Chapter 636 - 638: Butterfly Flew in Midnight
Bai Ruozhu was stunned. Last time Xiaosi asked Tu Ying who was more powerful, her or the Second Young Master, Tu Ying had replied that she didn’t know and would have a competition if there was a chance. She had originally thought Tu Ying was just making casual remarks, but didn’t expect her to actually be ready to compete with Xu Huilin?
Actually, Bai Ruozhu felt deep down that Tu Ying could not beat Xu Huilin. Even if Tu Ying was the top fighter in Beiyu City, how could the martial arts skills of an aristocratic young master compare with those of the people from the Tongzheng Office who often risked their lives?
Xu Huilin’s mouth twitched, what was happening to him today? Was he been victimized by women? He was supposed to protect Bai Ruozhu secretly due to Jiang Yichun’s confidential letter, but he ran into his own disciple sister who had already been driven mad. Then he was entangled by a suitor, and now a female overlord wanted to fight him...
Just as he was thinking about how to decline, Du Fuling had already yelled out.
"Miss Wu, why don’t you take a break? Not everyone likes to be as brave and aggressive as you are," said Du Fuling irritably, especially when she noticed that Xu Huilin still politely smiled at Tu Ying.
She felt that it was no wonder that Tu Ying could get along with Bai Ruozhu; they were so much alike in their lack of modesty.
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but sneer. This Du Fuling, just let loose, was only making enemies everywhere for the Du Family, so stupid! She pulled on Tu Ying, saying, "It’s a bit chaotic here with so many people today. Why don’t you compete with Master Xu some other day? Let’s go and handle our official business first."
Tu Ying was very obedient to Bai Ruozhu, she nodded and said, "Indeed, let’s go." After she finished speaking, she farewelled Xu Huilin with a fist, "Master Xu, we will be leaving now."
Bai Ruozhu also greeted Xu Huilin and left, and the two of them didn’t pay any attention to Wu Wanqing and Du Fuling, as if they were just air.
In the afternoon, Bai Ruozhu invited all the people who helped to greet the guests for a meal. She specifically started a feast for several maids, and she herself sat with her family in the private room while eating and discussing the situation of the day.
"Ruozhu, there were so many orders today. I’m afraid we’ll be busy for a while," Fusa said with a feeling of excitement from the good business, but also worry about not being able to keep up with the workload.
"And you said you wanted to open the Hot Spring Mansion, won’t that make us even busier?" Lin Ping’er worried.
Bai Ruozhu laughed, "Mom, does anyone ever have too much money? If we’re short of hands we’ll hire more. We don’t need to worry about our knitting techniques being stolen anymore. They may steal a few weaving skills, but can they steal our innovation? From now on, we’ll hold a press conference every season."
Bai Zehao was now more cautious. He began to say, "I think we should combine Hua Xiangrong’s stuff with Cai Xiuan." Cai Xiuan was the shop given by Shen Lu.
Bai Ruozhu nodded, "We didn’t have the conditions before, and we didn’t bother to divert our attention. Now we need to make good use of it. Brother, you decide on the regulations for this, write down how to operate it, and we’ll discuss it later."
"Alright, I’ll sort it out when I go home tonight." Bai Zehao’s eyes were bright, he felt that he was finally of some use to the family.
Bai Zepei only began to speak after eating a bit of food, "The woman who caused trouble today indeed has some issues. She is the stepmother of that young man with a heart disease."
Bai Ruozhu immediately expressed her contempt. Was it again the scenario of a stepmother scheming against her child?
"And she is also that young man’s aunt." Bai Zepei said as he took another sip of tea, "The young man’s mother passed away early and feared that her child would face hardships in the future, so she desired her sister to be the second wife, but she didn’t foresee..."
"Someone must be encouraging this from behind. And today, she did what that person asked her to do, trying to kill the child of the original marriage. She could not only gain benefits but her own children could inherit the family business too, right?" Bai Ruozhu asked with a cold smile.
Bai Zepei nodded, "Officer Lu has already taken her into custody and is investigating who is behind her. However, don’t have too high expectations. Even if you catch the person, they will only be small fish, unless the small fish can reveal the big fish."
Upon hearing this, Bai Ruozhu showed no disappointment at all. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, maybe she had a plan?
Bai Zepei, seeing her expression, had already figured out what she was thinking. He was eager to ask what kind of plan his little sister had, but there were too many people in the room, perhaps it would be better to ask later.
All the Bai family members had worked hard all day and were tired enough. After dinner, they headed back to the villa to rest early.
While feeding Dengdeng, Bai Ruozhu accidentally fell asleep. When she woke up, it was already midnight. She changed Dengdeng’s diaper and laid down on the bed, suddenly not sleepy at all. Instead, she started thinking about how many more maids she would need to hire. Even if Hua Xiangrong and her team barely managed to keep up, the Beauty Therapy Villa would still need quite a number of staff.
With this thought, she planned to meet Ge Yapo the next day and buy another seven or eight maids.
Suddenly, there was a slight cracking sound at her window, and she immediately sat upright. She hurriedly held Dengdeng, planning to escape into the space, but she wasn’t fast enough. A figure rushed in, suddenly appearing in front of her, and quickly pressed two points on her body.
Bai Ruozhu’s eyes widened. She found she couldn’t move or make any sound!
"I heard you know how to use poison and are well-versed in the Maoshan Taoist Magic. If I didn’t trap you like this, we wouldn’t even be able to have a proper conversation." A man’s voice echoed softly, slightly effeminate, and very pleasant. Such a voice would be extremely suitable for singing female roles.
The man walked over to the table and lit the oil lamp. Apparently unconcerned about waking the other members of the Bai family, he even turned up the brightness of the lamp a few notches.
Only then did he turn around and come before Bai Ruozhu, his face lit with smile as he said, "Oh, upon closer look, Miss Bai, you’re quite a beauty."
His tone was quite long and combined with his charming voice, it held an enchanting flavor. It was similar to opera singing but not quite, which was very strange.
Bai Ruozhu quickly sized up the man who had broken in, and was inevitably taken aback by his appearance. If she hadn’t been immobilized, she probably would’ve found it hard not to twitch the corners of her mouth.
This man was very tall, even a bit taller than Jiang Yichun, and slim. His movements were not like those of a typical man but had a feminine softness. Along with his almond-shaped eyes and face as attractive as a mischievous beauty’s, if he didn’t speak, he would definitely be mistaken as a woman.
Moreover, this man was dressed ostentatiously. Despite wearing men’s robes, he insisted on wearing flashy colors. For example, his robes were actually bright pink, with wide goose-yellow cuffs, and embroidered with pink and light green floral patterns on the clothes. His outfit was simply a colorful butterfly.
Of course, all of this was not enough to surprise Bai Ruozhu. What really surprised her was the fact that this man was also wearing a knitted waistcoat over his robe. It was a new style from the collection that Hua Xiangrong had just displayed today, and it was definitely not a replica because she had made that waistcoat herself and could recognize it at a glance.
This man was too arrogant. He stole clothes from her shop, wore them brazenly to find her, and casually immobilized her without uttering a word. Moreover, he knew that she could use poison and perform Maoshan Taoist Magic. Who exactly was he?