Reborn: The First Rank "Madam"

C93 – Yo, You Came so Early!

The news of the young miss of Zuo Family being chosen by Master Lu quickly filled the entire capital like paper scraps. Many people asked: “Who is this young miss of Zuo’s Mansion? Why haven’t I heard of it?”

“Sigh, it’s normal to have never heard of Miss Zuo, but have you heard of Tutor Zuo? That’s Tutor Zuo’s great-granddaughter.”

“Ah… Wasn’t the current emperor’s surname once?”

Someone beside him teased, “Haha, kid, if you were born twenty years earlier, you would have already known who Tutor Zuo is.”

At this time, an older person reacted, “It’s Tutor Zuo, who was kicked out of the capital back then?”

“That’s him. Do you think that Master Lu would fall into poverty just because of that?”

“I really never thought that Zuo Family and luck would be so good, right?”

“Shh… To be able to catch Master Lu’s eye, there must be something special about it. It’s useless even if you’re envious.”

“I wonder what kind of outstanding person that Miss Zuo is.” Someone shook his head and sighed.

Zuo Shaoqing circulated his inner force for two weeks before slowly withdrawing it back into his Dantian. He opened his eyes and two lights flashed across his eyes. His originally clear eyes were shining like the stars.

After passing through the second layer, he felt a tremendous change in his physique. Not only did his body become a lot lighter, but it also didn’t seem like he was afraid of the cold anymore.

However, when he opened the door, a gust of cold wind rushed into his face, and that feeling immediately disappeared.

Zuo Shaoqing shivered. Only then did he realize that his underwear was drenched in sweat. No wonder it felt so cold when the wind blew.

Just as he wanted to take a hot bath, he remembered that Nanny Liu was not around. Luo Xiaoliu had also gone out, and there was no one to bring water.

Zuo Shaoqing rolled his eyes and went back into his room. He closed the door and whispered, “Yinyi, are you there?”

After a long time, Zuo Shaoqing didn’t get a response. He secretly let out a breath of relief. He walked to the basin and concentrated his internal force on his palm. He then stuck it against the wooden basin and injected his internal force into the basin.

Although he couldn’t heat up the entire bucket of water like Lu Zheng, this small basin was still fine.

He wiped his body and quickly put on dry clothes. Zuo Shaoqing looked at the dark sky and knew that no one would bring him food today.

A human body was hanging upside down on the beam. Zuo Shaoqing, who was completely unprepared, jumped up in shock. He patted his chest and glared at Yinyi. “Why did you suddenly appear out of nowhere?”

Yinyi jumped down from the roof and landed lightly on the ground without making a sound. “If I don’t have this bit of ability, how could I be a good guard?”

Zuo Shaoqing raised his eyebrows and declined to comment. Just as he wanted to tease Ye Zichen a bit, Ye Zichen saw Ye Zichen hand over a hot paper bag with both of his hands.

He took a deep breath and the familiar smell of barbecue entered his nose. His stomach growled unhappily.

Zuo Shaoqing did not stand on ceremony with him. He took the paper bag and opened it. Immediately, a stronger fragrance drifted out.

“Didn’t you just buy me something to eat?” It was a lie to say that he was not moved. Yinyi was not his subordinate after all. It was rare for him to think so carefully for Yinyi.

Yinyi was embarrassed to say that he had gone out looking for food because he was listening to the corner and was hungry. As for the food he brought Zuo Shaoqing, it was only because one of the tasks assigned to him was to supervise Third Master Zuo’s eating.

Zuo Shaoqing could tell from the smell that it was Ding Xuan’s roast chicken. When he was staying at the Pure Wind Inn, his second uncle would often bring it back for a toothpick.

It was said that the head chef was once the chef of the Imperial Palace. Because he had committed a small offense and was driven out of the palace, he was coincidentally met by the owner of the food.

From then on, this unknown restaurant slowly developed into a place where the people of the capital praised it as a delicacy. However, it was expensive, and many families had to spend a month on food and clothing before they could have their fill.

After Zuo Shaoqing finished off the whole chicken, the butler’s unique hoarse voice suddenly came from outside, “Is Master San here… Old master has invited you.”

Zuo Shaoqing replied and slowly washed his hands. He then drank a cup of hot tea before putting on his cloak and opening the door.

He originally thought that Mrs. Xue was using Zuo Yunwen’s name to call him over and was preparing to settle the accounts for the afternoon. He didn’t expect to see Zuo Yunwen sitting in the main hall when he arrived at Ting Lan Yuan.

“Is father busy?” Zuo Shaoqing asked calmly.

Zuo Yunwen choked before he said anything, “What’s with this attitude? Are you really going to ignore your family just because you have strong wings?”

“Father, what do you mean?” Zuo Shaoqing blinked and looked at Zuo Yunwen sincerely.

Zuo Yunwen looked into his clear eyes and saw through his doubts and sincerity.

He sighed to himself. He felt that he was too sensitive. Why would he think that this usually obedient child had changed?

He smiled lovingly, “Shao Qing, your performance today is not bad. I am very satisfied with your performance, and will be entering the Conference Test in a few days.”

Zuo Shaoqing nodded vigorously, “I will, Father.” If he did not have the title of the Golden Ranking, how could he trample all these people with Zuo Family beneath his feet?

He wouldn’t forget that Mrs. Xue was still waiting for him to fall off the list to teach him a lesson.

The reason why he dared to challenge Mrs. Ma today was because he knew that Mrs. Xue wouldn’t dare to do anything to him during this period of time.

“Don’t go out these few days and study hard. Don’t think that just because you know him well that everything is fine. Don’t be impatient.”

“Son understands.” Zuo Shaoqing thought about the madame’s invitation tomorrow and felt bitter about it.

“Father instructed the kitchen to cook some supplementary food for you. Did you eat well?” It was the first time Zuo Yunwen cared so much about his son.

Zuo Shaoqing was confused and looked at him blankly, “What supplement?” This was really giving him a pillow out of drowsiness. It seemed like Old Madam Ma’s good days had come to an end.

Zuo Yunwen’s face changed again and again, and dark clouds covered his eyebrows. Zuo Shaoqing acted as if he didn’t see it, and still innocently said: “No wonder the dinner hasn’t arrived yet, the kitchen is still stewing, thank you father!”

Seeing Zuo Yunwen so angry that his fists were clenched, Zuo Shaoqing smiled shyly, rubbed his belly and said, “Father, if there’s nothing else, your son will go back first. He’s still hungry.”

Zuo Yunwen waved his hand and waited for Zuo Shaoqing to throw the teacup on the table besides the yard. He shouted, “Butler… Housekeeper…”

Zuo Shaoqing walked back briskly. On the way, he even raised his head and greeted Zuo Shaoyan with a big smile.

He went back to read some books. Zuo Shaoqing didn’t care about how the commotion outside was, he just went to sleep. Tomorrow, there was going to be a tough battle to fight, so he had to rest up.

The next morning, Zuo Shaoqing went to pay his respects as usual. He didn’t even look at Mrs. Xue’s hungry eyes as he directly said that he wanted to buy a few books from the bookstore and leave the mansion for half a day.

Mrs. Xue mockingly said a few words, then casually gave him two taels of silver before sending him away.

As they walked away, Mrs. Xue gritted her teeth and said, “This bastard! This is truly getting more and more arrogant!”

Of course, Zuo Shuhui knew what had happened last night. Maid Ma from the kitchen had always been her mother’s confidante because her third brother had been punished by her father.

“Mom, just endure for a few more days. Dad is looking forward to him and big brother’s high school right now.”

“Humph! With just him? Let’s let him be complacent for a few days, there will be a time when he’ll regret it!”

Zuo Shaoqing swaggered out of the door. He didn’t need a car from the manor, instead, he hired a sedan on the roadside and asked them to carry it to the street area of the Wu Steel Manor.

When they just arrived at the promised location, Zuo Shaoqing didn’t feel like he came early at all. Instead, he took out a book from his pocket, leaned against the wall and started reading it seriously.

Yinyi followed behind him. He didn’t know whether Third Master Zuo’s action was done casually or intentionally for the madame to see, but no matter what, he couldn’t watch his future mistress standing at the door and blowing on it.

Leaping into the wall, Yinyi walked towards the Warm Fragrance Pavilion where the madame was. When he saw the old lady, he didn’t take the initiative to talk about Zuo Shaoqing, but instead narrated in detail what he heard at Zuo’s Mansion yesterday.

The madame laughed as she listened, “What a hilarious old lady! Haha… This family is too conceited. It’s all over the capital for people like Miss Zuo. It would be weird if Zheng’er took a fancy to them.”

Maid Zhong agreed, “Who says it isn’t? That young lady’s heart is not right, and she has too many ulterior motives.”

“A little too self-righteous.” The old mistress judged lightly, then suddenly asked, “Aren’t you following the child?”

This was what Yinyi was waiting for. He replied naturally, “Reporting to the madame, Third Master Zuo Chen was waiting outside the side door.”

“Yo, you came so early!” The madame was beaming with joy. However, she did not invite Zuo Shaoqing in nor did she intend to go out earlier. Instead, she asked Maid Zhong to find a set of worn-out clothes for herself.