As expected, trouble happened today.
Although Fang Yuxiu had her head lowered, she still paid attention to everything around her. A girl had retreated backward because of timidness in the face of Miss Jun's unwillingness to yield. This timidity had angered Ning Yunyuan, who had then embarrassed this girl. In order to make up for it, she wanted to take back the stage.
After all, Miss Jun was the daughter of an official family. Moreover, her father had been loyal and devoted to his country and citizens. Although stupid, she wasn't the kind of soft persimmon [1] that you could pinch as you wished.
That meant that that misfortune would fall on Fang Yuxiu.
It was good that she had come. If Eldest Sister was here, she would only sincerely run into the slap. If it were Youngest Sister, she would be unstoppably angry and hit back and end up worse for it.
As for Jun Zhenzhen, Fang Yuxiu couldn't count on her. She would only take delight in her getting bullied.
Fang Yuxiu looked to the side out of the corner of her eyes, leaning over smoothly.
The girl's palm came slapping down. If she dodged, the girl's hand would mostly fall on her shoulder.
This slap was not too shameful for her, and that girl was unlikely to go as far as to hit her again.
But as she dodged as she had planned, that girl's hand did not hit her at all. Rather, with a shout of 'Aiyo!' and a thud, the girl fell onto the ground.
This made everyone present stunned. Laughter then ensued.
Fang Yuxiu looked up in shock.
Miss Jun was standing next to her, laughing loudly at the girl on the ground. When she laughed, naturally, her servant Liu'er would not lag behind. She laughed loudly with her.
"A spectacular fall," said Liu'er.
The sound of laughter drew the attention of the people passing by. Immediately, there were even more people laughing.
After all, the sight of a young girl sprawled out on the ground was a rare one.
Although it wasn't them who had fallen, the girls around her were red in the face, trying to stay out of the way.
The girl on the ground nearly fainted from either falling or from the anger at the humiliation, and she could not stand up. She was propped up by the servants.
Miss Jun and Liu'er were still laughing.
Ning Yunyan felt like her ears were being pierced.
"What are you laughing at?" she shouted.
Miss Jun turned to her with a smile.
"I am happy. You laugh when you're happy. Could it be that you do not allow me to laugh?" she said while looking at the girl being helped up. She laughed again.
Her gaze fell on Ning Yunyan, obviously waiting for her to be provoked.
Ning Yunyan's face was both red and pale.
"You're not allowed to laugh," she said. "Not allowed."
"What are you laughing at!"
"Shut your mouth!"
Yelled the other girls immediately.
The teahouse employees hid when they saw the girls fighting. They did not dare to try and stop them, nor attempt to talk them out of it.
They couldn't really be seen as girls. Their fights were no less noisy than those of the young masters'.
Miss Jun saw the angry gazes of the young misses, yet the smile still remained on her face.
"You actually do not permit me to live? Who are you people to control whether others can laugh? So what if I laugh? Am I stopping you from doing something? Could it be that me laughing makes you uncomfortable?"
Isn't she just talking rubbish?
The girls glared angrily.
"Your laugh makes people uncomfortable," said one of the girls. "Jun Zhenzhen, you are too much."
Miss Jun rolled her eyes.
"So laughing makes you guys uncomfortable," she said, "but I can't do anything about it. When I'm happy I want to laugh."
Her voice dropped off here. Liu'er immediately barked out a 'haha!', raising her head smugly at the young misses.
This scoundrel.
Ning Yunyan wrung the handkerchief in her hands fiercely but did not say anything. However, she gave the girl next to her a look.
The girl immediately understood.
"You really should laugh. You've already extorted so much money from someone, it's funny. It's enough to laugh about for a lifetime," said that girl with a cold smirk.
The smile was no longer on Miss Jun's face.
Just as these young misses had expected, everybody immediately was drawn to them venting anger.
She had done such shameless things and now dared to try to shame others so conspicuously. Did she really believe she was some sort of a young miss? And don't even talk about her father's measly reputation. Even if he had had a reputation, she had long since dirtied it.
"What did you say?" asked Miss Jun of that girl.
She did not hide her angry expression at all.
The girl wasn't scared of her whatsoever.
"Don't tell me that isn't so? We can't speak of what you did? Didn't you extort money from the Ning Family?" She snorted, watching the people around them perk up.
This sort of hushed up matter had already spread to Yangcheng. When the bystanders heard them speak of this, low murmurs began. Their gazes were all on Miss Jun.
So this was that Miss Jun.
Fang Yuxiu had already retreated. Her servant felt unease at the other people's gazes and couldn't help but tug on her sleeve.
Let's get out of here. Don't start a fight, too shameful.
Fang Yuxiu naturally knew what her servant girl met, but she stood there, unmoving.
Shameful? Miss Jun knew what shameful was? If Fang Yuxiu was to advise her this time, it would only be taken as a donkey's liver and lungs [2]. Perhaps she would be slapped in anger.
Shameful is always shameful. Who cares if it happens a few more times.
"You're talking nonsense!"
Miss Jun angrily spat out.
"I did not extort the Ning Family's silver."
The girls in front of her all snorted disdainfully.
"Never mind then. Let's not talk about this," said Ning Yunyan coolly. "Let's go drink tea."
This dismissive attitude toward Miss Jun instead confirmed everything.
Miss Jun took a step forward.
"You aren't allowed," she said, raising her voice.
This idiot who would fly into a rage out of humiliation.
The girls' lips curled.
"What is it, we can't talk?"
"You want to fight us?"
Everybody spoke, all talking at once.
The atmosphere turned nervous. The teahouse employees were anxious. If these young misses were to fight here, it would be unsightly.
The audience was excited.
But Miss Jun, who was standing there, had become calm again.
"You were unhappy because I laughed, so you want me to apologize?" she asked, her voice soft but with strength.
Ning Yunyan laughed derisively, not even caring to toss her a look.
"It was wrong of you to laugh so you should apologize. It was wrong of you to extort, so you should apologize," said a girl with a smile.
Miss Jun looked at her.
"You want me to apologize is what you're saying. Don't use such baseless things to slander and humiliate me," she said. "If you humiliate me, you are humiliating my ancestors. You are too much."
The girls laughed.
"Humiliate? Jun Zhenzhen, you say you didn't do these things," said one of the girls, her lip curling. "You dare say that you did not receive money from the Ning Family."
Miss Jun nodded.
"I got money," she said, her expression calm, not incited like earlier. "I got five thousand taels of silver."
When she said this, surprised murmurs came from around them. The noise grew louder.
Five thousand taels of silver.
You admitted it yourself, Ning Yunyan smiled.
"Because that is the reward for the treatment my grandfather gave Old Master Ning," Miss Jun said.
What sort of sickness cost five thousand taels. And she collected it so many years later.
The girls did not care. After all, only she was saying stuff like this. As expected, the people at the scene were smiling.
"He was somehow unable to pay the fees in full, so Old Master Ning gave my grandfather a marriage contract." Miss Jun seemed to be unfazed by the people's expression around her, speaking as calmly as ever. "So I brought the marriage contract to find the Ning Family. However, since the Ning Family did not want to get married, I didn't force them."
Didn't force them. These three words were truly laughable.
Who didn't know in all of Yangcheng of how hard Jun Zhenzhen had pushed the marriage.
All of the girls were giggling merrily.
Fang Yuxiu was still fine, quietly standing there. Her servants could not help but bury their heads in their hands.
"But repaying the debt with money is only natural. Since the Ning Family would not repay with marriage, the debt still must be repaid. Yes, Old Master Ning never said how much money he owed my family. These five thousand taels was my own estimate," continued Miss Jun. "Since Old Master Ning wanted to use his grandson to repay the debt, it is obvious he placed importance on his grandson."
Ning Yunyan frowned slightly. The girls around her continued their giggling, but she felt that what she had heard was somewhat strange. She felt uneasy.
"...so I estimated Tenth Noble Son Ning's worth. I didn't want to make light of Old Master Ning's intentions, which goes against our Jun Family's doctrine of kindness in medicine. I heard that in the capital, the courtesan Wu Xiaoxiao was worth three thousand taels. Tenth Noble Son Ning has such outstanding looks, so he must be worth around five thousand taels," said Miss Jun.
When she said this, everyone was stunned.
Ning Yunyan felt like her brain had exploded, like her face had been slapped. The burning sensation immediately spread from head to toe.
[1] Soft persimmon: a push-over
[2] Donkey's liver and lungs: evil intent