Quick Transmigration: The Mad Beauty Refuses to Be the Scapegoat!-Chapter 394 - 16: The General Mansion’s Cast-Off Scapegoat Wife (Part 16)
Jiang Lai smiled, looking at Xu Ruling.
"You want to destroy the account books because you’re afraid someone will find out you’re the one financing the opera troupe, right? You hired the opera troupe, didn’t you? And you’re the one colluding with outsiders to frame the General, aren’t you? Xu Ruling, you never truly know someone! The old lady raised you, yet you turn and betray her, even trying to drag my Miss Yue down with you. How ruthless you are!"
Jiang Lai was relentlessly aggressive, and Little Buding was so engrossed that he nearly chewed the skin off his seeds. It was a splendid show of the white lotus versus the green tea witch, but unfortunately, he was the sole audience member.
Xu Ruling was completely panicked. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
What’s going on? How did everything about the assassination come to be blamed on her?
"No, no. General, listen to me. I had nothing to do with the assassination. General, I’ve been with you since childhood. You know what I’m like!"
Tie Yi, of course, knew. He was aware of everything Xu Ruling usually did. It was just that he didn’t want to interfere as long as she took good care of the old lady.
But now, because of Jiang Lai, Xu Ruling kept plotting against Miss Yue, so Tie Yi had to intervene.
The assassination had nothing to do with Xu Ruling, but she needed to explain why she wanted to burn the account books.
At this point, Xu Ruling dared not hide anymore.
Jiang Lai, feeling worn out and sleepy, yawned and looked at Tie Yi.
"There’s only ten thousand taels on the account, which doesn’t really match your Great General identity. Handle this as you see fit; I’m tired. I’m going to sleep."
Towards Xu Ruling, Jiang Lai didn’t intend to go for the kill, at most an eye for an eye until she dared not show her face again.
Tie Yi could deal with her however he wanted; Jiang Lai wasn’t interested. After all, the General Mansion wasn’t hers, and she never cared much about matters unrelated to her mission.
As she was drifting to sleep, Tie Yi returned. After lying down and covering himself with a blanket, seeing that Jiang Lai hadn’t fallen asleep yet, he turned over and tentatively leaned closer to her neck.
The heavy breathing disturbed Jiang Lai’s sleep. She frowned, turned around, and kicked him.
"I’m tired, sleeping."
"I don’t have to get up early tomorrow."
Jiang Lai nonchalantly, with her eyes closed.
"What does your not getting up early have to do with me? When the hour comes, I want to sleep."
The woman in front of him was defiant, and no one could stop her. Underneath, Tie Yi was holding back a fire, feeling a bit displeased but not knowing how to deal with a wife like Jiang Lai.
Although it was his first marriage, he had heard from those generals in the army that their wives were all gentle and obedient, serving their husbands carefully, afraid of upsetting them.
But this woman in front of him was capricious and selfish, treating herself as if to satisfy only her own desires, completely disregarding the wishes of him as her husband.
Feeling stifled, Tie Yi didn’t know what to do and finally turned and got up, grabbed his outer clothes, and said as he pushed the door open, "Sleep well, I won’t disturb you."
Jiang Lai squinted at him with a glance, snorted, and then continued to turn over and sleep as if nothing had happened.
The bed felt much more spacious without another person, and she slept more comfortably.
Little Buding felt anxious but to no avail. His sighs were useless, and Jiang Lai scolded him until he finally quieted down.
"You still have the mood to sleep? Sister, this is ancient times, men are superior to women. Your man is the Great General, commanding hundreds of thousands of soldiers. In the barracks, he is a storm-like figure, yet here, you treat him like a venting barrel? Can you show some sincerity while living under someone else’s roof?"
Little Buding was worried. Tie Yi was not someone with a good temper; if he went to the army camp and didn’t return for months, Jiang Lai’s days wouldn’t be good, and how would she complete her mission? Which man would love her like this?
Isn’t this just asking for trouble?
Jiang Lai was awakened by him, slowly opened her eyes, and took a deep breath.
"If you don’t shut up, I’ll really consider killing myself."
Little Buding fell silent immediately, but after a while, he couldn’t hold back.
"So what exactly are you thinking? Tie Yi was defending you so much yesterday! He didn’t give Xu Ruling face at all and directly handed over the housekeeper’s authority to you. Now the General Mansion is yours whenever you want to run rampant, so why are you cold-shouldering him?"
Men, after all, are creatures who think with their lower bodies. When emotions aren’t stable, isn’t it just through the bed to get along?
Chun Yue was serving Jiang Lai to freshen up, and Jiang Lai, sitting at the dressing mirror with her eyes closed, said languidly.
"General Mansion? I don’t care."
She had already siphoned off enough money; Xu Ruling couldn’t fully be blamed for the empty account because Jiang Lai had taken a bit by bit in batches. She knew Xu Ruling would want to cover up and burn the account books, which was perfect as no one would know exactly how much Jiang Lai took.
Outside, she had already bought the yard, and the three maids had moved in to clean it up, with a special cook and washerwoman employed. Life there wouldn’t be worse than in the General Mansion.
Jiang Lai never wrongs herself; last night, she was indeed tired. If Tie Yi wanted something, he’d have to roll on his own. Tossing with him was more tiring than running a marathon; she hadn’t lost her head to that extent yet.
Sure enough, the following few days, she didn’t see Tie Yi at all.
Life was much quieter at the mansion, and the matter of Xu Ruling spending the account’s money on chrysanthemums was wasted. The old lady was angered by it too, accustomed to frugality, in the past only needing a few taels for a whole year. Hearing that Xu Ruling spent all at once to buy ten thousand taels worth of chrysanthemums, she didn’t see Xu Ruling for several days in anger.
But after all, they were close relatives. After a few days, Xu Ruling could attend to her duties again. Since Jiang Lai never went over to serve, it gave Xu Ruling plenty of opportunities to shine.
During this period, Jiang Lai often left the mansion, spending entire afternoons at the largest teahouse in the Capital City. Although she didn’t wear a mask, hardly anyone knew her, and no one knew Jiang Lai’s identity.
This teahouse had another name, called the Bright Moon Building, a place where many scholars in the Capital City composed poetry. In this country ruled by scholars for decades, the status of civilian scholars was beyond the ordinary. To speak dazzling words was more than just a metaphor. A couplet or a poem could be exchanged for real gold and silver. Once you gained fame, people would flock to offer money just to obtain an authentic piece.
Entering the teahouse required only a fee for tea, but entering the Bright Moon Building was different. A piece of work was the ticket.
With Little Buding’s early high technology from a thousand years ago, Jiang Lai wrote a random poem and effortlessly entered the inner part of the Bright Moon Building, a massive three-story houseboat. She was now on the first floor; the higher one went, the tougher it was.
Today, the master of the Bright Moon Building posed a challenge, seeking a matching couplet.
While people on the third floor racked their brains, Jiang Lai already wrote her answer and handed it in.
"Feng Tang ages, Yongchi a marquis, a former three-word General, single horse with short clothes, shooting tigers in spring;
Left embraces beauty, right plays with children, a recluse in Bone Mountain Forest, reed curtains close, night talking dragons!"
"Good! Good! Good! What a ’left embraces beauty, right plays with children’!"
