Chapter 87: Mandarin Ducks

Words : 1461 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Mandarin DucksLeaving the bamboo house, Xie Jingchen headed towards the pavilion. The Hidden Guard followed behind him, and said, "Eldest Young Master, how about I go find the Heir of Marquis Jingguo and bring the painting back?" "Bringing it back now is too late!" Xie Jingchen’s face was gloomy. The Hidden Guard didn’t speak, thinking about how so many people at Baosheng House saw it. The news would spread, and probably half of the Capital City knows about that painting by now. Prince NanAn and the others went a bit too far. Xie Jingchen sat down, unable to get into reading. He finally said, "Bring the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone here." The Hidden Guard brought the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone to the pavilion. Xie Jingchen used a paperweight to flatten the paper and dipped his brush in ink. A quarter of an hour later. A grayish image of the Heir of Marquis Jingguo leaped onto the paper. It wasn’t that black. But because it wasn’t that black, the facial features were still distinguishable. Even without a comparison piece next to it, one could recognize it as the Heir of Marquis Jingguo. Of course, Prince NanAn, the Heir of Marquis Beining, and the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo each had one, and none of them were spared. Half an hour later, all four paintings were handed over to the Hidden Guard. "Send them to Baosheng House," Xie Jingchen ordered. The Hidden Guard left with the paintings. Su Jin walked over. Xingxing was carrying a food box, following behind. Seeing the Hidden Guard about to leave, Su Jin asked, "Going to the street?" The Hidden Guard nodded, "Eldest Young Madam, is there anything you want to buy?" "There’s a list of medicinal herbs on my desk, please help buy them back, the silver note is in the drawer," Su Jin said. "Me too, me too, help me buy a few sticks of sugar-coated snacks, the money is under my pillow," Xingxing said. "...." The Hidden Guard’s face turned red. This maid treated him like a little servant, but she also wanted him to go to her room to get the money? Even if she was just a maid, was her room a place he could casually enter? The Hidden Guard held his forehead and re-entered the bamboo house. Xingxing tidied up the stone table and set up the dishes. A gentle breeze blew, the water surface shimmered. "This place is nice for eating," Su Jin praised. "Then the young lady and master can often eat here in the future," Xingxing laughed. "Eating hot pot here in the evening would have a unique taste," Su Jin said. Hot pot? Xie Jingchen raised an eyebrow. Xingxing looked confused, "Young lady, what is hot pot?" No way? Not even knowing about hot pot, so there isn’t one? Su Jin sat down and explained to Xingxing what hot pot is. Su Jin liked spicy food, so she particularly introduced spicy hot pot, Xingxing said, "The master doesn’t seem to like spicy food, he probably can’t handle hot pot." Xie Jingchen picked dishes to eat. Su Jin laughed, "Not being able to handle spicy is okay, there’s a yuan-yang pot." Xie Jingchen gave Su Jin another look, thinking she might say: no problem, he can just watch me eat. Or even: get used to it, and it’ll be fine. But what is a yuan-yang pot? Xie Jingchen was puzzled. But he wasn’t the only one confused; there was also a particularly straightforward maid. Xingxing looked puzzled, "Young lady, what is a yuan-yang pot? This servant has only heard of a mandarin duck bath." Su Jin, "...." Xie Jingchen, "...." Cough cough! Su Jin and Xie Jingchen both choked. Xie Jingchen was better, only coughing once, while Su Jin almost had tears from choking. This maid really dares to say anything. Su Jin waved her hand repeatedly, "I’ll tell you later, you go eat first, later you’ll need to decoct the medicine." Xingxing was a bit hungry, so she said, "Then this servant will go eat." Xingxing happily ran off. Su Jin looked at Xie Jingchen, her face still showing awkwardness, "About the mandarin duck bath I mentioned..." Xie Jingchen looked at her. Su Jin lightly slapped her own mouth, feeling a bit like wanting to die. How did she so easily get led astray? She stopped talking and quietly ate her meal. It was the first time Xie Jingchen saw Su Jin act so bashful, almost thinking she was an illusion. She actually could be bashful. However, his mood was exceptionally good. Moreover, he had a rare quiet meal. Meanwhile, the Hidden Guard, having taken the prescription and silver note, left the Duke Mansion. He entered the pharmacy first, asked someone to fetch the medicine, and then sent the paintings to Baosheng House. Baosheng House was bustling with business. The paintings sent by several people including Prince NanAn were carefully mounted by Baosheng House and hung on the wall for everyone to appreciate. Word of mouth spread that Baosheng House had excellent mounting services, naturally attracting more customers. Seeing the Hidden Guard approach, the shopkeeper at Baosheng House put on an unwelcome expression, but had to welcome the visitor with a smiling face. The Hidden Guard placed the paintings on the counter and said, "Mount these four paintings well, and hang them beside those two paintings." Since he wasn’t there to collect the paintings, the shopkeeper’s expression became a bit friendlier. Then he looked at the grayish paintings, and the corners of his mouth twitched. Obviously, this was intentional revenge. But for Baosheng House, it was actually a good thing. The shopkeeper responded hastily. As soon as the Hidden Guard left, the shopkeeper said, "Quickly send them for mounting, and make sure they’re mounted and hung up as quickly as possible." Leaving Baosheng House, he returned to the pharmacy, just in time to collect the medicine. Because he bought a lot and was an old acquaintance, the pharmacy’s shopkeeper had someone help deliver it to the Duke Mansion. The Hidden Guard then went to the street to help Xingxing buy sugar-coated snacks. But when it came to buying them, the Hidden Guard hesitated. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to help. But rather— The question of how many sticks to buy. The Eldest Young Madam’s prescription had a clear measurement, but the maid’s "a few" referred to how many sticks? Considering Marquis Dongxiang’s interpretation of "a few" as a tray-full, possibly hundreds or thousands, the Hidden Guard, learning from this true knowledge, couldn’t decide. After buying six sticks of sugar-coated snacks, the Hidden Guard thought for a moment, turned back, and bought even the skewers from the vendor. There weren’t many skewers above, only about twenty. The Hidden Guard carried the skewers of sugar-coated snacks and continued walking, then encountered another vendor selling sugar-coated snacks, with more than he was carrying. The Hidden Guard frowned and walked over to the vendor selling sugar-coated snacks. "You, what do you want?" The vendor looked wary. "Buy sugar-coated snacks." "...." The vendor was dumbfounded. Having sold sugar-coated snacks for so many years, it was the first time he’d encountered a fellow vendor buying sugar-coated snacks. The Hidden Guard bought twenty strings of sugar-coated snacks, then tied them on his skewers, paid, and left. The vendor, "...." Is this person not right in the head? The Hidden Guard rode through the streets on horseback, just at the moment when Chu Shun and a few others were taking a walk, and saw him, their eyes widened, "Big Brother’s Hidden Guard changing trades to sell sugar-coated snacks?" "We must support his business," Prince NanAn said, holding back laughter. "Sugar-coated snacks vendor, don’t go, we’ll buy a few sticks," the Heir of Marquis Beining called out while shaking with laughter. "...." The Hidden Guard squeezed the horse’s belly and bolted away. The servant carried the box into the backyard, and the Hidden Guard carried the skewers of sugar-coated snacks all the way over. Who knew how many maids they heard swallowing saliva along the way. These sour things, don’t know why they like them so much. In front of the bamboo house, Xingxing was boiling medicine, while Su Jin watched how the medicine was decocting. Seeing the Hidden Guard coming back carrying skewers of sugar-coated snacks, they particularly stood out red in the sunlight. Su Jin, "...." Xingxing, "...." "Young lady, didn’t I say just buy a few sticks?" Xingxing asked quietly. "It was a few sticks," Su Jin replied. "Then, is he not very bright?" "...." A worried tone, sympathetic eyes. The Hidden Guard was so moved that he almost couldn’t hold back from tossing the skewers of sugar-coated snacks he’d carried all the way.

Chapter 87: Mandarin Ducks

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