Chapter 408 The Mansion is Poor

Chapter 408: The Prince's Mansion Is Very Poor

Before Chen Huaxiu could react, Ji Yuntang handed the copper basin to her. She instinctively tried to push it away, but Ji Yuntang let go, and the red liquid inside spilled all over her.

"Ah, what did you pour on me?"

Ji Yuntang looked troubled and said apologetically, "Mother, I'm sorry, I thought you'd catch the basin of bloody water."

Chen Huaxiu was shocked. "What! Bloody water? Whose bloody water?"

"Our prince's. He throws up a ton of blood every morning, noon, and night. I have to stay by his side to catch it, or it'd get everywhere. I'm already used to it!"

Chen Huaxiu felt her stomach churn. Throwing up blood every day—was the guy even human?

And on top of that, the blood had gotten all over her. Just thinking about it made her want to puke.

With that thought, she actually squatted down and puked. Ji Yuntang pretended to care and asked her.

"Mother, are you alright?"

Chen Huaxiu puked even harder. She suppressed her discomfort and cast a scrutinizing gaze at the woman before her.

"Who are you? Why do you call me mother? Where's Ji Yuntang?"

Ji Yuntang gave a barely noticeable pout. "I'm Ji Yuntang. Don't you recognize me, Mother?"

The moment she finished speaking, Wu Shijie shot back, "Impossible. Ji Yuntang is straight-up ugly. How could you be her?"

Ji Yuntang looked a bit flustered and explained, "I really am Ji Yuntang. Why don't you believe me?"

"Since I had to take care of our prince, I taught myself a little medicine and cured the red spots on my face. Otherwise, how would Prince Ye have ever taken a liking to me?"

Chen Huaxiu: "..."

She thought about it and figured that made sense.

Ji Yuntang was low-born and ugly, with zero advantages. How could she have married in and become the princess?

But if she'd cured her face, then it really would be different!

Chen Huaxiu looked at her with some contempt. "Now that you've fixed your face, you at least look human. At least you won't scare our Yang Geer so easily anymore!"

Ji Yuntang smiled slightly. "Mother, your mouth is still as foul as your feet. I remember your feet used to stink something fierce. Did that ever clear up?"

At that, Chen Huaxiu's face instantly turned black as a pot.

Ji Yuntang's eyes were all innocent as she quickly covered her mouth. "Oh, did I say something wrong?"

"Mother, you know, you all didn't have the money to send me to school, so I'm not great with words. You won't hold that against me, will you?"

Chen Huaxiu: "..."

She was about to scold Ji Yuntang, but the words got stuck in her throat, caught halfway.

This worthless girl—was she blaming them for not shelling out for her schooling?

Her own two sons couldn't afford to study. What made her think she deserved to?

Yeah, right! Dream on!

Just then, Wu Chaoyang rubbed his belly and whined, "Ma, I'm hungry. I wanna eat."

Ji Yuntang turned her gaze to him and smiled slightly. "Third brother's hungry, huh? I'll have someone bring out the food right away. You all go sit in the front hall for a bit."

They headed to the front hall, where a chipped wooden table sat in the middle, surrounded by a few rickety, broken stools.

Even the teapot on the table was chipped.

When the tea was poured, Wu Jinxi couldn't even drink it—there was black gunk lurking in the cup.

He said coldly, "How the hell is she running things as Princess Ye? How can she be this broke?"

Chen Huaxiu said disdainfully, "She was just a stand-in who married in place of Yueyue. A fake princess. How noble could she possibly be?"

Before long, a cook brought out the dishes.

It looked like seven dishes and a soup, but at first glance, everything was green.

Wu Chaoyang poked through every plate with his chopsticks and couldn't find a single scrap of meat. He tossed his chopsticks down right away.

"Ma, I want meat. I wanna eat meat."

Just then, Tao Zhi brought over five bowls of "rice" and set one in front of each of them.

Wu Shijie was horrified. "Isn't this dirt? Do the folks in Prince Ye's mansion eat dirt every day?"

He'd never seen black rice before.

Tao Zhi rolled her eyes. "Our Prince Ye's mansion isn't like other princely mansions. We're so broke we can barely keep the pot boiling. Today's dishes came out of the princess's own pocket—one tael of silver—just to give you all a treat. You should be grateful you've got anything to eat at all, instead of being so picky."

Chen Huaxiu didn't expect a maid from Prince Ye's mansion to be this arrogant. She snapped, "You're just a maid, and you dare talk to me like that?"

Just then, Ji Yuntang walked in. "What's going on here?"

"Is it that my foster parents aren't happy with the food?"

Chen Huaxiu pointed at the table. "Ji Yuntang, take a look yourself. Is this even fit for people to eat?"

"Yang Geer's still growing. You can't just feed us veggies with no meat. How's that supposed to work?"

Ji Yuntang let out a helpless sigh. "Ah, Mother, you wouldn't understand. The people in Prince Ye's mansion eat like this every day."

"It actually tastes pretty good. You'll see once you try it!"

With that, she picked up the bowl in front of her and took a bite of the rice.

Wu Jinxi saw how much she was enjoying it, so he picked up his bowl and took a big mouthful. Instantly, something in his mouth lodged in his throat.

His face turned bright red as he choked, and he spat out a mouthful of dirt.

Chen Huaxiu pointed right in Ji Yuntang's face and snapped, "Ji Yuntang, it's just a bowl of rice! Are you trying to kill your own father?"

Ji Yuntang set down her chopsticks and looked at her coolly.

"If I can eat it, why can't you? If you can't choke it down, look for the reason in yourselves instead of blaming everything else."

Outside the door, Tao Zhi and Wang Sheng huddled together, gleefully watching the group choke on dirt with red faces, and burst out laughing without mercy.

"Serves them right! How dare they throw their weight around in front of our princess? Hope they choke to death!"

"To be fair, that chocolate rice in Princess Ye's bowl is actually pretty tasty—the color's exactly like the dirt on the ground. Let's see if they still dare to stick around Prince Ye's mansion now."

Wang Sheng said gently, "I don't think these people will be driven away that easily."

As early as last night, Ji Yuntang had them gather up all of Princess Ye's valuables and store them in the treasury, leaving only a few worn-out tables and chairs outside.

Not only that, the rare plants in the front courtyard had all been transplanted away by her.

Overnight, the entire Prince Ye's mansion went from magnificent splendor to utter destitution.

Ji Yuntang had made it clear that these people were light-fingered and would likely act like they're the boss upon arriving at the mansion, barking orders at the servants.

Ji Qingqing had dumped the Wu family on her, hoping they'd come to Prince Ye's mansion to enjoy themselves and get under her skin.

How could Ji Yuntang let her have her way?

She not only wanted revenge but also wanted the four members of the Wu family to willingly return to Marquis Yongning's residence and stick to Ji Qingqing like glue.

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