Chapter 37: Setting Out

Words : 1449 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Setting OutAgarwood Pavilion. Inside the house. Su Jin woke up, sat on the bed stretching, and sleepily watched Xingxing mopping the floor. The little maid was focused and serious. She didn’t even notice Su Jin was awake. After watching for a while, Su Jin couldn’t help but interrupt her, "Are you planning to mop the floor until the mosquitoes slip and do the splits?" Xingxing let out a sound of surprise, turned around, and revealed a bright and sunny smile. She walked over with the mop and said happily, "Miss, you’re awake. The mop you mentioned, I made it, and it’s really easy to use. It doesn’t take any effort at all, and the floor is especially clean." "I can see that," Su Jin said. Earlier, coming back from kneeling as punishment at the ancestral hall, on the way back to the Agarwood Pavilion, many maids were kneeling on the ground wiping away coal dust. They dared not openly blame her, but glared at her resentfully behind her back. Xingxing suddenly turned her head, catching one of the little maids, who was so scared she almost fell over and then knelt to beg for mercy. Daring to glare at her mistress behind her back, Xingxing was about to beat up the little maid but was stopped by Su Jin. When they returned to the Agarwood Pavilion, they saw the maids and servants all cleaning the floor, every one of them kneeling, which made Su Jin’s back ache just from watching. Upon inquiry, she realized they had no idea what a mop was. Su Jin gave a detailed description of a mop with the intention of benefiting all the little maids responsible for mopping. However, the maids let it go in one ear and out the other, not taking it seriously at all. Su Jin didn’t take it to heart. If they chose to work hard, she wouldn’t stop them. However, it did make Xingxing put her hands on her hips in anger. "If they won’t make it, I will!" Sure enough, while Su Jin was sleeping, Xingxing created the mop. And she became increasingly satisfied with it, singing its praises. Then— This little maid came up with a clever idea. Su Jin’s loss in selling coal was a thorn in the little maid’s heart. She couldn’t rest until it was resolved. She worked hard to drag Su Jin away from the path of losing money. "Miss, this mop is so handy. It’s got to earn more than selling coal. Why don’t we stop selling coal and start selling mops?" Xingxing suggested, leaning on the mop. "..." "But what about all the coal?" "I’ve thought about it. We can sell mops and give coal away as a bonus." "..." At this moment, the sound of footsteps approached. Xingxing turned to see Xie Jingchen coming in, and she said, "Sir, you’re back." She saw his face as calm as usual, his steps composed. Su Jin laughed, "Looks like you weren’t punished." Xie Jingchen walked to the bedside and handed Su Jin the inscription he was holding. Su Jin reached out and took it. Looking at the five bold, majestic characters, her eye twitched fiercely. This guy is too full of himself, isn’t he? But on second thought, it seemed unlikely. After all, he didn’t agree with her selling coal. "This wasn’t written by you, was it?" she asked. "It’s personally inscribed by the Emperor." "..." "From now on, all the charcoal in the palace will be supplied by you." "..." "Did you help me get this business?" Su Jin asked through gritted teeth. Her eyes were blazing. She was already looking for a knife. Xie Jingchen, seeing her murderous expression, quickly denied it— "The Emperor himself is taking care of your business." Su Jin felt like going crazy. "Miss?" Xingxing asked. "Now I have no choice but to sell coal." Tears glistened at the corners of Su Jin’s eyes. She was touched to tears by the busy Emperor. Taking time out of his busy schedule to care for her business, she had no way to repay him but felt like immediately sending all the accumulated coal from the Agarwood Pavilion to the Imperial Study as thanks. Xingxing looked at the mop in her hand. It’s said the money from the palace is the easiest to earn. With the Emperor taking care of her business, it shouldn’t be too bad. But she still thought selling mops was better. The Imperial Palace is huge, so they surely need mops too. Xingxing looked at Xie Jingchen, "Sir, could you enter the palace and ask the Emperor to change the inscription to ’Number One Mop in the World’?" Su Jin, "..." Xie Jingchen, "..." She really had a death wish. However, what Xingxing said— Wasn’t entirely impossible. Of course, she wasn’t talking about selling mops, but changing the inscription. Su Jin looked at Xie Jingchen. Xie Jingchen guessed her intention and, before Su Jin could speak, he raised his hand to stop her, "That’s the Emperor, his words are as good as gold, and once written on paper, they are edicts, not to be changed lightly." More importantly, since he requested the inscription from the Emperor, going back to ask for a change wasn’t an option. "Since it’s about selling coal, there’s nothing wrong with this inscription," he said. "But the coal I sell is for face-marking, not burning." "..." This woman actually planned for people to use coal on their faces! Would anyone be that foolish? Xie Jingchen covered his forehead. Su Jin took a deep breath to calm herself down. She handed the inscription to Xie Jingchen, "Take this and start a store to sell coal. You must sell it to me at a loss." "No, you should supply me unconditionally." Xie Jingchen, "..." Thinking this way saved a lot of raw material costs. The little bit of displeasure in Su Jin’s heart vanished without a trace. With Su Jin in a good mood, Xingxing said, "Opening a shop requires money, but sir has none." This maid, whose side was she on? Su Jin got out of bed, knocked on her forehead, "Your husband has already graduated. Just a small move when robbing will earn more than me, he can completely support himself." Xingxing nodded repeatedly, "Sir’s skill surpasses the master’s, and if the Marquis knew, he’d surely be pleased." Xie Jingchen, "..." Dongxiang Marquis Mansion. Marquis Dongxiang was laughing non-stop. With a cup of tea in hand, upon hearing that Su Jin and Xie Jingchen had robbed Prince NanAn and his company, his laughter shook his whole body, and by the end, only half a cup of tea was left. Mrs. Tang took the cup from him and glared at him reproachfully, "Is it that amusing that our daughter led our son-in-law astray?" "Our daughter has good taste, just like me. As her father, I’m very pleased," Marquis Dongxiang said. Mrs. Tang instructed the maid to wipe the table, while saying, "Do you feel uncomfortable if you don’t flaunt a bit of gold every day?" Marquis Dongxiang coughed lightly, looking at Su Chong. Mrs. Tang also noticed Su Chong was somewhat upset. When he’s happy, he’s talkative. When he’s unhappy, he becomes a mute gourd. "What’s the matter?" Mrs. Tang asked. Su Chong said with a sullen face, "Those fat sheep I had my eye on were taken. I planned to strike once the wounds on my face healed, but my brother-in-law got to them first. He didn’t even leave one for me." He should have acted sooner. Su Chong sighed deeply, filled with regret. The few sheep that had already shed their fat all sneezed in unison. ... Su Jin washed her face with cold water, drank half a cup of tea, and then rubbed her neck as she came out of the inner room. In the courtyard, the maids had already started mopping. Initially, they didn’t take Su Jin’s words seriously. After Xingxing made a mop, she intentionally mopped the veranda, which made the little maids say she was showing off. But gossip is just that; the mop is genuinely good, and it’s not difficult to make. The Eldest Young Madam’s maids certainly wouldn’t be doing such rough jobs; it was them who had tired backs from mopping. S~eaʀᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It made no sense to sulk and make things hard for themselves. So they all followed suit— The colorful mops looked quite nice. But the quality wasn’t great. As they mopped, they were often left with just a stick. The mop head remained in place. The maid, "..."

Chapter 37: Setting Out

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