The Rebirth of the Eldest Daughter: A First-Class Marquise Consort

  Su Mu Jin said with feigned anger, "Big brother is being too polite."

  "A debt of one hundred taels should be repaid with one hundred taels, even close brothers will settle their accounts clearly. Five hundred taels is not a small amount, and I wouldn't feel at ease if we didn't write an IOU for the borrowed money."

  Su Mo Jin hesitated for a moment before softly saying, "Alright... okay!"

  They soon arrived at a shop selling the Four Treasures of the Study, where they drew up the IOU. Su Mu-jin carefully put away the document and smiled as he bid farewell to Liu Guang: "Originally I should have gone out for a stroll with my elder brother, but in truth my family's rules are strict, so I must take my leave first. Elder Brother Liu, please leave me your address, next time I will personally visit your mansion!"

  Liu Guang obtained five hundred taels of silver to relieve his urgent need, and he was overjoyed in his heart. He also thought that among the people surnamed Chu in the capital city, there was a family of the Minister of War. Thinking that Su Mochen might be the young master of the Chu family, he laughed even more extravagantly and said, "Now I live in Jin Yu Alley, brother, when you have time, you must come to visit me." Without even asking where Su Mochen's home was.

  "Well, little brother will take his leave first!"

  When she saw the fish taking the bait, Su Mu Jin sneered inwardly, but her face remained calm as she bid farewell to Liu Guang. As they walked to the bustling Dongda Street, she noticed a commotion at the entrance of a shop and looked up in slight surprise.

  Mù Jǐn Xuān!

  This is an antique shop for calligraphy and painting opened by Father and Mother in her name.

  She pushed through the crowd and when she saw the painting hanging in the house, her blood rushed up and anger rose to her head!

  Only the gate of Mu Jin Xuan can be seen, and in the center hangs a painting. The painting depicts a young woman wearing a pure white dress standing in the midst of flying snow. Her white clothes blend with the snow, and beside her stands a plum tree with branches that twist and turn, blooming bright red plums. Her black hair flows down, fluttering gently in the wind, amidst the snowy scene, the red plums, and her pure, gentle smile...

  Everything is beautifully stunning! As if a fairy walking out of a fairyland.

  The painting on the left also comes with a poem: Clouds think of clothes and flowers think of faces, Spring breeze sweeps the railing and dew is thick. If not seen on the mountain head of jade, I would meet under the moon at the Jade Terrace.

  This woman was not someone else, but Chu Rou, Su Mu Jin's birth mother! Seeing the men watching with expressions of desire and inability to help themselves, Su Mu Jin rushed up in a flurry, angrily snatching down the painting, rolling it up, and glared at the shopkeeper with cold eyes, saying loudly, "Who allowed you to put this painting on display?"

  This painting was painted by my father himself, and when I was young, it was hung in the room of my parents. After mother passed away, father missed her so much that he put the painting roll away in the warehouse!

  The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man who, seeing Su Mu-jin arrive, hesitated for a moment before smiling and saying, "This young master is quite something. This painting is one of the scrolls we have for sale in our store. If you like it, just make an offer and it's yours. It's a work personally painted by His Excellency, the Grand Tutor himself, with his seal on it. Just be careful not to damage it!"

  For sale!

  Su Mojin felt a wave of nausea rising up her throat, she forced it down and carefully rolled up the painting to hold it in her arms. She glared at the surrounding men who were eyeing her like wolves, and shouted, "Get out, all of you! This painting is not for sale!"

  At the thought of these men ogling her mother's painting with lust, Su Mu Jin only wanted to kill everyone in front of her!

  Her behavior on this side, however, was not understood by some people. A man in brocade clothes looked at her coldly and said, "This young master is really strange. Mu Jinxuan's shop is not yours to run. Whether or not to sell the painting is the owner's business, whether or not to buy it is our business. What does it have to do with you?"

  "Hmph!" Su Mojin sneered coldly, "Just because I'm a member of the Chu family!"

  The Chu family? In the capital, there is only one prominent Chu family besides the king of Chu, and that is the family of the Minister of War. Neither the King of Chu nor the Minister of War are people he can afford to offend. The man's arrogance immediately dissipated, and he left, muttering to himself. Some people who were intimidated by the Chu family's power also gradually dispersed.

  The shopkeeper was shocked at first glance. His family's old master was the Taifu, and he still had some experience, knowing that there was only one crippled and disfigured young master in the Wang family of a different surname, where were the other princes? And he wasn't afraid of the Minister of War! He stretched out his hand to grab the painting, shouting angrily, "Even if it's the son of the Minister of War, what can be done about it? Can the prince force people to buy and sell?"

  Su Mojin didn't want her mother to be gossiped about even after she had passed away, nor did she want to tell everyone who the person in the painting was. So, she coldly said to the shopkeeper, "You have a big nerve, do you know what crime it is to privately sell my aunt's portrait?"

  His aunt?

  The shopkeeper was taken aback, he was a person of the big madam, but also from the time the big madam started managing the inner court, he had just entered the capital city and didn't know that the person in the painting was the first madam! If this young master is the son of the Minister of War's family, then isn't the only legitimate eldest daughter of the Minister of War's family... the first madam?! Thinking this way, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. Others didn't know, but he knew that the old master could scold the big madam for the sake of his elder daughter, let alone the first madam whom the old master couldn't forget!

  If the old master knew that he dared to sell his former wife's portrait... The shopkeeper felt a chill run down his spine, his legs went weak and he almost knelt on the ground.

  The shop assistant saw this and hastily drove away the crowd of onlookers.

  At this time, a black-clad man wearing a mask and sitting in a wheelchair in the carriage facing the gate was slightly stunned. This person was Chu Li, who had just been talking to Emperor Ning Yi in Ziqi Donglai.

  Ning Yi was also in the carriage, and at this moment he had already seen Su Mu Jin's face. He was slightly startled, furrowed his brow and scolded in a low voice, "This girl is too bold, she actually dares to wear men's clothes and run out, and even dares to go to places like Ziqi Donglai!"

  There is an unconscious intimacy between words!

  The man in black had never seen Ning Yi look so flustered before, and his eyes flickered slightly. "Do you know him?"

  It's more than just acquaintance!

  At that time, he was still the crown prince, and Su Mu Jin was still young. When she was studying at Qingfeng Academy, Mr. Su always took her with him to teach her reading and writing until she was ten years old before sending her to the inner courtyard.

  He gazed at Su Mu Jin's increasingly stunning face and slender figure, slightly dazed, she had grown so big in more than three years... Then a surge of anger rose up, a noble lady actually dared to show her face and enter such a dirty place as the casino, how did Mr. Su educate his daughter!

  "Tai Fu Su's eldest legitimate daughter, Su Mu Jin!"

  Chu Li didn't ask again, gazing at Su Mu Jin's eyes which seemed deep and inquiring.

  Ning Yi was slightly on guard.

  "I've arranged a marriage for Ah Yu, and it seems that she'll be getting married as soon as she comes of age."

  The man in black clothes looked at Ning Yi with an expressionless face and then withdrew his gaze calmly.

  "Let's go."

  The sound of the wheels rolling over the bluestone pavement gradually faded away, but Su Mochen was furious in the Mochen Pavilion. She clutched the painting scroll tightly in her hand and shouted, "Who sent this painting to be sold?"

  The shopkeeper's eyes flickered slightly, hesitating and not daring to respond.

  "I think the shopkeeper doesn't want to work at Mu Jin Xuan anymore!" Su Mu Jin's eyes were deep and mysterious like the sea, exuding an inexplicable coldness and oppressive feeling. She gazed at the shopkeeper who was wiping his sweat and said in a low voice, "It seems I need to make a trip to the Su Manor. Even though Aunt has passed away, Uncle is still Uncle, and it's unlikely he would be completely unbothered."

  Every year during the Chinese New Year, Master would send gifts to the Chu Mansion. Everyone knew that Master wanted to make amends with the Chu family and put past grievances behind them. Now if Young Master Chu were to go find Master, without even mentioning the painting, just because he didn't take a liking to him, Master would have him chased out!

  The shopkeeper who was driven out by the master's family, is there anyone in this capital city who dares to hire him?