Chapter 020 Misfortune

Fu Zhen, who was hidden under the eaves in the alley, only came down after hearing the sound of horse hooves completely fade away.

Yanzi Square became extremely quiet once again, so quiet that it seemed she could even hear her own heartbeat.

As she climbed down from the tree, she originally planned to visit several places in the city where information flowed, to gather some intelligence about the current court affairs. Of course, most importantly, she wanted to know the current situation of that rascal Xu Yin.

Since accepting the fact that she had come back to life, she had two essential tasks: one was to ascertain the current state of the Liang Family, and the other was to follow Xu Yin. Later, because she spent the entire day dealing with the chaos in the Fu Family, she added one more task, which was to improve her defensive abilities in the Fu Family.

So far, the situation with the Liang Family was roughly determined, but she still had no information about Xu Yin at all.

Whether he was dead or alive, thriving or unfortunate, after killing her, whether his plans fell flat and backfired on him, or if he was walking on clouds in the court as he had wished, she knew none of it. So she had no idea how he handled the situation after the fire back then.

She wanted to ask Mrs. Fu about it, but her current behavior had already shocked them enough for today, and showing concern about people and matters completely unrelated to their lives would undoubtedly raise suspicions, bringing negative consequences back on herself.

She came out tonight intending to deal with all three matters.

Who knew she'd encounter such an unexpected event at the first step, so she dared not take any further risks.

She touched her face, stood in the night breeze for a moment, then turned in the direction of the Fu Residence.

"Miss!..."

She had just pushed open the courtyard gate when Bixi, who had been told to stay and guard the gate, immediately let out a low exclamation and then fainted inside the door.

With a sigh, Fu Zhen picked her up with one hand and carried her back to the room without further ado.

Having passed out but still tense, one could imagine that she had indeed been guarding here all the while she had gone out.

...

Mrs. Liu, after getting the phrase "take care" from Fu Jun, started to plan meticulously that night.

Fu Jun ate in her room in the morning, and the chicken soup made in the kitchen was salty. Upon inquiry, it turned out to be chicken that was salted after being slaughtered and had already been left for two days.

Fu Jun, whose appetite had long become finicky, was naturally displeased and was about to punish the kitchen staff.

Mrs. Liu persuaded him, "The servants are just following orders. If the higher-ups are willing to spend money on fresh ingredients, would they dare do this?"

The kitchen, being a crucial place, was naturally under the control of the house mistress.

Fu Jun frowned.

Just then, the gardener who managed the flowers and plants in the back garden came to report to Mrs. Liu, "Ever since Concubine took over the back garden, for a year and three months, not only has the monthly expense decreased by twenty taels of Silver compared to before, but the florists, following Concubine's instructions, sold a batch of precious orchid seedlings from the orchid bed to officials in need, earning four hundred and twenty taels of Silver. After offsetting the expenses, there remained twelve taels. Here is the ledger, please take a look, Master and Concubine."

Hearing that the garden actually made money, Fu Jun, who was just angry, was surprised as he flipped through the ledger and looked at Mrs. Liu. "I couldn't tell, you actually have a knack for managing the household."

Mrs. Liu lowered her head and smiled, "Speaking of this, how can I compare to Sister? It's just that I'm always thinking in my heart about how hard it is for Master to support this family. Since Sister cannot share his burdens, I, as a concubine, cannot just eat without contributing.

"Therefore, I rack my brains to come up with ideas to reduce the burden. I don't even know if it is in accordance with the rules and seek Master's guidance."

Fu Jun smiled and closed the ledger, placing it on the table, "You have this heart, not in vain of my care."

Mrs. Liu seized the opportunity and said, "Then regarding the kitchen matter, could Master forgive them? At worst, I'll take the Silver earned from the garden to subsidize the kitchen."

Fu Jun's smile faded, and his brow furrowed, "As the house mistress, if she cannot even manage the daily meals in the kitchen properly, how could there be any reason to rob Peter to pay Paul?!"

Mrs. Liu spoke no more and gently added a bowl of soup for him.

...

Last night's incident made Fu Zhen completely calm down.

She spent most of the night sorting through her thoughts, and after getting up early, she began stretching her arms and legs in the courtyard.

Practicing for an hour every morning had been her daily routine for many years. Now, though she couldn't openly practice her moves, she did larger movements when no one was around.

Yet, even so, after a night, moving her limbs was still not as smooth as she would like, and looking at her arm, slimmer than a rolling pin, she sighed.

Fully recovering this body would take at least a year or two.

This is a headache. She surely couldn't take a year or two to settle the internal affairs of the Fu Family. If she rushed into action, even if Fu Jun and Mrs. Liu did not cause her trouble, directly seeking out Xu Yin for revenge would surely mean not returning alive.

Mrs. Fu had set up a small kitchen in Fu Zhen's courtyard from the beginning, making separate food, which was clean and convenient. While Bixi went to help the cook prepare breakfast, Fu Zhen reviewed everything left by the original owner in the room.

Initially, she felt a taboo touching other people's belongings, but as she flipped through, her memories became increasingly clear, and she became unreserved.

There were eight people working in her courtyard. The head maid, Ziyan, was in charge of household affairs. Bixi, also a head maid, was responsible for accompanying Fu Zhen to bed and combing her hair, with her primary task being companionship.

Additionally, there were two maids managing tea serving, washing, and other chores, a cook, two more rough maids, and an old woman guarding the gate.

The room was tidy, with expensive ornaments around, yet no small items were visible.

Ordinary things in a girl's room, like the four treasures of the study, folded fans, ancient books, and jade cups, were nowhere to be seen. Opening the dressing box, there were only some rouge and powder, and hair accessories, but nothing else.

She recalled and remembered that at some point, such items were no longer displayed in the room.

She called in the maid responsible for serving tea, "When did the room become so plain? The earrings and pearl hairpins I wore earlier, where did they go?"

The maid replied, "All the items were collected by Sister Ziyan. Miss should ask her. However, the Second Miss always took a few things every time she came here, and gradually these were no longer placed. Is Miss in urgent need? Should I get Sister Ziyan for you?"

"No need."

Recently, Ziyan had gone to look after Fu Jia, who needed someone to attend to him. Fu Jia was going to the academy every day, and his regular wet nurse was sick these days, so Ziyan, meticulous and steady, temporarily took over for a few days.

——So it was because of Fu Rou again.

Fu Zhen sighed internally.

Everything, piece by piece, was so unlucky!

The original owner had been pampered by Mrs. Fu, never cared about finances, losing some items never stayed on her mind, or perhaps because there was nothing she could do, she had to suffer in silence. Seeing this, the maids naturally could only silently put things away.

And that Fu Rou, when had she ever been well-behaved?

She wanted not just Fu Zhen's marriage, but everything that belonged to Fu Zhen!