Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1221: Chapter 1223: Returning you a dose of rat poison_1

Elder Jiang Ge heard the sarcasm in Bai Ruozhu’s words and furiously threw down his chopsticks, roaring at her, ”Can’t even handle such a trivial matter, and still making excuses. Is this your so-called filial piety? No more talking, just go get it done for me!”

Bai Ruozhu rolled her eyes and simply ignored him. Who did he think he was, with such a big face?

Jiang Yichun stood up with a thud, the sound coming from the chair he knocked over. He left his chopsticks and walked toward Bai Ruozhu.

”Can’t even eat in peace, let’s go back,” he said, reaching for her hand and striding towards the door.

Because of Jiang Yichun’s intimidating presence, and his sudden departure, it took everyone else a moment to come to their senses after the pair had left.

Elder Jiang Ge was so flushed with rage that his beard quivered. Everyone in the room tried to calm him down, but in the end, no one dared to chase after Jiang Yichun to reprimand him, mainly because the way he had flung his chopsticks had frightened them all.

”Look at your grandpa causing a fuss again,” Bai Ruozhu remarked with a twist of her mouth.

Jiang Yichun’s face seemed to be encased in a layer of ice, ”Let him fuss. The Emperor has no mind to bother with him right now.”

Bai Ruozhu nodded. The Emperor and the Empress Dowager were both troubled at the moment. Elder Jiang Ge was not about to die at any moment, yet he insisted on finding a burial site now, truly idle to the extreme.

The next day, Jiang Yichun went to the early imperial court session while Bai Ruozhu, concerned that Jiang Chenshi might come to play the mediator and try to persuade her, decided to head out early with Little Dengdeng.

She took Little Dengdeng back to the Bai Family, letting him play with Xiaosi while she discussed her departure from the Capital City with Elder Xuan Jizi.

”Elder Xuan Jizi, I might have to leave the Capital for a while soon and may not be able to continue with the poison antidote for Auntie Lin. I’m truly sorry. I don’t know if you would like to wait for my return to continue the treatment, or if you prefer to go back to Mount Hua first and I’ll send word when I’m about to return?” Bai Ruozhu asked.

Elder Xuan Jizi was not at all upset with Bai Ruozhu. ”Ruozhu, you’re too polite, Lin Lian has been poisoned for more than a day or two. We’re already immensely grateful for your help in treating her. If it’s convenient for you, we might as well travel with you. This way, we won’t delay Lin Lian’s treatment, and we can also serve as guards for you,” he offered.

Bai Ruozhu’s eyes lit up. That would be the best arrangement; with Elder Xuan Jizi and his wife accompanying her on the journey, she would certainly have more security. However, she dared not make any promises without permission and would need to report to the Emperor first.

”To be frank, I am under Imperial Decree for this trip. The people accompanying me need to be reported to His Majesty. How about I ask for a few days to make arrangements and then give you an answer?” Bai Ruozhu proposed.

Elder Xuan Jizi immediately replied, ”That’s fine, fine, I will not speak further on the matter.”

Bai Ruozhu smiled gratefully at him. Elder Xuan Jizi was a man of understanding.

She prepared to take her leave but when she called for Little Dengdeng, the little boy was too captivated by watching his Uncle Xiaosi practice boxing to leave.

After Xiaosi finished a set of boxing moves, he smiled at Bai Ruozhu and said, ”Sister, if you have things to do, go ahead, and let Dengdeng stay and play here. I promised to teach him boxing.”

Bai Ruozhu smiled and pursed her lips, ”So Little Dengdeng wants to be a hero already?”

Little Dengdeng felt a bit embarrassed at being talked about and hid behind Xiaosi, his little face flushed as he said, ”I want to protect mom.”

Bai Ruozhu felt warmth in her heart hearing this. The child was so young yet already thought of protecting her. Indeed, she had not doted on him in vain.

Just as she needed to go out and run errands, which was inconvenient with Little Dengdeng, Bai Ruozhu left him in the yard, only reminding him not to disturb Lin Lian, who was recuperating.

After leaving the Bai Residence, Bai Ruozhu took a horse carriage to the Leisure Lodge in the Capital City. She hadn’t had time to visit since she heard about it from Sui Ge’s lips that day.

Today her attire was quite modest—anyone unfamiliar with her would certainly have mistaken her for a common woman. Therefore, when she entered the Leisure Lodge, the shopkeeper did not come over, but a young waiter greeted her, asking if she preferred the ground floor or a private room upstairs. She pointed to a spot by the window in the Main Hall and said, ”I prefer somewhere quieter; that place will do.”

Seeing that she was alone, the waiter assumed she wouldn’t order much and wasn’t too enthusiastic. Bai Ruozhu walked slowly towards the innermost window-side table with a faint smile on her face. Along the way, her hand hidden in her sleeve moved slightly.

Once seated, she ordered a pot of tea and three of the restaurant’s Signature Dishes, then sat back to enjoy the show.

Soon the tea and dishes arrived. She leisurely sipped her tea and tasted the so-called Signature Dishes, her smile deepening at the corners of her mouth.

No wonder the Yang Family resorted to such tricks; sure enough, the taste was lacking compared to Yingkelai.

Nevertheless, the Leisure Lodge also used fresh soup powder, albeit not as high-grade as Yingkelai did—only an ordinary version.

It was now noon, and the number of diners began to pick up. A storytelling gentleman took to the center of the Main Hall to entertain the guests with his tales.

But just as everyone was engrossed in the story, someone suddenly muttered, ”What’s that sound? Is your drum set broken, storyteller? Why does it keep squeaking?”

The interruption irked the storyteller, who checked his drum set and replied with a shake of his head, ”It’s fine, perhaps you heard wrong, sir.”

”Strange, I can hear the squeaking too,” another diner from a different table chimed in.

Bai Ruozhu lifted her teacup, slowly sipping as she concealed the smile at the corner of her mouth. Heh, the show was about to begin!

Soon, someone exclaimed, ”Look, rats!”

”Goodness, they really are rats! Why are there so many? Isn’t this a restaurant? This is utterly filthy!” a burly male diner spoke gruffly.

The storyteller looked up to find a group of rats—yes, not one or just a few, but a troop of them—near his storytelling platform.

The rats, varying in size, scurried across the floor, unsettlingly bold and seemingly unafraid of people. They didn’t hide, regardless of how much they ran, darting to and fro on the Main Hall’s floor.

”Call your boss out here! With so many rats, are you even going to let people eat?” A customer with a short temper began shouting, ”Hasn’t your food been crawled over by rats? Don’t cause people to fall ill!”

The shopkeeper rushed out to placate the guests, frantically signaling to the young waiters, who got the message and started chasing the rats. Unfortunately, though the rats scattered, they soon circled back, and more appeared continuously in the Main Hall.

Finally, a bright and quick-witted waiter killed a rat, exclaiming triumphantly, ”See if I don’t kill you! All of you, get out!”

But right after he spoke, he realized something was amiss. Blood splattered from the dead rat, and instantly, people began to retch and walked away from their tables without paying for their meals.

The shopkeeper stepped forward to intercept the departing diners, inquiring about the meal costs, only to be shoved aside by a customer, ”You still have the nerve to ask for money? I haven’t even reported you to the Government Office! You’ve completely ruined my mood!”