Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 189 - 17: Secretly Crossing the Chen Cang

After seeing the Imperial Physician, Yang Liu returned to the Huang Family, while Susu stayed until August 20th and planned to come back on September 9th, which was when the Old Madam allowed her to leave.

Upon departure, Susu found herself with a cart full of things, giving her the distinct feeling of reaping a harvest or perhaps even "robbing the wealthy?" In any event, she felt somewhat uneasy, despite knowing the Old Madam’s intentions were entirely kind. She decided to prepare some novel and rare gifts as a return gesture next time.

Susu had promised Fen Dai and the other three to take them around the Capital. Susu herself also had very important matters to attend to. Early on, she sent a message to her estate, instructing the carriage to come pick her up, and to bring along three or four matrons and young servants. She couldn’t possibly take four young maids into the city alone; if any "hero rescuing the beauty" scene were to occur, Susu feared she’d have nowhere to cry.

Susu naturally informed the Old Madam about her intention to take a stroll. Though the Old Madam was somewhat concerned, she couldn’t deny the eagerness reflected in Susu’s eyes, so she said nothing.

Since childhood, this child’s face has grown prettier, and even leaving the Sui’an Hall has become rare. Back in Yangzhou, she went out with her friends to play, but once entering the Capital, she hadn’t set foot beyond the front gate.

The Old Madam originally intended for the household servants and guards to escort Susu out, but Susu had already thought of this and had her own matrons and young servants sent over.

Seeing this, the Old Madam was somewhat relieved, though she repeatedly reminded Susu not to take off her face-covering shawl, and never to leave her attendants. Susu laughed and agreed to everything, lingered for a while longer, and only then bade farewell to the Old Madam as lunchtime approached.

The luggage-laden carriage went straight back to the estate, while Susu took four maids, three sturdy matrons, and four young servants, dividing into two carriages to go to the city.

The extra carriage was, of course, acquired by Susu later. The carriage cabin was made of elm wood, designed by Susu herself. Despite some added requirements, it only cost twenty taels of silver.

Yet an ordinary horse, the cheapest, still cost eighty taels of silver. In the future, expenses on fodder like straw and bean cakes would be necessary. At that moment, Susu realized just how little silver she really had.

If she were to just sit around and do nothing, she wouldn’t be able to afford her current lavish spending in the future.

It was also at this moment that Susu realized that, despite saying otherwise, neither Yang Liu nor herself had really adapted to life outside. Their actions were still very much in the style of the Bo Mansion.

Just the daily bird’s nest and Fuling Cream she consumed, along with the occasionally indulgent snow clams, reishi powder, and donkey-hide gelatin, already accounted for significant expenses.

Fortunately, before leaving the mansion, the Old Madam had gifted her with a large package of top-quality bird’s nest, weighing around three or four pounds, and the Heir’s wife had also given her some Hong Shen and Lingzhi as valuable supplements.

Yesterday, the Old Madam had Yun Tong take two boxes of blood swallows, awarded by the palace ladies, from the storage for Susu. Just this lot would be enough for Susu to eat for a good while, saving her hundreds of taels of silver with just this item alone.

Sitting in the carriage, Susu’s four little maids were already aware of their mistress’s habit of daydreaming when she had nothing to do. Little did they know that Susu’s mind was constantly abuzz with future plans.

The four little maids, though not daring to laugh too loudly for fear of disturbing the young lady, playfully nudged each other, feeling quite pleased.

Not to mention the young lady actually planning to take them shopping on the streets, even this trip to the Bo Mansion yielded quite a few benefits.

The Old Madam of the Bo Mansion generously rewarded each with a pair of gold bracelets, weighing about three to four taels each. Not to mention the gold, there were even two red gemstones the size of lotus seeds embedded on them, and they were exquisitely crafted, not the coarse and clumsy kind.

The four little girls decided not to tell anyone and to keep them as part of their dowries. Such items could indeed be considered family heirlooms in ordinary households.

Moreover, the Heir’s wife had someone give each of them a set of fine clothes, and the Grandma of the Huang Family, along with two other grandmothers who were well-acquainted with their mistress, each gifted them with two gold ingots. Converted to silver, that would be around six or seven taels, equivalent to half a year’s salary for them. It truly was a fruitful trip.

Susu snapped back to reality to see the four little maids squinting their eyes, grinning so widely their teeth almost showed. Amused, she said, "Check if your teeth are still there. Wouldn’t want to ’laugh your teeth off’!"

Shuimo said, "Miss, please don’t bully us for being less literate. Is that how you use ’laugh your teeth off’?"