Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 57: Spinning Silk

After the village chief had left, Feng Xuxu sat motionless in the courtyard. From the beginning until now, there had been a continuous stream of both significant and trivial matters. She had genuinely wanted to help the villagers lead prosperous lives, so they wouldn’t have to worry about the lack of food or inability to treat illnesses. However, in the end, her good intentions had been met with an unrelenting wave of heartless criticism.

But now it seemed that she had wandered into a misconception. Not all good deeds lead to good fortune. When you’re not strong, you’re just a speck of dust in the dirt, insignificant. To stir up a storm and inspire fear so that people wouldn’t dare to criticize carelessly, one must become strong. Only with personal strength can one better protect oneself.

Feng Xi stood in the courtyard, watching the sun travel from east to west, slowly setting, while his sister sat like a statue, not having eaten all day. With a heart full of distress, he paced back and forth with a bowl of water, not daring to disturb her.

"Awoo..." Xiaobai nudged Feng Xuxu with concern, then suddenly jumped onto her shoulder, looking pitifully into her eyes.

Emerging from her trance, Feng Xuxu realized that the sky had already darkened. Seeing her brother’s worried face warmed her heart. She wasn’t alone in this world; her brother still cared for her.

"Brother, I’m hungry," she said with a playful blink.

"You little rascal, I’ll go cook for you," Feng Xi said, playfully tapping Feng Xuxu’s head.

"Hee hee, Brother, I want noodles, and an egg pancake too," she said, sticking out her cute, pink tongue.

"Got it," Feng Xi responded, heading towards the kitchen with a spring in his step and a smile on his face, wishing he had more than two hands to hastily prepare a meal for his sister.

Feng Xuxu held Xiaobai on her shoulder, stroking it and asking, "How’s it going?"

"Miss Feng, there are some clues," Xiaobai said, looking at Feng Xuxu with worry, hesitating to speak.

"I’ve already guessed as much."

"Miss Feng, what should we do?"

"It’s time for a turtle caught in a jar," Feng Xuxu said, as a fierce light danced in her eyes, and she let go of the burden in her heart.

"..." Xiaobai, observing Feng Xuxu at this moment, felt a tremor of fear, realizing that his Miss Feng was not a cat, but a slumbering tiger. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

The night was calm, and the next day, as people were still asleep, a girl and her adorable pet rode a horse into town. In a deserted spot, she put the horse into a space.

After eating in town, Feng Xuxu noticed that the streets were becoming crowded, so she walked around. Shortly after, she entered a small pharmacy.

"Eh, miss, are you here to seek treatment or to get some medicine?" The shop assistant saw a young lady in silk clothing enter and approached with a warm greeting.

"Hmph, call your shopkeeper, how dare you sell fake medicine!" Feng Xuxu fired at the assistant in anger.

"...Miss, our shop might be small, but we run it with a conscience. We would never dare to exploit the sick. We’re known for this within several miles. Could there be some misunderstanding?"

"Misunderstanding? How come the arsenic you sold to our family couldn’t even kill a rat, yet you dare speak of misunderstandings?" Feng Xuxu lifted her phoenix eyes and coldly regarded the assistant.

The assistant was taken aback by Feng Xuxu’s words, standing frozen for a moment. Upon meeting her gaze once more, a tremor went through his heart. The Governor’s Office had clear regulations that arsenic was a deadly poison and forbidden to be sold. He eyed Feng Xuxu cautiously, judging that she didn’t seem to be lying, and so said soothingly, "Miss, arsenic is deadly; our humble pharmacy wouldn’t dare to sell any."

"Hmph, it seems you won’t shed a tear until you see the coffin. You think you can bully me for being young. Well, if that’s the case, I’ll just go beat the drum and have the county master come and judge this matter."

"Hey, hey, hey, Miss, please calm down. I’ll go call our shopkeeper right away," the assistant said, stopping Feng Xuxu from leaving and leading her to the back hall. After arranging tea for her, he went to find the shopkeeper.

After hearing the assistant’s account, the shopkeeper racked his brain but couldn’t recall selling arsenic to a young girl. He did remember, however, selling arsenic to a man around thirty a few days before. He had been enticed by the abundant silver and the man’s reason for poisoning rats, so he had greedily made the sale. During his contemplation, he arrived at the back hall and saw a young lady dressed in Luo silk, seated with an aura of authority. He wondered which household’s daughter she was. "I am the shopkeeper of Heqing Pharmacy. May I ask on what grounds does the miss accuse our pharmacy’s medicine of being fake? If you cannot present evidence, I may have to report this to the authorities," the shopkeeper said, sizing up the visitor with narrowed eyes.

"Shopkeeper, you really must be joking. If I had no evidence, I wouldn’t have come looking for your pharmacy," Feng Xuxu flicked her sleeve and shot a glance, speaking coldly.

"Oh? Please present the evidence, then," the shopkeeper thought to himself. He had been cautious not to leave any written evidence when selling the arsenic. He inwardly sneered, waiting to see what evidence the young lady could produce.

"Shopkeeper, you’d better think carefully!" Feng Xuxu looked at the smug shopkeeper with a desire to roll her eyes to heaven.

"Please, miss, show us the evidence." He stubbornly stood by his earlier decision.

Feng Xuxu took out what she had in hand, flashing it before the shopkeeper, who saw his complexion change from ruddy to iron grey, then to purple-black and finally to ashen, his face displaying a spectrum more vibrant than a palette. She sneered internally. Moments ago, he was so satisfied, but now he deflated immediately.

"Shopkeeper, have you seen it clearly? If so, please repeat every word," Feng Xuxu commanded, putting away the item and staring coldly at the shopkeeper.

Defeated, the shopkeeper slumped into another chair, lowered his head and said, "I’ve seen it, I’ll tell."

An hour later, Feng Xuxu was riding her horse, a smile playing on her lips as she made her leisurely way toward Nameless Mountain.