"Pah! The silver your wretched mother left for you? That shameless woman was punished for theft by the family all those years ago. Where would she have gotten silver to leave you? You clearly stole this from Miss Jade!"
The woman became increasingly infuriated by the girl's shove.
Feeling she had lost face in front of the crowd, she not only raised her voice in scolding but also became more physically aggressive, lunging at the girl and pinching her arms and pulling her hair. Just watching made me wince in vicarious pain.
At this point, I took a closer look and felt that the woman seemed increasingly familiar.
Suddenly, I realized she appeared to be Jiang, the legitimate wife of the Duke of Protector.
In our dynasty, the Duke of Protector had long been stripped of real power by the Emperor, reduced to an empty title. The decent status his family still enjoyed was solely due to the Emperor's recognition of the merits and efforts his ancestors made in founding the Qi Dynasty.
Seeking patronage, the Duke of Protector frequently came to fawn over my father.
I had seen them a few times at home, and back then, this Jiang woman was the embodiment of servility and submission, far from her current arrogant and overbearing demeanor.
"You insolent brat, release it at once!"
The struggle between the two tore open the money pouch, scattering the broken silver pieces across the ground.
The girl, no longer focused on the argument, hurriedly crouched down to collect the silver,
while Jiang viciously stomped down on the back of the girl's hand.
Seeing how pitiful the girl was, I rushed out from the crowd, unable to hold back from advising,
"Madam Jiang, are you trying to kill her?"
Hearing the commotion, Jiang turned to look at me, and in the instant our eyes met, the viciousness on her face dissipated by ninety percent, replaced by a smile as obsequious as a court jester's.
"Oh my! If it isn't the daughter of Ning Grand General? It has been quite some time since I last saw you! Why is Lady Ning out unaccompanied, with no servants following? That won't do! Chun'er, you follow Lady Ning and watch over her. If Lady Ning wishes to purchase anything, you can assist her as well."
"There's no need for that."
I coldly rejected her obsequiousness, then cast my gaze down to her foot stomping on the girl's hand.
Laughing awkwardly, she quickly lifted her foot, then grumbled,
"That insolent brat startled Lady Ning. She is merely my unfilial illegitimate daughter who stole from our household's silver and tried to run away, causing this whole ridiculous scene. Please forgive her, Lady Ning."
I ignored her still, seeing the girl's swollen, reddened fingers as she painstakingly collected the scattered broken silver pieces from the ground.
I bent down to help her up, stopping her actions.
The girl looked at me timidly, and I smiled as I brushed aside the disheveled strands of hair on her forehead.
"I believe this money pouch wasn't stolen by you."
Just an ordinary statement, yet it brought tears to the stubborn girl's eyes.
She quickly wiped them away before they could spill over, her gaze fixed longingly on the scattered silver as her voice trembled,
"Yun Shan is gravely ill, and I need money to save her."
"Don't mind her, Lady Ning! A child born of a concubine is beneath contempt. How could you extend sympathy to a slave girl who has sold her body? That vixen has corrupted you with her wiles. She'd be better off dead from her illness!"
Jiang tried to strike at the girl again from behind me,
but I caught her wrist before her slap could land, glaring at her before coldly stating,
"Even slaves are human beings. There are no such ruthless acts condoned even within the palace walls. Madam Jiang, you really do have quite the audacity."
Jiang clearly did not expect me to rebuke her so harshly, her face twisting into an extremely unpleasant expression as she tried to make excuses,
"Please don't misunderstand me, Lady Ning, I... I didn't mean that..."
"There's no need to explain your intentions to me," I said dismissively, glancing at the dust-covered broken silver on the ground. "Wasn't this silver yours? Then quickly pick it all up and disperse, instead of making a scene beneath the Emperor's feet."
No sooner had I finished speaking than Jiang immediately bent down and began laughing obsequiously as she collected the money.
Her behavior was utterly degrading, embarrassing even the onlooking commoners into murmurs and whispers.
But I couldn't care less about any of that.
Since her husband loved playing the dog in front of my father, I was simply granting her wish to play the dog for me today.
Ignoring Jiang, I turned to gently reassure the young girl instead.
"What is your name?"
"Song Zhao," she replied meekly.
I took out a silver note from my pocket and placed it in her hands, smiling,
"Go on. Take this silver and save whomever you wish to save."
After receiving the silver note, she froze for a moment, then turned and scurried away like a frightened rabbit.
I called out to her hasty retreating figure,
"Be careful not to trip and fall!"
She stopped in her tracks and looked back at me, staring intently before shouting out,
"Thank you, Sister Wan!"
With that, she vanished into the crowd in the blink of an eye.
Heh... Sister Wan.
That was the first time anyone had addressed me as such.
Initially, I found it novel, but upon further reflection, I found it strange!
We must have been meeting for the very first time,
so why...
did she know my name?
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