Counterattack of the Concubine’s Invincible Daughter

36. Compelled to Go to a Pawnshop

Translator: Snowball

Mu Yingxue checked the two treasures bestowed over and over again and found that there was no mark related to the royal family on them. Only the purple jade golden lock was engraved with the word “craft” at the bottom of the gold-studded part. It was probably also the antonomasia of the craftsman at that time. The hint of a satisfied smile appeared on her face when she caught sight of that.

Liu’er panicked when she heard what her master had just muttered. “Your Ladyship, you won’t pawn them, will you?”

Mu Yingxue reached her hand out and closed the two boxes. Then she turned around and asked, “Why not?”

Liu’er gasped upon hearing this, her eyes widened as if brass bells. “Miss, you will be sentenced to death if you pawn the rewards bestowed by the royal family privately!” How could her master be so ignorant…?

Mu Yingxue saw that she was about to cry out of fear. She sighed softly and said, “Liu’er, don’t worry. I’m not that kind of person who would put themselves through all that trouble, so I won’t do such a thing unless I have no other choice.”

Liu’er breathed a sigh of relief until then, but she felt a faint sense of unease from what her master was indicating. Unless there was no other choice? It seemed that they were almost in that situation.

Mu Yingxue truly couldn’t be bothered!

Although she lived in the democratic society of the modern world in her past life where emperors didn’t exist, she had learnt from history textbooks and TV series that there was a record of the rewards gifted by the Emperor.

If one day the Emperor had a whim and asked her to take out the two items she had accepted, it would be a big trouble if they were missing.

Although the life she and her mother was leading was indeed a little hard, they still could find their way to survive at least.

However, within two days, Mu Yingxue found herself completely wrong. It seemed that Xu Min did not intend to spare her.

“She’s going too far!”

Picking up a teacup on the table, she almost smashed it out of rage. However, she only had a few of these to drink water, so she had to put it down angrily.

Sensing her master’s fury, Liu’er didn’t dare to comfort her. She could only stand aside and listen to her curse.

Mu Yingxue was completely provoked by what Xu Min had done. Looking at the rice and soup on the table, she clenched her fists tightly in her sleeves.

“Come on, let’s go to my mother’s room to have a look.” Given her situation, it was not hard to imagine that of Ouyang Ruo would only be even worse.

When she came to Ouyang Ruo’s place, she was surprised to see Mammy Qiao hiding outside the door and wiping her tears. Mu Yingxue had a bad feeling.

“Mammy Qiao, what happened?” Liu’er came forward, held Mammy Qiao’s hand and asked anxiously.

Seeing Mu Yingxue here, Mammy Qiao became more tearful. She almost choked up and said to her, “Miss, do something. If things go on like this, Madam will definitely fall ill.”

In the face of an old woman crying to her, Mu Yingxue was very upset. Hearing this, she frowned and said, “Tell me everything, did Mother fall ill? Why didn’t anyone inform me?”

Mammy Qiao used her sleeve to wipe away the tears at the corner of her eyes. She shook her head and her voice was hoarse. “Not yet, but Miss, you should go in and see for yourself.”

Mammy Qiao’s face was full of sympathy. From that, Mu Yingxue knew that her mother must have suffered a great grievance, which made this loyal old servant so sad.

But she was still taken aback by the scene inside the house when she entered: Ouyang Ruo was eating bit by bit, and the food in front of her was in an indistinguishable colour!

Ouyang Ruo ate carefully, eating a spoon of rice and then a leaf of vegetable. That’s right, she saw that her mother took only one tiny piece every time!

Her anger was beyond words at this time. She really wanted to turn the table upside down and slaughter everyone in her way—even if her mother wasn’t a concubine of the Marquis, she shouldn’t have had to live such a frugal life!

“Mom…” She tried her best to calm down, so that she would not show a trace of anger or sadness on her face. She was afraid that if Ouyang Ruo was touched, she would be sadder and more worried.

Ouyang Ruo seemed to be shocked when she heard her daughter’s voice. Her first reaction was to rise to her feet immediately to cover the table behind her.

Mu Yingxue looked at the startled expression in her mother’s eyes and felt even sadder in her heart. Why was her mother still keeping her suffering from her at such a time?

The more she thought about it, the more upset and furious she became.

She strode over to Ouyang Ruo, took a deep breath, and then walked behind her. She threw the dish on the table on the ground.

“Clang!” Ouyang Ruo was scared out of her wits. “Yingxue… What’s all this about?”

Mu Yingxue didn’t want to scare her, but half of the reason for her anger was because she couldn’t bear to see her mother swallow her anger and compromise. She had clearly promised her mother that she wouldn’t be bullied again. But look what happened!

Her mother had already been oppressed to the utmost, but she could only vent her anger by throwing things.

“Mother, this is not something you should eat.” She said. She had used to be the one who never shed tears easily, but her eyes went red at this moment.

In her previous life, as the best secret agent, she had enjoyed a fancy life, not to mention eating and drinking at ordinary times. But now she not only was incapable of feeding herself enough, but also had to witness her mother suffer such grievances. Moreover, she could do nothing to change that. This contrast was enough to make her feel angry and want to set fire to everything.

“Xu Min, this old witch, has gone too far. I can’t wait to tear her apart.”

Ouyang Ruo saw Mu Yingxue’s eyes full of anger and knew that her daughter felt sorry for her, but she did not want to increase her burden. As her daughter, Mu Yingxue used to be carefree, but now, even if she had regained her intelligence, she should not live such a hard life.

“I’m fine. It’ll all be all right eventually.” She said softly, her voice as soft as a wisp of smoke.

Mu Yingxue knew that she was trying to comfort her. However, her words only made her heart ache even more.

She had already made up her mind, “Mother, I will not let you suffer any longer.”

There was an old saying, “Rebellions always take root in injustice.” She, Mu Yingxue, had to go to the pawnshop for money that would be held as an emergency reserve.

“Miss, is it really okay to do this?” Liu’er carried two big boxes in her arms and followed closely by her side in small steps, with a bitter look on her face.

Mu Yingxue quickened her pace without looking around. Once she decided to do something, she would not hesitate—she wanted to pawn the jade Ruyi and the purple jade golden lock, which was worthy of a large sum.

And money was the biggest problem for her and Ouyang Ruo. “No matter which era it is, it’s difficult for people to survive in the society without money.” She sighed helplessly in her heart.

However, as a top agent of TU Organization, she had now been reduced to exchanging money through a pawnshop, which was totally a shame that would make her slap herself in the face.

However, for the sake of her mother and the path to survival in this life, even if it was a kind of disgrace, she would still be resolute.

She turned her head and looked at the two big boxes. Fortunately, these were the gifts given by the emperor, whom she had only seen once. If they were given by a friend like Xuanyuan Sheng, this would definitely put her in another dilemma.

“Rest assured. What you are doing is merely at the behest of your master. I’m the one giving orders.”

While talking to Liu’er, she had already stepped into the gate of the most renowned pawnshop in the capital, Predestined Match through Gold and Jade.

Behind the high counter, there was a wrinkled old man, who must have been the pawnbroker of this shop.

Staring at the giant word “Pawn” on the wall behind the counter, Mu Yingxue was in atrance state for a moment before she said, “I want to pawn something.”

Liu’er’s sad expression suddenly changed into a very depressed one, thinking, “Miss, can’t you just be a little more indirect and reserved?”

Mu Yingxue didn’t care about this. After all, she didn’t have the experience pawning anything before. More importantly, she was already in a bad mood somewhat. No, it was better to put it in a straightforward way. At this moment, when she realized that she was totally ignored even after telling them her purpose here, she was a little annoyed instantly.

She walked to the counter and knocked on the hard wooden surface with her fingers. Her eyes fell on the old man’s little head wearing a watermelon leather hat. She asked, “Aren’t you doing business today?”

The old man seemed to have just heard what she said. He slowly raised his head and asked with a poker face, “Miss, how can I be of help?”

Chut!

When Mu Yingxue heard him pretending to be confused, she couldn’t help laughing out of extreme anger. “What else can I possibly be doing here? Having a chat with you?”

The old man probably didn’t expect that she would make sarcastic remarks, but given the standard that he should crop the comer’s feathers, he was still very calm and said, “You might be here to ransom, not to pawn.”

Mu Yingxue was irritated. Did she look like a person who often patronized pawnshops?

“Humph, you’re just putting on an act, disobeying the rules of businessman.” Her unceremonious criticism showed that she didn’t take the old man seriously at all.

Since the old man was the pawnbroker of the most renowned pawnshop in the capital, he would always put on airs in front of guests, but had never seen anyone daring to offend him publicly especially when she was here to pawn stuff, which gave him no other choice but to face up to the girl in front of him.

“Miss, you look young, but you are really a big talker.” His eyes looked bright on his wrinkled face. He asked, “May I ask what kind of treasure you brought to our shop today?”

The pawnbroker naturally had sharp eyes to recognize both treasures and people.

He saw that Mu Yingxue had a maidservant with her, and she had the manners and noble temperament of a young lady from a rich family. But on second thought, it was impossible for a young lady from a rich family to show up easily, let alone come to a place like his shop. It was possible if she wanted to redeem something she preferred, but pawning things had never happened before. Therefore, he was not sure about Mu Yingxue’s identity for a while.

Even so, seeing that she was dressed in plain clothes and did not even have any accessories on her body, he was still doubtful about what she could bring.

Of course Mu Yingxue wouldn’t tell him the details here. Although it wasn’t a fresh food market packed with people, it was better for her to be a little more careful.

“We’ll show you as soon as we enter the inner hall, how does that sound?”

It sounded like she had good treasures, but Mu Yingxue said it too arrogantly. So even if he wanted to invite her in, he was a little angry.

“Miss, could you let me have a look first and then decide whether you are qualified to enter the inner hall to have a talk?”