I just want to live a good life

Chapter 36: Annual Flower Viewing Banquet

After walking out of Mu Yunting's study, Su Nuan finally felt happy and walked back humming a little tune.

As soon as she reached the door of Duiyueju, she saw Baozhu running towards her in a panic. Su Nuan's heart tightened and a bad premonition came over her.

"My queen, my queen, something bad has happened..."

"Why are you panicking? Speak slowly!" Su Nuan said in a trembling voice.

"The doctor said that Cai Ya's disease is difficult to treat, and the consultation fee alone cost ten taels of silver."

"That's it?" Su Nuan breathed a sigh of relief. "I was so scared, I thought someone was killed! How is Cai Yaren?"

Baozhu replied: "He has woken up, and the doctor said that he is fine for the time being."

Su Nuan continued to ask: "What disease does Cai Ya have? Can't it be cured?"

"The doctor said it was due to excessive shock and a weak constitution. If we want to completely cure it, we need to take medicine and recuperate for a month. However, we don't have enough money, so we didn't buy the medicine."

"How much silver do you need?"

"The doctor said that he would need some precious medicinal herbs. They are not cheap. They will cost about fifty taels of silver."

"Fifty taels? That's not cheap." Su Nuan thought for a moment, "How about this, you go get twenty-five taels first, and give him half a month's supply of medicine first."

Baozhu opened her eyes wide, as if she couldn't believe her ears.

"What are you standing there for? Go now!"

"But, Madam, twenty-five taels, it will take us a long time to save up."

"Don't worry, we still have a business deal to finish. Once that deal is done, we will have money again."

When the two went back to the room to get the money, Chunliu and Bitao heard that they had to use the money to pay for a servant's medical treatment, and they both complained about it.

Su Nuan could understand their thoughts. Life in Duiyueju was hard and everyone didn't have enough to eat. If the twenty-plus taels of silver were used to buy some food, everyone could live a better life.

She herself did not want to be so generous, but after all, it was she who frightened the man into illness, and it would be unfair not to cure him. She thought that maybe when everyone lived a good life, people would not value money so much.

After that, the atmosphere in Duiyueju became a little strange. Chunliu and Bitao would get together and whisper whenever they had the chance, and they would look at Su Nuan from time to time.

Su Nuan knew that they were dissatisfied with her, so she didn't say much.

This atmosphere continued until lunch time.

Kang Dahong, the head chef of the kitchen, appeared in front of Duiyueju with a food box in his hand. His arrival even prompted Su Nuan to come out and see.

"Isn't this the chief steward Kang? How come you have time to come to my double moon residence?"

Kang Dahong raised the food box in his hand and replied with a smile: "I am here to deliver food to the concubine."

"How could Chief Steward Kang forget that the meals for Duiyueju have long been prepared in the kitchen? Besides, you can just send a servant to deliver our few carrots. Is it worth it for you to make a personal trip?"

"Oh, Concubine, you are embarrassing me by saying that." Kang Dahong said as he walked up to Su Nuan and opened the lid of the food box. "Today, His Highness specifically asked me to bring you a duck with eight treasures."

Su Nuan didn't expect Mu Yunting to do this. They had just talked about living in harmony. Was this a sign of sincerity?

"Did His Highness say that we don't have to eat radishes and cabbages in Duiyueju anymore?" Chunliu suddenly rushed to Kang Dahong and asked anxiously.

"Well, His Highness didn't say that." Kang Dahong looked at Su Nuan with an embarrassed look on his face. "You know, Concubine, I had no choice but to send radishes and cabbages to Duiyueju. The money for buying radishes and cabbages was taken from His Highness's expenses. A good cook cannot cook without rice. Without money, it will be difficult for me to do anything!"

Su Nuan knew that although Manager Kang was snobbish, she couldn't really blame him for Yue Ju's food.

She reached out to take the food box and smiled at Kang Dahong, "I have to trouble Manager Kang today, so I won't send you off."

After being ordered to leave, Kang Dahong didn't want to stay any longer and left with an awkward smile.

"Miss, what does His Royal Highness mean by this?" Chun Liu took the food box from Su Nuan's hand and asked, "Is he still holding a grudge against you for replacing his food?"

"That's hard to say! But if he holds a grudge against me in this way, I think it's good."

After saying that, Su Nuan happily went to wash her hands and prepared to eat duck meat.

In the next few days, Mu Yunting asked the kitchen to deliver dishes to Duiyue Residence one after another, which caused an uproar in the Prince's Mansion.

Everyone was discussing what happened between the prince and the concubine.

Several maids who were familiar with Meixiang even came to secretly ask her for information.

But let alone Meixiang, even Su Nuan herself was confused at first. In her opinion, as long as Mu Yunting didn't take the initiative to cause trouble for her, he was being friendly to her. She didn't even dare to think about sending her food.

However, she soon realized that Mu Yunting was doing this on purpose. He just wanted others to think that they had a close relationship.

The desired effect can be achieved with just a few dishes. Su Nuan admired Mu Yunting's good methods, but at the same time she disliked his stinginess in her heart.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and the annual flower-viewing banquet at the Prince's Mansion kicked off.

Early in the morning, Su Nuan got up early, washed up simply, and rushed to the garden. As soon as she went out, she ran into Lu Zhu. Lu Zhu was holding a set of clothes and a pile of jewelry, saying that she was ordered by the prince to help Su Nuan dress up.

Su Nuan wanted to decline, but Lu Zhu told her that the guests coming today were all dignitaries in the imperial city, and that if she dressed too poorly in front of them, she would be looked down upon.

"Just put your things here, I'll put them on myself."

"My Lady, this dress is complicated to put on. Let me help you put it on. Even if you put it on yourself, I will have to see you put it on before I can go back and report to His Highness."

Since people said so, Su Nuan couldn't refuse anymore. She asked Baozhu to go to the garden for a final check, and she stayed behind to let Luzhu serve her.

After the hour of Chen, the visiting guests arrived one after another. Su Nuan saw Cheng Ansu among the first batch of guests, followed by a handsome man, who should be Cheng Antai, the son of the prime minister.

The purpose of this flower-viewing banquet was to enjoy the flowers and make friends with the young talents in the imperial city, so most of the people who came were young people.

However, Su Nuan didn't know that this flower-viewing banquet rarely invited unmarried female guests, and Cheng Ansu was able to come because of her. The car accident in the alley last time made Cheng Ansu unilaterally become good sisters with her.

As soon as they met, Cheng Ansu flew to Su Nuan like a big bird and bowed, "Your servant Cheng Ansu greets Concubine Xia!"

Cheng Antai behind her also walked forward and bowed to Su Nuan.

Then, all the visiting guests came to greet Su Nuan, treating her as the hostess of the Prince's Mansion.

Su Nuan also accepted all the gifts given to her, and responded to all the greetings, behaving in a graceful and elegant manner.

Ye Yin, who saw this scene from a distance, quietly asked Mu Yunting: "Your Highness, are you really going to carry out your plan against the Concubine today?"

Mu Yunting stared at Su Nuan's figure without answering.

"Your Highness..."

"Ye Yin" Mu Yunting interrupted Ye Yin and asked, "If you are a guard beside me, but your heart is loyal to someone else, do you think I should drive you away?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Yin quickly clasped his fists and said, "Ye Yin is loyal to His Highness."

Mu Yunting's eyes were still on Su Nuan, and he said slowly: "By the same token, if she loves someone else in her heart, she shouldn't be my concubine, right?"