, come again next time."

Marquis Dongxiang couldn’t stand it. After threatening it to no avail, he brought out a fire to burn its feathers.

The parrot changed after that, never saying it again.

This parrot was obstinate, definitely having been threatened, but it was tough like steel, almost having its feathers singed, and it chirped back, "Eighteen years from now, I’ll be a hero again."

Xingxing, who used to have a great appetite, was so infuriated by this parrot, who had seen through life and death, that her food intake dropped by half.

It was forgivable to say other things wrong.

How could it get Feihu Village wrong?

Feihu Village was so impressive; how could Grey Tiger Village compare?!

And!

She was almost being led astray by it!

Xingxing didn’t want this parrot that didn’t share a common goal with Feihu Village anymore. Did she still have a chance to return it and get their three hundred taels back?

Xingxing looked hopefully at Su Jin.

Su Jin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

It seemed the parrot was the only thing that could push Xingxing to this extent.

In just three days, she was already reaching her limit.

"There’s not much hope, but you can try," Su Jin said.

Xingxing took the parrot down, scolding it as she walked out, "Being with a lady is such a blessed opportunity, yet you don’t cherish it. You’ll regret it one day, you stupid parrot."

"Grey Tiger Village!"

"Grey Tiger Village!" the parrot called out.

"Ahhhhh!" Xingxing yelled in frustration.

Bi Zhu, who had come in to deliver a message, was startled by her yelling.

"What’s... what’s going on?" she hurried forward to ask.

"Nothing happened, I’m just annoyed by this stupid parrot," Xingxing glared at the parrot and said.

Leaving that comment, Xingxing carried the parrot and walked forward.

Bi Zhu followed behind Xingxing.

A few steps later, she remembered she had come to deliver a message.

She turned and ran to the bamboo house, breathlessly saying, "Heir’s wife, Mrs. Wang has arrived."

Su Jin was smelling some herbs and said, "Let Mrs. Wang come in."

Now that her medical skills were exposed, there was no need to hide the back courtyard.

Soon, Bi Zhu led Mrs. Wang in.

Mrs. Wang still looked a little pale.

Even though the poisoning was resolved quickly, Mrs. Wang wasn’t young, and the damage from the poison wasn’t easy to recover from.

After recuperating for four or five days, she had her current complexion.

Seeing Su Jin, Mrs. Wang knelt down, and Su Jin immediately helped her up.

"Mrs. Wang, what are you doing? Let’s talk while standing," Su Jin helped her up and said.

Mrs. Wang’s eyes were moist as she said, "If it weren’t for the Heir’s wife saving me, I’d be dead. Even if I served as a slave, I couldn’t repay a fraction of the favor."

"Mrs. Wang, you are exaggerating. I learned medical skills to save people," Su Jin said.

"More importantly, have you found out who poisoned you?" Su Jin asked.

Mrs. Wang’s eyes dimmed.

No one knew better than her how she got poisoned.

The Old Madam, concerned about her reputation, tasked the head maid, Lanzhi, with investigating because the Old Prince had asked twice, and the matter couldn’t be left unresolved.

They had just found poison in the house of a cleaning maid from Qihao Hall.

That woman had been beaten to death.

The Old Madam was a devout Buddhist, and causing such killings would sooner or later bring retribution.

Advising the Old Madam until she almost got harmed herself, Mrs. Wang no longer had any intention to counsel the Old Madam. Had she not come to thank the Heir’s wife, she would have felt uneasy and would have preferred lying in bed for another ten days or so.

Qihao Hall.

The inner room.

The Old Madam was listening to the smacking sound of boards outside.

She rapidly turned the Buddha beads in her hand.

Soon, the cries outside faded.

Shortly after, Lanzhi came in and said, "Old Madam, Mrs. Feng has been beaten to death."

The Old Madam said nothing.

She didn’t want blood on her hands, but she had no choice but to take this step.

Even though Mrs. Wang was just a servant, in the Old Prince’s heart, she wasn’t.

Back in the day, she could marry the Old Prince thanks to Mrs. Wang’s matchmaking, and after serving her for decades, being poisoned and murdered—how could the Old Prince not pursue it to the end?

If it weren’t for her insistence, the Old Prince would want to investigate this personally.

Lanzhi whispered, "Old Madam, Mrs. Wang has gone to Agarwood Pavilion."

A cold gleam flashed in the depths of the Old Madam’s eyes.

"The Heir’s wife saved her, it’s only right for her to give thanks," the Old Madam said, closing her eyes.

Mrs. Wang was a smart woman.

She had learned a great lesson from this incident.

She should know to keep her head down now.

In the bamboo house, Mrs. Wang said apologetically, "In saving me, the Heir’s wife has exposed her medical skills. We must be more careful in the future."

This remark was also to tell Su Jin that her poisoning was meant to expose Su Jin’s medical skills.

The one behind it was the Old Madam.

Of course, even if Mrs. Wang hadn’t said it, Su Jin was well aware of it.

"Does the Old Madam want my life just because I caused her to go to the Great Buddha Temple for penance?" Su Jin directly asked.

Mrs. Wang looked at Su Jin and said, "Even though I’ve served the Old Madam for half my life, I don’t know why she is doing this."

Pausing for a moment, Mrs. Wang shared her inner suspicion, "It might be related to the Heir of Uncle Yongcheng’s death."

Over these days, Mrs. Wang had thought through the past events.

The Old Madam’s fondness for the Elder Yong Cheng was rather peculiar.

The Heir of Uncle Yongcheng’s death?

"Are you saying the Old Madam seeks revenge for the Heir of Uncle Yongcheng?" Su Jin’s voice suddenly rose several octaves.

Mrs. Wang nodded lightly.

Su Jin immediately cursed in her heart.

The Old Madam’s brain must have gotten severely smashed by a door!

For the Heir of Uncle Yongcheng, she wanted both Su Jin’s and Xie Jingchen’s lives?!

With such unclear priorities, siding with outsiders, why didn’t she just move to Uncle’s Mansion to live?!

Seeing Su Jin so angry, Mrs. Wang stood up and said, "Heir’s wife, I’ll be going back first."

"My life was saved by you, and I am not someone without gratitude."

"I will not let you save me in vain."

Mrs. Wang’s gaze was upright, her mind clear, and Su Jin could see it.

Since Mrs. Wang came, Su Jin took the opportunity to check her pulse and gave her some medicine to help her recover.

Mrs. Wang’s nose turned sour.

Su Jin saw her out the door.

Just as she reached the bottom of the stairs, Bi Zhu ran up and said, "Heir’s wife, something terrible has happened!"

"Princess Nanzhang wants to kill Xingxing!"