Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Letting You Pay Is Doing You a Favor! What big talk! Jia Qingcheng didn't waste words with Hu Ba. "What business do you have here?" Hu Ba naturally had business. "It's like this—my master and young miss have picked out some trinkets and sent me to notify you to come settle the bill. They're still waiting there. Miss, you'd best bring your silver and come with me right away, lest you arrive late and the young master gets angry and stops paying you any mind. When that happens, don't come crying." Jia Qingcheng: "..." "Are you done?" Hu Ba: "..." What did she mean, was he done? Hadn't he made himself clear enough? "Miss Jia, what do you mean?" "You're done talking, so now it's my turn." Jia Qingcheng suddenly stood up and looked outside. "Chunyan!" Outside, Chunyan and Chunque both ran in. When she saw Hu Ba had come, Chunyan knew exactly what he was here for. "Miss, your orders!" "Pei Wuliang and the young miss from the maternal side are shopping in the store and want me to go pay the bill." Chunyan: "..." What did her miss mean? Was she softening and actually going to pay? No, please! When she'd left, she'd secretly glanced at what the young miss from the maternal side had bought—it was already piled half as tall as a person, and there was no way it could be settled for less than a few thousand taels. Hadn't her miss just come to her senses? Why was she getting muddled again? "Miss, so are you going, or not?" "Since Young Master Pei has spoken, what do you think?" Chunyan: "..." With that, Jia Qingcheng turned to Hu Ba. "Go back and tell your master that I've got it." Got it—that meant she'd obediently go pay. Hmph, she'd thought Jia Qingcheng had some pride, but this was all she was! "You'd best hurry. You know my master's temper—he doesn't like to be kept waiting!" Hu Ba inwardly scorned Jia Qingcheng to the point of stripping her of all dignity. An ugly woman was an ugly woman—she was terrified her master would abandon her. Well then, the master was right. A woman like Jia Qingcheng—who else would want her besides him? Since Prince Chu was bound to die anyway, Jia Qingcheng might not even make it to the wedding day before becoming a widow the moment she married in. Her only support was his master. Now, even if his master favored and doted on the young miss from the maternal side, she could only swallow her dissatisfaction and endure. Who asked her to be the capital's ugly woman? With that reputation, who wouldn't be disgusted at the sight of her? That face—never mind his master finding it sickening, even he, a mere servant, would never take such an ugly woman even if he stayed a bachelor his whole life. His master truly had it rough. "I'll head back and wait for you then. You must be quick—if you're late and the master says something unpleasant, you'll just have to bear it!" After Hu Ba left, Jia Qingcheng prepared to go out. Seeing that she truly meant to pay, Chunyan felt even more aggrieved. "Miss, can we not go? This is too humiliating. If Pei Wuliang wants to please a woman, what does that have to do with us? Why should we foot the bill?" "Chunyan, prepare the carriage!" "Miss, but if we go, Pei Wuliang will only bully us more." "Hurry up!" Jia Qingcheng didn't want to explain further, then had Chunyan prepare the carriage. After Chunyan left, she spoke toward the window. "I know you're here—the window wasn't shut." At those words, a large orange tabby cat came racing toward her, then leaped onto her table and tried to drink her tea. "Wait—say what you need to say before you drink." The big orange cat: "This cat is dying of thirst! I'll swallow the whole cup." Jia Qingcheng: "..." After the big orange cat had drunk its fill, it licked the whiskers at the corner of its mouth, its pair of sapphire-blue cat eyes fixed intently on her. "Be careful. There's a big-faced cat standing guard over there—one bite, and you'll be torn apart."