After a short moment, the old carpenter and his workers sat on the floor together with a large bowl of vegetable porridge each. They gulped down the porridge as if they hadn’t eaten in days. The spark of shrewdness that the old carpenter had shown during his negotiations with Chu Lian had completely disappeared in the face of delicious food.
His sons and grandsons were acting just the same as the old carpenter. They buried their heads in their bowls, only looking up once the bowl was emptied.
After eating up all of his vegetable porridge and gulping down some extra cabbage and meat buns, the old carpenter wiped his mouth on his sleeve with utmost satisfaction. He sighed with deep feeling, “Heavens!” Having vegetables to eat on a winter day, let alone such fresh and juicy green vegetables, was nothing short of a miracle! On the first morning, when he had been given such amazing food for breakfast, the old carpenter had been frightened half to death!
Green vegetables in the middle of a harsh winter! Surely even the Emperor wouldn’t be able to have much better food than this!
The old carpenter mulled over his thoughts.
Furthermore, there seemed to be something added to this vegetable porridge that made it taste absolutely fresh. He lamented the fact that he couldn’t just have three heaping bowls of this for every meal.
Whenever the old servant who brought their meals came to take the bowls away, the bowls used by the old carpenter’s family were always gleaming. She hardly had to wash them after taking them back to the kitchen.
When Chu Lian returned to her room, she sat on the hearth absentmindedly. From time to time, she would send Wenqing and Wenlan out to check if Manager Qin had returned.
Wenqing found it strange, but she took her task even more seriously. No matter how bad the situation, their Third Young Madam had always been able to keep a smile on her face. This was the first time she had seen such an anxious and worried expression on her mistress.
Unfortunately, this time, Chu Lian’s worst fears came true.
After one hour had passed, Li Xing hurriedly rushed in to report.
“Honoured Lady, Manager Qin and the others have been taken to another courtyard by Old Mo.”
Chu Lian frowned and ordered Wenlan to help her up from the hearth bed. She announced with a solemn expression, “Let’s go there quickly!”
With a grave expression on her face and additional shadows in her bright eyes, she actually looked a little more like He Sanlang.
In the side courtyard of the He Estate, Manager Qin and his men had been forced to kneel on the snow-covered ground. The old soldiers were skilled in martial arts, so Manager Qin and the other manservants didn’t have any chance against them.
Mo Chenggui stood in the corridor facing the yard and stared with cold eyes at Manager Qin. He shouted with disappointment, “Third Young Madam is just a little girl, so it’s fine if she doesn’t know better. However, you, as her loyal servant, how could you let her act so frivolously without persuading otherwise? While you were acting so recklessly in this estate, did you give any thought to how the commoners and soldiers outside are faring?”
Manager Qin’s mouth had been stuffed with a piece of cloth and his hands were tied behind his bed. His slightly plump face was flushed red with effort as he tried to speak and explain, but he just couldn’t make any sound!
Mo Chenggui harrumphed. When he cast his gaze at the good quality fir wood piled up at the side, his temper flared up once again.
Fir wood! That type of wood was expensive everywhere. In Liangzhou City, where they couldn’t even use money, it was likely bought back by exchanging huge amounts of material goods.
These few days, he and the other soldiers had been trying their best to eat less and save up what they could. However, on the other hand, Third Young Madam had taken their food supplies and gone out to spend it lavishly on some useless materials!
Mo Chenggui’s temper was burning high in his heart. He stared coldly at the ‘dogs’ acting for Third Young Madam and spoke sinisterly, “Third Young Madam is of the weaker sex, so she probably can’t bear to use bloodier measures. Since the matriarch gave orders for me to protect Third Young Madam on this journey, then I’ll take action on behalf of Third Young Madam today to punish these infidels!”
“Men, reward him with fifty strikes of the rod!”
Once Mo Chenggui gave the order, two old soldiers pushed Manager Qin to the ground and pulled away the fur cloak he had wrapped around him.
The soldiers were each carrying large wooden rods thicker than their arms. They raised them high up in the air and prepared to aim them at Manager Qin’s body.
Mo Chenggui had retired from the army, but he still kept the habit of using the military’s style of punishment.
Without even giving the other party a chance to defend himself, he had immediately decided the punishment of fifty strikes. Even the strongest elite soldiers wouldn’t be able to withstand fifty strikes of the rod, let alone Manager Qin, who wasn’t trained in any martial arts at all. He was clearly trying to sentence Manager Qin to death.
The first rod landed on Manager Qin with a muffled thump thanks to the protection of his thick winter clothing. Although Manager Qin didn’t seem to react much, he actually wanted to shout in pain. Unfortunately, his mouth was covered so he couldn’t make any sound apart from a stifled grunt.
Before the next rod could land, an enraged shout carried over from the entrance of the courtyard, “Stop right now!”
